“I ask again my boy, what the hell did you do to that man,” the captain said with his saber pointed at my throat yet again along with the rest of his men slowly circling the two of us.
“You and your men don’t seem like the type to give someone a proper burial and I refuse to let this man turn into ape shit or worse be another one of your so-called guardians, now would you please get your blade off my throat because it's getting fucking old,” I said with a slight glint of rage. I also raise my hand ever so lightly to allow the dust particles that were once Thomas Williams to go into my hand just like when I loot a monster, but it does not stop at my hand instead goes toward my face. The captain seeing the dust move about almost as if it was alive removes his blade from my throat and takes a step back, I can’t tell if it's out of fear or curiosity but if I was to put money on it most likely the latter.
The dust circles my head for a few moments which again catches me off guard since it's acting completely different from when I loot a monster. Usually, when I loot a monster the smoke goes directly into my body as quickly as possible, but this is almost like the dust is making a judgment about whether it wants to join my body or not. I don’t have to wait long as the dust quickly flows into my eyes with a violent force, the dust feels almost like razor blades slicing my eyes with each passing second.
After a few moments of some of the worst pain, I have ever felt my vision goes from being able to see clear as day to being completely in the dark almost as if I have closed my eyes shut. I know I haven’t closed my eyes because I can feel my eyes blinking, and if it wasn’t bad already with my vision being completely gone I also can’t hear any of the captain's men shouting or the crashing of the waves; to put it bluntly I’m fucked if this is permanent.
“Thomas are you, alright honey,” I hear a woman’s voice off in the distance. I look around trying desperately to find the woman's voice but it's no use I still can’t see a thing.
“Hello earth to Thomas, can you hear me, honey,” I hear again but I still can’t find the source of the woman's voice that is until I see a flash of bright white light.
“Ow son of a bitch that’s bright,” I say out loud while shielding my eyes from the bright light. After a few seconds, my eyes finally adjust to the light and what I see in front of me I can’t even comprehend. I see myself standing on a cliffside overlooking a breathtakingly beautiful ocean. The ocean goes on for as far as the eye can see, and the cliffside is surrounded by some of the most amazing green forests one could possibly imagine its almost like this place has never been tainted by human hands.
“Thomas are you okay you kind of disappeared on me there for a second,” I hear the voice of the woman I heard before in the darkness but now that I can see I notice a beautiful woman clinging to my arm. The woman is the definition of beauty, she has caramel-colored skin, and black hair braided with elegant beads draped over her shoulder. The clothes she is wearing are what I assume would be worn by the common woman but she carries them with such elegance and grace, but the thing that surprises me most about this woman is her big pregnant belly if I were to guess she is due any day now.
“I’m fine my dear, just admiring nature and praying to the Gods for a healthy baby boy,” I feel my lips moving on their own and a voice coming from them that’s not my own. Is this Thomas’ memories I think to myself as my vision begins to blur and distorted almost as if I’m watching an old VHS movie and somebody just hit the fast-forward button.
“Come on push sweetie push,” I hear the voice of another woman as my vision becomes clear again. I am now standing holding the hand of the pregnant woman from before in what looks like an old-style log cabin. The pregnant woman is now clearly in labor as I watch as she desperately tries to give birth to the child of Thomas.
“The baby is hear,” I hear from a woman that’s between what I can only assume is Thomas’ wife's legs. In the woman’s arms is a slimly gooey-looking mess of a baby wrapped in cloth, the woman takes the baby to what looks like a watering can and rinses off the baby before handing it to me. I am overcome with emotions but somewhere deep down I know these aren’t my emotions but Thomas’.
“Hahahaha, I fear my prayers fell on deaf ears,” I say through Thomas “It seems like the Gods decided to bless with a healthy baby girl.” I then hand the baby to the caramel-skinned woman from before and she looks up at me and smiles.
“It would seem so, but I know she has the heart of a lion, just like her father,” she says while giving me an exhausted smile. My vision then becomes distorted again as I see Thomas’ life flash in front of me in a VHS fast-forward fashion. My vision eventually becomes clear again and once it does I see that I am now sitting on the same cliffside as before but this time I am met by another caramel-skinned woman, who looks like a late-age teenager and who just happens to look just like Thomas’.
“What did you pray for Myla,” I say through Thomas. Oh wow is this the same girl as before how much time has passed since then I think to myself?
