“Gordan, Gordan where are you!” Darius and Killian ran frantically to find the quartermaster.
“Darius, the hold door is closed, why is the door closed?” The hold was blocked by a reinforced metal door, nobody was getting in there without the key.
“Killian is there any other way for us to get in. A secret path, spare key… should we get a cannon?” This door was huge, there is no way for them to get in without any help, though the cannon may be a bit much.
“Sorry Darius, no other paths, Gordan was very particular that there be one key, and there’s just not enough time to pull a cannon all the way in here.”
“He was seriously considering the cannon, we really must have no other options,” Darius thought. “What if we…” Darius mind went blank, so he leaned against the door and started to think of something. “What the-” After leaning against the door, it almost immediately swung in, leading Darius to fall hard onto his back.
Killian walked past Darius and further opened the door, inspecting it as if something was wrong, “Darius, something isn’t right here, Gordan is not the type to close the door without locking it, unless he was inside, and if he was inside he would have immediately came to open up the door, especially for me.”
Darius didn’t think it was possible, but Killian looked even more worried than before, so he replied, “Let’s have a look inside before we start worrying Killian. Maybe the waves were too loud for him to hear.”
The hold was large and full of all the equipment that the crew would need day by day; changes of clothes, food, guns, swords, and hygiene products could all be found here. As quartermaster, it was Gordon’s job was to manage and distribute those supplies to all those on the crew. Gordon was incredibly meticulous in his work, and Darius had never never seen him slack off, so when they saw Gordon on the floor, it was easy to tell that he wasn’t taking a nap.
Killian quickly dropped to his crewmates side, “Gordon, wake up! Are you okay?” He turned Gordon over so that he was face up, and that’s when Darius noticed he had the staff in his hand.
Killian checked for a pulse and sighed profusely when he found one. “He’s not dead, but I have no idea what happened to him.”
They took a closer look at him. Gordon’s face looked like he passed out from exhaustion, and his good eye lost its color to the point where it was almost white.
“I didn’t comment on it before, but why does he have the staff, Killian? I entrusted it to you.” Darius was furious, sure he trusted Gordan and all, but he gave it to Killian for safe keeping, so he was understandably upset that he gave it away.
Killian had a hard time looking Darius in the eyes and started rubbing the back of his head, “Funny story, remember how I had a small interaction with insanity not long ago. Well, I told Gordan that the staff held a demon inside and that, in return for your life, it would grant your greatest wish. That way Gordon, having a strong faith in demons and devils, would secure it somewhere that no one could get in, including myself. He must’ve seen or heard how much we were struggling and tried to sacrifice himself to save us, what a guy.”
“Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You knew he would secure the staff so you couldn’t use it in case of an emergency. What are you, suicidal?”
Killian removed the staff from Gordon’s hand before looking at his angered friend with a stern expression, “Listen Darius, I definitely lost myself for a while there, but I’m back. Now is there’s no time to argue about who lied to who, or who absolutely almost got us all killed, alright?”
Darius honestly couldn’t believe Killian said that with a straight face, “Let’s go Killian.”
He could only respond with a smile and a simple, “Right.”
The waves of the Contusis had not stopped growing since they were away. With its size now easily reaching over 100 feet, this phenomena could not be described as natural any longer.
The two men stared at awe of the approaching threat, Killian a bit longer as Darius yelled to his face, “Hurry up and use the staff!”
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Killian broke from his trance but still looked hesitant as he finally spoke, “A woman.”
“What?”
“The reason I’m here. It’s because of a woman. You may have heard of her.”
“The Lion Khanum, someone I know well,” A woman Darius found quite unpleasant, and would have much preferred never meeting again. “Leona Ulrich.”
“Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? A pirate ship captain falling in love with a princess. Sounds like something out of a storybook.”
“Killian, I don’t think now is the time for stor-”
“Leona is a beautiful and domineering woman, she always has been, and I just couldn’t get enough of her. I like to think she thought the same of me, those days we spent speaking to one another non-stop.”
“Considering that Leona has an emperor, it’s easy to see how things may not have gone well between the two.”
“She’s an Ulrich though. Strength runs Powercene, and there was no one stronger than her. Even as the perfect piece of human design I am, physical strength is not my strong suit. Her consultants didn’t approve of me as they didn’t appreciate the influence I had on her such as Leona’s growing appreciation for skills that didn’t rely on brute strength.”
“Since you’re still alive, I’m assuming you’re an exile? You should be glad they didn’t just kill you.”
“Yes, I have Leona to thank for that, but I miss her touch so much. Therefore, I’m going to speak to them in the only language they know, power. The power to tame the Contusis. A feat my ship, alone, will accomplish. A feat great enough to earn my place by her side. Now the Contusis is right before me, and I’m about to give up; to let it beat me when I came so close.”
Killian was shuttering, Darius could tell this was difficult for him, so he held onto his shoulder, “Hey Killian, where do you see yourself in 10 years?”
“What?”
Darius quickly turned Killian around pulling his own head back as far as possible, bringing it to meet Killian’s. That one left them both writhing on the floor in pain, “Again?! I open up myself to you and you… you… Again?!”
Killian’s nose was broken, and it was bleeding like crazy, “In 10 years, I don’t see our bodies lying at the bottom of the ocean or as part of the refuse of whatever monsters live in the sea below. Yet you, an idiot, were thinking about trying to fight that thing again!”
He looks down and grabs the staff tightly, “Well but-”
Darius grabbed both of his shoulders and look at him sternly, “No, no buts, Killian I can see that you love that woman, and you are willing to do anything for her, but if you try to do this, you are obviously going to die. What about your crew? Are their lives really so meaningless to you? What about Leona? Do you really think she wants you to kill yourself before you could ever see her again?”
“I’ll never see her again if I don’t do this! I’m just not worthy of her. Once I’ve conquered the Contusis her advisors-”
“That’s just it! That’s just it! Listen to me, Killian, you want to believe that, by conquering the Contusis, those advisors of Leona will have to accept you. However, you need to realize that won’t happen. Regardless of any of your feats, any accolades you obtain, what they did was a play for power. You think it was fate that brought you and Leona apart, that fate led you to fight this monster, but that’s not true. Live and fight and keep on fighting for what you love. The only way you’ll get what you want, is if you carve your own path and not let some destiny control you.”
Killian was left speechless, but his old confident smile returned to his face. He took the staff and walked to the head of the ship to face the towering wave, “You’re right Darius, I won’t let fate control me!” He brought up the staff and pointed it to the wave. “Begone Contusis, give the crew of the Lion Khanum’s Blade passage!”
After a moment, Killian stumbled to the ground but nothing happened, “What was that?!” Killian was left on his knees, while the waves continued to come crashing down. “Darius, did I do something wrong?”
“I-I don’t…”
Before Darius could properly gather his thoughts, Ricardo jumped in to take the staff, “Let me give it a shot, begone Contusis!”
The staff began to illuminate a brilliant red light, “Ha! It’s working! I must be pretty spec-” Suddenly, Ricardo collapsed onto the floor, and the Contusis only got closer.
“Ricardo, are you okay?!” Darius rushed to Ricardo’s side, and it seems he suffered the same affects as Gordon.
“Darius what’s going on? Got anymore bright ideas?!” Killian questioned as he ran to pull Ricardo to safety. A token effort as the giant wave came crashing down.
Unable to answer Killian, Darius did the one thing he could think of, trust in his Grandfather.
Darius grabbed the staff and pointed it at the Contusis. The tidal wave was close enough for him to touch it. “Just go away!” This time the staff glowed with a brilliant yellow light as Darius yelled, just before he passed out.