When the night set over the Black Lagoon, Captain Turquoise Beard came by Jose's tavern. The door opened slowly and no one noticed, they were talking and enjoying the dinner. He sneaked behind Marcel and made him jump out of his chair. Then he sat with them at the table. "Are you prepared for tomorrow?" asked the captain. "Yes we are, we have repaired our ship a bit and we are filled with supplies" answered Marcel. "What are you talking about? You are coming with our ships" said the captain while playing with the coin on the table. "But why?" asked Greg, "We already prepared our ship" he continued. "Trust me, it is better if you come with us," said the captain and slammed the coin on the table leaving a dent. "Listen to him, he is stubborn when it comes to this, but this time he is right, his ships are more prepared for such journeys," said Jose. "Fine, but what are we to do with the supplies we got?" asked Marcel. "You can leave them in the port, I am sure that no one will touch them, and they will not have time to spoil either. After all the weather the next days will be slightly colder than usual" said Jose. "Then if all is set, I will wait for you in the morning on the docks," said the captain and left. The others went to bed as well and were impatient for the next day. The rays of the sun were shining through the windows casting shadows on Marcel and his crew. They skipped breakfast and went to the docks where Captain Turquoise Beard was waiting with his crossed hands and his seven ships ready. They boarded the ships and set sail. "Have you found anything about the riddle?" the captain asked Marcel. "Not yet, maybe you want to look at it?" he answered. "In the middle of nowhere above the ring of stones, the golden road will guide you..." the riddle was not completed and the captain noticed that. "There is more to this but first let us focus on what we know," said the captain and waved his hand above his head. One of his crew members approached. "You don't mind if we let the map with him, do you?" he asked Marcel. "Of course not" he answered. They were heading North in a V formation with a fleet of seven ships. "I might have an idea where this is, but I have never found anything there," said the captain holding the helm. Marcel was admiring the view from the deck of the six other ships led by the one he was on. It was truly a sight to see such a fleet. Everyone from Marcel's crew was on the same ship although Captain Turquoise Beard would have liked them spread. They were on the sea for two full days before they arrived at the location.
They arrived at a location that was not marked on any map. There was a circle of stones resembling the riddle and in the middle, there was a patch of land. "What now?" said Marcel while holding the map. "It says something about a golden road, but there is no path, anywhere," said Greg. "The riddle is not completed, there is something more to it. I just can't figure out what it is" said the captain. "Haven't you tried everything?" asked Marcel. "Yes, but..." he just stopped and looked around. "There has to be something here that will reveal the whole riddle" he continued. They anchored their ships around the patch of land and they prepared the lunch. Captain Turquoise Beard's chef cooked a fish stew that made everyone on the ship droll only from the smell. When they tasted the food they could not contain themselves and wanted seconds. The chef was pleased to see that they all ate his special fish stew. Usually, he only cooks for the captain's crew, but this time Marcel and his crew were on the ship raising his cooking. Anna went to the kitchen and she saw a lot of tools that she had never seen before. The cook showed her around and told her a couple of secrets. No ships were passing by, the sea was calm, but the riddle was unsolved. Marcel proposed they remain there the night and if they did not find the new clue move on. The captain agreed and the day passed quickly. The night has come and Marcel with the captain are staying on the deck. "I kept thinking about what Jose said back at the tavern, that you are the most infamous pirate on Flakin Sea," said Marcel. "Yes, I am, what about it?" answered the captain. "Does that mean there are more seas out there?" Marcel asked. "Of course, and there are other captains that are well known on them such as me," he said and looked up, "That was the reason why you had trouble coming to Black Lagoon. Whenever we go, we also prevent other people to come so that we can rest in peace" he continued. "Can you tell me more about the other seas? Is there anything different about them?" Marcel asked with sparkles in his eyes. "Of course" and he sat down. "Flakin Sea is the most visited one because the waters are calm, there is fish to catch and the islands are not hostile, or not all of them," the captain said. "To the North, far in the North is the Kronen Sea, this sea is known for its unusual color" he continued. "Unusual color? What do you mean?" Marcel asked. "The water is a shade of orange, and no fish are living in it. But..." the captain looked at Marcel with a serious face. "The absence of fish means there is something else in those waters. Of course, I have not wandered enough to see it myself, only heard stories" he continued. "What kind of stories?" Marcel asked while trembling. "About a Kraken, a giant octopus that was eating ships with everything on board. Giant eels were sinking the ships by electrocuting the waters around them. Sharks as big as islands and other kinds of monsters" the captain said. "Wooow... I never heard of anything like that. How can anyone sail this sea?" Marcel asked surprised by the