They prepared to head back to Black Lagoon when clouds started forming. "There is a storm coming," said the captain signaling the message to the other ships. "We will stay a couple more hours and see how it is going" he continued. Being in the circle of stones the wave would not be as fierce if a storm had broken out. They waited and waited and nothing. Not a single drop fell out of the sky and they raised the anchors. As soon as the anchors were raised a loud noise came from the sea and a gust of wind made the ships shake. Everyone was shocked by what happened and they were frozen in place. Marcel looked at the captain and he was as pale as a cup of milk. "What is it?" asked Marcel while trying to keep his balance. "This is bad, this is very very bad," the captain said and fell to his knees. "What?" Marcel was shocked by the captain's reaction. "You do not want to see what made that sound," said the captain regaining his posture. "We need to get out of here fast" he continued giving the other ships the signal. Unlucky for them the win was blowing in the same direction where the sound came from. The moments were tense, Captain Turquoise Beard knew what kind of beast would make that noise, but he never thought that he would see it again. They slowly left the circle of stones and as soon as they left the rain began. "One unfortunate event after another," the captain said while looking at the sky. It was hard for them to keep the V formation but the other ships were trying their best. It was uncertain in which direction they were going due to the wild waves pushing the ships in all directions. The noise, this time louder and similar to a roar was heard by everyone. The sea ahead of them became darker as if there was something under it. The shadow cast by the creature made the water look like that and as soon as it passed a tsunami followed. "Brace yourselves!" the captain yelled while strengthening his grip on the helm. Their ship was the first to get hit by the tsunami and it almost turned over. Luckily for them, one of the ships behind was on their left and they sustained the big wave together. Another roar this time from behind them was heard and the win started picking up making the storm even more fierce. As the storm was making it difficult to see ahead, a thick mist also started forming around the ships. "Not this... Anything but this" said the captain. Marcel was scared and confused about what was happening. One by one the ships behind them were getting swallowed by the mist losing themselves on the sea. In just a matter of minutes, they were the only ones on the sea. Marcel was looking around and saw once again the moving shadow beneath the water. It was bigger than an island, and he knew it was not friendly. He stepped back from the edge of the ship as the ship started to shake. The storm was at its peak and the mast from their ship broke from the strong wind. "What did we do to deserve something like this? Why us? WHY!?" the captain fell to his knees looking at the sky and yelling as if there was no hope for them to escape from this. Marcel with tears in his eyes was looking at his crew that was trying their best to help the other crew members. Some people were injured by the mast falling, and some people were losing their minds.

As the storm started to calm down sound of cannons firing and yelling was heard by Marcel. He turned around at the captain but there was no hope left for him, there was nothing he could do to put the captain back on his feet. Marcel with a grain of courage left went to the helm, grabbed it, and turned it around. "Raise the sail!" he yelled with all his power. "Aye, captain!" his crew heard his voice and supported the broken mast just enough for the wind to move the ship. With the help of the others, the ship started moving once again in the direction of the cannons. It sounded like a fierce battle, and they were following the noise. The roar was heard once again, this time in a slightly different tone. It sounded hurt, damaged by the cannons. The mist started clearing and Marcel saw something unbelievable. There were twenty, no, maybe forty ships shooting their cannons at the creature. The creature was as tall as the biggest building Marcel had seen to that point, and it was only half of its body outside the water. The scales were shining like precious stones and the cannon balls were barely making a dent in those scales. The head of the beast was hideous, it was split in half. One half resembled a seahorse and the other a shark. Tentacles were grabbing the ships and throwing them one by one. But the pirates were not stopping the rain of cannonballs on this beast. Marcel gave the order to shoot the best with the cannons as well. As the ships were lowering in number the beast grew weaker. From behind them the other six ships from the fleet they lost in the mist came and started firing their cannons. Captain Turquoise Beard was looking the beast in its eyes in disbelief. "One more!" Marcel yelled and made himself heard by everyone. A coordinated rain of cannonballs went straight for the head of the beast bringing it down. It took a moment for everyone to realize that the fight was over. The beast's body was floating between all the wrecked ships. People were swimming towards the ships and Marcel asked the captain fleet to also help the people still in the water. When everyone was out of the water the ships grouped around the beast's body. Captain Turquoise Beard was still shocked to see the beast dead.

