Captain Bell was nervous. Excited. Impatient. He remembered the feeling of danger radiating from the Alchemist. The tingle down his spine that told him, captain Bell, not to draw a blade against this man. By fear alone, the Alchemist had bullied Bell into making an honest deal. Bell spat on the ground. The thought sickened him.

  Bell looked around the room. Blackhook was there, waiting like a coiled snake. Unexpectedly, the man who had always towered over Bell had actually suggested Bell take the lead in this. Bell shook his head in wonder. After all this time, Blackhook was supporting him? How strange. How nice.

  Ironbeard was also in the room. The little boy had two knives strapped to his belt, and he looked like... well, a boy with two knives. Not much intimidation there. Guzz was much scarier. The captain had removed his eyepatch, and the soft blue glow from his glass eye shone in the dark room. Nothing like the suggestion of magic to keep everyone in line. The man didn't have any visible weapons on him, yet there was a little circle of open space where nobody dared to come too close. Bell nodded his approval at that.

  Torod was the final captain in the room. There was nothing special about him. He was just a bastard. Killed his way to the top. Bell would rather sail under any other captain, even Ironbeard. There wasn't a merciful bone in Torod's body. If he were poisoned, he'd spit in the mouth of the people trying to rescue him. Bell shifted around the room to be a bit further away from the man.

  Bell glanced at the potted plants in the center of the room. They were broad-leaf zelks. Nothing special, but one of the sailors had some luminescent paint, and the plants now had glowing blue edges. The girl had been adamant that the Alchemist wasn't an alchemist at all, and didn't know anything about plants. Bell hoped she was right. All they needed was to get the man in the center of the room, distracted by an exotic plant. That was all he needed to—

  Bell's thoughts were interrupted as the door opened, and the Alchemist stepped into the room.

  Lance knocked on the door. A good, firm, guardsman's knock. Hepp was restless, waiting for another round of questioning, that led to something like "lots of men turned up, I locked my door. Didn't see nothing." He looked around the street, and saw a couple of men walking toward the arena. They stopped, and one of them dropped his spear in shock.

  "Hey!"

  Hepp started running toward them. They reacted with all reasonableness and started sprinting away.

  "Damnit."

  Hepp chased them through several streets. They knew this city better than Hepp, but Hepp had an advantage. You couldn't outrun someone with Extreme Endurance. Hepp silently thanked Zig once again for pushing him to get the skill. He finally tackled one of the men, pinning him to the ground.

  "Please don't kill me."

  "Huh? No! Listen, I'm trying to find out what happened."

  "What happened?"

  "No, I'm asking you! What happened?"

  "I just saw it before you started chasing me!"

  Hepp let go of the man, helping him up off the ground.

  "Sorry, I'm a little tense. My name's Hepp. Lucy, the owner, was my friend."

  "...was?"

  "She's missing. The whole place is torn up. We're trying to find out who did it. Do you know anyone who might have been training in the last day or two?"

  "Well... yea. I know a dozen men that might've been there."

  Hepp sighed in relief.

  "Ok. Thanks. Let's go see who..."

  "But I don't know if you should continue looking into this. Sailors can be an ugly lot. It's not safe down at the docks."

  Hepp frowned.

  "Who said anything about sailors?"

  "I, uh, I—"

  Hepp loomed his best loom at the man, grabbing him by the shirt.

  "What aren't you telling me?"

  "I... might have been there. Just before it all went down."

  Gutters was wearing a formal suit. He'd never worn anything like this. Undershirt, then a shirt, then a vest, then a jacket. Ribbons tied around his neck. A random square of cloth carefully half-tucked into his jacket pocket.

  "This is ridiculous. I look ridiculous."

  "Hold still, I'm almost done."

  Jane tsked as she did some final buttons.

  "There."

  She stood back to admire her creation. Gutters went over to the mirror to see how he looked in the polished silver. He couldn't believe who was staring back at him. It was still Gutters, the blue skin and big eyes confirmed that. But he was clean, and stood with a straight posture. He was dressed finer than anyone he'd seen in his life. That didn't mean much, considering most of his life had been in Middle district. But still...

  "Jane, this is..."

  Gutters had no words. Jane was beaming.

  "I told you I'd make a noble out of you. Give us a twirl."

  Gutters turned in a circle, allowing Jane to see him from all angles.

  "I do miss my cape. Could we swap the jacket for a cape?"

  Jane thought about it.

  "It's not conventional, but, neither is a noble troglodyte I suppose. Let's try it out."

  Gutters fetched the cape that he'd ordered for the most special occasions. It was black on the outside, but a deep red on the inside. It would look very plain until it swept open. He quickly fastened it on.

  "How do I look now?"

  Gutters gave another twirl, this time with a cape flaring up just a little, giving a hint of red. Jane smiled.

  "You look like you. Shall we?"

