Atlantis was a small, narrow bar. Dark yet quaint. The bar itself lay on the right hand of the place, a series of booths to the left with enough space for a few tables in between. Claris walked in, not letting go of Evan’s hand, and scanned the bar. There was a man at one of the booths on the very back of the bar, another by the bar itself. A short woman with short hair and pale skin stood behind the bar cleaning some glasses. She wore all black, a dress the pair assumed.

Claris walked over to the bar and sat on one of the stools, Evan sitting by him, still holding hands. The woman at the bar noticed them and rushed over to be in front of them. She looked excited as she waved hello at Claris, her bright yellow eyes shimmering.

The prince let go of Evan’s hand and started moving his own hands. Evan stared, as his date signed away while the woman replied in a similar fashion.

“This is Mireila, she’s a vampire and she was born mute.” Claris introduced her, the woman gave Evan a huge fanged smile and signed her name, sparkles flashing about and twisting to form letters in the Common Tongue. “She can read lips, so don’t worry.”

Mireila signed again, the sparkles forming new words.

“Hello there, handsome!” The sparkles read. “You know my name, what would yours be?”

“Evan.” The captain said waving at her like she’d done.

Mireila turned to Claris and signed him something that made him laugh. He signed back and Mireila did as if she were laughing. Evan was both mystified and confused.

“How may I help you today, gentlemen?” She signed, sparkles once more moving about to form letters.

“Pirate ship, close to Wisteria’s bay…” Claris spoke and signed at the same time.

“The day before yesterday, close to midnight or around that hour.” Evan continued.

“Oh, that information is actually—” Mireila was in the middle of signing when Claris interrupted her.

“Worth more than a favor.” The prince finished. “Is it worth one of my scales?”

Mireila stared at him surprised before asking them to follow her. The woman led them to a small room she had locked up at first. The room had a desk and all walls were covered by bookshelves. They were all organized by month and year, the oldest went back fifty years. Mireila had a book on the desk already when they walked in, all she did was shift three pages back from where she’d left it and dabbed her finger over the page. The pair walked closer and stared at the page, a map of the surrounding coast of Wisteria all the way to Lucella Archipelago farther southwest.

“Is this that important to you?” Mireila asked.

“Evan found a mer from Luna in a death net close to Wisteria’s bay. As commander of the Sin Hunters it is my duty to hunt these bastards down.” It was also to impress his crush.

“You might need more than the Sin Hunters to catch these.” Mireila signed before placing both hands on the map. A red line came about as the woman fused her life energy with the pages, the red line started at Ultear, main island of the Lucella Archipelago, traveled to a beach east of Wisteria, on the other side of the stone wall that limited the city, and then went back to Ursa, one of the smaller islands of the Lucella Archipelago. Along with the line, a brand showed up in the map.

“A dragon…?” Evan asked. The red serpent-like creature with wings coiled forming a circle, the wings opened wide enough to encase its body.

“You’re lucky, up until now these guys had only been a myth. They never leave any loose ends… the only reason I have their route is because they wanted me to. I think they’re trying to expand to Wisteria Domain…” Mireila explained. “If they are, they must be ready to deal with the Sin Hunters, to deal with you.”

“I hear you… will they be staying at No Man’s Land for long?” Claris asked.

“I’m not sure, I haven’t found much else about them. Like I said, getting this route was a lucky break. I know you travel to No Man’s Land regularly, but these guys…” Mireila was really concerned. “I can’t give you intel I don’t have, you’d be going in blind.”

“We’ll figure it out. Thanks for your help…” Claris extended his arm and he breathed out, bracing for something. Mireila took hold of his hand and shook her head.

“I just wanted to know how serious you were about this…what I’ve given you isn’t worth one of your scales.” She signed.

“Promise you won’t let your bloodlust take over on this one.” Mireila signed, this time without using written translation. “You’ll need your head aside from your instincts.”

