The ship's rocking got worse as a piercing screech could be heard in the distance. Jetta and Nerine slouched over panting as they glared at each other. Jetta's tattoo had grown all over her back and both her shoulders.
'You're not bad.' Jetta said.
'I'd like to say the same about you but that'd be a lie.' Nerine said.
The tattoo from her neck had grown over the bottom part of her face. Nerine raised her hands as she encased herself in a bubble slowly spreading long serpentine tendrils down into the ocean. Jetta not sure what she was doing began hurling water spears at her.
'Should we do something about them? At this rate, their penance will get you all killed.' The masked man said.
'Don't worry about her. Getting her to be on this mission was hard but worth it. Nerine Enove, not only is she the youngest member of the Fowls but she's also close to lady Violet. By helping her grow now she'll be indebted to me later on.' Gordan said.
'Yeah, but to me, it seems like we're losing. Maybe I should step in.' the masked man said.
'No, if she can't handle this then she's better off dead. As you know Sir Dante has no need for weaklings. You stay here until that savage decides to come. I'll take care of the rabble.' Gordan said jumping down onto the Pearl with a bastard sword in one hand.
The masked man turned and stared at Nerine. 'No use for weaklings huh?' he mumbled to himself.
Gordan cut down everyone around him regardless of whether they were crew or pirates. An arrow made of light came from the back of the ship striking his face forcing him back but barely doing anything to him.
'Who dares?' Gordan said as he turned to Oran in front of the door leading to the lower deck.
'An ant? The bravery of you crawlers always amazes me.' Gordan said.
Hilo jumped in front of him with his sword drawn. The blade hummed as he reinforced it with mana. Gordan dashed forward cleaving into Hilo. Pushed back Hilo crashed into the wall next to Oran. Not letting up he then dashed in and kicked Oran in the chest sending him into the floor on the lower deck. Gordan jumped back as Hilo pulled himself out of the hole.
'Oh? That should have ripped you to ribbons.' Gordan said.
Clenching his sword a numbing pain covered his quivering arms. He let out a breath before enveloping his arms and sword with mana.
'An adaptor? That's rare in these parts. At such a young age too. If you were born in Kaleum you could have possibly been a part of the Fowls. It is a shame I have to kill you.' Gordan said.
Back on the main deck's middle section, Leon instead of fighting decided to run but that only lead to him being chased by close to a dozen pirates.
'Damn it, guess I'll have to try now'. Leon said.
'Stop running we just wanna have a chat.' One of the pirates said slashing at Leon's back.
'Clint!' Leon said.
Clint's whole body began glowing as he flew into Leon's hands morphing into a staff. Leon swung back around knocking one of the pirates out. He then followed it up with a split kick knocking two of them out. Leon sent a barrage of jabs at a pirate before jumping onto the staff. 'Split!' Leon said. A bunch of smaller variations of the staff grew out of it's sides. Knocking all the surrounding pirates out.
'That takes care of that.' Leon said as he jumped back down. A sudden clapping came from behind him causing Leon to jump back and enter a defensive position. His eyes met with a short half man half goat with black horns that spiraled out of his head.
'A bit far from home aren't we farmer?' Leon said.
'I have heard of sea horses but this is my first time meeting a sea monkey. Truly an impressive site.' The satyr said.
'Well, I am one of a kind.' Leon said.
'Before I kill you I'd like to ask you a few questions.' The satyr said.
'Do you normally start your conversations like this? You must not have many friends.' Leon said.
'What is your name?' the satyr said.
A smile fell on Leon's face before he began shaking his head. 'Leon. You?' Leon said.
'My name is Drew. What drives you?' Drew said.
'What? What is this? Am I supposed to say something like honor or revenge or something like that?' Leon said.
'Why do you live?' Drew said.
'Why do I live? I can and I don't wanna die. I don't get what you're asking me.' Leon said.
'It is such a simple question. What do you want in life.' Drew said.
'I don't know. I guess I fight for Money?' Leon said.
'Money?' Drew said raising his eyebrow.
'Yeah, being a guard didn't pay well. So I went for the next best thing.' Leon said.
'I see greed then. Must be a product of your upbringing.' Drew said as he pulled out a notebook and wrote something in it.
'Product of my what? First off, you don't know me so don't talk like you do. Second, my greed? I don't want to hear that from a pirate. We all want something I just so happen to want money. Let me guess you're different because all you want is peace, honor, or some crap like that.' Leon said.
Drew put the book away. Pulling a handful of cards from the pouch around his waist. He threw 4 on the planks around him.
