Chapter 22
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Erick stood up, with bruises all over his body, but he boasted a wide smile. Behind him was the sun, setting on the horizon of the sea. Elbor stood up as well, boasting a smile similar to Erick's. "Do you think you're ready?" Elbor asked Erick with a curious face. Erick's face straightened for a second but then quickly reverted back to a wide smile. "Of course I'm ready… I have to be," Erick said with a confident smile, prompting Elbor to begin chuckling boisterously. "Well, with that kind of attitude, I wouldn't worry at all!" Elbor said with a hearty laugh. "Don't you want to know how strong Greybeard is? Or the Coastal Guard?" Elbor asked with a curious face. Erick looked out to the sea as the sun fell below the horizon. "No," Erick said bluntly, causing Elbor's eyes to widen a bit.
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"Do you think I'm too weak, Elbor?" Erick asked with a goofy smile on his face. 'He really doesn't believe he can lose, not even to those monsters!' Elbor thought to himself with surprise. "Not at all…" Elbor said as he stood up with a smile on his face. "… but if I'm going to follow a man into a war, I want to know he believes he'll win." Elbor said with a sly smirk, causing Erick's eyes to widen in complete surprise. "Wait, you're going to North Estoria with me?" Erick asked with an ecstatic smile. "I did say that I was your ally now, didn't I?" he said as he and Erick walked back to where Jonah and Trick were sparring with Jon and Nol.
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As they saw Elbor and Erick walking towards them, they all stopped fighting and looked at them with smiles. Elbor walked to Jon and Nol, while Erick stepped beside Jonah and Trick. "Guys, I have some great news!" Erick said ecstatically as he approached his two crewmates. "The sea giants are gonna join us in the war!" Erick said with a smile, causing Trick and Jonah's eyes to widen slightly, along with Nol and Jon. "My King?!?" Nol said quickly and with a nervous expression. "It's true…!" Elbor exclaimed, prompting all of the sea giants around them to gasp in shock.
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"Yesterday, I made an alliance with the Drake exploration team…" Elbor said, but Jonah, Trick, and Erick all made confused faces. "Did you tell him that was our exploration team name?" Jonah whispered with a confused look. "Nope," Erick whispered with a slight smile. "I like it, though," Erick continued. "Hm. Me too," Trick said softly with a grin as Elbor began to speak again. "…We must gather our army quickly; in three hours, the sea giants will set sail with Captain Erick Drake… AND GO TO WAR!!!" Elbor yelled boisterously, prompting all of the giants around him to shout and cheer loudly, raising their weapons as they did so. Nol turned to Elbor with a slight smile. "My King, that would mean that we will fight the Coastal Guard and all of their forces," Nol said with a slight smile.
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Jon then turned to Elbor as well, a slight grin appearing on his face. "Not only that, Greybeard and his allies will also be there," Jon said to them. All three of the sea giants looked at each other with smiles and then began to burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Jonah said with an annoyed tone. "The sea king has had over one thousand wars!" Elbor exclaimed. "This is just a favor for a friend in my eyes," Elbor said as he looked at Erick, both of them smiling. "You three prepare for the battle; we'll meet you back here in three hours," he said as he was looking at Erick. "How are we supposed to prepare for a war?" Jonah asked with a confused face, causing Elbor to burst out laughing. "I forgot the three of you were rookies! BWAH HA HA HA!" Elbor exclaimed with a boisterous laugh. "Gelma, take these boys to the shop," Elbor said with a wide smile just as a female sea giant walked over to them with a smile.
