The Open Ocean (Book 2 - The Goddess Of The Sea)

Chapter 1

"Well you can't blame them, can you?" It was evening and as the crew busied themselves with decanters and glasses, preparing dinner, Lara Steele and I were in the darkening study, shadows flickering over our faces in the candlelight, discussing the matter of Casidy Quinn, and his daughter, Roni's sudden and unexpected request to finally abandon ship. I thought for a while, and replied. "I know that, but you can't tell me it's no shame for them to have to leave. They were such good company."
I remembered the time when they first met the duo months ago. It seemed like years to me that we had saved them from drowning by the docks, desperately fleeing the Kraken. The Kraken. We had had a face-to-face enounter with the beast itself. I had been swallowed alive that time. With a tinge of greif, I recalled the man named David Jonas. He had lived hundreds of years in torment as he struggled to fulfill a prophecy against his will. The resurrection of the Pirate Lord Wendur.
Even now, I the poignant memory of his passing, leaving behind the very responsibility he had despised so strongly. He seemed determined not to let his old master return to power.
Now I, Franklin Stein, am the new Keeper of the Three Treasures of the King. I now have the responsibility of searching for these three elements needed to wake him from his eternal slumber.
I vowed to never let them fall into the wrong hands. Now with one of them, the King's medallion, me and my crew scour the sea for the other two, the Queen's Diadem and the Prince's Blood. But where to look?
I did not have long to brood. The sun was setting rapidly now, and with each passing second, we came nowhere near procuring them. Just then, I caught sight of a rusted compass lying by the corner of my desk. I picked it up and examined it. "You know," I said to Lara, holding up the compass to the light, "I should really commend David's ingenuity. Do you know how this works?" I asked her. "No, I don't know how pirates think, Frankie." She looked spitefully at the compass and then wheeled round to leave. She turned the corner and disappeared from view.
Silence filled the study now and, almost instictively, I rummaged underneath my coat and pulled out the Medallion that showed so little, but meant so much. It was amazing how such a small object could have the power to control the Kraken. The late Davy Jones was once the master of the Kraken. That was before he gave the title to me by entrusting me with the Medallion, not that I had any immediate use for the beast. Nowadays, it was lurking somewhere under the Antarctic sea, safe from anyone who would harm it, and, more importantly, vise-versa. It would not be wise to keep a 50-kilometer octopus on your tail. Then, from the front of the room, I heard a minute cough. I looked up to see Casidy and Veronica standing there. "Evening, Captain." Veronica Quinn said, politely. Her father, Casidy merely nodded. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" I smiled motioned them sit down on the armchairs opposite me. As they obliged, Casidy spoke first.
"I take it you've heard of our request to leave the ship."
"Indeed, I have. No need for explainations," I added as Veronica made to explain herself. She closed her mouth, "I understand that you fear for your life here in the sea. I cannot blame you. However, I do ask for you to join us for a bite of dinner before you depart." Casidy seemed delighted. "Why, of course, Frankie, old boy. It'd be our pleasure." Veronica nodded vigorously at these words.
"Now, to the matter of where exactly we are to drop you off?" He thought.
"Perhapse, Anchorage can suffice."
"Agreed. But first, dinner."
Standing up, I crossed the room, Casidy and Veronica bringing up the rear.
What followed must have been the liveliest dinner I have ever joined. There was laughter and singing and all manner of drinks being poured for everybody. We would soon regret that once the supplies run out, but it didn't matter right then. Everyone was too drunk to notice.
"And then he says, what "dragon"?" The ship's cook had just cracked a joke, amid gales of raucous laughter. I then stumbled unsteadily to the helm of the ship. There, I glanced down at the bottle of rum in my hand, took another swig from it, took out the compass from within my coat pocket, and looked at it. It did not point north, but instead, it pointed to whatever the reader most desired. I had had the most interesting time figuring that out on my own. The last owner being dead.
Right then, it was pointing north west, towards Alaska.
We had gone a long way from the freezing cold of the Antarctic. Now we were traversing the South Pacific, a ragtag crew of drunkards and a novice Captain trying to prevent the rising of the darkest pirate on the planet. Laughable, I know, but what's life without a little danger?
When all have finished with their food and drink, I retired to my quarters earlier than the rest. It had been a long day and I was looking forward to a good night's sleep before reaching Anchorage. Before I reached the door, however, I caught a glimpse of something swimming in the distance. A human? No. I squinted to get as much a good view as the moonlight could offer. It was not human, that was for sure. Neither could it have been an animal. So what was it? Leaning over the side of the ship I called to the man standing closest to me, "You, give me that." He handed over the telescope he had slung round his neck. I took it and looked through toward the silhouette, but it had gone. 'What could I have been thinking about?' I thought as I handed the telescope back to the man. He caught sight of my confusion. As though he read my mind, he said, in a tone that suggested fear. "I saw it too. The shadow. You're not going mad, Captain." I looked at him, trying to recognize his face. I could not. "What?" I asked, still more bewildered. He looked straight into my eyes and said in a hushed tone. "Merpeople swim these waters."