The Legend Of The Five Queens : Arabella's tale

Chapter 25: New friends

   Arabella and the men stand around the burning barrel.
   "Guess I will be the first one to speak. As i said earlier, my pops and I had our own farm. We worked 7 days a week working to take care of ourselves and the local people. My dad started getting sick when he started getting old. Eventually the poor man died and the farm became too much for me to take care of so I ended up selling the land. I went about 7 months on the streets with little to no money to work with. That was until the guys found me at the towns bar using what money I had left to drink my sadness away. These guys recruited me into their crew and gave me a chance to not worry about when my next meal would be. I do not think I would be alive if they had not taken me in," Aiden holds his arms close to himself. Arabella finds it interesting that a man could live such a poor life. She couldn't of imagined having to live such a life. Everyone stays silent for a moment.
"I suppose that I will go next," Egore finally speaks up thus eliminating the silence. "My father was a blacksmith and my mother takes care of some wealthy man. I tried to work with my father but I found that I was not very good at being a blacksmith so at the age of 17 I started up my own bakery once that was my true passion. I did that for about 15 years before I gave it to my sister. And just like Aiden, these guy found me at a bar and recruited me. Best damn thing to happen to me," He fills his mug from a barrel of booze and takes a long sip of it.
"Why don't we have Adrian tell us his story?" Ronald speaks up with a laugh added on. This statement takes Arabella off guard given that he came off as a nice person.
   "Oh sure, let's have a mute man tell his story. Why don't you tell yours then?" Arabella tells Ronald. Ronald gives her a strange look before laughing.
   "So be it then, Arabella. So my parents were good people. My dad worked in the coal mines and my mom slept around to make money. I worked cleaning out barns for royal families. It didn't pay much but it helped me to survive. Unlink the other two, they did not find me at a bar. I found them when I was searching for a job to be work on a ship," he shivers and stands closer to the fire to warm up.
   Arabella finds this crew to be interesting to her. They all come from rough yet different backgrounds but somehow have managed to banned together. It is as if fate brought them together for some reason.
"So then what is your story Arabella? What led you to being in the bar that we found you in?"Aiden Asks Arabella with a snarky look on his face. Great, now they want to know about her. They may not be ready to know who Arabella truly is just yet. She may have to lie to them for right now in case they don't like secretly transporting a Queen.
My father spent a lot of my childhood away from home and my mom was always working. I had someone who is a father figure to me help me grow as a person. He was there for me when my Father could not be. But I am here because there is something that I need to find soon. I got lucky that this crew took my offer," She stands closer to the fire to further absorb the heat into her stone.
   "And after we find this object, what do you plan on doing afterwards?" The Captains voice comes from behind the men. Arabella is shocked to see Captain Kration approaching the barrel in his uniform.
"I will most likely just go back home once I have what I need," She lets out a sigh and looks at the barrel as if she is tempted by the alcohol. The noble Queen will not be tempted but such a liqui.
"And how exactly how do you have such amount of money on you?" The Captain asks as he rubs his hands near the flames. Arabella knows this may be a difficult situation to work around.
   "My parents worked for a royal family who paid them very well. I, being their only daughter have accumulated a lot of that money," She slowly takes a few steps away from the fire.
    "You are a very interesting person Arabella. I am very excited to see how this journey turns out. Maybe after it is over you will consider joining our crew permanently," The Captain speaks back up.
" I appreciated the offer but unfortunately I am going to have to decline. I do not plan on living the rest of my life on the sea. No offense," she replies as she looks at the Captain through the flames.
"Well, maybe in the future you will reconsider. for now we are en route to our destination. I pulled out some files that we had on the island and it does not appear to be inhabited by anyone anymore. People have reported seeing someone put something in a cave that is hidden deep within the forest," He takes a long sip from his mug.
"What is it that we are retrieving exactly?" Gerald asks as he fills his mug again. Arabella lets out a sigh and looks down for a moment. It is time for the rest of the crew to know what is going on.
