Chapter 269: He Who Was Lost

Chapter 269: He Who Was Lost

*The heroes, along with Mike, enter the captain’s room. The lighting in the room is pretty dark. The captain is sitting in a rolling office chair with the back towards the heroes so they can’t see him*

Mike: Father. These three people wish to use the altar and have come to ask for your permission.

Zaydra: I want to know why someone would try to monopolize the altars that mom created.

Zeth: Yeah, so who are you?

*The office chair starts to turn around. The expressions on the heroes’ faces go from serious to absolute shock*

Zeth: No way…

*The captain turns out to be Joe, though he looks somewhat older like he would look in his late 20s*

Zeth: J- Joe?

Sasha: It has to be.

Zaydra: But why a pirate captain?

Joe: It’s certainly been a long time.

Mike: Father, you really know these people?

Zeth: Now that I think about it, you called him father. Then that means—

Joe: Yes, I am his father.

???: And I am his mother.

*Someone else steps out of the shadows from a dark part of the room. It is Emily, though she also looks somewhat older like she would look in her late 20s. Her bangs now cover her left eye. She still has the claw scars on the right side of her face that she received in her battle against Nasan in the Chaos Tournament. Both Joe and Emily are wearing brown pirate uniforms. Joe has what appears to be a piece of green cloth tied to his right arm*

Sasha: Emily?

Emily: Yes, it is indeed me.

Joe: Mike, these are the divine beings I told you about.

Mike: They are!? That explains why they defeated our attack so easily.

Zeth: Listen, Joe… I said some horrible things 42 years ago… I wasn’t in the right state of mind and I didn’t mean it!

Joe: I know…

*Joe lowers his head in shame*

Joe: Your corruption was very high. However, despite that, I still felt a lot of guilt about Kurt’s death. I was lost after that. But before we get to me, where have you all been for these last 42 years?

Zaydra: The corruption took its toll on all three of us. We were unconscious for decades. I was unconscious for 22 years, Sasha for 30 years, and Zeth for 42 years.

*Joe and Emily looked shocked*

Emily: That’s rough! Joe: Damn it, I’m so sorry that we couldn’t do more for you.

Zeth: Now, tell us what all has happened to you two these last 42 years.

Joe: After the events involving the Crow Beak Divine Killers, I was lost. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had sent Kurt to his death. That stayed in my head for a long time. I wandered around with Emily for years.

Zeth: What about Keith?

Joe: He separated from us. He decided to head back home until we knew what was going to happen. We kept in regular contact. As for us, we eventually reached a point that the wandering ended. Emily wanted to go to Red Den, the place in Harmone that her ancestors settled in when they came to this country. After checking out Red Den with Emily and settling an incident there, we came to these islands and ended up settling down.

Emily: We found the altar and used it. We wanted to try and figure out just what Joe’s Storm Lord Eyes were but we never did.

Joe: After seeing the people here, we wanted to help them. So we ended up creating this pirate organization for that cause.

Zeth: That explains why the people here are in such good shape despite pirates being here.

Joe: Yes. We fought off other pirates who would harm them. Eventually, Emily and I had a child as you can see.

Sasha: Well, we’re certainly happy for you both.

Zeth: But why haven’t you aged much?

Zaydra: Remember, Zeth, they are Enigmuses now. They will age far slower. A Perfect Enigmus like Korobu won’t age at all.

Joe: But Mike only got our human DNA so he ages like a normal human.

Emily: It feels odd to see your own child on the verge of passing you by in age.

Joe: Enough about that though. We have some serious concerns we need to share with you. Important people are disappearing left and right it feels like. About a year ago, we lost contact with Keith. When we went to his parents’ home, they said they had no idea where he was and were very concerned.

Zeth: And you still don’t know?

Emily: Sadly, that is correct. We don’t even know where to start. But he’s not the only one. Kurt’s old master, Dom, and his mother, Jane, were both with us and they are missing too. Again, we don’t know where to start with them either. We have some context for them. Both of them desired to avenge Kurt, especially his mother who had then lost both her son and husband to the same demon.

Joe: Early in our time here, after creating this pirate organization, Dom took Jane somewhere, and when they came back, something was different about them. Not in their personalities but in… their bodies… They both just seemed to stop aging and if anything, it looked like they were starting to get younger.

*Zaydra is starting to shiver and sweat upon hearing this*

Emily: When we asked them about it, they wouldn’t say anything. And then it was around the same time as Keith a year ago that they too disappeared.

*Zeth now looks scared*

Zeth: This is starting to sound like a horror story.

Joe: There was one more. RAG also disappeared about a year ago.

Sasha: What is going on!? There is no way that is all a coincidence!

Joe: I promise you that we are afraid. We can’t figure it out.

Zeth: (Thinking) I know I said it was a bad idea to get them involved but now their power has significantly increased. We are going to need their help. (Now speaking out loud) Joe, Emily. We need you to rejoin us.

*Joe and Emily look at each other for a moment*

Joe: You don’t even need to mention it.

Emily: We entered into this meeting knowing that this would be the result. Count us in.

Narrator: Joe and Emily will be rejoining Zeth and Sasha. What has become of those that disappeared and what about what was said has Zaydra shivering?

Chapter 269 END

To be Continued in Chapter 270: The Hooded Ones