Everyone scrambled to get over to the row boats and two as quickly as they could to the ships. Lisa found new energy and was rowing strongly as I just kept deep in thought. I felt a hand in my shoulder and saw Irene looking at me,
"We'll get her back." I gave her a fake smile,
"Of course." I turned my attention back to my ship that we were approaching. I know these circumstances are all depressing and very much heartbreaking for me, but I'm still happy I get my ship back. Lisa rowed up right up against it and with the rope ladder, we climbed up and brought everything I had along with me up. My crew all excitedly greeted me and I was also excited to see all of them healthy and happy.
"Alright everyone!" I shouted to get their attention. They all looked at me patiently, "It's good to be back, but we have things to do! You all saw that ship with the grey sails, so we need to follow that damn thing! Let's go!" I heard cheers as they rushed to their station, getting the anchor up and getting the ship ready to sail. We were close to Rosie's ship, so I walked to the edge and shouted over to Jennie,
"Oi! Let's get sailing and get my girl/your captain back!" Jennie gave me a dumb salute in return and I chuckled as I turned back around, watching the ship sail along in the distance.
"I'm coming to you Rosie, just hold on. For me. For us." I said quietly to myself as I then went up to the helm and got this boat sailing. The masts were down and the wind was catching them beautifully. My crew was bustling around below me and Lisa came up beside me.
"Good to have you back, captain." I smirked,
"Feels great to be back, mate."
~~~~~
I'm currently in my captain's quarters mapping out the island that Rosie and I were on. I remember the main details and I think I was able to get a pretty good map of it. Granted I did have one half done map from the lighthouse as a reference, but still. I was using the compass when a crew member burst into my room. I glanced up,
"Yes?"
"We've lost sight of the ship in the fog."
"WHAT!?" I yelled as I stood up from my chair and walked outside onto the deck. Indeed the fog was a massive problem as I could barely see three meters in front of me. I banged my fist against the side of the wooden wall in complete frustration.
"Damn it, think," I mumbled to myself. I snapped my fingers, "what is the current trajectory of the ship?"
"We will end up in Lisbon, Portugal if we continue on the current trajectory." I thought for a moment,
"Change the trajectory to La Rochelle, France."
"Wha–"
"Do it."
"Yes captain." The crew member left as I walked back into my quarter. I then heard a knock on my door, making me groan out,
"Come in." I said unenthusiastically. Lisa walked in with confusion written all over her face,
"How come we are going all the way to France now? Also I need to tell Jennie about the change in plans."
"The La Rochelle port in France is the one Rosie and I grew up at. That means her parents live around there because her family would rarely visit the markets. Therefore, her parents are taking her there since it's home."
"Are you sure they didn't move?"
"I uh, didn't think about that."
"I say keep the same trajectory. Jisoo told us she had guests with her already and we were in Portugal at the time. That meant that her parents were there already. So I think we should stay on track because why would her parents be in Portugal if they didn't live there."
"Fine, inform the crew to go back to the original trajectory." She nodded her head and disappeared into the fog that covered the sea and ship. I sighed and rested my head on my hands, just hoping that this would be right.
Every time I close my eyes, I just see her and her heartbroken expression. The dullness in her eyes and the lies flowing out of her mouth. I just know that they were forced, yet hearing them fall from her lips made it so real. I know she still loves me, so I hope when I get to her, it won't be too late. If her parents are that into the church (I mean I don't see them not being a part of the church since they're rich) she can be in serious trouble. I don't think they will execute her or kill her, but there will definitely be a punishment. I couldn't bear the thought of her getting hurt at the hands of someone, so I just got up and went outside to converse with my crew. I want them to update me on their lives so I can be a better captain.
Time dragged on and days turned into nights. The fog lifted and thankfully Jennie had their ship still alongside ours. We were about two days out from the docks in Portugal and I'm getting very nervous about it. I recently told my crew everything that happened and to say they were shocked about Rosie and I was the understatement of the century. Lisa also asked me privately for all the details of our 'love life', which I immediately shut down and I told Irene. Lisa got a scolding from her girlfriend that night.
I was sleeping peacefully in my hammock I have in my quarters when I got startled awake by my door flying open. I blinked rapidly trying to see what the hell happened and soon Lisa appeared in my field of view.
"What the hell..." I muttered as she then grabbed my shoulders and shook me a bit.
"We're at the docks."
