chapter :3 the voyage begins

Ziraka said with a note of pride. “The ship I told you about. The Shadow Reaper.”

“Wow, old man!” Dante exclaimed, his eyes wide with wonder. “It’s a beautiful ship!”

Ziraka chuckled. “She is. Now, it’s time to decide the captain of the ship. Who might the captain

For the first time since they had met, Akiro raised his voice, speaking with a surprising authority that made everyone turn to look at him.

“The captain of our ship is Dante Kamazu are you ok with it,” he stated simply.

Kamazu, who had been looking to Akiro for leadership, smiled. “It’s fine by me,”

he said. “And Akiro, you should be the vice-captain. Are you okay with that?”

Akiro gave a single, sharp nod.

“Hey, hey! Wait a minute!” Dante sputtered, pointing at himself. “Why does nobody ask my opinion?”

“Because you’re an idiot,” Akiro replied without a flicker of emotion. He looked at Kamazu. “Is that correct?”

“Right there,” Kamazu agreed with a grin.

““Not you too!” Dante wailed, throwing his hands up in mock despair.

Ziraka laughed heartily. “Then it is decided! Captain Dante, Vice-Captain Akiro, and Navigator Kamazu.” The old man clapped his hands together. “You can set sail tomorrow.”

“Then we have to buy supplies for the journey,” Akiro said, ever the planner, already turning to go. “Come on, Kamazu.”

“Wait,” Ziraka called out, his voice losing its humor and turning serious. “We have one last job to do.”

“Another job?” Kamazu asked, confused.

Ziraka’s gaze fell to Kamazu’s neck. Around it was a thick, iron collar, the undeniable mark of a slave.

“We have to remove that,” he said, his voice firm. “It shows the world you are a slave, and you are not a slave anymore.”

Kamazu instinctively reached up and touched the cold, heavy metal. Hope warred with despair on his face. “But how?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper. “It’s unbreakable. They made it that way.”

Ziraka pointed to Kamazu’s neck. Around it was a thick, iron collar, the undeniable mark of a slave. “We have to remove the chain that surrounds your neck. It shows the world you are a slave, and you are not a slave anymore. We should remove it.”

Kamazu reached up and touched the cold metal. “But how?” he asked, his voice falling. “It’s unbreakable. They made it so.”

Ziraka simply walked over and placed a hand on the iron collar. He closed his eyes for a moment, and a faint, almost invisible energy seemed to flow from his palm.

There was a soft click, and a few seconds later, the heavy chain fell apart, clattering onto the stone floor of the cove.

Kamazu was finally, completely free.

Dante stared at Ziraka, his eyes wide with amazement. “How did you do that? Old man, can you teach me?”

Ziraka turned, a mysterious smile playing on his lips. “It’s not the right time,” he said, his voice low. “When the time comes, I will teach you.”

That night, while Dante slept soundly in a spare room in Ziraka’s shop, Akiro and Kamazu went out to purchase supplies for their voyage.

The following morning, the sun rose on a ship ready to sail. The air was cool and smelled of salt and adventure. As Kamazu expertly unfurled the grey sails of The Shadow Reaper, they caught the wind with a satisfying snap.

The three new crewmates stood on the deck and waved a final farewell to their benefactor, who watched from the shore.

“Captain,” Akiro said, his voice cutting through the crisp sea air as he looked to the receding shoreline. “Our first long-term objective should be to dismantle the organization that profits from the slave trade. It is the logical first step.”

Dante looked out at the endless ocean, a thoughtful expression on his face. “You know something, Akiro? Pirates are the people with the most freedom in the world.”

Akiro raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand your point.”

“In order to defeat a pirate, you should be a pirate,” Dante declared with a sudden grin. " But we should be good pirates! The kind who help people and don’t harm them, all while reaching our goals!”

Akiro stared at his friend for a long, silent moment. “Dante,” he said, his voice dangerously flat. “Do you have a fever?”

“No! But why would you ask me that?”

“Because for a brief moment,” Akiro said, a hint of what might have been admiration in his voice, “you were talking like a genius.”

“AKIIIIROOOO!” Dante yelled, lunging for his friend.

“Guys, don’t fight with each other!” Kamazu pleaded, trying to get between them.

Akiro easily sidestepped Dante’s clumsy tackle. “Kamazu, don’t try to stop us.”

After a few more minutes of chaotic roughhousing, the three boys finally stopped, laughing as they rested on the deck of The Shadow Reaper, their new life stretching out before them on the open sea.

A few hours later, the initial excitement had worn off, replaced by the gnawing boredom of a calm sea. Dante lay sprawled on the deck, his stomach rumbling loudly.

