"What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams." -Werner Herzog
Huh... it seems it is time for me to move to another land, as fate has brought me to a port on the borders of the ocean. Well I suppose in a couple decades, I will be returning to this continent again. However... as usual, something is odd. I can not see any ship sailing in or out of the port. There seemed to be a huge crowd of people gathering around the port. Although there are many ships settling at the port, there was no ship sailing in or out of the port. Well this is unsettling. I approached the crowd and I could hear them arguing.
"That is the tenth ship this week? Are you sure they are not lying to us?" one of them asked.
"No their ship is not returning either, they must have a shipwreck."
"No ship has arrived at all for several weeks. There must be a storm or a disaster that is blocking their path."
One of them yelled, "I am telling you! It is that lady ghost! I saw her roaming around the sea before a big storm destroyed my ship!"
"Everyone already knew there was a storm back then, you didn't listen."
"No, I heard it to from the survivors, they indeed saw an aberration of a woman."
Huh.. a ghost... Wait.... if I am here, then do I have to solve that?
I approached the group and asked, "Excuse me, gentlemen, I overheard your conversation and was wondering if perhaps it is still possible for me to board a ship?"
One of them looked at me and asked, "And who might you be? A noble?"
A noble? Well I do suppose my cloths is a bit too fancy for a traveler.
"Oh no... I am a mere wandering traveler, going wherever the wind goes."
"Well then, you are going to have to wait, because even the wind dare not come to this port."
"Is it because of the so called lady ghost?"
"Ah, not you too. Listen up everybody, there is no ghost okay! There is probably just a huge storm covering the port, there is no need to spread meaningless rumor," the man yelled.
"Normally, I would believe you. However, there seemed to be no indication for that as far as what the eyes can see," as I pointed towards the ocean.
"So what are you suggesting, mister..."
"Hollow, Jack Hollow."
Upon hearing my name, the gentleman was baffled.
"You... are you the traveler who killed King Asir the second?"
Upon hearing that, everyone around us stop their activities to look at me.
"That... ehm... depends... do you like the guy?" I asked jokingly while preparing to bail out of there.
The man stared at me for a while before laughing, "Of course not.. only the devils love him, he was nothing short of a mad king." Everyone else nod in agreement.
"If anything, you are a hero!"
Well... I am not exactly very proud of that but I supposed I could use the glory to my advantage.
"Ehm.. thank you I suppose. But going back to the matters at hand, I wish to go and investigate the matters myself, is there a ship that I can board? Doesn't matter where to, just simply out of here."
"If you really are Jack Hollow, then I would gladly take you on my ship," a gentlemen with peculiar moustache stepped out of the crowd, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Captain Darren Cornelio. Coincidentally, I need to set sail right this evening towards the Arkindo port, there are many trading goods that I need to deliver, but this ghostly matter had me concerned. However, I have no doubt that you will be able to resolve the matter if you are in my ship. What do you say?" as he extend his hand to me, waiting for me to shake his hand.
Cornelio? I feel like I have heard of that name before... Well, I suppose this is a win-win situation. There doesn't seem to be any clear harm.
"It is a deal then," as I shook his hand.
"Marvelous, we will leave at six then, don't be late," the man said as he walked away.
I left the crowd and began my preparation to face the ghost. As the sun began to set, the time has come, I meet up with the captain at the port. And there he was... alone with a black ship behind him.
"What do you think? Pretty marvelous eh?" The captain laughed.
"No crew? Only the two of us?" I asked.
"Ay.. Don't worry.. Both of us are more than enough," the captain said as we both board the ship.
We then began our journey into the dark ocean.
So far... nothing is out of the ordinary... which itself is out of the ordinary for me. However, it is quite unsettling how quiet the ocean is.
"Enjoying the view?" the Captain asked as he left the helm.
"Not really.. never really know what to look at in the middle of nothingness."
"Hahah, I shared the feeling... when I was young I thought the sea would be a great escape of the world, a gate for a grand adventure, but after a while, the sea appears to be more of a terrifying and mysterious landscape," he said as he stared at the ocean ahead of us.
