In the quietness of the navigation room, the three men continued to create tensions. If anyone would dare utter a word, a question of concern or a question to satisfy one's confusion would suffice the silence.
However none was spoken, it's like the close ended statement of the once fearsome man, who was now crumbling at the echoes of his thoughts and memories rendered the two other men speechless.
They had a lot to say, many questions to be asked, but the sight of their captain who looked defeated and uncertain opted them to remain quiet. The sound of nothing spoke for them, floating in the air were the obvious reactions of hearing small details of the tale.
If they were being honest, they wanted to get to the bottom of it. They wanted to know what really happened that day. The day that ended the voyage of their previous captain, the downfall of their crew, the fateful day the changed Axel.
Yet as secretive as he had become, no matter how obvious his face could be. Painted with the cryptic expression of all the things he had gone through and still going through, Axel was still as mysterious as ever.
"Captain!" The silence was penetrated by the loud and uneven breaths of the intruder.
Frantic as he entered the office, with blood around his body and panic in his eyes. The three stood up quickly, their guard high up their stance already prepared for what was to come. The two battlemasters whose bodies were still exhausted from taking out the beast, prepared for another battle.
"What happened to you?" Axel asked, looking at his blooded figure.
"We be under attack. Some buccaneer came fer the strumpet!"
Their eyes widened upon the report, immediately they ran out the office and got to the weather deck. A small sloop, fit for a small population to travel the sea, swaying through the waves next to the massive mad treasure. There stood in the weather deck, a good number of unknown pirate crew, individually looking dangerous and unhinged.
All in their stance, cutlass and pistols aimed at the crew. A body of a young pirate on the ground bleeding, while trying to guard the body of the sleeping combatant tied around the main mast. Axel's men had the same stance, defensive in their actions as they all waited for the first person to move again.
"You dare use your weapon against my crew?" Axel's voice bombarded the night once again.
In a matter of seconds, two pirates dropped onto the floor with blood coming from their abdomen. Axel's might and strong swords dripped with crimson color, the blood flowing through the floor.
"It's only fair that I take some of yours, don't you think?"
Axel raised the blooded sword to the face of the bigger man in the circle.
The brunette man, striked the same age as the captain, smirked in defeat. His green eyes glinted with nothing as he looked down to his wounded men.
"My bad, we were just making sure to take the opportunity of finishing him off while he is down."
He glanced at the sleeping combatant, laughing at the sight of him.
"I met your crew the other day at the tavern, was just tryin' to see fit their business. Never thought such business involves us."
"Argus!" Axel called, ignoring the nonsense coming off the unknown man. "Guard Calev!"
"He's with Draco captain, taking care of Zeki." Someone informed him.
The man in front of them laughed.
"Wha' do ye say, pirate king? I bet takin' the demon as a pet can be consequential, killing' him might be more rational. Me cap'n has unfinished business wit' 'im too, back when he was still a rogue."
"Choose your words correctly or I will cut your tongue and feed it to you."
Axel pressed the tip of his sword deeper to the man's cheek, enough for a gush to appear and a small blood to come out.
"Scallywag, take the wounded men and treat em by yerself. The doctor be unavailable so ye better fix yer mates. And Felix, guard the combatant. He might be a demon, but he is our brother."
Axel did not leave his eyes under the figure of the unnamed man.
"A good captain, I am almost jealous." He smirked, bravely taking the sword out of his face.
" Speak your intention!"
Hakim immediately aimed his pistol to the man when he noticed that he was reaching out for his sword. Axel got pushed back by his gun master, taking the position intentionally to protect his captain.
"Alright, let's get to business then." He nods.
"I will take that woman."
Hakim's body tensed, but did not move an inch. He remembered this man from that tavern, although he understood nothing about what happened, he was aware that the stowaway was scared of him.
" There is no woman here."
" Oh, but we know she is here. And I am here to take her, after all she is our crew who betrayed us."