"WHAT?" I yelled as I accidentally moved too much and flipped myself out of my hammock. I landed on the floor with a thud and quickly stood up. I went to get my shoes and tailcoat, along with my red hat. Lisa was watching me panic the whole time, so I yelled at her to also get ready since she clearly wasn't. Off she went and once I was ready, I took a few deep breaths and walked out of my quarters onto the main deck. There was my crew standing around, waiting for my command. They all looked at me once I became visible to them,
"Alright, we're at our destination. I need all of you to try and search for a family with the last name Park. They are wealthy and have two daughters. One is somewhere around the world and the other is back with them. We need to get that daughter back to me and safely. Understand?" They all nodded their heads and obviously knew the daughter we needed to get was Rosé.
"Good, I'm putting my trust and faith into you all. You've been a great crew for me and I hope you'll continue to make me proud. Go forth!"
"Aye aye!" All of them said at once as they went to get off the ship. I watched them all, making sure they got off safely and then I went to grab my sword from my quarters. I got it quickly and when I turned to go back outside, my eyes landed on the painting of Rosie and I'd home. I walked over to it and traced my fingers along the brush strokes. I sighed,
"I'll find you, my love."
With that, I walked out to the awaiting Lisa and Irene, and off we went to meet up with Jennie and Felix. I hopped down onto the dock and a small smile made its way to my lips as I'm finally back on mainland for the first time in a few months. I glanced to my left and saw Jennie exiting her ship with Felix. The three of us went over to them and Jennie gave me a firm handshake,
"Well I don't understand how you and Rosé are together, but I'm glad it's just you and not another bastard like Chanyeol." I chuckled at her words,
"Glad you think so highly of me." She rolled her eyes at me,
"Yeah sure."
"Anyway, I told my crew to go look for the Park's and I know you did the same. So I suggest we also split up and try to find them. Did you see their ship anywhere?" Felix shook his head,
"It's not on this side of the docks, so our best guess would be they came through the west side." I nodded my head,
"Alright, Jennie and I will go to the west side and you three scout out the east to see if anything is suspicious."
"Do I really have to go with you?" Jennie complained. I gave her a blank stare,
"No wonder Rosé didn't miss your complaining, it's annoying." She just scoffed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms,
"I am not annoying." You could hear a button drop because no one said anything to agree with her. She gave us all a glare and I had enough of her stalling basically, so I turned to the west and started walking.
"See ya!" Lisa shouted from behind me. I just waved back without looking and soon Jennie appeared next to me.
"I still want you to know I hate you."
"The feeling's mutual." I grumbled as my eyes started to scan my surroundings, trying to catch a hopeful glimpse of black wavy hair that I've grown to love. The two of us turned onto the west side of the docks and there about 50 meters down was their ship. I drew my sword out and I heard Jennie do the same.
"I doubt they're still on it." She said to me as we got closer.
"I'm thinking the same thing, but there might be a crew member or something that can help us out."
"Maybe you aren't as useless as Rosé has said in the past." I shook my head with a tiny smile because of course she would've said I was useless before.
We soon stood next to the ship, making sure no one was around on the docks to see us enter. We climbed up onto the main deck and Jennie and I stood back to back, making sure no one was here.
"Clear on my side." Jennie whispered.
"Same, let's go to the captain's quarters and see if there are any clues as to where they went." I stood up straighter and made my way over to the quarters, boots echoing through the seemingly empty ship. I showed no mercy to the door and just kicked it off it's hatches, showing me an empty room. I pointed my sword around and sighed as there was really no one here.
"Damn it." I mumbled as I just searched around, trying to see if any papers would help us out. I opened drawer after drawer, file and file and found nothing about any location. I threw the papers to the ground out of frustration and I was about to just tear this ship apart out of anger.
"Calm down y/l/n, we still have more of the ship to search." I quickly looked over at her,
"And you know damn well all the information is usually in the captain's quarters, so why would this time be different?" She just shrugged her shoulders,
"I don't know, luck maybe?"
"How the hell are you the second in command for Rosé?"
"That's offensive."
"It was supposed to be." I shot back as I scanned the room one more time, just hoping to see something that I missed before. But, nothing was out of the ordinary and I sighed as I told Jennie to lead the way down to the bottom deck.
Once we were down there, it was kind of creepy and I didn't like it at all. There was no life down here other than us and it was just off putting. I looked to either end of their ship and told Jennie to take the right side as I took the left. She didn't argue and held her sword up as she explored, me doing the same.
There were a few rooms this way and I carefully opened each door, finding them all empty. There was one more at the end and I have no faith that there's going to be anything in it. I opened the creaking down and found a burning candle sitting neatly on a desk. I was able to make out a chair in the corner that had rope around it. My eyes also saw a piece of dark green fabric which I immediately picked up. This was from the undershirt Rosie had made recently for herself. She was here. I shouted for Jennie and in she came running, sword up,
"What?!"
