The bustling noise of the market momentarily distracted her. The crowded place piqued her interest as she observed the various people and their shops. As she strolled along on her own, she momentarily forgot about the two men following her. In her hands, she held the doubloons that had been generously given to her by Elijah.
As she graced the second island she visited, she had forgotten how heavy her heart had been for the time being or the observing eyes around her figure. She didn't feel those eyes at all, as it continuously watched across the street. The keen researchful gaze, wondering what sight he could foretell that would satisfy the curious mind of his captain.
Innocent as she was, the eyes continued to observed.
"I see you haven't speak with her yet."
Elijah crumbled, making sure he didn't lose sight of her while she increased the gap between them.
"There is nothing to talk about."
Axel rolled his eyes, making the quartermaster face him with a stern face.
"There is. You hurt her, at least fucking apologize for it."
Elijah replied, almost scolding his captain.
Axel eyed his friend before bursting into a sarcastic laugh. The smirk in his lips offended the quartermaster, the way his emerald eyes looked at him like he was the worst person in the world.
"Hypocrite."
Axel dangerously said. The word ghostly tracing over him, and he understood what he meant. Elijah raised his eyebrow, challenging the man to continue.
"Are you guilty of the same thing mate?" Axel continued and smirked and continued to piss him off.
If there was someone who could accurately describe what Elijah was really feeling, maybe Axel was right. He was guilty of how he had treated her before.
He couldn't keep on using his past traumas and paranoia as an excuse for his actions.
"What if I am captain? I acknowledge my mistakes, and I take responsibility for it, Axel." He sternly said. "You should try that sometimes."
"Responsibility you say?" Axel coughed his words out in an attempt to ridicule Elijah's statement.
"Will you take responsibility then, if that woman is who I think she is?"
Elijah could not find any word to answer his captain. The seriousness in his question is not hard to find.
"There are pirates out there wanting her, Elijah. What do we know, huh? She might not remember but those people do. She could be anyone, anything."
"Exactly Axel, we don't know anything. We can't be so sure she is one of them, when we see how she reacted upon seeing that man."
He interjected, stressing the fact just to make his captain see the other side of the argument. When Axel did not say anything, Elijah dared to ask.
"Don't tell me, it scares you. She scares you."
Axel stepped back, sighing loudly as he tried to avoid the question.
Its not that he was scared of what and who she could be—he's the pirate king for fuck sake. However, Axel feared what calamity she could and would bring—if proven he was right.
Although he lacked concrete evidence to support his suspicions, the clarity of his doubts resided in the disturbing words of the mayor and what he had observed in her. The persistent voice that seemed to echo only in his ears murmured about her enigma.
[ It doesn't matter anyway, whatever he reports to me could be a lead. ]
"We have three days before we reach Boney Island, Axel. We will welcome her officially as our crew when we reach there and you better do the honors."
Elijah dismissed the argument, not wanting to push them any further and cross the line between them. Axel decided to give it up and walked away from the quartermaster, entering a tavern with a business in his mind and the stowaway's pearls in his palm.
Elijah rolled his eyes at the clear scrutiny of his captain, his eyes immediately following her. Confusion came right after when he found no one in the crowd. The busy crowd blocked his sight as he tried to search for her figure further.
"Elijah, come at once!"
He heard the mighty voice of Axel inside the tavern. He contemplated for a while what he must do. The absence of the stowaway concerned him, especially when there was a pirate crew wanting to take her.
She was not safe—
[ Fuck! ]
Elijah was not even sure what was supposed to be safe for her. When even at the deck of the mad treasure, all she ever did get was rough treatment from the captain.
"Elijah!"
Axel stumped out the tavern irritatingly and impatient about the lack of response from his quartermaster. Elijah averted his attention to the man, his concerned eyes evidently displayed which ushered the latter to ask for the matter.
" I can't see her." He informed, his eyes going back to where he had last seen her.
Axel's eyes tracked her as he scanned the bustling crowd in search of the woman. However, she was nowhere to be seen. Axel was on the verge of saying something when he shifted his gaze to Elijah. The palpable concern and anxiety etched across his quartermaster's face stopped him in his tracks.
" Go ahead." He nodded for Elijah to leave. " I'll do the inquiries on my own. Go look for her and don't forget to fetch my wine as you do." He added.
Without even sparing a glance, Elijah hastily disappeared into the crowd to search for her. As Axel observed his typically responsible crew member being captivated by her, he couldn't help but let his thoughts consume him once more.
"Report."
Beside Axel, a young man from his crew appeared. His ragged breathing, he appeared to be disheveled with his dark brown hair almost everywhere while he ran his tan skinned hands over it in frustration. Apologies were coming out his mouth before his captain.
"Captain, I err lost her. She err just in the crow-"
Axel did not even have to turn around and face him, his glaring eyes that were caught in nothing particular was enough for the boy to shudder in fear. His small frame tense behind the mighty man, his hands fidgeted with sweats while he swallowed the lumps on his throat that didn't seem to disappear.
" I err apologize cap–"
"Tyke, just fucking look for her and bring me a proper report before I sew that mouth of your and decorate in my ship's hull."
There was no need for Axel to even say it twice or raise his voice. The hard and firm tone of his order had embedded fear into the young pirate, that right after Axel said his final word he was gone and ran around the town in hope to see her sooner.
Axel entered the tavern and chose to continue his business on his own. Inside were fewer people, the small and quiet conversation was barely heard. The people were either already done with their late lunch or were just wasting their time being drunk.
