Four Girls and the Cursed Treasure of Coyotli: Chapter Five

The three girls hurtled through the undergrowth, passing trees and bushes that were dotted with red and purple flora. Panic had set in quickly now that the threats of the jungle had presented themselves to the crew, not to mention two of its members were missing, left behind to fend off the predator.
Natsuki tore ahead of the group, her size enabled her to push herself faster than the others, the usually confident girl was wrought with utter panic, her flight responses were kicking into action as her heart pounded in her throat, taking shallow breathes as her chest tightened. The jungle began encroaching upon her, every tree and bush warped and encircled her before swallowing her whole. A whip-like vine lashed out and snatched her ankle pulling her to the ground with a crash, she curled into herself and grabbed the sides of her head yelling out for anyone, anything.
The two girls behind her caught up, Monika crouched next to her and grabbed her, shaking her.

“Natsuki cut it out!”
The girl’s screams cut off as she spluttered, tears ran down her face dropped to the dirt below as she shook violently, the sounds of the jungle around her overwhelmed her.

The bickering voices of the two girls were mere echoes being swallowed by the howling winds that washed over the area and the blood-curdling screams of birds hidden within the treeline.
Yuri shoved Monika’s hands aside and took the little girl in her arms, lifting the sobbing mess to her feet slowly.

“Monika be careful, you don’t want to make things worse for her.”
“Don’t tell me what to do Yuri.”
She didn’t back down, instead she bit back at the captain as she pulled Natsuki’s arm over her shoulder and kept moving forward as quickly as she could.

“Oh don’t be so stupid Monika, you’re not the only one that is worried about Anon.”
The two continued to spit at one another as they continued through the jungle, eventually they spilled into the clearing they had taken rest in the other day. Yuri dropped the girl onto the ground gently and sat down next to her, pulling her into an embrace as the girl continued to sob softly. Monika towered over the two tapping her foot on the dirt below her.

“What are you doing?”
“I’m resting. What does it look like?”
“Well get up, we need to get back to th-”
“If you want to go back to the ship so badly then you can go on without me. I’m staying here with Natsuki.”
The captain let off a frustrated sigh and sat down as well, despite her wishes she didn’t want to lose the rest of her crew to the jungle. The two girls in front of her rocked back and forth gently like a mother would rock a child in a crib.


Anon felt the wind brush past him as the beasts first lunge missed, it landed on the ground and turned towards the two. Anon held his free arm out wide as he gently ushered the girl behind him backward, brandishing his cutlass in his other hand.
The panther paced towards them slowly, its gaze still locked on the lieutenant in front of him. Suddenly it tore across the undergrowth towards them and leapt once more.

“Anon!”
Sayori cried out as Anon lunged forward and met it before it could tackle the two. As they clashed Anon stumbled backward almost losing his balance completely, however he managed to push the animal down to the ground as well negating another attack, it glared at him and snarled viciously. The man called out to the frozen girl behind him, not bothering to turn to her.

“Sayori, get out of here!”
“W-What?”
“Get back to the others, I’ll hold it off.”
She hesitated, considering his proposal before standing her ground.
“I-I’m not leaving you Anon, I won’t be like the others.”
Anon finally turned, his gaze bearing down on the girl.
“I said go. Now.”

The panther took advantage of the lieutenant’s distraction and jumped a final time, colliding with the man and pushing him to the ground, pinning him to the dirt as it roared in his face. Still he called for the girl to escape in between gasps, the animal tightened his chest.

“Sayori… Please…”
In what felt like they would be his final moments, Anon looked up at the girl in sadness before closing his eyes and bracing for the worst, the panther that perched on top of him raised a paw, claws bared and ready to strike the man.


By now the captain had laid back facing the sky above her, watching as it melted from blue to a deep orange colour, the kind you would see in the middle of a dancing fire pit. The only sounds that filled the clearing was the ambiance of the jungle around them and the soft, motherly humming of her first in command, accompanied by the occasional quiet sob from the gunslinger.
The smallest girl had just about calmed down by now, still enveloped in Yuri’s arms she sighed heavily. Suddenly the purple haired dame stood, pulling the girl to her feet as well.

“We should keep moving before it gets dark.”
Monika sat up and rubbed her back, the flat grass of the clearing wasn’t doing her any favours. She sighed and stood up slowly, her face was blank, her eyes fixed on the sword master in front of her.
“Since when did you give the orders around here?”

