The ship we're in at the moment has been sailing for a few hours now. Everything is going smooth for us. Nothing seems out of place, nor the enemy can be seen anywhere in the water. Although, I'm pretty surprised to see that Nyoko and Ellisa aren't suitable for this mode of transportation. As soon as our ship left the port, they both have been dealing with seasickness until now. I kinda felt sorry for them. They kept vomiting continuously at the spar deck's railings for hours now.
Even though nothing much has happened lately, that also gave me uneasy feelings that linger in my mind, especially about the crews and Captain Willis. All of them has been giving us eerie gazes, and none of them ever talks. Well, whatever. As long as they kept their promises to bring us to the other side safely, it's more than enough for me.
"K- Kiseki... Help..." said someone that's grabbing onto my clothes at the back,
When I turned around and looked at the person, it was none other than Ellisa. She looked horrible right now. Her skin looked pale, her whole body was sweating bullets, and she couldn't even stand up properly,
"Ellisa, you shouldn't move around if you're not feeling well. Stay with Nyoko there and hang on tight, okay?" I replied to her gently,
She didn't seem to follow my instruction and constantly banged her head against my back. Ellisa then said to me, "No... Kiseki... This is bad... I really need help right now. Nyoko- she fainted, I think,"
Oh- that sure is bad. I thought Nyoko was just leaning herself on the railings. Didn't know that she's actually knocked out from the seasick.
"Ah! we have to wake her up quick. She could fall off the edge if we leave her like that," I responded,
A moment later, when I tried to carry Nyoko up and took her to the middle of the deck, Captain Willis came to us and laughed,
"Hahaha! Not fond of the sea, aye? She looked like she needed some treatment from that,"
I politely replied to him, "Sadly, yeah. Anyways do you have any room that we can use to lay her down?"
"Of course! You can bring her to my quarters. I may have something that can help to make her feel better," said Captain Willis as he smiled innocently,
I don't know if I should accept something from someone I couldn't trust. Certain things about this are really bothering me, but I think it's okay for the sake of Nyoko. Captain Willis immediately escorted us to his quarter, and as we arrived, I landed Nyoko on one of the chairs\; she looked worst and worst as time went by. Her tolerance to seasickness is terrible!- Like very bad!
While Captain Willis was rummaging into the cabinets, Ichijou suddenly appeared at the door with his hand hiding something in his pocket. Before this, he constantly checked the map to ensure that we were heading the right way. All this time, he was staying at the lower deck where no one was around. It's to ensure that the Captain and his crew didn't think that he had trust issues with them,
"What's going on here?" asked Ichijou while he walked closer to me,
"Ah!- I've been wondering where you've been!" Captain Willis replied as he held a potion in his hand,
'Hi, Ichijou. Nothing much. Nyoko got terrible seasickness right now," I responded to him,
Ichijou's reaction quickly turned suspicious towards Captain Willis when he walked towards Nyoko. Ichijou promptly blocked his way and asked,
"What are you trying to do with that?"
I then stood up to him and countered, "Chill out, Ichijou. It's just some potion to help Nyoko feel a little better,"
He quickly grabbed onto my shoulder and pulled me closer to his face, and whispered, "Kiseki, just let Nyoko be for now. Seasickness is not something fatal you need to care about. We don't even know if that potion is a real deal or not,"
I calmly moved his hand away and replied, "I know, Ichijou. I don't trust him either. But we can't show we have suspicion towards them. I don't want this to turn into an issue. I understand; They let out such an ominous vibe around them, but we need to stay calm,"
"Then, you just going to let him make Nyoko drink everything?!" He responded swiftly,
I nodded and said, "Exactly. Just play with their games for now. Okay, look, do you know how to even navigate a ship? I bet not. If we fight with them, who do you think will get us to the other side. Heck, we won't even get back to the port if that happens,"
He sighed at me intensely and answered, "Fine- Let's stay low for now,"
"Good," I muttered back,
By the time we were talking, Captain Willis already moved the other way and approached Nyoko. Without us realized it, he chugged the potion down Nyoko's throat carefully.
"That's all she needs. Now witness the magic, boys. Hahaha!" Captain Willis grumbled,
"O- Oi!" Ichijou spouted and pushed him away,
Afterwards, what a surprise. The potion that he fed to Nyoko worked instantaneously. It was like watching a miracle happened in real-time. Nyoko suddenly stood up from the chair, and her eyes were swaying around the quarters. She slowly asked us,
"E- Eh?!- Why are you all looking at me right now?"
We were shocked to the point that each one of us walked backwards from her. Nyoko looked perfectly fine right now. Like literally healthy! She's not pale as she used to, and her movement seems completely normal.
Among the three of us, Ellisa was the one that really excited about the potion. She can't stop jumping around and quickly come forward to Captain Willis and says,
"Give me that! Give me! I need it so badly!"
He just laughed joyfully and handed her the potion, "Relax, young lady. There's still plenty for you too! Hahaha!"
