"GASP!!!" Jace woke up with a jolt and sat up right away and was met with
soreness all over his body. He grimaced in pain and hugged his core with tenderness.
"Oh good, you're awake. You've been out for a while." Casie said with a tired
voice. Jace opened his eyes slowly from his pain bearing and looked to his right. Casie
was sitting beside him, her tired face and eyes illuminated by the warm and crackling
fire they were both sitting next to. Jace and Casie were both sitting on a small desert
island, bathed in the silver light of the night sky which was filled with gleaming stars and
a bright, massive full moon. The island was just about as big as two galleon ships put
together. They sat on the beach, watching the fire and listening to the waves splash
against the sand with soothing ripples and swashes, along with the gentle bristling
leaves of the tall palm trees that were close by and grouped together in the center of the
island.
"Ugh, my head. What happened?" Jace asked as he rubbed his head in pain.
"We lost Jace." Casie admitted as her voice started to choke up. "Port Savvy is
gone, and our friends are either dead or being hurt." Casie started to cry now, tears
rolled down her face and landed on the sand. Jace looked at Casie with wide eyes of
shock and sympathy. His heart hurt for Casie as he watched her cry, and tears started
to form in his eyes as well. With a strained voice of sadness, Jace started to speak.
"Casie, everything's going to be okay." Jace reached over and grabbed Casie's
shoulder in comfort. "Let it out, crying is a good thing." Once Jace said those words, he
himself started to cry as well. Jace and Casie both sat there on the beach by the fire,
just crying together and listening to the ocean, fire, and palm trees. After they cried for a
while, they gathered themselves emotionally and started to talk with red, tear soaked
eyes.
"So what do we do now?" Casie asked Jace. Jace took his hand off of Casie's
shoulder and spoke.
"I don't know." Jace looked into the fire's rippling flames as he thought. "I guess
what we could do is just recover from our fights. Get some rest. And once we do that.
We can train and practice our skills and maybe come up with a plan on how we can
defeat that evil pirate and take back Port Savvy." Casie looked at Jace with hope in her
eyes.
"That actually sounds like a decent plan, Jace. Let's do that. By the way." Casie
started to ask Jace something and Jace made eye contact with Casie. "How come that
evil captain looked familiar to you? How did he know you? Do you know him too?" Jace
looked back at the fire with a straight face.
"Look Casie. There's something I need to tell you."
"What's that Jace?" Casie asked.
"I'm not from here. I came from a different world. And that guy, the evil pirate,
was a bully at my highschool." Jace looked back at Casie as he admitted his and the
evil pirate's identity. But to Jace's surprise, she didn't look too shocked at all, she almost
looked like she already knew, but she replied shortly after his confession and put on a
shocked look.
"What?! Really?! That's crazy Jace! Do you think that evil pirate, or bully is from
your world like you are?"
"I'm not sure." Jace replied as he looked at the fire again. It lit up his face with
warm hues of yellow and orange. "It wouldn't make any sense if he is from my world
too. If he is, then what is this place then? A parallel world? Or something else?"
"That's a good question Jace." Casie said. "I'm sure you'll find the answer sooner
than later." Casie smiled at Jace with compassion. Jace slightly blushed and looked
quickly at the fire again.
"I'll ponder it some more, but in the meantime, let's get some rest and figure out
how to beat that evil pirate captain!" Jace said confidently as he too smiled at Casie who
also slightly blushed. After they exchanged smiles, they both layed down on the soft
sandy beach and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean's gentle brooking waves, the
soothing crackling of the fire, and the peaceful brushing of the palm tree leaves.
One Month Later
"DING!!! DING!!! DING!!!" Sparks flew as a heavy and sharp pickaxe broke some
rock away.
"WHIP!!! WHIP!!! WHIP!!!" The sound of whips could be heard all around as the
former citizens of Port Savvy were being worked against their will to mine.
"Get back to work! "WHIP!!!" With a sharp yell and a snapping of a whip, Cindy
grunted in pain as she was struck and dropped her pickaxe and fell to her hands and
knees. She grimaced while she got up, picked up her pickaxe again and started mining
slightly faster.
"That's more like it!" One of the evil pirates commanded Cindy.
"I'll show you, "more like it." Cindy muttered to herself harshly through her dust
coated lips and teeth. "Just wait until my rebellion plans finally take effect." Cindy
continued to mine away and dig through the earth.
"How are you guys feeling? It's been a month, have your injuries gotten better?"
Cindy talked to two people working close to her as she swung her pickaxe.
"My injuries are all better. I just have this massive scar all across my torso, but
nothing worse than that." Thrasher said as he wiped muddy sweat off of his forehead.
"I'm pretty much better. All this slave labor didn't help for a while. But I think I'm
feeling like myself again." Flamett explained as she huffed and puffed with her pickaxe
resting on her shoulder while sweat-wetted dust covered her face.
"I'm glad to hear you guys are doing better. I was worried for you guys for a
while. That fight we had a while ago really hurt us." Cindy said.
"We really took a beating." Thrasher said in agreement.
"We sure did." Flamette said with a sigh. "But hey! We survived! And it looks like
the work day is almost over!" Flamett pointed out as she looked excitedly at the dusking
sky. Thrasher and Cindy also looked at the sky.
"Perfect timing." Cindy started to say. "When we go back to our sleeping quarters,
I can let you guys in on more of the rebellion plan."
"Sounds good Cindy. We need to finish finding a way to get Port Savvy back."
Thrasher stated.
"I agree." Flamett said.
"EVERYONE!!! THE DAY IS OVER!!! GET TO YER SLEEPIN' QUARTERS AND
GET READY FOR ANOTHER DAY!!! DON'T DODDLE OR YE'LL BE WHIPPED ON
SITE!!!" An evil pirate yelled from a watch tower in the middle of the mining area. The
mining area was located in the middle of the field where BOOM! was located. BOOM!
was destroyed to make room for the mining area. Everyone in the mines made
uniformed lines to their designated resting quarters from all of their caves and mining
areas, and looked like rows of hundreds of worker ants. There were about twenty
buildings filled with beds and tables for the citizens of Port Savvy to rest. And once
everyone made their way into their resting quarters. There was a knock on each of the
building's doors, and some evil pirates came in with food and water for the citizens. Just
enough for them to survive, but nothing glamorous. In the building Cindy, Flamett,
Thrasher, and some of the citizens were all in, they received their meals and sat down
to eat and an evil pirate said.
"Eat up! And remember, lights out in an hour! No one better be up and about
after then or more lashes will be yer lot!" The evil pirate left the building with a slam of
the door, and it kicked up the dust on the floor that the citizens brought in with them
from the mines in a flurry and poof. Cindy, Flamett, Thrasher, and everyone in their
building started to eat and drink away at their supper and water with ravenous hunger
and thirst. The entire room was filled with chomping, slurping, and burping while people
barely got their fill. After everyone had finished their meals, Cindy spoke up in a hushed
voice because she and everyone else knew that there were two guards posted outside
of each of the building's doors.
"Everyone! Come here!" All the residents came and surrounded Cindy and
formed an audience. "So I know all of you and everyone else in the other buildings are
aware of our rebellion plan to get Port Savvy back." Everyone nodded in agreement.
"I'm going to let all of you guys in on the last step of the plan. I already, throughout these
past couple of days have been telling trusted people in each of the other buildings about
this last step, so they'll spread the word among their fellow buildings of people."
