Legend of the Seven Seas

Gates of Tartarus

Sinbad and Odette stared at the stars that were flocking towards the bright one in the middle that they had been following. Instinctively Sinbad shifted closer to her as they watched in confusion. As each of the stars darted towards the center they seemed to slice tears in the once clear blue skies, leaving a trail of purple behind them. Soon enough the entire sky was make of this new color due the flurry of starts that passed. As they converged to a point, another burst revealed two pillars with the glow coming from inside, swirls of stardust surrounding it.

"The gates of Tartarus." Sinbad murmured lowly.

Odette glanced over in worry as Sinbad glared the gates down, deep in thought. From down below the men heard the whooshing sounds and had seen the light. Cale was the first to appear, brushing aside the trapdoor easily as he climbed up onto the deck the rest quickly following after. As they spread out they blinked and covered their eyes, trying to see despite the brightness of the glow. Sinbad took the wheel, staring ahead stoically as he steered the ship towards those gates. Odette glanced down the side of the boat and frowned as she spotted the wind pulling the spray of the water in the opposite direction that it normally would go. She tapped his arm and pointed. Once Sinbad caught her gaze her stared at the phenomenon a moment.

"Rat, give me a lookout." Sinbad called, knowing something was amiss.

Rat nodded and quickly scurried up the mast of the boat to his perch. The man's eyes widened and he slumped, spotting the edge of the waters with the gates floating just past it.

"We're dead." Rat groaned numbly, staring as the water created a thin curtain ahead of them.

"Rat what is it?" Sinbad called, briefly spotting the man's stance.

"It just ends captain! It's the edge of the world!" Rat shouted back in alarm.

"Pay up, its flat." One of the brothers commented, earing himself some coins while the other crewmates stared at it worriedly.

"Well that's it, time to go home." The older crewmate shrugged, turning to eagerly get off the death trap.

Cale grabbed his shoulder before he could walk away.

"No, the captain hasn't given his orders yet" Cale calmly remined, before turning his eyes up to his friend.

The man rolled his eyes but looked to Sinbad curiously. Their captain frowned and glanced around in thought.

"Follow that star beyond the horizon....beyond the horizon.." Sinbad mumbled under his breath.

Suddenly the movement of the water caught Sinbad's eye. Looking at the horizon he noticed how turbulent and strong they were. As his mind reeled with solutions he glanced up to spot smaller flags on his masts fluttering rapidly as the wind continued to pick up around them.

"Sinbad?" Odette questioned, looking at Sinbad's face that was slowly breaking into a smirk. She knew that look. He had an idea.

"Men! Abandon posts, free all the sheets and wait for my command!" Sinbad ordered, startling Marina as he leapt down next to her to the deck below.

All the men stared at him as if he had spoken gibberish.

"Go, go go!!" Sinbad prodded, spurring them into action.

They had no idea what he was thinking but went with it anyway.

"Sinbad how are we going to pull this off?" Cale asked him nervously.

"Just trust me." Sinbad assured, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Rat, rig the main yards to the port sail." Sinbad called.

"But that would stop us dead?!" Rat told him as a reminder.

"Just do it!" Sinbad told him.

Rat gave him a reluctant 'aye aye captain' and started re-rigging the ropes attached to the main sails. Sinbad began calling out orders to anyone who would listen, continuously hurrying them as everyone raced around, tying off the sails to new places around the ship.

"Attach that to the stern!" Sinbad called, swooping past a crewmate.

"But that's.." a crewman started to say.

"Crazy I know, now hurry." Sinbad dismissed, rushing around to see everything in place.

Sinbad continued barking orders as he watched the edge draw nearer. However, Sinbad paused when a very feminine, 'aye aye captain' responded. Sinbad turned in surprise to find Odette and Marina taking up one of the ropes, holding it in place. Odette grinned over at him, their previous awkwardness forgotten. Sinbad grinned back at her before returning to his barking.

"Pull!" Sinbad ordered, yanking on the rope along with a few others, hoisting the main sails on opposing sides of the mast.

"Tie up all sails! All hands to midship!" Sinbad barked once more, making his way to the stern.

Odette followed closely behind, staring out towards the nearing edge.

"And pray to the gods, we may be meeting them soon." Sinbad added softly under his breath.

Sinbad glanced back at Odette who shared a solemn stare with him, both grabbing onto the rigging for balance. Everyone held their positions, muscles poised to act at the command of their captain. They held fast as the ship slowly lurched forward, tilting as the water disappeared from underneath it. Once it hit mid-ship everyone started to panic. However, Sinbad remained in his spot and tugged Odette to his chest for good measure as they jerked forward hard. She clutched his shirt tightly as they began to free-fall.

"Come on come on!" Sinbad murmured in alarm, staring up at the sails.

Sinbad was so sure it would work, it had to work. As if they were listening, the sails suddenly unfurled and spread out to the side, catching the ship at a hover. The force knocked the crew off their feet and the riggings groan in protest at being pulled in unnatural directions. Sinbad slowly dragged himself up and stared around in shock. They were floating on the wind and unharmed. Slowly the crew followed and gasped as they floated in midair between the ocean and the gates.

"It worked?" Sinbad asking in shock, not believing that it actually did.

"It worked." Odette assured with a wide grin.

Sinbad helped Odette up, tugging her into an embrace as they laughed in shock.

"Sinbad, you did it." Cale mused proudly with a chuckle.