“I prayed for a good harvest this year I must say it will be rather difficult if we have another bad year. I mean look at you father you all skin in bones” Myla says while laughing.
“I may be skin in bones but I can still take on the entire forest of beasts if I have to,” I say while putting Myla in a playful chokehold.
“As if you old man,” Myla says while smiling up at me.
“Hey let go of my niece you bastard,” I hear a man’s voice coming from behind me, and looking back I see a man and a woman. The man is almost a mirror image of Thomas but he looks like he is in his early twenties and the woman looks to be around the same age as Thomas.
“Uncle Aiden, Aunt Vida,” Myla says while elbowing me in the gut to break free and runs into the embrace of Vida. Damn she may be small but she hits hard I think to myself.
“Brother, sister what brings you here,” I say while smiling and shaking Aiden’s hand.
“What we can’t just drop by and see our favorite niece it has been over 6 years since we have been home I believe this homecoming is way overdue,” Aiden said while returning my handshake.
“Nonsense you are welcome anytime, I will ask Nora to make you all something to eat for your arrival,” I spoke patting Aiden on the shoulders.
“No need we just spoke with her she said she will be grilling up some pheasants, you are a lucky man she is one of a kind,” Aiden said while leaning over to hug Myla.
“That I am, maybe one day you will be blessed by the Gods too so you could give my Myla a cousin, the Gods know there is no hope for Vida, no man would welcome her prudish nature,” I spoke while laughing at Vida.
“Oh piss off you old fool,” she said while scrunching her face but it slowly erupted into laughter in all four of us.
“Come now, let's get home,” I said while taking Myla’s hand. That sure was heartwarming I thought to myself as my vision became distorted again and the familiar fast-forward vision was seen again. Once my vision became clear again the sight in front of me was nothing short of a horror film. I was on the cliffside again but instead of the lush greenery of the forest it was now ablaze with fire and the air was filled with nothing but smoke and ash. I almost wanted to choke on the amount of smoke but it seemed like Thomas had become accustomed to the smoke.
I was kneeling on the ground my hands soaked with blood, but whose blood was it, it couldn’t have been mine I didn’t feel any pain. As my eyes adjusted to the smoke I looked down and saw the caramel-skinned woman laying down in a pool of her own blood, I rolled her over and to my horror, I saw a bullet wound in her head and her body had a sword-sized wound as well.
“Let go of her you monster,” I heard a woman’s voice off in the distance. I got up and left the caramel-skinned woman by herself and ran towards the sound of the woman’s voice. As I got closer to the cliffside I saw the familiar bastard that had already tried to kill me once before. The captain had Myla in the air by her throat. I looked over and saw Vida and Aiden in chains held down by the captains’ men. Blood was pouring out of Aiden’s face and as I looked closer, I could tell that these bastards had cut out one of his eyes, Vida, on the other hand, didn’t have any life-threatening injuries but she looked like she fought with all her strength.
“Let her go you bastard you’ve already taken all of our supplies, our gold, and most importantly you have taken the life of my beloved what more can you take from us,” I screamed at the captain.
“THAT LIFE WAS HER DOING,” the captain screamed back at me in response while gesturing to Vida “She killed one of my men with her scar, it was a life for a life.”
“So then let my daughter go she has done nothing wrong,” I begged and pleaded with the captain. I looked deep into Thomas’ daughter’s eyes and I saw a rage build up in her and I was terrified for both of them as I knew firsthand how cruel the captain can be.
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“IT WAS YOU WHO KILLED MY MOTHER,” Myla shouted as her eyes glowed a bright blue.
“MYLA DON’T YOU MUST CALM YOURSELF,” I shouted at her but it was too late.
“HYDROS HEAR MY PRAYER GIVE ME THE POWER TO SMITE MY ENEMIES,” Myla shouted and before my eyes were two giant pillars of water that appeared out of the ground and curled in the air like snakes then in a blink of the eye they came shooting down at the captain. However, his men were just as fast as the water pillars and moved even faster and they got between the pillars and the captain. Both men held up their hands and chanted something I couldn’t make out; one man's skin shimmered and looked like it was made of solid steel and the other man’s hand looked like it was made of solid rock. The water pillars came in contact with the man’s hand, and I could tell that they struggled to keep it back but eventually their power outmatched the young teenager's power and it eventually dissipated.
