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JULES
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An untied and unkempt Rukia manned the sails, and though they hadn’t necessarily gone in a straight line, they were at least far enough away from the port to feel somewhat safe. Jules sat down on the deck with the others.
“Finally, we leave a place without causing a scene.” The other three looked at Jules like he was an idiot.
“I wouldn’t say that. This city is about to be decimated.”
“Katarina," Whiskers said, "please give the man a break, however foolish he may be."
“No, I don’t think we will,” Cyrus said. “I fought bravely, and I’m proud of myself. I single-handedly beat that Boss. Single-handed! Dammit, Jules—Our one fuck-up is already burned. Time to ‘fess up, why’d you give those scummy Pirates our Vessel? My Vessel?"
“That’s it, Cy,” Jules said. “Let it all out. Let the anger flow through you.”
“You asshole. Wipe that grin off your face. Or I will.”
“How are you feeling, Kat?” Jules asked. Addressing Katarina’s feelings was more important to him right now because he felt so confident in his decision that he didn’t need to argue it.
"Jules!" Cyrus yelled.
“Not good…” She hugged her knees.
"Jules!"
“Sucks," Jules said. "Being found out, doesn’t it?”
"Jules—Oh." Cyrus shut up.
“Yeah. I’m scared. I feel… Somewhat belittled by her, too. And I’m mad at you—”
“Sad." Whiskers waddled over to her but fell flat on his side. "She feels sad.”
“You drunk,” Jules said. Whiskers didn’t even try to get back up. “Are you sad about the song?”
Katarina tensed up. She scrunched her jacket-as-a-skirt, which was ripped up in too many places to count. The acid stopped bubbling out of her wounds. Whiskers' ribcage heaved with sobs. Cyrus shook his head and looked out at the horizon.
“Yeah, song got me too," Jules said. "A ballad about simpler days, long past. But also of the future.” Jules smiled at her. “I’m worried for you, too, Kat.”
“She said if I…” Katarina wiped away tears. “If I look for my parents, if I can just find them, then—Ah, nevermind. Forget it.”
“She told me I could control my destiny. Stop the Apocalypse, protect myself… And you, too, Kat.”
“Mine was about seeing my parents again, and some other crap about Magnus Tharlsson.”
"Mine was about balls. Huge balls." Rukia strolled over to the group, laughing at nothing and everything. "And squirrels—and Kaizen spoke to me, not Jules. He never plays with me…” Her laughter transitioned to whimpers, then uncontrollable sobbing.
“I never heard a song. I don’t desire anything, I have all that I need.” Katarina smiled at her cat and shed more tears. “But then I did smell catnip…”
Katarina laughed, then Whiskers laughed, and pretty soon they were all a team again, laughing, even Rukia through her occasional sobs.
“Jules,” Katarina said. “Don’t keep me waiting too long. Us, I mean.”
“Right, so last night…” Jules made himself comfortable. They had a long talk ahead of them. “Last night, I told you I recognized her—”
“You certainly did. You’ve made it clear you want me to know that.”
“Uh—right.”
“Jules,” Cyrus said. “I felt like I recognized her, too.” Katarina rolled her eyes.
“When we stood before each other, there at the end, she posed like that. On purpose—"
"Oh sweet Salvos," Katarina muttered.
"Because she certainly remembered me, though I’m not sure when it clicked for her."
“I don’t care, Jules,” Cyrus said. “I still can’t remember, so just tell me.”
“When we fled Coralhaven, we saw her. She was riding The Flying Dutchman.”
A pause was followed by a shrill whistle from Cyrus. He leaned back, fingers laced behind his head. Katarina giggled to herself.
“Yep. Thought you’d all understand. Was she bluffing about them being nearby? I don’t know, but the risk was not worth the reward to me. Not even for a Vessel.”
“Do you still think she’s in league with the Iron Maidens, then?” Katarina asked. "Davy Jones has been pretty public with his opinion of them."
“She talked an awful lot about Bounties, so she has to be," Cyrus said. "Though I’m sure it’s all about the money with her. Wasn’t shocked about Jules, either. Must have known he was around.”
“I’m certain she’d remember us. People don’t get close to The Dutchman and live to tell about it. Though she probably figured out one of us was Wrath much, much later, after they’d sacked the town and left.”