Yuri stared back, her mouth agape at the captain’s sudden vitriolic attitude.
“I-It was a suggestion…”
“Well I don’t need your suggestions.”
The captain snapped back at her, folding her arms. Silence followed and remained for a while before Yuri spoke up again.
“I miss him too, Monika.”
“What?”
“Anon. I miss him too, and Sayori.”

Monika looked away, her eyes landing on the thick of the jungle that lay before them, she didn’t speak.
“They’ll be okay, Monika. I know they will.”
“I’m not worried about either of them. L-Let’s just get going.”
Yuri dropped the subject and sighed before turning to face the mouth of the jungle.
“Fine, you lead the way. I still have to help Natsuki along.”
The little girl was still silent, normally she would shake Yuri off and storm into the jungle herself however she remained numb, cowering in the arms of the dame as they followed the captain into the trees.


Anon’s face scrunched, he grimaced as he prepared himself for his final moments. His mind travelled through several scenes from as far into his childhood as his memory could delve, in a split second he sailed through his entire life as an onlooker, watching as he grew. Then a more recently familiar scene struck him.
His captain lay on her bed, her pale, damp face shone against the bedsheets. Anon’s hand was cupped around her cheek, leaning forward to press his lips upon her forehead. As he watched the scene play out in his head he felt himself smile warmly, at least he got to experience that familiar feeling of love one last time.

Moments passed, Despite Anon having rooted himself in his memories he noticed that time had passed one moment too many, if not more. His chest had loosened a little and he no longer felt the weight of the beast on him, was he dead?
He opened one eye slowly, only to find thin green palm leaves fluttering gently in the distance, he opened his other eye and raised his head, looking around him. Catching the sleek black fur of a panther stumbling aimlessly away from him, a short silver blade sticking from its chest, it fell to the grass with a soft thud.
Sudden crying came into earshot, he sat up and continued to look around the area taking in his surroundings once more, finally his eyes crossed a small coral haired girl on her knees, her hands covering her face as she sobbed into them. Anon shuffled over to her and grabbed her forearms gently and pulled them away from her face, his brown eyes meeting watery blues.

The girl stuttered as she spoke. “A-Anon…”
Anon remained silent as he pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on the crown of her head.
“Anon did… Did I kill it…?”
“You did.”
The girl’s sobs intensified as she covered her face again.
“I didn’t mean to…”
“Sayori it’s okay.”
“It’s not, Anon.”
The lieutenant sighed, he doubted he’d be able to get through to her in this state, all he could do was try to comfort her to an extent. They sat in stillness for a while, Sayori had wrapped her arms around the man in return.
Anon looked upward, watching the sky above them slowly darken. He nudged the girl gently.

“Look at the sky Sayori.”
Her face lifted from his chest, tears still streamed down it slowly.
“I-It’s pretty…”
“I bet if we make it back to the town as quick as possible we might be able to catch the sunset together. Would you like that?”
“I would, Anon.”
He lowered his head and looked back at the girl, returning her faint smile.
“Let’s go then, come on.”

The pair stood and brushed themselves down. Anon drew Sayori’s blade from the long dead beast and returned it to her, she sighed sadly, as Anon placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, tell you what. If we make it back to the town quick enough I’ll buy you that dog statue you wanted.”
Out of nowhere the girl's face lit up like a match, her usual sunshine radiant smile crossed her face as she cheered.
“Okay! I’ll race you, Anon! Bet you can’t catch up to me.”
She stuck her tongue out at him before taking off, bouncing in the direction of the port giggling as she went. Anon ran after her, his leg still putting him at a disadvantage.


By the time the three girls set foot onto the familiar deck of the ‘Heartbeat’ half the sun had melted into the horizon, Yuri still carried the ships navigator as she led her down into the hull of the ship towards the quarters. Returning a few minutes later to find Monika leaning on the starboard rail of the ship, the dame joined her captain and sighed, placing her head in her hands as her violet hair dangled over the pier below.

“Natsuki will be alright, we should give her some time to recover on her own however.”
She was met with uncharacteristic silence.
“Anon will be okay as well, he’s strong and he’s got Sayori to back him up.”
“You don’t know that, Yuri. As for Sayori… I doubt she’ll be much help to him.”
“Why so?”
“Just a hunch I guess…”
“Monika the tone in your voice suggests something else.”
Monika sighed.

