Act 3: The Ball - En route to Emerald

8:26 AM, 7th of April 422
On the Vulcan, en route to Emerald

For the last hour or so, Amber and Fluffle steered the ship away from Odwaz and towards their new destination: Luxus, the city where the high nobility of Emerald will gather to a ball held by Isidora Venator, the Duchess of Luxus and the target of Edward Fox. The two teenagers didn't seem particularly concerned about that however and were more focused on what Segel had to teach them about how to navigate at sea; that is, until the party members called for a meeting and figuratively dragged the two of them to the Captain's cabin, alongside Femke and Florolf. Except Florolf didn't join them. He merely chose to enter the cabin at the same time as them and to use Konrad's pillow as his napping spot for now.

Having prepared the room for this meeting, Konrad sits first in the chair at the end of the table while Femke chooses the seat on his right, and Amber plops down next to her brother. Fluffle of course opts to sit on Steve's shoulder, from where he'll get a nice view of everyone, even Florolf.

"So, why are we here?" Amber asks. "...Is this about that guy, Brutus Sharp?"

She shifts in her chair when she says that name.

Konrad give Femke a little nod. The 'issue' has been resolved.

"Partially. We've invited you all, being in the know, or about to be, to discuss the current goals of our little cabal, and each of ours. Mr. Sharp is directly related to those."

Mihai sighs - "Screw it, it's gonna come out sooner or later. Brutus Sharp used to be Brutus Melan. Husband of Phoebe Melan, father of Nova and Fedler. After his wife and daughter died, he bought out the company from under the last remaining heir, and so Fedler ended up as a Hunter taking care of Yen by her lonesome, instead of living the high life that was her inheritance."

He shuts up, knowing it best to give everyone time to process that.

Amber's and Fluffle's eyes widen at this revelation and they both look at each other in silence, not sure what to say in response to that. Femke however appears unperturbed by it and she simply waits for the others to continue the conversation while she listens to them.

Florolf yawns and goes back to sleep.

"Yeah, it's pretty shocking," agrees Steve. "I know it's not the best timing but what should we do about it? Keep an eye on him? Confront him? Play it cool for now?"

Mihai quickly replies - "Definitely don't show our hand. Can observe if you want, maybe pick up something useful about him. If... when we deal with him later, could come in handy. But clear and present is Edward, i'd like to save Fedler before we think about avenging her. We can only spare Mr Sharp so much of our attention right now."

"He knows who we are, but he knows nothing of our connection to her. I've decided to host Mr. Sharp, his bodyguard, and the leader of the elite warriors from Zerva in my cabin for a private dinner, to get the measure of the man. It's part of my role as 'captain', after all."

"That makes sense. Good plan," says Steve, nodding in emphasis. "Will you want any of us to attend as well? I'm not really clear on the protocol here."

Konrad turns to Steve, and makes a disappointed face. "Unfortunately, no. I should have thought of it, but I didn't purchase enough fresh food for any more than the people I mentioned."

Steve shrugs, not overly bothered by it. "Don't worry about it, I just wanted to be sure."

"So wait," Amber began, "that guy is Fedler's father, he stole the company from under her, then abandoned her and his granddaughter? Seriously!?"

Fluffle is still too in shock to say anything.

"Yeah." - Mihai quickly responds - "In Fedler's words, he's a monster; and i get the feeling he didn't stop there. All the more reason we shouldn't be near him, i don't trust myself right now not to tip him off that i'm onto him."

His voice becomes more focused - "We have an unsecured Green Mage as our only lead on Emerald, and we're fresh out of Orbs. I've a few ideas how we can get to that, but they're outta the box. Can't do it without the crew's help. And Florolf's."

In the face of Mihai's composed attitude, Amber can't help but sit back in her chair and calm down. It's clear however that she isn't too happy about having to treat this man as a guest and will surely avoid him for the rest of this trip. Fluffle moves to her shoulder to cheer her up a little while Femke, who hasn't said anything so far, gives her a quick look before returning her attention to the other party members.

Florolf continues to sleep.

"Our First Mate to should be here to hear about this. Him and the rest of the fairies ought to know where they came from, and what's really at stake."

"I'll get him!" says Steve happily, scooting his chair back with gusto before popping to his feet and rushing out the door, all the while making entirely more noise than was necessary. It doesn't take him very long to return with Segel in tow.

"Hello Captain. Hi everyone," the auburn-haired fairy says. "You all, uh, need me for something?"

Segel hovers at the other end of the table, a little curious as to what this is all about.

"Thank you for joining us, Segel. You know what our personal stake is for tracking down Edward. He has stolen our friends from us, and he's put fairy love globules inside our heads to transplant the minds and memories of his fellows. He only partially succeeded, and took Fedler and Breeze away. Fedler is currently no longer in control of her actions. Have we told you why he's doing this?"

Segel stares blankly at his captain, unsure on how to respond to that. "Um... Sorry Captain, but I don't think you've told me about any of this before. Who's Edward?"

Mihai grimmaces and scratches his head - "It's... long story. Me, Amber, Konrad and Steve all have something in our minds right now that's a bit different from a normal Human's. Are you able to sense it, by any chance?"

Segel tilts his head to the side. "Something in your heads you mean? No. I can't sense anything different. Why?"

Mihai utterly deflates in utter defeat, but still explains it - "It's an ability all Fairies have, but usually takes years to learn. You can create an Orb of elemental energy that integrates with a human's mind. Normally it protects our heads from being tampered with by Magic, but the man Konrad mentioned found a way to use them to do the opposite. He's used them to try and control our minds. In Fedler's case, he succeeded. That's why we're on this trip to begin with, to get her and Breeze back from him."

"So it's a rescue mission then! No worries, you can count on us to help with that. We figured you were trying to help someone because of how worried you always looked. But fairies can really create orbs like that? That's the first I've heard of it..."

"Try coming closer. Breeze's skills are unique when it comes to it, maybe you can sense it from up close."

"Sure thing." The first mate comes closer to Mihai until he's hovering less than a feet away from him. "What now?"

Mihai looks at Fluffle - "Any tips?"

Konrad waves Fluffle over. "Can you show Segel how you do it, and tell him what to do?"

"Oh, uh, yes," Fluffle answers, leaving Amber's shoulder. "Here, Segel. Let me show you."

"Thanks."

"Come closer to Mihai's head, just like me. Then put your hand on his forehead and try to reach in for something. Do you feel it? If you try pulling on it, it'll feel like a fishing line that's stuck on something."

"Hmm, I'm not sure that I can—oh, wait! There's really something in there! Wow... I didn't know I could do it too."

The tiny sailor stares at the hand he placed on Mihai's forehead, astonished by this discovery.