After the African boy passed out, me and my crew exchanged some weird glances. The poor dude just made my first official voyage as the captain of the Flying Dutchman all awkward. Norrington walked up beside me as we all turned to stare at the well, I couldn't call him Boy. He definitely looked older than me, at least by a couple years or so.
"Was it something I said?" I whispered to Norrington. I did not expect this to happen at all. Well, only a little. It wasn't everyday when a ghost ship came to save you full of fishmen. Speaking of fishmen, my right arm started to hurt like hell so I was trying not to move it. I was going to have to check it later. It felt...a bit harder and stiff.
"Hmm, I don't think so. Perhaps it was them?" Norrington motioned his head to Maccus and Palifico who was poking the guy. Wow, he even peed himself. Poor dude, he was on the verge of drowning and now he pissed himself. He was going to be so embarrassed when he woke up.
"Eh, you're probably right." I waved my left hand at Maccus. "Wake him up or something." Maccus gave a lazy salute, left, and came back with an ugly water bucket. He dumped it all over Piss African guy, who woke up startled.
"Wha-" He started to say, but I cut him off.
"You were on the verge of dying and I saved your life." He seemed confused yet with every word I spoke. He opened his mouth again to speak.
"W-What?" He gave Maccus and Palifico a fearful look. Yeah, they were pretty scary, with their sea creature features. I gave him a warm smile, but he flinched anyway.
"You heard me. You were about to drown, die, sail onto the other side, so I saved you." Have him bound to the Dutchman I heard a voice in the back of my head say. No, he didn't do anything that made him deserve being forced into servitude. BOUND HIM. I touched my forehead lightly. I felt a headache forming. No, if he wanted to join it would be by his own choice.
"You have three choices." I said slowly taking deep breaths. The storm around us grew more violent, but the Dutchman remained unaffected from the heavy rain. The Boy listened carefully.
"One, you can go back into the water and drown. I'll guide you into the otherside where you'll finally be at peace, you will have no worries, no longer have to worry about what you will eat tomorrow, no suffering." I hid my pain with another smile. "The second option, I take you back to your village and you forget this ever happened." I bet he was going to choose this one. The Dutchman needs a crew. I felt a pang of pain go up my right arm.
"The last option…" I took a deep breath. "You join my crew for ten years, afterwards I shall release you of your bonds and be rewarded with wealth." He wasn't a criminal that deserved to be shackled to serve me for all eternity. The Boy nodded slowly and licked his lips.
"I-I choose the second one." Of course he would. I nodded with my smile still on my face. The Boy kept staring at me. "W-Who are you?" He stuttered.
Shoot, I haven't chosen a cape name yet. Did I even need one? It's not like I was one, but if the PRT somehow found out about me I didn't want some lame one.
"I am Taylor Hebert, Lord of the Seven Seas, Ruler of the Ocean Depths, Ferryman to all those who die at sea, and Captain of the Flying Dutchman. You can call me...Captain Charon." Yeah, that was pretty lame. I turned to Ogilvey and Crash.
"Take our guest-" I almost got whiplash from how hard I turned my head back to the Boy. "What's your name again?" I couldn't keep calling him Boy after all.
"Ekon."
I nodded. "Take Ekon somewhere below deck where he can dry off for now." Ogilvey's lone eye blinked and guided Ekon by the arm somewhere else.
I closed my eyes, and focused on the storm. I sensed his friends.
"They're that way." I pointed off into the distance. Palifico grunted in response and disappeared into the railing, reappearing at the steering wheel to adjust our course. "Prepare for a rescue." I told Maccus who nodded and went to prepare. I wandered off to the bow of the Dutchman.
This all felt so surreal. The sea water splashing onto my cheeks, the wind blowing through my hair. It all made me feel so alive. I haven't felt this way in years. Norrington walked up beside me.
"Shall we submerge?" He asked. I liked his voice, it sounded so professional and fancy.
I shook my head. "Nah, we have a guest onboard. Besides, I want to make a dramatic entrance."
-*-
By the time we reached Ekon's friends, their small boat capsized and were trying to survive by holding onto it. They were failing rather miserably as they started sinking into the ocean as soon as they saw the Dutchman. Maccus and Crash had to go down there to save them while I stared from the bow. I was going to need a hat soon, a nice red one in order to match my coat would be nice.
Soon, the three of them were kneeling before me for some reason. The one that seemed to be in charge stared at Ekon in shock. Yeah, he's still alive no thanks to you guys.
"W-Who are you?" The one that seemed to be their leader said. It seemed that a lot of people were going to ask that question from now on. The Dutchman groaned. Serve or die. I balled my left hand into a fist. I am the master of my ship! Not you! I am the captain! I gave them a fake smile to hide my pain.
"You can call me Charon, Captain of the Flying Dutchman and Ferryman to all those who died at sea." Their faces turned from one of confusion, to one of horror.
"A-Are we dead?" Their Leader asked. All three of them started tearing up and were about to start sobbing.
"Well, not yet anyways. You see, I'm going to give you the same three options I gave Ekon here." Hopefully I could tell them before they started crying. "Option one, you die and you can peacefully cross over to the afterlife. Option two, I take you back to your village and keep your mouth shut. Option three, you join my crew for ten years, afterwards you shall be released from your bonds and shall be richly rewarded." I gave them a few minutes to discuss it among themselves. All men are sinners. Make them SERVE. I started grinding my teeth. They stared at me with fear in their eyes when their Leader cleared his throat.
"We choose the second option." A wise choice of course. I nodded still smiling and turned to Ekon.
"Go and tell Palifico where your village is. He's that walking coral reef by the wheel." Ekon gave me a fearful smile and walked away quickly. They must've been so relieved that I found them when I did. Ekon and his friends would be able to see their loved ones again.
Speaking of loved ones...I wondered how Dad was doing.
A/N
Here's the art. I have another that shall be shown next chapter
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