“Look, Sayori’s not the most… Combat ready, if you know what I mean.”
“Yes, I’m aware.”
“The other day she abandoned us completely while we were fighting that other pirate crew. What makes you think she’ll be able to help Anon take on a panther that size?”
“I believe in her, despite such facts.”
“In all honesty, you’re wasting it.”
“Maybe so, but that still won’t stop me.”
The captain let off a slight chuckle.
“And here I thought you were the smart one.”
Yuri finally fell silent, the captain’s sudden bitter attitude about everything was surprising to her, she’d never seen Monika get this worked up over something, or someone.


Darkness was beginning to close in on the small port as Anon and Sayori made their way through the nearly empty streets, the only remnants of life were shop keepers closing up for the night, blowing out lamps and locking their doors. The girl pouted at the fact that the antique store was now closed, much to Anon’s amusement and slight relief.

Sayori yawned, the lieutenant was glad to see her former self returning after their brief altercation in the jungle earlier, he smiled to himself as they stepped out of the winding streets and onto the fishing dock, the ‘Heartbeat’ came into view at last. Sayori cheered and trotted off towards the ship. Suddenly a shout came from the ships direction.
Monika tore across the boardwalk and threw herself at Anon with such force she almost took him to the ground, he struggled to regain his balance as she wrapped her arms around him tightly, pushing her head into his neck. He could feel it growing slightly wet as he took the captain in his arms.

“Monika, are you crying?”
She stifled a sob quickly.
“N-No…”
Anon chuckled and tightened his embrace.
“I was just so worried about you Anon.”
“I’m okay, Monika. You don’t have to worry over me.”
“But I did, didn’t you see the size of that thing?! I’m surprised to see you in one piece.”
“As long as you and the others got back safe, I don’t mind.”

He freed a hand from her side and placed it on the back of her head, stroking her brown hair gently, making a hushing sound as her crying grew slightly louder. He noted footsteps coming from behind the captain and looked over her.
Yuri approached the two slowly and bowed in their direction.

“I’m glad to see you back, Anon.”
“Yuri you don’t need to be so formal with me, you know that.”
“S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to…”
He gave her a comforting smile.
“It’s okay, don’t worry.”
“O-Okay…”

The dame turned and walked off towards the ship, leaving the captain and the lieutenant to return to their silent embrace. By the time Monika’s grip loosened on Anon night had fallen and the sun had disappeared under the ocean lining. The two pulled away slightly and looked into each other’s eyes, Anon’s hands found hers and their fingers wrapped around one another slightly.

“Shall we get back to the ship? I could use some rest after today.”
“S-Sure.”
The two took off, their hands still loosely connected to each other. A deep flush of red crept across his face slowly as they walked. Finally they stepped on the deck and hesitantly parted ways, leaving each other with a single unintentional kiss.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The crew rested in the port for a few days, Yuri had proposed that they remain docked until Natsuki gathered her strength completely and that the rest of their journey was planned out. Anon, Yuri and the ship’s captain surrounded the small dining table in the middle of the captain’s quarters, the large map they had taken from the lieutenant’s father’s shack was sprawled across it, parchment stacks adorned the corners to keep it flat.
By now they had deciphered the general location of the treasure, making note of their next destination. A small port along the coast of Cartagena, Colombia. Anon placed his index finger in the middle of a black ink circle and dragged it diagonally across the map.

“From Cartagena we need to travel South-East, into…”
His voice trailed off as he straightened his back and consulted the notes in his hand, doing his best to decipher his father’s chicken scratch.
“‘Bucaramanga?’ What kind of name is that…?”
Yuri piped up immediately.
“My notes say ‘Cúcuta.’”
“You’re both wrong, mine clearly say it’s in ‘Tunja.’ Which is more South than East. Right around here.”
She pointed at a small black dot on the map.
“It’s even labelled for us.”
“Monika, they’re all labelled.”
“Oh.”

Anon rested his elbow on the table and placed his forehead in his hand, sighing heavily.
“God dammit Papa, even when I could count on you again you fall through on me.”
The captain quickly took to his side, rubbing his shoulders intensely.
“We’ll get it eventually Anon, don’t worry.”
“I know we will, I just wish he didn’t make it so hard on us. I’ve got no clue how he made head nor tail of any of this.”
Yuri glared at the two and sighed, lifting a stack of notes closest to her and making way for the door.
“I-I’ll go to my quarters and look into these more. I’ll let you know what I find.”
Before either of the two could speak she had disappeared. Anon sighed again.

