Take me hooooome... across the river of yore haaaart....

The music which was piped through the entire submarine was a luxury for now, but a much-needed one. As long as the Pirates might be counted on to save the lives of their base members first, they did not have to maintain complete silence quite yet. Also, the transmitting effects of the sand were not half as bad as the ocean. The bomb gave them the time they needed for a head start, and Cerencia planned on using it to its fullest.

The bomb. So they can chase after us and tell us how cruel -we- are. Cerencia clasped the wheel with a gloved hand and smirked. Arming one's enemies with self-righteousness sticks in the craw, but it can be effective to produce overbearing results. He turned the submarine's path gently starboard and listened to the music echo.

Around him, the crew made various half-hearted attempts to stuff their ears.

Give me a riiiiide.... The gravely voice raised itself to join the tinny one in full force over the speakers. To... da da da....siiiide... The princess had performed admirably. Although it was not Ceren's preference to have used a child in such a way--he firmed his lips again at the memory, keeping his hands upon the wheel to soak in the vibrations from the submarine's course--his own charges came first. -Always-. For that, he would point a hundred guns at a hundred youths, and give a hundred ultimatums.

He would also have to find the time to radio the Kaiser. The ruse would not have worked half so well were it not for the imitation doll that had been wired to the bomb. Thank you, Sigmund... we needed that.

Oh sugar, won't you be... Be my briiiide...

And how lucky it had been that the girl had suddenly been so prone to tears and confusion...

Losing the track of the words and devolving into humming, Ceren leaned against the railing and monitored the wheel with a careful hand. The princess had calmed down and had seemed to understand the reasoning for her part in the deception well enough, and had been tucked into bed by Ceren himself a short time ago.

It had been a long day. It would be good to rest. Those dreams of feathers and a strange whispering would doubtless be back again, but they were never disturbing.

As strange as it was... since being on the mission, Cerencia had slept better than he had in years.