'Honor is just self-gratification. A lie people tell themselves. Peace? That's a redundant belief. Fate is what guides me. It's what brought you here. It has decided this day and every other day before this one. The undeniable truth of life. That's what I fight for.' Drew said.
'Fate? Ha, you don't look like a devotee so are you a heretic or something? My greed goes against fate's design. Is that what you're going to say? You heretics really are something else aren't you?' Leon said.
Drew then threw 2 cards at Leon. One missed but the other barely grazed his cheek cutting him and drawing blood. Drew threw another card which Leon deflected using staff only for the runes on it to glow. The card exploded ramming him into the railings.
After coming to his feet Leon flinched at the sharp sting that came from his burnt fingers. The musky charcoal smell from them stung his nose.
'Don't compare my ideology to those manufactured god worshipers. I simply believe we follow a single path that's already been set up for us. Nothing can change that not even the Gods. Like a fish cannot swim up a waterfall. We cannot escape our fate.' Drew said.
Leon began blowing on his quivering hand switching to his left hand when he noticed the card that missed him stuck on the railing begin to glow. A lightning bolt shot up from it barely dodging to the side Leon managed to evade it. Leon tried to catch his breath only to be paraded with 3 more exploding cards.
Using Clint he propelled himself into the air as the cards exploded pushing back to the side of the ship. His burnt hand barely held him up. He placed Clint in his mouth before lifting himself up onto the railing.
'You sure you're not a member of Pathyos? You sound just like them.' Leon said.
'Can't you see it? Your fate was to meet me and die at my hands today. I am but an enforcer of fate.' Drew said.
'Can you stop with this whole fate thing? The more you say it the crazier you sound. What happens when you fail? Is that still fate then? Why would fate let her "enforcer" fail?' Leon said.
'Everything is up to fate. Whether it's loss or gain. Life or death it's all her design. I do not know Fate's true desire but I do know her will is absolute. That's an unchangeable fact.' Drew said as pulled out another card which he placed on his chest. Drew closed his eyes and began chanting as the card began glowing before fusing into his chest. His skin began to harden as it gained a rough stone-like texture.
While he was distracted Leon hurled Clint at him. 2 of the cards on the floor activated creating ice spikes that crossed each other stopping the staff. When Drew opened his eyes Leon's foot crashed into his face.
Nothing happened. Leon jumped back before sending a barrage of kicks which did nothing. 'Clint!' Leon said before sending another barrage of kicks. A smirk fell on Drew's face as he pulled five cards placing one on Leon's head electrocuting him. Leon's body shivered as his mind blanked.
Drew kicked Leon through the ice spikes before throwing another exploding card which sent Leon flying back. Now on the floor, Leon struggled to get up his eyes blurred and a pounding ring shot through his ears. He struggled to his feet as his breathing deepened he stared at Drew.
'So have you never wanted anything other than what you have now? Or has fate never allowed it?' Leon said.
'Of course, I have. Everyone that lives has wanted more than they have. But this is my fate what I want doesn't matter. Like a fish can never walk on land w-'.
'What about sea folk? They're fish but they can walk on land.' Leon said.
'That's because fate allowed it. When a person is born in poverty their fate is to die in poverty. Those who are born in slavery die in slavery. Only if fate desires it do we escape such paths and she rarely does.' Drew said.
'Fate really sounds like a handful.' Leon said.
'That is because you cannot control her. We can never understand what we cannot control. Thus fate is beyond all of us.' Drew said.
'You're right I was wrong before when I compared you to a heretic. At least they take responsibility for their actions and failures. They don't blame their failing on some imaginary being.' Leon said.
'You really are naïve. Why do you want money? Because you were born without it right? That greed of yours is a product of fate. But let me ask you this why are you not wealthy yet? That's because your fate is to die the way you were born!' Drew said throwing 2 more explosive cards that. Leon managed to dodge by rolling to the side.
The ringing in Leon's right ear stopped as blood trickled down from it. As it stopped picking up sound. 'If fate determines everything then what is the point of living then?' Leon said.
'That's exactly why I'm here. I help you understand your insignificance in the universe before carrying out fate's desire.' Drew said throwing the last card in his hand in front of Leon. Leon jumped back as a gust of wind blew him into the railing.
'You know what? I think you're talking crap. Fate is nothing but your excuse not to try do better. You can't handle failing so you invent some fake being and blame all your issues on it.' Leon said.
'If fate isn't real then why do people still fail even after trying? What did they not work hard enough?' Drew said while reaching for his pouch which wasn't there anymore.
A grin fell on Leon's face as Clint ran up his back with the pouch in his hand. 'You talk too much. Clint!' Leon said as the monkey morphed back into a staff.