Everyone leaned in towards Cindy and waited earnestly for the last step of the rebellion
plan. "The last step is we're going to let the evil captain get his hands on what we've
been mining for." The entire building, except for Thrasher and Flamett, jumped back in a
hushed gasp of shock.
"What do ye mean lass?! That's the last thing we want to have happen! We've
been secretly minin' away from the stuff so the evil pirate can't get it!" Plymouth said
with surprise in his voice.
"Plymouth, you haven't heard the part of the plan as to why we're going to let the
evil pirate get the "stuff." Cindy explained.
"Wait, hold up!" Flamett interjected. "I'm not from this island, what is this "stuff"
the evil captain is trying to get his hands on?"
"I'm with Flamett." Thrasher also spoke up. "I'm not from here either, is there
some sort of powerful material buried underneath this island?"
"I'm glad you guys asked." Cindy looked at both of them with a smile. "The "stuff"
that the evil captain and even The Shadow, and all his other evil captains are after is a
material or some sort of energy that's always been under this island and Port since the
beginning of this world. It's called Soulshardium. That's what makes Port Savvy so
important to this evil pirate captain, The Shadow, and all his other evil pirate captains."
"What makes Soulshardium so important to these guys?" Flamett asked.
"There's a prophecy and a warning that's been handed down for generations in
this Port, right from when this Port was founded." Cindy explained. "From what we've
been told, the first people that found this island found a massive, black towering
crystal-looking plaque in the middle of this field with gold writing on it. It read. "Under
this island, there is a power. A power that goes beyond comprehension and possibility. If
this power were to fall into the wrong hands, it would spell the end of this world.
Corruption would fill the world and this world would never be the same. Protect this
power. Never let it fall into the wrong hands. But a time will come when this power will
be captured. By either the hands wanting to do good, or the hands wanting to do evil.
And the fate of this world will be brought to light." As citizens of this port and island, it is
our birthright to protect the Soulshardium with our lives. But I fear that letting the evil
captain get his hands on it is our only way to get back Port Savvy. But let me explain my
plan first." Cindy collected herself and started to explain her plan to everyone in the
building. "I know the prospect of letting the evil captain get the Soulshardium is
unsettling. But we don't have to let him get all of it. The Soulshardium is a massive ball
of material energy. If we gather a chunk of it and give it to the evil captain, I'm sure he
will be so excited we finally started gathering it and he will be distracted. I'm sure that
the excitement of us finding the Soulshardium will put a pause on the mining. And that's
when we all jump the closest enemy to us and attack them. With all of us here, we can
outnumber the evil pirates that are posted in and around the mines. Leave the evil
captain and his four first mates to Thrasher, Flamett, and I. With the time in the mines,
we've gotten stronger."
"I guess that's the best bet we have. Let's do It!" Cinder said with excitement.
"Sounds good! We'll do it tomorrow! I'll grab a chunk of the Soulshardium and
take it to the evil captain with Flamett and Thrasher and our plan will be set in motion!"
Cindy exclaimed.
"BANG!!! DING!!! SHING!!!" Sparks flew and lit up the dark and night filled area
around Jace and Casie as they sparred together on the smooth sandy beach near their
campfire. Jace and Casie danced in combat and gracefully defended and attacked each
other with swings and stabs. As they moved across the beach with their elegant
footwork, sand was being subtly kicked up.
"Wow Casie! You've really gotten better with that dagger!" Jace encouraged as
his attacks were being deflected perfectly by Casie who had a controlled put powerful
column of wind around her dagger to help with attacking and defending.
"Thanks Jace! It looks like you've really gotten the hang of that cutlass too! You
can control its powers way better now!" Casie complimented. But as she did, Jace
grinned and quickly stepped back from her, and instantly sheathed his cutlass which
was now on his belt and on the left side of his waist. Then he slightly drew his cutlass
and disappeared. Casie frantically, but with focus looked around herself for Jace until
she finally looked up and saw Jace flying towards her like a meteor, eclipsing the silver
full moon while wielding his golden glowing blade. Jace swung at her and Casie
confidently met Jace's attack. Casie stopped Jace in mid-air and held him above her
head. Right when their blades met with a flash of sparks, Casie's wind and Jace's
golden energy fused and caused a golden burst and rush of liquid-golden wind, it
surrounded them in a ball and flurry of light that caused the sand on the island to fly into
the air and caused the entire island to shake. After the energy dispersed, Jace leaped
off of their clash of steel and landed softly on the sand and sheathed his cutlass which
hummed with a soothing tone of power.
"Well. I think that's good for now. We might even be able to beat the evil captain
and his first mates now!" Jace said as he smiled happily.
"I think you're right! We are way more comfortable and familiar with our weapons
and abilities now then when we lost. But we should finish fleshing out our plan of action
first before we make any moves." Casie explained.
"I couldn't agree more Casie, let's go sit by the fire and plan, talk, and rest. We
deserve it." Jace stated as he gleefully made his way to the fire and Casie followed, just
as happy. Jace and Casie both sat down by their fire and took in its warmth as it
soothed their work'd muscles, joints, and bones.
"So Jace, how do you think we should take back Port Savvy?" Casie asked
inquisitively as she rested her hand on her chin and looked at Jace.
"I think we should just storm in there!" Jace said with excitement.
"Why do you think we should do that?!" Casie asked in surprise.
"Think about it. It would cause one hell of a distraction. We could start by blowing
up any evil pirate ships in the bay, that's sure to cause a crazy distraction. And maybe if
Cindy, Flamett, and Thrasher are being held captive or something, the distraction might
help them have an opening on attacking or escaping." Jace explained with knowledge
as he looked at Casie with a happy smile.
"Wow! That actually sounds like a good plan Jace! Let's do it tomorrow! I'm ready
if you are!" Casie exclaimed.
"Let's do it!" Jace pumped his fist in the air with joy. But he brought his fist down
and looked into the fire in thought.
"What's up Jace? You okay?" Casie wondered.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a thought crossed my mind about when we lost."
"Like what?" Casie asked. Jace continued to look into the fire as he started to
talk, and Casie stared at him with curiosity.
"Something just didn't sit right with me after we lost. I don't know if you felt
anything different when we were fighting the evil captain and his first mates, but it just
doesn't make sense, the fact that this entire time before we lost that fight we were
destroying any enemies we came across. We never lost, we didn't even feel much
resistance when we fought."
"What are you getting at Jace?" Casie asked.
"What changed when we fought the evil captain and his first mates?" Jace asked
out loud as he still looked into the fire with a serious expression on his face.
"To be honest Jace, I did feel a difference when we fought the evil captain's first
mates. They felt stronger somehow." Jace gasped and looked at Casie.
"Are you serious?!"
"Yeah." Casie replied. "It was weird. Out of every person I fought with you and
Flamett and Thrasher, the evil pirate I fought when we lost felt exponentially stronger.
And the other evil pirates I saw fight Thrasher, Cindy, and Flamett seemed way stronger
than anyone we've fought before too, except that shorter evil pirate."
"That is really weird." Jace started to talk as he caressed his chin in thought.
"Cause when I fought the evil pirate captain, I felt almost powerless."
"So what do you think caused that increase in strength in our enemies?" Casie
asked.
"I mean, one thing I can think of is that the evil captain and his first mates are just
really strong. But another thing that was different for sure was my emotions, and maybe
all of our emotions when we fought. I felt nothing but anger for the evil pirate captain
because he looks like or is the bully from school. But everyone else we fought, we didn't
feel anger or hatred towards them. We just felt confident and positive." Jace explained.