The captain continued, "I have been traveling in the ocean for years... and yet there is still so many things I do not know. So many things to be afraid of, things that could end us with a blink of an eye." The captain stared at me with haunting eyes.
I looked at him for a while before curiously asked, "You know what is going on here, don't you?"
The captain with a worried face looked to the front and said, "Unfortunately... yes."
Not long after he said that, there was a strange sound surrounding us. The sound was fuzzy at first, but then it became progressively clearer. It created a eerie song that sent shivers down my spine. For some reason.. I feel like I have heard it before.... The song got louder until all of a sudden a lightning struck our ship, burning a huge section of it.
Lightning? Again? I had enough with damn Todd. I rushed towards the fire, trying to put off the fire using a rug. I need water, I thought to myself. That is when I felt a droplet of water hit my head.
Ah No.... One droplet turned to two turned to three turned to hundreds and thousands. The sky began to scream as floods of water rained down on the ship. The ship started shaking uncontrollably. The waves began to rise, violently hitting our ship with incredible force. The captain desperately tried to steer the ship out of this mess.
"Jack! Come here, I need your help!" the captain cried out.
I struggle hard to go to him, fighting against the violent wind.
"Help me steered the helm!"
Both of us held on the helm, struggling hard to keep the ship on the right direction... and there she was... The ghost lady appeared in front of us, glowing with green light, carrying a shining sword stained stained with dripping blood.
That... can not be good. The lady's face looked pale, full of scars, with gauged out eyes, and stitched mouth. She was wearing a dark dress, making her one with the darkness of the ocean. One of her leg is chained to a huge metal anchor. Well... it is not really difficult to figure out what happened to her.
She approached us at incredible speed, swinging her sword at us. The captain let go of the helm to dodge the sword, while I stood my ground. The sword ended up cutting my head off.
"Jack!" the captain yelled, as he pulled out his pistol and fired at the ghost. The blueish bullets passed through the ghost. The lady passed my body and was moving towards the captain, until she realized my body was still holding the helm firmly. The lady was baffled by it, until I recreated my head.
"Hello there," I smiled as I turned my head to face her.
Wasting no time, the lady cut my head once again, only for me to recreated my head again.
"Didn't work before, what makes you think it will work now."
Not learning from her mistakes, she thrust her sword to my body from the back.
"You are wasting your time," as I grabbed the front part of the sword which pierced my body with my right hand and broke it. I turned around and stabbed it through her chest. The lady screamed, as a giant wave began to form in front of our ship. I let go of the blade and turned around to face the wave. If left unhandled, the wave will destroy our ship with a single swoop. From my bag, I pulled out Gundala's gift, the purple lightning rod. I can only used it once a day, because it took so long to charge.
With all my might, I threw the powerful purple lightning rod towards the enormous wave. The moment the rod hit the wave, it unleashed all of its reserved energy, exploding and vaporizing the giant wave, averting the threat. The rod then came back to my hand, devoid of any charges. As I turned around once more, the lady already disappeared into the night. After that, the storm started to calmed down.
"Darren, you good?" I walked to the captain, helping him stand up.
"Yes.. yes.. I am... How ... did you that?" the captain asked me as he was trying to catch his breath.
"Huh.. I thought you knew who I am. Is that not why you invited me to your ship?"
"I... I know a few legends about you, a traveler who defeated all kinds of... mystical entities. But to be completely honest, I thought most of it was.... rather exaggerated, and you are merely a strong fighter. Not... in my wildest dream, would I imagine you being immortal and can shoot... lightning bolt."
"Well I am immortal, but I can't shoot lightning anytime I want, it is merely a tool given by a god to me. But regardless, you are worthy of some legends yourself... You are the captain who escaped the grasp of the Ocean king Jahad, aren't you?"
As if he was meeting a fan, Darren immediately fixed his posture and smirked, "You damn right I am!"
I smiled and said, "That is not exactly something to boast about..." as I pulled out a blue medallion which symbolized the blessing of Jahad.
Darren's smirk vanished, "You... you are not his champion, are you?" He asked with fear in his eyes.
