The Seeker | Volume 2

The next morning I had a pastry with lackluster butter spread on top, and I headed out the door before the sun began to rise, barely scraping over the surface of the Cardigon Mountains. My goal was to head to Frannitz Harbor to ask the Admiral who had previously dropped them off here when we could leave for the Katshin Empire. 

The air was chilly in the morning, which made me pop up my collar in an attempt to keep myself warm until I found proper shelter. When I arrived at the Admiral's skip I rapped on the hull, the sound reverberating across the massive heap of wood and flags. 

Suddenly, a woman who was about 3 inches shorter than me, had long white hair and two ears resembling a rabbit opened the hatch, her crimson eyes locked on me with curiosity. 

"Who the hell are you?" She asked, her voice possessing a strange fiery and passionate edge.

"Names Isaac, I'm a friend of Mr. Ling and Mr. Palsy. I brought myself here hoping to speak to your Admiral." I replied.

The woman raised an eyebrow. Suddenly she leaped down from the hull with surprising agility and landed in front of me, parting her bangs to meet my gaze. 

"It's early. He's probably asleep." She said, suddenly a man with a thick white beard and sunken eyes. He looked down at me and shot me a smile.

"You asked to see me?" the elderly man asked.

I nodded in assurance, taking a step forward.

Admiral Kaelin suddenly turned his head and whistled loudly. "Westly! I heavily recommend you get your lazy ass up before I dump it off the ship!" 

The sound of a door frantically opened, and Mr. Westly, who was still clad in his pajamas, walked onto the deck. He had fiery orange hair with black at its roots. He had a refined build and a child-like charm to his appearance.

"What is it, Admiral?" He asked, rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes.

"We have a guest, get us some morning coffee please." Admiral Kaelin's voice was now more calm, a contrast to his previous shouting.

The orange haired man nodded as he departed into the ship, and soon the muffle sounds of water boiling and ingredients mixing together was heard.

The bearded old man looked back at me and smiled. "Come in. Ms. Usagiyama, open the door please."

The woman gave him a nod as she pushed open the hull door and allowed me to enter. The inside of the ship wasn't much of an improvement in temperature, but there was a small fire burning in the corner, allowing a small rush of heat to flicker within the ship.

The old man descended down the stairs and sat down across from me in the rocking chair, holding a freshly made cup of coffee. Mr. Westly entered the room and handed me a cup of coffee. Behind his gentle and tired eyes I could easily spot a pang of annoyance for being forced to do such a task early in the morning.

"Now tell me, kid. Why summon me this early?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

I took a sip of my coffee, the warm liquid entering my body and giving me a sudden rush of pleasure.

"It appears we've encountered some unforeseen circumstances, which have led us to have to leave early, sir." 

I didn't want to admit that we had just uncovered a secret cult of demons who worshiped a malevolent Outer Deity and attempted to make "her" descend. In response, the Admiral raised an eyebrow.

"What circumstances?" he asked, his voice filled with curiosity and a bit of tiredness mixed with trepidation.

I almost spat out my coffee, but I managed to collect myself and swallow it, only a tiny trickle of the black liquid ran down my mouth.

"Unfortunately that's a question I cannot answer." I responded with much hesitation right before sipping my coffee again in an attempt to keep my words in.

Admiral Kaelin suddenly sighed as he finished his coffee, placing the wooden mug onto the arm table. 

"You probably ran into trouble, huh." He said as the corner of his lips curled up slightly, forming a teasing grin.

I felt smiling back in an effort to ease my trouble, but I didn't; instead keeping a calm and collected demeanor. 

"Yes, we did." I huffed.

The Admiral stood up and approached a tiny woodpile in the corner of the room, before opening a hatch where the fire could roar loudly and burn freely, before tossing another few pieces of wood on top of the pile, letting the embers burn brighter and hotter. 

"I would leave if I didn't run into trouble too." Admiral Kaeli laughed self-deprecatingly.

I leaned forward in my chair, raising an eyebrow. 

"You see, when you're a sailor you tend to gain allies and enemies..."

I already knew where this conversation was going, he most likely was either robbed or had something of him taken as a ransom.

"And one of those enemies stole something of value from me, something that I hold dear to my heart."

I sighed, attempting to hide my sudden rush of annoyance. 

"The Errican Gang stole the Black-Ember Charm, or a sealed artifact that I was supposed to deliver to a historical society in the Indun Empire. The sealed artifact allowed one to pry into the memories of people, and it was often used in torture to get valuable informatrion out of victims." Admiral Kaelin explained.

"You hold a torture device close to your heart? " I asked, my voice filled with surprise in a tiny pang of irony and humor.

Admiral Kaelin nodded while chuckling. "It appears so."

"I'd love to retrieve it with you, Admiral Kaelin. But do you know the whereabouts of the Errican Gang?" I asked, putting my mug down on the table.

Admiral Kaelin shook his head. "Unfortunately I don't. They robbed me when I was asleep."

"Then how the hell do you know it was them?" I asked.

"Admiral Kaelin chuckled. "I have one of them under us right now."

I froze, taken aback by Admiral Kaelin's words. "Y-you have a member of the Errican Gang on this ship?"