"Holy crap Jace! I think that's it!" Casie's face lit up as she had an epiphany.
"What if, and hear me out. What if our enemies, any of them, get stronger depending on
our emotions?!" Jace looked at Casie with skepticism.
"I don't know Casie, that kinda sounds far out there, but who knows, that might
be the case. I guess time will tell as we fight more people, especially the evil captain, his
evil pirate army, and his first mates."
"Hmph!!!" Casie crossed her arms in frustration, and with a hint of joking jabbing
she said. "It was just a theory! You don't have to come down so hard on it!" Jace lifted
his hands in defense and said.
"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have been so critical! But like I said though. TIme will tell,
and when we attack the evil pirates tomorrow I'll try to fight without anger or anything."
"Good. You better." Casie said as she looked at Jace with a flirty smirk. Jace
smirked back at Casie with the same look she gave him.
"Well, we better get some rest for tomorrow. I think I'm gonna hit the hay."
"Same here." Casie said as she let out a big yawn. "Goodnight Jace! Have a
good sleep!" Casie smiled at Jace sincerely and laid down and snuggled in the soft
white sand.
"Have a good sleep Casie. See you tomorrow." Jace smiled at her and laid down
himself and laid with his back facing Casie. Jace slowly closed his eyes as he took in
the peaceful sounds of the island and ocean. The warmth of the crackling fire, the palm
trees gentle rustling, the brooking salty waves that gently battered the shore, and the
soft embrace of the silky fine sand.
After what felt like a moment, Jace's eyes were stirred open by the bright rays of
the early morning sun. Jace sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes. He looked over to where
Casie was sleeping, but to his surprise, she wasn't there. And to even more of his
surprise, she was right next to him, still sleeping soundly.
"Whoah!!!" Jace exclaimed as he shifted away slightly from Casie in surprise.
"Hmm." Casie hummed tiredly as she started to wake up. She opened her eyes
slowly and looked at Jace. "Morning. Did you sleep well?" Casie sat up as well and
stretched as she greeted Jace.
"Um, yeah! I had a good sleep. It sure looked like you had a good sleep too."
Jace said as he rubbed the back of his head in nervousness while he blushed.
"Yeah, it was nice sleeping next to you. I felt safe and warm." Casie said as she
looked away and blushed. Jace's face now turned beet red.
"Oh, really?! That's um. Nice! I'm glad I could provide that for you." Jace
squeaked out with nervous voice cracks.
"Anyway. Are you ready for the fight?" Casie asked. Jace regained his
composure as Casie did and replied.
"Yeah! Ready as I'll ever be!" Jace exclaimed as he put his hand on his cutlasses
pommel. "By the way, how are we gonna get back to Port Savvy?"
"We can fly there." Casie said. "After all the practicing we've been doing. I'm able
to use my wind spells to fly without losing all my energy."
"Sweet! Let's go! As long as you're ready, I'm ready!" Jace stated.
"I'm ready! Let's do this!" Casie said excitedly. "Now! Get in my arms!" Jace
blushed once again.
"Ok, sure!" Jace walked over to Casie and got into position. Casie picked up Jace
and cradled him in her arms and she blushed as well. Then she started to say an
incantation. "Gusts and billows. Come to me and lift me up, let me soar through the
sky!" Casie's voice echoed around the island and across the ocean and powerful
updrafts of wind gathered underneath and around Casie and Jace and they both started
lifting off of the ground. "Here we go Jace! I'll hold on to you tight!" After Casie said that,
they both shot into the sky like a bullet and ripped through the sky and clouds at jet-like
speeds, leaving a white trail behind them like a rocket. Jace screamed his lungs out in
terror and Casie just laughed happily.
"BANG!!! BANG!!! BANG!!!" There were three cannon shots that went off to wake
everyone up. The two evil pirates guarding the buildings where all the citizens of Port
Savvy were sleeping came in and made sure everyone was up and moving to get to
work.
"Everyone up! Get a move on or get whipped!" Cindy, Thrasher, and Flamett
jumped out of their beds and were feeling really nervous but excited at the same time.
They left their building with the other citizens and joined in with the long line of people
heading to the mines with their pickaxes and lamps, all while being escorted and
watched by evil pirates. Once everyone made it to their designated mining areas, they
started chipping away at the stone. Rings of pickaxes could be heard everywhere like a
chorus of endless exhaustion. Cindy was mining away and got closer and closer to the
Soulshardium. After about a couple hours of mining, just before break time. Cindy finally
struck Soulshardium. When she broke off the rock concealing the ore, blinding white
light came rushing out and a hum of energy filled the caves. Cindy, with her eyes
closed, swung with her best guess at where she thought the Soulshardium was and
broke a doubloon sized chunk of it off. It fell with a thud to the ground and zinged with
power. Cindy picked it up with wide eyes and trembling hands.
"So this is what it looks like." Cindy said to herself in wonder. "I've always
wondered what it looks like." The piece of Soulshardium looked like a black pearl that
had swirling white beams of pristine and flowing energy surrounding it in a pattern like
that of a black hole. It felt warm and soothing in Cindy's hands, it almost felt like it was
healing, it was so soothing. But that's because it was healing. Cindy looked at her
hands in shock after holding the Soulshardium for a couple seconds and the calluses,
cuts, and scars on her hands were gone. "I didn't know it could heal?! But I guess
there's only one thing to do now. I need to take this to the evil captain with Thrasher and
Flamett. Cindy carefully carried the Shoulshardium in her hand out of the cave she was
digging in and held it up and yelled.
"I found it!" Cindy's voice echoed throughout the mines and all the clanging of the
pickaxes stopped and silence filled the mines.
"FINALLY!!!" The evil pirate captain yelled from his watch tower that had a view of
the entire mine and sleeping quarters. "BRING IT TO ME!!!" Thrasher and Flamett, who
were close by, joined Cindy and three evil pirates came to escort them to the evil pirate
captain. Cindy, Flamett, and Thrasher were all escorted through the mines to the evil
captain's watch tower. They climbed up the winding and almost never ending stairs all
the way to the top and came face to face with the evil captain and his four first mates
that beat Cindy, Casie, Thrasher, and Flamett before, and they all had evil grins on their
faces.
"It's about time you guys found this bloody Soulshardium, we've been mining for
a month now! It shouldn't have taken this long!" The evil captain barked at Cindy,
Thrasher, and Flamett.
"Sorry sir." Cindy apologized. "It was deeper than we thought."
"No matter, just hand it over." The evil captain commanded as he held out his
hand. Cindy gulped with anxiety, clenched her teeth and slowly walked over to the evil
captain with the Shoulshardium. Once she got close to the evil captain, she opened her
trembling hands and a blinding white light filled the room. Everyone in the room all
covered their faces with their arms in shock while Cindy just closed her eyes tightly. A
hum of energy filled the room emanating from the Soulshardium. Once everyone's eyes
adjusted to the light level of the room, the evil captain and his four first mate's eyes
grew big with lust as the evil captain reached out for the Soulshardium. Cindy dropped it
into his outstretched hand, but right when the evil captain's skin touched the
Soulshardium, the light around the Soulshardium turned red and hummed a more
aggressive and intimidating low tone of energy. Cindy's gut dropped, her eyes went
wide, and a feeling of regret filled her heart, and Thrasher and Flamett grew worried
looks on their faces.
