Moonlight Waves

Epilogue

    The Royal Navy, to everyone's shock and surprise, came to Crescent Island a few days after the funerals had been completed. Awarding sailor and pirate alike with medals of honor for their acts of bravery and their service to the crown during the battle against Captain Nico. They then loaded up the King's prized jewels and treasures from the island onto their war ships and left Crescent Island for good.  Leaving nothing but a few shiny medals as their thanks for the sacrifices that were made that day.
    True to Nereida's prediction, Amadrya and Robby got married in the spring. It was a small wedding held on the cliffs overlooking the sea and the newlywed's faces shown with joy. But underneath the happiness there was the underlying grief that would cause tears to shine just as brightly as their joy. There was a noticeable empty seat, empty space, throughout the entire day; as there will continue to be everyday of their lives. A seat that can only be filled with memories.
  Charlie kept his promise to Nereida and got the flowers outside of The Seaman's Cottage to grow—more abundantly than Nereida could ever hope. They grew in beautiful, vibrant colors, covering every inch of available space around the cottage and continued to spread out into the meadow beyond. Charlie didn't stop there and continued to plant flowers in her memory every spring. He eventually met a rosy cheeked girl from the island and when they married, they both took an interest in the island's orphanage. Soon the couple took over the running of the orphanage and the care for the children. Both finding more purpose in the task than they ever thought they would. 
  After Callum found a suitable ship, Ian did indeed become his best friend's first mate. They didn't go back to live the lives of ordinary merchants, but instead they became treasure hunters. Sailing off in chase of rumors and half-remembered tales that would lead them to treasure. Sometimes they would be rewarded for their labors, and sometimes they wouldn't. But it was the thrill of the hunt that made even the dead ends worthwhile. It was a sense of adventure every time they hoisted the anchor and found their heading, a thrill that never left them, even in their old age. Ian did meet a girl: a Spaniard who joined the crew a few years after their first journey. She was beautiful and witty, chatting away at the wind and dancing to the tunes in her head. It took Ian years to finally ask her, and when he did, Callum had the honor of marrying the two aboard his ship.
  Callum was picky about the ship he was going to Captain and he and Ian journeyed to the mainland to choose between the ones there. It was an immediate decision when Callum saw the ship sitting at the dock, it was more a feeling that that ship was the right one. He had a few modifications made to it, one of them being the design of the figurehead. He gave the one portrait of Nereida he had to the carpenters and explained the design he wanted for it and was not disappointed when he returned for his ship. When he gazed up at the figurehead, a lump formed in his throat at the sudden surge of emotions, forming from the ship was a glorified Nerieda.
  From her feet to just below her collar bone, in place of a dress, was a swirling sash of water. Wrapping around her waist and splashing against her chest. Her hair cascaded down her back in soft waves, a three band crown of stars, crescent moons, and constellations resting across her brow. Her hands clasped gently in front of her stomach and her head bowed slightly with her eyes closed and her lips loosely parted, as if she were in silent prayer.
  It's a likeness so ideal that the people of Crescent Island claim that on foggy nights it would look as though the maiden was returning as a ghost to walk the beach alone as she used to do.
  It wasn't just her form that Callum adorned the ship with, but her name to—The Sitara—he covered his ship with the memory of her. Not to torment himself with the past but to remind himself of the love he once had and the love he still feels.
  It's on his ship, in the middle of the endless sea, that he feels his Sitara more than ever. He could hear her singing in the whistling wind and hear her yelling when it begin to howl and tug angrily at the sails. He feels her gentle touch in the spray of the sea and sometimes a hard slap when the waves bash against the ship. He can feel her eyes on him as he sails beneath a multitude of stars and in the design of the moon he could swear it's her smile he sees.
  She's there with him every moment he sets sail from port and she never leaves his side.
  In a way, he became married to the sea (as all Captains and sailors will do), the sea that had become Nereida. He was okay, as he said he would be, but there was always a frozen part of him that never truly thawed. A part of himself that never returned until the day he layed upon his death bed where Ian and his wife sat by his side.
   Ian sat by his friend's bed, both weathered and worn, grey beards and thinning hair. One a little more worn than the other but showing no true signs of the illness plaguing him.
  Callum shakily reached out his hand and Ian took his friend's—his brother's—hand.
  "You can keep the ship." Callum tells him, his voice deeper and croaked in old age.
"Thanks, I just might. No use letting a good ship go to waste." Ian answers, his voice pained. His wife steps up behind him and places a supporting hand on his shoulder.
  Callum's eyes suddenly go distant as he looks past the structure of the ship and beyond the sea even. His gaze quickly coming back to his friend and a soft smile scrunching up the years of wrinkles upon his face.
  "She's waiting for me, Ian." Callum says, his words barely above a whisper. "She's waiting for me."
  His gaze goes distant again, looking far beyond this life all together and his features all relax— all but for the soft smile.
  "Then go to her, Callum, go on home."