   "We are looking for a sword, a very powerful sword. The sword is rumored to be able to cut through any object," Arabella brings out a drawing of the sword for the crew.
"A sword like only existed in a fairytale. There is no was such an object in the real world," Egore laughs at her statement.
   "Oh it is very to real and dangerous to use. It is very important that I retrieved it,"She rubs the part of her shirt that sits above the stone.
   "I would be surprised if we found such an object. It would probably sell for a very good price,"Aiden speaks up. Damn pirates. Always thinking about the quickest way to make money.
"I am sure it would sell for a lot of money. However, I will not allow it to end up in the wrong hands and I am not in need of making more profit. This sword is very real and very dangerous despite how crazy it may sound," She tries to keep her voice strict in hopes that they will take her serious.
"It does not matter if the item is real or not. What matter is that we get Arabella to the location of this sword. After all, she is our client. There is nothing else to discuss about that," Captain Kraton speaks up. All the men nod their heads in agreement. These men seem very loyal to their Captain as they should be. Soon they whole crew will be loyal to Arabella.
"Soon we are going to call it a night for tomorrow will be a busy day. The Death Sea is not easy to traverse through," The crew stays silent for a moment as they stare at the fire. Queen Arabella can sense the fear that is radiating from the crew.
"I would not worry too much about it captain. I am sure we will get passed the sea. We have done it before after all," Aiden says as he looks at Captain Kraton.
"Yeah we did and we all know how that turned out," Egore voice is filled with sadness in it. Once again Egore decides to reference some even but not give any details as to what happened.
"What exactly happened after you got through the Death Sea? Earlier Egore made it sound like the crew may have lost a member," The crew look at Arabella with an awkward look on their faces. They are clearly very uncomfortable with the Queens question.
   "That, is not something that we speak about Arabella. The Death Sea can create long lasting horrors to these who travel through it. We have been affected in our own ways by said horror. But dwelling on the past will not help us move forward. If we are to successfully travel through the Death Sea than we must be as mentally strong as possible," Captain Kraton walks back to his quarters on the ship. Arabella turns to see the Captain walk away.
   "Captain, now that I am here all will go well. I promise you," Arabella stands with her fists balled up gently. The Captain pauses for a moment before turning around with half of his face towards her.
   "How do you know things will go differently?" He asks with sad tone of voice.
"You just have to trust me,"  she relaxes her hands as she continues to make eye contact with the Captain. Time feels as though it has stopped as the two locked eyes.
"Young Arabella, I do hope you understand the severity of the situation that we are about to go into tomorrow. It is something that should bear taken with the upmost of seriousness," He turns away from Arabella and walks into his quarters closing the door behind him. The men spend the next hour talking about the small adventures that they had gone on in the past as they drank. The men end up passing out open random parts of the ship completely drunk.
Arabella laid in her bed starring up at the ceiling. Her mind will not get away from the idea of traveling through the Death Sea. So many sailors have failed trying to cross the Sea. Monsters that come from beneath the sea are rumored to be the cause of the sailors deaths. Anxiety slowly starts to set as Arabella realizes that she may not make it past the sea. That is of course if she ends up having to use her fire stone to defend herself and the crew. Eventually Arabella will probably end up having to relive who she really is to the crew. Hopefully Arabella will not have to show her true power until she takes over the world.
Queen Arabella turns her body to face the cold wooden wall. She tries to quiet her thoughts as she focuses on the feeling of the ship moving through the waters.
   As morning approaches, the sun slowly rises above the sea. The sunlight bleeds into Arabella's room destroying the shadows as it crawls across the floor. Arabella's stone illuminates as the sunlight reaches it. A rush of enters flows through Arabella's body slowly waking her up. She sits up and stretches out her arms as she lets out a silent yawn. Her muscles feel sore and tense from the long hours that she had just spent away. But the time for sleeping is over, for today the crew will reach the Death Sea.
