Their sweat vanished from their body as soon at it manifested in tiny mists of drops. Even though no one was cold, they quivered in their boots, It had been long since their wandering spirits felt fear. They now understood how hard it was to leave their beloved world. Their redemption was costly.
Only those who were tired of their burden managed to manifest their joy. In the end, they could be delivered. Some of them were mourning the one who vanished and the endless suffering that flashed in front of their eyes. Seeing his face had traumatized more than one.
"Any other volunteers?" Asked Keith.
The group was composed of more than a hundred people. Yet none dared to come closer to the kid. Was this their fate? To disintegrate in a cloud of their existence? Their karma as pirates had never been good, so probably. But who wanted to admit it? None.
Their friend's death was pitiful. All of the men were fighters, barbarians that shed blood in daily basis, none of them wanted to accept this end as a punishment.
Keith stood up. Because no one answered, he said. "You know, I have to go somewhere, I can't stay here forever, unlike you."
The balance of their choice shifted left and right. Hadn't they had enough of their torment?
'He got some balls!"
'He's provoking us! Fuck'n child.' Many thought. This was no light solution. What could they ask to reason themselves?
"Say, how did you know it could work ?What have you done to it? Not even the hottest oven could eradicate us." Said the man next to his two buddies, the ones that guarded a golden necklace.
Keith listened to his master's answer before repeating it. "The liquid in my stomach digests everything." Then he added, to settle their upcoming questions. "Be it food, wood, stone, bones or... gold." They did not ask for a proof, thankfully their nightmare had overtook their pending interrogations.
Finally, one stepped forward.
"I... I'd gladly stay a few more years here. What matters to me is, will you come back to Chittagong?"
Keith mind-asked. 'What are we going to do after we find your home mister Show?'
Show rebuked with an annoyed tone. 'We'll solve the next problem, be it in front of us, or tailing us. How am I supposed guess that?'
"We have no such plan. But time will tell. Our voyage is long and I'm afraid years later you'd still wait for my return."
The pronoun he used reminded them of the presence of the gigantic monster constantly spying on their doing.
A second person stepped forward. "I don't intend to give you my coin either. I'd gladly keep company to who wishes." And another. "Likewise." A fourth one... They all spoke for themselves in the end, one after the other, no one wanted to be dissolved.
Seeing the night slightly fading, Keith said.
"I must return to the treasurer's keep before breakfast. If Maverick notices my absence, I don't know how he'll react. I've been told many times how dangerous was this city.
"Who's he?" Asked a voice in the crowd.
"The one owning the place he's supposed to sleep in, I suppose." One answered. Ardi's face opened, he knew the place by heart, he spoke.
"Oh, him? Yes, he's the landlord. But regarding the coin, Sir Larmur Evander owns it, since his birth. Well at least before you stole it." He finished his sentence with a pinch of sarcasm.
Ardi had spent every of his days in the hole, he knew everybody better than anyone.
Show interrupted the conversation. 'We need him to officially give us the coin.' He said, giving the kid a pending expression. 'What do you mean? We have it, why do we need to ask him?'
'If you want to keep the coin where it is, disregarding its value, it'll go against the curse, making it impossible for Ardi to follow us.' Keith nodded as it made sense to him, he declared.
"I'll go properly ask Evander for his coin then."
Keith's last sentence seemed fishy, with a frown, Ardi replied. "What do you mean?"
"It was quite painful to introduce it here." He pointed out his chest area. "Of course, you can stay here, but you and your crew won't have a clue about the only person able to see them. The sole person that can make them rest for good. What do you think? It's no paid job but I swear you'll have a good portion of adventure."
The crew looked at Ardi in awe, signalling him their approbation. The opportunity was too good to be true. The coin owner somehow vowing to return the treasure to its belonging place, and their friend, that'd have a story different from the usual 'return the stolen coin' to tell. If Ardi refused, another would immediately step in to take his place.
"Else, I can also extract it, and bury it somewhere in the city, that way you'll stay here forever without the inconveniences."
Getting the coin back was their curse. But it was also blessing in disguise, it would make them travel for months, years or decades. It gave them the occasion to look for their captain. No, burying their treasure was the worse thing to do.
Ardi looked at the kid in the eyes. With enough confidence to kill an army alone, he said. "I'll follow you."
'After all, this is the most secure place you can hide a secret in.'
They accompanied the kid to the treasurer's hideout. When Keith knocked on the door, he saw someone else than Evander behind the door. He made the hand sign to enter.
"Greenie? What the hell were you doing outside?" Reprimanded the guy opening the door. It was a late teenager with brown hair growing forwards. He was tall but his body lacked volume, making him look frail contrary to Evander.
"I was under Maverick's command." Keith answered, shrugging. The teen could remember his name, as a newcomer with a name describing himself, it was easy. But Keith wouldn't bother asking everyone their name because he was to go soon.
"If you use his name to lie, you are dead." Replied the teen with spite.
Keith did not go straight to his room. He followed Ardi instead, the ghost knew the cave by heart and Evander's room was no secret for him.
"Wait a minute, why do you want to ask him again? You stole it, that's not how stealing works!" Now that he thought of it, Ardi had a hard time figuring it out.
Keith, annoyed, whispered hoping to not wake anyone up. "I need him to give it to me. By the way I am no thief. If technically he owns the coin, the same applies to your... soul or whatever bounds you to it. I hope to give you a place to stay as well, a place to rest like I have for my master. You'll understand later." He said thinking about Randi in the explanation.
They entered a narrow room, a little wider than its door. On the bed, four empty bottles, probably rum. The man snorted loud enough to make the air vibrate. He seemed to sleep well.
Keith approached while being observed by the whole crew, still following him, and passing their head through the walls to capture the scene.
"Hey Evander?" Keith murmured while shacking the stone drunk man. The guy rumbled to get rid of his slight discomfort before snorting harder. But he was shaken anew.
Evander jumped on his bed he leaned against the wall like a cornered rat. He did his best to see in the dark, his eyes wouldn't look in the same direction, his mind was deeply poisoned by the rum. His casual face had sunk to resemble overcooked meat. His frown extended from his eyebrows to his chin.
"Who dis?" He mumbled.
"Greenie."
The man's muscles twitched. He checked if the nightmare he was having was over by pinching his arm. 'Damn.' This one was no dream.
Keith spoke normally, not taking into account the man in front of him couldn't sufficiently focus.
"You know, the coin with a skull on it. I am the one who took it. Long story short, the one who haunts the coin told me it belonged to you, I was wondering if you could give it to me, willingly." He said, as the slight glow in his green eyes marked the only other presence in the room.
It was the naivest way to ask for the coin. The crew thought that the kid was taking advantage of the man's drunkenness to play dirty.
But at the moment, all of the informations that were spinning in the man's head were too much. Maintaining his balance on the wall became harder and harder. He vomited his dinner and a liter of alcohol.
The mixture had lost its charm along with Keith's sense of smell. However it wasn't the same for the poor crew that felt nauseous, thinking about how much rum one needed to get so drunk, and about the one too many bottles he added to fall asleep.
'Strange. Evander isn't the kind of man to overdrink.' Thought Ardi in a corner of his head.