"Thank you doll, you just made me even more powerful!" The evil captain said as
he blew Cindy, Thrasher, and Flamett away with a shockwave of red energy that also
destroyed the entire top of the tower. "My mates! Go finish them off for good!" The evil
captain commanded his four first mates.
"Yes sir!" The four first mates said and they jumped off the top of the tower
towards where Cindy, Thrasher, and Flamett fell.
"OW!!!" Jace yelped in pain as he and Casie flew through the air and got closer
to Port Savvy. Casie looked down at Jace and noticed he was clutching the left side of
his chest in pain and wincing.
"Are you okay Jace?" Casie asked with worry in her voice.
"I think so, ow! I just felt this sharp pain in my chest for some reason! But I think
the pain is starting to feel better." Jace said as he eased his clench of pain.
"Ok, good. Because we're almost at Port Savvy, but let me know if you feel that
pain again Jace, I don't want you to be dying on me." Casie said with reassurance. Jace
smiled at her and looked straight ahead, he saw Port Savvy just starting to come into
view and it was slowly growing larger as they got closer. Jace looked back at Casie and
started talking to her again as his face went fully back to normal after the pain he felt.
"So we're going to land on one of the ships in the bay, right?"
"Yes we are Jace!" Casie replied enthusiastically. "We're gonna land on one and
you're gonna blow it up with your cutlass like you did before!"
"Sounds like a plan, Casie!" Jace said in agreement. "By the looks of it we're
gonna be landing soon! Get ready!"
"You're right Jace, we're gonna be making contact, in. Ten! Nine! Eight!" Jace
and Casie flew towards Port Savvy and its bay full of evil pirate ships like a missile.
They were flying so fast that they were making jet streams in the sky. The evil pirate
ship that Jace and Casie had in their sights wasn't suspecting a thing, and two unaware
evil pirates were talking to each other in boredom on the targeted sun bathed deck.
"Man, what a borin' day." An unsuspecting evil pirate said flatly.
"Ye can say that again me mate. I wish somethin' would happen." Another
oblivious evil pirate said with melancholy.
"BOOM!!!" A cataclysmic explosion and water rippling shockwave was in place of
the evil pirate ship that Jace and Casie had hit. All the other evil pirate ships and evil
pirates that could see what happened hurriedly sounded alarms and frantically started
to get ready to defend Port Savvy. The evil pirate ships turned their cannons to the
explosion and all the evil pirates got their weapons ready. They loaded their muskets
and pistols and they also unsheathed their cutlasses and sabers. All the cannons were
also being loaded in haste and diligence. In the midst of the cloud of destruction that
Jace and Casie caused, Jace and Casie were standing on a slowly sinking piece of the
ship they had destroyed.
"I guess that happened." Jace said nonchalantly. "You better go find Cindy,
Thrasher, and Flamett. They could probably use help escaping or something."
"Are you sure Jace?" Casie asked. "Aren't you gonna need help fighting all these
evil pirates?"
"Nah. I should be fine. I've got this, no need to worry about me!" Jace stated with
confidence and a bold smile.
"Alright Jace." Casie said lightly and jokingly. "Have it your way, but don't you
dare die on me. If you do, I'll bring you back to life and kill you again!" Casie joked and
jumped into the air with a powerful burst of wind and shot out of the plume of smoke
Jace and Casie created and flew towards the mining camp. All the evil pirates in the bay
stared and tracked Casie as she flew and looked like a rocket flying away with a trail of
smoke from the explosion. Then the evil pirates turned their attention to the destroyed
evil pirate ship. The smoke from the explosion started to disappear and Jace was left
standing alone on the wreckage. All six of the evil pirate ships and evil pirates on the
ships started to converge on Jace's location and circle him with arrogance.
"Huh!" One of the evil pirates captaining one of the ships grunted confidently. "He
be only one man, we have nothin' to worry about. Everyone get ready! Load the
cannons and aim them at this landlubber!" All the evil pirates on the ship aimed all the
cannons they could at Jace and so did all the other ships in the water. After all the
bustling of aiming and putting the cannons into position to fire at Jace, there was
complete silence. All anyone could hear was the sounds of the waves splashing the
ships and docks, and the furling and billowing of the sails and the knocking of the
pulleys, pulleys hitting the masts and sails or just having the ropes shifting inside of
them. Jace stood in the center of danger and just held a confident smile as he grasped
the handle of his cutlass in his hand, ready to unsheath it. And the silence was broken.
"FIRE!!!" All the evil pirate captains in the bay ordered their men to fire at the
same time and dozens of guns went off in a circle of rippling sound shredding
explosions. One after the other each gun went off and drew a circle of smoke and
embers. Each ship that fired rocked back from their cannon fire. Each ball of lead
hurdled towards Jace at sonic speeds, ripping the air apart. But right when the cannon
balls made it to Jace, he instantly and slightly unsheathed his cutlass and vanished into
thin air. Instead of the cannon balls hitting and killing Jace, they all flew past each other
and into all the evil pirate ships that fired their cannons.
"What are ye all doin'!" The evil captains were reprimanding their crews for firing
at each other even though the captains themselves ordered them to fire. As they yelled
at their crews, each of the evil pirate ships were shredded apart by their own volleys
and extensive damage was done.
"Wait!" One of the evil captains stopped yelling at his crew and asked. "Where did
that guy go?!" But right after he said that, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"AHHH!!!" He screamed in fear, jumped forward and turned around quickly with a
surprised look on his face, and right behind him was Jace who had a smile on his face.
Jace stepped back, unsheathed his cutlass that hummed with power and spun and
thrust it into the deck of the ship. A golden light and nail shaking rumbling started to be
felt throughout the ship.
"Holy sh…!!!" Before the evil captain could finish his words, the entire ship turned
into a fireball of heat and destruction that shook Port Savvy. Right after Jace blew up his
first ship, he sheathed his cutlass in the midst of the explosion and slightly unsheathed it
to teleport to the next ship. And before anyone could react, there were five more
massive earthquake inducing explosions that sent mushroom clouds into the air that
could be seen from anywhere in Port Savvy.
"So, you're back Jace. Looks like it's time for round two." The evil captain from
Jace's past said with an evil grin and launched from his watch tower in the mining camp
towards the bay. As he flew towards Jace's location in a red beam of light, he barely
missed Casie who flew by him with blazing speed as well. He noticed her, but didn't
worry at all. "I'll deal with her once I'm finished with Jace." The evil captain chuckled to
himself as he drew closer to the bay which was filled with billows of destruction-laced
clouds of smoke.
"I hope Cindy, Thrasher, and Flamett are okay!" Casie said to herself on her way
to the mining camp. "Wait… What's that? Whoa! I barely just missed that… Guy?! That
looked like a person that just passed me!" Casie's face lit up with worry and realization.
"That was the evil captain! He's going after Jace! I hope you can beat him this time,
Jace, just don't let your anger get the better of you."
"Ha, ha, ha! How are ye gonna be able to fight us without weapons?" The taller
evil pirate taunted Cindy, Thrasher, and Flamett who were dusting themselves off and
getting up from their fall. They were all faced off with their nemesis who beat them last
time. The taller evil pirate, the evil pirate twins, and the shorter evil pirate.