   Arabella gets changed into her day clothes and ascends above to the main deck. The other men move around the ship doing their morning routine on the ship. Captain Kraton gives the men orders to take special precautions for the upcoming struggle they may face. The waves were becoming more and more violent as the day slowly moves on.
The wind feels colder than normal and the sky is filled with more birds today. For the first time in years, Arabella is feeling uncomfortable. She tries to shake the feeling from her body and clear her head.
"I am glad that you could join us Arabella! We will be approaching the Death Sea by mid-day if all goes well. Come up and see for yourself!" He gestures for her come towards him. She walks across the deck and greets the others as she makes her way to the stairs that lead up to the top of the ship. The Captain stands at the edge of the ship with Adrian steering the wheel. Arabella slowly approaches Captain Kraton as she admires the the view. She can see the sunlight cover the sea as far out as the eye can see.
   "It will not be long now. You can feel it don't you? The change in weather? The obvious change in how rough the waves are today compared to the previous days? A storms coming. Maybe more if the stories are true," He says while continuing to look out at the ocean.
   "I have read some of the stories as a little girl. I know about the creatures that have been rumored to come out from beneath the sea that are apparently unable to be killed. I always thought it was just a myth. Your crew has survived the Death Sea, did you see any creatures?" She turns her attention to the captain turns his gaze towards the ground.
"We did...and we saw the horrors of the sea," His voice is shaky as he speaks as if the fear within him. It is time for Arabella to find out what really happened.
"Captain Kraton, I want to know what is really going on. I want to know what happened that caused the crew to be so awkward about it. And I am not asking you. I am telling you," She turns her whole body so that it facing him. The Queen keeps her voice stern which throws the Captain off guard. He stays silent before letting out a long sigh and turns his gaze back towards the sea again.
"During our travel through the Death Sea we came in contact with these human like sea creatures. Their bodies had scales on them that made them seem unable to be killed. Our arrows simply broke against their skin. Our very sword could not even penetrate their skin. But now we have to the weapons that have a chance at taking down those monsters. Those monsters took one of our guys into the sea with them. I believe that we may have a chance of finding him when we reach the Death Sea," Captain Kraton hands grab the wooden bar harder. Arabella eyes soften as she listens to him speak. Everything makes sense to Arabella now understands why everyone was so secretive about what had happened on their last voyage through the dangerous trip.r
"So if all goes well we get my sword and your crewman then, correct?" She asks him. He takes a moment to respond as if he is hesitating.
"Yes, hopefully. The other guys have been beating themselves over losing our guy- Derek. Some of them believe that he is dead and the others believe that he is missing. Personally, I believe that he is gone but being a Captain for twenty-five years has taught me that the sea can hold many secrets," He looks at her with a serious look on his face. It is as if he is now angry for some reason.
   "Now it is it one for you to be honest, why do you want the sword so bad?" Arabella's is taken off by his question and tone of voice. The Queen did not think that she would get honest with the Captain this quickly. Perhaps they are starting to build trust between each other.
"My mother spent years looking for the sword, I feel as though the sword belongs to me because of that,"
"That is not exactly how that works though Arabella.That if that sword is rightfully owned by someone else?"
"Then I will take it from them by whatever means possible,"
"Even if it means using force?"
"Yes, assuming that I cannot bribe them then yes." Captain Kraton turns to face Arabella before taking a step back. Arabella backs up as well and prepares to use her stone.
"So, you have the will of a pirate in you. You are perfect for this crew!" He throws his arms out in excitement as he gives her a huge smile as a child would. A pirate? No, Arabella would never stumped down to the level of being a pirate. It may be smart to play with the idea of her being a pirate to better keep her secret from them. This is making things more interesting.
"Yes, I suppose i do. I will get what I want no matter the cost," Arabella relaxes her body as she cuts off the stones power.
The ship suddenly starts rocking violently back and forth and from the incoming waves.