“There’s a lot going on here,” Katarina said.
“But it’s all tied together. Did you all see that parrot?”
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
“Yeah, but parrots follow Pirates around all the time,” Cyrus said. “It’s a whole thing.”
“Awfully odd animal following an even odder girl…”
“Jules, you partied with them last night. Did you learn anything?” Cyrus asked.
"Nothing of use…last night." Am I overthinking this? "Seriously—none of you guys have anything else to say about Maddie!?"
"I mean, she could be Arcanic."
"Jules, you sound like a creep—" Katarina shot up. "What'd you just say, Cy?"
"Weird animal, your age, the Djinn called her Wise One… You don't find any of that odd?"
"Her parrot spoke last night, between squawks, and his name showed up in the Party list. Salty Pete. Hey Kat, did you hurt her?" Jules asked.
"Yeah, so what?" she snapped.
"Uh, did she Regenerate?"
Katarina blinked a few times. "I didn't pay attention."
"Well," Cyrus continued, "I don't know what to think. She's probably not a Sin, if she's working with the Maidens, but if she's a Virtue, her Familiar shouldn't be able to talk. Then again, the Djinn only addressed her as Wise One, and not you two."
"But we didn't speak to him." Could she be Lust? Or Greed? "If we run into her again…" Jules couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, and no one else finished his train of thought. He was certain they understood.
We see if she can Regenerate.
“Enough obsessing over Maddie,” Katarina said. "We need to fly fast and then get off the water. It’s safe to assume they have the advantage out on the open sea, not to mention our pilot is a drunk.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I feel great.” Whiskers rolled from his side to his back, four legs spread-eagle for all to bear witness.
“Wasn’t even remotely talking about you.”
“So these Shrine rules can be brutal,” Cyrus said.
“Makes me think we should go in solo from now on, in case there’s no lucky loophole,” Jules said.
Katarina straightened up. “No, we need each other’s support. I wouldn’t have made it out of there without you all, especially Rukia in the beginning.”
“Thank you so very much Envy,” Rukia said with tears in her little eyes. “I just want some recognition and to play ball and I got to do both today in one day, in a single day, oh what a great day…” She bawled in both longing sorrow and joy.
“It is a huge risk, I agree,” Cyrus continued. “And we only have three left, so we can’t afford anymore mistakes. Or thieving Pirates.”
“We can always go international,” Jules said. “Obsidia, Zephyria… The Verdant Domain has tons of Shrines.”
“We can, but we shouldn’t.” Cyrus gazed at the open sky. “The Painter made it clear he wanted us to capture Coralith’s Shrines, so that’s what we should do. No more mistakes. Just look at your Quest log."
“Then tell me what the Coralhaven rules are.”
“You don’t want to know.”
Jules stood up. “Yes, I do.” Cyrus shifted his gaze to Jules. Why are you mad at me?
“I can’t tell you until you’re ready to enter it.”
Jules clenched his fists.
“So what’s next?” When she didn’t get an answer, Katarina snapped her fingers at Jules. “Oh Great Leader? I vote we ditch the sea, ASAP.”
Jules grumbled to himself.
“We’re faster on ship than land,” Cyrus said.
“But they probably have a better ship,” Katarina said. “And a better crew, at least in sailing.”
“Plus, they have two Vessels now. At least," Jules said, composed again. “So we really don’t want another run-in.”
“Two!?” Cyrus asked.
“Yeah, Cy... Thorn had intel on capturing a Shrine and got a Vessel—That was literally the crux of the plan?”
Cyrus thumped his head against the deck. "Honestly I didn't listen. I just trusted you and kept an eye on the Djinn."
“Well, our only choices are to land in some uninhabited area, or go home.”
“No,” Cyrus said.
“Jules…”
“Kat, don’t be so nice to him. He just said we needed to lay low.”
“We’ll just go in and out,” Jules said.
“Come on, don’t lie to me. That’s impossible to do for us. There’s too much baggage there to dip in and out like that, and you know it.”
“But Cy, they have two Vessels. Are they hunting for more? We can’t wait, it could be captured, and it’s clear that I need this one—”
Kaizen appeared on the swaying deck with them.
