Shanta loomed over Hillanters body with a green bottle in her hand. She grabbed the buttons on his shirt and unbuttoned a few near his collar. She opened the container and squeezed out some clear liquid.
It was an ointment meant to help with high fevers and other flu-like symptoms. In her palm she caressed his chest. Tracing his heart with the cold lotion for just about a minute.
Once she was done she headed to the bathroom and washed her hands off. Drying off she looked up into the mirror and stared at the reflection of herself. Her purple hair drooped down to the left, it wasn’t brushed this morning.
“Where are they?” She sighed. “I should’ve gone with them. But, I did need more info. After everything is all done here, I’m leaving.”
“Shanta! I found the book you were asking for!” Jinlin was yelling from the living room.
She dropped the towel and walked out of the bathroom. He had the book opened and was skimming lines with his finger, waiting for her.
“Ah.” He looked up. “Was wondering where you-”
“What did you find?” She abruptly cut him off.
“Ummm, well it’s actually pretty interesting. I was kind of wrong about how long the illness takes to kill, it’s about three days. So we definitely have more time than we originally thought.”
“Oh thank god.”
“Secondly, Barbara’s blood is more useful than healing and the cure. Do you remember when I mentioned Wipter?”
“Yes.”
“He not only used Barbara’s blood against her wishes for the cure, but also for another ritual. It says that it grants the user who performs it power beyond their imaginations. There was a report of someone who did it and they destroyed an entire town before disappearing, never to be seen again.”
“Do you think that Uff is trying to perform it?”
“Most definitely, or he has no idea what he’s doing. Though from words around town that I’ve heard, he was certainly aware of what it’s capable of.”
“We can’t let that happen.”
“Yes, most definitely yes.”
“What else do you need for the ritual?”
“It explains that you need to draw the symbol of Wipter directly on your chest.” He pointed at it in the book, as she peered over his shoulder and scanned it for herself. It was a W with a wavy line in it. A skull in the background with scarily realistic human eyes staring forward. “Draw out some of your blood and mix it in with Barbara’s and pour it over yourself. Then the great power from the tombs of Angular will open up and be absorbed into your body.”
“Angular? Where’s that at?”
“It’s actually not that far from here, maybe like a day or two away, Luckily it says here that a grand wizard found a way to seal it with some sort of forcefield, he lives there protecting it. It actually doesn’t give any other specific details about it despite that.” He closed the book with a loud clap. “Well if there’s someone preventing it then we should be in the clear.”
Why does that sound familiar?
Then Shanta’s face drooped down in complete and utter shock.
The wizard from that island! Was that him? No, he was saying he was using it to gain more power, why would he even say that if he was protecting the tomb, he would’ve just told us. That just can’t be it, but it’s so similar. Don’t let it get to your head.
“Are you ok?” Jinlin asked. “You look scared?”
“I’m fine.” She responded. “I’m just worried about, you know, my crewmates.”
“Me too. I feared the worst once you mentioned the Vill stone, I knew what was ahead of you. But in my whole years of seeing countless pirates, I’ve never seen some as friendly and polite as the lot of you. I do have faith in them, it’s no easy task after all.”
“I don’t think they’ve fully realized the importance of what they’re trying to accomplish. We’d be the first in history to ever perform the cure. I mean, we’d be in history books!”
“I know, it all seems unreal.”
“I can imagine it now, our names written in pages as kids learn about us in school.”
“Don’t start daydreaming now. That’ll all come after we figure out a way to even accomplish that.”
“You’re right. Just getting way too ahead of myself.”
“Way far ahead. When everyone gets back you need a plan on how you can even get into Uff’s base. Which reminds me, how did you even run into him in the first place.”
“I’m going to have to cut it down a lot but mainly, you know the purk that was with us?”
“Yes.”
“Well she was the daughter of the king Velantriff and we were sent to rescue her from a bunch of slave traders and one of the leads we got led us to that base.”
“Wait Drinter Velantriff?”
“Yup, that jackass.”
“Wow, how did you end up getting a job for him?”
“He told us that if we succeeded we would avoid execution from our charges. But, he lied to us and sent us to be executed anyway. The only reason we got out was forcing our way out. Brentha wanted to come with us.”
“That’s insane.”
“Tell me about it. Anyways we were allowed to come into the fort and meet the man himself. He was a complete racist asshole who just used the opportunity to make fun of us and told us to fuck off or we would be killed. So I doubt if we’d make an appearance he’d welcome us with open arms.”
“Definitely not. You’ll have to sit down and plan your way in.”
“Gonna have to start brainstorming.”
They both walked down the hallway, passing by multiple rooms and then back to the library where he put back the book where found it. At the top shelf of a bookcase in the back, on the tippity top of a ladder.
