Chapter 84: Interrogation

Nacho thought about Lady Vex and her talk of scope. Of operations reaching into every major city, every trade route, every institution that handled money or power.

"Something might be changing," he said quietly. "Whether anyone wants it to or not."

Sera didn’t respond, but the set of her shoulders told him she understood what he meant.

The second week brought complications.

They were three days out from their final destination when the ship’s lookout spotted sails on the horizon. Two vessels, running parallel to their course and closing fast.

"Pirates?" Nacho asked, joining the captain at the helm.

"Worse." The old man’s scarred face had gone pale beneath its weather-beaten tan. "Those are Consortium flags."

Sera appeared beside them, her sword already in hand. "How did they find us?"

"Don’t know. Don’t care." The captain was already shouting orders to his crew, adjusting their heading to try and outrun the pursuit. "What I care about is not dying today."

The chase lasted most of the afternoon. Their ship was faster than the Consortium vessels, but not by much, and the enemy captains knew these waters better than their own pilot did. Every time they tried to put distance between themselves and their pursuers, the other ships would cut off some new angle, herding them toward the coast like wolves driving prey toward a cliff.

By sunset, it was clear they weren’t going to escape.

"We could fight," Nacho said, watching the enemy ships grow larger on the horizon. "Two vessels, probably thirty combatants total. Between your sword work and my tentacles, we could handle them."

"And then what? We’d be stranded in the middle of hostile waters with a damaged ship and a crew that didn’t sign up for combat duty." Sera shook her head. "There has to be another way."

"What if there isn’t?"

She didn’t answer. Her eyes were fixed on the approaching ships, calculating odds and options with the same intensity she brought to everything else.

The Consortium vessels caught up to them just as the last light faded from the sky. One pulled alongside their port bow while the other circled around to block any escape, lanterns blazing from their rigging like malevolent stars.

A voice carried across the water, amplified by some magical means: "Heave to and prepare to be boarded. Any resistance will be met with lethal force."

The captain looked at Sera. Sera looked at Nacho.

"Trust me," he said quietly. "I have an idea."

"Your ideas usually involve more violence than I’m comfortable with."

"This one might too." He cracked his knuckles. "But at least it’ll be interesting."

The boarding party consisted of twelve armored soldiers and two individuals who didn’t look like soldiers at all. One was a tall woman with sharp features and the bearing of someone used to giving orders. The other was a slight man in robes that marked him as some kind of mage or scholar.

They gathered on the deck of Sera’s ship, their weapons drawn and their expressions suggesting they expected resistance. What they got instead was Nacho, standing alone in the middle of the deck with his hands clasped behind his back and a pleasant smile on his face.

"Evening, folks. Long way from home, aren’t you?"

The tall woman’s eyes narrowed. "You’re the Siren. The one Lady Vex has been looking for."

"Am I? News travels fast."

"She said you’d try to be clever. Try to talk your way out." The woman drew her sword, a long blade that gleamed with enchantment. "She also said not to underestimate you. That you’re more dangerous than you look."

"That’s flattering."

"It’s a warning." She gestured to her soldiers. "Take him. And find the Grand General. She should be here somewhere."

The soldiers moved forward.

Nacho’s smile widened.

His tentacles manifested without warning, all six of them snapping into visibility and striking before any of the soldiers could react. The first four went down before they even realized they were under attack, wrapped in coils of darkness that squeezed until consciousness fled.

The mage raised his hands to cast something, but a tentacle caught him around the throat and lifted him off his feet, cutting off whatever spell he’d been preparing.

The tall woman was faster than the others. She got her sword up in time to parry the tentacle aimed at her chest, the impact sending sparks flying across the deck. She countered with a slash that should have opened Nacho’s arm from elbow to wrist.

It didn’t connect.

Combat Precognition showed him the attack before it landed, gave him time to twist aside and redirect her momentum into a stumble. A secondary tentacle caught her ankle and yanked, sending her sprawling onto the deck with her sword clattering away.

The remaining soldiers tried to rally, forming up to protect their leader. They made it exactly three steps before Nacho’s Sovereign Tentacle swept through their formation, distributing Charm effects with targeted efficiency.

[Sovereign’s Domain active. Multiple targets detected.]

[Charm distribution in progress.]

[8 targets subdued. 2 targets resisting. 1 target unconscious.]

The tall woman struggled against the tentacle pinning her to the deck, her face twisted with fury. "You think this changes anything? The Consortium has resources you can’t imagine. Lady Vex will hunt you to the ends of every world until she has what she wants."

"Let her try." Nacho crouched beside her, close enough that she could see his eyes clearly. "But first, you’re going to tell me everything you know about a facility in the northern provinces. A place called the Hollows."

Her expression flickered. Just for an instant. Just enough to tell him she recognized the name.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"You’re lying." He let the tentacle tighten slightly around her throat. "I can feel it. The way your pulse changed. The way your thoughts shifted. You know exactly what I’m talking about."

[Mind Fortress active. Surface thoughts detected.]

[Target knows the facility. Processing location data.]

"Last chance. Tell me what you know, and you and your people walk away from this. Keep lying, and things get a lot more uncomfortable."