captain's words. "There are pirate crews bigger than what you see here. Those specialize in capturing, killing, and sometimes even taming those beasts. Depending on the bidder. There are also a couple of islands where people collect such treasures" the captain said. "Although I have no idea who in the world would collect such strange things" he mumbled. "Then on the opposite side in the South, it is the White Mist Sea. As suggested by the name the whole sea is covered by a thick white mist" he continued uninterrupted by Marcel. "This sea is known for the amount of treasures. Many pirates venture into those thick white mists, but just a couple made it out leaving their treasure stranded and lost deep in the white mist" The captain got up. "There!" he pointed at the moon while it was rising. "In East, it is the Land of Storms. I would suggest you never venture there without a strong ship. You saw what a storm in those waters can bring to your ship. Then imagine a storm ten or maybe even a hundred times stronger than anything you have faced here" the captain said and Marcel was speechless. He noticed Marcel wanted to ask something, but he could not. "I know everything up until now sounds like a story, but believe me once you see half of what I said, everything changes" The captain leaned against the helm. "On the other side of the Land of Storms is the Neverwinter, but do not let yourself be tricked by the name. This sea is always frozen. There are only a handful of ships and captains that can sail there. But that is the best place for cooks since the exotic ingredients you can find on the islands there are priceless" the captain said. "As for the last two from the Seven Seas" he sat down and looked at the sky. "Not even I know where they are, and to be honest I never heard any stories about them or their name. It feels like they do not exist, but the old people and us when our time comes will always say there are Seven Seas. Why? You might ask yourself looking at the sky. Maybe because the endless search gives us the pirates a reason to keep going. Maybe someone found it and wants to keep it a secret? Who knows? But I hope one day we will find out more about those two" he finished and clapped his hands. "Enough for today is getting late. Tomorrow we need to solve this riddle" the captain said to Marcel who was already asleep. "Oh... I wondered when you fell asleep" The captain laughed and carried him to the bed.
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The next morning they were eating breakfast made by Anna and the cook and Marcel had the map close to his cup of water. The wind blew in the sail making the ship shake and the cup of water spilled over the map. "Oh no!" Marcel panicked and took the wet map from the table. The map started to change revealing more of the riddle. "Wait!" said the captain, "Look at the map!" he continued and Marcel calmed down. "In the middle of nowhere above the ring of stones, the golden road will guide you... deep in the waters near the patch of land where your treasure awaits". "Everyone prepare for a swim, we need to find this treasure!" the captain said and took his boots off. Marcel jumped after him from the plank. Once in the water, they would not talk, but sign language was enough for them to coordinate. Beneath the small island was a cave, not visible from the surface. The only way to find this cave was to venture into the waters or with the complete riddle. When they entered the cave they saw the golden road. The color of the sand was an unusual yellow that looked like gold. Behind Marcel, the captain followed Greg and a couple more crew members from the Turquoise Beard. One of them was the map maker, a talented pirate who could recreate anything he saw. They went through the cave and arrived at a stone door. "How do we open it?" asked the captain. "Look after anything unusual," said Marcel. Greg found something that looked like a scale and told everyone to gather around it. "What should we weigh?" asked Marcel. "Let us try the sand," said one of the crew members. They grabbed the sand from the ground and put it on the scale. When the scale was even the stone door opened. Everyone was shocked to see it happening. When they entered the walls and the ceiling there were the same markings. "Can you replicate them?" asked the captain his map maker. "Of course!" he answered. While the map maker was drawing what was on the walls the captain approached the wooden chest in the middle of the room. Marcel stopped him right before he grabbed the chest. "Wait! We need to wait until he is done replicating," said Marcel. "Why?" asked the captain. "The previous place we followed the riddle started acting strange after we picked the wooden chest," said Marcel. They waited until the map maker was done, then they picked the chest, and as expected the cave started shaking and the water started pouring in. The cave flooded in no time but they made it out safely. They opened the wooden chest on the ship and between all the treasures they found another map with the riddle. This time they also had a map made with what they assumed were all the places. "Ugh... There are a lot of them," Marcel said. "As promised, you keep all the treasure, we just came along to see it," the captain said. "Although I would love to see this one" he pointed at the big island. "I am sure there is the final treasure" he continued. "Is there a way to find you?" Marcel asked, "That way we could go together at the last one" he continued. "Just let Jose know about it and he will find a way," the captain said. Everyone was happy to see another completed map and the abundance of treasure in it.