“I’m noticing a lot of luck in everything you’ve told me. Conveniently combining up as a team to serve a king, stumbling upon a very powerful stone and walking into me which is surprising as I like to be left alone.” He said as he slid the book back into its slot. “I put up multiple warning signs along the path here to ward off any travelers, apparently that didn’t stop any of you.”
“We didn’t see any signs.”
“Really? Shit, some asshole really took them down then.” He slid down the ladder. “Gonna have to put them back up when you guys leave.”
They both exited the library. Walking all the way back to the living room, sitting on the couch alongside Hillanter. He grabbed himself a cup of tea he left on one of the coffee tables.
They both sat down in silence as the loud sips from his tea were the only sounds filling the room. She twiddled her thumbs together, lost in thought as she stared off in the distance. It was about five minutes of nothing before she came back to reality and looked over at Jinlin.
He was staring out the window as the sun set down in the distance and daylight was dimly fading away. Nearly done sipping the last of his tea he started to yawn.
“So like.” Shanta said. “What are you exactly?”
“What do you mean?” He responded puzzled.
“Like are you a doctor or?”
“Oh, let’s just say I’m a mix of a doctor and alchemist.”
“Damn, that’s actually really impressive.”
“Thanks. Only reason I did was to please my parents. My father wanted me to become an alchemist, while my mother pushed me to be a doctor. So they crammed me into both.”
“Did you even want to do any of that?”
“Not at all.” He said. “Funnily enough I wanted to become an explorer. Just seeing what the world had to offer me. But…” He finished his tea off with one final gulp. “My parents never supported that idea. They told me that wasn’t going to be useful to anybody. So I just did whatever made them happy.”
“Yeah I feel you. A mage is something I just grew up being. My parents were indoctrinated into the culture and it naturally passed along to me.”
“I always wondered how people even become grand wizards. Tell me, is it like that for every magic wielder? They’re just born into it by the luck of the draw or is it something they’re naturally drawn to?”
“It’s complicated, I just know a lot of my friends did it because they’re parents were. To acquire such power takes a lot of vigorous training. To even have magic it’s not something easy where you can equip like a sword, it’s a feeling you have. I was most likely born with it. Ever since I was little I just remember the feeling, there’s no other way to describe it besides from a feeling.”
“So you’re born with magic?”
“I don’t know if that’s the case for everyone but it’s most definitely for me.”
“Interesting. What else did you want to be?”
“Hmmm, oh my god!” She cracked a smile and chuckled a bit. “There was this traveling circus that would pass by our town every once in a while and I always remember being entranced by the magic tricks. It was…Shit what was his fucking name.”
“Oh! Are you talking about Mirifica the magician?”
“Yes! That was him! Did you also see him?”
“So many times, since Ruken is such a popular trading town that’s where the circus gained a lot of business and they hosted a lot of shows here. My father would take me down to see them and man it was so fucking cool. Probably not now but the memories always bring me joy. Did you want to be a magician?”
“Of course. I guess I just wanted to use my magic to entertain people, but when I suggested it to my mom she laughed and told me to stop thinking about it. She said that magic shouldn’t be used as some party trick and should be used for something more vital, like healing patients in a hospital or taking down bad people. Told me I shouldn’t be obsessed with childish parlor tricks. But guess what? I learned every single trick in the book. I can show you.”
“I would love to.” He smiled. “I have plenty of stuff here you can use.”
“Great!” She jumped with joy. She felt like a child again, all of the innocence flooded back to her as the memory of the journal she wrote all the tricks down came back. It was so engraved in her head that she didn’t even need to be reminded of them.
Jinlin got up, excited along with her. “I’ll show you the closet and just choose what you need.” They both exited the room just right as the sun vanished from the sky and darkness clouded outside.
105Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZDhGkxtuP
“Because they were pieces of shit they were, just like the lot of you!” Piper was ranting on. “I wanted to become a pirate but nope. They wanted me to become a sorcerer, what a load of horse shit that is anyways, all that power to do fucking nothing but show off. Pieces of fucking shit, every single one of them. If I had the chance I would wipe out all of them and-”
Zunci hit her in the head with the but of the rifle. Shutting her up as she yelped, the pain stopping her mid sentence.
“Thank you.” Yunga said. “I was going to do that myself.”
They were out of the forest and onto a small descolent dirt trail that seemed to cut through more grass plains.
“Are we still just following this path?” She continued on.
“Yes!” Piper snapped back. “Do I have to keep repeating directions so your small brain can remember?
“If it keeps you from going on tangents, then yes.”
“It’s impossible to miss it, but knowing you maybe you would.”
“A shack along a dirt trail in the middle of a plain field. No wonder you were caught.”
“Shut the fuck up you…You fucking gretcha.”
