There were times when I wondered why fate had bestowed me with so much luck. It was unfair for the rest of the world to experience misfortune while I, the Master of Directions and the new hailed leader of the Scums, lived in solitude—far from kidnappers, homicidal Gods, and tumultuous men.
Without hesitating nor minding how deep the water could be, I dove into the sea. My eyes stung from the saltwater that I had to squeeze my eyes shut. I pried one eyelid up, seeing how far the fish had swam with Ciel. I looked up, finding Yertle's legs rowing. There were slumbering shrimps huddled together underneath his body. I flailed my arms forward and waved my legs criss cross yet I remained in place, slowly floating up.
Wait...
'Nephew...Do you know how to swim?'
'I believe that does not come with my instruction manual, uncle.'
'Nephew!'
Another form dove into the ocean, Elik grabbed me and swam as fast as he could while carrying me in pursuit of Ciel. My lungs felt like they would burst anytime soon if I didn't get air. Elik's eyes nearly popped out from their sockets as he looked past me. I turned to the direction where he was focused. There was a giant flabby creature, a quarter the size of Yertle, with flippers as hands and feet swimming by us. It had white ring-like patterns on its black form. Its two glowing blue whiskers flowed like tentacles. It had the face of a bear. A golden chain hung on its neck.
I reached for it despite Elik's fear. The tips of my fingers glowed. The beast swam under us. Its whiskers connected to each other as reins and waited for us to grab hold on to it before it sped through the salty waters. Our instinct to breathe got the best of us but instead of breathing water, air inflated our lungs. Elik and I stared at each other.
"Are you okay?"
The halfling nodded. "Yes...This is amazing." He looked at the reins and became even more worried. "If riding this seal gave us the capability to breathe and talk underwater, this seal must belong to distinguished merfolks. I don't think the owner would be happy if they found out that we rode this."
"They won't find out. We are keeping this seal."
Elik scowled. "Prince, stealing is wrong."
"You have mistaken my intentions. I meant to borrow this flabby creature forever. They can have it back once I'm dead."
"Prince!" Elik scolded.
'Elik shouldn't have come to your rescue, nephew. He is too righteous to be paired up with your passion for insanity.'
'I feel sorry for the guy,' Cirrus mumbled.
'You worry too much. Ever since I left Cludea, I have made contact with peace-loving individuals.'
'Are you hearing yourself, nephew?'
'I think he's broken...' Yako whispered.
We have lost track where the humanoid fish went with Ciel. I could not determine if the seal managed to take us to the right place but we surfaced in front of an island with bones staked to the ground resembling a giant's rib cage reaching for the skies. The seal took us near the shore. Elik tugged my sleeve, pointing at the giant ships right by the established port. The ship's sails were painted with the image the same as Kumo's tattoo, except the octopus was black.
"We got here much earlier than planned," I said.
"Should we wait for them?"
"No, I need to find Ciel. Waiting only decreases my chance of finding him sooner."
"But...Prince, These pirates are dangerous."
The seal bounced back to the sea, looking back for a moment to flap its flippers as if waving goodbye.
"Unless they have a God on their side, we'll be okay," I assured him as I waved goodbye back.
From the distance there were three figures tottering and screaming profanities at each other. One punched the other to the face with his crab fists; the other broke the bottle it was holding to the crabman who had struck their silver-scaled companion to the ground.
"Ye scallywags! Ye think yer smarter than me, ey? Think again! Cap'ain Shivers will make mi his right hand man after Crim!" The one left standing pointed at the two men lying on the ground. He had a skin similar to a clown fish.
"You? Win against Crim? Yer a wimp who can't even load a canon without blastin' yerself into smithereens! Crim will cleave ya to the brisket I tell ya!"
"They seem to have a clear mind and conscience. Let us ask them about Ciel," I said.
"No...wait, prince!" Elik exclaimed.
"Hello."
The three men were on the verge of ripping each other with new orifices until I stopped them. They didn't seem to have the best hygienic routines. Their skin was smeared with soot. Their teeth were in a darker shade of yellow. They all gave off the scent of not only bad odor but also that of a faint sweet scent of molasses with notes of vanilla and cinnamon.
In summary, I was developing a headache from smelling them.
"Well aren't ye a pretty lad? I've never seen ye before!" the one with the silver scales fussed.
"Prince..." Elik murmured, tugging me back by the elbow when malicious grins nearly split their faces in half.
"We came to ask if you have seen a child no more than four blue moons old, has hash marks tattoos, and is carried by a fishman."
The three of them gave each other knowing looks. "Aye, why don' we show ye around. The child may be in town," Crabman said.
I bowed at my waist. "We are grateful."
'Be careful nephew, pirates are traitorous.'
'Uncle, you worry too much. How do you think I managed to stay alive if I wasn't cautious?'
'By pure luck and your ass,' Cirrus answered.
'Cirrus!' Uncle and Yako shouted.
Elik leaned against my ear as we walked. "We should run while we still can. It's not good to be involved with them. You're not in the best condition, Prince."
