57th Tick: Out At Sea 2
1077 Words
“Welcome aboard!” The crew greeted the three of them.
Thomas scratched his head, wondering whether it was alright for them crew to be greeting them instead of navigating the ship. He nodded and signalled the to continue doing whatever they were going to do. The men were quite well built, better built than Thomas. They wore a sailor hat and uniform, a sort of dark blue. Thomas walked past the hallway where the rooms were. He wanted to know what had brought the ship to that state and who exactly the men were.
Thomas saw a younger man walk past him. He grabbed his shoulder and asked, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.” The sailor replied. “Can I leave after you ask it?”
“Yes you may.”
The sailor turned around and started to walk away. Thomas grabbed his shoulder again. “Didn’t you say I could ask a question?”
“Sir, you already did, plus you asked another one.” He politely explained.
“What question did I ask?”
“You asked whether you could ask a question.”
Thomas took a deep breath, resisting the urge to hit the sailor. He emphasised, “May I ask questions?”
“It is alright.” The sailor replied, smiling slightly.
“You play some weird games.” Thomas muttered.
“Whatever do you mean, sir?”
Thomas waved the question away and started walking beside the sailor. “I would rather talk while we made our way to the captain.”
“I will lead the way.”
The sailor started walking, Thomas followed. Thomas took another look at the interior design of the ship, the slight sway as it sailed the sea. Thomas asked, “Who are you guys?”
“The Wave Marine crew. Have you not heard of us? Our captain made a name for himself when fighting bravely against the demons.” The sailor replied. “Of all the heroes, he is one of the few who survived.”
Thomas took in the information, thinking about it. He stopped in place and gave the sailor a look. He slowly asked, “So... how many years has it been since the demon invasion?”
The sailor laughed lightly and told Thomas, “Are you not of this time? What a weird question to ask. Of course, the memory is still fresh in our heads, and our captain wishes for revenge, only about a good five years since that calamity.”
“Oh... I see.” Thomas whispered. “So sorry, I seem to have forgotten for a moment.”
“No worries, I get confused too.”
They walked silently for some time. Thomas was thinking rapidly. The ship he had revived along with the crew was from about ninety-five years ago. One of the many heroes still exist, although he probably could not do much against the demon generals. Still, for the ship to be placed in such a convenient location, with such a convenient tool to achieve their goal, someone was pulling the strings. He was no i***t, he began doubting Truth even more then before.
“Have the demons been overthrown?” The sailor asked suddenly.
“Overthrown? Not yet.” Thomas replied. “Why?”
“That is weird... what of hero Angelo? He is the strongest hero, has he defeated a few demon generals at least?”
“Hard to break it to you, but I have no idea who Angelo is.”
The sailor rubbed his chin and shrugged. “Angelo is a proud man, he always said he was blessed by the Heavens, pretty funny guy once you get to know him.”
“Yeah... I’m so excited to meet him...” Thomas said, not excited for when the sailor realised the hero was most likely dead.
The sailor stopped in front of a door and pointed at it. “This is the captain’s room, please knock before entering.”
Thomas nodded, the sailor walking away. Thomas did as he was told, knocking on the door of the room. After knocking, he stood there rather awkwardly as he waited for a reply. He stood there, thinking about what he was going to say to the captain. He wanted to find out more about them, who were they and what had killed them? Thomas did not want to ask the sailor in case it brought back any traumatic memories for the young man.
Thomas tapped his foot on the ground, crossing his arms. He was starting to get impatient with waiting. He looked around him, then said, “Zeroth Hour.”
Time paused. Thomas turned the handle of the door, surprised that it managed to open clearly. He entered the room, seeing a few books on shelves to the side, a single bed with a lamp across the room. It was simple and only had what was necessary. Thomas looked around, wondering where the captain was. There was no sign of him, in fact, there was too few notices of human life. Thomas walked out, rushing past several sailors and stood on the deck, looking around. He tried searching everywhere in the ship, but he was unable to find the captain.
Thomas looked over the side, seeing a figure in the water without a shirt. Thomas breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that the man the one who greeted him. Time resumed, the nearby sailors shocked at Thomas’ presence.
“Is that your captain?” Thomas asked a nearby sailor.
“Yes.” He replied.
“What’s he doing?”
The sailor took a closer look at his captain. He shook his head and said, “He’s doing his ritual.”
“Ritual?” Thomas questioned, confused.
“Yes, he does this all the time when he is feeling out of shape. The crew has seen it too many times to bather caring.”
“What? Does he swim along with the boat?” Thomas joked.
“Not at all.” The sailor assured.
“Then what does he usually do?”
“He invites the disasters of the seas.”
“The what?”
Thomas looked below at the captain who was just bobbing up and down on the waves. Thomas saw something in the distance, a fin as tall as Thomas himself stuck out from the surface of the water. Another fin, rather, a tail stuck out a few meters behind the fin.
“You’re joking.” Thomas whispered.
The human in the sea flexed his muscles and spread his arms, extending his arms to either side. He was ready for battle, battle with the sea.
- Writer
