Author's Note: This entry was inspired by the Clockwork Dolls' song, "The Iron Rose". 

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     "You truly wish to hear my tale, Mr. Mayne?" She sat on what had once been a rather lavish chair. The padding had been removed, leaving an ornately carved wooden chair. It looked quite uncomfortable but she sat as if it were the king's own throne. 

     Her face was sharp . She might have been beautiful, if a long burn scar hadn't covered half her face. The ever-present calculating look in her eyes made her look like a bird of prey. Her mouth was drawn into a tight line, and gave the appearance of displeasure. 

     "I do, Lady Fregatidae." Mr. Mayne answered, sitting in a more comfortable chair that had been placed opposite of where she sat. 

     Lady  Fregatidae took a puff on her churchwarden. She held the smoke in her mouth, then expelled it right into Mr. Mayne's face. He coughed, waving the smoke away. 

     "Then my tale you shall hear." She closed her eyes. "There once lived a family. The father was an upright duke that didn't care for formalities. The mother was lively, and wouldn't stand for any sort of injustice. 

     They lived happily with their daughter. They believed in a large number of things, all of which were good and well. They instilled their beliefs and disciplines into the daughter, who grew up believing in justice and the rights of the world.  

     On the daughter's thirteenth birthday, the home went up in flames. The father and mother were killed. The daughter barely survived with severe burns. On that day, all of the convictions burned down with the home. For the daughter, justice had dissipated with her parents. 

     The fire was ruled as an accident. Yet the daughter knew it was no accident. It was a murder, a  tiny twig swept up in the rapids of power struggle. The daughter had overheard two bureaucrats speaking of how they had finally rid themselves of her parents. It didn't matter whether or not she knew. Her joy had been extinguished, the 'tiny twig' having been her whole world.

     The bureaucrats approached her with false smiles. They delivered honeyed promises of safety with one hand but held a knife in the other. They quietly disposed of her in the Thames, proclaiming that the poor girl had committed suicide due to the loss of her parents. The body was never found. 

     Sometime after that, a similar looking girl was sold off and put on a ship headed for the mines. A pirate ship intercepted that ship. They took the cargo and freed the people who had been sold off. The girl chose to stay with the ship, and soon died after coming on board." Lady Fregatidae opened her eyes and took another puff. 

     "Thank you for telling me your tale, but I have some questions I fear may be rude, my lady."

     "Ask away." 

     "Firstly, why do you speak in third person, though it is your narrative? Secondly, how is this your narrative if that girl died that day?" 

     "That girl died in the Thames. She left me here in her place. I am but a-" 

      A crew member sprinted into the room.

     "My lady, two ships have been sighted off of the port bow!" 

     "Do you have a bearing on them?" She asked, slowly rising to her feet. 

     "Aye, the HMS frigate escorting the galleon Safe Fare!"

     "The Safe Fare? She's a two-hundred ton galleon! And reconnaissance has it that those two hundred tons are all spices and tea!" Lady Fregatidae exclaimed with a gleam in her eye. "Mr. Mayne, mobilize the crew, you have ten minutes!"

      "Yes, my lady." He abruptly stood up, then ran out of the room. 

      "Achaz, fetch me my sword and gun!"

      "Yes, my lady!" 

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     Mr. Mayne spoke into a tube, broadcasting his voice all over the ship: 

     All personnel to their stations! Gunners are to sight the targets' propulsion engines! The boarding party should be suiting up and forming ranks! Raise the Iron Rose! 

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      Lady Fregatidae stood tall on top of the weather deck. 

      "We are not cowards or weaklings! We are the ghosts of the Iron Rose who fight like devils and do not die! Full speed ahead! Prepare for battle!" She roared, in a surprisingly loud voice. 

     The crew began to sing the sea chanty they always sung when prey was near. 

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"Abandon all pride
For the Iron Rose
Comes forth to claim her prize
We  thirst for your goods
We lust for your gold
We do not want your foul bodies

 But the Iron Maid who rules us
The Iron Rose shall fare
Don't guard your treasure 
Do so, and your head shall roll
But join us if you dare

The Iron Rose a-flying
Signals we predators are here
We fight for gold
We fight like devils
For we shall have or die!" 

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     "Captain! The Song of the Iron Rose is calling! And the Iron Rose itself is flying. What do we do?!" 

      The captain just stared blankly. 

      "It's said if we surrender, they'll spare our lives!" 

      Just then, the propulsion engines were hit, leaving the ships unable to run away. 

      "Captaiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnn!" 

       Lying on the floor, the captain still stared blankly, even as the ghost-devils of the Iron Rose descended upon the two ships.