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Black Ship
Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After Marcel heard the tavern master's words he started crying. The emotion he felt was unbearable. He was happy that despite the dire situation his hometown was in he was able to help it. His crew supported him and took him back home while everyone in town was cheering for them. When they got a Marcel's home in front of the door were his parents waiting for him. "My baby," his mother said and ran towards him. She hugged him and cried alongside him. "Oh come on, be a man," his father said while holding his tears. "We are all proud of you" his mother continued. "Aye!" every one from his crew agreed with her. "Come inside" his father invited everyone in the house. Marcel went into his room while everyone told his parents what happened. It was unbelievable how such a small thing could take such a miraculous turn. Just because Marcel managed to expand his crew by a couple of people he brought all these supplies. After a couple of hours, Marcel felt a bit better and came downstairs where everyone was waiting for him. "Ready?" asked Greg. "Ready!" Marcel answered while brushing off the last tear. They went towards the docks where their ship was waiting for them. As they approached the ship another wave of cheering and clapping was leading them towards the sea. "Don't worry, those supplies will last through the winter" the tavern master said. "You can continue your adventures without fear" he continued. They raised the sail and began their new journey. Simon took the map from Marcel and analyzed the riddle. After a couple of hours, he managed to decipher it. Simon was still a bit shy because of his new crew and did not speak much. "Ehm... The riddle says that we have to put the map in the water, let it soak, and then keep it under the sun" said Simon. "Are you sure?" asked Marcel while turning the helm. "One hundred percent" answered Simon. Marcel remembered Captain Frown's words and told Simon to do it. And as he said after he soaked the map a red line and circles appeared on it. When the map was being held under the sun a couple of the lines disappeared leaving only a trail to their next destination. "Amazing," Greg said shocked by how this treasure was hidden. "Who could possibly do this? Whoever made this map was a genius and surely did not want his treasure to be taken by any pirate" Marcel said while smiling.

It took them a couple of days on the sea, but this time spent together made Simon feel part of their crew. His best friend was Duke since they were both a bit shy and did not talk much. When they arrived at the destination there was only a patch of land with a big tree on it. "Here we are," said Simon while pointing at the map. "Does it say anything else?" Marcel asked while helping Greg lower the anchor. "We need to wait until the night," said Simon. They waited for the day there and as night was approaching the sea started to get agitated. "Is this supposed to happen?" Fred asked. "I have no idea," said Simon. "We should be fine near the island," said Marcel while holding the helm. The sea got more and more agitated and a whirlpool started forming around the small island. "This is bad, this is very bad" Rob looked over the rail and saw the whirlpool sucking in the island along with their ship. "Everyone grab onto something" Marcel yelled and they all grabbed something. They were sucked into the sea without a trace along with the island. The void created by the whirlpool prevented their ship from getting flooded. After a couple of minutes of shaking and yelling it stopped and they popped out of the sea. "Are we alive?" Hulio looked around and asked. Greg gently pushed him and said "Of course we are!" and they all started laughing. "Where should we go now?" asked Marcel. "It should have been there, but there is no island anymore," said Simon. Marcel looked at the compass and it was wildly spinning. "Ehm... come and see this," he said and they all gathered around the compass. "I am pretty sure this is not supposed to happen," said Greg. The clouds started forming once again and they were in the middle of nowhere. "Let us find some land and regroup there," said Marcel. Fred and Greg raised the anchor and they set sail. Slowly but surely they were leaving behind the clouds. A couple of days later they reached Fley Harbor. "We are back from where we started," said Rob. When they docked their ship Marcel noticed something was off. "Are we sure we are in the right place?" he asked. "Of course, I recognized that steep rock on the edge of the sea from a mile away," said Tim. "Not that, everything else feels different," said Marcel. And it was, the buildings were different, the people on the docks were not recognizable, and everything was different. "What happened?" said Greg. "This should be our home, yet it is not" he continued. "How is that possible?" Anna asked them confused. "Something happened when we entered through that whirlpool," said Marcel. Simon looked again at the compass and remembered a couple of journeys that he attended with Captain Frown. He approached Marcel and whispered, "We traveled back in time". "What do you mean?" Marcel turned pale and looked at Simon. "This is called the Sea of Time, not many pirates know of it and it is part of the Seven Seas" Simon continued. Marcel was in disbelief and at the same time he was excited. "So you tell me that we traveled back in time because of that whirlpool?" Marcel whispered. "Yes!" Simon answered. Marcel started jumping and smiling knowing that he discovered one of the Unknown Seas. He told Simon to explain everyone and then they went to the tavern. The tavern looked more crowded and so did the docks. The weather was not cold anymore which meant it was not winter. After they spent the rest of the day in the old Fley Harbor they talked about what they should do there. Simon said that no matter the time, the treasure would still be around the same area, which meant that they will return to the place they got sucked by the whirlpool.