"Captain, I think that it is safe to say that we are almost at the Death Sea!" Adrian calls out as he struggles to keep the ship moving forward. Arabella and Captain Kraton grab a hold of the railing as they try to keep their balance. Arabella falls to her knees as she holds on for her life. She has never felt anything like this in her life before. In this moment Arabella feels a tremendous amount of fear before finally getting herself under control.
   Water splashes over the sides of the ship as a terrible storm comes closer to the ship. Arabella can hear Egore yelling at the other men to help keep the ship under control.
"Well as much as I would love to keep talking, it would appear as though it is time for me to take charge as Captain!" Captain Kraton quickly stands up and rushes to the top of the ship that over looks the crew.
"You heard him men! The wraith of the Death Sea is upon us and is really to let us feel its fury! Keep the sails up and keep those ropes tight! We will show this storm what we are made of!" Captain Kraton quickly pushes his arm in the air and keeps it there. The other men raise one of their fists in the air as they cheer along with the Captain. Tall wooden barrels starts rolling across the floor as the ship continues to rock back and forth violently. Aiden grabs one of the barrels and manages to tie it down to the floor. The clouds above unleashing a heavy rain that blinds some of the men. Adrain finds himself wiping his eyes constantly as he keeps the steer straight. Arabella lunge herself forward and grabs the steering wheel. Adrian gives Arabella a surprised look as the two of them work to get the wheel under control.
"I got this, go help them!" Adrian shouts at the heavy rain drenches them. Arabella nods before running down the stairs where the chaos is taking place. Just as she reaches the main deck Arabella sees Aiden get pinned to the ground but a closed barrel of booze. The Queen quickly darts across the ship and rolls the barrel over Aiden's body.
"Don't worry I got you! Get to the lower deck and just make sure that the ship does not start flooding," She says while quickly pulling him to his feet. He nods his head at her before running towards the hatch that leads to the lower deck.
The Queen quickly ties her hair in a bun to prevent it from getting into her face. Her stone begins to quickly heat up the Queens body as the freezing rain continues to pour from the heavens. Egore grunts loudly as he opens a wooden crate and brings out a large spear. Arabella covers her head with head with her arms as she wobbles across the ship from the high wind. Egore blindly waves his spear around ready to attack.
   "What is the spear for Egore?!" Arabella shouts out as she makes her way closer to him.
   "The beasts are coming! We must be prepared to fight them off! Those bastards will not over take us again" Egore raises his sword in the air before charging across the ship yelling at the top of his lungs. Clearly the man has some anger that he needs to release.
A giant waves splashes over the edge of the ship and pours onto the main deck knocking Arabella onto her back. Her head slams against the ground shooting pain throughout her whole body. She holds her head with one hand as she struggles to stand up.
The crew quickly work to get the ship under control as the chaos continues to unfold.
"Arabella, please check on Aiden. If the ship has hole in it then he would not be able to tell us!" Captain Kraton calls from above as him and Adrian struggle to steer the ship. Arabella wobbles from side to side as she quickly rushes to the hatch that leads below. She pulls it open and finds that the floor is covered in 3 inches of water. The Queen jumps down covering herself more in water as she lands on the ground. A heavy flow of water comes from ahead of the queen. She can hear sounds as if someone is being banged against the wall as the water continues to enter the interior of the ship. Arabella makes her way over to the sound of the water to find Aiden attempting to patch up the whole by tying down a wooden plate. 
   "Aiden let me help you!" Arabella runs over and holds down the wooden plate. Aiden quickly grabs a rope and ties the board in place thus closing the hole. He gives her a smile before he runs to clog another hole with a different plank of wood. Arabella holds the plank over the hole.
   "I'll hold it down, you grab the rope!" Arabella struggles to hold the plank against the hole as the water attempts to force itself into the ship. Aiden quickly moves around the hallway as he rummages through the boxes and broken pieces of wood. He gives her a worried looks after he looks through everything.
    "Is there no more rope?" She asks as she adjusts her stance. Aiden shakes his head and then rubs his chin as if he is thinking. Arabella knows that she must get the hole patched before it is too late.
