The Other Side of the Mask

"Well, just like how mercenaries and bandits have guilds, there's a pirate league. They're bound to come after us because of Sadie Shih," ZhuWu replies with concern.

"Pirate League? How come I've never heard of it?"

"Hah, none of this information ever reaches the capital, or the royal family because of the corrupt nobles and administration."

"Mmmm, makes sense."

"You're not surprised? I mean, you're part of the people that serve the royals right?"

Oh right, I didn't tell him. Welp…

"Well, judging by how easily the nobles here are bribed, others must suck too…"

"Haha, you got that right. It's sorta funny how ya have a salty mouth, yet you once served the royals."

"Well, I didn't always serve them."

"True enough."

We chatter along the rest of the day, since work was done early with my help. The next couple of days were quite peaceful. The mercenary guild started to call me the Masked Siren or something like that… literally labeling me as 'dangerous'.

About a month later, some bad news came for the port town. It's just as ZhuWu predicted: the Pirate League has come.

A misty morning at four o'clock, the townspeople spot at least ten pirate flags sailing towards us. I wake up alarmed as people start to ring bells and scream. They start to sound alarms. Children and women hide in the houses as the men carry weapons, ready to fight. All the mercenary men gather up, with an evil smirk on their face. We line the harbor, ready for the fight.

We hear a projected voice fill through the air, "This is your last chance to surrender your town!"

"Charge!" We scream, and we engage in battle.

The war cries sound throughout the harbor. Curious children watch in terror, and mothers cover their ears. The doctors of the town rush to treat the injured, but the pirates throw them off into the abyss of the ocean. Sharks start to swim up, following the scent of blood. I watch in horror while knocking out pirates. I have to hurry! I think to myself… or else too many townspeople will die. I rush, scared at what will happen. I look up at the lead ship and see ZhuWu fighting the pirate captain, face red full of rage. Thousands of wounds cover his body, as he tries to take the captain down. However, that one smirk on the captain's face shows the difference in their ability. The captain is TOYING with him. I watch in horror as ZhuWu gets thrown off the ship, into the water.

"Take care of the town for me," are his last words as he faces me.

I cover my mouth in horror.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" the pirate captain starts to shout and scream and laugh, "YOU GUYS ARE DONE FOR! DID YOU SEE THAT LEADER OF YOURS?"

"Hey, little girl, you wanna play too?"