While they were staying at the Fley Harbor Marcel and Greg heard some people calling for their children. The names they heard were their parents. Everything for them felt unreal but even since they first left their home everything that happened felt like a story. This time they were the people in those stories. The next morning they set sail and went searching for the treasure. This time they found a much bigger island with many trees and a couple of houses. "Is this the right place?" Marcel asked Simon who was holding the map. "It should be, but maybe it is not. We should ask around" he said. They left their ship at the beach and Fred, Rob, Anna, and Tim remained at the ship while the others went to take a look around. The people on the island were poor, their houses were damaged and their clothes were dirty and torn apart. "Excuse me, do you know anything about this?" Marcel showed the map to a man. "Oh... No, not again" the man started yelling and everyone from the village started hiding. "What is happening?" Greg asked while looking at Simon. "We might not be the only ones that came here looking for the treasure" he answered. Marcel approached one of the people and said "We have not come here to harm you, neither to steal your treasure. We just came because of the thrill of the adventure" he said and the people relaxed a bit and a couple of them came out of hiding. An old man approached Marcel, "Everyone else that came for the treasure stole from us because they thought we were hiding it". "I am sad to hear that," said Marcel. Marcel explained what happened to them and how they got there, but for the people was unbelievable and they did not believe it. After a couple of hours of searching the island, they did not find anything on it. "Maybe someone else took it," said Greg. "It should be here, otherwise the other treasure would have been empty as well. There is something we are missing," said Marcel while looking around. Marcel proposed his crew remain on the island overnight after asking the villagers for permission. Anna and Rob prepared the dinner and they talked about what to do if they did not find this treasure. "Does anyone know how to return to the present?" asked Bia. Everyone looked at her and shrugged. "We always find a way," said Marcel. "What about you Simon? You said that you traveled a couple of times," asked Fred. "Yes, I did, but I was never at the helm or asked how, I was just a passenger to the crew" he answered. "It is fine, we can explore more if needed," said Greg. "Yes. After all there are treasures here as well," said Marcel putting everyone at ease. The night has passed and despite the encouraging words Marcel was restless.

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In the morning while they were having breakfast a little girl came to their ship. "Pst..." she said while hiding after a tree. Bia heard it and went to her. "What are you doing there little one? Come and join us!" Bia said. The girl shook her head and then a loud growl made her blush. "See, you are hungry as well, come" Bia gently grabbed her hand and brought her to the food. The others welcomed her and ate together. After they finished eating Bia asked, "What brought you out here?". "Ehm... I saw that you were searching the island," the girl said. "Yes, we are looking for something," said Marcel and showed her the map. "See? This is a treasure map, and we got here to find it" he continued. The girl looked surprised when she saw the map. "I... I... I might know where this is," she said while holding the map. "Would you mind showing us?" said Bia. The girl stood up, grabbed Bia's hand, and went to the place on the map. After a couple of minutes of walking, they reached the point marked on the map. "Here!" said the girl and stopped. "Are you sure it is here? We searched around here yesterday and found nothing" said Greg. "Yes... Yes I am sure!" the girl was excited. They started searching and behind some vines, there were a couple of drawings similar to what they had seen in the other caves. On the ground there were some distinct arrows that pointed North, they followed the arrows and found another place covered by vines, this time it was a small opening that looked like a cave, but it was too small for any of them to fit. "Hey, come here," said Bia. "Would you mind going in there for us?" Bia asked the little girl. "But... But... It is dark and scary..." the little girl said while hiding after Anna. "We are here with you, there is nothing to be afraid of. We just need to know if there is something in there and then you can come out quickly," said Bia reassuring the little girl. "Fine..." said the girl and went into the small cave. After she looked around she said, "There is something big made out of wood here". Everyone's faces light up in happiness. "You can come out now," said Bia. The little girl rushed outside of the cave and hugged Bia. Bia patted the girl's head and said "You are a strong girl". The girl blushed and hid her face in Bia's lap. "Now let us get that wooden chest out of there," said Marcel and went to the ship and grabbed some tools. They returned to the cave and made the entrance a bit bigger so they could fit as well. After a couple of hours, they managed to get the wooden chest outside. "Now... Now... Let us see what we worked so hard for," said Greg. "We should let her do the honors," said Bia while holding the little girl's hand. "Of course!" Marcel agreed. "Come on, do it!" said Bia. The little girl raised her sleeves and pushed the lid of the wooden chest with all her strength. Everyone was happy to see the wooden chest filled with treasure. "We did it!" said Hulio while jumping. "Of course we did it!" Marcel continued. "We are indebted to you little one," said Greg. The girl his behind Bia and said, "T... Th... Thanks!". "We should thank you after everything you did," said Bia while kneeling to her. The night slowly started to set in. "I think everyone agrees that we should feast tonight," said Marcel while grabbing one end of the wooden chest. "Aye!" everyone exclaimed. Greg grabbed the other end and they went to the ship. They got to the ship, and had Simon search for the map inside the chest while they were carrying the supplies to the village. Everyone in the village was confused about why they were doing that. After Simon found the map he and Fred brought the wooden chest to the village.

"What is the meaning of this?" one of the villagers asked. "Here, this is yours!" Marcel opened the wooden chest and showed them the treasure. "We did not touch a single piece of it. We only took the map which should not be worth much to you" he continued. Everyone was confused as to why they would do that. "We found it with her help," Bia said while holding the girl's hand. "We were worried about you because we have not seen you all day," said the little girl's parents. "I am fine..." the little girl said. "We took care of her, but she was already strong on her own," said Bia. The little girl smiled and hugged Bia. "Let us celebrate!" said Marcel while raising his cup. And they spent the night celebrating the find with the villagers. In the morning they moved back to ship whatever was left of the supplies and said farewell to the villagers. An old man stopped them before boarding the ship. "We can not leave you with nothing on your journeys," he said. "But this is your treasure, your island, everything is yours," said Marcel and everyone else agreed with him. "But... But... What if you get hungly?" said the little girl. "Oh..." Bia kneeled to her. "You were the one that told them about it?" Bia whispered to the girl. She slowly nodded and whispered back, "Thank you!". Bia hugged the girl and got back up accepting the villager's gift. "We also planted a tree in our village and gave it your name young one," said the old man. "Thank you!" said Marcel and boarded the ship. They raised the sail and left the island. "I am happy that we found the treasure and helped the village," said Marcel while leaning against the helm. "I am happy as well," said Greg. "Small things like these make me want to explore the sea more," said Marcel and looked up at the sky. "Me too... Me too" continued Greg.