Lucas' head lamely rocked back and forth, but the rest of his body was bound by rough rope to another person's back. The smell of salt, musky wood, and alcohol wafted into Lucas' nose. Slowly, he fluttered his eyes open and got a look at his surroundings. In front of him was a nearly concave wooden wall. Two shipping crates with rope strewn over them were pushed up against it, and an empty liquor bottle rolled back and forth over the wooden planks. Off to the side, Lucas saw a staircase made of wood leading up to a door. The door had a small window, but it was covered in so much grey-green grime that Lucas couldn't tell what was outside, let alone what time of day or night it was.
Lucas felt a shift in the ropes binding him and on his back.
"Lu...cas. Lucas...? Lucas! Where are you?" Jalen called out.
"Calm down. I'm right here," Lucas replied.
"Oh. Thank goodness." Lucas felt Jalen trying to move around a bit. "Where are we?"
Lucas took a moment to think about his observations. "Well, the smell of salt, the shipping crates, the rocking around - I'd say we're..."
"...We're what?"
Lucas scrunched his eyebrows. "We're on a pirate ship."
Jalen jolted up a bit in his restraints, causing Lucas to move a bit. "Pirates? No! The attacked Canp one time and..."
"You're from Canp?"
"No, I'm from S'rata, village near there."
"Never heard of it," Lucas commented.
Now that he's thought of it, Jalen coming from some small, unknown village made a lot of sense. Jorviks were usually more attracted to areas with denser populations because that was where they could find human guilty of the vice or fear that the Jorvik was born from. Once they'd find those humans, they would cut them down and consume their body and suffering. The Jorvik that stole Linkin probably had something to do with something similar to thirst, so that is why it targeted them in the Lyrin Desert. It even dropped off Link just a few feet away from a river to taunt him. Some backwater town probably never experienced attacks like the ones in the Capital and they likely didn't have much access to information either. Maybe the next time Lucas wanted to lash out at Jalen, he'd take a moment to consider why he was so clueless in the first place.
"When someone asks where I'm from, I usually just reply with Canp since no one's ever heard of S'rata," Jalen said. "I've never been there, but my sister was sent there for her studies."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. My parents were really proud of her at first, but thanks to those barbaric pirates, she's in a coma in some hospital in Canp," Jalen sighed. "She doesn't know all the money my parents saved up for her education went to me instead."
Lucas couldn't help but to feel a twinge of pity for his companion. Unsure of what to say, he asked, "What did you end up doing with all that money?"
"I decided I might as well do something good with it. So, I spent some of it on a train ride to the Capital to educate myself for her. I went to the library first and got my hands on... I want to say a Marcus Aurelius biography, but I'm not sure. It was from there that I started getting into philosophy," Jalen said. "Actually, no. I think I've always pondered the ethics and morality of things due to my Gift. My stay in the Capital simply opened my eyes to new perspectives and ideas."
"I assume your stay in the Capital is also what got you exiled in the first place?"
Lucas felt Jalen nod his head. "When the soldiers burst into my hotel room, I just assumed that was something normal in the larger city states. But then I found out they were throwing me out for being Gifted. I thought that was really strange because they didn't oppress Gifteds in S'rata. In fact, they thought that I was capable of doing great things because of my Gift."
The chance to become great being robbed from you because of banishment. That certainly sounded familiar.
"Sure, Gifts can cause pain and suffering. I mean, just take a look at my sister. But if I learned one thing from her before she went away, it's that they're also capable of helping others. That's what she always wanted me to do. I just hope that if- when she wakes up, I'll have done enough to make her proud," Jalen said. "That's why I'm here helping Vaessen - helping you - find all these Gifteds. I want to help people. I want to do the right thing."
Lucas thought about what Jalen had to say. "You know, while you be clueless and annoying, you're actually not that bad of a guy, Jalen."
"Thank... you?"
The door swung open and a pair of black boots belonging to a petite but imposing young woman began to descend the wooden stairs. A long, black coat brushed against her shins with each step. She wore a leather vest underneath and had a sheathed sword attached to her waist. Her hair of the same shade as her attire and her playful eyes bounced on her shoulders. She had a devious smirk spread across her tanned face, sending a chill down Lucas' spine. Still, he couldn't help but to feel as if there was something more behind those enticing eyes. Perhaps there's a trustworthy ally. Maybe there's an immoral monster. Lucas wouldn't be able to know unless he tried to chip away at her roguish exterior.
"My, my. What do we have here?" she jeered as she sauntered over to Jalen. She ran her finger down his cheek before breathing out, "No. This one seems stupid."
"As if I care about what a brute such as you has to say about me," Jalen spat venomously. It threw Lucas off a bit. In the time that he's known Jalen, though it really hasn't been that long, his tone had always been amiable and a little naive. However, in this case, it was understandable. Most people probably wouldn't be acting compassionately to someone who likely harmed someone they cared for either.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. This one's so naughty."
Interestingly enough, Jalen's weight and placement on Lucas' body shifted. Almost as if...
He'd shrunk.
"Did you just-"
"Hush...," the black-clad woman cooed as she made her way over to Lucas. She crouched down and lifted his chin up with her finger. "Now this one..."
"Sophia," came a stern voice from the doorway. "Quit messing around with the prisoners."
At the doorway stood another woman of a similar stature. She also wore a vest, but it was black and covering a plain, white t-shirt that contrasted her rich umber skin. A jet black cape was wrapped around her shoulders and nearly touched the floor. Her hair was parted into numerous braids and started as black at the scalp but faded into a sea-foam green at the tips. She wore an eye-patch over her right eye, and the one you could see glared harshly into Lucas' soul.