They both ignored her, continuing marching on as she kept slinging more insults non stop. Ever since they exited the forest she’s been rambling on about her past, parents, friends, or anything that made her mad. Her true lunacy was finally being shown.
She seemed to have gone silent, but a low rumble of growling was being produced by her. It was like she was a rabid animal.
“Gretcha, gretcha, gretcha…” She mumbled to herself over and over again.
Yunga chose to ignore it. Continuing on the path forward, it was a tiring walk but Piper finally kept her mouth shut as she was carried along.
With the sun almost down it was starting to become really dark and the more they trotted, the more the trail started to be overshadowed and you couldn't easily follow it anymore.
“How far away are we?” Yunga asked.
“You know, I think I’ve got you pinned down.” Piper strangely responded.
“What? Just answer the fucking question you psycho.”
“That speedy little zoom power you’ve got, you rely way too much on that. Yeah, I can definitely tell by the way you-”
Yunga slapped her with her back hand directly on her cheek. “Shut your stupid whore mouth and just tell me how far away we are.”
“Look forward you idiot.” Grumbling as her left cheek was bright red.
She darted her eyes straight ahead and there it was. An old rotten wooden shack built right on the side of the trail. It was almost completely torn apart, like someone ransacked the place desperately tearing down walls looking for whatever they wanted.
“Looks like the soldiers already tried to take the knife.” Piper said.
“Shit.” Yunga cursed. “They'd better not have taken it.”
“There’s no way they could’ve found out where I placed it.”
“Well where did you hide it?”
“I buried it directly beneath my shack. Right in the middle of it.”
“We don’t have a shovel or anything.”
“I did, it should be somewhere on the floor.”
Yunga plopped Piper down onto the dirt, landing directly on her stomach that knocked the wind right out of her.
“Zunci keep an eye on her.” She ordered. “Don’t want her pulling any tricks.”
“Will do.” Zunci responded as she yawned. She stood over Piper as she wiggled on the ground, trying her best to turn herself on her back.
Zunci just kicked her in the chest and forced her to roll on her back.
“You bitch!” She barked.
“Shut up or I’ll do it again.”
She went back to growling as she turned her face away.
Yunga walked up to the shack and opened the front door. When she turned the handle and pushed a little, it fell completely off its hinges and slammed into the wood boards. Breaking them apart as it shot down.
“Jesus Christ, this place is in shambles.” She whispered. “How did she even live like this? Actually, it really suits her.”
Carefully she took a step inside, making sure none of the floor boards would give way under her weight. Cautiously entering, she scanned the ground for the shovel. It was still really dark which made it almost impossible to spot anything.
From the darkness she saw the outline of what seemed to be a mattress and then a dresser. It reeked of a foul odor that just entered up her nostrils.
“Holy fuck.” She said in absolute disgust. “I’m gonna fucking gag what the hell is that smell?” Looking around in the corner there was a bucket, and considering that there was no bathroom in sight, she knew what purpose it served.
Using her clothes to cover her nose she focused her attention on the ground. She was now very hesitant to even touch anything but she had no time to waste.
With the constant darkness clouding her vision, she kneeled down and started feeling the ground. Coursing through the rough wood it was completely dirty, dust bellowing up and sticking to her fingers as she passed them along.
Her fingers then collided with a wood stick which she grabbed and stood up at the same time. She pulled out this ancient rusty shovel that didn’t even look usable in the slightest.
“Just don’t think about it too much and it’ll be fine.” She reassured herself. Attentively analyzing the ground wary of any more grotesque stuff lying in the way. When she was certain there was nothing, she stepped forward and stood directly in the middle of the place.
Leveraging the shovel up in the air, striking it down right in the floorboards which were surprisingly easy to get through, basically crumbling apart. Colliding with the soil beneath she started to dig her way into the earth.
Zunci sat down on the ground, completely exhausted. Chirping from various small insects filled the cold air alongside the shovel hitting the ground, dirt being flung up and thrown onto a pile.
“That girl’s gonna get herself killed.” Piper said. “I know it, I just fucking know it.”
Zunci rolled her eyes and just pouted looking up at the moon.
“You see it too don’t you?” She oddly turned her head towards her.
“I don’t care.” She warded off the conversation.
“You should. You’ve also had to have noticed it, you’ve been with her longer than I have. A blind fool could even see it coming.”
“What are you even-”
“I’m saying your friend sucks complete balls at fighting.”
“Says the one tied up right now. Yunga caught you-”
“Only due to your help. Alone she was completely clueless. It’s like a child trying to figure out a battle strategy, it’s embarrassing.”
“I don’t want to hear you speak anymore. You get more insufferable every damn second.” She completely turned her body away from her.
Piper sighed as she rolled on her side and shimmied her way towards Zunci. “Let me tell you something.” She whispered.
