The Great Void

The accursed man finished his speech and approached in an ethereal skip, resting his bony arm around my shoulder.

“So what do you say, Lad? Are you ready for the bloodshed that will follow? Yaharhar~”

“What the hell do you mean?” I snapped at X, shaking him off.

Before he had a chance to reply, a confused voice piped up, “You feeling okay Cap’n?”

I shifted my gaze to Mel, who was watching me flail about. I had to remind myself once again that Mel had no idea of X’s presence.

“You see I’m just…”

Her eyes flickered golden for a split second before she let out a soft sigh.

“Talkin’ to one of those curses on ya, I assume.”

I paused, surprised.

“That’s exactly right. How’d you figure that out?”

She pointed at her eyes with a warm smile and replied. “Never underestimate my eyes. Nothing can get past them Cap’n.”

I offered a warm smile to her.

“I suppose it’s time to find out what’s going on.”

I took a few steps toward the door before feeling a soft hand on my back. Mel leaned in and whispered into my ear.

“Just a heads up Cap’n, make sure you act your part.”

“My what?”

I felt a hand on my back as she shoved me out the door. I staggered forward, and she followed closely behind.

“I went to let Cap’n out, but he’d already escaped,” she playfully commented.

I looked up and was immediately met with Melody’s sparkling gaze.

“Really?!” she asked with utmost earnestness. “But no one can escape from my big sister’s wires.”

Viola placed her hand on her younger sister’s head, giving her a warm, proud smile. “That’s right, but our foolish captain is even stronger than my wires. There’s nothing he can’t do.”

She approached enthusiastically.

“Is that true, Mr. Pirate?”

I wish it were true.

I could feel the gaze of my crew on me.

“That’s right. I’m the strongest pirate in the world.”

The smiles of the crew and the awe on Melody’s face told me I had made the right call.

At the same time, X was laughing like a madman. I chose to ignore him.

The waves were crashing in the distance, the wind choppy, yet the Ravager had come to a complete standstill, caught in a strange lull surrounding the ship. It was as if we had drifted into the eye of a storm.

“Give me a report, what’s happened?”

“We don’t have anything to report other than this unnatural weather.”

Without so much as a warning, the ship lurched violently to the left. The crew staggered but managed to remain upright.

“What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know!” Túta called back, concerned.

“It wasn’t my dark powers,” Pippa added.

“Want me to handle this, lad?” X commented, clearly amused by our scrambling.

“Do you know something?” I mumbled under my breath. A side glance from Mel indicated she overheard my bickering with X, but opted to keep her mouth shut.

“My existence kept everything at bay. There was harmony. But now… now there is but a swirl of competing forces. Pulled into the whirlpool of bloodshed. The great pirates, kingdoms, ancient beasts and even the administrators. They are all scrambling to seize control.”

“Are you done with your monologue?”

Before X could reply, Túta spoke up. “So, what should we do?”

“Tch, it would be great if we had a navigator to identify the…” I was cut off as the Ravager lurched to the right. The crew once again fought to remain standing and were mostly successful. The two unfortunate ones were Melody and me. She tumbled face-first onto the deck while the jerking aggravated my broken ribs, dropping me to my knees.

“What the fuck is causing this?” I growled through gritted teeth as I pushed through the pain to stand.

No one responded. They didn’t need to. The cause finally became evident as a large tentacle protruded from the sea, then another, then several more.

“What the hell is that?!” Túta screamed, darting around in a panic.

“Captain? Is this one of your harem, ero-skills?” Raizel asked mischievously.

“Now’s not the time to be making jokes,” I scolded her. I think she got the message because she lowered her head and her playful smile dropped.

“So it was a kraken,” X commented, amusement still in his voice. “Been some time since I’ve seen one of those. Yaharhar~”

“You seem pretty nonchalant about it,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Lad, it’s not the kraken you should fear, but whatever scared it from its nest.”

“And what is that?”

“Good question. The balance is tipped, and conflict is only now about to begin. Lad, I hope you are ready. The sea… no… the world, is about to be stained in blood. If you want to stop the bloodshed, you must fill the void.”

“X, I think you have something wrong with your statement.”

“Oh?” His smug smile said he doubted that.

“I have no intention of filling the void you left.”

“So you are just going to let others clamour for the power?”

“Of course not. Filling the void means maintaining the status quo. I’m not going to do that. I’ll crush all those who get in my way.”

“Yaharhar~ you’re mad.”

“Maybe, but this madman has survived against all odds thus far.”

“You haven’t even glimpsed the truly dreadful beings yet.”

“Remind me which one of us is alive and which one is dead?” I taunted him. Hoping he would finally shut up so I could focus on the more pressing issue of the kraken. It had already begun to wrap its tentacle around the mast of the ship.

But rather than take my bait, X simply smiled as the kraken slammed a tentacle against the hull.

“We will see if you can still say that in a few minutes.”

He was right, and I hated that more than anything.

The kraken’s movements turned erratic as it grew more agitated, and I couldn’t blame it. My crew had been hacking at its tentacles with little effect.

A bolt of lightning flashed in the sky as the Ravager lurched again. A massive shadow fell over the Ravager, plunging the deck into darkness. The slimy squid with its green eyes and jagged teeth finally broke the surface of the water.

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 58