Admiral Kaelin nodded his head. "Luckily Mrs. Usagiyama captured them and tied them up below our ship. But unfortunately they refuse to budge or tell us anything in regards to their whereabouts. They've either developed a really high pain tolerance or are really loyal."

"You mentioned pain tolerance, are you torturing them?" I asked as I felt my blood boil at his words.

Admiral Kaelin's eyes softened as he looked down at the ground. "Yes..."

Before I could yell at him, he continued to speak softly.

"E-except I never told anyone about it. The rest of the crew doesn't know."

"You think telling me that the others don't know is a good way to handle this? You know damn well torturing a person is inhumane even if it's for information or for justice."

Admiral Kaelin's expression faltered as he stared at the fire with a solemn expression.

"If you turn left and head down the flight of stairs you'll find him. Go talk to him and see what you can get from him..."

...

The deep bottom of the ship was old, dark and moist just like a cave. I could barely see anything without the use of a lantern.

I opened the wooden door at the end of the hallway only to see a young man with black hair and sunken eyes wrapped in thick ropes and restrained to a wall. His body was bloodied and broken, covered in numerous scars and bruises; ones which I could tell were lacerations.

I closed the door behind me and approached the member of the Errican gang, kneeling down with a calm expression.

"What the hell...do you want?" His voice was soft and raspy, like they haven't drank water in days. I took a deep breath and reached out my hands, wrapping them around the ropes. Before I started to untie them I looked back at him with a warning expression.

"Before I untie you, promise me you'll tell me everything you know about the Errican gang. You stole the Black-Ember Charm from Admiral Kaelin, and I want to know where it is..."

The black haired man's eyes widened as he smiled.

"T-thank you so much!" His voice was filled with an inscrutable gratitude.

I smiled faintly as I undid his ropes. As I did so I thought back to what the chief had said in my dream. "You do whatever you do to change..." his ethereal voice echoed in my mind.

If I could get over the fact that I killed Anthony Salvin and resurrected him out of guilt, then I could become a better person and not the monster that all of my tormentors, bullies, and the father in my dreams wants me to become.

I want to be the saint in a world of sinners, the Apocalypse with a heart, a heart that beats for the humans he loves so much.

The black haired man stretched his arms and legs as he did so, before smiling at me. After a few moments, his expression suddenly turned grim.

"The Black-Ember Charm was taken by the Errican Gang to the East Burroughs behind the large rock cluster east of here. They want the Ember-Charm for torture...they've captured numerous rival pirate gangs that have hidden their valuables, hoping to take them for themselves."

"No wonder. They're probably hoping to use their memories to their own advantage against them. But what if whoever their leader is has some ability to erase their memories and prevent them from learning about the valuables. Then they'd have no choice but to kill them for their lack of knowledge." I said.

"What makes you say that?" The man asked, rubbing the dust off of his collared shirt.

"Just my intuition. Pirate gangs have a reputation for being sneaky, cunning and very good at deception. Or let's say I've read a few pirate novels in my free time." I said with a faint smile.

The man nodded, taking in this deduction. "My name's Jake by the way. I was a head in interrogation for the Errican Gang, or I was in charge of torturing prisoners."

His eyes suddenly widened as they turned slightly bloodshot. With a large, hacking cough, he spat out a cluster of large black maggots that squirmed, covered in saliva.

My eyes widened as I took a few steps back. I noticed that Jake's skin had been covered in small pores that I couldn't see in the overall lack of illumination, but they now seemed to totally surface in the light.

"Did the Admiral do this to you?" I asked in confusion and disgust.

Jake coughed a little more before replying, stumbling back a bit with a forced smile. "Yeah. Admiral Kaelin forced these down my throat a few days ago, these are Luckwarm Maggots; and no, they don't enhance your luck by any degree."

I kicked the cluster of squirming insects into the corner before wiping my boot against the door. When Jake and I went up the staircase and greeted Admiral Kaelin, the elderly man's eyes widened in shock as he suddenly drew his handgun in a blur.

Jake's hands instinctively shot up, his eyes wide with fear. I stood in front of Jake with my arms spread, silently signaling to the Admiral that Jake proved to be no threat.

The Admiral sighed as he dropped his gun to the floor and stood up. He slowly approached Jake and looked down at the latter.

"Did my friend here extract everything from your puny ass?" His voice was filled with a bitter taste.

Jake nodded as sweat darted down his face, making his skin appear shiny in the fire light.

"Y-yes. But he didn't torture me..." he replied, his voice slightly shaky. Jake was a man in his early 20s, so he had that young yet tough charm to him.

Admiral Kaelin raised an eyebrow and chuckled to himself.

"Isaac, just make sure he doesn't cause any trouble. I don't want a Kraken in hibernation to wake up early and eat this fella, heh."

"K-krakens?" The latter asked, looking out at the tiny viewpoint of the ship.

"Idiot, you won't find any here. They'll be driven loose by the noises, ya hear?" He said with a sarcastic chuckle, slapping the young man playfully on the shoulder.

Jake laughed wearily as he looked back at the captain.

"Our voyage starts today, I'll get the crew ready."