The blood pack treaty was a success, and all parties were bound by words as well as blood. Alexandria needed to take a break since it had been quite some time that she wrote or even read her journal. She could feel the strain it was taking on her body. There was also the fact she hadn't shifted in a while. "I will be back in a bit. How about you all take some time to talk amongst yourself. I need to have a little alone time." Alexandria walked over to Judy giving her a hug and a soft kiss on the lips before going upstairs to their room. There was a backlog for her journal and writing it needed to be done now when she had a small bit of time to do so.
She opened the door quickly and closed it leaning against the door a bit. The wood creaked under her as she let out an exasperated sigh. Alexandria was exhausted and now all that was left to do was wait. She pushed her right hand off the door propelling herself forward towards her desk. When she reached the desk, she pulled out her chair and sat down pulling her journal out of her shirt where she kept it. She took in a deep breath placing the journal on the desk and opening it to an empty page.
There was no time for reading at the moment. Right now, all that needed to be done was writing. Alexandria had so much she needed to jot down and there was still the matter of figuring out how to increase the number of shifter forms she had available. After transforming into the polar bear, it felt like something had changed as if she hit a wall. She still hasn't found any records about ability users having limitations on how far their abilities could evolve. Of course, hers was extremely rare and so far, only herself and her mother were the two that had been documented in all of the research they were able to take from the last facility they destroyed. It was only a small fraction since the main facility near the capitol was the treasure trove for that kind of information.
Alexandria pulled the quill out of the case she kept it, taking an inkwell on her desk and sliding it closer to her. She dipped the quill inside, moved over to the page and started to write. So much has transpired up until this point and it was time to get it all down on the page. She planned to write until the inkwell was empty. After that hopefully there was enough to give her some sense of what to do next.
The quill scratching against the paper echoed through the room accompanied by the occasional dip and tap on the inkwell. A playful smile crossed Alexandria's lips as she jotted down meeting the various new members of the crew. Crimson Judgment had grown, and it was no longer a small force but now it was considered a legitimate threat. Every single organization, crew, settlement and even the walled city government stood up to take notice.
Of course, the thing she wanted to write down most was the end to the walled city government and a rebirth of the world. There was no way to make it as it once was. The book she poured over while in the facility could never be realized in their full glory. A cure for the virus was never found. All they could do now was coexist with it. Alexandria's ideal version of the world would be that coexistence without the damnable government getting in the way.
Alexandria paused as the room went silent. Hugo has been working non-stop on the flagship. That should be the next important piece of her journal. Hopefully there was some way she could do a sketch to immortalize it in her journal forever. Once she was done catching up on her journaling it would be time to check in on Hugo to see exactly where he was in the building process. The scratching of the quill against the paper echoed in the room again as Alexandria continued to put down their experiences, her thoughts and anything else she felt that was relevant.
Hugo and his crew had been working non-stop. The Grand Flagship was the most important thing on the island at the moment. Just having it in the water around the island would show their might. Of course, it didn't hurt now they had a Red Eye pirate flag flying in their dock. He had noticed the ship's arrival and even though he wasn't able to see Fina it was clear that she was on the island. He had poured over journals from his descendants speaking of the Red Eye Pirates ferocity. Since his crew had been trying to locate the ship for so long, they had not met any of the other pirate captains even though they had mild fights with parts of certain crews not once did they run into a captain in their travels.
The fact that Hugo possessed the written accounts of the world dating all the way back to the first pirate king making it easier to avoid their territories. The map had not changed much aside from certain territories growing and shrinking. Once the lines were formed most of the time captains would not encroach on others territory unless provoked and the walled cities stayed away from the larger crews.
Hugo shook his head looking up at the progress. Aside from stopping to eat, everything else was done in shifts including sleeping. They were always at least ten workers at all times building the ship. He even did a few things himself. Of course that was most of the intricate work. Hugo also insisted on doing the Captain's Quarters and the wheel of the ship himself. After all this was over, he was going to ask if he could become a permanent member of the crew. Even though it felt like he was a part of the journey every member of the crew was female, and he wasn't about to take a position of Commander over a unit when he could be a part of the main crew.
