Alric felt a series of light slaps on his face as if someone was trying to wake him up.
He wanted to sleep more... just a little more.
But... He forced his eyes open.
There he saw that beautiful and cursed face of that dame woman. Where was he? What was he doing here? All he remembered was the book... then nothing.
As his instincts took over, he tried to stand up and fight back, but failed miserably. He was tied up to a chair with chains... yes, chains. Who was he? A titan? He couldn't even break a rope, and chains? And were they connected to the wall? 'What!' Alric shouted silently.
"Hey, kid," as he was getting a panic attack at the fact he was bound by chains of all things, the woman's voice echoed through the room.
"I don't have all day, spit it out... where is the book?" Alric replied hesitantly, "Book?... what book?" The woman sighed as she facepalmed, "I am Melissa, you?" Alric thought for a moment whether to tell his real name or not, "I am Alric." Melissa observed for a while and then said, "It was a relic of the unknown." Alric almost choked on his own saliva.
"Wait... what!?" He tried his best not to speak like a royal person would, and as a royal, he knew a lot about those matters, the relics of the unknown, the titans. And those...
"Yes, you heard it right, it was a relic of the unknown. Perhaps... you didn't happen to read it?" Alric panicked; he was barely able to not wet himself. "Aaaa... I kinda did," he decided to come clean. Sure, he was a manipulative jerk, but even he can be honest sometimes.
Melissa facepalmed again, but a little harder this time. "I knew it! I should have killed you when I saw you." Alric replied, "You knew it?" Melissa just stared at him, "No!" Alric muttered, "Oh... okay."
Melissa let out a tiring sigh. Then she started scratching her head aggressively and let out a muffled scream.
"AAAAA! I can't even kill you now!" Alric let out a sigh of relief as he heard that. 'Wait... why am I getting happy? I'm still stuck here,' he thought inwardly.
'Am I forgetting something?' He wondered, 'wait, wait, wait, I am a relic user now!? I am one of the users!? Why did I even get distracted from that fact!? I just consumed a relic of the unknown!? A nation-level treasure! Even the most powerful kingdoms have only a few hundreds of them at max!'
He started to feel a weird sensation, a strange energy flowing through his veins.
He tried to focus, to channel this newfound energy. The chains binding him seemed to shimmer, the air around them distorting slightly. He pushed harder, picturing the chains breaking, snapping under the invisible pressure.
The chains groaned, metal straining against metal. A flicker, a spark, and then… nothing. The chains held. Frustration gnawed at him. He was weak, still inexperienced. He needed to learn to control this power, to harness it.
"Join my crew, or die," Melissa gave him two options as he was at war with himself.
Alric stopped thinking about anything else. All this life, he thought death was a blessing, but not now, he got a taste of freedom, he wanted to live now, to keep living and to be free.
Would he be giving up his freedom if he joined her crew? 'Her crew? Is she the captain? Guess so,' he thought, 'no, no, think about what you will choose,' he told himself.
"3rd option. Get out of here," Alric took the risk.
"I like that, boy. But too bad for you, I'm the boss here." Alric replied to her, "Then I just don't have to be here."
"Don't act smart, boy," Melissa told him flusteredly. "I'm not acting, I am smart."
Melissa let out a soft chuckle.
"Getting cocky, huh?" she tells him with a bright smile. "Join or die. Join is well... join and die is well... yk... die? Good bye, bye bye" she laughed out loud.
Alric cried inwardly, "Join, join, just don't kill me, please. i will join" Alric decided to give up.
Melissa smiled even more brightly, "Good boy."
Alric forced himself to smile but could only let out a weird smile. 'Where have I gotten myself into?' he thought inwardly.
He glanced around the room. It was a small cabin, not to small. The air filled with the smell of salt and fish.
Skulls and crossbones scattered across the cabin. He wondered where they were, this ship, this pirate crew. Who were these people? What were their plans?
He remembered the chaos on the ship. the screams and the blood spilled.
He had seen stuff he never wanted to see.
He had seen death, up close and personal. It got him scared to his core.
But now, he had a chance. A chance to survive, to learn to control his newfound power, to maybe even find a way to escape. He had to be strong. He had to be cunning. He had to survive.
He closed his eyes. focusing on his breathing, trying to calm his pumping heart.
He would not let fear take over him. He would find a way. He would survive. He would escape.
He opened his eyes, meeting Melissa's eyes.
"You're more interesting than I thought," she said, her voice a low purr. "We'll see how you fare."
Alric forced a confident smile. "We shall see," he replied, his voice steady.
He felt that this was just the beginning of a long journey.
A journey that would test his limits, push him to the edge of his abilities.
He was no longer just Alric Lyra, the future hair to his kingdom, the kingdom he ran away from.
He was something more.
Something… different. And he had a feeling that this was his new beginning.
A new start. A new life.