The man depicted, there were no signs of lies in his eyes-which was alarming. No one could tell if he was lying or he was just too good at lying.
Axel contemplated for a second, out of all the moments that someone could identify the stowaway was the same moment where he needed the answers the most. The timing was just too good to be true, that at the night where he doubted her the most was the night that someone appeared to claim her.
"Who is she?" Axel asked.
He laughed while he shook his head in rejection, not wanting to answer any of that.
"I can't tell, she is our business."
"She is my crew now, I demand for her identity."
"She is our business, traitors must be punished." He interjected, pointing out the sense of the whole conversation.
"Hand her to us, and we will never show our face to you."
Felix immediately disagreed, glancing at Calev and Axel.
"Captain the moment this man wakes up and sees no trace of her. We are doomed."
His point was taken.
"Felix is right, captain. And we don't know if they are telling the truth."
It was a matter of belief, whether the perception of the captain lay in the right decision. He didn't want any fight as of the night, all of his men were exhausted from fighting the combatant.
If only Calev was awake, he would have dealt with them all alone. None of the options went to his liking, if he wished to learn more about the woman and her possible connection to Calev, or perhaps even him. Then she must stay, she had to stay.
But if he gives her back to the people who had claimed to know her, there was no assurance how Calev's was going to react or how his demon was going to take the fact that she was gone.
" Hakim, get her."
Axel whispered. Nothing comes close to being the right decision so far.
If he wanted the answers, he can force it out of her-right here in front of them.
"Great decision mate. My captain would be pleased to know that the pirate king is understanding and considerate." He taunted, almost mocking him.
"Captain."
Felix warned, not liking the idea and feeling bad for the woman. Hakim hesitated, not wanting to move from where he stood.
"Fuck is this?"
Elijah's voice rang through the tension between the two crew.
He just came out of the hatches from the sickbay, expecting a more sane scene. A peaceful night, where the combatant slept tied up in the mast, an exhausted crew taking a rest. But instead he met an alarming situation, and the words he heard from Axel alarmed him more.
" Get her, now."
Axel snapped, Hakim practically jumped through the hatches and pushed Elijah who just entered the circle.
He eyed the captain, trying to get an explanation.
Axel however ignored the quartermaster, not finding time to converse about it.
When that got him, his attention averted to Felix who was still guarding the combatant while two unfamiliar pirates threatened the sleeping body.
"Him. I saw her wit' 'im, Sir Hardin." A younger pirate spoke from the different, pointing to the quartermaster.
"Fuck you saw me for?"
Elijah immediately challenged, scaring the young man. His eyes traveled to scan the rest of the opposing crew, not recognizing any of them but one. The man that they saw at the tavern. The one that scared the shit out of the stowaway.
"Aha, Tis why you were suspiciously trying to leave." The huge man that Elijah remembered huffed in amusement after seeing him.
"I was wonderin' what the deal you got that day, turned out the whore you got was ours." His laughter continued.
"Never had thought he would seek the help of the pirate king's right hand man."
"Oh, you're that motherfucker. You are lucky Calev is unconscious." Elijah joined fun, but he sounded sarcastic and deadly, nothing was funny.
Axel looked between the quartermaster and the man named Hardin. His thoughts connected the pieces together, realizing what Elijah had spoken about him earlier that day.
"Please." Her sobs were heard through the hatches into the deck.
The sound made Hardin smirked–although he was confused on how soft and fragile she sounded, her voice that reminded him of her weakness created a sinister smile on his lips.
"Just get to the deck. I promise no one will hurt you." Hakim's deep voice was heard after.
"Please, I'm scared." She cried.
[ Scared? ]
Hardin thought of the unusuality of it.
"Believe my words, under Calev's honor. Nothing will ever happen to you."
Hakim's words ended with her screams. They appeared through the hatches with her over his broad shoulder, crying and begging to let her go.