“Did you just try to kill me,” the captain smirked at Myla “I was planning on letting you all live but now I’m not so sure?” The captain unsheathed his saber and placed it on the stomach of the young teenage girl.
“Please don’t do this she’s just a stupid naïve girl if you must kill someone, please just kill me,” I pleaded with the captain.
“If she’s stupid then allow me to educate her that when she tries to kill someone, she better make sure she doesn’t fuckin miss” the captain snarled as he thrust his saber into the stomach of the young teenager and dropped her off the cliffside.
“NNNNNOOOOOOOOO,” me and Vida both shouted at the captain. Vida in a fit of rage broke out of her chains and knocked the two men holding her down off to the side and rushed at the captain at a speed that looked just as fast as my burst of speed skill. The captain tried to react but Vida’s rage was too great as she bear-hugged the captain and chanted.
“Oh, Great God of the waters HYDRO, I give my life to thee please take my life in exchange for the life of my foe,” Vida chanted. Once she finished with her chant, her entire body started to brightly pulsate blue in white. The captain struggled to get Vida off her but no matter how much he struggled to get her off it was no use, there was no way Vida was letting go. Vida’s skin then suddenly stopped pulsating and looked like she was made out of water. Within a few seconds the water turned dark red almost like the color of blood and spikes started to generate all over her body that shot out piercing the captain. The spikes numbered in the hundreds and pierced the captain over and over again until Vida became nothing more than a puddle on the floor.
The captain stood panting over and over again clearly exhausted by Vida’s attack on his body. Blood ran down all over his body but the holes in his body started to glow a bright pink color and were immediately sealed up. Looking over I saw that the solid rock man then fell to the ground, with the same holes identical to what the captain received. Seeing all this happen in a matter of seconds caused me to fall to my knees with tears in my eyes. The captain ignored me for now and walked over to the body of the rock man and knelt towards him.
“I’m sorry my valued crew member, I will ensure your family will want for nothing in their lifetime, you may rest now and let Jeru take you to the ocean of the heavens,” the captain said as he held the dying man's hand. The captain then glared at me and then my vision became distorted and the fast-forward sensation happened again.
I was now in a damp dark prison cell surrounded by chains, a bucket that smelled like piss and shit, and a bowl of half-eaten food that a starving dog wouldn’t look twice at. At the other end of the cell was Thomas’ brother Aiden who looked worse for wear as he now had a bandage over his missing eye. I wanted to say something to confront Aiden but this was Thomas’ memory and I had a feeling his spirit was broken and he was on the verge of giving up. I then heard a loud banging noise as the doors leading up onto the deck of the ship swung open and down came a man in a hurried manner.
“It’s time to go the captain needs one of you to dual an individual who has piqued his interest,” the hurried man spoke very quickly. I looked over at Aiden and he scurried to the corner afraid of just the mention of the captain.
“I’ll do it,” I said to the hurried man. The hurried man quickly unlocked the door and shoved a bag over my head. The hurried man quickly started to push me towards the door but before I got to the steps, I tilted my head over my shoulder.
“It’s going to be okay Aiden I’ll be back before you know it,” I said trying to sound confident but in reality, I could feel that Thomas just wanted all this to be over with so he could be with his wife and daughter again. My vision become distorted again and the familiar fast-forwarding sensation was felt again when my vision became clear again I could see my actual body kneeling in front of me with tears in my eyes and a blade on my throat.
“It’s okay I’m finally free, but please protect Aiden,” I said while holding my real body's hand. I knew what was coming next so I tried to close my eyes but couldn’t and then I felt the pain that can only come from having one’s throat cut. My vision became dark again as the life drained from Thomas’ body and I honestly thought that this would be the end of Thomas’ memory, but I then felt my body floating in the wind. I floated forward to what I can only assume was my actual body however I couldn't tell as I’m floating in a pitch-black emptiness until I see a bright white figure appear out of nowhere.
“You fought well young man, and I can honestly tell you that Miles’ actions did not come lightly. The burden of him ending the life of someone like yourself will weigh on him for years to come, I can only offer you my humblest apologies,” the glowing white figure said directly into Thomas’ memory.
“Who are you,” I said through Thomas.
“That’s not important for you right now. I have a request of you, and that is to please give Miles your power and in doing so I will reunite you with those that you have lost,” the glowing white figure said while stretching out its hand.