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Two hours later at 'The Shop'…
"This thing's a lot bigger than I thought," Erick said as he pulled at the oversized red puffer jacket Kora had made for him. "Mine actually fits perfectly!" Jonah said with a wide smile as he wore his blue puffer jacket, with the hood over his head. "WHY DIDN'T YOU GUYS GET ME ONE?!!" Trick asked with a flood of tears falling from his eyes. "Whenever we go back, I'm sure she won't mind making you one," Erick said with a slight chuckle. "But I want one now," Trick said in a saddened tone. "I can make you one now," Gelma said from behind Trick, causing him to reel back in surprise. "Wait, really? Are you gonna have time?" Trick asked with a confused face. "Of course, just tell me what you would like," she said with a soft smile. "Wait, can you change ours as well?" Erick asked her. "Of course," Gelma said with a smile, causing Erick to smile widely back at her.
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"Now this was a great idea, Erick," Jonah said as he looked at his new puffer jacket. Erick wore a red men's frack jacket with blue fur inside the hood and around the wrists of the jacket. It was thicker than a normal frack jacket and looked more Viking-like. On the right chest of the jacket was a golden letter D, and the same was on the back of the jacket, but the letter covered the center of the jacket. Erick kept his shorts, but on the bottom of the shorts and on the belt was the same red fur from his jacket. Jonah kept his blue puffer jacket, but it now had white lines outlining the sleeves. Instead of a D on his jacket, Jonah had a golden J on the right chest, but on the back of his jacket was a large D in the center of it, and Jonah's was white. Trick wore a black parka jacket with white fur inside the hood. He had baggy black pants and a belt that held both of his swords in a sheath on his left hip. On the right side of his jacket was a golden letter T, and just like Jonah, there was a white letter D covering the center of the back of his jacket.
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"Now this is how you go to war," Trick said with a smirk on his face. "I hope you all like them," Gelma said with a delicate smile on her face. "Are you kidding me? These are amazing, Gelma!" Erick said with an ecstatic smile. "I see you boys really put Gelma to work!" Elbor said as he walked up to them, with Nol and Jon by his side. Erick raised his eyes with amazement as he saw them. Nol now had a Viking's pelt on with a belt sash that held his axe on his back. Jon wore the same thing, but he held his club on his back. Elbor wore the pelt of an oversized wolf, with the head of it over his own. He wore no belt but had a pelt covering his midsection. "It's about that time," Elbor said as he looked at Erick with a straight face, prompting Erick to briefly do the same. Erick then looked out to the sea as the moon was shining on it from above. Erick then chuckled slightly as he turned back to Elbor. "Yeah… let's go," Erick said with a slight grin.
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Don was lying on the forest floor of Fruit Island with Charles's unconscious body beside him. Charles grunted as he began to wake up, causing Don to sit up and stare at him with a sharp glance. Charles slowly opened his eyes, and as he saw Don sitting beside him, he frantically began to crawl backward, only stopping a few feet from Don. "Just don't try anything; I've already come up with a whole excuse and everything," Don said bluntly, causing Charles's eyes to widen with surprise. "Excuse? Excuse for what?" Charles asked with curiosity, not as afraid as he was before. "It doesn't really matter anymore," Don said as he looked at the night sky. "How long was I out?" Charles asked as he held the right side of his head in pain.
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"Do you believe in what your captain is doing?" Don asked softly, causing Charles to look shocked by his sudden tenderness. "Of course I do; ever since we first talked about forming this team… I believed," Charles said as he sat up now and looked at the ground with a solemn face. "And you and that pig girl would die for his goal… right?" Don asked him, looking directly into his eyes. "Yes… without a doubt," Charles said with a genuine face. Don laid back with his arms behind his head. "Well then, I guess I'll just leave it all to you then…" Don said with a smile on his face as he closed his eyes.
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Himá and the five other vice captains stood in a line, and in front of them were five thousand Coastal Guard soldiers, saluting each captain. "ATTENTION!" Himá yelled bluntly, causing the men to drop their salute. "It has come to my attention that Greybeard left Fruit Island approximately one day ago. Captain Don stayed on Fruit Island to contain one of their three exploration team members," Himá said bluntly, causing all of the soldiers to look worried as they began to whisper to each other. "If Captain Don isn't here, who is going to deal with Captain Greybeard?" one of the soldiers whispered. "Will five vice captains even be enough for a war with that man?" another one of the soldiers whispered.
