Laharl winced when Etna punched his shoulder.
"See what I mean? Always watch your back around her."

Flonne found herself next to the mast again, looking up at Anna at her wheel. She was worried about the look on her face, but didn't want to ask her anything about it so she decided on the next best thing.
"Anna..I-I mean Captain, is it alright if I take the Crow's Nest again?" She smiled proudly since she knew that she had used the anatomy of the ship right this time. If anything this would give her a bird's eye view of the ship and wherever that Demon might be if he was out in the open.

Abel stood there, and laughed a bit. "Yes, sir, of course... Dood."
Something like that.
He sighed, tired of having to say 'Dood' all the time.

Etna gave Abel a slight kick, watching as he fell over. "Hey. Prinny. Shut up. Stop listening to him like that."
Abel sighed, deciding to just lay there, as if he was just giving up. "Of course, Dood..."


Anna looked down at Flonne, brows furrowed. "Oh, um... if you want to... sure... are you looking for anything in particular...?"
She still seemed a bit scared of the idea of it but spoke nonetheless. "If you're lookin' for something on the ship, I can tell you where it is or something..."

"Uh..." Flonne waved her hands in front of her.
"No nothing in particular...." She turned around and flapped her wings.
"I just like being next to the sky...that's all." She smiled and started the long climb up.

"Violent much Etna?" Laharl glared sideways at her thinking that the kick was nothing compared to some of the things he'd seen her do to her own Prinny squad...like chucking knives into their faces.

Anna sighed, shaking her head. Well, whatever, she guessed.
She blinked, looking over towards the rope; if anything, Demitri had made an appearance, apparently hearing her needing someone to pull up the anchor.
It did'nt seem to take much effort for him to pull the rope up, and in near to no time the anchor was on the deck.

Etna could'nt see him but certainly saw the anchor move. "Wow, that's... um, weird. Hey, Captain! Your ship, is it haunted or something?"
Anna looked a little disturbed over the the question. She did'nt guess she could see him, either. "Sure, if that's your cup of tea."

Demitri looked over at Abel, looking as if he was thinking, and very hard, to the extent his head hurt. After a moment, he grinned, waved, and went back inside.
Abel looked surprised. Could he tell who he was? That wasn't good. There was no telling what he'd tell Anna.

Flonne made it into the basket at the top of the mast, looked down...and groaned. Next to the anchor...was the same Demon she'd been on the lookout for. She flopped over the side and watched as he walked back inside the ship, probably where Anna stayed. All that work and nothing to show for it. She was going to have to anticipate this guy else she was never going to get a chance to interrogate him. 'Interrogate'...she giggled. That was a funny word.

"Don't be stupid Etna!" Laharl smacked his vassal upside the back of the head and pointed back to the anchor, obviously oblivious to what was actually pulling it.
"Mint's over there. you don't think she could be doing it?" Mint, who had been only standing next to the moving rope looked back to the Prince with wide-eyes. She held up her hands and shook her head. Laharl's eyes followed her lead and grew as wide as dinner plates.
"Then again....I could be wrong."

Demitri slinked back into Anna's room, flopping back out on her bed again. Hopefully no one would want for him to do anything for a while.



Anna looked irritated. If only all of them could see him or something. She finally turned, feeling like taking her bad mood out on something, anyway. "Why, yes. You see this ship is just full of dead people's spirits. Old pirates, yes."
She crossed her arms, as if she were dead serious. "Those who get left behind and don't go to either below or above, you know?"
Etna looked a little creeped. "Woah..."
Anna rubbed her forehead, hoping she of all of them would sense her sarcasm. "Ugh... right. Yes... ghosts."

Abel laughed a bit, before stopping after gaining a strange look from Etna. The Prinny glanced away, holding a flipper up to his beak. He knew why Anna would'nt say what had actually happened. Ghosts would be more believable than her 'imaginary friend' was. Even she wasn't exactly sure as to what he really was.

Etna was creeped either way.
She ran towards the base of the pole Flonne had climbed up, waving her arms. "HEY, FLONNE! L-LET'S SWITCH SPOTS, OKAY!!?!"
The other two Prinnies cracked up, but shut up as soon as Etna glared at them. Abel was still snickering.

Flonne looked down, Etna really wanted to swtich places? She plopped one hand into the other. Perfect this would give her the excuse that she needed.
"Okay♪" She climbed back down and smiled at Etna.
"You okay? You look pale." She guessed that she hadn't been able to see the demon that had hauled the anchor up. It must have freaked her out pretty badly.
"Just be careful on your way up Etna, it can be a bit slippery." Flonne waved and walked off.