"Oy!" the sound came from one of the ships. "Captain Weird Beard, is that you?" the voice continued. The captain got up and his eyes were blurred. The voice came from a tall man with dark hair and a parrot on his shoulder. "Oy!" he said once again and got down from the ship on the beast's corpse. Marcel followed him down with his crew to meet with him. The man was looking at Marcel, grabbed his chin, and then he started laughing. "You are the captain, ey? That Captain Weird Beard was always scared of this one, yet you were not" he broke one of the beast's scales and sat on it. "Wha' your name little one?" said the man while looking straight into Marcel's eyes. "My name is Marcel, how about yours?" he answered. "Name? Do I have a name?" the man looked around and his crew laughed. "One does not need a name ey. All he needs is this" and he pulled out his sword from its sheath. Marcel stepped back. "Oy! It is not for you, ey. This one is only for people that step on my toes. And you..." the man stood up. "You are an interesting fellow, Marcel" he continued and grabbed his shoulder. The man's grip was so strong that made Marcel kneel. "Ops! I did not mean to do that, ey" the man said and helped Marcel up. "You can call me Nameless if you wish," the man said. "And this..." he waved his arm. "This is my crew, ey" he continued. Marcel was shocked to see so many people following one captain. "Mind if you give us a hand to the nearest port?" Nameless asked Marcel. "Of course not, you are more than welcome. We were heading to Black Lagoon" Marcel answered. "Perfect. Load it in guys" Nameless gave the order and his crew started chopping and plundering the beast. The meat, the scales, everything to the last bit. Nameless was one of the captains from the Kronen Sea and his treasure was hunting those large beasts. Usually, those beasts do not leave the Kronen Sea, but this one followed Turquoise Beard from his expedition a long time ago, and since then his fear of it grew to the point he was numb when he saw it. Nameless chose to go on Marcel and his crew ship back to Black Lagoon. "We shall feast when we get back, ey?" Nameless said. "How's the port doing? Still thriving ey?" he continued while turning the helm. "It has been ten, maybe twenty years since last I saw the docks, hope they have not changed much," Nameless said. "I had my sweet spot back in the days, it was near a cliff" he continued and winked at Marcel. "Oy!" Nameless gently pushed Marcel's shoulder, "You are quiet ey? Did you bite your tongue in the fight with the beast?" he asked Marcel. "No, no, I am fine" Marcel shook his head and answered. Marcel was admiring the trail of ships behind them. While Nameless was talking endlessly the night came and he decided to wait the night. Each ship besides the seven which belonged to Turquoise Beard was roaming in circles. This was a formation during the night on the Kronen Sea. During the night Marcel could not get any sleep and he was walking around the deck. At the helm was Nameless and Turquoise Beard talking. "Your nightmare is over Weird Beard, ey. You could thank the young captain who was on your ship" said Nameless. Turquoise Beard was too ashamed to say anything because he knew that without Marcel they would have probably been lost on the sea. "He is young but has great potential" Those words made it out from Turquoise Beard's mouth. "Oy! You might be on to something" Nameless said. "You think that he is the next?" Nameless said with a serious face. When Marcel heard that he stumbled over a barrel and made noise. "Talking about the devil ey?" Nameless said and turned towards the deck. "You can't sleep?" asked Turquoise Beard. Marcel got up to the helm slowly, "No, I can't after what happened today, my body is not allowing me" he said. "It was the first time you experienced a beast from Kronen ey?" Nameless said, already knowing the answer. Marcel nodded and sat down next to Turquoise Beard. "How far are you from Black Lagoon?" Nameless asked and looked at the sky. "Around two whole days, maybe three, depending on the winds" answered Turquoise Beard. Nameless let out a long sigh and left. Marcel could not stop thinking about what they were talking about.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The night passed and with the first ray of light, they began moving towards the Black Lagoon. The sea was calm and the sun was shining, and the wind was guiding the ships in the desired direction. After one more night, they made it to Black Lagoon. The port was filled, but as soon as they arrived the port was close to new ships. "Ah... Home sweet home!" Turquoise Beard said and smelled the grass. "Oy!" Nameless saw Jose in the distance. "Look what the sea brought to our shore," said Jose and grabbed Nameless hand. "What brings you to Black Lagoon?" he continued. "That young lad there" Nameless was pointing to Marcel and his crew. "Know him, ey?" he continued. "Of course! He stays in our tavern" Jose answered. Nameless was not surprised to hear that. "That is one more reason we need to drink, ey?" Nameless said. "To the Night's Vow!" Turquoise Beard yelled and everyone followed. They all went to Night's Vow and filled the tavern in just a couple of seconds. "Oy! Bring out all the barrels, we are feasting tonight" Nameless said to the tavern master. And they spent the rest of the day through the night drinking and eating and sharing stories. Marcel went out to take some air and Turquoise Beard with Jose were talking about him outside. "I don't know how comes, but whenever you say his name he appears," said Turquoise Beard. Marcel was confused and did not pay attention. "Is it true that you took the lead in the fight with the beast?" asked Jose. Marcel was looking around and then he pointed at himself. "Me? No, who told you that?" Marcel said. "Everyone did" he answered. "They give me too much credit" Marcel was humbled by the praises he received ever since the battle. "Where to next?" Jose asked Turquoise Beard. "We will go back to wandering the sea, and leave this young fellow to continue his journey" he answered. "What about you?" Jose turned to Marcel. "We will continue with the maps we found after solving the riddles" he answered. "Ah... I almost forgot" Turquoise Beard pulled out the map his map maker drew. "You will need this" he continued and gave Marcel the map. "Hmm... What are these?" Jose saw the markings on the map. "This was painted on the walls where we found the wooden chest" Marcel answered. Marcel knew that soon he would need someone talented in his crew who was able to draw such maps. The door behind them opened and then was slammed shut. "Oy!" Nameless came out from it, "We are not done drinking, ey?" he continued. "I think you had one cup too much of that rum," said Jose while helping him stay straight. "Me? Are you talking about me? Ey?" Nameless said and hiccuped. They all went back inside and the night passed. In the morning everyone woke up with a headache from all the drinking and partying. "Oy! The room is not spinning anymore" Nameless said while checking his cup. They left Night's Vow and headed to the docks where Turquoise Beard was saying farewell to Marcel and Jose. Nameless and his crew had to refill on supplies and purchase a couple of ships. Jose helped Nameless and by the evening they also left the port of Black Lagoon, before leaving he told Marcel "We will wait for you in Kronen Sea any time". A lot of things happened in such a short time and Marcel with his crew decided to take a short break before their next adventure.