"In case you didn't know. I'm good with hand to hand combat too." Thrasher said
with fearlessness. "And it looks like you forgot that Flamett doesn't use a weapon, but
her magic." After Thrasher said that, Flamett ignited two blindingly bright and powerful
looking fireballs in her hands and stared daggers at the twin evil pirates. "And Cindy
here, is also good with hand to hand combat, she isn't the manager of the Pirates Guild
in Port Savvy for nothing!" Cindy got into a martial arts position as Thrasher spoke. "We
won't lose this time! You can count on that!" Thrasher yelled as he got into a martial arts
position as well and sent out a blast of wind filled with strength that made the evil pirates
slightly tremble. "Engard!" Thrasher leapt at the taller evil pirate. As Thrasher leapt at
the taller evil pirate, the taller evil pirate unsheathed and swung his massive saber at
Thrasher with great force. The blade crept closer and closer to Thrasher's face but right
when it started cutting hairs on Thrasher's head, he instantly grabbed the saber, side
stepped, and used a movement technique on the taller evil pirate's saber and body and
threw him into the ground causing the ground to crater. The taller evil pirate got up
quickly and stared at Thrasher with an angry look and piercing eyes.
"Yer gonna die for that!" The taller evil pirate flew towards Thrasher and was
swinging his saber at Thrasher, left, right, and center with rage, but Thrasher kept
dodging and smacking the blade away with insane focus and control, as Thrasher kept
evading and blocking and throwing the taller evil pirate around by his saber, it only
made the taller evil pirate angrier and start to lose composure.
The evil pirate twins slowly walked towards Flamett as she held the two swirling
suns in her hands.
"We beat ye last time, what makes ye think this will turn out any differently?" The
evil pirate twin on the right taunted.
"And yer two friends don't even have weapons this time." The evil pirate twin on
the left said haughtily.
"You got one thing wrong." Flamett said as a smile appeared on her face. "I'm a
person who learns from my mistakes, and I have a gut feeling that things will be
different this time!"
"In yer dreams lass! Let's get her!" The evil pirate twins lunged at Flamett with
their daggers ready to stab. "At close range, ye can't throw yer fireballs! It's over!" The
evil pirate twins launched their attacks with their twin daggers at Flamett but were met
with a wall of fire. Flamett jumped, flipped, and pointed her hands towards the ground
and launched her fireballs into the ground, sending her flying into the air from the recoil
safely while the two evil pirate twins were engulfed in smoke, fire, and embers of burnt
and shattered earth. A shockwave of heat filled the air as Flamett landed gracefully and
laughed at the evil pirate twins who took a critical hit, were knocked out, and had barely
survived. "I told you guys I learned from my mistakes!" Flamett taunted back and
laughed.
The short evil pirate approached Cindy and looked a little more confident after
almost getting destroyed last time.
"This time ye don't have yer dagger. I'm gonna get ye back for almost killin' me
before!" The short evil pirate walked his way towards Cindy with his cutlass in a square
off position. Cindy had a cheeky grin show up on her face as the short evil pirate talked
to her.
"You think just cause I don't have my dagger I can't beat you?! Don't make me
laugh! You don't stand a chance!" Cindy glared at the short evil pirate with a smile and
focus while she locked into her martial arts position.
"We'll see about that!" The short evil pirate ran at Cindy and raised his cutlass
above his head and sent a powerful overhead swing at Cindy. Cindy made a snappy
and sound breaking move forward with her whole body, filled with momentum. She slid
her left foot on the ground away from the short evil pirate, swung her hips and waist to
the left, pulled back her left arm and launched out her left hand at blazing speed
towards the approaching cutlass to grab it. She stopped the blade right in its tracks and
a burst of wind resulted in the sudden collision of forces. A small trickle of blood ran
down Cindy's hand and the short evil pirate laughed.
"I knew this time would be different! I got ye right where I…"
"SHATTER!!!" Cindy crushed the cutlass's blade in her hand and a thunderous
rippling of steel snapping and cracking filled the air as Cindy destroyed the short evil
pirate's cutlass. Bits of steel and Cindy's blood went flying in a tornado of silver and
crimson.
"...shit." Was the last words of the short evil pirate. Cindy, with her curled up right
arm and compressed body, sent a lightning fast and landslide of a punch to the short
evil pirate's face as she unsprung her body and whipped her arm and fist around. A
bone snapping punch sent the short evil pirate flying like a bullet one hundred feet away
with blood coming from his face. He landed with a thud and laid on the ground, knocked
out.
"Holy moly, Cindy!" Flamett cheered as she waltzed her way to Cindy. "That was
awesome! I didn't know you could hit that hard!"
"Thanks Flamett! All my training in the past paid off!"
"CRASH!!!" Thrasher was flung at Cindy and Flamett's feet with cuts all over his
body but still had strength to fight. He got up and said through bared teeth of pain,
"Look out guys, this evil pirate is tough. It's gonna take all of us to beat him."
"You got it Thrasher!" Cindy exclaimed.
"I've got your back Thrasher!" Flamett encouraged as she ignited two more
molten fireballs in her hands.
"Together then!" Thrasher yelled as he and Cindy leapt at the taller evil pirate.
Flamett threw her fireballs at the taller evil pirate as Cindy and Thrasher closed the gap.
The taller evil pirate grinned confidently and deflected both of Flamett's fireballs with
ease, one after the other with his saber. Thrasher was the first person to reach the taller
evil pirate and the taller evil pirate grabbed Thrasher's incoming fist that was coming to
his face, ripped Thrasher out of the air, and flung him around and used him as a
weapon against Cindy and slammed both of them into the ground.
"Ye three don't stand a chance against me. I'm one of the evil captain's first
mates after all!" The taller evil pirate lifted up his saber to deal the final blow to Thrasher
and Cindy who could only watch with despair in their eyes. But right before he could
swing his saber, two more fireballs flew towards him at blazing speeds, but he reacted
almost instantly and dodged the first one and punched through the second one, causing
a ring of fire that surrounded and passed the taller evil pirate as he punched Flamett's
fireball to flames.
"Yer next after these two." The taller evil pirate smiled evilly at Flamett and filled
her with fear. He turned to Thrasher and Cindy and got ready to swing his saber again.
"Yer dead!"
Flamett shut her eyes but heard not a slashing of flesh, but an explosion of wind
and cracking of earth. Flamett fell on her bum from the shockwave of the explosion still
with her eyes shut. Flamett slowly opened her eyes and saw the most relieving sight
she had seen in a while. Casie had just flown in to save the day just in time. Right
before the taller evil pirate could finish off Thrasher and Cindy, she darted in at crazy
high speeds from the sky and kicked the taller evil pirate in the face and crushed him
into the ground, leaving him unconscious.
"Casie!" Flamett got up and ran towards Casie cheerfully and hugged her warmly.
"I thought I wouldn't see you again!" Tears of joy and relief were running down her face
and Casie embraced Flamett and said.
"We would never leave you guys behind. We've always got your backs." Casie
also had tears of joy and sincerity flowing from her eyes. "Let's help you guys up." Casie
and Flamett let go of each other, wiped their tears away, and helped Thrasher and
Cindy up from the ground.
"Thanks Casie, perfect timing, we would've been toast." Thrasher tanked Casie
and smiled while he rubbed his right shoulder in pain.
"We owe you one Casie, and by the way. Did you say Jace and you? Is Jace
here?" Cindy asked as she also thanked Casie.
"Yeah! He's taking care of the evil pirates in the bay." Casie explained. "Oh crap! I
just remembered I saw the evil captain flying towards the bay on my way over here!"
"Oh no! We need to go help Jace as soon as we can! Let's get our weapons and
find him!" Cindy stated to everyone with earnestness in her voice.