"You did not dare." Elijah whispered deadly, glaring at Axel directions.
"Blimey! I would have never thought I would see you begging for your life." Hardin amused, laughing at the sight and sounds of her.
"I remember you not uttering a word that night."
Hakim settled her down next to Elijah, which instantly took her protectively. When she realized who was looking at her, she could not help but feel the fear and panic run through her veins. Her tears did not stop as she frantically tried to back away, away from everything, away from everyone. She felt the terrifying recollections that she couldn't even remember.
All she knew was the way the man eyed her like she was his prey, the way his piercing green eyes spread the evil glint of something she couldn't tell. She felt like wanting to hide and never to come out.
"Miss me?" Hardin asked, that playful yet cunning smirk sent shivers to her spine.
"Tell me who he is!"
Axel practically dragged her, harsh and forceful his grip leaving a mark in her arms.
"Tell me you remember!"
Her widened eyes stared at the once welcoming eyes of the captain turned into one of the terrifying sights she had ever seen. She desperately shook her head in denial, crying over the horrifying moment.
" I don't know." She cried, desperately telling the captain.
She couldn't even look at his eyes anymore, or anyone at all. Everything, everyone scared her, everything she witnessed that night had embedded great fear into her life.
"I don't remember."
Hardin looked at her, curious eyes staring right into the figure of a once dignified woman into this pitiful sight. When their eyes met for a second, he saw the unfamiliarity in her hazel ones. So different, not the ones he knew.
"You lost your memory." Hardin hesitated to conclude.
The stowaway stepped back further in the arms of the quartermaster. Wanting to hide away from the eyes of the predator.
"It's me." Hardin smiled, reaching out to her. His hand was waiting for a response, but she only grimaced under his watch. Through his well lighted green eyes that were shifted from the dark and menacing ones earlier. The sweet smile that lured any woman to his arms, Hardin suspicious and crazy looked never fooled anyone at all.
"Don't you remember me, darlin'"
That disgusting smile with the shadow of malice plastered in his face, never fooled a single person but frustratedly angered one.
"The fuck are you even talking about, you creepy fuck!"
Hakim cursed, not being able to comprehend the shift of the man's actions and personality.
In a spur of moment, the threat under his aura left him-as if it was nowhere to begin with. The evil that was incarnating in his pupils were gone, and so did the tone of malice in his now soft and delicate voice.
Like a chameleon, he managed to change his skin–being another person far from what he introduced himself earlier.
"I can help you. I know it's scary, but I know who you are."
Hardin pressed his luck. Talking to her as if she was a toddler, needed to be eased.
Hakim was disgusted by how creepy Hardin was being. "You fucker-"
"You said she is a traitor." Axel pointed out, "Aren't you too considerate of her?"
He glanced at everyone, the look of doubt all over his figure. Judging him to no ends, taken by obvious hints of deception under his acts.
"Please, I don't know." She sobbed, no matter how hard she tried to wring all of the memories she could come up.
Nothing came to her mind, but the fear of something she couldn't even remember.
"Leave." Axel glared at Hardin.
" She is now my crew, and I am not letting her go with you."
"She is our business." Hardin hardly responded.
"Was. Now if you really want her, let your captain face me. Leave my ship before I change my mind."
Hardin clenched his jaw, obviously not liking the way Axel ordered him around like a total bitch. There was nothing he would like to do but to snatch the woman away from Elijah's grasps and take her by force.
She was literally right there in front of him, so close yet so far away. If only they could outnumber the crew of mad treasure while the so-called demon was out, he would have returned to his captain with her in his hands.
Visibly, Hardin stepped back with an unwilling resort. He could not believe he was stepping down without a fight, he knew better than to throw a war to the said pirate king.
Not without his captain's order.
"I will be back."
He coaxed her, the glint in his eyes haunted her, and so did the telling smile that gave her goosebumps.
Within minutes, the weather deck was half empty with the opposition leaving right away.
