"Don't worry about us being suspicious. I'm very capable of being discreet."  Zane's words immediately made Beelzebub doubt just how well this mission was going to go. Still though, Zane found it quite surprising that Atani had dealt with these pirates before. Then again she WAS a mage in Blue Pegasus after all - it'd make sense for one of the largest guilds in Fiore to deal with the problems that pop up in their city of operations.

Atani changed in an instant, Zane being blown back a bit by just how fast it all happened. What kind of magic was that? Being able to swap outfits in such a speedy manner certainly seemed rather useful. Before Zane could think of just how fast he'd be able to get his eyepatch on and off with that kind of spell his eyes were treated to a fine sight. Atani's pirate uniform managed to be both convincing and stylish. "Oh wow, that looks great!" Zane exclaimed, his eyes browsing all the cool little details her outfit had. "I think I woulda made the cape and shorts just a little bit shorter, but other than that I think it looks pretty good!" Once Zane had finished his examination of Atani's outfit he'd start to work on his own. Zane's hands grasped the plate of armor he wore, lifting it off of his chest to reveal an all-black long sleeve undershirt below. "I doubt I could pass as a pirate if I wore something that expensive looking." While Zane's armor in no way looked expensive, it was true that the style certainly wasn't optimal for life on the high seas. Zane grasped at the sleeves of his undershirt, crudely ripping them off one by one so that they showed as much of his arms as possible. It actually ended up looking much more convincing this way as Zane's rough treatment of the fabric just now gave it a much more ragged look on the edges. Zane's left hand straightened his eyepatch just a tad while his right ruffled his hair in an attempt to make it look more wild.

"So do I look like someone you'd wanna avoid on the street now?" Zane asked, looking towards Atani for approval. "If yes, then great. Let's go become pirates."

1089/2500

Zane was satisfied in learning that he had managed to look the part pretty well. He definitely would've never been able to do something like this back when he was an elf. He was too cute and well kept back then, not to mention soft spoken and shy. Looking back Zane couldn't even believe that he was the same person these days... he always suspected that it had something to do with whatever happened to turn him into a human all of those years ago. He kinda forgot about investigating that. Perhaps he'd come back to it later.

"Hmmm, aright. It seems like it'll be simple enough. Lead the way and I'll do the talking once we get there." Beelzebub could immediately sense the danger coming. "I really don't think you should do that, Zane. I'd rather we end up with money by the end of the day. After that point Zane got into an argument with Beelzebub in his head, one that would last the entire way to the base, Zane becoming completely unaware of his surroundings until they finally got there.

Once the pair did arrive at the pirate meeting place Zane would immediately take the initiative and waltz on up to the large and slightly threatening man that they were supposed to talk to, waving along Atani so that she would come with him. "New recruits eh? Haven't gotten many takers for a while. What brings you here?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow at the two. While Zane and Atani had certainly taken measures to rough themselves up a little bit they almost definitely looked better than the recruiter. It would take more than just makeup to look like you lived a lifestyle THAT bad. Thankfully Zane was an expert at spinning stories. "Me and my girl here used to work on some merchant's ship." Zane explained, trying to paint a cleaner background for the two of them so that it made sense that they looked slightly more well kept then the rest. "But it was hell, I tell you! All that work and nothing but pennies to our names. We though we'd join up with you all instead - if we're going to bust our asses out on the ocean we might as well be making a proper living, right?"

The man chuckled while crossing his arms, Zane being disgusted at the mere sight of the man's teeth. How the hell did they survive on that ship? "I like your attitude, son. You and your lady can join us for a while. It'll be rough, but I'm sure ya knew that already. Why've you got the eyepatch, by the way?"" Zane paused for a moment. He had never even considered giving a story for the eyepatch that didn't involve some dark, brooding and edgy anime protagonist bullshit he'd come up with in the past. "Rough fight when I was a lad." That seemed simple enough. The man seemed to buy it.

Within the day the two would manage to get onto the pirate ship as new recruits.

1600/2500

The ship really wasn't in the best of states. Zane had to admit that he kind of expected it to be a little more... grand. Clean. Something that didn't look like an absolute hellhole. He supposed he could probably blame his expectations on all those romanticized pirate novels that really tried to make the whole thing look cool and dashing or whatever. If this was what a pirate was really like, then perhaps he wouldn't be wearing his eyepatch that much anymore...

Atani explained the situation, giving some pretty good intel as to where the treasure they were looking for was located. Zane nodded, thinking a little bit in his mind: he also put his hand onto his chin in an attempt to look more intelligent while doing so. It didn't work. "So we need a key to get into there, eh...?" He asked, his mind (and Beelzebub's) thinking of every possible way they'd be able to nab a key from the captain. Or one of them could bust down the door or break through the window that led into the captain's quarters while the rest of the crew was distracted. Both plans relied on one of them grabbing the attention of the rest of the crew... but that had the potential to lead to a fight. Maybe a fight was the best distraction, in fact...

"You're really gonna need to trust me on this one." Zane intended for Atani to do the rougher part here. Thanks to the flight Beelzebub gave him Zane could easily fly around to the back of the ship and bust through the window of the captain's quarters, but it would require something loud enough for nobody to hear. "You need to distract them with something loud on the front of the ship. Fight someone, yell something outrageous: point is, make a lot of noise and grab everyone's attention. I've got a flight spell I can use to break into the captain's quarters through the back window." Zane explained, hoping that Atani would see the benefits in letting Zane be the one sneaking around. It would also mean he wouldn't have to admit that he had little offensive power overall. "Once I get what we need I'll fly back out and pick you up. My wings will give us an easy way back home." Atani seemed easy enough to pick up - not to mention it gave Zane the satisfaction of being the one to save Atani. Sorta. Not really.