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"I understand your concern, but I assure you that we have planned for this. Greybeard will have allies, notably Captain Thorne and his entire fleet," Himá said, causing some of the soldiers to gasp in fear and shock. "This is a war, and there will be death. Do not stop and do not waver. Captain Don has entrusted us with a task beyond our expectations, but we will not fail. FOR ESTORIA!!!" Himá yelled boisterously. "FOR ESTORIA!!!!" the soldiers repeated boisterously as they raised their weapons. "Disperse," Himá said, prompting the soldiers to split up into three quadrants, each taking a side of the capital. "Um, Himá?" Bella said with an embarrassed smile. "I may have forgotten where I'm supposed to go again," she said, causing Himá's face to drop with annoyance.
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"This is the last time, Bella… you and Thatch will guard quadrant one, Cooper and I will guard quadrant two, while Alura will guard quadrant three. Everyone got it?" Himá asked bluntly. "Yeah, yeah," Thatch said with his arms crossed, bearing a disgruntled face. "Okay, bossy pants," Bella said as she poked her lips out and crossed her arms. "Yes, ma'am," Cooper said with a soft smile on his face. "If I may ask, why am I alone?" Alura said with a curious face. "Your Eloka Berry is great for shutting down certain areas; I figured you'd be the best option to place alone," Himá said with a blunt stare. Alura didn't say a word; he just nodded at her as they all dispersed into their separate groups, preparing for the forces they would soon face.
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"We're about two days away from the capital, Captain," Vivian said as she looked at Captain Neoma. "I can't remember the last time I actually prepared for a battle," Neoma said as she leaned over the edge of her ship, smiling at the realization of this fact. "You do have the longest career of any current pathfinder; your experience will truly be unmatched," Vivian said with a confident smile, causing her captain to smile back at her. Neoma's face suddenly dropped into a serious one. "Vivian… you realize that this will be a real war, right? Many of our friends… will die in that capital. But if I die…" Neoma said, but her voice trailed off as she finished her sentence. "Captain?" Vivian said with a concerned look. "Ahh, never mind; I just wish we could've gathered a bit more of our allies," Neoma said with a disappointed smile as she turned around to look into the sea behind her ship, revealing at least one hundred warships, each hosting at least ten of Neoma's allies.
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Captain Thorne was sitting down with his right knee bent, looking at a map on the floor of his ship. "Captain! We are forty-eight hours and twenty-seven minutes away from reaching the capital!" Jester said as he stepped in front of Thorne. "Any word from Greybeard?" Thorne asked, raising his right eyebrow. "Yes, Sniper Charles has been captured by Captain Don, but Don seemed to be heavily fatigued and has not left the island yet," Jester said with a sly grin on his face, causing Thorne to grin as well. "Well, I'll be damned; the captain of Estoria won't be there to defend his precious land, huh?" Chopper said as he walked over to the two of them. "Well then, we may just have some fun, boys," Thorne said with a grin, causing Jester to laugh as Chopper began to light a cigar in his mouth.
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Kalan was standing in the bar she once called home, with Francis sitting beside her. "You sure you want to do this, Franc? I'm your friend, but if the government places a bounty on you—" she said but was cut off by Francis. "I already know, Kalan, but I need to do this. That boy is a product of my own doing, and if I let him die… then what kind of teacher am I?" Francis said with a saddened tone. Kalan smiled slightly as she then stood up. "Well, this is it then, huh?" Kalan said with a smirk. "I believe so, my friend," Francis said back to her as he walked toward the door of the bar. "Kalan… thank you," Francis said just as he turned back around and walked out the door. Kalan stood there with a straight face, but then her mouth began to squirm just as one tear fell from her left eye. "Yeah… no problem, friend," she said in a low and heartbroken tone.
Chapter End.