"Did you get it?" Argus desperately asked.
Calev had just woken up, coincidentally and fortunately around the time they had reached the shore of the cay. The sun was already down, the darkness engulfed the surface, only the lights of the ship's lamp and moonlight upon them. Night waves, almost as rough as the cold winds set the motions, flowing over the rhythm.
Contrasted with how the night had suddenly turned eerie, the mad treasure a wide gap away from the corals of the cay overlooking the mystery of it.
The combatant woke up with no eeriness of his demon anywhere else.
He was just Calev.
Just like how Axel had said, the pain he went through from the binding spell must have made the demon cowered and returned Calev's consciousness completely. He woke up with no darkness in his eyes, however he was still the stoic combatant he knew. Quiet and brooding, but the only difference was what he desired to know the moment he gained consciousness.
"Is she alright?" Was all that he asked.
He looked exhausted, his eyes were swollen and his chest was red from all the harm he inflicted on his own body earlier. His black hair was everywhere, he was clearly high on dazed yet all he asked was that.
"She is fine." Argus sighed.
Calev was surprisingly not as desperate to learn more unlike before, just the mere fact that she was fine made him feel at ease. The tug he felt in his chest continued to pull him, however he chose to ignore it this time. The memories of what happened inside the great cabin, the feeling of his fury still lingered around him. He wasn't so sure what could have happened if he wasn't restrained, and he was never certain why that demon wanted to see her so badly.
Yet he still couldn't find a way to question it.
"Get your dagger from Felix, we'll be commencing in a minute." Argus remembered before coming out of their shared cabin leaving Calev by himself.
The deck was crowded when Argus emerged, with the crew already prepared to inaugurate their endeavor. Each man was armed with their weapon of choice, showing their specialty and mastery. Hakim led his group supplied with pistols and muskets as the defense squad. Potential attacks that might originate from beyond the outer range, posed as the assurance of security of the mission, vigilant and responding to hostile actions.
On the other hand, Argus led the operation with Axel and a few other men. Directly involved in planning and executing the main task, this included the navigation and overall success of the objective. Wherein, Calev joined the team that were all responsible for combat. Directly operating with Axel's group as the combat force, clearing the way for possible encounters that will hinder the mission.
In front of them was a small stretch of land, horizontally pointing south to the main island, a few distance away. They all got to their respective longboats, in the darkness of the night the sea followed their paddles. With the help of the moon illuminating their way and the pirate men's lamps. The small aid of light allowed them to see the corals along the cay. The boats glided the sea with serene breeze and coldness of solitude.
The eeriness that was permeated by the easiness of the surrounding seemed suspicious. As smooth as the careful ocean around them, was also the fortunate coincidence of having no signs of anybody around the bay. It was said that this cay was filled with the mayor's men, yet the more they got closer to the shore the emptier it looked.
No one seemed to be lurking around the place, the coast was empty. Not a single person could be seen when they arrived. The beach was completely deserted, darkness was as it is when they slowly entered the forest. The air was cold, the night was weird, everything didn't feel right.
That's what Axle felt.
"No one's here."
Someone from Hakim informed him, coming out from the other side of the perimeter after checking the whole place. His men ran around, trying to secure their formation and survey the land, having found nothing, the night couldn't get any more suspicious.
"Arr, none be found on this side neither, Captain!."
Axel was left alerted.
"Have you searched thoroughly?"
"The whole place has no sign of people. It seems that the intel was wrong." Hakim explained, taking the reports of his men.
"Oi, Are you saying I got my reports wrong?" Argus protested.
Argus being the main intel gatherer, expertise of being the spy of Mad Treasure has always taken his job properly. Having been the one who brought the information of the cay, hearing the words from Hakim made him ticked.
"Well, if you look around you could say that." Hakim rebutted, his eyes almost mocking Argus.
"I get my intel spot-on, dont you dare fucking--:
"Fucking look around you." Hakim gritted his teeth.
Anyone would think the same. From the coast to the middle of the forest, nothing could be seen. Did Argus miss this time?
No one was certain, unable to get a better understanding of what could be happening. A place like this, filled with no humans but evidence of their stays.
"There is no time for the both of you to fight!" Axel intervenes, raising his voice to get the two men attention.
It was true that Argus never missed with his reports, but no one could ever ignore what was in that small island. No one was there, yet empty sentry posts around the entrance of the forest. They had expected that some of the mayor's men would have been patrolling around the place, considering the rumored powerful mana that the mayor wanted for all himself.
But how come, no was there-and to make it all worse it looked like they had just left before they could even come.
Was this coincidence?
[ Did Argus miss his keen insights of information, or am I the one who missed it again? ]
Was it right for him to believe in such aid of a suspicious kid?
[ But.. ]
"Don't fret!" Axel assured-more or less assured himself.
"Don't you all think this is more advantageous to us?"
He smirked, the glint of malice under his emerald eyes seemed to have found its own way to reclaim the confidence of his men. Although in the back of his mind, the mere thought of the suspicious leverage in this mission. The easier it got, the more skeptical it became.
"Scallywags, search the whole island for the compass!
With Axel's orders everyone dashed out on their own, the quest for the compass that bit any of them knew what it looked like began. Not even a clue of where to start searching for it, and all they had was the tale description of it looking as sheer and crystal as ice. It glinting lights reflected by the moon gave it a dazzling effect that might blind someone's eyes.