Laharl scoffed at the ghost story, ghosts didn't bother him, they wern't much use in the Netherworld, so why woud they be any use here? No, he suspected something else was behind it, but he wasn't going to wrack his brain for the answer. He stretched out next to the edge of the boat and tilted his head down, this lull was perfect for 'meditating', comtemplating why the backs of his eyelids disappeared when he dreamed.

Etna quickly made her way upwards. She wasn't exactly amazing at climbing but got up there nonetheless.
Even though it did take her a little bit to reach it.


With the anchor up, the ship took off.
Anna did'nt seem to be steering it in any particular direction. As long as they were away from Tortuga, it was fine. If Asylum were to attack tonight, she did'nt want for anything to happen to the old port town.
She sighed. The more she thought on this subject, the more it bothered her. It wasn't a good situation...
If not near the only spot of land near here, Tortuga...
The only place for the battle would be on her ship. All of her belongings were on it. So if she lost her ship...

She shook her head, deciding she needed to try to think about the, um... 'good things in life'.
After a few minutes she gave up on that, too. Since all of the good things in life were either her ship or on her ship.

"I know he may not look it, but Laharl...he'll do his best to make sure that nothing happens to your ship." Flonne smiled from where she stood below Anna on the deck.
"So...don't worry too much okay?" She pointed to the middle of her forehead and grimaced.
"The Seraph told me that if one worries too much that they'll get terrible wrinkles right. Here."
"Besides, if you spend all your energy worrying over your ship, what will be left for Asylum?"

Anna blinked over at Flonne. She did'nt see why Laharl would be too concerned with her ship but, well, maybe she was right. "Oh... um, thanks, then, Flonne..."
She sighed. She'd have wrinkles really bad, then. "Anyway, I guess you're right. But it's really all I've got. Everything other than the ship that I own or love is well... on the ship, you know? If I lose it... then... well, I don't know what I'll do."

Flonne smiled.
"Then it looks as though our work is cut out for us then, there's a lot of people on the boat that you care about." She looked hard at Anna and seemed to study her a bit before continuing.
"Yep, you and Laharl are almost exactly alike. You won't admit it half the time but you really care about those around you. You two will make a great team."

Anna grinned a bit, almost goofily. "Well, I can't let people know about that. That's a sign of a weak leader... so I don't tell anyone what I think about them."
She nodded. "Laharl seems okay, though. Guys annoy me... which is odd, because I act alot like one."
Scratching her head, she sighed. "Atleast guys are thought of as powerful. Sometimes it ends up being hard for a girl to get a powerful position. We're just as good but... people here can be a pain. I'm gonna show them otherwise, though... I'm just as tough as any guy."
She stopped herself, now annoyed. "Ack, I've talked too much... um, are you sure you did'nt need help findin' anything, Flonne?"

"I think it's a sign of a great leader." She listened while Anna talked smiling and nodding at appropriate times, but her head was buzzing.
Should I ask her? Abel did say he was Anna's 'imaginary friend' after all.
She firmly nodded once and then hopped up to the platform where Anna stood. She hunkered down behind the wheel so that no one could see her and she looked up.
"Actually." She whispered.
"I've been meaning to ask you....who's that weird guy that's been hanging around on the ship, I don't think I've seen him before."

Anna almost seemed excited. "Wow, you can see him but neither of the other two can...?"
She spoke quietly, glancing over at Flonne. "His name's Demitri. I had originally created him as an imaginary friend, yeah, but... I'm thinking he's something else. Other people around here can see him, it's not just you. I'm not sure as to what he is. If you'd like to talk to him, he's usually around my bedroom. You'll be able to find that easily, all of us have our names on our doors. My room is... next to one of my crew members old bedrooms, named Abel. Both of them are towards the back of the ship."
She nodded. "If there's anything else you need to ask me, Flonne, I'll be more than glad to tell you what I can, okay?"

Flonne claped her hands together in thanks.
"I'll go do that, I'm curious to know why only a few people can see him." She noticed the pause in her voice when she spoke of Abel's room, as she hopped down to make her way inside she turned and looked back.
"You're such a good Captain Anna, I wouldn't be surprised if a few of your old friends are watching over you even though they can't phsyically be here. Love has no limits." She smiled and ducked inside before Anna could retort.

