A Pirate's Tale | ATEEZ Fan Fiction

Chapter 21: Truth

Qin Li looked at San with a soft expression as he took a deep sigh. All of our eyes were fixed on the King and I couldn't tell whose heart it was but my ears were pounding with its reverberating beating.

In all honesty it was probably my heart making all of that noise.

"Yi La was the daughter of Lord Xing Chen, a wealthy and powerful cultivator who was also my father's best friend," Qin Li began, locking eyes with San.

My eyes looked away from Qin Li as I brought my gaze to the food in front of me. Suddenly I wasn't feeling so hungry.

"Cultivator?" Wooyoung asked causing the King to nod.

"You mean he was a farmer?" Jongho questioned resting his cheek in his palm.

Qin Li shook his head, "No not a farmer. He was a cultivator of demons. He worked hard alongside my father to protect Qing Xian from the demons who constantly tried to attack us."

I looked up again and turned my attention to the King before shifting my gaze to Hongjoong. He was looking at me too and we both knew what we were thinking.

My father was like him.

He killed spirits.

"When we were children your father sent you to the palace so that you would be protected. You were practically family," He turned to me, his lips curving up into a small smile.

"What happened to him?"

Before I could process it, those words left my mouth as the pounding of my heart made my head want to explode. I kept my eyes on the man in front of me who suddenly averted my gaze.

"He..he was killed by a demon,"

The pounding stopped.

Everything stopped.

Stone cold blankness filled my bones replacing the previous mixture of worry and concern, making me incapable of moving.

"Wh..what?" I barely got the word out as Qin Li sighed, meeting my gaze.

"He was killed by the Cai Yang, a demon from the sea. It was a monster unlike anything we'd ever seen before...it had magic,"

"Magic?" Hongjoong asked.

"Yes, magic. Normal demons are powerful, fast, and incredibly strong but they never possess magic.

Your father was no match for the Cai Yang, but his sacrifice meant that we got peace. We haven't seen another demon since then,"

I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see Seonghwa looking at me with sullen eyes.

My father died saving Qing Xian.
He was a hero.

"But what happened to Illa?" San's voice floated in my ears.

"If her father died and she was living with you, how did she end up on that ship?"

I stared at my friend with wide eyes. He was right. How did I end up there?

Qin Li sighed again for maybe the hundredth time.

"When the Cai Yang attacked us, it left half of the island in ruins. My father had to seek resources from other islands and conduct business with merchant ships just to rebuild..." He paused and started to fidget with his cup.

"There was one ship that promised my father enough money to completely fix everything in exchange for something...He wanted us."

Silence covered the room as we all stared at him, I could feel the beads of sweat forming on Yunho's forehead and the quivering of Yeosang's hands as they rested on the table's surface. The answer was finally being revealed but why did I feel everything but relief? No matter how long or intense Hongjoong or Wooyoung stared at him, he refused to meet any of our eyes.