“Do you ever feel like something’s off…?”
“With Yuri?”
“Yeah, she acts all different around us. I’m pretty certain if it were just one of us here she’d be still bent over the map with not a care in the world.”
“I-I’m not sure I noticed, what do you think could be causing that?”
She ended her sentence with a slight, almost teasing “Hmmm?”
“I’m not sure, kinda feel bad for her though.”
He stood up straight again and stretched his back.
“I’m going outside for some fresh air, care to join me captain?”
The captain gave him a playful slap across the ear, scolding him for being so formal again.
“Stop calling me that you idiot.”
Anon chuckled. “You know I only do it to tease you, right?”
“Yeah I do, enjoy your fresh air. Lieutenant.”

She shoved him towards the door and walked off towards the rear window of the ship. Anon exited the captain’s quarters and looked upward at the pink sails fluttering in the wind above him, breathing in the salty air. Judging by the sun above him it was already past mid-day.


He took in the moment before looking down from the sky, only to find Sayori in front of him, her position seemed off to say the least. Her index fingers were pressing together at the tips and her shoulders were slightly tensed, almost as if she were nervous about something.

“Uh… H-Hi Anon.”
Anon smiled at her warmly, hoping it would comfort her a little.
“Hi Sayori, how may I help you?”
“I was wondering if you could… T-Teach me how to sword fight like Yuri does…”
“Like Yuri? Sayori there’s no chance I could match her level of talent and grace, I’m just your run of the mill foot soldier.”
“S-Still, it’s easier to ask you. Besides, Yuri is busy.”
“Well, alright then. Go get us some brooms or something and I’ll give you the basics.”
“Yay!”
Sayori skipped off towards the hull of the ship, returning a few minutes later with two long handled brooms, handing one to Anon who took his usual fighting stance, brandishing the broom like he would a sword. Sayori shifted awkwardly to emulate his position unsuccessfully.

“First thing is confidence, don’t back down from your opponent or they’ll use it to their advantage.”
The two continued to stand opposing one another, Anon eyed the girl who remained surprisingly rigid for longer than the lieutenant expected, soon enough the girl’s arms dropped a little, her stance was no longer full of fighting spirit and Anon made his first move to punish for her mistake, jabbing his broom forward and prodding the girl in the stomach gently. She jumped and let out a quiet yelp.

“A-Anon.”
“I told you, remain confident. Let’s try again.”
They did so, this time Sayori’s resolve took a little longer to break but eventually she loosened up once more and Anon struck her for it.
“You’re getting better Sayori, keep trying.”
The two stood against each other for a third time, minutes passed with neither the lieutenant or the ships cook faltering any. Eventually Anon gave in to the girl, figuring it best to reward her rather than wait it out and press down on her further, his stance drooped slightly and the girl mimicked his first attack move, jabbing forward and catching him in the side of his chest.
“Good job Sayori, that’s the spirit! Make sure you keep that up next time you’re fighting a real opponent and you should do fine enough.”
She beamed at him and saluted.
“Yes sir!”
“Now, on to some actual moves.”


The two trained together for several hours, Anon taught the girl various attacks and movements and she seemed to be keeping up moderately well, even knocking the lieutenant to floor at one point with a sweeping strike to his leg that caught him off guard completely.
Sayori leaned on the handle of her broom, panting. The two had just finished a practice duel that ended with Anon thwacking her over the side of the head for missing a downward swipe. The two were so wrapped up in their practice that neither had noticed the sky darken slightly, finally Sayori caught sight of the horizon melting into a warm orange and gasped.
“Oh shoot! I better go make something to eat. Gimmie your broom.”

Anon handed her his broom and she tore off towards the lower parts of the ship. The door to the captain’s quarters opened behind him and Monika peered her head through, he turned to her.
They greeted each other with a smile, Anon’s more out of relief that she wasn’t still annoyed at him for addressing her as his superior.