“I don’t know who or what you are but if what you say is true then yes, please reunite me with my beloved,” I said grasping the white figure's hand. I then felt a sense of overwhelming calm wash over me and then the glowing black emptiness was flooded white. The black emptiness got so bright it caused me to close my eyes and when I opened them again, I was at the beautiful cliffside overlooking the ocean and the forest was back to what it was beautiful as ever untouched by the captains’ hands.
A sat at the cliffside watching the waves crash until I felt a hand was placed over my hand, I looked over and saw the caramel-skinned woman. I was then overwhelmed with emotions but then another hand was placed on her hand and when I looked to see who it was, I saw Vida. A lovely smile was on both of their faces, and I could tell Thomas was smiling too, and as if i was turning to the very last page of Thomas' story my vision became blurry until it was nothing but darkness.
I was then launched back into my own body, it felt like I got the wind knocked out of me but times a thousand. I gasped for air for a few moments and once I felt like I caught my breath I looked at the captain and the rest of his men were in the exact position right before I was flooded with Thomas’ memories. Had no time passed between now and then? But those worries were soon replaced with anger.
“You lied to me,” I snarled at the captain “you had already slaughtered Thomas’ entire family.” As soon as the words left my lips the captain took a step back confused almost.
“How could you possibly know that boy,” his confusion was soon replaced with anger at someone questioning his authority.
“Let’s just say a little bird told me,” I spat at the captain. I was done with his games if it took me the rest of my life I would find a way to put this man in the ground.
“Well, you and this bird can go fuck themselves,” the captain argued back “You and your weird scar belong to me now.”
“I will never follow you bastard,” I said to the captain “I will find a way to kill you for what you have done to me and Thomas.”
“Oh dear boy it almost makes it sound like you have a choice in the matter,” the captain smiled at me as he called over one of his men. The young crew member quickly hurried off back to the boat and carried back a sickly old man. The man looked to be in his late 80's and had ghost-white hair that was down to his shoulders and a mustache that was clearly not well taken care of but the most mentionable thing was the fact that he was covered head to two with tattoos, he was more tattoo than man. The young man gently placed the old man in front of me and the captain.
“How are you feeling today Mr. Copper,” the captain said very gently almost like he was afraid any loud voices would completely shatter the frail old man.
“I’m doing well thank you for asking captain,” the old man struggled to even smile “What is it that you need of me.”
“That’s good I’m glad to hear it,” the captain replied to the old man “We have a new crew member that’s not yet been broken can you please do your thing,”
“With pleasure young man,” the old man said while lifting his hands and began to chant “You, me, and everyone you see here are bound to this man, by the grace of Deanity you will follow this man or be struck down like the dog you are.” When he finished chanting part of his tattoo glowed and lifted off his skin and in its place was white sickly pale skin. The tattoo floated towards me and landed on my forearm, once it came into contact with my skin I felt a burning sensation almost like this tattoo was being seared into every fiber of my being. I looked down and saw the pirates’ flag symbol of a skull with scythes and a king cobra now branded on my forearm
***Notice***
[Curse of Deanity: Soul Bonding] is applied to your soul.
You do not have the means to remove this curse.
“Thank you for everything Mr. Cooper you can go rest now,” he said shaking the man’s hand and then giving the young crewman a shared glance. The young crewman carefully picked up the old man and took him back to the ship. The captain then pulled his pistol out of its holster and tossed it to me. “You said you wanted to kill me so now here’s your chance.” I picked up the pistol and pointed it at the captain terrified of what his game was. I tried to pull the trigger but no matter how many times I tried to pull the trigger my finger wouldn’t budge almost like my body didn’t want to kill him.
“What’s wrong my boy can’t get it up, oh I know you don’t like guns here take this,” the captain said handing me his saber. I took the saber from his hands and tried to drive it in his face, but as soon as I got within a few inches from his face I felt my body freeze in place and I again felt like my body didn’t want to hurt the captain.
“You see now boy, you belong to me now so shut the fuck up and get in line,” the captain smirked at me while waving at a young crew member again. The young crew member quickly grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me onto the ship he then pushed me towards an opening in the middle of the ship leading towards the inner workings of the ship. We walked for a few moments until we got to the section of the ship that was walled off by wood and one solid iron door. The young man opened the iron door to the cages that I saw in Thomas’ memories. The young man quickly unlocked the cage and shoved me into it. I immediately fell to the floor but quickly got up and started banging on the door.
“Thomas is that you,” a frail voice spoke in the corner.