Only the grand confusion that dominated the whole crew, staring right at the woman who refused to leave Elijah's arms. Crying softly, praying to whoever gods and goddesses that could hear her to save her.
"You!" Axel turned his attention to her, harshly taking her away from Elijah.
"Axel!" Elijah raised his voice, grabbing the right hand of the woman and daring his captain.
Between them was the woman that has no recollections and any notion of what was happening and what was about to come.
"Let her rest, this night is too much."
Axel stared at his friend, questioning the sudden concern for her when everyone knew that he was the number one person who would want her to leave. At this moment, should be the right moment of where Elijah paranoia would kick in, but it didn't.
The turn of events made Axel chuckle bitterly, just as he was doubtful about the woman's origin, the most paranoid member was finally letting her in.
"I, too, have a lot of questions, Axel. You know that."
Elijah said in his gritted teeth when he realized what his captain was thinking. "But we are not monsters."
Axel breathed heavily, with everything that came all together in his head he couldn't possibly calm down. Yet he believed in being rational despite the numerous events of him losing all his mind, he decided to let his frustration not get the worse of him.
"You better start remembering, wench."
He whispered to her with nothing but the deadly sound of his tone that settled a dangerous venom in his soul. Their eyes locked into each other, seeing the streak of tears flowing down her cheeks made him feel guilty, but he surpassed the idea of it.
Axel let her go, and let Elijah take her back to the cabin. Before they could disappear through the hatches, Elijah made sure to let his captain know that they had a huge discussion to make.
"Spy on her, report what you observe. Savvy?"
Axel took a young pirate into his personal errand boy, wanting nothing but answer in a fast observation. The boy nodded seriously, taking his captain's order as the priority.
The night couldn't get anymore darker. With the storm already gone, but the cold blows of its zephyr remained to be felt. The clouds acted like the blanket that hid the light from the moon slowly peeking. What it covered instead was most of what Axel had hidden under his hands. Just like the night, everything remained mysterious, calm, and eerie. The aftermath of the storm had put chaos in everyone's mind.
"What's the sudden dubiety?" Hakim asked suddenly.
The weather deck was finally empty, beside the two men who took turns guarding the tied up combatant. Felix and the other men decided to finally let the tiring night pass by. In the middle of the cold night, while the mad treasure continued it traveled despite what happened.
Standing at the middle of the helm, was the man with loud thoughts. Behind him, the gun master who still wanted an answer from him- from the interrupted conversation they had earlier.
"You suddenly doubted her after coming back from that estate, what did the mayor tell you?" Hakim ignored the transparent feelings of his captain.
Axel finally gave him his attention, smoking the last bits of his cigar before throwing it onto the floor and stepping it. His actions were no longer harsh, like his anger no longer influencing the way he moved.
There were doubts not only in his mind but the way he motioned. Defeated, uncertain, questioning, Axel looked out of nowhere.
"There is no curse."
Hakim blinked, twice, many times. The words lingered in the air, as if being rejected or comprehending.
The gun master has no idea how to react.
"What do you mean?" He hesitantly probed.
"Well, at least that's what the mayor said."
Axel sighed, his foggy breath scattered throughout the cold air.
"It seems that he knows her."
"Her." Hakim was unsure but repeated.
"Aye. He said she can't remember."
The processed t notions of the information given to him, he too wondered the identity of the woman who coincidentally has no memories.
But was it really a coincidence?
"And you think she is her?" Hakim could see the point of the conversation.
The way Axel tried to erase the thought has been rendered useless, she had become something to be known.
"But who is she, captain? Who is this woman that cursed us?"
Axel wished he could answer the question. He knows nothing about her, but the grand power she possessed and the whispers she delivered to him along the waves. The voice that always reminded him of his fate and journey, the voice that guides him and his ship.
Axel knew nothing about her, not even her face, all he knew was the voice that sounded like an angel but had the tone of the devil.