  Gutters proffered his arm, and Jane took it. They stepped out into the warm night air, and made their way to the ballroom.

  The academy was packed, like it had been all day. This time, however, everyone was dressed up. Men were in jackets, polished swords at their belts, and frilly bits of cloth at their necks. The women were wearing ballgowns, elegant and beautiful with their necks, ears, wrists and hands all sparkling with jewels. The atmosphere was bright with excitement. Jane looked like she'd seen it all before. Well, she probably had. Gutters was staring wide-eyed at everything.

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  People often stopped and turned heads to see the pair walking through the courtyard. Gutters wondered if it was because of Jane. She really was beautiful, wearing a blue silk dress that contrasted perfectly with her red hair. She had a silver necklace with a single diamond hanging at the bottom. Nothing too fancy, but she fit into the party with well-worn ease.

  Gutters heard a high-pitched tittering laugh. It was from Lucille, a girl he hadn't really talked to, but had been warned to stay away from.

  "She's coming to the ball with that. And to think I was actually afraid—"

  Lucille broke into laughter again, along with a few of her friends.

  "Ignore her," Jane said softly.

  "I don't even know what she's talking about," Gutters responded.

  "That's it. Good attitude to have."

  Gutters was about to ask what she meant when they stepped into the ballroom. It was a grand building, with a tall ceiling that was covered in delicate paintings. More paintings lined the walls, where there were tables filled with drinks and snacks. A band was playing instruments Gutters had never seen before in a corner of the room. The music was enchanting, perhaps literally. Gutters wanted to dance, he wanted to move.

  "Not bad," Jane said, taking it all in.

  "Not bad?"

  "It's probably the fanciest party I've been to," Jane admitted. "I just don't want to be drawn back into this. All the happiest moments of my life have been traveling around with the Red Daggers. All this..." she gestured at the lavish party. "A cage made of gold is still a cage, Gutters. Remember that."

  Gutters nodded as he looked around with wonder at everything. There were servants gliding through the room, offering refreshments on silver trays. No water elementals in this room, but Gutters could see doors open to smaller side rooms, and there were occasional magical flashes and glimpses of elementals in those rooms. Gutters felt dizzy trying to take it all in.

  "Look at that. Someone brought the freak."

  Gutters looked around, but couldn't see who said it. It was a crowded place.

  "Who's gonna dance with the frog? I'll give you five gold to be the first."

  Gutters did see who said that. It was Lucille again.

  "Pardon me, miss," Gutters inclined his head politely, "but 'frog' is an offensive term to my people."

  "I know, frog, that's why I said it. And you address me as 'lady', not 'miss'."

  Lucille sniffed. Jane rolled her eyes.

  "Come on Gutters, let's dance."

  She took Gutters by the hand and led him to the dance floor. People dancing around them drifted away, not wanting to be dancing next to a 'frog'. It meant that Gutters and Jane were suddenly in a spot all on their own, with crowds of people watching. Gutters gulped. Even Jane looked nervous.

  "It's ok, Gutters. We're just going to show them that you can dance."

  Gutters nodded, feeling a little hot and constricted in his many layers of clothing.

  "Deep breath."

  Gutters took a deep breath, then bowed, offering his hand at the same time. Jane took it lightly, and the two of them began to dance.

  Teeth sat outside, on the street, thoughtfully chewing on the man that had been standing there moments before. She liked Zig, and was happy to accompany him on his adventures. He was refreshingly not a horse, and got up to all kinds of things that Teeth would never have thought of. A good friend.

  Teeth spat out a glove, there was too much metal around the knuckles. She whinnied a little and sighed. Cities were interesting, but there was no space. Teeth wanted a good run. Perhaps she'd go hunting in the forest for a bit?

  There was a whistle in the air, and a tiny needle thunked into Teeth's side. She looked at it, frowning. She plucked it out with her teeth, and spat it on the ground. Eugh. Poison. Not even the good sort, that got her drunk.

  Another whistle, and another needle landed on her. Teeth plucked that out to, and looked around. Who was throwing poison needles? It could probably hurt someone. Teeth got to her feet, shaking herself off. She leaned and narrowly avoided a third needle as it flew through the air. Teeth felt pretty proud of herself for that. A horse, dodging a needle in a tiny street? She'd like to see any other horse try that.

  There was a flash of movement as the needle thrower left their hiding spot and ran away. Teeth blinked. It was hard to keep track of the person, they seemed to slip in and out of focus. Teeth neighed, half in challenge to the needle-thrower, half as a warning for people to stay indoors. She broke into a trot, following the mysterious person into the city.

  "Ho, captains," Zig said from under his hood. He walked with as much confidence as he could, but he was a little nervous. There were five captains gathered, and one of them was a child. Weird. But if there were only five, why choose to meet in this giant, dimly-lit warehouse?