"Do you know if there are nails around? There has got to be someway to get this patch sealed up now!" Aiden shrugs his shoulders and looks around the floor for anything that could help them.
"I may have to use the power of my stone to melt the plank over the hole. As much as I do not wish to use this stone it may be our only option," She thinks to herself as she looks at the plank. The Queen takes a deep breath and calms her mind. She draws power from her stone and heats up her hand. Her hand begin to slowly melt the plank against the wall. The outer rim of the hold slowly melts together against the hole thus sealing it up.
   Aiden moves closer to her and looks at the panel with confusion as he watches her use her powers. Arabella takes her free hand and puts a finger over her mouth to tell him to "Shush".
   "This will be our secret Aiden," She tells him as her hand makes it way around the boarder. It is not like he could tell the others about her secret. As she finishes melting the board she moves back and cools her hand down thus returning it to normal. They both turn their heads towards the ceiling as they hear loud banging and shouting. The two of them make their way towards the bottom of the stairs. Suddenly lighting comes down from the clouds and strikes the stairway know Arabella and Aiden on their backs. Arabella softly grunts as she stands back up. She looks over and notices Aiden still laying on the ground with pieces of wood scattered over body. She quickly goes over to him and puts a hand over her mouth as she notices that he has been impaled by a thick piece of wood. Blood soaks the end of the wood that is closest to his body.
   Aiden eyes are widen as he places his hands around the wood. Tears falls from his eyes as he struggles to move the piece of wood.
   "No, do not try to pull it out. You will bleed out if you do so!" Arabella says as she moves his hands away form the wood. Panic starts to overtake her body as she watches the blood slowly leave his body. She knows that there is no medical supplies around and the chaos above sounds to become worse. She has to be able to get to wood out of Aiden and somehow stop the bleeding as quick as she can. perhaps her stone can come into use for her again in helping Aiden.
   The Queen quickly pulls out the wooden steak out of his body causing blood to squirt from his body. She grabs his hand as she heats up her free hand.
   "You will want to hold onto me tightly. This will hurt badly," She tells Aiden as she uses the heat from her hand to start slowly closing the wound. Aiden closes his eyes tightly and makes a grunting face as the wound closes more. As soon as the wound closes Arabella closes off the power from the stone. Aiden lays his head back as his body starts to relax. The Queen slowly pulls Aiden to his feet and walks him across the lower deck into a small bedroom. She lays him down on the bed and gets him to look at her.
"Just stay here, you will be okay Aiden. I need to help the others upstairs," A loud thunderous boom can be heard from above the ceiling causing Arabella too duck her head towards Aidens chest. She stands back up and quickly leaves the room. As she makes her way towards the hatch she notices rain water pouring through the hatch that leads to the top deck of the ship.
A large portion of the stairs were completely blown apart by the lighting that has previously hit it. There is only one way to make it up those stairs- the stone. The stone starts feeding Arabella its power slowly. Her body feels lighter as her feet begin to slowly leave the floor. She looks at the floor with a smile as she raises her arms to her side allowing her to quickly move faster to the top of the hatch. Arabella reaches her hands up and pulls herself over the hatch.
The rain continues to violently pour down onto the ship and the crewman. Powerful winds blows waves across the ship floor. Arabella struggles to make her way across the ship as the wind fights against her. Lightning bounces between the clouds in the sky above the ship. If only Arabella could control the lightning element she would be unstoppable.
   Arabella makes her way up to the top of the ship where she hears the Captain shouting as loud as he can at Adrian. His voice goes from sounding afraid to ecstatic in a matter of seconds.
In front of the shop light can be seen breaking through the clouds as if they are finally out of the chaos. Arabella lets out a sigh of relief at the sight of then sunlight.
Captain Kraton takes off his hat and holds it with one hand as he turns his gaze towards Arabella.
"Arabella, welcome to the Death Sea,"