Strange images danced through Lux's dazed mind; glowing embers swirling through a darkness that seemed to shift and move like a fox in the night. He could vaguely see a dark form laying on a table, Sega. She turned her shadowy head towards him, her eyes glowing like coals. Flames started to flicker around her as she was engulfed. 

His eyes snapped open, but the world continued to swirl. His hands dangled over his head, bound together and swaying as the ground passed beneath them. Lux blinked, only one eye seemed to be working, confused as to what he was seeing. He turned his head to see the lower half of a man marching over cobblestones. Through the diziness he finally pieced together what he was seeing, and that he was being carried on someone's shoulder. A throbbing on the side of his head indicated that he had taken a blow. Lux winced, the memory of getting knocked out by a punch slowly flickering in his thoughts. 

The cobbles turned abruptly into wood planks, they creaked under the man's stomping boots. They must be at the docks. Of course, Vigo had been ordered to take him back to the ship. Lux turned his head the other way to look past his closed eye, his brow furrowed as he watched them walk past the pitch black ship. It’s hull was neatly repaired as men hung from ropes, painting the new wood black.

He couldn’t see where they might be headed, but Lux’s stomach felt cold. They stomped past another ship before entering a small platform, where a crowd of workers had gathered. Goosebumps rose along Lux’s neck as he realized it was the gallows, where traitors and prisoners met their end upon making land. A small crowd stared up at a single body swinging from the stand; a woman in a familiar dress. The cold pit in Lux's stomach suddenly filled with the urge to vomit.

Anya. A cloth bag was over her head. But Lux knew it was her. 

Lux blinked, swallowing the bile back. He scanned the crowd, looking for the child. But the view was cut off. They entered a building and the door shut quietly behind them, submerging them in darkness. Lux focused on keeping his breath shallow, as if he were still knocked out. He felt the man shift and suddenly he was launched into the air. He fell hard on his back, onto a stone floor. He coughed, the air knocked from his lungs. He couldn't hold it in anymore, and he vomited blood onto the floor before collapsing on his side. 

Orange light swelled, a small flame floated through the air to light a lantern set on a box nearby. Lux squinted, trying to still the spinning room. Wooden boxes were stacked all around, musty straw littered the floor. Most likely one of the warehouses along the docks. The lantern lit the side of of a fimiliar face, amber light stark against the dark skin. Vigo shook the match to extinguish it. Air finally seeped back into Lux’s lungs as he coughed, the swollen half of his face absorbing the cold from the stone floor. A mouse’s twinkling black eyes stared at him from between two boxes, its nose twitched and it vanished. Lux drew in a slow breath. 

A large hand grabbed him by the hair and yanked him into a sitting position. 

“The quicker you spit it out, the quicker you’ll get out of this hell hole.” Vigo muttered, his voice rumbling in Lux’s chest.

“I don't know what you want me to spit out, I've already spit out enough." Lux cleared his coarse voice, keeping his expression trained. "But, by “getting out of this hell hole” I assume you mean as a corpse.” Lux forced a small smile. 

Vigo frowned and back-handed him across his already swollen cheek. Lux chuckled, spitting out more blood. Lux shifted, crossing his legs as Vigo still held his hair. 

“You know, I saw those signs in town. The wanted posters. I thought maybe you all left them up as a way to mock the authorities. But then I realized something…” Lux glared up at Vigo through his lashes, he licked the blood off his teeth. As he had been searching for Anya and Rego, he had passed by several notice boards with a familiar face drawn onto a piece of paper. Signs from the city authorities calling for the capture of a certain notorious captain. In a port like this one, these were uncommon, considering the towns themselves flourished from the black market industry and most of the figureheads kept the pirates busy with personal errands. 

“There were no other wanted posters. For any other merchant pirates. Only one --" 

Vigo’s eyes flickered as he landed another hit to cut Lux off, shoving him back into a stack of boxes. 

Lux smiled patiently at him, despite his vision doubling. Two Vigo's approached, before they merged into one. 

