Waves of the sapphire blue water crashed against the hickory brown wood of The Knave. Each and every surf replicates the sounds of thunder, shaking the 157-foot-long wooden vessel. Crew members all around, dressed in uniforms colored with browns and blues. Twelve on the main deck, five on the forecastle, and four on the aft deck including her; A figure standing roughly 6 feet, Cherry brown hair fishtail-braided down her back; Captain Eloise.
The ship veered East. Eloise’s eye followed the red arrow of the compass up until it rested there on the italicized ‘E’.
“Steady here.” She called to the helmsman who spun the wheel back upright, his jaw clinging to the pipe hanging in his mouth. The Knave came back to a steady direction. Eloise looked out at the ocean with a half-smile, braid blowing left with the wind. The sound of the sails slapping against the wooden poles like an applause. Thank you, Captain. You’ve done it again.
With the nod of her head, Eloise lifted two-thirds of her body weight off from the taffrail of the ship. The Knave cut through the water as the waves dashed down left, curling into tiny foamed coils that would disperse against the sides within seconds. The heels of her laced boots clicked against the five wooden stairs as she walked down. There was enough jewelry on her arms, neck, and around her belt for her walk to create its own song. Each step was another verse to this never-ending tune. Taking another left until she came to the sage green door of the cabin. Mechanical arm turning the knob.
The quartermaster meeted her inside, greeting her with a calm demeanor once again. “Smooth waters, no?”
“Aye.” She took off her hat, tossing it on the table. An heirloom from the previous beholder of this ship, The Nameless. It was quite the big treasure too. This single hat was nearly three times the size of the gal’s head, even regardless of her physique.
“Good t’hear.” He spoke, fixing her a drink. “So then. Where are we headed?”
“East,” Eloise responded blandly.
“Where East?”
“You know where.”
“No, I don’t believe I do.”
Eloise stood in front of a cheval mirror, fixing the white ribbons around the browns and blues of her uniform. Weak rum with a few pieces of fruit afloat in the tankard was placed on the table to her right. The Quartermaster knew she preferred her drinks sweet rather than tangy. Sometimes, he’d seem to notice the changes in her demeanor that regard her mood. Sometimes when she wasn’t in a good mood, she’d only eat the fruit, ignoring the rum. Vise versa if it were a good day.
The Quartermaster watched her pick the cup up, then put it back down. Same amount of rum, same amount of fruit. Seems today she was merely just pondering. “Today be one of those days, ey?”
“Feels like it.” She sighed. “There’s not much time left now, is there.”
“I suppose not.”
Eloise turned her head. On the far right wall of the cabin, a splotch of decay had crawled up to the roof. In its center, lay the messy engravement of these words; “Upon the day the true one reveals themself, an exchange of prize shall guide forth an age of pain and mold thy forgoing sin back to sea and stone.”
“Ah, it’s getting worse.” Eloise grumbled, taking a seat on a high-stool, her mechanical arm moving to rest in her lap while the other hand swirled her drink. “Do you believe in prophecies, boy?”
“I can’t say that I do, cap’tn.”
“Ah, but would you believe ‘em if you knew that something in these waters was after ya?”
The quartermaster remained quiet, narrowing his eyes.
“To answer that question of yours,” She started to stand, the tankard in her hand again, plucking a few fruits from the surface of the liquid. “That’s where we’re headed.”
The sounds of the stern bells caught the attention of both folks, Eloise turned her head to the sound.
“That there tells me that we’ve almost arrived.”
The 25-hundred pound anchor clashed into the waves, diving down until it latched into the sand. Eloise threw her hat back on over her messy, windblown hair. Her footsteps matched the same rhythm as the sound of the anchor’s chain clicking off from the side of the ship.
The quartermaster followed her out, neutrality in his steps. Upon viewing the scenery, there wasn’t much to see, nor was there much to take in.
“Why have we stopped here?” Said the quartermaster. “Land isn’t for another several thousand fathoms.”
“Yes yes, I’m aware.” Eloise strutted up the stairs, tossing a ring of rope over her shoulder. “Rather than looking out, look below.”
The captain’s mechanical fingers curled into a point as she lowered her arm to the water’s edge. Small lights were located beneath the deep blue. Sharks lingered around. The dull, boring faces of the fish remained unchanged. Their mouths hanging half-opened as they bobbled left and right, propelling themselves forward.
Accompanied with the sharks was the light, and the light began to move. Darker colored spines contrasted against the blue light. There it was, a sea-beast nearly twice the size of the ship. The beast shook The Knave to its core with each loud snore and hiss.
The quartermaster inhaled. Almost as if the creature could hear his breath. Waiting for that next exhale before it jumps up and swallows the ship whole. Eloise often caught wind of his conscientious behaviors. He was a man of great perplexion, though she never dared to question that. So long as he did his job right, he’d remain her acquaintance sufficiently.
“She’s grown, hasn’t she.” Eloise commented, cracking a smile.
“Certainly.” The quartermaster shuddered.
“Watch here,” She pointed to the sharks, then to the serpent lingering through the waters. “She’s a blind creature. Not very smart either. The sharks stay around her because she protects them. Y’see, she thinks they’re like her children.”
The quartermaster tilts his head. “How come a creature like her would think that..?”
“Who knows.” Eloise crossed her arms. “There’s plenty of possibilities. Maybe even monsters have a quest to give and feel love. Or hell, maybe she tricks ‘em into thinking that. Then when the time’s right, she gulps them all down in one bite.”
