That little invisible bastard! His meddling is going to get me killed!
Faced with a demonic sea creature coming at him with her spear held forward, Lawkey couldn’t help but blame the invisible owner of the voice that messed with his and Sana’s memories.
If it could see the future, it should have known about this situation too, right? He pondered, It must have seen me surviving this too… right?
“Daddy!”
“?!”
Sana finally threw herself into Lawkey’s arms, making the raging creature's eye twitch at the sight.
“So, he really did something to you!” Riana’s steps made the deck of Aliarda tremble with every move, her eyes glowing a deep crimson, “I’ll have to kill you after all!”
“No! Leave daddy alone!” Sana turned around and faced her auntie with beaming turquoise eyes. As if to shield him from any oncoming attacks, her little arms were wide open in front of her savior.
“But…” Riana immediately stopped, remembering what had happened the last time Sana uttered similar words. The siren wasn’t sure she, or the stranger for that matter, could guarantee they could escape the emerald bubble of chaos a second time if they triggered it by accident. Not that either of them would risk it after what they experienced.
However, having her niece randomly refer to a complete stranger as her own father? It’s not something Riana could stand by and just accept either. She made a promise to her sister to take care of Sana, and part of that promise is to make sure she doesn’t randomly trust people she doesn’t know.
Lawkey couldn’t help but scratch his cheek and turn his head away, “Trust me, I’m not happy about it either…”
“...”
Lawkey sensed the crimson eyes glaring daggers into him, so he kept his eyes on the sea.
But just then, he realized something he had missed. That perhaps, everyone present had.
“Um, say… are we even sailing in the right direction?”
“?!”
Looking around, Riana quickly noticed the direction they were headed based on the position of the barely visible moon in the sky, “We have to turn around! We’re going the opposite way!”
“But how? The mainsail got blown off by that explosion earlier…” Lawkey asked, looking up at the broken pillar in the middle of the Galleon Ship.
Don’t tell me I have to swim back? Or worse, ride on the back of a Siren?
“...”
Lawkey didn’t dare to voice his thoughts.
The three of them found themselves in another dilemma, or at least, that’s what the novice who had never stirred a ship in his life, believed.
“Auntie…?”
“Don’t worry, Sana. This guy doesn’t know anything about ships, it seems.” Riana patted her niece on the head after the little girl walked up to her.
“Huh? Isn’t the mainsail the most important part of the ship?” Ignoring Riana’s jab at him, Lawkey asked with genuine confusion. His knowledge on ships had started the moment he was looking for a boat to rent not too long ago so he could visit Sweet Scylla.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
So, it was safe to say he knew pretty much nothing about them. Not that he knew much about anything that didn’t involve swinging a sword.
“What are you talking about?” Riana scoffed while walking up to the steering wheel not too far from the bow of the ship. “We just need to steer the rudder to circle back.”
“Rudder?” Both Lawkey and Sana cocked their heads as they muttered the word in unison.
“Just watch.” Leaving her trusty spear to the side, Riana confidently placed both her arms on the steering wheel and grabbed on the handles tightly. Then suddenly, she flexed the muscles on her back and arms, showcasing her ripped features before pulling the wheel to the right with all her might.
“Ohh!” Watching her, Lawkey and Sana began to clap their hands in awe.
However-
CLACK!
“!”
Just as the wheel began to roll to the right, it suddenly stopped completely, pushing against Riana’s strong pull and making her lose balance for an instant. Taken aback by the sudden interruption, she fell back on her behind before she realized what was going on.
“...”
“...”
“...”
All three individuals present simply stood in complete silence for a moment.
And then…
“Auntie!”
“Are you okay?”
Sana and Lawkey stepped closer to check on the siren who was refusing to show them her face.
“I’m fine!”
“!”
Both Lawkey and the little girl were taken aback as Riana suddenly jumped up, grabbed her spear and ran towards the side of the ship.
