A cackling was heard from the padded walls of the insane assylum on Lupine Island...but as usual everyone ignored it.
Lina, Xelloss, and the strange pirate were sailing on their way to Sairaag. "Argh," said the pirate as he looked out over the ocean waves. "Aye fergot to tell yas me name. Aye's the great pirate, Capt'n Garge," he said proudly. "Perhaps ye've heard o' me."
Lina blinked, "nope."
"Ahh...the mysterious adventurer, Captain Garge. Seeking new adventures on the open sea."
"Aye! Ye 'ave heard o' me! What else 'ave ye heard?"
Xelloss looked at the pirate though open but narrowed eyes. "It's been said that you were once a great warrior who lost his left eye in a battle against a horde of lesser demons...but that you embellish your tales too much to be trusted. They also say you have no loyalties and merely choose your battles randomly, easily swayed to either side."
"Is that what they say? Argh, that be harsh," replied the Captain, looking somewhat dissappointed. The parrot on his shoulder merely sat there, staring quizically at Xelloss.
"Then it isn't true?" asked Lina as she eyed the Captain suspiciously.
"O' course not! Aye be a great warrior seeking adventure on the open sea. That much be true. The rest be rumors."
"Mazoku mazoku mazoku," commented the parrot. "Give cracker now."
Xelloss sweatdropped and Lina stared at the bird with wide eyes. "How...how did a bird know that?" she stuttered.
Captain Garge absently handed the parrot a cracker. "Barnacle be a magic bird. He were a present ta me from a priest some time ago."
"A priest?" asked Lina.
Just then a sharp, cold breeze cut across the deck as the sky turned as black as night in seconds. The ocean was beginning to look much more choppy and the sails ripped back and forth in the strenghtening winds. "Argh, get below deck! There be a storm head'n this way!" yelled the Captain over the intense howl of the wind. Captain Garge ran for the sails, quickly bringing them down as his magical parrot clung on for dear life.
Xelloss's cape whipped madly in the breeze as he turned towards Lina and shouted, "this is no ordinary storm."
"I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THAT!" screamed Lina, as a sheet of ice appeared on the horizon rapidly expanding in their direction. The ice was coming at them so quickly that shards of it went up into the air as frozen waves collided violently and shattered. The shattered ice landed on a solid sheet of ice which in a matter of seconds had frozen the ship in place and left nothing but frozen water as far as the eye could see. "WHAT FREAK SPELL IS THIS?!" Lina yelled. It was certainly nothing she had ever seen before. It couldn't possible be a Demona Crystal, could it?
Xelloss merely narrowed his eyes and remained silent while Captain Garge fought against the wind to walk towards them. His hat had blown away and his cloths were aready tattered by the strong winds which he had fought against to lower the sails. "ARGH! This be nearly as bad as the time aye 'ad ta fight off a hundred ice golems in the midst o' a 'urricane, each o' them freezing the ocean solid far as the eye could see. Took em on wit' me cutlass, every last one o' them."
"Um, right." Lina sweatdropped.
Back on Lupine island, Rianus materialized back from subspace. "It took you long enough to heal that wound," Kopii Zelgadis stated. "I suppose I should be impressed that you were able to heal it at all."
Rianus scowled. "Xelloss has gottan stronger than I remember him."
"So it seems." Kopii Zel turned away from Rianus. "Something has come up."
"Is that fear I taste, Zelgadis? I was unaware that you were capable of such an emotion."
"The entire ocean has frozen over."
Rianus facefaulted. "WHAT! Who in Ruby eye's name has THAT kind of power?"
"I would like to know the answer to that question as well. Apparently the spell originated somewhere on this island."
Rianus facefaulted again. "This island?" He shook his head in disbelief. "The things you miss when you're hanging out in subspace."