“I promise, when it’s done I’ll come back here first.” Claris signed.

Mireila let them go on their way after that. The woman accompanied them to the door. She was worried and would remain so until Claris returned as promised.

“Good luck, both of you. I hope to see you again soon.” She signed them off, the pair of men waving goodbye at her.

Evan wasn’t quite sure what had happened between Claris and Mireila. He wanted to ask thanks to how much his curiosity was killing him over it. Instead, he remained silent all the way back to the main tunnel entrance. When they were half way through, Claris was the first to speak up.

“Mireila didn’t always run Atlantis, she took over her dad when he passed away.” Claris explained. “Toughest vampire pirate the Sea Lands ever saw, turned a new leaf when his baby girl was born. I never met the guy, but his daughter lives up to his name when it comes to her information gathering skills. We’ve known each other for a really long time, so she worries I may someday go up against someone too strong for me take on.”

“Would you? Take on someone obviously stronger than you, I mean?”

“I’ve never met anyone stronger than I am.” Claris chuckled.

“Not even me?” Evan teased, he felt like Claris’ statement may have been a challenge.

“I don’t think you could beat me, but we could spar if you need convincing.” Claris replied, looking up at the ceiling, pretending that what he’d said wasn’t an invitation.

“You’re on, Prince of Luna. Maybe after we figure out who these dragon pirates are.” Evan was already excited over sparring with Claris, mostly because he’d never fought someone who could use magic to move like the prince could. “Their location is time sensitive…”

“I’ll go to No Man’s Land tonight, see if I can find anyone with death nets or selling slaves.” Claris announced. “I’ll tell you how it goes tomorrow!”

“Your friend just told you it might be very dangerous… and you’ll go on your own?” Evan questioned. “Can’t I go with you?”

“No Man’s Land is outside the tour, captain. Besides, with your pretty eyes? They’ll know something’s up from a mile away.” The pair had reached the end of the tunnel, Claris asked Evan to come closer to him with his finger.

“And your hair and eyes won’t give you away? I haven’t seen many blue-haired people around the city.” Evan obliged, Claris scoffed at that.

“I’ll dye my hair for tonight! I know how to use disguises.”

“As do I.” Evan rose an eyebrow as Claris ogled him annoyed. “Our date could go on longer that way.”

“That is  a good reason to take you along…” The prince thought about it for a few seconds. The one thing he was concerned about was managing to escape if they got discovered. He could do so by sea normally but considering his target might have death nets using a water escape route wouldn’t be very smart. Claris could take on a couple pirates… yet, maybe taking back-up with him wasn’t such a bad idea. “Alright, you win. But we definitely have to cover your eyes up, we really can’t risk the attention.”

“That’s alright… on that note, you like my eyes?” Evan tried. Claris only pulled him close and held him tight.

“Yes, I really do. They’re very pretty, like beautiful jewels.” The prince said, a gust of air pushing them upwards, all the way out the pit.

“You’re the first person to ever tell me that.” Aside from Ashura and Yuki, even Touta thought Evan’s eyes were weird for being Akakawan. Evan didn’t step back when the two of them landed outside the pit. He was really enjoying the proximity, perhaps a little too much. “I’ve been told they’re too round…”

“Well, the people who say that are blind jerks with bad taste.” Claris added. “I have to umm… get ready for tonight… but, how about you invite me to some ice cream before we part ways?”

“Sounds like a good idea. Will we take the streets or the roofs, Your Highness?” Evan had definitely lightened up. He was back to being a cute, charmed puppy.

“Streets, this way.” Claris couldn’t even believe how his crush had adapted so easily to how crazy their first date was turning out to be. Goddesses, was he really liking this guy more and more by the minute. “I bet I can guess your favorite flavor.”

“Two silvers I can guess yours.”

The thing was, Evan liked him more and more by the minute too.

“Two says you can’t, Captain.”

“I like my odds, Your Highness.”