“Akiroooo,” he whined. “I’m starving. Make some food for me.”

Akiro, who was meticulously coiling a rope, didn’t even look up. “Alright,” he said in a lazy tone. “You two catch some fish from the sea, and I’ll cook them.”

“Gotcha!” Dante and Kamazu shouted in unison, grabbing a pair of fishing lines.

As the two of them sat on the ship’s railing and were fishing, a strange object appeared on the horizon. It was a large, splintered piece of wood, like a section of a ship’s mast, floating aimlessly on the waves. And clinging to it was a small figure.

“Dante, look over there!” Kamazu said, pointing. “There’s a girl!”

Dante squinted, his focus sharpening. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Kamazu… but is her hair blond? Is that right?”

Kamazu threw his hands up in exasperation. Go and save her!” Without waiting for a response, Kamazu gave Dante a hard shove, sending him tumbling over the railing and into the sea with a loud splash.

Kamazu stared at him in disbelief. “Her hair color is not the important right now!” he yelled, his voice cracking with panic.

“We have to save her!” When Dante just continued to stare, Kamazu, in a fit of desperate urgency, gave him a clumsy shove. Unprepared, Dante lost his balance and tumbled over the railing into the sea with a huge splash.

The sound of the splash brought Akiro rushing out from the galley below deck. “What in the hell is going on?” he demanded, his eyes narrowed.

“I ask you two to do one simple thing to catch fish. Is that task beyond your capabilities?” He looked around.

“Where is Dante?”

“He jumped into the sea to save a girl!” Kamazu explained quickly.

Akiro’s annoyance instantly evaporated, replaced by cold alarm. “Save what?” he snapped, his head whipping around to scan the waves.

“A girl! She’s floating on a piece of wood out there!”

“Where is he now?!”

Just then, Dante’s head broke the surface of the water a short distance away. He was holding onto the piece of wreckage with one hand and supporting the unconscious, blond-haired girl with the other.

“Akiro! Kamazu!” he sputtered, spitting out a mouthful of saltwater. “A little help here! I can’t fly, you know!”

Working together, Akiro and Kamazu managed to haul the sopping wet Dante and the unconscious girl onto the deck.

Kamazu rushed to get blankets while Dante, surprisingly, began performing first aid. He checked her breathing, then tilted her head and began administering chest compressions with a focused intensity none of his friends had ever seen from him before.

“Akiro, how do they use a first aid kit?” Kamazu asked, returning with the supplies.

Akiro just shook his head, looking at Dante. “You’re hopeless. Give it here.”

But Dante pushed them both aside. He pressed firmly on the girl’s tummy, and a gush of seawater came out of her mouth. He repeated the motion, clearing her lungs. Though she was breathing more steadily, the girl remained unconscious.

“Akiro, Kamazu, take her to one of the bedrooms,” Dante said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. “Let her rest. This is important.”

As the two of them carried the girl below deck, Kamazu looked at Akiro with wide eyes.

“Akiro, have you ever seen Dante so serious like this?”

“A few times,” Akiro replied, his expression thoughtful. “And if he’s this serious, then something important is happening.”

Later, Dante was sitting on the edge of the deck, staring out at the sea and thinking deeply about the girl they had rescued. Suddenly, a voice from behind made him jump.

“What has you so troubled?”

“Whoa! Akiro, don’t scare me like that!” Dante yelped, clutching his chest.

He quickly composed himself. “No, Akiro, I’m just thinking… what is a princess doing in this part of the sea? What do you think?”

Akiro stared at him, his face a blank mask. “I have no idea. But what I want to know is, how do you know she’s a princess?”

“I saw the earring she was wearing,” Dante explained. “It’s a royal crest. Only a princess would wear that. I studied it in a book.”

Akiro froze, his mind struggling to process the information. Dante? Studied a book?

“Dante,” Akiro said slowly, his voice laced with disbelief. “When did you start reading books?”

“When we were in Ziraka’s shop, you went shopping,” Dante explained with a shrug. “I was bored, so I read a book.”

Before Akiro could question this unbelievable claim, a panicked shout erupted from below deck. “Someone, please help me!”

The voice was female, and it was filled wit

h terror.

Dante and Akiro exchanged a look and immediately rushed down to the bedroom where they had left the girl.

They threw the door open to find Kamazu standing there, looking helpless, and the blond-haired girl sitting up in the bed, her eyes wide with fear.

“What happened, Kamazu?” Akiro demanded.

“Who are you people?” the girl asked, her voice trembling as she clutched the blankets to her chest. “Where am I? What are you doing here?”