Tempest

Chapter 10

The week following Gideon's birth was a difficult one, and while the crew were all happy that both Belle and her son had survived the tall-tale worthy birth, they weren't happy at being awoken by the child's cries at all hours of the night. They were also more limited than ever now that there was a child on board who needed protecting and their careers as pirates were put on hold. It was dragging everyone down and overall morale was low.

It was on one such late night that the cries had finally died away with sleep that Sera found herself manning the helm and checking the stars against her sextant. The seasonal storms had passed them by without much trouble after the night Gideon was born and the skies were open and inky black with the infinite stars twinkling their lights. Just as black as the sky above them, the sea reflected back the stars and it almost appeared as though the Naunet were flying on a calm wave of air rather than sailing on the salty depths of the sea. Nights like these always caused Sera's mind to wander and with the addition of Gideon to the lives she was now responsible for, Sera found herself pondering her own infancy.

She hadn't told Belle everything she knew of her past because, quite honestly, Sera was still struggling to come to terms with it all. And what's more, she had no idea if it were actually true. But if the dusty little volume hidden in the secret compartment of her desk was anything to go by, Sera- or rather her parents, had been remarkable people. And their love the stuff of legends. She'd lied to Belle about the early years of her life because in all honesty, Sera didn't want to believe that such a love could exist only to be lost. It made everything else pointless from her eyes.

It wasn't true, what Sera had told Belle about being found as the only survivor of the shipwreck upon the shores of Alexandria. In actuality, she hadn't yet been born. Instead, it had been her mother. A maiden fair with yellow hair by the name of Maria. Ill and dying, far too weak to carry on or pass her unborn daughter into life.

Found amongst the wreckage of the ship from the faraway land of Florin, the temple priests and priestesses knew what must be done to save the babe. They cut her free from her dying mother's body and Maria was able to hold on just long enough to hold her and name her; Sera.

Gripping the kingspoke of the ship's wheel, Sera gritted her teeth and looked to the stars once more before her gaze fell out over the quiet sea. Her eyes burned with unshed tears, as they always did when she thought upon the tale of her birth. What had her mother been like? Aside from the diary that held her parents' story... Sera didn't really know. After all, it's not as though anyone at the temple had known her enough to pass on anything more than what she'd named her daughter and the small bound book.

Clearing her throat and pulling out the flask she carried in the pocket of her great coat, Sera took a deep swallow of rum and let it's delicious burn coat her insides. With a wry thought, Sera wondered if her father had drunk rum during his days upon the sea...

Westley, as the tiny book Maria had left her daughter named him. But whether that was truly his name, Sera hadn't a fucking clue. After all, Maria had written it and called herself Buttercup through the entire damn length of it. Apparently it had been Westley's nickname for her because the yellow of Maria's hair had reminded him of the flower. The same shade of Sera's hair in the sun...

The story that Maria had written told a tale of true love, betrayal, sword fights, torture, pirates.... It had a bit of everything and while Sera would love to believe it was truly the story of her parents and how they'd fallen in love and found one another... it was more than a little hard to swallow. But didn't every little girl who felt lost in the world day dream about having a princess for a mother and a daring and brave pirate for a father? Sera certainly had. Countless hours had been spent sitting alone and reading again and again the book her mother had written for her. But was it true? Was there really such a thing as true love and all its wonders? Sera highly doubted it. Life was a bitch and then you died. The end.