Vanished [ATEEZ]

heading south

"Captain at the sea!"

The anchor was dropped, more and more crewmen running toward the rail. Two of them threw overboard a rope ladder, landing a few meters in front of the man. Hongjoong swam toward it, gripping the first plank, carefully climbing the ladder. When he was nearly aboard he felt arms raising him up, helping him. He looked up, finding the warm and worried faces of his crew. He felt like he had lived forever with them. Those faces surprisingly reminded him of good memories, just as he had grew up with them, but he knew that his head was playing him tricks.

-Captain, are you okay? Asked one of the men aboard, his face clearly showed how much he was concerned.

Hongjoong got lost in the eyes of his crew, before answering with a tiny smile, a small "I'm okay". That was visibly everything that they wanted to hear cause a small sigh escaped the mouths of the men.

-Captain we need to go now, the Royal Navy must be navigating along us. It's dangerous to stay motionless for too long.

-You're right! Replied the young man. Weirdly his capabilities of being a captain had resurfaced, just as he had always knew how to deal with that. He looked up for a moment, his entire crew hanging at his lips, waiting patiently for the orders. Hongjoong placed his hand in his pocket, getting out the compass. The fact that it was still here kind of shocked the young boy, expecting it to be gone after everything that'd happened. He carefully looked at the needle. This one started spinning again and again, the letters slowly fading away just to be replaced by others, before stoping abruptly, showing the the exact front of the ship. The letters changed again, the S... that was were they were going. Heading south! Shouted the captain.

Everybody aboard started running to their posts. Weighing anchor, hoisting the sails, cleaning the deck, climbing the ropes...
In less than two minutes they were already gone. Voguing on the calm sea, really opposed to the one the young man had been on earlier.

The captain had to find the other members of his crew...

❈───────•✦•❅•✦•──────❈

The two friends were navigating for quite a long time now. Aboard the captain's crew was running everywhere. The ship was a merchant one, so the shipments needed to be perfectly secured and watched closely. The two friends didn't knew what was in there, but like the captain had said "it's none of your business".

Ostendène wasn't too far away now, a weird pressentiment taking over the youngest. Jongho didn't knew why, but that feeling kept on growing in his head, something inside him was trying to warn him and that simple thought made him shiver.

Seonghwa was backed against the foremast, observing the view quietly. The youngest walked toward him, his friend turned to look at the newcomer, his eyes warm and probably searching for any emotion on the man's face, trying to know why he was here before he even had to speak.

-You're okay? Asked the youngest softly, turning his head to look at the horizon.

-Yeah... yeah. Seonghwa was stressed. That feeling... He knew it. He was gaining so much ground, and fighting was absolutely unimaginable for him. He knew he would lose against him anyway. I'm just... thinking.

A long silence took place. Both of them were deeply hurt inside. Everything had happened so fast, and none of what was happening right now seemed real. Trapped into a giant dream or nightmare... that was how they would describe their new life. Everything was so crazy, worthy of an action movie based in the renaissance. Saying that they were completely serene would be a terrible lie, but at least they were together. Finding the others was now the only thing in their head.

❈───────•✦•❅•✦•──────❈

A loud blow echoed in the room. The clenched fist of the man pinned to the desk. Everyone in the room had jumped, the man was furious...

-Set a bounty on their heads. The man's voice was cold, his eyes piercing the Commander in front of him. Commander Adara, you failed once... but you'll not fail a second time, am I perfectly clear?

The Commander simply bowed, letting a small "Yes Your Majesty" escape the barrier of his lips.

-Send all the armadas to find them and bring me the captain alive. I'm gonna made him regret to had stepped on my way... the man sat on his luxurious armchair. Everything on the room was more expensive than everything on this world combined. With his empty hand the man reached something in the corner of his desk. An eyepatch... I want to rip this boy off, just like I ripped his father. Capture them all. I can't even imagine the delight in seeing him suffer in front of his dying friends. I wanna break his mind before I cut his throat myself in front of all the inhabitants of my world. So that they will understand that even their stupid prophecy can't put me down! The man hit the table another time, his fist still clenched, nearly bleeding due to the hit. I will remind them that they're not the people but that they're my subjects!

-Majesty, the traitor is here. One of the man present on the room talked politely.

A guard entered the room, just after the King had given his autorisation. Behind him two other guards were dragging a young man. He was chained up, cover in scars and blood. His relatively long black hair falling in front of his eyes. He seemed completely exhausted but not scared in the least. His brown eyes piercing the man in front him.
The King walked toward him, smiling sarcastically, nearly laughing at the unfortunate situation of the man. He went in front of him, eyeing the young man meticulously. He grabbed his chin hardly, hurting him at the same time with the ridiculously big rings he had on all of his fingers. The young man did not even flinched, he simply looked up before addressing him a contemptuous gaze. The King visibly did not like that, letting go of the man's chin before throwing his hand violently in his face. Blood came from his mouth and that's when the man took back his chin, a superior and victorious look on his face.

-Welcome back Eden...