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The main body of the ship was finished, and the lower decks were done as well. Most of the work was internal cutting the portholes for the cannons installing doors for the rooms and of course the intricate work that required his skilled workers hands to carve. If they continue at this pace the ship would at least be ready to put out onto the water. Of course, it wasn't battle ready yet and that was going to take the longest since they had to bring everything on board that was the last of the bigger projects building the ramp into the cargo hold and getting everything inside. After that was finished, they could move things around as needed since elevators, ramps and other conveniences were installed to move equipment around the massive ship.
He took in a deep breath his ears twitched as his jacket flapped around him. The wind was perfect today and the combination of the wind brushing against his face with the warm Radiance from the Sun made him want to take a ship out and just sail for the rest of the day. Of course, that wasn't an option and even though they were ahead of schedule due to the survivors they had brought back from the battle along with everyone in the settlement who had expertise in some type of building they were able to far exceed his expectation. Of course, his crew handled most of the intricate and larger work. However, having the settlers and the rescued help with the other task freed his man up to focus on the important things and thus the ship before them was finally looking somewhat like it did in the drawing. Hugo diverted a few of the Aesthetics because it wasn't going to be for his great ancestor; this ship was for Alexandria and Crimson Judgment.
“Alright everyone we are making excellent time I want everything loaded up into the cargo hold before the next rotation of breaks. Once that is finished, we need to get the sails and all the different rudders in place.” Hugo had seen wheels that were used to move water up and down to help with different things in settlements that he had seen throughout their travels. They also picked up a schematic for a ship that used these wheels as an alternative mode of propulsion. A ship's sails were guided by the wind and when the wind wasn't being cooperative this mode of propulsion would allow them to use the gear system inside the ship along with the current of the water and an expert navigator to move the ship. Of course, a ship this large would take many of those special rudders and they could not equip them until right before the ship goes into the water. However, he had made sure that there was room in the dry dock that they made to push the rudders into place when the time came to allow the ship into the water.
Everything was going to plan and once all the cargo and equipment was loaded his men would install the rudders along with the special wheels. He had never seen this work before however taking the blueprints that he was given for the ship and the other schematics that he had found and working with a few other artisans they managed to come up with something that should work in theory the rudders that are installed throughout are there as a failsafe just in case the wheels don't work.
Hugo went on board going all the way up to the deck to finish his project. The Captain's Quarters had been done for quite some time; the only thing left was the helm. The wheel that they had salvaged from the ship records wasn't in the best shape, but they were able to salvage most of it and then graft on other pieces of the strongest wood that they could find and then bracing it together with pieces of metal. Hugo also engraved the Crimson Judgment symbol into the center. The only thing to do now was attach everything and test to see if the rudders would move when the wheel was turned.
“Is everything in position for the test?!” Hugo's voice echoed down to the workers near the back of the ship. The standard rudders were in place and now it was time to see if they would respond to the turning of the wheel.
A whistle from below bounced off the sides of the ship making its way to Hugo's ears. He smiled, picking up the wheel and putting it into place two other workers helped him secure it and once they were done Hugo took one of the spokes in his hand spinning the wheel to the left.
This time a chorus of whistles drifted on the wind to Hugo's ears. He threw his fist into the air and shouted with everything that was within him. “Well done!”
The sounds of celebration drifted from the dry dock over to the main harbor. Eve had returned and as her ship docked, she looked up to see the Red Eye pirate flag flying not too far from her space. Her eyes widened and her left hand instinctively went up to a dagger handle. A voice made her pause.
“It's good to see you back so soon Eve.” Isa and Valentina were standing at the dock leaning on each other. The mine was not too far from the dock, and it was the quickest way to get back to the main hall.
A devious smirk crossed Eve's face as she looked at the two of them. “I had a bad feeling, so I rushed home. Do the two of you know why this ship is here?”
Isa and Valentina exchange glances looking back at Eve as Valentina answers. “We've been training in the mines, so we don't know the answer either.”
“Well, how about the three of us return to the hall together and figure it out for ourselves.” Eve let out a playful giggle as she moved to the other side of Isa as the three of them made their way to the main home.