"MJ~! You never let me have any fun." Sophia pouted and backed away from the prisoners.
MJ walked down the steps and stood by Sophia's side. "So these are the ruffians that shape freak and drunkard have added onto their pathetic crew," MJ said coolly. "They must be really desperate if they've enlisted scrawny and clueless lowlifes such as you."
"Ha! Vile woman, your last mistake will be underestimating Lucas and his scrawniness!" Jalen taunted.
Lucas bonked the back of Jalen's head to tell him to shut up. Sophia snapped her fingers, and Lucas felt Jalen shrink even more.
"Can you stop doing that?"
"No one speaks to the captain that way," Sophia growled. "Especially you. You're worthless scum who doesn't even deserve to be the dirt underneath her boots."
Jalen grumbled and turned his head away from his captors and whispered to Lucas, "Do you have any ideas on how to get out of here?"
"Don't even try," MJ said. "You're on my ship. You're not leaving unless I allow it."
Lucas sensed that Jalen was going to say something stupid again, so he said, "So sorry, Miss Pirate Ma'am. We don't know a shape guy or a drunk guy personally. I think you've mixed us up with someone else."
"Is that so? Then what were you doing in the Lyrin Jungle along the Norton River? Everyone knows that's Matthew and Stepan's territory. One of our own even claimed that you were aiding Matthew in chasing her down. Why should we doubt the words of one of our own?" MJ said.
"This is all just a huge misunderstanding!" Jalen claimed before Lucas could stop him. "We were in the Lyrin Jungle because our friend was kidnapped by a Jorvik and took him there. We saw a glowing triangle and a mermaid and thought they might be Gifted."
"And why do you care if they're Gifted?" MJ quirked her eyebrow. "Are you guys part of the military or something?"
Lucas "pfft"-ed.
"Quite the opposite, actually. We're on a mission from a woman named Vaessen to gather as many Gifteds as possible to make a statement to the military and society," Jalen beamed.
The playful smirk on Sophia's face faded away. "Vaessen...?"
Jalen ignored her. "But don't think for a second that we'd ever try and enlist the help of pirates such as you. We're looking for righteous and virtuous people, something I'm sure you people have never heard of. I'd suggest you let us go now, lest you want to face the consequences. My accomplice here, Lucas, would surely be able to pulverize your skills in a matter of seconds! Your shrinking Gift quivers in the presence of Lucas' hands, fiendish female!"
"I AM GOING TO BASH MY HEAD IN IF YOU EVER USE THE TERM 'FIENDISH FEMALE' AGAIN!" Lucas bellowed. "WHAT KIND OF ARCHAIC BELIEFS WERE ENGRAVED IN YOUR MIND BACK IN S'RATA? PLEASE, IF YOUR GOAL IS TO HELP PEOPLE AND DO THE RIGHT THING, FOR THE SAKE OF HUMANITY, DON'T UTTER ANOTHER WORD FOR THE NEXT TWENTY-FOUR HOURS!"
"..."
Lucas let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Now, Mrs. and Mrs. Pirate, I apologize for my outburst and my idiotic partner. If you untie these ropes and drop us off on land, we swear we'll never bother you again."
MJ and Sophia shared a look with each other. With that single moment of eye contact, they shared an understanding that Lucas could only dream of having with someone one day. He almost felt envious.
"Very well then. We'll let you go," MJ said. "But your friend stays locked up in the hold for the next twenty-four hours."
"For the 'sake of humanity' and whatnot," Sophia added on.
Lucas shrugged. "As long as he's returned to me in the end, I don't mind."
"Wha-"
"No words," Sophia chided, lifting her finger as a threat.
"..."
Lucas was removed from his restraints while Jalen was left tied up and fuming. MJ and Sophia led Lucas up the steps and to the main deck. It took a while for his eyes to readjust to the vivid sunlight, but he managed to finally take a look at his surroundings. The ship was rather small, but that didn't take away from its majesty. The sail had the image of a crane billowing in the light, fresh breeze. The bilge of the vessel carved its path through the marine blue sea, leaving behind a white and frothy texture on the waters.
Upon the stern of the ship was a young man wearing a ripped azure shirt and had an oxford blue coat tied around his waist. A brown belt holding a sheathed sword bulged out from underneath it. His wide brown eyes remained focused on the blue horizon as his hands controlled the steering wheel and his sandy hair whipped around in the wind. Also on the main deck were two women seated around an upright barrel as if it were a table. They were giggling and handing over purple playing cards to each other. One had chocolate brown hair and a kind face, and the other had bronze hair. The one with bronze hair had her back turned to Lucas, so he wasn't entirely sure of what to make of her. Despite that, there was something oddly familiar about her figure.
"She may not have a tail right now, but she's the one you were chasing," MJ said, almost as if she had read his thoughts. She turned to face him and gave him a slight smile, softening her face by a tenfold. "We started off on the wrong foot. Let me introduce myself properly. I'm Mary Joy, or MJ for short, the captain of this ship."
She extended her hand. Lucas shook it.
"I'm Lucas."
"Nice to meet you, Lucas. Welcome aboard the Acheron."
Sophia grinned. She unsheathed her sword and whooped, "Welcome, Lucas!"
Lucas smiled back, but it faltered once he got a good look at the sword gleaming in the sunlight. It couldn't be...
---
A/N
Jalen is an incel lmao. Also, the pirates are too hot. I had to take breaks while writing because it was too much for me to handle. Anyways, welcome to the start of the Stygian Waters arc! Pirates and water and stuff! Whee. Anyways, I'm bad at outros...
Bye.