"Sound good?" Zane would begin the plan as soon as Atani made enough noise to mask the shattering of a window.

If Atani did such a thing, Zane would nod and wait for her to begin her distraction. Once he finally heard the noise needed for this kind of stealth, Zane would utter the word that allowed him to transform into Beelzanebub. His once blonde hair turned to green, as did his eyes. Zane's teeth became shark-like, much pointier than usual. Two insect-like wings sprouted from his back, somewhat big when it came to their wingspan. Beelzanebub let out an exhale to relax. They hadn't been like this for quite a while. Usually Zane and Beelzebub tried to handle their problems without transforming - this time was different. This was something that required the power of flight, an ability that Beelzanebub could use quite easily. Beelzanebub pulled out a cap from their pocket, something that Zane had made sure to bring from his hotel room to the job today. It was enchanted with a magic that enhanced flight. Not only would Beelzanebub be able to fly higher, they'd also be able to fly faster. Beelzanebub gave a heart flap of their wings, taking off from the ship's deck and circling around to the back of the ship that was thankfully nearby.

Beelzanebub kicked through the window, the glass not being quite as loud as he imagined it would be. The captain was thankfully absent at the time. Beelzanebub hastily searched through the room, their hands tossing around all sorts of things. If nobody noticed the window breaking then it was safe to say that nobody would notice if a few staplers got thrown on the floor or anything like that. After a little while they finally found it - the black pearl, encased in a small box that looked just as grand as the item itself did. Beelzanebub smirked, pocketing the pearl as quickly as they could and flying out the window.

Beelzanebub zoomed to the front of the ship, their speed greatly enhanced thanks to the power of the pilot's cap. They grabbed onto Atani by the shoulders, picking her up without warning and speeding off into the distance toward Hargeon, crossing tons of water as they went by. "Hahahaha! Wow! You were really something! We don't think any of them had a single clue that glass was broken." Beelzanebub was seriously impressed, their peppy and over the top personality really making every compliment stand out. And they'd give a lot of them as the pair headed towards Hargeon.

Beelzanebub gently dropped Atani on a nearby beach, doing the same soon after. They de-transformed, Zane letting out a relieved sigh now that Beelzanebub was gone. "Sorry you had to see that - my magic's requirement isn't the greatest." He hoped that was a good enough explanation for his sudden change in, well, everything. Zane took the pearl out of his pocket, handing it to Atani with a smile. "Here you are. Feel free to call on reliable old me again whenever you want." Zane turned around, waving goodbye to Atani. He wanted to spend some more time with her, but flying made him tired. "Send me the money when you get it from the client! See ya!"

2500+ Words / 2500 Words

EXIT

Stuff Used:

Atani’s experience in the field of robbing pirates— she had done it about ten times by now, and yet the occurrence of scoundrels persisted in Hargeon’s waters— came of some benefit to Zane. Or at least, it seemed like it. They had not done much conversing in terms of a plan. Their one goal was to sneak aboard, and that had already been accomplished. Now, they were aboard, and Zane only just discovered about this hypothetical key. Probably attached to the captain’s belt loop if Atani had to guess. A difficult thing to snatch stealthily, lest the captain allowed himself to get inebriated. But seeing as this crew not only was in possession of a magical treasure, but had a reputation to uphold across Fiore’s seas as well, Atani doubted that would end up being the case. It would have been helpful she supposed, but it wasn’t a necessary handicap. Not in the slightest. Besides, regardless of additional circumstances, either helpful or not, Zane had a plan. He told her once again to trust him.

"Alright." This time, however, she said it with more confidence than before. When Zane had last said that, she was skeptical of what the guy would end up doing, but in the end everything turned out fine. She was more trusting that this new plan would yield a similar outcome. "Let’s hear it."

Zane described his plan to Atani. She was to create a distraction, and he would swoop around to steal from the captain’s quarters. Seemed simple enough. She could manage a distraction. Once everything was over with, he could transport them back to land by flight. "Sounds good," she confirmed.

And so, she made the distraction just like Zane said. She made up spotting some sea monster nearby the boat. Bubbles churning in the sea with the help of her water magic made the story more believable. And apparently, the captain had lost a leg to a creature in those waters. Not an uncommon story among career sailors, but it was Atani’s luck that it helped get the crew into even more of an uproar about it. They cheered on the captain as he aimed is harpoon at the swirling depths, waiting for the right moment. As the glass broke, Atani winced. The harpoon flashed into the water. To her surprise though, the crew thought nothing much of the glass. In fact, they were worried about damage to the belly of the ship, worried that the "sea monster’s" tail had broken something.

It wasn’t long before her and Zane’s rendez-vous. Though he had mentioned having wings from his magic, she did not expect to be lifted out of the air from what looked like an… insectoid demon? Who still managed to look distinctly like Zane. Though he spoke to her, she remained speechless. She was under the assumption her ally used wind magic… not take-over.

Once they were safely on shore, Zane apologized for his appearance. He called it a "requirement." Whatever that meant.

"It’s alright," she replied. Her initial shock through the flight had become replaced with curiosity at this point, though it didn’t seem the elf would get more out of him. Atani and Zane parted ways rather quick, and she went off to return the stolen item… As for the pirates? All the commotion did, as a matter of fact, attract a sea creature. One that Atani would later hear did a number on the pirate ship. Nature made sure those folks wouldn’t be causing trouble anytime soon.

WC: 2116+588
TWC: 2500+/2500