It took a few tries, but finaly Flonne stood outside Anna's room, she pressed her ear to the door curious if there was any sign of life inside....well...as close to life as an imaginary friend could get.

Demitri was currently messing around as usual, looking through whatever was on Anna's desk. She kept a load of papers up here. It looked like most of them were drawings.
He sighed boredly, stretching his arms. He was relatively thin...
Stopping, he looked towards the door. He furrowed his brows. "I can tell someone's out there... If you can hear me, come in."
He scratched his head. That was a usual greeting... alot of the times no one heard him talking, but they had to be looking for him, since he was sure everyone knew Anna was outside.

Flonne jerked. How could he know she was out there..other than the occasional 'Nin' she had been silent. Oh well, no sense in procrastinating. She turned the handle and poked her head inside. Blinking a few times she stared at the figure before her.
"Demitri?" She asked as if unsure.

"Why, yes.", he answered, grinning, looking almost a bit maniacal. "And what would you need with me? You're from Celestia, right?"
He tilted his head. "I don't even know why I'm ASKING that one, with that get up and the wings it's pretty obvious. Anyway, why is a Celestian around here? Last thing I want is to see any of you guys around."

Flonne shuddered. This guy was even creepier than Etna when Flonne first arrived in the Netherworld. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her in case anyone walked by.
"Yes, I'm from Celestia...Angel-in-Training Flonne at your service. I'm actually here with Laharl...but I came to ask you a few questions....like how is it that only a few people can see you...Laharl and Etna can't see you...but I can...You were Anna's imaginary friend to begin with...but I always thought that those were people only Children could see."

A few moments.
He burst out laughing, as if it were hilarious. "I'm nowhere near imaginary. See my wings? I was from Celestia, too."
He sat up, still crouched over a bit with his hands on his knees. "But they got mad at me and banished me. So now I'm here, with Anna."
Demitri glared a little. "You angels have a really bad set of morals..."

Flonne backed straight into the door. She'd heard of those who had been cast from Celestia...but never had she seen one.
"I-It's not a laughing matter....why were you banished?" She felt his glare burning into her skin, her eyes were wide and focused, someone like this could snap at any moment...or so the Seraph had told her. She had been ordered to flee if she had met up with one like Demitri..but given the current circumstances....she really couldn't do that.

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything. Calm down."
After a moment, he looked as if he were thinking very hard, until he continued. "So, Flonne. What do you think... Do you think that the life of someone who kills others for fun is equal to the life of one such as yourself? One who doesn't want to hurt others, one who does their best to do things correctly while doing it the good way? What about good and evil? Is there a true good, or a true evil? Where do humans lie in that?"
Demitri clapped his hands together. "You see, Flonne, the humans have problems with people who kill other humans without reason. Murderers, yes? I killed quite the few of them. I was a powerful angel. I did'nt like seeing innocent people get killed by other people. I thought it was the right thing to do. Apparently, it wasn't. They said my motives and my actions were evil, even if I'd saved many lives in the process. Anna was one of those. If not for me Asylum would've found her earlier than this. She almost got a hold of her right after she killed her old crew. Asylum's surely still alive but I hid Anna from her. I wasn't in any shape to kill that demon, not in the state I'm in now."

He seemed as if he thought alot on these things. As in, almost constantly.

Flonne listened to his story, her heart going heavier and heavier by the minute.
"Everything deserves life....whether they use it for good or ill is up to that person. I think...I understand. Angels...aren't given the power to Judge, so I can't find them wrong for banishing you...but I can still understand your situation....needless killing...is wrong." She thought back to the Netherworld where Laharl had almost killed Hoggmiser...if he had went through with it...that would have made him no better than those Humans that kill each other without reason.
"I am however...glad that you are here. You protected Anna. She cares deeply for those around her, and I don't think that she'll stop before she's killed Asylum."

"Asylum needs to be killed. She's horrible. But she must have a reason.", he said, poking his index fingers together. "Everyone must have a reason. Even the humans did... but their reasons were bizzare. Humans are very easy to lose their minds... maybe I have, too. But, Flonne..."
He scratched his head. "Nevermind. You won't get it."
Standing up, Demitri stretched, yawning. "So, Flonne. Did you need to ask me anything else?"

She looked at Demitri and cocked her head to one side.
"Of course I won't get it if you don't tell me." She furrowed her brows and crossed her arms.
"Come on, I want to hear what you've got to say." She nodded firmly and waited for Demitri to spill. Heh, hanging around Laharl and Etna was beginning to rub off on her.