"Right!" Thrasher, Casie, and Flamett agreed together and they all ran off with
Cindy towards the barracks that was located in the middle of Port Savvy to retrieve their
weapons.
"Right, I guess that takes care of that." Jace said to himself calmly as all the evil
pirate ships in the bay were burning and sinking. Jace stood on the dock, resting his left
hand on the pommel of his cutlass, staring at the destruction he caused while warm and
deep tones of yellow and orange lit up his face from the fires. A single tear rolled down
his face as he watched his portrait of mercilessness. He turned away from his wake of
destruction, dried his face, and started walking on the dock towards Port Savvy. But a
red, jet-like object landed on the dock in front of him, causing every fiber of wood and
nail to shake. Jace looked at what landed before him and his eyes went wide.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't good old Jace. Back for another beating." The evil
captain said to Jace evilly.
"If it isn't the evil captain himself, or should I say, Richmond." Jace replied, but
now with a new found confidence.
"You do remember me. Wasn't school a blast? I remember making your life hell.
Spreading all those lies about you to everyone so no one would like you. Beating you up
in the rooms where no cameras could see us. And dunking your head in the toilet
whenever I got the chance to. Luckily my dad was the principal, so I could get away with
anything." As Richmond was taking Jace through memory lane, Jace could see all the
times he got bullied by Richmond clear as day. He remembered having no friends, he
remembered all the punches to the face and gut. And he also remembered almost
drowning in the rushing water of the toilets. Jace's eyes were starting to fill up with rage
and anger, but he remembered what he and Casie talked about on the island before
coming back to fight.
"What if our enemies, any of them, get stronger depending on our emotions?!"
"I'll give it a shot, Casie." Jace said to himself with a smile as he remembered
what she said to him. Jace looked at Richmond, not with anger but with a straight face
laced with focus. "You may have done that stuff to me in the past, but this is the present,
and this isn't school. I'm stronger and I'm actually allowed to fight you now!" As Jace
said those words, a rush and burst of wind surrounded him and sent a hint of surprise
through Richmond's body.
"Looks like this fight might be different, but the outcome will be the same. I'm
gonna win like I always do!" Richmond shouted at Jace as he unsheathed his cutlass
and ripped the air with it. As he swung his cutlass out and into a ready position, red
flames dawned the blade, and the Soulshardium Richmond had acquired now hung
around his neck on a necklace. It lost its white glowing rings of a blackhole and was
replaced with blood red rings of energy that spun and hummed aggressively and
illuminated the area around it with a red rose colored tint. Jace noticed the crystal shard
on Richmond's neck and felt almost instinctively drawn to it.
"He didn't have that thing before when I fought him last, and I have a feeling it's
only made him stronger. Let's see if I can do this." Jace thought to himself and then said
out loud.
"But that's where you're wrong. I'm gonna win this time. Once and for all!" Jace
yelled as he too unsheathed his cutlass with great strength. When Jace's cutlass was
let free, a loud and blood vibrating hum of power filled the air. Jace held out his golden
glowing cutlass in front of him and pointed it at Richmond. "Bring it on." Richmond's
eyebrow twitched with frustration.
"If you say so Jace! Here we go!" Richmond leaped at Jace at almost teleport-like
speed and swung at Jace. Jace barely reacted in time and blocked the attack. When
both of their blades met, a massive explosion was caused, sending massive waves from
their position all throughout the bay and the dock was completely shattered. Jace was
shot away from the explosion while bracing his face with his free arm.
"Man! He's way more powerful than the last time we fought! What happened?!"
Jace said to himself. Richmond flew out of the explosion as well, but towards Jace with
fury and speed. He sent another powerful slash at Jace, Jace blocked it just beside his
face and was sent rocketing into the buildings of Port Savvy right beside the bay,
destroying multiple buildings in the process. Richmond flew down to where he sent Jace
flying and started talking to where Jace lay under some ruble.
"You're probably wondering why I'm so much stronger now. Last time we fought
we were pretty evenly matched. But something changed since our last fight. I wasn't in
possession of this Soulshardium!" Jace sat up from the ruble covering him and looked
at Richmond holding up the Soulshardium he was wearing around his neck.
"Soulshardium?! What is that?!" Jace asked quizzically.
"You don't know what Soulshardium is? Of all people I would think you would
know! That's interesting…" Richmond said as he dropped the crystal back to dangle at
the middle of his chest. He started to slowly approach Jace with his red-flame covered
cutlass at the ready in his right hand. "But since you don't know what Soulshardium is,
that gives me the advantage!" Richmond exclaimed as he leapt once again at Jace.
Jace gasped and barely blocked Richmond's strike once again, and when their blades
clashed, it made a cyclone of golden and red power that swirled all the debris into the
air and started to form a tornado. Jace and Richmond stood in place and attacked and
blocked each other over and over again in flashes of skillful attacks and maneuvers. All
the feats of skill and power from both Jace and Richmond only made the gold and red
tornado grow bigger and stronger. It started to tear up even more buildings around it
that weren't even harmed yet. Pieces of wood, glass, and metal were being shot and
flung around in an air shredding fashion that only made more carnage. Jace and
Richmond stopped their flurry of attacks to each other and both sent extremely hard hits
their ways. They both locked blades and made the very Earth quake and shake. They
caused a massive and bright explosion that destroyed the gold and red cyclone and
even more of Port Savvy.
"Whoah!!!" Cindy, Thrasher, Flamett, and Casie all yelled together as they fell to
their hands and knees from the ground shaking explosion Jace and Richmond just
created. They all looked up and had to squint their eyes as they gazed at the insanely
bright and jaw dropping explosion that caused the earthquake. After everyone regained
their focus, they all got up and kept on moving towards Port Savvy's barracks.
"Alright everyone. We're almost at the barracks. Once we're there we can grab
our weapons and help Jace fight the evil captain!" Cindy exclaimed back to Thrasher,
Casie, and Flamett who were following her.
"Sounds good Cindy! Can't wait to take a crack at the evil captain!" Thrasher said
happily.
"Same here! We'll all beat him, once and for all!" Casie stated with excitement.
"I'm on the same boat with all of you guys! Let's finish this!" Flamett cheered.
Cindy, Thrasher, Casie, and Flamett all ran together and drew closer to the barracks all
while internally gearing themselves up for battle.
A single person was flung from the explosion again, but this time it was
Richmond who had a grimace on his face. Jace was the pursuer this time and shot
towards Richmond at blazing speed, they clashed with power and locked blades in
mid-air with a loud ring of metal and flash of sparks.
"There's something that's changed about you too, Jace." Richmond grunted out
while holding off Jace's attack.
"What's that?" Jace said with fatigue in his voice.
"You're fighting with different intentions. You're not fighting with pure anger this
time, but with resolve. The anger isn't completely gone though. I can sense it with every
strike you send at me." Richmond explained with knowledge. "And it seems like this
change in mindset is causing you to match and even best me, even with the
Soulshardium I have! How is that possible?!" Richmond said with frustration.
"To be honest, I think anything is possible." Jace smirked and bounced off of
Richmond's and his lock up. Jace quickly sheathed his sword, and then teleported into
thin air once he slightly unsheathed his cutlass.
