The Maelstrom

Chapter 14: The Void

A human is able to withstand some time without food nor water. They can be torn from their homes to live upon the streets for ages. The spirit can survive for eons upon eons; but when you are alone you are at your weakest. Lonliness can be the worst of all tortures, and the worst of all suffering if you've been betrayed...

"...Brotha." That word lingered upon the young girl's mind as the moment replayed over and over again. The cold wet steel of Gabriel's blade piercing through her diaphragm was a feeling Kietsaru could not shake. Her hand traced the scar along her body as she stood staring into the horizon, waves crashing upon jagged rocks far below the overhanging cliff side.

"One step, just one step and it'll be all over." A voice whispered in the young woman's ear, tickling her senses and urging her to do its bidding. "Your life is void without them, you have no home, no family. You have been cast aside by your own Brother's blade, left to be forgotten in the depths of the ocean below. Return to it, accept your fate."

Kietsaru looked down at the jagged rocks where skeletons of the past laid to rest, all meeting the same end that she had considered. "Why would he do this ta me? The rage in me brotha's eyes burned with no hesitation." Tears welled up in her eyes as the moment replayed once more, those murderous eyes looking down upon hers as blade pierced flesh. Her feet moved forward with a will of their own, stepping over the cliff side.

"This was not the first time you've felt this way." The darkened voice whispered as she fell so the depths below. "In a time before your memories stayed, you were a prisoner left to be alone as well."

Keitsaru rolled in the air and faced the sky as her body made it's way to the jagged grave below. Tears streamed along with her as they flowed freely from her face. The red haired woman's body hit the waters and splashed up, engulfing her like a blanket swaddling a baby. The eyes of her brother looking down at her once again, this time much younger than before. She could feel herself be lifted from the waves and into her brother's embrace. His warmth filling the void within her soul.

"Shhh little child. If father hears you we will be in trouble." The young Gabriel said as he turned; carrying a swaddled infant to a crate full of cloth. "Please be silent Keitsaru. I will get you some food." The young man said as he placed the baby down into the crate. "I will be but a moment, I promise." Kietsaru tried to respond, but her words came out incoherent from the lips of an infant.

"That moment took nearly a day, did it not?" The voice in her head whispered as the world above them was sealed with the lid from the crate. "The young man made a promise to you, hid you from the world, and kept you from your family." It's words rang out through Kietsaru's mind like daggers, stabbing into her memories.

"He did it to protect me. Gabriel was just a young boy, he knew not what he as doing. If it was not for me brotha I would not have survived." Kietsaru spoke within her thoughts to the voice, as she battled the whispers. "He did what he had to."

"Taking down his sister? Was that something he had to do?" The whisper shot back with a darkened laugh. "You watched as he not only ended your life; but your father's as well." The evil voice said as it's laughter grew. "You were not loved nor cared for by them; do you not recall that day?"

Kietsaru's mind raced as the world lit up before her. Pain quickly followed as a massive hand reached into the crate and lifted her in the air, by her long flowing crimson locks. She yelped in pain as she struggled to free herself. "Who let this child upon me ship?! Not only be it a child, it be a woman!" Yelled out a booming voice as the girl's vision adjusted to the light. Before her stood a monster of a man, William Raines. He held a young Keitsaru by the hair over the edge of his ship.

"Leave her be!" Gabriel yelled out as he ran across the deck, his appearance aging ten years. The young man was now in his early twenties, holding his blade within his hand. He stopped several feet away panting and sweating. "Put her down!"

William looked down upon the boy and glared. "This was ye doing?!" The Captain said withdrawing his revolver. "Me own son hid this woman away from me? Disguised her as a boy and allowed her to be upon me ship?! Ye know the code!" He said raising the revolver and shooting the blade from Gabriel's hand. "Next time I take ye hand!" The massive man snarled deeply as he swung the girl overboard and into the waters below.

"I promised to protect her!" Gabriel yelled out as Keitsaru looked upon the situation before her, falling overboard. The young Gabriel charged across the deck, his rage fueling him. The waters once again engulfed Kietsaru as sinking darkness overcame her, oxygen escaped her lungs as the world went black once more.

"I am your captain now!" The voice of Gabriel echoed out upon ringing ears. "Get her below deck, and I swear if any of ye lie a hand on her; I will have ye head!" Kietsaru slowly opened her eyes as she came to, her body soaked and drenched as she was carried off.

"You? The captain? Me crew would never follow ye as long as I be alive." Kietsaru looked on at the situation as she was dragged across the ship. The giant man was on his knees and bloodied; bullet holes riddled his body. Gabriel stood before the man covered in blood and bruises; his left arm laid limp and shattered at his side. "I am Captain Raine's and I will forever rule over the Seas of Nine!" The man said laughing.

"You are not a captain, you are a monster. I am Captain Raines!" Gabriel said as he plunged William's own blade through his skull, tears escaping his face as he did so. "Forgive me father." The young man let William's body fall limp upon the deck besides him. The last thing Kietsaru would hear before going below deck was the young man's orders. "Take this ship to Fha."

"It looks as if he did that for you does it not?" The voice whispered in the darkness. "But Gabriel was selfish, he used that moment to free himself from that man. You were just an excuse."

"He saved my life!" Keitsaru shot back.

"Just to take it with his own blade!" The whisper argued, it's form taking shape before her. Deep yellow and red eyes looked back upon Keitsaru. "You see what you wish to see! You hear what you wish to hear! But do you not remember his choice?!" Before the young girl stood her mirror image now. "You called out for him, yet he did not choose you."

Keitsaru shoved her twin back. "He was faced with a tou-"

"He did not choose you!" The darkened mimic shoved back. "You were left within the Maelstrom to be our toy, to be our slave. He didn't even come back for you!"

Keitsaru stood silently with clenched fists. "He would have. Me brotha would have come back."

"He heard your voice and left you to rot! Just as he left your body to float among the corpses of the seas! You were mere siblings by bond, never by blood! You let your heart lead you to your own death! You caused this!" The whisper said as it shoved kietsaru back repeatedly, the glow in its eyes burning as a deep aura grew around it. Keitsaru let out a scream as she swung for her mimic. Her fist slammed into the being with all her might. "You're dead, this is my vessel now." The shadowy twin said looking down upon the fist, unmoved and unphased. "Release yourself, let your soul go. You have no power anymore. You are but a memory trapped within this void. There is no freedom for you."

A door rose from the shadows behind the mimic. "Take the step over the edge." The mimic said as it walked through the door. "Your time on this world is done."

Keitsaru ran toward the door only to be met with it closing before her. Dropping to her knees she banged her fists upon it, pleading for it to open once again. From the other side she could hear Gabriel's voice, the words he spoke sent a tear down her face. "She's waking up!"

Kietsaru laid against the door as her punches weakened into slapping the door. Slaps turned into caresses as tears poured from her face. "...brotha." The young girl whispered as darkness consumed her once again, taking her back upon the cliff side over the waters.