"Of course not.... I am his friend though..."
Darren, fearing for his life, tried to back away, "Listen... what I did back then was..."
"I know exactly what you did back then, you trespassed into Jahad's territory and robbed his temples then when his guards confronted you, you shot them with draunite bullets and flee. Although, you were supposed to drown when Jahad himself commanded the storms to destroy your ship. There are rumors of you somehow surviving it, but I didn't know it was true until now. So the question is.." Darren didn't wait for me to finish my sentence and attempted to jump out of the ship, but I quickly grabbed his shirt before he could hit the water.
"How did you escaped the storms?" I asked while Darren was suspended mid air.
"That is a.. that is a little secret of mine.."
"Spilled it, or I will let you deal with the ghost lady yourself."
Darren thought about it for a second..."Okay, okay.. you win...."
I pulled him back to the ship and let him catch his breath.
He then explained, "The moment Jahad himself went to end me, I know I was done for.. and in a moment of desperation.. I called upon the Drowned Ones."
In disbelief, I asked, "The Drowned Ones? You? A normal human called upon the dark evil creatures? Why on earth would they heed your cries?"
"Because the artifacts that I took from Jahad's temple belongs to them... I was going to keep them but I ended up giving it back to those gods in exchange for a small safe passage through the storms."
"Ah... that is why Jahad is still very much pissed.. So why the hell are you here? Any one with some form of sanity will try to get away from the sea after all of that.. and yet here you are.. trying to pick a fight with a ghost."
"I had no choice!" the man raised his voice.
"The only reason I risked my life to robbed those temples in the first place was because the people of Arkindo needs it. And even now... the goods that I need to deliver... all of it are riches that I stole for my people."
I was quiet stunned by his sudden confession. Isn't he getting a little too comfortable here?
He continued, "The moment I heard about the lady ghost, I immediately knew that it was the Drowned Ones' doing. I..."
"Wait... what did you just say?" I cut him off.
"That it was the Drowned Ones' doing?"
"What makes you say that?" I asked while grabbing his collar.
Darren looked at me with confusion as if I had missed an important clue, "Did you not hear the song?"
I was confused by his question, until I thought back to the beginning of the storm and was reminded of the disturbing sound.
Darren continued, "That was the singing of The Drowned Ones, every time they ascended to the surface, the terrifying song will accompanied them. The songs can be heard frequently for the past few months from the port, but no one else recognized it... except for me."
"I see... Call them."
"What?!" Darren yelled in disbelief.
"You have called them once.. just call them again."
"But..." Darren was confused and frantically tried to find an excuse. At hindsight, he may find by boldness to be unnerving, but I can't help but feel there are other reasons behind his confusion.
Darren pulled himself together and turned to me, "Fine... But I will need a few things..."
Darren led me to the storage room of the ship where he stored all of his stolen riches. It was full of golden artifacts, unopened wooden chests, boozes, weapons, and all kinds of things. He asked me to help him carry out some of the golden artifacts back to the deck. Some of the artifacts are quite reflective, enough for me to see my own face on it. There, he arranged the artifacts in a pattern and in the middle of it he stood. He then lit up a candle and started enchanting the Savarah language, which is an ancient language that was often used at ancient times to talked to the Forgotten Ones. Not many know about this language... and yet... this mortal knew...
As Darren was chanting, a whirlpool began to form in front of our ship.. but weirdly enough... our ship was not dragged or influenced by it whatsoever. It as if it is an illusion. The whirlpool began to darken to the point it became sort of like a large pitch black hole at the surface of the ocean. By then, Darren had stopped chanting.
"The Drowned Ones are waiting for you down there... Here.." Darren handed me a golden spear.
He continued, "You should offer this to them in exchange for your exit."
"Are you not coming with me?" I asked him.
"No... I have escaped them once... I am not willing to try my luck a second time... Not when there is someone like you who can safely go instead. You are immortal after all"
"Fair enough, wish me luck then."
I took the golden spear and tied it to my back. I then leapt into the hole, about to face against perhaps one of the most evil sentient things to ever exist.
To be continued.