"What the?! Where'd you go?!" Richmond yelled. He heard no response and
frantically looked all around himself and then he looked up, he was met with the blinding
sun and a twinkling of light coming off of a golden blade. Richmond reacted in shock
and barely blocked Jace's overhead dive attack. Jace's attack sent out a huge explosion
and sent Richmond into Port Savvy's bay with a big splash. Jace then teleported once
again to instantly meet a bewildered Richmond who was underwater. Richmond freaked
out in fear and swam to the surface and shot into the air and flew, determined to get
away. But Jace teleported just above the surface of the water and threw his cutlass at
Richmond. It zipped and spun, emanating golden energy through the air with a hum. It
flew past Richmond and boomeranged back to hit him. Richmond blocked it but was
sent flying right back to Jace. Richmond couldn't do anything in his position from being
knocked back and Jace punched Richmond in the face. A rippling shockwave of bone
cracking was the result of the massive punch Jace landed, both the sound of Jace's
knuckles breaking, and Richond's jaw fracturing. Richmond, after getting struck, was
sent flipping and flying in blood onto the edge of the bay by some buildings. Jace
recalled his cutlass and it came zooming back right to his hand, he didn't even notice
his broken knuckles; his adrenaline was pumping so fast. After Jace retrieved his
cutlass, he sheathed his cutlass, teleported to the edge of the bay, and started walking
towards Richmond's limp body. But to Jace's surprise, Richmond started to move and
get up. There was blood dripping from Richmond's mouth and nose and hair.
"That was one mean punch. I have to admit Jace. But it doesn't matter. I have
this!" Richmond grabbed the Soulshardium that was around his neck and grasped it. A
red aura and hum of energy surrounded Richmond and all his wounds were healed.
"Where were we? Oh, right. I still need to kill you." Richmond taunted. Jace could
only stare in worry and shock. All his efforts to defeat Richmond proved meaningless.
"Looks like it's time for round two!" Richmond yelled at Jace but was interrupted.
"ZOOM!!! BOOM!!!" Jace felt blazing fast objects just miss him. He felt his arm
hairs and head hairs singe as they passed and lit up his face with warm oranges and
reds. Two large and fearsome fireballs flew right past Jace and hit Richmond with
concussive force.
"Woohoo! Bullseye!" Jace could hear Flamett cheering from behind him. He
turned around and saw his whole crew and Cindy arriving at the port to help him fight.
Jace's eyes grew big and filled with joyful tears of reuniting.
"Guys!" Jace shouted happily as he ran over to them all. "I missed you!" Jace
embraced and hugged Cindy, Casie, and Flamett. They all blushed and smiled and
hugged him back.
"We missed you too. At least Flamett and I did. You and Casie were alone
together on an island for a whole month." Cindy commented with a hint of playful
jabbing. Casie and Jace both blushed more, and after they all held each other for a
while, they separated and Jace looked at Thrasher who was in the back.
"Want a hug too?" Jace asked as he held out his arms.
"Are you insane?! Do I look like a hugger?!" Thrasher stated as he crossed his
arms and stared at Jace.
"Oh… I see..." Jace said with defeat in his voice and dropped his arms to his
side.
"But I do fist bumps." Thrasher said with a smile and walked over to Jace and
gave him a solid and manly fist bump. "I missed you captain. I would hate being the only
guy in the crew."
"That's understandable." Jace replied with a chuckle.
"HEY!!! Enough jabbering! Let's finish this fight! I'll kill you and your crew Jace!"
Richmond walked his way over to Jace and his crew menacingly while healing all his
burns with the Soulshardium he grasped in his hand.
"Not before we kill you first!" Thrasher yelled.
"Yeah! Bring it on!" Cindy, Casie, and Flamett confidently shouted together.
"Be careful guys, he's even more powerful than before." Jace warned.
"Don't worry about us, we got this." Thrasher said as he started running towards
Richmond. Cindy, Casie, and Flamett all followed behind him with their weapons at the
ready. Thrasher had his saber, Casie and Cindy had their daggers but Casie's was
surrounded by a tornado of wind, and Flamett followed behind with two stars in her
hands. Thrasher sent the first attack but was blown away by Richmond and shattered
his saber in the process with an ear piercing ring. Thrasher was flung into some
buildings and didn't move. Casie and Cindy both jumped at Richmond and swung their
daggers. But Richmond blew them away too, with one easy swipe of his cutlass, he
deflected and sent them into some more buildings. Flamett didn't lose her courage and
she threw both of her blindingly bright fireballs at Richmond, but he sliced right through
one of them and deflected the second fireball with pure power and skill right back at
Flamett and hit her directly with it. She was burnt and sent flying into a building as well.
Jace watched as his crew got slaughtered and his anger started to build up into pure
rage.
"You bastard!!!" Jace yelled as he started to charge at Richmond.
"Perfect!" Richmond said to himself. Jace's eyes were burning with rage as he
charged and swung at Richmond. Richmond dodged his attack easily and Jace's face
went pale as he saw a powerful fist coming right for his face. Richmond connected his
punch with Jace's face and a loud crack filled the air with a splash of blood. Jace's nose
broke and his jaw cracked. He was flung into the air and splashed into the bay, he
started to sink slowly as his blood filled the water. But as he sank, memories and
thoughts flooded his mind. He saw when he hit his head at work, when he arrived in a
different world. When he met Cindy and joined the Pirates Guild, the time he met Casie,
Flamett, and Thrasher, and when they had their first voyage together.
"What's this?" Jace thought to himself. "Is my life here flashing before my eyes?'
But then he saw and heard the memory that stuck out to him the most.
"What if our enemies, any of them, get stronger depending on our emotions?!"
Casie's voice rang clearly through Jace's head and a thankful smile started to spread on
Jace's face as he peacefully sank in the ocean.
"I'll give it another shot Casie, thank you." Jace steadily sank in the water for a
couple more seconds and slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the surface which had
sun rays barely breaking through and skewing Richmond's face as he watched Jace
sink. Jace straightened himself out, grabbed and slightly unsheathed his cutlass, and
teleported out of the water and right behind Richmond.
"Where'd he go?!" Richmond said in shock, but right when he finished asking that
question. He felt a tap on his shoulder. He quickly turned around with wide eyes and
blocked Jace's attack. Jace landed the most powerful blow yet and sent Richmond
flying across the bay. Jace sheathed his cutlass and teleported again and met
Richmond in the air. Richmond barely blocked his attack again and was sent flying
again. Jace did this same move over and over and got faster and faster. He kept on
teleporting and knocking Richmond around the bay, sending out explosions and
shockwaves with every strike.
"How is this happening?! I don't sense any anger whatsoever in his attacks! And
yet he's hitting harder than I could have ever anticipated!" Richmond said to himself in
disbelief. Jace's attacks kept on getting faster and faster, to the point where he made
Richmond look like a beam of zig-zagging red light in the air just above the bay, which
was filled with sinking and burning evil pirate ships.
Thrasher, Cindy, and Casie all were up and out of the broken buildings they were
flung into and were digging Flamett's burnt and unconscious body out of some rubble
with haste and worry.
"Hey! Are you okay Flamett?! Wake up!" Casie, Thrasher, and Cindy yelled as
they brushed Flamett off and shook her. "She's not waking up! What do we do?!" Casie
shouted in worry.
"Maybe the Soulshardium can save her, we just need Jace to defeat the evil
pirate captain so we can use it." Cindy stated with seriousness.
Shockwaves of power and sound barriers being broken filled the air and shook
everyone and everything to their cores. Jace made a crimson red constellation with
Richmond in the air as they fought until Jace threw the most powerful attack yet and
completely destroyed Richond's cutlass in a blast of golden and red energy. A space
tearing explosion filled the air and earth as Richmond's cutlass was shattered into
pieces and Jace and Richmond both stopped instantly. From constellation to stillness.