The large man stood over him, the shadows harsh on his skin. 

“I think you misunderstand me, Vigo.” Lux spat out more blood. “We both know that if he’s in prison, his ambition would no longer be a threat. He’d at least be safe.” He stared at Vigo, looking for any shift in the man’s features. “It might work, but that would mean getting the authorities involved, and they’ll release him after a short time.”

Vigo clenched his fists. “Tell me where to find the beast.”

Lux swallowed. “Well, if I don’t, it’ll slow down the Captain’s progress. Perhaps even pull him up entirely.” He lisped as his lip started to swell. "But, you'll still kill me, huh?" Lux wrinkled his nose, and winced from the pain. 

Vigo crossed his arms. "You don’t know him, he will never stop hunting that thing.” Vigo’s eyes shone in the darkness. The two men stared in silence for a moment.

“So you think confinement is the only way.” Lux nodded. “But you need to keep up the charade. You need Tekla to believe that you are still doing his bidding. Or do you intend to kill that monster yourself and reap the captain’s praise?” 

Vigo bristled as Lux spoke, then pounced forward, grabbing Lux by the throat and lifting him off his feet. He snarled, inches from Lux. 

“Don't act like you know what it means to protect someone." 

“But I do know how to do it without making you a liar.” Lux quirked an eyebrow, straining to speak. “Come now, this is about vengeance, the Captain won’t feel satisfied unless he kills Darkflame himself.” Lux forcibly held back the amusement that rose as he recalled having this same conversation. “Let me do the lying for you."

If he was already going to be colluding with Sega, he might as well get Vigo in on it. The more the merrier. Vigo held a greater likelihood of betrayal, but if it involved keeping Tekla out of the line of fire, Lux felt like it was the best chance he had. He hadn’t imagined falling into such a position of being the puppet master, but somehow it might manage to achieve all of their goals. At the very least he might survive a little bit longer. 

He watched the wheels spinning as Vigo frowned at him. His grip started to relax, but he still held Lux off the ground. 

“There’s one flaw to your plan. The Captain wants you dead, you are the greatest threat to him next to that damned lizard.” Vigo, poked him hard in the chest. Lux held back the wince. “How could you possibly play that one off?” 

Lux smirked. So the big man wasn’t an oaf after all. You are the greatest threat to him. Lux hadn’t considered it much. Suddenly the images of the Blacksmith shop surged back into his mind. Since he woke up, he hadn’t had a single thought to spare. His pupils dilated. He pushed back against the big man, startling him slightly. Vigo managed to press him back to the boxes, as Lux drew sharp breaths through his nose.

Lux struggled to contain the sudden wave of terror. His heart pounded in his ears, images flashed in his mind; her wounds, of his energy coursing through his hands into her. His ears rang, and he clenched his good eye closed. Calm down. You know she’s still alive. The energy pulse in his hands and he clenched his fists, hoping that Vigo wouldn’t notice. A voice in the back of his mind wondered what had gotten into him. 

"Where is Sega?" He tried to make his voice steady. Vigo narrowed his eyes before dropping his grip. Lux crumbled to the the ground, his legs too weak to catch himself. Vigo scoffed, the sound deep in his throat. 

“It seems you share the same weakness as the Captain.” Lux’s eye snapped open and locked onto Vigo. 

Vigo turned away, crossing his arms as he ruminated on a thought. Lux watched the large man pace, his movements slow and fluid like a tiger in a cage. Finally Vigo stopped, his back to Lux. He stood that way for a long moment, then turned around with a sigh.

He glared down at Lux, his eyes lit with distaste. “Killing you will only open a door between The Captain and his Quarter Master. It needs to stay closed.” He looked away, revulsion contorting his features in the lantern light. He pinched the bridge of his nose. 

Suddenly Vigo’s face lit up, an unnerving stillness spreading over him. "Ah, I have an idea.” 

A cold sweat swept over Lux. His stomach twisted at the thought of how quickly the tides had turned on him. And how they kept pummling him over and over again.