The Eighth Sea

Chapter 7

Wren

Even though Wren wanted nothing more than to head straight for Scylla's lair without any hesitation, Hector managed to drill the importance of strategy into his head. That's why he soon found himself calling for an all-crew meeting in his tiny, cramped cabin to talk strategy: the most boring of subjects.

"Thanks for showin' up." Hector greeted everyone to get the meeting started. "Wren, why don't you give us all a rundown of what we're tryin' to do?"

Wren stifled a yawn. Honestly, this was already so boring. "We're going to see Scylla in Atlantis, sell Levi's soul to her in exchange for her to end the curse on my treasure cave. That'll also nullify my immortality curse, so I'll finally be able to die!" His crew cheered a bit at the prospect of him finally dying for good, which probably should have been a bit hurtful, but Wren was also excited at the thought, to be honest. "And once the curse is lifted... you'll each get a share in the treasure!"

The cheers that went up were deafening, and it took Hector standing on a table yelling for them to shut up before they finally quieted down a bit.

"And the best part is, we don't need to rely on Charlotte's creepy seaweed messages to navigate to Atlantis! We have Levi now, our new ghost translator! C'mon up here, scribe!"

As his crew cheered, Wren pulled Levi up onto the table beside him, much to the scribe's dismay and to his own delight.

"Let him off the table, Wren," Hector said tiredly, as though he was tired of putting up with the captain's nonsense. "Listen, crew. First, we need to stock up on supplies. We'll stop at these towns before we hit Scylla." He pointed with some difficulty at a cluster of towns on a map while punching Wren's ankle to get the captain to move his foot off the map. "Wren, talk about Scylla so we know what to expect. You have the most experience with her."

"So, Scylla's a sea witch," Wren started, "and she'll give or take away curses or blessings and such at the cost of, well, whatever she really wants. Now, she took my mortality away, because at the time, dying was all the rage. And by that, I mean that her little pet Kraken murdered my whole crew, destroyed my ship, and ate my best friend."

"Ouch," Pierre muttered sympathetically as the rest of the crew expressed similar sentiments. "Why are you just saying this now?"

"Because it's important now. I'm not going to divulge all of my personal information for no reason! Scylla's capable of some advanced magic. I mean, she can control the damn Kraken, but she can also create little whirlpools in the middle of the ocean and drown ships. Now, I just so happen to like my ship, and I love my crew," he paused, looking at Hector, "some more than others."

"Get a room!" The first dishwasher in command interrupted.

"Let me finish. I don't want any of you to die an untimely death. Except for Charlotte, but she's already dead." The crew nodded in agreement. "Hey, Charlotte, where's Atlantis, by the way?" Wren watched as Levi turned his head to look at the empty space next to Pierre. "Tell me what she's saying, scribe."

"Why should I help you? You're trying to sell my soul, remember?"

"Because you're a good man, and you don't want to embarrass me in front of my whole crew."

"Hey, Levi, remember what I told you earlier?" Hector asked softly. "Wren's a good guy at heart. Trust me on that."

"She said that it doesn't have an actual direction," Levi said monotonously. "Keep sailing east until you find the spot where east meets west."

"The hell does that mean?" Wren asked.

"Charlotte, I love you, but you gotta be more specific, dear," said Pierre in an extra-whiny tone.

"She said—No, I'm not going to say that to him!" Levi shouted, before pausing as Charlotte said something else, probably a threat. "Fine. She said, 'Pierre, my beloved, you have my heart and soul. I have no other directions.'"

"Oh, Charlotte, I—" Pierre started.

"—If you're going to flirt with your ghost wife, get out of the room," Hector interrupted. "This is a serious meetin'."

Pierre sulked a bit but relented. "Fine."

"Well, whatever you do, we gotta be prepared for anything. Scylla could attack at any time once she notices what we're doing. Keep your guard up. That being said, I'm bored with this meeting. You're dismissed," Wren said cheerily. He couldn't wait to get out of the cramped cabin and breathe fresh air again.

The crew filed out quickly; it seemed they too, were getting pretty bored of listening to Hector's strategy meeting. It was only a matter of minutes before only Hector and Wren were left alone in the room. Hector busied himself with putting away the map and organising the tables back to their original places while Wren swung the window open and stuck his head outside, breathing in the salty wind.

"Hey, what are you going to do after we break the curse?" Hector asked as he finished putting the last table back and moved to join Wren at the window.

"No clue," Wren replied. "Maybe I'll explore the world, or start a war, or go steal all the radishes from Queen Aria's kingdom. Or all of the above. What about you?"

"I want to leave piracy," Hector answered, much to Wren's surprise. "Oh, don't look at me like that. I have talked with you 'bout this multiple times. But I just want to settle down. Live my life to the fullest. I'm a bit tired of all this runnin' around, you know?"

Frankly, Wren didn't know what to say. He'd always imagined that he and Hector would sail the world together for many more years, but to have it all end like this? It didn't sit right with him. "You're sure about this? We've travelled together for so many years."

"We can still travel together. Stealin' isn't necessary to have fun. Neither is dyin'."

"It wouldn't be the same. A life without plundering or pillaging. Or stealing radishes."

Hector laughed. "I'll admit, I'm goin' to miss pissin' off royalty."

"Maybe you'll change your mind about this in the next few weeks when we see Atlantis," Wren offered hopefully, but Hector just shrugged.

"Maybe you'll change your mind about not wantin' to settle down," Hector responded before they were interrupted by a sound from the deck outside. "Hey, look. It's Pierre, ready for his midnight monologue."

"Is that Levi with him?"

"No way."

"It is!"

"Shh!"

"My darling, Charlotte," Pierre started dramatically, flailing his arms around for more effect. "Our love means the world to me. You have captured my heart. I love you madly."

"Bit choppy, wouldn't you say?" Hector whispered to Wren. "You'd think after all his time practisin', he'd have learned how to deliver a good monologue by now."

Wren silently nodded in agreement.

"I would give you my soul," Pierre cried out, dropping down to his knees for even more effect. "I live and I breathe for you! Charlotte, you are my everything!"

"Oh, Hector!" Wren mocked, dramatically falling against Hector, "You are my everything!"

"And now, just like every time he does this, Pierre is goin' to mention that he wants to marry Charlotte a thousand more times—" Hector said.

"—Charlotte! I would take your hand in mine and marry you every day for the rest of eternity!"

"Long marriage ceremony," Wren commented.

"I adore you with every ounce of my being. Charlotte!"