“Anon, can you check up on Natsuki for me? We might as well set sail in the morning, we can figure out where exactly we’re headed while we’re on open waters.”
“Sure thing, I’ll visit her over dinner.”
“D-Dinner?”
“Yeah, dinner. Sayori’s making something to eat right now.”
“O-Oh.”
Monika’s eyes darted away from Anon, she looked uncomfortable.
“Okay.”
She closed the door. The lieutenant could tell something was up but decided it best not to push his luck, he made way for the kitchen.


Anon knocked on Natsuki’s door and pushed it open with his back, sliding through the gap carrying two bowls of stew. The girl was sat on the edge of her bed with her knees drawn to her petite chest, arms wrapped around them with her fingers clasped around one another, she looked up at him and smiled faintly.

“Hey Anon.”
“Hello Natsuki, how are you feeling?”
He shuffled over to her bed and sat down next to her, handing her a bowl before digging into his own.
“A lot better now that you're here.”
Her head turned to him sharply as she followed up on her previous line.
“D-Don’t take that as a compliment or anything, I-idiot.”
The lieutenant chuckled as the girl started to wolf down her food.
“I know what you meant, don’t worry. I’m just glad to hear you’re feeling better.”
“Why do you care anyway?”
“Monika wants to leave in the morning, she just wanted to know if you were up to it or not.”
“Oh, of course I am you dork.”

A few minutes passed in silence, the flame in the bedside lamp flickered, its orange glow illuminating the area around the bed. Anon finally spoke up.
“So what happened anyway, none of the others really want to talk about it.”
The girl flinched, her eyes darting around the room searching for any excuse to get out of the conversation. Ultimately finding nothing, she sighed heavily and spoke quietly, her voice almost a frightened whisper.

“When we were running through the jungle, I-I started to panic and I tripped on something, I was so afraid of everything… And then Monika started telling me off and Yuri scolded her for it.”
Anon listened intently as the girl continued.
“After that I-I don’t remember much, my memory is blank. Somehow I ended up back in my bed facing the ceiling. Not long before you came back I think.”
“I see… I noticed you had trouble telling me at first, so thanks for doing so.”
“Anon you should know by now I can’t really talk about that stuff, no one ever listened to me and my dad would just tell me to shut up whenever I tried, so I gave up trying a long time ago.”
Anon closed his eyes and sighed and thought to himself.
“That’s what you get for mixing in with the wrong crowd, idiot.”

He spoke again.
“Well I’m here to listen, as are the others. I mean that Natsuki.”
She paused for a moment and looked at the floor, not responding.
“You know, it’s highly likely that we’ll be heading into another jungle once we reach Cartagena.”
“S-So what?”
“I just want you to know that if you need anything, I’m here for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you get scared or anything, I’ve got your back. Okay?”
“O-Oh… Thanks I guess...”

The two sat and ate in silence again, Natsuki finished quickly and placed her bowl on the bedside unit. Anon finished soon after and stood up.
“Well, I better get out of here.”
He lifted Natsuki’s bowl and walked towards the door, the girl’s voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Anon?”
The lieutenant stopped and turned to her.
“Yes ma’am?”
“T-Thank you.”
“Anytime, ma’am. You see and take care now.”
“Later Anon…”
The girl lay on her bed and stared at the planks above her, sighing heavily.


Anon opened his eyes slowly and lifted himself off of his bed, for the first time in a good while he wasn’t waking up with a dull headache or in some form of pain. Still didn’t save him from his usual morning grogginess however, he shifted into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes.
His attention was caught by an empty whiskey bottle rolling across the floor, seemingly coming from underneath his bed, by the looks of things they had set sail early on, had he not lost his pocket watch back in Spain he’d be able to tell the time. He sat there hunched over for a moment before finally standing, fastening the loose buttons on his dirty shirt and tying his hair up in its usual ponytail, the day was too warm to bother with his dark blue coat so he left it. Despite the warm air around him he could hear the rain as drops pattered against the planks of the deck above him.

The lieutenant pushed the door of his quarters open and crossed the narrow hallway, knocking on the door in front of him. A muffled “Come in” came from inside. He opened the door and entered.
“Oh, hello Anon.”
“Hi Yuri, how have the notes been treating you?”
“Well enough, I’ve managed to eliminate Tunja from our list, see here?”
She lifted a single piece of parchment from the writing desk she sat and held it up to the lieutenant, he made a futile effort to read it.

