Calypso's Curse ✓

2.

« I can't believe it... » Mrs. Rovers mumbled. She was staring vacantly at the painting in front of her, not paying attention to anything of the scenery. « They stole from us, and we were right there... We didn't notice a thing. » She continued mumbling. Tom placed his hand on her shoulder « Mother, I will find them, we will get everything back. » I stood next to him « We both will, Madam. I promise. » Sh looped up to me, a bit more hopeful. « It's lost... » Mr. Rovers stormed into the room, ignoring his son's and my curious looks. « Everything valuable they could take away, they did. Everything, Marianne. » The tone in Mr. Rovers voice had something dark. Mrs. Rovers seemed even more taken away by the news than she did only seconds ago. « Everything? » She mumbled staring at her husband in disbelief. « Everything worth something. » The two seemed to forget we were still there as the exchanged looks in which I could not read what they meant. A sad look covered Mrs. Rovers face as her face grew pale. She was close to fainting when Maud gave her an extra hand « Let's go to your room, mother. Try to rest a bit. Tomorrow, it won't seem that bad at all. » She led her mother out of the room leaving her father and brother alone with me.

« Father, I assure you, I will find them. The honor of our family... » But Mr. Rovers stopped Tom by raising his hand. « They're gone, Tom. They were not random thieves. They've been trained to do this kind of big crimes. They've probably been keeping an eye on us for weeks, waiting to make their move. How else could they rob a house filled with more than a hundred of guests without anyone noticing it? I've never suspected Dickens would betray me like that. » He spat out furious. « Father, Felix and I will find them. » Tom replied a bit softer, his face pale in the late darkness that creeped around every corner in the mansion. « I guarantee. » Mr. Rovers looked at him from under the dark eyebrows they both shared. « Of course you will, son. You must. You don't know what danger hangs above the island, what do I say, above the world if we don't return what they took from us. » His voice was dark and rough. He stared at the fire. « Sir, isn't that a little overrated? » I interrupted, being the stubborn boy I was in those days. He turned around angry. Never in my entire life had I been afraid of Mr. Rovers, until then. When he approached me with determined steps, the fire still burning in his dark eyes. « It is not overrated, Felix. Believe me when I say you know nothing about it. You're just a boy. »

I gave him a confused look but in return he only shook his head « Son, you must not take revenge on those thieves. The only thing I want from you is to return everything they stole from us. Everything. » He took his son by his shoulder. « Come.. » and with that the two of them left whispering things I would never hear, spoken in a relationship I would never have. I sat alone by the fire thinking about how we were going to find them. If I wasn't mistaken, they had a ship, the Serena. Or at least that's what Mystery Girl had told me, if I could rely on that information. They would've already left the island far behind. Finding them on the oceans was a task not even ready to begin with. I barely heard the soft footsteps entering the room. « It's quite a thing isn't it. » Maud said as she sat down beside me. « Mother kept rambling about a medaillon, her grandmothers... She's completely shocked. » She stared at the fire with me for a while. « I'm just curious... How can someone steal from his friend? Dickens and my father helped each other out before. You don't throw away such kind of trust for just anything, right? » She looked up at me. I could only shake my head in response. « It's all a mystery to me... They entered every room during the party and nobody noticed... »

« Well, you did. We did. Remember? » Maud said and I looked over to her. She shyly looked away, the fire dancing on her pale face giving it a golden glow. « What were you about to show me anyways? » I asked her, leaning a bit back, taken away by the sudden warmth of the fire. She smiled « The stars. » I repeated with a little surprise « The stars? » But she only laughed softly « Oh, Felix, don't you have any romantic bone inside of you. » She joked but I froze at her words. She laughed again. « The stars, they were shining brighter than I had ever seen before and the moon was closer than ever. I've never seen the sky act that way. It was such a magical scenery but nobody outside admired it. I thought you would've liked it. » She laid her long fingers on top of my hand. « You'll help Tom, won't you? » She questioned. « Of course. » I said without any hesitation. « In every way I can. » Maud smiled and bowed down to give me kiss on the cheek. « Goodnight, Felix. »

The next day, Tom and I got up very early in the morning and met each other at the village down the hill. « What's the plan I asked him. » He gave me a tired look « I don't know yet. I've been laying awake the entire night but I can't see how we can find them again. They've left before sunrise and we've lost too much time... » He mumbled. Some girls appeared but they couldn't count on his attention. I wondered what his dad had told him but I had the feeling Tom wouldn't tell me. « We'll check on the port, maybe someone has seen the ship or knows where they headed. » I offered and Tom nodded approving. « Sounds like the closest to a plan, we'll get today. » And off we went, we separated and started questioning the crew men all kinds of things.

« Have you seen the Serena yesterday? »

« The Serena, heard of it before? »

« A crew with a girl on board, that's quite uncommon right? »

« They were dressed for a party, have you seen them? »

Nobody could help us. It felt as if we were looking for answers at the ocean self instead of from those who were her loyal inhabitants. As soon as most of them heard the name of Dickens' ship, they backed away and claimed they had never heard of that ship in their lives. They weren't even sure it existed. I felt desperate and tired and was ready to give up when an old man sneaked up behind me from the shadows. « I heard you were looking for the Serena? » He whispered with a grin on his dirty face. His breath smelled from the alcohol and rotten fish. He didn't seem surprised at all when I grabbed his shirt by the collar. « What do you know? » I spat, frustration boiling through every single one of my veins. I needed to find them, I needed for Mr. Rovers to see I was as valuable as his son. I needed Maud to know I was going to fulfill my promise. « Calm down, boy. You won't find them here. » He smiled crazily. I let go of him, trying to calm myself down. « Please, tell me what you know... » He eyed me and grinned, revealing a lot of missing teeth. « Are you sure, kid. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. If I were you I would walk away and let the Serena be. »

« I don't think I can... » was the only answer I could reply with. « Your choice. I gave you a chance to escape the Devil of the Depths. That ship is haunted for sure...  Everyone who looks for it is never seen again. Only bad things happen with the Serena. » My eyes narrowed « Continue. » I motioned with my hand when he seemed to trail off. « You see... » he came closer and his smelly breath almost made me gag. « The Serena is a legend of the seas. Their captain... » « Dickens. » I added. « Yup, that one. He 's mad. As mad as a hatter. Totally lunatic. They say he has the Ocean Fever... » From my questioning look, he knew I didn't know what he was talking about. « He's driven crazy by the ocean. Can't stand to be on land and only wants to explore the Blue Beauty in all of her mysteries. » He bend even closer to me, our bodies almost touching « Rumors say he's looking for the goddess of all that beauty, Calypso. He would cross every part of the world to find her. Legend says she's banned in a human form for eternity and those who are capable of setting her free, can join her in her godly realm beneath the waves, sharing her powers. »

« And how do you know all of this? » I asked the drunken sailor. He laughed dark, the sudden loud sound of his voice shaking me awake from the trance his story had put me on. « That's quite simple, boy. I'm part of Dickens' crew. Sorry, mate. » He said before something hit me and everything went black.