Jace quickly sheathed his cutlass, grabbed Richmond, and teleported to the edge of the
bay. Jace held Richmond by the forearm. Thrasher, Cindy, Casie, and Flamett all
watched from a distance.
"DO IT, JACE!!! KILL ME!!! DO IT!!!" Richmond yelled in his face while blood
sprayed from his mouth.
"I won't do that Richmond. Not today. But I will do this." Jace pulled Richmond in
and gave him a warm embrace. Richmond gasped with shock.
"What the?! What are you doing?!" Richmond was frozen in place from shock.
"I'm forgiving you Richmond. For everything you've done to me and everyone
else. I forgive you." Jace still held onto Richmond and hugged him. Richmond's eyes
started to fill up with tears and memories started to flash before Richmond's eyes.
"SMACK!!!" Richmond fell on the floor in his living room as his dad struck him
across the face.
"You piece of shit! Can't you do anything right?!" Richmond's dad yelled as he
scolded him for not getting good grades on his report card. "Either you change
something about these numbers or I'm not gonna let up!" Richmond laid face down on
the floor and cried tears of rage and sadness as his dads words rang through his head
like a bell. To give more context, Richmond never had a mom, or at least he never met
her. After he was born, she left him and his dad. Her leaving made Richmond's dad
bitter. He blamed Richmond for his wife leaving and he took his anger and frustration
out on Richmond by beating him and verbally abusing him. Richmond blamed himself
for his mom leaving as well and he thought that his dad blamed him too because of all
the abuse. Richmond didn't know love, he never experienced it before. All he's felt is
pain and sadness. So all he could do with those pent up feelings was release them, and
that's what he did. He would bully many people at school, including Jace. His dad would
scold him and punish him for that as well, but all that did was fuel Richmond to do it
more. All he knew was a never ending cycle of disappointment, rage, depression, and
self hate. So when Jace hugged him and forgave him, that was the first time someone
embraced him with love, sincerity, kindness, and forgiveness. And the only words that
Richmond could speak at that moment was.
"Thank you." And a tear fell from his eye and hit the ground with a splash.
Richmond started to glow white and so did the Soulshardium on his neck. Before Jace
could react, Richmond disappeared into bright flecks of white light that floated away with
the ocean breeze. And the Soulshardium that was glowing red and corrupted was now
on the ground where Richmond was and was purified and beaming white once again.
Jace finished his embracing position and looked up at Richmond's light flecks.
"You're welcome, Richmond." Jace then looked at the Soulshardium and picked it
up. As soon as the Soulshardium touched Jace's skin when he picked it up, Jace felt a
surge of power throughout his entire being, and his whole body lit up with a radiant
white light. Jace's eyes grew big as he picked up the Soulshardium and held it in his
hands.
"Jace! We need you! Flamett is hurt really badly, she's not waking up!" Casie
shouted as her, Cindy, Flamett, and Thrasher were all making their way towards Jace.
Jace snapped to his senses and looked at them approaching slowly. Thrasher and
Cindy were limping and carrying Flamett around their shoulders who couldn't walk from
her injuries. And Casie was close behind them and limped as well as she clutched her
right arm in pain.
"Holy crap! I'm coming guys!" Jace shouted to his crew and Cindy in worry and
teleported over to them to help them. "I'm here! I saw Richmond use this crystal thing he
called Soulshardium to heal himself, let me see if I can do the same for Flamett and you
guys. Put Flamett down."
"Sounds good Jace. We were actually planning on using the Soulshardium to
save Flamett in the first place, Cindy said that the Soulshardium can heal." Thrasher
said informatively.
"Thrasher is right." Cindy started to say. "When I first found the Soulshardium, I
touched it and my calloused and beat up hands from mining were healed almost
instantly."
"Really?! Hopefully this saves her!" Jace said with hope in his voice.
"Here we go!" Jace placed his palm with the Soulshardium in it onto Flamett's
forehead. Right when Jace did this, Flamett's entire body glowed white and all her
wounds, burns, and injuries instantly healed at crazy speed. Jace, Casie, Thrasher, and
Cindy all gazed in awe as Flamett was healed back to one hundred percent in seconds.
"Come on!!! Wake up Flamett!!!" Jace shouted emotionally. Jace and everyone
with him held their breath as they waited for Flamett to shift. To their relief, Flamett's
eyes started to twitch and slowly opened, revealing her bright and deep fiery orange
eyes.
"Where am I?" Flamett asked groggily as she sat up with the help of Cindy and
Thrasher.
"You almost died. Richmond deflected one of your fireballs back at you. You're
beside the bay in Port Savvy." Jace explained to her.
"He really got me bad, didn't he? Oh well, I knew you would save me and the rest
of us Jace." Flamett said as she smiled warmly at him with a blush. Jace slightly
blushed in response.
"I will save all of you when you need me to. As long as I can fight, I will fight."
Jace said as he returned Flamett's warm smile with one of his own. "Now. Let's get to
healing the rest of you guys." Jace used the Soulshardium in his hand and placed it and
his palm on Casie, Cindy, and Thrasher. And like Flamett, they all glowed white and
were all healed from their injuries, and in seconds their tattoo's health bar filled up to
one hundred percent. After Jace finished healing his crew and Cindy, he put the
Soulshardium around his neck on a necklace, just like Richmond did.
"So, what now Jace?" Casie asked.
"What's our next move now that we've defeated the evil captain and his crew?"
Thrasher questioned.
"Spill it Jace! I want to know what you're planning!" Flamett exclaimed.
"Yeah, what's on your mind?" Cindy asked quizzically.
"Next..." Jace paused with a hint of tension. "We celebrate!!!" Jace shouted.
The Sea Shanty was one of the buildings that was untouched from all the
destruction and battles that went on in the past month. All that was destroyed on the
building was the windows, almost every building was like this in Port Savvy, at least the
ones that weren't completely destroyed or semi destroyed. A loud commotion of
happiness and celebration could be heard inside The Sea Shanty. The citizens of Port
Savvy, Jace, Thrasher, Casie, Flamett, and Cindy were all there celebrating their victory
and freedom. Rum and beer and ale were flowing, people were dancing, shanties were
being sung, and songs of bliss were being played with lyres and violins.
"So Jace! What do you think we should do after this party?!" Cindy yelled over
the loudness.
"I don't know! What do you think we should do?!" Jace asked loudly while he held
a mug of beer and took a swig.
"I think we should start rebuilding Port Savvy!" Cindy shouted. The entire pub
went silent and the music screeched to a halt as she yelled her thoughts. Everyone
stared at her. Cindy looked around frantically and lifted her hands in surrender.
"Sorry…?"
"We're just kidding lass! We were gonna start doin' that anyway!" Plymouth
shouted from the middle of the crowd.
"AYE AYE!!!" The entire attendance at The Sea Shanty erupted into more
cheering. Cindy sighed a sigh of relief as the party resumed and the commotion of
music and singing and talking and dancing resumed as quickly as it had stopped. She
looked at Jace, Thrasher, Flamett, and Casie who were all together with Cindy with
drinks in their hands and smiles on their faces. They all looked at Cindy with cheerful
smiles and held up their drinks towards Cindy. Cindy grabbed a full mug of rum that was
beside her and held it up to them as well. They all clinked their mugs together and liquid
spilled and sloshed everywhere. And they all yelled.
"CHEERS!!!"
To Be Continued…