The said compass, the aid to Mad Treasure's journey.
Axel was the only one who knew what it looked like. He had seen that compass for so long that it had already etched itself in his mind. No one, especially shall ever forget a navigation piece when in his memories it flowed with the blood of whom he knew.
Under the moonlight, the pirates searched. Their sweats already ran cold, their breath already gasping, and in their hands were either the soil ground under their nails or the wounds in which they received from scouring the land so much.
Nothing can be found.
Not even a clue, or a x mark.
How would they even try to find something that could never be found in the first place?
The island felt haunted, the cold wind almost taking their energy, the forest seemed too dark even with their torches. Their hope almost at the shore, crawling itself back to the dark hull of the cursed ship.
They found nothing, and so does their hope.
"Captain, we have been searching for hours." Hakim reminded him.
Hakim's eyes were overlooking the men, searching desperately. Tired and desperate, they all tried to turn the whole place around in hope to find one single spark of light that could ease them, yet they found themselves going back to the shore with empty hands and no one to blame.
Another failure. Another lost hope, one more false beginning.
"WE ARE NOT DONE YET!" Axel angrily bellowed, halting his men.
He was shaking, in either disbelief or anger. His fist almost causing wounds in his palms, his clenched jaw almost breaking at how hard he cursed this wretched life.
The belief in him slowly turned into doubts. In the false beginning he once found himself and his crew in, he found himself not knowing how to face his people ever again. This was his final hope, uncertain of their fate if he disappoints the journey once again. Fueled was his rage along his memories that sparked and ignited nothing but hatred not only for himself but to someone who had put him through this.
"You bitch."
He cursed, looking over at the ocean, the anger in his heart hope that words reached her.
"Captain…" Argus called, defeat on his voice and actions. The slow tap he gave Axel on the shoulder was the last straw for Axel.
He had failed.
"He has no reason to deceive me." He whispered, the colors in his eyes disappearing.
[ That kid has no reason to send me somewhere wrong. But why? Why can't I just finally start this fucking journey I set on? If you wanted me to fulfill our pact, why are you making this hard for me? How long do you intend me to suffer! ]
The ocean had been calm when they all returned to the ship. The waves did not bother them, the light did not send them astray. Quiet was the only thing that greeted everyone upon their arrival. The main deck that was once filled with hope, wanting nothing but to see that compas in the captain's hand was filled once again with despair and silent cries.
[ How much longer must I watch them wait for their chance to set foot on land again?]
In that night everyone was defeated.
The only person he could blame was himself. He was the reason why this mad treasure was sailing, he was the reason why this crew existed. He was the reason why they have to take on this journey to unveil the curse upon them, he was the reason. Axel was to blame why they were cursed.
Was there any more way for him to redeem himself from this obscure reality?
"Captain, may I speak with you?"
Hakim had entered the great cabin without Axel realizing it. In his thoughts, he had been drowning in for a while. Axel refused to entertain any of their questions when they had returned, instead he disheartedly wanted to be alone. From the look of his face and the empty look of his eyes, it was clear for everyone what was the result of another misleading wish.
However Hakim was more prudent to be aware of everything. He had known to trust his captain ever since, he will never once feel like questioning Axel-but that's the problem.
"I never once trusted the brat's words." He claimed, carefully looking at his captain who did not spare him a glance.
Axel was looking out of his window, making sure to curse the ocean once and for all.
"What made you trust him, captain?" The gun master asked assertively.
That kid.
Axel knew he was sent for him, to haunt him. Nothing but just a pure warning of what he needed to fulfill, it was not trust that he had for that kid. He was just certain of his existence was nothing but a mere aid-but at this point he wasn't so sure now if he was indeed an assistance or was just a way to ridicule his fate.
"What was that again? Something about a cay and azure, ridiculous." Hakim blabbered on his own, although he was angry he was sounding more grumbling out of annoyance.
"Ridiculous." He repeated to the quiet Axel.
But his words had gotten Axel perked.
Axel's eyes widened, having been reminded of what that kid had said. The senses of his words finally made sense the more Axel thought about it.
Was it the way that the kid said?
Or did he just completely misinterpreted.
"That's it!" Axel exclaimed, his feet stomped loudly as he stood up.
The gun master was taken aback, almost shrieking in fright.
" Hakim." Axel asserted, the once crestfallen look in his face no longer visible but inside sparks of desperation along with his determination to finally set one step out of this cruel destiny, greed emerged with it.
Hakim looked alarmed, having seen that darkness in his captain's emerald eyes.
"Call the navigator." He firmly ordered.
"Why?"
No go to the cay of which the compass points azure.
The kid's words had been playing in Axel's head for the whole time.
[ That's it. That's what he meant. ]
"Where does the cay point to?" Axel smirked.
Axel walked to his window, overlooking the ocean and into the landmass of Azura. The view from the back of the island looked different, with the absence of the busy port and town that could be seen from the shore. The leeward side of Azura was nothing but an empty small beach, rocky mountains and surrounding cliffs. However, at the top of those mountains were the thick forest that securely protected and hid the great mansion of the mayor.
The only thing that the cay was pointing to.