She instantly drinks the potion without any worry. Ichijou and I wanted to stop her so badly, but we couldn't really hold her back after witnessing what just happened to Nyoko. Immediately, Ellisa stared blankly at the wall. She didn't say a word for a few minutes, but suddenly,
"Aaaaahhh! This is amazing! My head never felt this clear for so long! It's like I was just reborn! Hey- Captain! What's the secret behind this potion! I want to learn how to make it too!-"
Captain Willis proudly put his hands on his waist and responded, "Hahaha! The secret lies within the ocean! One of the main ingredients was this," He reached his hand inside a fish tank situated within the quarter, "This little fella here, Azula Sea Snail."
The creature he was holding in his hand was no other than a tiny sea snail. It was fairly small, roughly the size of his palm. The shell of that snail was colourful like a rainbow. What was most fascinating about it was the snail can shapeshift its form when provoked.
On the other hand, Ellisa was terrified after learning about it. She just realized she chugged the whole potion that contains that creature's slime.
"Ew ew ew! Gross! Ah! I regret asking you about it! Put it away, please!" She yelled in disgust,
We all had a straight expression while looking at her behaviour. That's what you get when you're too curious about something new.
"Kehkehkeh!" Captain Willis chuckled, "Girls really don't like disgusting stuff, aye?!"
Maybe we doubted him too much in this situation. He isn't so bad after all. If Captain Willis really wanted to play tricks on us, he shouldn't be aiding Nyoko to begin with.
He then moved back to the cabinets after putting the mollusc away. He brought out the same potion again and handed it to Ichijou and me,
"Why don't you both have it too? You might not be having seasickness right now, but let's use it to mark the beginning of our good friendship on this journey. Shall we?"
We took it into our hands and stared at it for a few seconds. But, of course, my scepticism still wasn't clear from this man, as well as Ichijou too. However, we've seen the effect that it had on Nyoko and Ellisa. So maybe this can be exceptional for now.
When he realized that we were still unsure about it, Captain Willis took a bottle for himself too. He quickly drinks the whole thing right in front of us without a hiccup, "Ah! Some delicate potion here, for sure! Now, don't be shy! Cheers, matey and have it all in!" That gave us the green light on the spot to believe it was safe.
Both of us deliberately have our mouth right at the lips of the glass bottle and simultaneously drain it down our throats. The taste was a little bit on the bitter side. Though, the aftertaste wasn't really that bad. Ellisa wasn't really joking about the effect; it really felt like my mind was opened up to a whole new sensation. Not going to lie; I'm enjoying it somehow.
"I should apologize for our act last time. Thank you so much for this potion and for helping Nyoko to feel much better. I mean it," I said to him,
Adjacent with the whole conversation, I realized that Ichijou hadn't talked that much towards anybody. He just kept his eyes straight to the empty bottle in his hand. I guess he probably has something in his mind. I should ask him about it sooner or later. Besides, I doubt Ichijou is still distrusted with this guy after what he did,
A few minutes later, the door slammed open, and one of the crew walked in. He came forward to the Captain and stated clearly, "Captain Willis, we've arrived at our checkpoint. Do you want us to move the ship onward? Or we will check the perimeters first before proceeding?"
Nyoko confusedly interrupted the conversation and said, "Wait- how long have I been out? We already reach the Dwarven State?"
Captain Willis smirked widely at us and responded, "Not yet. Let me show you where we're at right now," then he walked out the door, "You! Check out the perimeters for anything suspicious," He pointed his finger to the crew that walked in just now,
We were surprised to see that as we walked out of the quarters, the area surrounding our ship was permeated with jagged rocks that poking out of the sea. Where are we, to be exact? The height of these rocks was on par with our three-decked ship; It's really massive! If someone were trying to look for us in here, I doubt they could even detect our existence from afar.
"Captain Willis, may you tell us what exactly we're doing here?" asked Ichijou. He didn't seem to be in a good mood as of now. His glare was menacing, and his hand was situated behind him as if he was going to pull out his artefact.
"You must be wondering how us pirates get through those Devil's sea creatures, right. Like- there's no way we could easily pass by them without getting attacked. Well, this is the secret. Our one and only passage to move forward to Dwarven State safely," Captain Willis muttered. He then continues,
"This place is called the Smugglers Golden Gate. It is the passage where all of us used to do our dirty jobs for good money. You can see why this place is really popular among pirates just at first glance,"
Ichijou then strolled up the front compartment and replied, "Shallow water, surrounded by rocks that are hard to navigate, and best of all, safe from any attacks from other ships that trying to put you down,"
"You definitely have some good eyes, young boy. Hehehe," Captain Willis giggled, "Everything you said was correct. Not to mention that the Devil's sea creatures will have a hard time coming towards us with these natural walls covering every corner of the sea. They're too big and require a certain depth to move around efficiently,"
The crewmates quickly ran back to him and asked, "Sir, I've scouted the area. No trace of enemy anywhere. Do we proceed?"
He looked at the crew and shook his head, "Okay, you buffoon. Let's get moving and bring these people to their destination! I want you to manoeuvre my ship at its finest! Don't ever scratch the paint off by the rocks, or I swear I'll throw you all off the ship!"