Although it was brief, Lawkey stole a glance of her reddened ear fins and cheek.
“...”
“The rudder is blocked by something. I’ll go check it out.” Riana shouted before jumping in the sea. Before the others could hear the splash, she added, “Don’t go anywhere and don’t do anything stupid!”
SPLASH!
“I’m surprised she still has the nerve to boss us around after that.” Lawkey scoffed, both hands on his hips in an exaggerated gesture, “Isn’t she embarrassed at all?”
“Mhm! Mhm!” Sana nodded her head as she copied Lawkey’s pose.
“Besides, where are we supposed to go? There isn’t much to do either.” The swordsman looked around the ship to find nothing but rope and a freshly drenched floorboard. He was thankful most of the blood had washed away with the rain, having a kid on board and all.
“I know! I know!”
“!”
Suddenly, the little girl jumped in her spot a few times as an idea came to her, then took off inside the ship, ignoring everything behind her.
“Hey! Hold up! Where are you going?!” Lawkey tried to run after her, but before he could, a noise stopped him.
CLACK!
CLACK! CLACK!
Looking back, he saw the steering wheel suddenly turn left and by the looks of it, if left alone, it will just continue to roll to the left and steer the ship into the north western side of the continent.
Oh, come on! One thing at a time please!
Fighting the rising tremors beneath him, Lawkey quickly grabbed onto the steering wheel and pulled it to the opposite side with all the might he could muster.
CLACK!
Having expected it to block again around the same length it did with Riana, he braced for impact and barely kept hold onto it. He knew he couldn’t let go, otherwise the same thing would just happen again.
Dammit, what is that crazy woman doing?! He mumbled inwardly, she’s taking her sweet time, isn’t she?
“!”
Looking around again, the swordsman saw the thing the ship had an abundance of. If it was one thing, the Galleon Ship Aliarda had no shortage of rope either lying around or tied to something.
That gave Lawkey an idea, but the closest one to him was tied to the front sail a few meters away from him. After a moment of contemplation while holding onto the steering wheel, he gave in to the one thing he didn’t want to do.
“I’m back-” Having recovered from the quick tremors on the ship and gotten what she wanted, Sana came back to see a weird sight. “Uncle, that’s not how you-”
“Shut up, kid! Don’t make fun of me! I know that!”
Lawkey, having quickly gotten the rope, tied the side of the steering wheel to the front sail.
The reason he was able to do that without the whole thing rapidly turning left again was thanks to Eclipsed Dawn being used as a temporary hold. He had put it through one of the open slots in the steering wheel and stabbed it into the floor to stay still, blocking any and all movements.
“Okay! Anyway, I’m back! Look!” Seeing him finish and recover his beloved sword, Sana jumped again while holding something up for Lawkey to see.
“What is it? What do you have that is so joyful-” Upon turning around and seeing what she was holding, Lawkey’s eyes quickly constricted. “Are you kidding?”
“Yep! They’re playing cards! Let’s play, uncle!” Sana stepped closer, then suddenly stopped in her tracks when she looked up at the one she couldn't seem to decide whether to call dad or uncle. “Wait, why is uncle making that face?! They’re just cards!”
Before he had realized it, Lawkey’s face had been contorted into a disgusted expression as if he was witnessing something horrid.
Simply looking at the cards brought back unpleasant memories to the swordsman, ones he would have rather not recalled again.
The butterfly imprint on his neck throbbed a few times as he reflexively covered it.
“Fine, just one game.”
Whether he wanted to or not didn’t matter. The little girl was in no way responsible for his past and if playing that meant she would calm down more, Lawkey was willing to swallow his little discomfort.
After all, he wasn’t a kid anymore.
Maybe that’s what it means to mature a little… right, old man? He thought with a chuckle before joining Sana on the floor where she laid out the cards.
“It’s a duel… maybe…” Suddenly, Lawkey remembered something else. “I don’t know how to play…”
“Eh?”
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]