“…Thay say, that before get’ing captured, he’d had left a treasure in the deepest, most perilousness area of all the seas!”
“And to this day, no soul has laid eyes upon it!!”
“They call it…”
“THE ON-!!!”
SLAM
“O’, Shut it old man!!”
“That Old Wives’ Tale was disproved by The Guardians Three Hundred Years ago!”
"Drunk bastard."
“What’re you teachin’ these kids?”
The younger man turn to a wide eyed boy.
“Now, if you want some real history, we need to start with the basics.”
“The Three Clans.”
“Pirates.”
“Mercenaries.”
“Guardians.”
“The Pirates are self-explanatory; they roam th’ Seas following their Ideals and Philosophies.”
“Usually just means robin’ folk.”
“The Mercenaries ‘re just that, Mercenaries. Although the Navy falls under this category, most say they’d be the Fourth Clan. That’s just cause they’re Huge, the self-appointed protectors of the people.”
“But they are Mercenaries. It’s The Government funding them, but Mercenaries none the less.”
“Now The Guardians… not much is known about them. At least, not here. They’re construct like beings that worship all things water. No one knows how old they are as they work in the background most of the time.”
“They do seem to hold a disproportionate amount of Relics, Artifacts and…”
“Sirens Tears”
“LANCE!!”
Man and boy both turn to the distant shouts.
“I’ll explain that next time, yeah?”
“Run off now!”
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“Lance!!”
“Come on, now! You can’t be late to your own party!”
“’m up, I’m up.” Lance replies, shaking off the morning’s weariness.
He dresses simply before putting on the traditional robes prepared several years earlier by the local Shrine Maidens. These traditions are highly coveted on the island, all big events needing to approved by a Shrine Maiden for it to be seen as official.
This includes the sixteenth birthday, a ceremony held under the oldest tree on the island.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Ready?” his sister, Pearl asks from the doorway. She was named such by her father for being ‘the most beautiful girl of all the seas’.
Well… her and 13 others.
It was a very common name.
Though the requirement of catching a clam with a pearl, for the right to use the name, prevents it getting too out of hand.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Along the road, families stepped out to join the growing march made by all attending the ceremony. Birthdays are recorded in monthly intervals as not to cause excessive strain on the Shrine Maidens, also making these events a lot more grandiose, and serving as a time to meet people both new and old.
After climbing the long journey to the center of the Island, Lance takes his place next to the other kids, as Pearl stays back in the crowd. Their order roughly showing each’s wealth, as the older families tended to live further inland. Everyone wears the same quality robes for the ceremony though.
Lance holds his breath as the Shrine Maidens walk down the line, blessing each kid and handing them a carved token.
“Under the fifth branch, you were born. Over the song of the seas, you were raised.”
“Take this fruit, grown in The Shrine’s fifth orchard, and take heed its blessing.”
“Perseverance”
Gently picking up the slice of fruit from the Shrine Maidens hand, Lance repeats the blessing back before eating it.
“Perseverance”
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“I’m heading out in an hour or two, won’t be back till tonight.”
Lance looked up from admiring his Token.
“What?!”
“What about the Mercenary ships spotted again just yesterday?!”
“Hah! I can easily take a ship or two. I’ll be fine.”
“Also, drop off the usual, yeah?”
The door slammed behind her, rendering Lances’ protests useless.
He stood up, heading to the storage room for some preserved fish and wine, only leaving the house after changing out of the robes, and into something more comfortable.
First, he arrived at one of the local pubs, taking a seat near the back where he waited. None of the patrons or staff bothered him as this was a routine thing. While waiting, he started examining the intricate carvings in the large Token, the wood being taken from the ceremony tree. Said tree was only special for its age, as even though it wasn’t very big, only standing a dozen or so meters high, it was over three hundred years old and exceptionally dense.
It's said that the Shrine Maidens own an artifact that allows them to slowly carve each Token, but as they all come from one, closed off family, there is no information to back such rumors.
“Lance!!”
In front of Lance, a familiar old drunk stumbles to his seat, half full mug in hand.
“So, how about it. Bring anything good this time?”
“Apart from the fish?”
“Just some wine.”
“Pah, I hate that fruity nonsense.”
“Next time, get me a bottle o’ that whisky from up town! Hear they managed to make it stronger!!”
Lance laughs at that, “Sure! And I’ll be bringing it to your funeral if they keep upping it.”
“Well, I’m off to Nadia’s place. Can’t keep a Lady waiting.”
“Ey. And Lance?”
He turns back from the door in confusion.
“Don’t worry about yer sister. She’s the best Pirate the Islands’ had in over a hundred years.”
“I know.” He replies grimly, “But she isn’t flawless.”
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His nerves were getting to him, as he slowly trekked through one of the wealthiest parts of the Island.
This was always the worst part of the deliveries, not that Nadia was bad or anything, just how different everyone here acts and dresses. They weren’t poor thanks to Pearls work, but Lance had spent almost every day around the others down near the edges where everyone was a lot more… open. Most of their wealth came from having the only inland access to the sea through a large bay.
The Families here didn’t bother him due to his sister’s status, but it didn’t stop a few from sending judging looks his way. They all stopped as he reached Lady Nadia’s house as she was liked by everyone, both poor and rich. It was basically an unspoken rule not to disturb her peaceful life ever since she recovered from her family’s death during a small outbreak.
Lanced paused for a moment before finally knocking on her door.
Nadia quickly opened the door with a smile, pulling him into a hug.
“Lance!”
“I heard the news, your finally 16!!”
“Congratulations!”
“You must tell me about the ceremony!”
Lance gently but awkwardly pushed himself from her grasp.
“I’d love to, but there’s still a lot to do.” He cringed at the obvious lie, but nothing good ever came from getting her talking.
“Pearl asked me to drop off some wine she, eh… found.”
“That’s all.”
“Oh, well I better not keep you long then”
She gracefully accepts the gift, saying her goodbyes before he steps down to head home.
But before Lance could get too far away, he was pulled aside by one of the few noble kids on the Island.
“What do you want, Oscar?”
“The same thing as always, Woodward”
“What do you think your doing hanging around this part of town, huh?”
He starts dragging Lance down to the bay area and there is little he can do against the nobles wishes. As they reach one of the cliffs, Oscar comes to a stop.
“You see this? This is everything my family owns. Every single trip your sister takes out of this bay is overseen and permitted by us. I could throw you off here and now, and there would be little your sister could do to save you. There would be little anyone could do with the shear amount of land we own and fund!”
“Yeah, yeah you say this every time.”
“I just want to make sure you know it.” Oscar spits
“Sure.”
“Fine then.”
“The next time your sister enters this bay, I’ll-“
“It’s the Mercenaries!!”
Pearls voice blares out over the Islands Emergency System.
“READY THE SHIPS!”
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