"My brother had given me enough of his power to keep me from decaying. I won't leave the island until I get Ciel. Any more discouragement from your mouth and I shall stab you with a carrot."
Elik paled. "I shall…I shall do my best to be of use to you."
The closer we got, the more we heard boisterous laughter, singing, and quarreling from men with like-minded accents and manner of speaking. The fishmen we followed continued to sneak glances at us.
"So wer ye pretty laddies came from? We didn't see any boats. Did ye swim all the way 'ere?" Clown man queried.
"I came from an island far far away called Farflung and he is from an islet very very near called Nigh."
'Don't just make up places, nephew.'
'Well, he can't exactly tell the truth. If these filthy pirates figure out that they're both princes, they would take them hostage," Yako reasoned.
Crabman stared up. "Hmmm…we've never 'eard of those islands before and we have been sailin' the seas since we're in our mothers' wombs."
"Both islands had sunk because of the war between Farflung and Nigh. They couldn't meet halfway," I lied.
"So yer traveling with yer mortal enemy?"
"Yes, we live life driven by our utter contempt for one another. Hatred is the only thing we cling to, isn't that right, Elik?"
Elik jolted. The more I tell these lies the paler he gets. "Yes…I can't wait to wrap my hands around your neck and strangle you gently."
"Gently?" silver scales asked in confusion which made Elik grit his teeth.
"I–I can't kill him. If I did I would lose my purpose in life."
Pirates born from different species of the ocean danced merrily under the influence of frolicsome melodies and booze. Drunkards passed out on the streets and women with heavy make-up giggled from being flirted on. The pirate community had been permanently established here based on the huts, stores, and the children who played with wooden swords.
The music stopped when we stepped foot inside. Women blushed and men whistled.
"Welcum to Oya town! Make yerselves home, laddies. How 'bout we treat ye to some rum?" The clownfish man queried, hooking both Elik and me to his arms.
I looked away once the scent of his armpits smacked me. There was a visible yellowish stain on his shirt that was more or less acid from the bacteria accumulating in his pits.
'Nephew…don't say anything to offend him.'
'I'm trying, uncle, but…'
'Nephew!'
"Excuse me sir, the scent of your axilla makes me feel despised."
"Pri—Lucian!" Elik chided.
There was a short silence that was abruptly ripped by chortles, even from the clownfish man. This was no laughing matter. He must have murdered thousands and sunk boats with his stench alone.
"That's the scent of a hard-werking man!"
I rolled my eyes away from him. "You mustn't work too hard then."
I do hope he retires early to his grave. His stench could start another world war. His scent could send Caleb to his deathbed and make Peaches collect more souls than he should.
The three pirates took us into a shady looking establishment where the majority of the drunkards gather and carouse. There was another silent treatment given to us accompanied by eyes that could strip off clothing if they had hands. We were led to an empty table and were poured with a clear brownish colored drink in a tiny glass.
"Drink up!"
"We…We don't drink alcohol," Elik politely declined.
The men in the pub laughed. Clownfish squeezed my shoulders.
"Just one clap of thunder! It won't hurt a soul!"
"One clap of thunder?" I asked.
I clapped my hands once, summoning a loud thunder that rattled every glassware and every old bones in this pub. The pirates were startled at first, but guffawed right after.
"Ye an impressive lad! Cap'ain Shivers should make ye the ship navigator if ye can tell the weather. A spindly old man with a few missing upper teeth whistled from the corner of the pub. He was with a bunch of other wrinkly pirates. He had a sword for a nose where the flesh that held the sword had sagged, making the rusty blade attached to it droop.
"Best to let those landlubbers alone if ye don't want to feed the fish with yer corpses."
The crabman scoffed. "Aren't ye retired, Scurvy Dog? Ye may be older than Cap'ain Shivers but that doesn't mean yer better than all of us."
"Idiot, these people are forces to be reckoned with—"
"Let us young'uns have fun. Crimson Dog made ye retired, didn't he? Enjoy yer last days living instead of lecturing us, savvy?"
Scurvy dog took a long chug of his bubbly and amber colored drink and slammed the mug on the table. He sauntered towards our direction. His thin figure made him appear as if the winds could blow him away.
He leaned down to whisper something against my ear. "Spare the women and children, lad. I have lived long enough to know what yer kind is capable of doin'."
With that, he walked away and left the pub. Silver scales cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"Our mateys over 'ere came to look for a small boy. We all know where that boy is, don't we?"
The pirates raised their drinks. "Aye!"
"But we won't tell 'em unless they drink with us!" crabman exclaimed.
"Aye!!!"
'This is bad…' Uncle whispered.
'How bad can it be?' Cirrus asked.
I stared long and hard at the sweet yet stomach churning drink laid before me. I've seen the other ancients drink alcohol before but not too much. Laeroth would reprimand them with fists if they exceeded the allowed bottles.
I picked up the tiny glass, bringing it close to my nose. Elik grabbed my other hand, swaying his head.
"I'm worried for you Lucian."
I shut my eyes, inching the glass to my lips.
"It's just one glass. How bad can it be?"