Child of a Pirate, Raised at Sea

Chapter 4

Heavy footsteps awoke me. I heard many of them walking around right above me. I drew myself up onto one side and rubbed the dreams I had been having away. It felt like early morning but I couldn’t be sure. My mouth was dry and my body stiff. I absently wondered if my father had anymore of the drink he had given me last night. I sat up and listened closer. Suddenly I could here two pairs of footsteps come up the hallway and pause outside my door. I quietly waited for someone to knock, but I only heard my fathers muffled voice saying that I must still be asleep. I strained to hear the rest of their conversation, I assumed he was speaking to Hesiod, but they moved back down the hallway. I got out of bed and yawned hugely, then searched around until I found what I was looking for. I quickly dunked my hands in cool water and splashed my face to wake myself up fully. I stared in the mirror above the basin that was affixed to the wall. I had always appreciated my clear toffee colored skin and the way my eyes looked on me but that’s where my confidence ended. I felt my lips were a tad too small, the top one being slightly bigger than the bottom. My eyelashes were a little too sparse for my liking. I quickly scrubbed my face dry with a towel. I looked into the mirror again and wondered what features on me I might share with my mother. I couldn’t seem to think a complete thought with everything from last night swimming around at the front of my mind. I quickly used the water left in the basin to rinse my frizzy hair and plait it into two braids to hang over my shoulders. My stomach growling eventually forced me to quit hiding out in my father’s room and find some food. But if I was being honest I was more curious to find my father and Hesiod. I cracked the door open and peeked into the hallway beyond. All seemed quite here. Though I still heard people going about there daily business in other parts of the boat. I shut the door behind me and climbed the latter at the end of the hall. Once I was almost to the top I heard the deep baritone of my fathers voice and then the quieter and clearer voice of which obviously belonged to Hesiod. I waited there in the dimness trying to strain my ears to hear their conversation. Much of what they were speaking of didn’t entirely make sense and the rest was interrupted by the crew shouting commands and noise from the sea. I had to admit defeat and emerged from my hiding spot. Hesiod was facing me in the galley seated by the window so he saw me first. My father, who was standing facing him and a little to the side registered his expression and turned to me. He smiled easily. It was the first time he had looked happy since this all started and his reassuring attitude gave me the confidence to approach them. Whatever I was about to face I knew my father wouldn’t have me face it alone. “I’m glad to see you awake,” My father said, grabbing my hand and pulling me into a big hug. He smelled like sun and sea and fresh rope and it comforted me. I turned to say good morning to Hesiod and then replied to my father “Me too. I feel like I was asleep for days.” I tried stretching out a kink in my neck.” Hesiod chuckled and quickly stood to offer me his seat by the window. I took it, my father moving to keep himself between Hesiod and I. Hesiod pretended not to notice and said “You basically were.”  At my alarmed expression he explained, “You were asleep for the better part of two days. The drink your Father gave you is the cause.” He looked to my father as if to ask permission to continue. My father put a hand on my shoulder and gave an infinitesimal nod of his head in Hesiods direction. “It’s called ambrosia. It was created to form to the needs of the drinker and heal them accordingly.” I thought this a bit of an odd thing for him to say but none the less I was intrigued. I looked at him and said “Ambrosia, like.....,” and here I had to stretch the new barrier in my mind to come up with the words that wanted to come next, “from Greek Mythology?” My father stiffened beside me and Hesiod’s smile broke across his face, “Yes! Exactly like-," but here he met my father’s gaze and quickly quieted himself. Something unspoken passed between them and Hesiod cleared his throat “I’m glad you’re feeling better but I should go attend to the crew. I’ll bring something back for you to eat.” He ducked out of the room without really looking at either my father or I. I stood up and turned on my father. “Why won’t you let him tell me what’s going on?” He looked exhausted but no less hopeful than when I had entered. He took my hands and said “Because you need to be told in a very specific way. Your mind has been wiped. You’re regaining dangerous memories and if it comes all at once it may endanger you.” I gulped, feeling shivers run down my spine. He led me across the room to my bookcase. He pulled one about Greek Gods I had somehow never seen before off the shelf and gave it to me. I cracked it open and could smell brine coming from the crisp yellowed pages. “This is a book about the Gods.” I looked at him questioningly. One question coming to the front of my mind and spilling from my lip before I had fully thought to ask it. “Are they real?” My father looked deep into my eyes. “Yes” He replied simply. “And one of them took your mother away.” I stared at him and slowly tears began to drip one by one from my eyes as an overwhelming heartache that had not been known to me came to the front of my mind and took me under.

Illustration by @limetown
Hello lovelies! I'm going to try and finish the story up soon so I'll be posting every day or every other say until its complete. Let me know what your thoughts are below:
Do you like the characters?
Do you like the setting?
Would you want to see a sequel to this book?
What do you think is going on?
Are you familiar with Greek Mythology/Percy Jackson Books?
Have a happy day. Byeeeee