Ruthless Winds and Raging Seas

Chapter 50

At the moment Mard could not help but feel very proud and egotistical as the memory of Lucy's frightened face was replayed in his sadistic mind. He always found pleasure in striking fear into the hearts of all he encountered especially when they came from a background of vast wealth and high status. Mard Gheer had a particularly strong hatred for people who stood at the top of the caste system, this being because he started out at the very bottom of the system. Well half of him anyway.

It all began centuries back, the creatures of malice were sealed away in the book of E.N.D and hidden on Tendrou Island however one creature, an imp managed to escape and he swore that he would spread the devil's work throughout the world. Although as time went on the imp's body began to fade from existence. He needed to find a new body, one that would be able to sustain him. That was when he came upon a street urchin who had spent many years mocked by the rich and powerful, treated lower than the dirt that people walked on. An urchin who was desperate to be better than those who belittled him by any means necessary. Which was the kind of host the imp was seeking.

The imp promised the man wealth, superiority, power, and so much more if he willingly merged with him. Greed overcame his reason and the fool accepted the bargain. The imp and that foolish man joined together, both died but another life was born. Mard Gheer. A being spawn of the urchin's greed and the imp's wrath, his goal in life was to gain power over all and force them to feel eternal suffering. But to do that he needed the book of E.N.D and to do that he needed fools willing to help him get his hands on it.

With his gifts of trickery and manipulation, he was able to obtain a suitable crew that would follow him without question. Among them was the street orphan Igneel who became Mard's cabin boy at the time. Igneel was very smart and skillful for his age. He helped Mard Gheer pull off many heists and achieve a plentiful of treasure with his quick thinking skills. In fact next to Mard, Igneel was the smartest member of the crew and Mard taught him everything there was to know about being a pirate.

Unfortunately he didn't count on Igneel having morality and as the years went by, the cabin boy noticed that his captain was not just a man of greed. He pillaged and committed theft but also tortured, killed, and raped innocents out of sadistic pleasure. He would sacrifice his own crew members to achieve his goals and not even show a single sign of hesitance or remorse for such vile actions. Many times Igneel thought about leaving the crew of Tartaros but he would always become too scared to do so. But then he found out that his lady friend at the time was expecting a child. His child, and Igneel couldn't bring himself to abandon the baby nor could he allow it to be raised in such evil, so he finally gained the courage to leave Tartaros.

Mard was insulted by his decision. Insulted and enraged that a member of his crew was more loyal to an unborn child than to him, the captain. He challenged Igneel to a duel to the death and Mard was certain that Igneel would fail but he had grown to surpass his captain's skills in combat. He defeated Mard and was able to leave him with his life.

He then married his lady friend and tried to do honest work but because of his history with Tataros, no one would hire him. To support his family, he had no other choice but to start his own pirate crew. But it would be one of honor. One that would steal and pillage to live and avoid harming the innocent as much as possible. It wasn't ideal to most pirates but Igneel refused to go down to the path of dishonor again.

When his son Natsu was born, Igneel had discovered his own treasure and nothing in the world could have been more valuable to him than that little boy. He loved his son dearly and did his best to raise him to be a man of honor despite the fact that he was a pirate. Over the years he met and befriended good hearted people who had suffered pain and were searching for a purpose so he welcomed them into his crew. Provided of course that they were trustworthy. Gray, Erza, Gajeel, and even Laxus were all grateful to Igneel for his kindness and acceptance of them. So much so that they would undoubtedly follow him to the ends of the earth if need be.

"My crew isn't as loyal to me the way yours was to you Igneel." He spoke to the heavens. "Yours followed and respected you of their own volition, but mine? Mine do it out of fear. Then again I've never been a very popular man."

"You know he can't hear you right?" Jackal asked him. "I mean the man is dead so why are you talking like he's still here."

"What do you want?" Mard asked. "I thought I told you all that I was not to be disturbed."

"But it's important. I just heard from the lookout, Natsu is drawing nearer to our site."

"Excellent."  He smirked. "I knew he couldn't resist. He's just like his father. He may yearn for treasure, but it his heart that rules his being. There's nothing he wouldn't do or give for the sake of his friends. That's what makes him so weak and easy to manipulate."

"You seem to be in a very good mood at the moment Captain."

"Why wouldn't I be? As we speak I am getting closer to achieving my life goal and I am relishing in it. Nothing could spoil this moment."

"Glad you said that because I have some not so good news for you. The thing is, Natsu is not alone."

"Is that supposed to upset me? I didn't expect him to come alone. I knew he'd bring his crew with him.

"Well it's not just his crew members, he has two women with him. One woman is from that tribe of natives and the other is...Now don't get upset but the other is the mermaid."

"What?!" He scowled in a voice full of rage. "What do you mean the mermaid was with them?! How did she escape?! How did they find her?!"

"I don't know! Ask Keyes, he was the one watching her!"

"So where is he?!"

"Well...No one has seen him since we left him."

"Morons!" He snapped before backhanding Jackal. "I'm surrounded by morons!"

"This wasn't my fault!"

"Shut up! Don't talk to me! I'm trying to think!" He was seething. Seething like molten rock just getting ready to burst out from below. "I don't know how but I am getting that tear even if I have to pry it right from the wench's bloody sockets! I've come much too far to have everything fall apart now!"

"What should we do Captain?"

Mard took a moment to compose himself before speaking again.

"Prepare the crew. We must be ready to greet our guests when they arrive."

"What about the governor's daughter?"

"We won't present her to them just yet. First let's see just how desperate they are to rescue her. Give them something to motivate them further."