The crew, nor quartermaster seemed all that fazed as she cracked such an eerie joke. It was a part of who she was, mostly. Some even laughed along with her.
Eloise ushered a few crew members to prepare to lower a smaller boat to the water. From this point forward, the captain insisted on traveling solo to the archipelago islands there in the distance. Whereas this business concerned her alone.
“Taking the row-boat will prevent the serpent from growing aggressive. So long as the boat glides lightly, she’ll simply just think of us as another shark. Hence, she shouldn’t pay any attention here.” The captain announced to the 22 crew members bidding her farewell.
“Ah, yes. As I’ve mentioned before… The Knave stays anchored here. Either until I return, or the North star reaches the night sky shall anyone lift the anchors. Worst case scenario, I don’t return. Leave, and don’t look back.”
“YES, CAPTAIN!”
The crew worked their magic. Preparing anything and everything necessary for the captain’s perilous expedition. One with no proper context in the mere eyes of the drew. Yes, she hadn’t told them anything. Nothing about the curse, nor anything about the prophecy.
The only other soul who knew would be the quartermaster. After all, he was embarking on the mission as well. Judging by his reactions, Eloise knew he was irked by her risking so much for simple fairy tales.
“Well? Hope you ain’t scared of monsters. “ Eloise chuckled, gesturing for him to board the boat first.
As the two entered the row-boat, they kept the idle talk to simple whispers. It was simply for the sake of getting past the serpent without arousing suspicion or fear. Who knows, maybe with such good hearing, the beast would have already heard them just from the beating of their hearts within their chests.
A total of thirty silent minutes passed before they arrived on the island. Ruins of broken stoned temples and buildings decorated the front of the ancient archipelagos here, as well as further islands within her line of sight. Sure it was beautiful, but also haunted to her eyes. These ruins were of those she’d see in dreams, nightmares to be specific.
Eloise took the lead, slashing her steel cutlass through bushes to clear the stone path. A path that perhaps someone previously in her position once walked. The prophecy always cycled among The Knave, engulfing each and every leader. As for Eloise, she was smart, different from an average rum-sunken captain. Her logic supported her reasoning, and she liked to keep it that way. No brain-sucking rum to reduce her present intellect. She believed that returning the very thing that started the cycle was the way to free The Knave of its curse.
Deeper she ventured into the island’s center, the more greenery covered the path. It took long, but eventually, she made it to the center foundation. The stone platform, shaped like a twisted spiral of patterns. Sapphire stone tiles contrasting against the moss-covered stones. Finally, there was the singular bridge leading out to the platform. This was the place in each and every dream. In every nightmare.
Eloise knelt down to her knees, removing her hat, placing it on the center stone. “It’s about time I made it here to you, nameless.” She whispered. With a smaller blade hung from her jewel-covered belt, she plucked the center stone away from the hat. Looking down where the stone was chiseled. The sapphire stone here fits against the floor perfectly, like a missing puzzle piece.
In a mere whisper, Eloise speaks a prayer, a plea for the curse to revoke itself. I return what you wished to regain. Now please, free my brethren. Let them rest peacefully.
With the movement of her hands, she reaches to put the stone where it belongs, to finish the puzzle. Except she was stopped. A swing of one’s blade, disarming her. Slicing straight through her mechanical arm. The stone fell, rolling off of the platform. It sank to the bottom of the water within seconds.
She turned her head, eyes widening as she saw the one with the blade; The quartermaster himself.
“No! No no no!” Getting up to her knees, her only hand tightened into a fist as she watched the stone sink. She regained foothold, storming over to the boy and firmly gripping the collar of his shirt.
“Damn it, you filthy traitor! What have you done!?”
No comment, just a familiar cackle. The same laugh that plagued her nightmares. That friendly accent in his voice, and the passiveness; It was all gone. “Kind of a shame, Eloise. I liked this life you gave me.”
All this time, Eloise was so wrapped up in this task to the point she forgot about the quartermaster’s whereabouts, let alone his unknown intentions entirely. What a grave mistake. It seems that returning the stone never should’ve been her main priority. The enemy was within her reach the entire time.
“Y-You’re a Delutor!… You–!”
Schwing.
Too late. Another swipe of the blade, and captain Eloise was no more. Her dismembered head fell to the water, sinking to the seafloor before the rest of her body joined.
Nobody came off from that island that night, and so The Knave set sail elsewhere. Eloise was gone, but so was the quartermaster. As a matter of fact, the quartermaster was more or less of a guardian of prophecy. A Delutor, as Eloise tried to say. His humanity was a facade. A personified delusion that allowed him to maintain protection of this nameless curse.
When it was over, the Delutor sat down upon his knees in this fake body and he wept. It was a perplexing response; How one with the lacking of real self, real mortality, could even conger up even the faintest emotion. Regardless, he did. He sat there and he cried.
To this day, the said prophecy will remain unfulfilled, and it will remain that way until time no longer pursues. Eloise’s remains stay at the bottom of the archipelago’s waters, flesh decomposed down to the bone. Her skeletal remains molded into stone, joined with the various others of former nameless captains and crewmembers. Mountains of corpses decorating the seafloor. So many to the point the ocean alone could make an undefeatable army.
The Knave’s continues to sail these waters while the crew, the future captains will remain unknowingly sentenced to near death, and the Delutor, reforming his humanity per each future cycle. For those who devote their lives to The Knave shall know to never again stray from their paths.
They must stay mindful of what ensues when they do..
