New Arrivals

Saint-Domingue, Cayes-Jacmel

Miles From The Docks

September 1799

Waves crash against the ship as it approaches the island at a moderate pace. On the deck of the ship, looking past the sea and onto the island, is a woman who is the picture of elegance. Looking at her features one can easily see that she does not originate from this side of the world and would even look somewhat out of place in Europe.

With a height of five feet five inches, she is on the lower side of the height for the average adult in Saint-Domingue. Her pale skin easily contrasts with her black hair that cascades down her shoulders and onto her lower back while accentuating her sky blue eyes that reveal her asian origins. Unlike the usual puffy dresses of European origin, she wears a form fitting kimono that retains its pure white color despite it reaching down and dragging on the floor. Securing the robe is a very decorative belt that matches her blue eyes with its design of foamy waves.

Calmly standing on the ship's deck, unbothered by the turbulence caused by the waves and with a serene and gentle expression on her face, the woman paints a peaceful picture that contrasts heavily with her inner turmoil.

"We're almost there Lady Kiyomi." says a feminine voice behind the woman.

Turning around, Lady Kiyomi comes face to face with the speaker, a woman very different from her in terms of appearance but beautiful all the same. She is a tall woman with long, waist-length dark brown hair that flows down her back with the top of her hair tied up with an intricate gold hairpin with a pale blue tassel hanging from one end. Her fringe parts around her right eye, slightly covering her left. Her right eye is a deep ruby-colored hue melting into gold, reminiscent of a brilliant dawn; while her left eye is covered by a red eyepatch. From her left ear dangles an earring resembling two hollow diamonds stacked upon each other, the color of which matches with her hairpin.

She dons a black leotard underneath a bright red sleeveless qipao dress, with side slits going up to her hips and the chest area cut out. She also wears an imposing fur-lined red shawl around her shoulders. The back of her qipao dress splits into two, with gold cloud patterns embroidered at the end, accentuated by black bordering. Additionally, she wears a pair of fingerless, elbow-length black gloves. Her boots reach up to her thighs and boast high heels that seem to be lined with metal based on the clicking sound they produce when hitting the wooden deck.

"*Do you think that I made the right decision?*" asks Lady Kiyomi in their native language as the captain of the ship stands next to her.

"*It's not my place to say.*" comes the answer with a shrug.

"*That's not like you, Asami. You don't usually refrain from stating your opinion.*" replies Lady Kiyomi.

"*If I thought that it was a bad idea I'd have told you so already.*" says Asami.

"*True. You're not one to mince words.*" answers Lady Kiyomi.

Before Asami can answer her, a massive wave rises from the sea and forms a wall in front of the ship, blocking its path.

Without wasting a second, Asami turns back to the crew. "*Battle stations everyone!*" she orders while a bell begins to ring in the ship.

Obeying their captain's order without question, the sailors quickly make their way to their designated positions.

"*Lady Kiyomi, I'm going to need you to get below deck.*" commands Asami, only for her to be ignored.

As she makes to repeat herself however, Asami notices her leader staring off into the horizon with her attention captivated by something. Turning to look back at the massive wall of water, Asami watches as it splits down the middle and into two separate walls, allowing a brig to approach them at speeds that no brig should be capable of.

Standing at the bow of the ship, behind the figurehead reminiscent of an Egyptian Pharaoh, is a woman as tall as Asami with skin that is almost as dark as Lady Kiyomi's skin is pale. With the sides of her head shaved, the hair in the middle of her hair is tied into a single dread that reaches down her lower back. She wears a sleeveless red tunic that showcases her toned arms crossed under her generous bust, her legs are covered in black trousers with a sabre sheathed around her waist.

"Unidentified ship, rein in your sales and prepare to be boarded." commands the woman in french before repeating the same order in spanish, english, and portuguese.

Having understood her the first time, Lady Kiyomi commands her subordinates to obey.

As they wait for the other ship to reach them, a woman comes onto the ship's deck and makes her way towards Lady Kiyomi and Asami.

