'Two months it has been. Two fruitless months. I wonder if I should just stop. Stop this journey and stop caring. That would be good. So what makes me trudge forward? What sweeps my feet to stand in the morning? What prevents me from going home? Shame? Hope? No, I have been exhausted of those too long ago. I think, like all things that propels people for action, it is fear.'

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The day was good, until it wasn't.

Winds battered the Swordfish, rocking it like a crib. It swayed as mountainous waves surged from all sides.

Leo clung tightly, both arms and feet grasping every fiber of the rope he could. Other passengers also held. The Swordfish rocked to the right. It was a deep fall this time. He prepared, taking a gulp of air and holding his breath.

His stomach clenched. They fell- for what seemed to be a long time- they fell. And they hit.

Seawater washed the deck. Leo steeled his grip. For a moment he thought he would slip. Salty water desecrated his nose. He held, hands shaking, he held dearly for life.

It passed. The noble boy clinging on the pole was gone and so were about two others, swept by the wave and lost forever.

"Lower the damn sails!" He heard Captain Hilet shout. The Captain was drenched but his walk was calm.

"The damn sails mate! The damn sails!"

"We can't Cap." Said a pitiful sailor. This one had a bleeding temple. "Stuck. Omniscient. It's stuck!"

"We are flooded Cap!" Shouted another sailor from below the deck. "Side's been busted."

"Dammit dammit dammit!" The Captain eyed the remaining passengers. "What are you looking at? Go eh? Below's flooded. Get them buckets and start scooping!"

The passengers scrambled for the buckets. Leo struggled to move. He grabbed a wooden bucket from a sailor and went below deck.

It was indeed flooded. Half of the stairs was submerged. Leo scooped a bucket and threw the contents on the deck. He scooped some more and more and more until a shout slapped the deck.

"Billow!"

The galley rose. Leo thought of staying under the deck. It would save him from the crass wash after the billow but if the galley would sink, he would be trapped.

He slid outside and found the same rope he held onto earlier. They traced the body of a huge wave. He clung. They began to fall. He waited.

The fall was strangely calm as if he was back on his favorite hammock in the palace. The wind ruffled his hair. And then everything exploded. Parts of the deck were splintered. Crew and passengers alike were swept.

The galley went underwater after the fall. Leo held his breath.

Are we going to surface again? Is this it? Are we sinking? I should let go. I should float and brave drifting with the waves. Omniscient I don't want to die.

The galley floated again. Leo gasped for air, not minding breathing some seawater in the process. He coughed and scratched the wooden deck with his nails. Four more people were taken by the waves- that aged madame, the loud peddler of spices, that man who liked to brood and the funny guy whose name was probably Flint.

He stayed lying on the deck, face down. Strength left his arms and hope too was in short supply. This wasn't the adventure he wanted. He dreamed of glorious scenes, a rediscovery of lost city perhaps, grand revolutions, battles like the ones his father fought, intrigue, mystery. But never this wet punishment. Never this.

Would he die? Was this all punishment from the Omniscient? For dreaming of a little fame? For abandoning his responsibility?

He hoped not. He was young and hadn't proved anything yet. His father was already an accomplished King when he was Leo's age. His mother was also already a Queen, a great one at that. As for him, he was still a child living under the fame of his parents. He had proven nothing and if he dies now, he would be a corpse without a name.

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Sunlight beamed against the wet plank of the deck a couple of paces away. Leo thought he was going blind. Perhaps the winds and the waves had dazed him to being delirious.

He reached to it as if sunlight could be held. His wrinkled finger caught light. Soon the light extended to occupy the whole deck. He looked above. The sun was smiling. The winds were still. The sea was gentle.

Gone was the storm, the death. He smiled.

"Highness" Captain Hilet supported him to a sit.

"I am alright Captain." He looked above. "The Omniscient is merciful."

"No. No, no, no. This ain't mercy, Prince Leo. We are in the eye."

"Eye. The storms eye?"

The Captain beckoned for him to stand. He did, the struggle made him grunt.

"The sea. Its anger would return soon." Captain Hilet looked around. "I fear we ain't surviving another battering."