'You can't hurt me so this is a pointless fight now. You're merely delaying your fate.' Drew said.
'You'll probably never understand this but that's the thing about life. There's no guarantee you'll succeed. If you fail you try again but with a different tactic.' Leon said as threw the pouch over Drew towards the ocean.
A shaky smirk slowly built on Drew's face as he ran towards the railing. He slouched over the railing barely catching it. Letting out a sigh of relief before being pushed off the side of the ship. As he fell he turned to a smiling Leon that was waving his hand. Drew sank like a rock as his pouch was floated over the water. Clint began wiggling in Leon's hand.
'Yeah, yeah I know I wasn't gonna let him drown.' Leon said as he dove into the ocean and pulled an unconscious to the surface.
Back on the main deck near the door leading to the lower deck. Gordan stood in front of the door with Oran laying on the floor under his foot while he held Hilo up by the neck.
Hilo struggled to try and get loose but that made Gordan tighten his grip. Oran tried lifting his head up but Gordan slammed his foot down burying Oran's face deeper in the floorboards.
'You boys sure are persistent. I would almost believe that you to live after challenging me.' Gordan said.
'L-let him g-go.' Hilo said as his eyes began watering.
'You want me to let him go? Why? Does he not like being under my foot?' Gordan said. Gordan's face lightened up as he knelt down. Grabbed a barely conscious Oran by the hair lifting his head up. Oran's face was covered in blood. A gnawing pain ate in the areas where his teeth used to be.
'Does it hurt? Do you want me to get my foot off of you?' Gordan said.
Oran coughed out blood as he tried answering.
'What is the matter? Can you not speak? I honestly have no idea what I expected from land crawling ants like you.' Gordan said.
'Y-your breath s-stinks.' Oran said spitting in his face before letting out a chuckle. Gordan's eyes dilated as a vane popped on the side of his head. He began slamming Oran's head on the ground repeatedly loosening his grip on Hilo's throat.
'You ant! Have you any idea who I am? How dare a mere land crawler…'
Hilo brought his reinforced knee up to Gordan's face blowing him a few steps back followed by a cracking sound. Hilo dropped to his knees gasping for air before rushing over to Oran.
'Are you okay?' Hilo said.
'Y-yeah, I'm just p-peachy.' Oran said while coughing out blood.
'Just stay here I'll take care of this.' Hilo said.
'W-where w-was I gonna g-go?' Oran said.
'You! !' Gordan said as he spat out some of his blood-covered teeth. Hilo picked up his sword and stood back up. Closing his eyes Hilo cleared his mind and enveloped his legs and arms with mana.
Oran crawled down to the lower deck. Struggling to breathe he activated his tattoo spreading it down his arms.
'Oh Har.' Oran said placing his hands on his chest and face. Oran let out a cry as the agonizing crackling sound of his nose returned to normal shot out. This was followed by the sound of his ribs snapping back together.
The tattoo on Gordan's balled head activated creating a spiral as his muscles tensed up and his eyes dilated. His breathing deepened. Gordan slashed at Hilo but missed when he jumped.
The sword crashed into the door. Landing on the sword Hilo spun kicked. Letting go of his sword Gordan stepped back only to be kneed in the face drawing blood. Gordan began panting as a whipped the blood from his nose. Looking at the blood his hand began shaking.
When his eyes met with a smirking Hilo his tattoo grew down the sides of his face. In an instant, he had Hilo by the head. Bashed it into the ground before tossing through some pirates towards the mainmast. Grabbing his sword Gordan dashed at Hilo slashing downward.
Sidestepping Hilo followed up with a high kick to the side of the face. A shivering snap came from Gordan's neck. Flipping backward Hilo dashed back at Gordan with a slash. Gordan kicked the mast pushing himself back. Hilo striking the floor flipped forward avoiding Gordan's stab.
Gordan's eyes whitened as his tattoo covered his whole face. After letting out a deafening scream he began slashing randomly at Hilo. The blade's air pressure alone carved giant slashes on the ship's floor. Dodging the attacks Hilo kept on landing kicks to the side of his face but Gordan wasn't fazed. Tanking the kicks his attacks just got faster.
'How ironic.' The masked man said as he leaned on the pirate ship's railing.
On the lower deck, one of the doors opened and a woman with a bottle in her hand stumbled down the hall. Oran's face eyes widened as his heart began racing. The suffocating stench of alcohol clogged his nose.
'Huh? The brat. You the one who's been making this racket? I thought we agreed you'd be a good boy.' she said kneeling over him. Her cold green eyes stared through him.
Sweat trickled down Oran's face as he shook his head and pointed at the door. The woman stood up downed one more gulp before walking out into the main deck.