  Zig's eyes were drawn to a few pot plants sitting in the center of the large room. The plants were glowing on the edges, as if they were magical. Cool.

  "Ho, mister Alchemist."

  "Hey, I recognize you. Bell, right?"

  Zig relaxed a little. It was nice to work with people he already knew. Bell shuffled uneasily.

  "And I recognize you. But your club's changed."

  The captain nodded at the weapon hanging at Zig's side. The wood was nice and polished, and the "enchanted runes" were different. Zig shrugged.

  "Upgrades. Can't stay still in this world, am I right? Always gotta keep moving."

  "You... have two enchanted weapons?"

  "I might have broken the first one."

  All the captains winced in financial sympathy at that. The child tugged at one of the other captain's sleeve, who bent down to listen to the boy whispering in his ear.

  "Well, we got something valuable for you." Bell said a bit quickly. "It's, er, glowing blue moon lotus. Or something. Damnit." Bell spat on the floor. "I don't actually know what it's called. My men gave it to me, said it's valuable."

  "How valuable?"

  "You're the Alchemist. You tell me."

  Zig frowned, smelling a rat. This didn't feel like the other deals he'd made as the Alchemist. Over on the far side of the building, where there were just piles of crates and barrels, someone sneezed.

  "It's pretty dusty in here." Zig said, nodding to himself. He looked at the plants again. A few drops of glowing goop had dripped off the leaves and onto the ground.

  Are they using my own tricks against me?

  Zig felt like he could recognize goop when he saw it.

  "Hey Bell, what captain doesn't know the name of his super valuable trade goods?"

  Bell's hand was gripping the handle of his sword tightly. One of the other captains spoke up. It was the one the child had whispered to.

  "What alchemist carries a fake enchanted weapon? Ironbeard has a translate skill. Your club just says 'sailors are stupid' on it, in some weird language."

  Ah.

  Bell looked visibly relieved.

  "It's fake? Heheh, I guess the Alchemist is not so scary after all. You have my respect, lad, I thought you were the real deal."

  The captain took his hand off the hilt of his sword, instead cracking his knuckles and advancing on Zig.

  "Looks like I'm gonna have some fun—"

  The top half of Bell sprayed across the warehouse. Zig blinked in surprise himself. This was the first time he'd used his stone club since getting Strength. It seemed to synergize with Rock Proficiency. Quite a lot.

  All the captains were silent for a moment, as little splatters of red rained down onto the floor. The bottom half of Bell finally lost balance and flopped onto the floor with a thud.

  "I guess that concludes our business."

  Zig wished he had sunglasses he could put on. That was a hell of a line. He tried to step away smoothly but his legs were shaking. Adrenaline was kicking in.

  "Get him!"

  One of the captains shouted, and the room erupted into chaos. Sailors jumped out of shadows, out from behind crates, sometimes out of the crates themselves. Over a hundred men suddenly filled the room, each a seasoned fighter.

  Zig quickly reached into his pocket and grabbed one of the balls Knob had given him. He threw it into the air and smacked it with his club. It worked beautifully. Half of the warehouse was instantly filled in a thick cloud of rock dust. Men were still running everywhere, but now they were swinging at each other, unable to see who was who in the thick cloud. Zig turned and tried to sprint for the exit. He made it two steps before a man stumbled out of the cloud, almost falling on top of him. The sailor swing a knife down at Zig, who stepped aside at the last moment. Zig returned the gesture with his club, and a second round of red stuff rained down in the room. Unfortunately, the rain took a bunch of dust with it, clearing up the space around Zig.

  "There he is!"

  Zig ducked back into the dust cloud, smacking into the back of another sailor. The man turned around and raised his hammer. Zig reached out and gave him a shove. The man flew across the room, taking down several others as he want. The dust cloud swirled at the movement, but it was a lot better than the rain. Phew. Zig kept running. He no longer knew which direction the door was, but he couldn't stay put. He came across another sailor, and threw him away like the first one. Then he saw an ominous blue glow coming through the cloud at about head height. This wasn't plants in goop. This was the real deal.

  "Nope." Zig said. He turned and sprinted in the other direction. As shapes appeared before him, Zig just lowered his shoulder and kept charging. It hurt. Zig was strong, but not tough. A big dark object suddenly loomed before him. Zig charged that too, not realizing it was the wall of the warehouse itself. The building shook as a Zig-shaped hole suddenly appeared. Zig flopped onto the alleyway, groaning.

  "Don't want to do that again."

  Clouds of dust billowed onto the street behind him. Inside the building was chaos. Everybody was still shouting and fighting.

  "He's outside!"

  One of the sailors had seen the hole in the wall. Half a dozen men all started squeezing themselves through the hole. Further down, Zig could hear doors opening and men piling out onto the street.

  Zig picked himself up, and started running.