Part 8 [7] – The Legend of the Rapid Flintlock: Allow us to introduce ourselves. Oh and well, the Davy Jones’ Locker? It’s true, as it turns out.
Chief Aviator Eveline Gwen Tracer Hepburn “Fate of Existence and the Omniverse” Ellen Trixie Caitlin Foxworthy Avril Verlene Celinda Sammy Doris T-Rev Oxton Arielle Lindall Leslie Vitesse Allison celebrated together with the crew, having quite a lot of rum, along with a couple of fresh fruits – which by some miracle were still good for consumption. “Well to be fair, it’s only perhaps nearly a day,” Eveline thought to herself, biting into a piece of orange that was given to her. Obviously, Eveline is immune to the scourges of scurvy and whatnot, but as she found out multiple times, it’s better to let it be and go with the flow. For that moment, the flow was one of the celebrations as aforementioned, Ivo and his crew singing sea shanties, followed by playing a couple of card games. Eveline got into the action as well, using her powers just for fair and small amounts to even the odds against rules unfamiliar.
The games and celebration went on for another hour, until it was time to set sail. “But first,” Ivo declared, “We must send these poor souls to the Locker!” Eveline nodded, looking at the causalities from the previous skirmish. As was established, there were 3 dead Expedition crew members, along with 6 pirates. “Alas, such is life on the sea. Violent ends,” he simply said before going down to the lower floor of the ship, “You stay here, Lass. We will be back before you know it.” Eveline watched as the rest of the crew – some of them giving her glimpses of being in awe, following Sir Ivo and slowly made their way down as they were soon obscured by the darkness and shadows of the dimly lit lower decks. While she waited for them to come back, Eveline stood at one side of the ship and sat down, with some crew members slowly approaching her as if they wanted to strike up a conversation. “Well, why not?”
There were six of them in total, 4 men and 2 women from the looks of it, and also because Eveline have been told. “Lass Eveline, was it?” one of the crew members attempted at a conversation; a young lad, could not possibly be more than 28 years old. “We must say – that really be some good and fine fighting. Sir Ivo said you must be more than what we can see!” Eveline hid a small blush as she looked up and decided to entertain and talk to the crew. After all, they let her in without a lot of questioning (save for that part before the pirates interrupted them), so perhaps it will be a bit more helpful to know them. As callous as it might be, however, Eveline was aware that at one point during her adventures, she might have forgotten about them; her brain can only store so many adventures even after all the best technology and magic that the Valentians have to give her. With all that said, Eveline is more than happy to live in the present as she always tried her best to. “Thank you, guys- I mean, lads and lasses. Sorry, my old accent is slipping out, hah! Anyway, all is well about what happened before, don’t worry about all of that!”
“I suppose we have not introduced ourselves yet. Arrrr, me name’s Davie! True or no, I shared the same life as you before I joined this crew. Don’t miss going back to those masses.”
“I’m Gwenna,” a young lady piped up, giving Eveline a double take as she wondered for a brief moment as to if she was calling her name, “Part of an o’ pirate crew. Don’t want to do it any longer, it’s a horrible life for me.”
“Zain,” another man said with a rather gruff voice, and with quite a physique to boot, “O’ Navy dog here. Framed by an officer, been on the run since. Joined the crew much later than these folks!”
“Antoine, my good lass,” spoke another man – looking at Eveline briefly before going back to look at his fallen comrades, “Heard of Sir Ivo and his crew making tales in a tavern and I figured I shall go with them.”
“Tores, as my crew called me. Was gonna get me head lopped off before, by chance, I got rescued by one of Sir Ivo’s crew members.”
“Which indeed be me, Julia!” the last lady said. From the looks alone, she seemed relatively older than Gwenna, and have went through a lot with Tores, for one. Still, Eveline is not going to overstep her boundaries and ask.
“It’s wonderful to meet you all!” Eveline said with a soft smile on her face, “I am Eveline, just to reaffirm that, haha! We all came from all sorts of places and paths of life, don’t we?” to which the six of them agree. “I’m… I’m also sorry about your crew.”