Leo sank on the Captain's assessment. The ship was indeed sinking. Splinters of wood stuck around. The poles had fallen, the sails long gone. The hull was tilting to the right, perhaps flooded below. And that crack in the center didn't look comforting.

The sailors and passengers were scooping water with buckets. Some were praying and crying.

"They are still trying." Leo said.

"Trying won't save your life. Making sound decisions would."

"And so what do you suggest?"

"Float. The next billow would be sinking us." He pointed to a downed barrel. "Get in there. I'll be sealing it."

He wants me to float in that thing?

Leo shook his doubts. They can't waste time.

They popped the cover. Red dust spilled. Spices. He didn't know what kind but the pungency confirmed the contents as spices.

The smell burned his nose. Even his eyes watered. He and the Captain dumped the contents though the smell remained.

They popped three holes as air vents. One was too large for Leo's comfort. The Captain assured him that it won't flood but his unease remained.

Leo went inside. He could barely sit. He sneezed to the spice.

"You have gold?" The Captain whisked his head. "Nevermind that. Do you have a weapon? Wherever you'd drift, you'd be needing a weapon."

Leo patted his side and remembered leaving his sword behind. He also didn't have money. All he had was that journal he was reading before the sky grimmed.

"No."

The Captain gave Leo the one on his waist. The dagger was old yet well-maintained.

"And you?" Leo asked.

He thumbed to the back. "I can't abandon 'em. Sail your worries away, Highness. You'll be alright."

It was selfish act, being the only one with a barrel to ride. But he didn't want to die. Drowning in this storm was a fate made certain if he stays.

"Thank you Captain."

The Captain nodded. "I owe your mother a great debt. We all do. For the Union."

"For the Union."

The Captain sealed the barrel. Leo snuggled, arms wrapped around his knees. He peeped trough one of the holes. Dark clouds were ahead. There were thunders this time. The temporary calm was waning. A drizzle had begun. The sun's smile ebbed.

The galley rocked.

***

Leo dreamed of a dream, one which resembled a memory. He felt it in his bones as if the dream was reality and him being Leo was the dream.

The sky was red. Crimson. The sun hid behind a blanket of haze. There was no wind, not even a breeze. Somehow that made him sad.

He was on a hill overlooking a gentle valley. The grasses were fledgling. Flowers were scattered every few feet. He wasn't familiar with flowers though he was certain they were gardenias. He plucked one. The sweet smell wafted. His grandfather loved gardenias.

Who?

Who was his grandfather again? And with that thought, who was he again? His name. He had a name. He knew he had, the one given to him by his father and his mother.

Father. Mother.

Who were they? He could see faces in scenes and memories. A dark eyed man with an even darker hair. A woman always smiling and always loving. Who were they?

Does it matter? Of course it does. It does! They were his father and mother. They raised him, with loving care they raised him. He grew up with them, the four of them. His brother, his mother, his father and him. They were close, knitted to a loving family. They were happy, always smiling despite colossal problems. His father was King, a great one who vanquished armies. His mother was a Queen. Her wits were sharper than obsidian. His brother, his little brother, was foul-mouthed but kind. They were his whole life and this journey was for him to prove himself. He would return...

Return. Where? What am I thinking again? Who am I? What am I? I don't know. I seem to forget an important thing. Something. Yes. There was something. I need to remember. Forgetting is sad. I need it. What is it?

Does it matter? Does it? Does it? Does it? Probably not. Nothing mattered anymore. He was no one. He was nowhere. He originated from nothing. Identity was a distraction. There was only... purpose.

What was his purpose again? Ah yes, that he remembered. Simple. It was a simple purpose. It was to destroy.

***

The docile waves rended Leo from his sleep. He dreamed of something though not a bit of it stayed for memory. He didn't even know what it was about.

He coughed water on the sand. He struggled to rise yet strength fled his arms. A fall onto the soft sand followed but it still hurt.

At least he was alive- battered, broken and drowned- but alive. He stayed face-down for a while.

Judging from the aches, he must have broken something. His father always reminded that broken bones would heal if given sufficient care. His mother would then argue that it would be better to prevent injuries in the first place.

He remembered them. His brother too. He missed home. Leaving was a mistake. And now he was alone.