Many hours later, the entire crew awoke to a gorgeous aroma which originated strangely from the just down the hall. Naturally, Zenith was the first to investigate, his hand resting atop the hilt of his sword while he left Pip and Madison sleeping in his bed. The two of them had fallen asleep while Zenith was patching Madison up, and the swordsman didn't have the will to disturb their sleep any time soon.
As he approached the curiously magnificent smell, Zenith's guard dropped naturally to a calm and collected stance, one which caused him to act completely relaxed as he entered the dining room and looked around in awe. Spread beautifully across the table, food of all kinds was set out to eat in a delicious array of colourful cooked meals. Nearby, a gentle voice was singing softly from the kitchen nearby, one which Zenith instantly recognised to be Kaylo.
Carefully, he snuck over towards the kitchen doorway, watching curiously as Kaylo professional wrapped, sliced and boiled a wide variety of foods, preparing some dishes a few weeks or days in advance with marination techniques.
"It smells really good in here," Zenith said suddenly, causing Kaylo to jump and almost drop his frying pan.
"Y-you're up," he stuttered, instantly silencing his singing.
"Yeah, I'll get the others up too, we can eat together and then head out." Zenith smiled softly, giving Kaylo a grateful thumbs up before walking off and checking on their position in the water.
As Zenith walked out onto the still dry deck of their underwater ship, he noticed that the currents had ceased to push them any further, and they were now just floating noiselessly at the bottom of the ocean. One would expect this to mean that they were floating across a barren wasteland, but in reality, their ship was edging ever closer to the well known docks of the underwater city.
Judging by the movement of the ship due to the natural underwater ocean flow, Zenith estimated twenty minutes until their arrival at the docks. Conveniently enough time to sit down and eat as a crew, which was exactly what they did the moment Zenith had awoken them all and dragged them out of their rooms.
"I hope I made something that all of you enjoy." Kaylo smiled, watching as the faces of the crew lit up with child-like wonder and amazement.
"You're a much better cook than mister Elez." Pip nodded, already seated at the table atop Madison's lap and happily eating his waffles and berries. Madison too was enjoying her vast meal, encouraging the others to sit and eat with her.
"Rude," Elez chuckled, sliding down into a chair and digging into the available food. "But so true." He hummed, looking up to Kaylo with a smile, causing the red haired boy to flush with a blush the same colour as his hair. "Your cooking really is amazing." He said, watching as the boy turned away with a nervous laugh and hid his face.
"Thanks, you're amazing too," Kaylo muttered, before realising what he had said and slapping his face with his hands in embarrassment.
"Huh?" Elez asked, looking up at him with a mouthful of food.
"It's nothing," Kaylo replied quickly, laying his head softly onto the table and sighing as he thought of his past.
Eleven years ago, Kaylo was faced with the crushing reality of his parent's debt, being forced to work it off within the confines of the gang's highly secure base. It was a difficult life for a seven year old to live, one which he never quite understood until he was slightly older. But either way, Kaylo eventually came to learn that he was nothing more than an object to them, a worker within their network of soldiers.
Kaylo's only source of survival was his ability to cook and clean; his mother and father had been killed suddenly one day for attempting escape, dying with the memory that Kaylo would be held there to continue working after them. But at least his sister had escaped. Of course, Kaylo had heard stories about his older sister, but they had never truly met other than at a young age. So he had made it one of his personal goals to find her again.
The only good thing that came out of Kaylo's solitude, was his strong sense of confidence as a person, as well as his sudden discovery about his sexuality. But the latter was harder to explain to people since New World was very scarce when it came to same-sex relationships. Of course, it was not frowned upon in any way, although some would argue otherwise and maybe even attack Kaylo because of who he was. But the chances of Kaylo finding another male who loved him back was awfully slim. He was gay, and recently he had fallen hard for Elez, unsure of what he would say.
"We're arriving at the docks," Haylee announced, standing up from the table and bowing softly towards Kaylo. "Thank you for the meal." She said, pulling him out of his thoughts before he smiled back at her softly.
"Yeah, no problem at all." He replied, quickly rising from his seat as the others repeated Haylee's statement and began cleaning up the table and storing the uneaten food.
"Adventure!" Madison smiled, looking out over the approaching harbour as Haylee jumped down onto the docks and led the ship to a docking station. Madison and Pip stared at her in confusion and awe, confused how she had so easily leaped out of their protective bubble and walked around in the water as though she was on land.
"It's a magic spell," Kaylo began, having heard of the strange magical occurrences within the Red Circle. "The entire city is surrounded by breathable water, a substance which allows us air breathers and the Fishera Demons who live here to move and live comfortably." He explained, watching as Madison's eyes lit up at the sight of a merman swimming past them.
"Mermaid!!" She gasped, leaping over the side of the ship with Pip on her shoulders, before chasing after the crimson scaled merman who swam ahead of them.
"I'll go get the enchantment we need to leave." Haylee chuckled, walking off into the bustling city nearby while Elez and Zenith once again began their competition for Madison's attention.
"I'll arm wrestle you, winner gets to follow Madison, loser goes with Haylee." Zenith said, sitting down at the closest table and proudly placing his arm onto the wooden top. Elez smirked and stepped over, sitting down across from him and repeating the action, leaving Kaylo to stand alone in the background before curiously jumping off of the ship and following after his captain. He had never left his island home, despite all of the adventures he had heard from other's stories. But now, he finally had the chance to explore and smile at the wonders of the world.
Naturally, the underwater city which bordered the Red Circle was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. It was a place built from strong, durable materials that resisted the erosion of the water, while also preserving the bright coral colours of the tropical wonderland in which it had been built. All around himself, Kaylo could see sea creatures from across the world, gathering to rest atop the specially made buildings in order to relax before they continued travelling. On top of that, the entire city was filled with Fishera Demons and other sentient beings from across the planet, most of which were pirates of Navy soldiers. Unfortunately though, one very noticeable face caught the eye of Kaylo, just as he stepped up to Madison's side right outside of a clothing shop.
"Y-you have a bounty, right?" Kaylo stuttered, his eyes locked into the figure while Madison turned to look at him with a hum.
"Yeah I do, why do you ask?" She replied, following his stare as she glanced up at a male standing casually across the street.
"T-that's Colonel Ojuku," He said, looking around for a place to hide. "You can't be seen by a Navy Colonel! He'll take you to prison!" Kaylo panicked, ducking down behind a set of bins while Madison stood unaffected by the news, lifting Pip off of her shoulders before she held the young boy closer in her arms.
"So?" Madison replied, smiling confidently towards Kaylo. "He won't catch me, I'll happily fight him if he tries anything."
"But Captain…" Kaylo muttered, confused and puzzled by her happy go-lucky attitude. After only a moment of staring at her though, he sucked in a breath and nodded, standing tall and preparing for a fight if he was engaged in one. "I'll fight beside you," he said, watching as Madison's smile only grew and she pet his shoulder with a chuckle.
"Now, let's get out of here to try and avoid him for as long as possible." She said, ruffling his hair and booking it in the opposite direction, causing Kaylo to stare at her dumbfounded before laughing and rushing after. After only a few moments of running though, Kaylo watched as a powerful blast of orange magic slammed straight into Madison and sent her to the ground.
"Pirates," Ojuku growled.