They swiftly shouted, "Yes, Captain!" and began their job while standing at their designated location,
We began moving in between the rocks slowly. For more than hours passed by, it seemed like everything went smoothly without encountering any abnormal problems. Captain Willis was standing at the ship's wheel, manoeuvering while his crewmates deal with the other works to assist him. Some were sitting at the Fore top to let the Captain knows when to turn the ship from left to right and vice versa.
Not long later, something felt horribly wrong. The ship began to slow down, and the crew members stopped with what they were doing. Then, a horrifying scream of what sounds like a monster can be heard roaring through the sky. Despite that, Captain Willis was unhinged by it and pulled his hands away from the wheel. He briefly looked at us menacingly while letting out an eerie smirk on his face.
"Ichijou, get yourself ready," I whispered to him as the Captain slowly descends towards us,
Ichijou complied and quickly sat on his offensive stance without pulling his artefact just yet. He was waiting for the Captain to make his move first. Then Ichijou asked,
"May you enlighten me why we're stopping?"
"Heh, it's nothing severe. What you heard just now was the terror of the Devil's sea creatures called Krakegant. It's basically right ahead of us in between those rocky rifts." said Captain Willis calmly,
Ichijou then countered, "We should turn this ship around and find another direction to move around it, don't you think?"
Captain Willis immediately burst into laughter maniacally and responded, "HAHAHAHA! Oh, come on, you little scaredy-cat. Why should we do that?"
"For our safety. Why else? Now ask your crew to turn this ship around," Ichijou replied blatantly,
Apparently, the trust we had in the Captain soon disappeared in the midst. His crewmate was immediately surrounded us while holding swords and daggers on their hands,
"What's the meaning of this?!-" I yelled,
"It's nothing too personal, kid. Do you really think going to the other side of the continent was possible, to begin with? When all our path was blocked with those tentacle creatures lurking at every corner," said the Captain as he pointed his hook on my face,
Ellisa quickly interrupted and said, "Then why did you accept our offer when you know it's useless?!- What outcome can you get from all of this!"
The explosive horror that came out in front of us began to come closer and closer, but the crew didn't seem to be affected by it. Before we know it, giant tentacles sliver out from the murky water beneath us and come to the top of our deck. It looked scary. The sheer amount of suction cups that filled across the shaft with the size almost as big as a buckler really set our spine a chill.
"What the hell are you waiting for! Get this ship out of this situation!-" I screamed angrily,
"Hey, there. You don't need to yell at me like that. We're not the one that's in danger right now. It's only the four of you!-" Captain Willis muttered,
Everyone around us started laughing and smirking out creepily when they heard what the Captain said. I can't make my mind understand what's going on right now. The fact that these people have tricked us was obvious enough, but having a Devil's sea creature this close and didn't get spooked out by it is something else,
"Enough of this bullshit!-" I immensely pulled my shield and sword artefact out, "Why do you guys seem so casual about all of this!"
"You know, rat. I forgot to mention to you one last advantage that we had when using this path. Let me tell you what it is then. Besides being safe from attacks by any of our competitors or officials. One of the main factors this location is our favourite was because it is the easiest way for us to corner our victim." said the Captain. He then proceeds to tell,
"You must've been wondering about this monster here, am I right? Simple enough, we spent our time tirelessly catch one of it off the sea and tame it for our usage. Doing that was definitely not an easy task, I tell you. But, the outcome from it was spectacular for me to put a blind eye on it."
"What the hell do you even do with this creature!- Taming them?! For what!-" I responded,
He smiled at me sinisterly and said, "We've been doing this for quite some time now. I've heard this same question over and over from my other 'passenger' back in the days. Well, I'll cut straight to the chase, okay? You know, ever since this malicious Devil has been conquering our sea. We had no more chances to make money with trading. It was a desperate situation. If we let this go on even longer, there's no telling that we can make any fortune or not in the future. So, getting one of these hideous creatures has locked ourselves a huge advantage to make a profit. We give it food which is our victim to keep itself alive while in the cage, and in return, it protects us from stupid buffoons like you from hurting us while we rob everything off of you,"
"How could come up with such conspicuous idea!- That's enough! Do you think a single monster that became your pet is hard for us to handle?!- Let me show you what we Sinners are capable of!-" I shouted,
Surprisingly, he wasn't fazed at all. He got tricks up his sleeve that I might miss up to it!- But, what is his trick?! Immediately, we heard a scream came out from Nyoko and Ellisa. They both fall flat to the ground while starts bleeding continuously from their mouth. N-No way. Was it the potion that we had?!
"HAHAHAHA! Do you think I don't plan this all through?! Do you think I don't know you Sinners strength when up against ordinary people like us?!- That's why I came prepared," Captain Willis explained,
In the meantime, my body started to felt heavy. My vision got blurry instantly, and my mind was swaying around like a drunk person. Fuck! I drink that potion too, back then! I gradually fell to the floor on my knees and vomited tons of blood across the deck. But, wait- why is he not affected by the potion too?!- I saw him chugged all of it in one go!
"There, there. What's with that face of yours? So surprise with the fact I'm still doing fine? You don't have to guess why it is that. Because look at this," He pulled out a small glass vile off his jacket n showed it to me,
"You may have guessed it. The only antidote to keep you and me alive from that potion~."