"Rosé was here, in this room. Look for clues now." I demanded her as she started to rustle through the things in the desk while I looked all over the walls. I know my girl is smart (sometimes) and I know she had to have left something here for us to find. I grabbed the candle from the desk and shined it by the chair, trying to see if anything was there.
And there was something.
"Jennie look." I pointed to faint carving marks on the wooden wall at the level Rosie's hands would've been. There in the wood was a poorly carved 3 8 1 A. Right after the A, there was a sharp line and it looked like she tried to write more, but she was interrupted.
"381 A? What?" Jennie spoke confusedly. I furrowed my eyebrows as I tried to decode what the hell Rosie could've meant by this.
"I was thinking it was like an address, but what the hell would the A be for?"
"I was thinking the same thing." I handed Jennie the candle,
"Search around the walls for anything else, I'm going to try and wrap my head around what she wrote."
I walked away, leaving Jennie alone and just walked back up onto the main deck. I just leaned up against the side of the ship and looked over the sea. There were multiple ships coming and going from the docks, some cargo and some scavengers. The sun was going to be setting soon and I closed my eyes, thinking about the numbers and letter.
Could it be go three kilometers at 8° of North, then find something that starts with A? No, she isn't that smart, it has to be something simpler.
I kept trying to think of something simpler. She must've overheard someone speaking about something and tried to carve it as quickly as she could. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I flinched, snapping my head around to see Jennie standing there with a small frown.
"There was nothing else."
"Great," I said sarcastically, "um, thanks for checking anyway." I said more calmly. She just gave me a small nod,
"No problem. How about we meet up with the others and see if they have any idea on what it means."
"I guess that's our best option. How smart is Felix?"
"He won't be of any help." Jennie said right away, making me chuckle.
"Lisa's the same, so Irene will be our best bet."
"Lead the way." Jennie told me as she held her hands out towards the exit. I walked past her and we were both on our way to try and find the three others. As I was walking alongside Jennie, she asked me a question,
"So do you really love her?" I know where she's coming from because I mean we were the only people on the island and she might think it isn't genuine. Also that she wants to know because Rosé is her best friend.
"I do really love her. Sure, she still annoys me and makes me want to strangle her sometimes, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. She's the best thing to happen to me and I just won't let her slip away from me. I don't know what I'd do to myself if I can't get her away from her parents." Jennie just stayed silent, taking in my words. She then hummed,
"So she told you about her parents?"
"Yeah, I want them dead."
"Makes two of us. I remember finding her when she was 15 and I was 16. She told me what happened almost a year ago at the time and I became friends with her. I didn't want anything bad to happen to her, so I became a scavenger to be alongside her. When we couldn't find her, and you, I was a mess and couldn't function. I don't know what I would've done with myself if she was truly dead."
"I understand. At least I know she's had someone that's been looking out for her when we hated each other." I said with a small smile. Jennie laughed a little,
"Man, that was so fun hearing her rant about how annoying you were. Never in a million years would I think you two would get together. But oddly enough, you guys are a good match."
"Thank you, Jennie. It means a lot hearing that from you."
"I still hate you though." She said quickly.
"I wasn't expecting you to change your mind about me anyway."
"Good."
~~~~~
"So that was all she wrote on the wall?" Irene said, wanting to make sure she heard us right. I nodded my head,
"That's all she wrote. It looked like she tried to write more, but the carving abruptly stopped, so I think someone walked in."
"I think it's a secret code." Lisa said with a smile as she tore a piece of bread. I gave her a blank look as we already knew that,
"Useless." She gasped at me and looked to her girlfriend for help. Irene just shrugged her shoulders, making me snicker as my best friend began to sulk. Felix then slammed his cup down on the table,
"What if it's a code that's secret?"
"Put the wine down, you've drank way too much because you're more useless than usual." Jennie said sternly as she snatched the cup away from the boy. He slumped down sadly and jutted out his bottom lip,
"Can I have it back?"
"Stop whining, you're 21 idiot. And no."
"I've come to the conclusion that you two," I pointed to Lisa and Felix, "are absolutely useless in this situation. Let the adults handle this." They didn't seem to mind as they began conversing about who knows what. I turned towards Irene and saw her deep in thought.
"So you really don't think it's an address?" Irene asked us.
"I honestly don't know, but if it is, why is there an A?" Jennie said to Irene.
"That's a good question. Maybe she was trying to write out the name of the place or street." I nodded my head slowly,
"That could be it, we need to find streets that start with the letter A and start searching come morning." I told them since I glanced at the clock and saw it was 11:28 pm. Jennie sighed from beside me,
"You're right. I can get us a couple of rooms at the nearby tavern since I've slept with the owner before." She said casually, sipping the rest of her alcohol.