Like Asami, she is a tall woman with fair skin, red eyes and an overall elegant appearance. She has long straight hair, where half is tied up into a wide bun that resembles a bow and the rest falls into two divided parts. Her hair is white, reaches her knees and fades into an ashy color. Her bun is accessorized with a black hairpin, and she wears a red tassel decoration atop her head which lays between her eyes.

She wears a white, high-necked sleeveless qipao dress with side slits that reach up to the thigh. It is decorated with a fur neck wrap around the collar, yellow patterns with gold banding, and black lace along the edge of the dress. In addition, she wears a pair of black high gloves that reach ruffled extensions stretched from the upper arm. Her gloves are decorated with copper patterns and claw attachments on the thumb, ring and pinky fingers that act as fingernail guards. The side of her left thigh has a red tattoo. The side slit in her dress reveals black shorts with diamond cut patterns. She wears a pair of brown high heels, with another tattoo around her right ankle.

"*I hear the bell, yet upon my arrival there seems to be no enemy.*" she says before noticing the approaching ship and the wall of water. "*I seem to have spoken too soon.*" she admits as she stops next to Asami.

"*And where exactly were you?*" asks Asami.

"*I was having tea with the Shogun in Kyoto.*" replies the white haired woman with an eye roll.

"*Akari, please refrain from mentioning him around me.*" coldly orders Lady Kiyomi.

"*Apologies my lady.*" replies Akari with a bow.

Like this, silence falls over the group as the brig slowly drifts next to their ship before coming to a stop. With a plank connecting the two ships, the woman who had ordered them to stop crosses over to their ship.

Now that they are facing her, Asami and Lady Kiyomi are able to see that she possesses a beautiful face despite the vertical scar over her left eye; in fact the scar only seems to add to her beauty instead of detracting from it.

"I am Captain Farah of 'The Pharaoh', visits to Hayti are currently under strict restrictions. What is your purpose for coming?" she asks.

With her hands tucked into the sleeves of her kimono, Lady Kiyomi steps forward despite Asami and Akari's protests. "I am Lady Kiyomi, Head of the Adashino family, and we are here to pledge ourselves to Pharaoh Atem." replies Lady Kiyomi with a bow.

Faster than most humans can react, Farah draws her sabre and points it at the bowing woman's head only to find a claymore pointed at her own throat while crystal bullets are aimed at her head.

"One more move and your head will be removed from your shoulders." says Asami with a glare that would make any lesser being cower and a voice dripping in bloodlust.

Rather than answer, Farah merely smirks back at the woman.

"Just give the word captain, and I'll blow both of their brains out." says a voice from behind Asami and Akari.

Slightly turning their heads, Asami and Akari find a pistol aimed at the back of their heads by a figure enshrouded by what seems to be living shadows.

"We seem to be at an impasse." says Akari.

Before Farah can answer her, Kiyomi interjects "Akari, Asami, put your weapons away." She commands as she straightens from her bow with a calm expression on her face. "I am not so fragile that a simple sabre would kill me." she says, earning her an incredulous expression from Farah.

"Simple? Samuel would have a fit if he ever heard you call his work simple." says Farah with a laugh.

"I meant no disrespect." apologises Lady Kiyomi.

"Don't worry about it." replies Farah with a chuckle before once again becoming serious. "Only a very few amount of people know of his highness's preferred title. How do you know it?" asks Farah.

"I had a vision." replies Lady Kiyomi.

Chuckling, Farah carefully regards Kiyomi before sheathing her sabre. "You're a Hime-Miko." comments the captain as she nods at her subordinate to remove his pistols from Asami and Akari's heads while Kiyomi orders Asami and Akari to do the same.

"As stated earlier, the Adashino family have come to pledge ourselves to his highness." repeats Lady Kiyomi.

"Hmmm, I heard you the first time." says Farah as she inspects the people on the ship.

The group is made up of both men and women, all in various Japanese clothing with many of them resembling either Kiyomi, Asami or Akari in a way. Judging by their calm expressions, Farah infers that none of them doubted Asami and Akari's ability to dispose of her before she could harm Kiyomi, a thought that makes her internally chuckle at how similar they are to the people of Cayes-Jacmel. Had the situation been reversed she's sure that the people of Cayes-Jacmel would have been just as sure of Caenis or Marik's ability to dispose of anyone threatening their king.