“The notes he made here contrast the ones on page fourteen of his notebook. After a lot of digging I came across more clues that followed the ones on this page. Thus I was able to discern that his notebook was incorrect and Tunja isn’t a possible location, so that’s one marked off our list.”
The girl was almost lost, Anon relished in the momentary silence as she breathed in, preparing for her next barrage of information.
“I’m trying to figure it out from these pages but I doubt what I have here will help me anymore, I’ll need to get another look at that map and your fathers other notes.”
She looked up at him and beamed, a sense of pride written across her face.
“Anon I might be able to figure out which of the remaining two we’re headed for.”
Anon returned her smile and placed a hand on her shoulder, leaning over the desk to peer at the notes strewn across its surface.

“I’m glad to hear that, Yuri. Thank you for doing this for me, God knows I can’t figure out this stuff at all so you’re a big life saver right now.”
“O-Oh it’s no problem Anon, really.”
Her face reddened a little at the compliment.
“I must be honest with you, I never thought I’d find this kind of thing so much fun.”
“What do you mean?”
“Treasure hunting, the idea always bored me since I’m more of a book worm, but looking over your father’s notes and figuring all this out is great fun.”
“Good, at least you’re enjoying it. My head is fried and I’m pretty sure Monika’s is too.”

Silence fell save for the tapping on the boards above them. A small stack of papers sitting on the corner of the desk caught Anon’s eye, he lifted a few and straightened his back as he began examining them for any further clues.
Something was off though, these notes looked far different from the rest of them, for one the sentences were short and worded weirdly, not to mention each page had its own title. He flicked through a few, coming across a piece titled “A Garden Within My Chest.” He skimmed through each line, something about this note touched him warmly but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Yuri?”
“Yes Anon?”
Her gaze shifted to him again, a faint smile returning to her face as she looked into his. The lieutenant presented the page to her.
“What are these?”
The dame read the page momentarily before a sudden realization hit her, her face darkened instantly as she snatched it from his hand along with the others, only managing to stutter.
“I-It’s nothing A-Anon.”
“Are you sure Yuri?”
“I just… Sometimes I write…”
“You wrote that yourself?”
“Y-Yes, its poetry.”
“Oh, I remember having to study poetry back in school. What was the one I read about? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“N-Nothing you need to think about Anon, just the ramblings of a heart broken lover trying to find her way with the one she desi-”
Yuri cut herself off as she gasped, her eyes darting around the room quickly as she blurted out unintelligible stutters. Finally she caved and crossed her arms and nestled her head between them, burying her now burning face from the outside world, she sighed heavily.

Anon sighed as well, from the looks of it this was the end of their conversation as Yuri hid from him. He patted her on the back and started walking towards the door he’d entered through.
“I’m going to check up on Monika and see if she’s found anything noteworthy. Feel free to join us at any time, okay?”
Yuri didn’t respond, the lieutenant felt incredibly guilty.
“Just take care ma’am. I’ll see you around.”

He entered the hallway again and leaned against Yuri’s door, sighing heavily. Something about the words on that page had hit him like an out-of-control horse carriage but he couldn’t understand what, a familiar fluttering sensation in his chest arose the more he thought about it. Anon took off towards the captain’s quarters, hoping that Monika had something for him.


The lieutenant pushed the door to the captain’s quarters open and entered. Monika looked up from the map without smiling, she yawned and spoke as Anon stood next to her, leaning over the table.

“Morning, Anon.”
“You look tired, Monika. How long have you been awake?”
“Just woke up actually, bit of a late morning.”
Anon looked over at the clock that adorned the shelf near the bed. It read eleven-thirty. “Not early enough.” He thought as he caught Monika’s yawn.

“Have you found anything?
“Nothing yet, but I think I’m close. What about you?”
“Yuri says we don’t need to worry about Tunja anymore, which just leaves two locations to pick from.”
“Well we can either pick one at random and chance it or we can look into it more.”
She yawned again.

“I’m all for the first option, I’m getting sick of looking at this damned map.”
“I am too, Yuri says she might be able to figure it out but she’s having quite the morning herself.
“Oh, right of course.”
The captain stood up and stretched her back, finally smiling at Anon who had just sat down at the table.
“How are you feeling, Anon?”
“Tired, but at least I’m not hung over or dying which makes a change. How about yourself ma’am?”
She spoke, her voice had a sudden teasing, almost seductive air to it.
“Oh really? I bet I can make that all better.”
Monika turned to him and placed both hands on his shoulders firmly before leaning forward and pushing her lips against his, Anon recoiled a little in shock before giving in to her.

