The Rookie Pirates (Parts 1-6)

29. Escape From Harvest Island

"Finally finished!" Vulcan cheered.

He had finally completed the repairs on the Leo from their battle against the Pirate Lord, Madame Cheng. The ship took quite a blow from the now-ex-Pirate Lord's attacks, but nothing was compared to what the first mate Alex had taken to protect his captain.

Vulcan remembered the fight as clear as day. The crew was minding their own business at a tavern bar on the neighbouring island, waiting for a storm to pass when out of nowhere, the Pirate Lord, Madame Cheng, attacked Levi. It wasn't too much of a surprise. Pirates were fighting with each other all the time, but a Pirate Lord never wasted their time on a rookie pirate. The battle was unusual from the start. After the first blow, a fight commenced for the next couple of days and resulted in them being chased out at sea by the Pirate Lord and her crew.

It was clear Madame Cheng was after Levi for reasons the crew still did not know. Except Levi, but he either would not tell, or he did not know. Madame Cheng was a formidable pirate, and so were the members of her crew. Levi and the crew were barely grasping on to life.

All who were left standing were Vulcan, Levi, and Alex. The rest had been knocked out or were too injured to fight any longer. Madame Cheng's cursed soul did not help the situation they were in. She had the ability to make people feel pain in the form of energetic blasts, pain that was far worse then one could possibly imagine.

Levi had already taken most of Madame Cheng's demonic blasts. If another one hit him, he would have died. The Pirate Lord aimed another one of her blasts towards Levi, but it was obvious this one was more powerful than the previous blasts. At the last second, Alex pushed Levi overboard and took the full force of the blast. The screams to this day still haunted Vulcan. Oh, the pain Alex must have gone through and all for the sake of his captain.

Without hesitation, Vulcan dove into the water after his captain. It was then, as he was swimming back over to the ship, that a bright blinding light exploded above the deck of the Leo, followed by the terrified screams of Madame Cheng's crew as they abandoned their crusade and went back to their own ship.

As Vulcan climbed back up the ladder, his unconscious captain thrown over his shoulder, he saw Alex from between the wooden railings. A powerful gold aura surrounded his body, and his black katana sword, Kurome, the sword he never dared to use, was held tightly in his right hand. It was a blade so sharp that it could cut through diamond.

Alex's eyes had frightened Vulcan the most, and not much scared the engineer. They were jet black, no white or the natural grassy green colour they usually were, just complete darkness. Vulcan could only presume the black spirit within Alex's sword had possessed the first mate, and he no longer had control of his actions. Alex struck down Madame Cheng with one mighty blow from his black sword that created another blinding explosion. The Pirate Lord crumpled to the ground, defeated but not dead.

The last of Madame Cheng's crew that were still on the Leo trembled in fear as they grabbed their captain and took her back to their barely-floating ship and sailed away with what little dignity they had left.

Was Alex a cursed soul?

If so, it was like no power he had seen before. Alex's power was something new, something extremely powerful and dark. As Vulcan finally came back on deck with Levi still over his shoulder, he stared at Alex, not knowing what to do, scared that his possessed friend might kill him.

Alex tilted his head in Vulcan's direction and raised his black sword, ready to attack him when a voice from the winds called out over the sea, a soft female voice.

"Kurome, let him go. We don't want Alexander's power to consume him. We don't want him to hurt his friends now."

"Yes, Morgana," Alex replied, but it was not his voice that spoke.