Better The Devil You Know

The accursed laugh that I had hoped I would never hear again echoed in my ears, the voice of a dead man. A scumbag I had hoped was relegated to the depths of Davy Jones’ locker.

“How are you still around? Why are you still here, X?”

The ethereal figure of the skeletal man materialised several feet in front of me.

“Yaharhar~ What do you mean, lad? I’ve been with you all this time,” the accursed man taunted, performing an overly theatrical bow.

“I know I fought you as a walking corpse, so I know death isn’t really new to you, but I thought this time you were actually dead.”

“And I thought you’d be more of a man, lad,” he snapped back.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been looking down there. You’ll make me blush.”

I quickly crossed my legs, trying to appear modest. I would have covered my crotch with my hand, but my wrists were still bound behind my back.

“I see you still have a sly tongue.” His jawbone twisted into a smile. “A pirate captain should be feared, especially by his own crew. Why do you let them walk all over you?”

“Because they are my precious family.”

“Yaharhar~ I thought you called them your treasure. Now they are your family?”

“Is there any greater treasure than one’s family?”

X smiled, and I felt a chill run down my spine. He reached forward, his bony hands reaching the side of my face. Though I felt no touch, it was as if he gripped my heart, squeezing until it might burst.

“I believe your real family abandoned you. Betrayal. Abandonment. Oh, how lonely you must have felt. Just like my crew. Like your crew will. Yaharhar~”

“Shut up,” I mumbled, shifting my gaze away.

“You should eliminate them before they turn on you. Think about the skills you’d gain. How much stronger the accursed gem would grow.”

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear your voice any longer,” I snapped back, finally slipping out of the loose bindings around my wrist and getting to my feet.

X took several steps backwards, his expression softened slightly as he shrugged.

“You should’ve heeded my warning, lad. Crews are nothing but fodder. Pawns for the meat grinder the moment they are no longer useful.”

“Have you forgotten, I don’t listen to the advice of lowly administrators. Now I’m sick of your little game. How are you talking to me and why now? Why not before?”

X smiled once more, this time it wasn’t the cruel, mocking guise he had on before.

“I’m almost as surprised as you. When you stabbed the system puppeteering N, some of the system was stolen and corrupted by the Accursed Gem.”

“Does that mean I can now use the skills of the system?”

“The accursed Gem may have stolen some of the skills, but you haven’t. Although… Yaharhar~” X trailed off with his laugh, but he never broke eye contact with me. It was somewhat unsettling. I knew he must be scheming something.

“I haven’t got time to deal with you. Spill the beans, or I’m leaving,” I commented before letting out a heavy sigh.

“Yaharhar~ You may not be able to control the accursed gem, lad, but I could.”

Although his eyes were hollowed out, I could practically see the mischievous spark in them.

“Oh my god! You’re going to become my familiar!” I nodded smugly before adding, “Pippa will be jealous though. I did promise she could ride on my shoulder. But I suppose if you want to lick my feet, I won’t oppose.”

I had a feeling this wasn’t what he meant; in fact, I was quite worried by what he would say, but it was fun to get a rise out of him.

“I would not bow to you. What I suggest is for you to give me your body.”

“Isn’t it a little soon before that? Shouldn’t you at least ask me out for dinner first?” I shuffled my feet and looked at the ground, trying to act as coy as possible.

As much as I joked about the naughty things he could do to my body, the truth was I didn’t trust him in the slightest. There was no way in hell I was going to lend X my body, especially after his comments encouraging me to harm my crew.

“Think about it, lad, with your body and my experience and all the new skills you acquired in that city. Together, we could unleash hell.”

“Screw you.”

The smile dropped from his face.

“I’m sorry?”

I responded with a shrug.

“I don’t intend to hand you my body.”

“All the skills and powers of the accursed gem, all the stats saved up. The ones you can’t use right now. All those skills could all be yours.”

“If it means giving you my body, then I don’t want them.”

X brought his translucent, bony hand to his forehead and with a heavy sigh responded, “You’re a fool.”

For the first time since his reappearance, I finally felt like I was in control once more. The thought alone brought a smile to my face.

“Maybe so, but this fool is going to do things their own way.”

I had expected X to voice his complaints, but he laughed instead.

“Yaharhar~ You are truly a fool. But your stubbornness is why I trusted you with the gem in the first place.” His face darkened. “But a time will come when you need the powers. Perhaps even soon. When that time comes, you will be forced to make a deal with a devil. And better the devil you know Yaharhar~”

The ship rocked slightly, and the candle of the lantern flickered. It was at that moment, the cabin door burst open.

“Cap’n, I have something urgent to…”

Mel trailed off, looking at me. X tilted his head to look at Mel, a slight smile once again creeping up his face.

“I can explain…”

“Ya a healthy man, I don’t care if ya spankin’ the monkey or whatnot. I have come ‘cause we have a situation,” she replied with a sigh.

“She can’t see or hear me,” X chimed in with his signature smug smile.

That would have been good to know.

“I’ll have you know I wasn’t burping the worm,” I shot back.

She covered her mouth, but the twitch in her eye betrayed the smirk she was desperately trying to hide. “That’s somethin’ a person chokin’ the chicken would say.”

As much as I wanted to keep this banter going because it meant I didn’t have to acknowledge X, there was the more pressing issue of whatever emergency Mel originally burst in here for.

“So what’s wrong?”

“Well, it’s the sky, it’s gettin’ dark, and the waves are pickin’ up. I’ve never seen anythin’ like it.”

I turned my head to look out the porthole. The sky was an ominous grey, and the waves crashed against the hull as if a violent storm had already broken. A flash of lightning momentarily illuminated the cabin.

I turned back to face Mel, but my attention was immediately drawn to the accursed man stretching out his arms and tilting his head toward the ceiling, laughing.

“Yaharhar~ It seems like the time for this deal will be soon.” He lowered his head to focus on me with his hollowed-out eyes. “For the seas are about to turn red with blood. Nothing can stop the waves of death that will follow. The world is caught in the whirlpool of change. Are you ready, Lad?”

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 57