“If you come too close to me I will fucking smack you.” She threatened.
“Fine, I’ll keep my distance.” She stopped and just rested on her side. “She has no idea how to deal with anyone that can actually keep up with her. I can tell she’s barely encountered anybody that can outpace her. She’s inexperienced, just like the rest of your crew are. Because if she’s your captain then I fear for all of you.”
“Stop blabbering on like you’re her friend or something. You know fucking nothing.”
“Oh I have some unfortunate news for ya’. I just know the type of person she is already. Someone who has dominated their competition their whole life because they’ve always picked on the weak ones. But as soon as they step into the arena with the big boys they get their ass handed to them, some of them are lucky if they even have that. I can just tell, it’s this huge poking feeling in the back of my mind.”
Whipping her gun around, she clocked her right in the face. She yelped out in pain as she squirmed on the ground letting off a few more yelps.
“My nose!” She said as blood spilled out of it. “You broke my fucking nose!”
“What happened over there!?” Yunga shouted out.
“She’s just getting on my nerves.” Zunci responded. “Don’t worry about it, just keep digging. We’ve got to get back.”
“Right.” She continued shoveling away.
“You know it’s true.” Piper snarled. “You fucking know it and don’t lie to yourself. Don’t be so surprised when someone puts a fucking bullet through her skull. Fucking gretchas.”
Zunci stared back up at the moon, the gray glow shining back in her pink eyes. She scoffed, looking back at Piper who was still angrily eyeing her down.
She’s fucking insane but…There’s some truth. I’ve noticed back at the prison with that freaky large guard, and in the forest. I knew that her plan wasn’t very effective, but no. Yunga’s better than that, she’s fucking awesome and so optimistic. She’s got stuff to work through like the rest of us. She’ll get better, I believe in her. Inexperienced but that doesn’t mean she’s terrible. Us as a crew will always pick her back up if she falls.
“Found it!” Yunga proclaimed proudly. “God how did you bury it so deep.” In a three foot hole was the knife laid plainly out all covered in dirt and rocks. Just like the picture Jinlin drew, vines were wrapped around the handle and blade.
She victoriously picked it up and held it out to the sky. “We finally have it. Man, it feels so good.”
“Woohoo you found it wha lah, now give me those meds please.” Piper mocked.
“Be patient now.” She pocketed the knife.
Zunci stood up off the ground, giving a big stretch in her legs preparing for the long walk back to the mansion. Yunga came walking over and they both met up, standing over Piper.
“I should be more happy but I’ve never been more tired than right now.” Zunci said.
“I feel you, we may need to rest back at Jinlin’s.” She said,
“I’m praying Shug and Brentha are ok. I fear the most for them.”
“Hope is all we can have right now. I know they’re doing kickass. I gave Shug a lot of shit but that kid’s got a heart of gold.”
“Yeah, so does Brentha. You know, maybe I am worrying too much about them. I think they’re all right.”
“Can you two please shut the everloving fuck up and give me that first aid kit. Then fuck off to your own adventure and die, please my god die.” Piper snapped.
They both stared at each other. She motioned to Zunci and they both hunched down, trying to make sure Piper didn’t hear them.
“You’re thinking what I’m thinking right.” Yunga said,
“Yep, fuck this crazy bitch.” Zunci answered. “You weren’t seriously going to give her any of our meds.”
“Never was.”
She broke the huddle and looked down at Piper who was waiting impatiently for them to drop supplies.
“As much as it pains me to say this Piper.” Yunga started speaking. “You’ve been a massive help and we can’t thank you enough.”
“Oh how flattering, drop the act already please.” She looked displeased.
“Ok then. See ya.” She started to walk away. Zunci followed closely behind.
“Wait but the meds-”
“We're sorry but we just ran out fixing your wounds. You're just out of luck.”
“We had a deal Yunga! A fucking deal you ungrateful cunt!”
“Didn’t your parents ever tell you to not trust a pirate? Who’s the real idiot now?”
Piper’s confident and snarky persona faded away as complete despair took over her body. “Hey! Hey! I’m sorry ok! Please I’m sorry about everything I ever said! I’m sorry about trying to kill you! I’m sorry for everything! Please! I’m gonna die out here!”
Yunga and Zunci’s silhouette disappeared into the darkness as they ignored her cries.
“Yunga! Yunga!” In the distance a howl could be heard and some ruffling in the bushes scared the soul out of her. “Oh god.”
Screaming could be heard as they continued to walk in silence, further away from the shack. None of them said anything to each other as the torturing wails echoed throughout the plains.
Zunci looked behind one last time before one of the screams got cut off abruptly. The stunning silence was eerie but nothing they could do or even say right now. All that was important was getting back to the mansion, recouping, and planning their next move.105Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vbkWKq37b