“Ahh, don’t be too disheartened,” Antoine replied back to her, “As tragic as these are, this be the price we pay for the promise of adventures and legends. Arr, provided the legends’re true. Else we be simply going on boat rides.”
“Who were the three that passed, if I may ask?”
“Josse, Liam, and Pedro,” Tores said, “One of them was a good lad and a friend to Antoine.”
“They‘ll all be missed,” Antoine reaffirmed, “They put up a good fight.”
“Right, I see. I’m sorry to hear about your losses,” Eveline paused for a moment before asking the more important question, “What were the rest of the crew doing down there?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?” Gwenna asked, surprised, “Ah, sorry! Not everyone are familiar with tales of the o’ sea! You heard of Sir Ivo talking about the Locker, ya? So… that is a tradi- traditi- ritual! A ritual that we have to do for those who perished in the sea. That, and the dead bodies on the boat is nee good.”
“Of course,” Eveline shrugged.
Just as then, Ivo and the rest of the crew emerged from the deck, each of them carrying a wooden coffin. With a swift order, the crew put each corpse in a coffin, respectfully crossing their arms and posturing them in a straight-up position. They were put into the coffins together with their personal artifacts – ranging from their weapons and outfits, to jewelry and trinkets. “They look graceful as they can be,” Sir Ivo said, “A rough life sailing the Nine o’ Seas.”
With more final touches, the nine coffins were ready to be floated into the water, according to Sir Ivo. “It will do, crew! They will allow no water to go in. Now, we be ready. Put them into the sea, and row back.” They did just that, and a few more minutes afterwards, Eveline saw the nine coffins floating in a group, in the waters at least 800 meters away from them. It seemed like the crew were going rather quickly to get away from the coffins. Eveline was about to question it, but held her tongue as she simple watched as to what happened next; it is still part of her adventures, after all. Ivo then took out a small book from his jacket’s pocket, and started reading out a small chant.
“Arrr, hear me – deities of Nine o’ Seas. Tis of great misfortune that these crew have perished on our own journey. Me crew Josse, Pedro, Liam, along with these 6 pirate seadogs, were the ones to have perished. Grant them the path to the afterlife, and may they be deserving of your judgment.” As Ivo closed the book, he then waited and looked at the coffins – then further away ¬– with his spyglass. “Keep rowing, men!” he shouted at the crew below the deck, his voice starting to get drowned out by the sea that was slowly getting rough with each passing second. Eveline was not going to question any elements of religion or mythology in this world, for she has already seen a lot.
The ship started getting rocked by the turbulent waves, the dark clouds looming and cutting off the clear skies and its star above. There were also loud thunders and rumblings all over the place, with Eveline thinking if she should stay under the deck, lest her armor becomes a lightning rod. As seconds passed by, the dark clouds have completely enveloped the skies, and in the distance, something was happening. “Look, Lass! Gwenna, pass her a spyglass,” Ivo shouted out against the storm as Eveline took it and looked at the coffins. Initially floating harmlessly on the waters, they were then circling around the vortex that was forming underneath them, “underwater tornado” as some of the Valentians and non-Valentians have called them. The vortex intensified with each passing tick of Eveline’s clocks on her suit of armor, followed by something much more spectacular – the vortex collapsed, leaving behind a large hole in the middle of the sea devoid of any water. The coffins, with no water to hold them afloat, also dropped like rocks following the event. “Their bodies shall hit the Locker!” Ivo remarked to Eveline, in awe herself as well.
A minute or two passed before the seahole closed back on itself, the water rushing back into the empty space and covering it up. As if on cue, the skies also cleared up, the thunders also slowly and gradually stopped, and it was back to the sunny albeit humid weather that Eveline has experienced in some countries and parts of Valentine Z right on the equator. For her, she was not as surprised because she has, after all, seen a lot of other worlds with such phenomenon. For the rest of the crew, however, it seemed like an every day thing for them, a ritual that they have to do for the crew and sailors in the “Nine o’ Seas”, as mentioned by many. “Arrr… take a break, me crew!” Ivo said.