"You can follow my ship to the docks. However, once we get there only you and your two bodyguards are allowed to disembark, anyone else will be killed." she tells them.

"I understand." replies Lady Kiyomi.

"Good." says Farah as she returns to her ship with the shadowy figure close behind.

As their ships begin to move towards the island, the massive wall of water slowly recedes back into the sea, allowing them to pass.

"*Did you see her move?*" asks Asami.

"*No.*" replies Akari with a slight frown. "*I did not see the shadow board the ship either.*" she adds.

"*Me neither.*" answers Asami.

"*Could you have defeated her?*" asks Kiyomi.

Nodding, Asami turns to face her leader "It would've barely taken us three seconds, but those three seconds would have been enough for the shadow to blow our brains out."

"*That gun reeks of magic.*" adds Akari as the ship slowly drifts into the docks.

Arriving, the trio leave the others on the ship as they join Farah on the island.

"You can follow directions, good. It'd be a shame if you ended up like the last group who thought that they were above following directions." comments Farah as she glances towards a specific spot on the ground while they approach her.

Following her line of sight, they find themselves looking at a blotch of dried blood and a hole that was clearly caused by a spear.

"Who exactly were they?" asks Akari as Farah leads them to a horse drawn carriage.

"He was a member of the church's Burial Agency who thought that he was better than us and didn't need to listen to us 'savages'" answers Farah as they board the carriage. "The carriage will take you to his highness, good luck." says Farah as she closes the door behind them.

"Are you not joining us?" asks Lady Kiyomi.

"Nah, I have an assignment from him that I should be getting to. If you're still here when I get back we should get to know each other." replies Farah before returning to her ship.

With her departure, the driver spurs the horse into action, leaving the docks and heading into the city. As they travel on the smooth cobblestone path, the three of them take the time to observe the city, and what they find calms their nerves. Children can be found laughing and smiling as they play next to the road, shops thriving with customers can be seen, and everyone generally seems to be quite happy.

"*I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly is not this.*" says Akari, earning a nod of agreement from Asami.

Before anyone else can say anything else however, their attention is drawn to a man reenacting a battle in the air using figurines made of fire while a group of children watch on in awe.

Knocking on the window that separates them from the driver, Asami draws his attention "Is that man doing magic?" she asks the driver as he turns to face her.

"Yes he is. Is this your first time seeing magic?" he asks.

"No, I'm just shocked to see it used blatantly like this where everyone can see. Isn't he afraid that he'll reveal the existence of magic?" she asks.

Laughing as if he's heard the funniest joke in a while, the man regards her with a raised eyebrow. "Everyone knows about the existence of the supernatural world." he answers, shocking the three women.

"What? Are you not afraid that it will empower the beasts, monsters, and any Heretic God that descends into this plane?" asks Akari. "With the knowledge of their existence, the people's beliefs will fuel any that descends onto this plane. Especially if they come here." she explains.

"Don't worry about it. Any Heretic God that's dumb enough to descend here will just be a stepping stone for his highness to become more powerful." responds the man nonchalantly.

Not knowing how to respond, Asami and Akari silently turn back to observing the city and its people, only now with tense muscles as if they expect a Heretic God to descend at any moment.

The rest of the trip is spent like this until the carriage finally stops in front of a massive ziggurat where a hovering child no older than ten seems to be building something into the wall while two girls no older than fourteen watch on.

Leaving the carriage and thanking the driver, the group watches on fascinatingly as the boy slots countless pieces onto each other as if solving a puzzle. Faster than should be possible, the pieces assemble themselves until they form two long cannons that attach themselves to the upper walls of the ziggurat where a metal pipe seems to be protruding. Once attached, the cannons glow a golden color and make a powering up sound before once again becoming dormant.

Seemingly satisfied with his work, the child floats back down to the ground and exchanges a few words with the girls before turning to face them wordlessly commanding them to approach and speak.

Approaching the child with a grace that makes it seem as if she floats over the ground, Lady Kiyomi studies him for a few seconds before bowing. "Pharaoh Atem, I am Lady Kiyomi, Head of the Adashino family. I pledge our loyalty and service to you."