“And where the hell have you been?” Jules asked him. Kaizen looked away, indignantly.
“Rukia summoned me. You haven’t, so I couldn’t show myself.” Oh. Right. “Jules, you are not ready. Rukia must agree, since she pulled me out of my—yawn—spacious new apartment.”
“Were you asleep!?”
Kaizen blinked his eyes quickly. “So, uh, about Coralhaven—Are you a complete idiot, Jules?”
“Don’t change the subject on me—”
“What happens if you lose control again?” Kaizen asked bluntly. Cyrus shifted. “What’s your plan for that moment?”
“Get my friends here to kill me again and reset.”
“ERGH! Wrong answer. The correct answer was: Oh, but Kaizen, I’ve completed my training and I won’t lose control—Except you haven’t, so the right thing to do is continue your training.”
> [Quest Reminder: Seeketh Patience is still available.]
“They’ve completed theirs. They know how to stop me.” This time Katarina shifted uneasily.
“They’ve only fought Jules Tideshaper, a weak, arrogant little punk. They’ve never fought Wrath. What happens when they don’t stop you—not if they can’t, because they won’t—You kill them?”
Jules was silent.
“He can’t kill me…” Katarina said. Jules appreciated her coming to his defense, but her comment somehow made him feel worse, which pissed him off even more.
“And I can’t complete your training if I don’t have a Vessel to host you in, and the power to Integrate with you. It’s a full-circle debate.”
“Hmm, a real Catch-22,” Rukia said.
“A what?”
“Oh, nothing, something from another world… I think.” She splooted back out.
“The point is, you are useless unless I can use your power.”
Rage flashed across Kaizen’s face. “No. You have my wisdom now, if you would take your eyes off of power for just one minute—”
“Kaizen, it’s set. I’m the leader, and I’m setting our course for Coralhaven.”
Katarina sighed. Cyrus banged the back of his head on a post. They agree with the logic, and since Kaizen is always withholding information, we can’t really know how this will go.
“We will land a bit away, and I will go visit my home. All are welcome to join, after I’ve met with my parents, by myself, alone.” Jules looked at Rukia, though she probably didn't even notice.
“No,” Cyrus said. “No, I don’t think I can go back there. And after that Siren’s song, I feel called to the orphanage again. I’ll go there and find out everything Patty knows.”
“I know I’m one to talk,” Jules said, “but that sounds incredibly dangerous.”
“Relax, I’m a master of disguise. Kat, I could use your help, though.” What would Kat do at the orphanage? Wonder if she’ll choose that over meeting my family.
“No one knows who I am in Coralhaven,” she said. “And after recent events, I’d like to keep it that way. I can be your decoy, Cy.” Her decision stung, but Jules understood.
“You and Whiskers would be excellent scouts for us, to see if we’re safe or not. But then, when that’s all over with, I will hit the Shrine. Alone. I’ll leave Kaizen and Rukia’s care to you all.”
“Foolish child.” Kaizen’s voice was thick with vitriol. He disappeared into Jules’ Shaman Beads. I am sorry, Kaizen. Truly. But it must be done. We're out of options.
“One day sailing. One day on land. Then it’s back to hiding under rocks. This will be a quick trip.”
Rukia left the deck to man the sails again. Cyrus went below deck to plot his approach to the orphanage, and Ole Patty.
Jules sat down to meditate, but his mind flooded with anxiety about his family reunion.
“I’m jealous of you, ya know?” Katarina said.
Jules laughed. “Of course you are. Jealousy is what defines you, right?” She stared back at him. She apparently failed to get the joke, or at least the well-intentioned message underneath it. “I know you miss him. I never thought I’d see my family again, but here we are. You’ll see yours again, some day.”
She awkwardly patted his shoulder, then walked away. Oh shit!
Jules whirled around to face her. She turned back to him, too. Jules couldn’t tell what emotion that was on her face, like she wanted something.
“Kat—We forgot to pay our tab at the inn.”
Her face slowly dropped, then she smiled again. “Life of an outlaw.”
> [Bounty Increased by ₹250,000 for crimes committed in Aquilantis.]
>
> [Bounty Increased by ₹20,890 for crimes committed in Siren's Cove.]
I drank how much!?
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