"What? You can just casually get rooms for free now?"
"Yup. The man found a wife but wanted to thank me for a few good times. Said I can get a few rooms whenever, free of charge."
"Huh, alrighty then. Let's get those two idiots and get to the tavern." Irene told us as we got up. She got her girlfriend by the waist and Jennie just dragged Felix along down the streets. He tripped over his feet a few times, making Jennie laugh at his pathetic self. We got to the tavern and the owner gave Jennie a kind smile before leading us to two rooms. Jennie didn't want to be near Felix anymore, so I was stuck with him tonight while the other three got the other room.
Needless to say, sleeping next to a man is way, way worse than with my girl.
~~~~~
I was the first one up as I wanted to get the search started as quickly as possible. I shook Felix awake and he damn near threw up on me, but thankfully he just threw up out the back window into the alley below. I told him to hurry up and I went out the door and knocked on the door to Lisa, Jennie, and Irene's room. Irene was the one to answer and she had noticeable bags under her eyes.
"Did you get any sleep?" I asked her. She just gave me a dead stare,
"Barely. I can deal with a constantly moving Lisa, but another one is too much."
"I'm sorry, Irene. If we take another day, you can sleep with Felix and I'll sleep with thing one and thing two." She thanked me quietly before opening the door more, allowing me to see the two bodies spread across the bed. They were both in deep sleep and I grabbed a nearby metal bowl and a wooden stick. Irene was already covering her ears and I started slamming them together, quickly waking the duo up.
"Oi stop! I'm up, I'm up!" Jennie shouted as she shoved Lisa off of her. Lisa tumbled to the ground and groaned,
"Really?"
"Okay idiots, get ready because we're leaving in ten!" I yelled at them as I walked out of the room, going downstairs to the main tavern and getting a light breakfast. I ate it pretty quickly and soon everyone was down here with me, waiting for my directions.
"All of us are going to split up, no pairs, and find every damn street that starts with A and have the address 381. We'll worry about the rest later. Come back if you find that address here in two hours. Everyone got it?"
"Got it." They replied. We all went our separate ways and I went down the first street I saw that started with A. I looked at both sides of the street and didn't see a single address even near 381. I sighed and told myself not to give up, that if I did Rosie would be at even more risk. I just hope the others are having more luck than me, but that isn't likely.
I went down two more streets and they were a good two kilometers away from the tavern at the docks. There was just countryside beyond this and there was still no sight of any address that was 381.
I walked over to a small bench I found and watched a couple of passing merchants go about their way. My eyes danced across the landscape and I saw a few small houses in the distance.
Why not?
I pushed myself up and made my way over to them even though I didn't know what the street name was. There was no candle light coming from inside any of them, but I wasn't looking to go inside any of them obviously. I got closer to them and squinted to make out the numbers plastered on the side of a few polls. My eyes widened as the first one was 336. A sense of hope bubbled up inside of me as I quickened my pace to walk further down the mystery street. The numbers started to increase and I felt myself going faster as 380 passed my vision. I practically ran to the house that sat at the end; the address 381.
Since it was at the end of the street, I looked around for a street sign and disappointingly saw that it started with M and not A. I was about to just scream at the top of my lungs out of frustration, but I calmed myself down and decided to just go up and knock on the door. I know I'm supposed to meet back with everyone in about like 20 minutes, but I'm not expecting anything anyway.
I walked up to the old wooden door and knocked three times on it. I stayed silent as I waited to hear anyone shout or footsteps from inside, but I didn't hear anything. I waited a little longer before turning my back and taking a step away. I then heard the lock turn and the front door cracked open as I turned back around, startled and confused.
"Hello?" I asked the person I couldn't clearly see. I only saw the white part of their eye in the light.
"Who are you looking for?" A female voice said as they looked me up and down.
"Who am I looking for?" The person rolled their eyes,
"Yes, who are you looking for?"
"Uh, I didn't–"
"If you aren't looking for anyone, leave." The person said with an annoyed voice.
"Wait!" I said quickly. I closed my eyes and thought back to the numbers and letter A. The other line that Rosie tried to carve was only a vertical line, so that wasn't much more information. Oh my god. I snapped my eyes open as I opened my mouth and said what came to mind,
"Alice. Alice Park."
—————
i think my storytelling/writing has gotten a LOT better, don't y'all agree? but look at us not giving up. and did y'all guess the numbers and letter meant Alice???? i'm guessing some of u did bc of the flashback from forever ago saying if we need help to find her blah blah blah. anywho, thanks for reading this chapter and i'll see all of u guys in the next one <3