Eventually they parted, their faces held close to one another as they looked into each other’s eyes, Anon held his gaze for a few moments before shifting it down to the girls lips as he leaned in for a second kiss.
They broke off once more, Monika standing up straight letting her arms fall to her sides as she smirked down at the lieutenant, letting off her usual giggle.

“Anon.”
“Yes Monika?”
She paused, as if considering her next few words carefully. The awkward silence that followed told Anon that something was about to happen.
“I think I lo-”
Suddenly the door to the room opened and Yuri shuffled in, a large stack of papers tucked neatly under her arm. She noticed the two and froze, her eyes widening as Anon turned to her.

“O-Oh sorry I didn’t mean to intrude or anything…”
Anon stood quickly, attempting to gather his composure and hide his flushed face.
“It’s okay Yuri, d-did you find anything else?”
She approached the table, held under the stern gaze of her superior.
“Nothing new unfortunately, I came by to take another look at the map if you two don’t mind…”
“Not at all, we could use the extra help.”
The lieutenant shot an embarrassed glance at Monika before picking up a random note and pretending that they had been working this entire time. Monika’s green eyes burned down upon her crew member as she leaned over the desk and instantly set to work.

“I assume Anon told you I was able to eliminate Tunja for now, yes?”
“He did.”
“That just leaves us with Bucaramanga and Cúcuta.”
“Monika said we could just chance it and pick one of the locations, eventually we’ll find something.”
“Nonsense, I’ll get this right in no time, Anon.”
Anon chuckled. “I figured as much.”


Warm rain continued to fall on the deck of the ship, the gentle tapping filled the bouts of silence as Yuri and Anon poured over the map and notes still, Monika had long since given up and sat down watching the two converse every so often. The intent with which Anon listened as Yuri rambled on about his father’s scribblings and their meanings slowly began to irk her more and more, it was almost like he was lost in her soft voice as she spoke. The captain’s emerald green eyes smouldered as she watched Anon rebut and hand over his own notes, something about the entire situation filled her with bitterness.
Anon told a joke, Monika didn’t even hear it but she watched as Yuri snickered from behind her hands as she cupped them over her widening grin. Her laugh died off and she looked at Anon for a moment, the lieutenant looked back and the two paused for a moment staring at each other, smiling faintly. That was the last straw, Monika stood up.

“Have you two found anything?”
“Not yet, Yuri figures we’re almost there though.”
“Oh of course Yuri does.”
The lieutenant’s eyes met Monika’s pair of greens, a fierce fire roared within them. His face loosened from the smile he previously wore.
“Monika? Are you okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine Anon.”
“Monika if I’m bothering you, I can alwa-”
The captain cut her off as she jabbed a finger in her direction.
“Shut it you.”

Yuri threw her notes down on the table and fired back at the captain.
“Oh sit down, why can’t you just let Anon and I work in peace.”
“Why don’t you sit down? I can figure this out without you.”
Anon placed his notes on the table too and attempted to intervene.
“Ladies, please. We won’t figure this out if you two are arguing.”
“I don’t care about finding this place right now Anon, I want this bitch out of my quarters.”
“You’re getting so defensive Monika, does the fact that I’m working with Anon bother you?”
“N-No not at all.”
Yuri gloated. “It does, doesn’t it? Why else would we be having this argument?”
“Because you’re a pretentious know-it-all and I can’t stand it.”
“I’m trying to help you on this stupid adventure. You know that right?”
“Well I don’t need your help.”
The dame turned to Anon. “Anon wants my help, don’t you Anon?”
“H-Hey, don’t drag me into this. Cut it out the both of you.”
“See? Even Anon doesn’t want your help.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Why can’t you just back off Yuri.”

Without warning the quiet air around them was broken by the sound of a sword being pulled from its sheath, Monika pointed her blade at Yuri.
“Monika please, put it away.”
“No, I’ve had enough of this.”
“I have too. If that’s how you want it to be then so be it.”
Yuri drew her own sword and raised it to meet Monika’s. Anon stepped backward, eventually knocking into the wall behind him, it was clear he wasn’t going to be able to stop them now.
Monika made the first move.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

End Chapter.