There, he inquired of anyone who might recognize such exquisite pearls in his possession. He sought more information that could either lead to immense wealth for his crew or critical details related to her identity. The tavern's proprietor attended to his requests, seeking out the best jeweler or pawnbroker.
Axel spent his time engrossed in the words of those who could assess the pearls' value or discern their true worth. However, as though he had lost the ability to hear, their words eluded his ears. It was evident that he was searching for something beyond mere monetary value—an acknowledgement of the accessory, perhaps, and of her
If he was willing to admit to himself, the words he was trying to seek was the confirmation that this pearl was something he knew of. He could have sworn he had never seen this one before.
[ All of them look the same to me–sell the same to me. ]
For him it was just like the other pearls that had been in his possession but why?
[ Why is it so familiar? ]
"I can tell you about the pearls."
After all the discussion Axel had managed to pretend his interest was piqued, someone caught his attention.
A man with ginger hair and icy blue eyes approached him. He had a telling face with his annoying smirk as he eyed the pearls that were set on the table in front of Axel. The way the man looked and moved raised suspicions of a hidden agenda. Axel fixed his gaze on him, scrutinizing his appearance.
He noted the tattered, disheveled clothing, along with the dried bloodstains that had likely been there for some time. The man not only emitted a foul odor but also carried the weight of murders and crimes, as if the scent of evil itself clung to his every step.
"Pirate king." He jested, attempting to insult the man in front of him.
"And who are you?" Axel glared at the unknown man.
"The Flare Mercenaries' captain." He simply answered as if that was enough introduction about himself. "Alaric."
"Who?"
Axel asked, his head leaning to the side as he took a better look at his overall appearance. The clear dissatisfaction and borderline anger was seen around the pirate's fuming face, but he held it in and forced himself to snicker a laugh around the pirate king.
"You got what I own."
He told, shrugging at the bashful attitude of the younger man in front of him. Axel's interest was piqued, making him lean in. He saw the eyes of the unknown pirate lingering around the pearls on the table.
"Those pearls belong to a woman, and that woman belongs to me."
The smile on his face made Axel infuriated.
"That woman in your ship is my crew."
"Was."
Axel rebutted, as he finally figured out what business he might have from him.
"So you're the captain of the fucking creep."
Axel concluded, remembering the pirate who dared pay them a visit and attack few of his men.
"Exactly." The latter beamed, making Axel more pissed than he already had.
There was just something in his smile that makes you murder someone.
[ I could see why that creep follows this fucker. ]
"I'm going to be straight with you pirate king. I have to take her back."
The proclamation of his determination somehow entertained Axel. In an immediate reaction, he took the pearls that were resting on the table and put them in his pocket, finally taking his whole interest to the conversation.
"She seems to be important or some sort." Axel mused, hinting on the suspenseful identity that he was dying to know.
"Not really."
The lies in his words were obvious, Axel caught unto that.
"She betrayed us, and I am more excited to kill that bitch."
Alaric cursed, the look in his eyes shifted as he seriously foretell his desire to end her.
"Well, what can I do? She is my crew now."
Axel knew he was testing the patience of what seemed to be a pretentious patient captain, when all he reeked was the murder around his hands and the anger that he was trying to keep by the seams.
"She is my responsibility, I have to deal with her."
"Was." Axel reminded him that she was no longer with them.
"And you are a terrible liar." He added, laughing at the pitiful sight of a man who claimed himself a captain.
"How about we have a negotiation then, pirate to pirate. Business with business."
Alaric suggested, behind those desperate words was his patience running low.
"I will buy her at any price you desire."
To say the least, Axel was surprised that such negotiation can be discussed over a crewmate that betrayed the organization. He had never seen anyone that desperate to take back a member with no loyalty-let alone a pirate who was deemed to be a traitor.
Axel sensed a different turn of this whole conversation. How Alaric's body language shifted every time he would hear Axel's refusal to hand her over. Analyzing his words together with what he remembered from Hardin had said a night ago.
Both of them claimed she is a traitor, deemed to receive severe punishment for her sin. Yet that man changed his attitude when he realized she remembers nothing. As if he was trying to console and make her believe he wishes no harm for her.
[ What bullshit. If she was someone who ought to face consequences, why would this mother fucker is so much willing to spend his dime just to get her. ]
It doesn't make sense that someone would pay a fortune just so they could continue punishing a mere traitor.
Axel eyed Alaric as he contemplated whether to ask further questions or humiliate the man for trying to negotiate to the most treacherous and deceitful pirate-the pirate king.
"She is not just a crew member for you to spend that much." He smirked when Alaric's eyes showed the obvious answers.
"I am not giving her to you. "
" I heard she can't remember."
Alaric mentioned the emphasis on that word taking him back to what the mayor had told him beforehand.
" I am not stupid enough to raise my flag and attempt to have a war with you. If you're not giving her back, I can't stop you. But I will tell you this, you're luckier than anyone that she can't remember. Once she does, I bet you can handle such a woman."
His words made Axel ponder her identity again.
"Who is she?" He asked.
" Can't tell."
Alarc smirked, letting his words ring around the tavern that only Axel could hear. The thoughts around it swarmed in his head, the identity he badly wanted to figure out still unmanageable to take its grasp.
Surprisingly, Alaric left him alone at that table. It made him wonder if he was that desperate to actually spend money for taking her back.
[ Why would he stop mid-discussion and let me do what I want? So much for that desperation. ]
The realization then hit Axel while the other captain disappeared through the door.
"Fuck."
He cursed, realizing she was not safe on this island.
[ Motherfucker. ]