VOYAGE I: Onwards To Utopia

Chapter 15

Two crews finally meet

As Hongjoong  and the others exited the wilderness, they are greeted with the sight of another ship next to theirs. The captain lets out a shaky breath, as he thought of what is about to happen. He decided to think about it later, and slips the clue inside the pocket of his red coat.

Upon boarding his ship, he sees five men standing next to Yunho, one of them had his arms around Shinji and appeared to be crying. The Captain of the other crew stepped forward and so did Hongjoong. They were now face to face and the two captains stared at each other with such intensity. It was like any minute they would pull out their muskets and shoot each other dead.

The intense staring contest between the two captains faded and got replaced with wide welcoming smiles, as the two gave each other a hug and a pat on the back.

"So nice to see you Hongjoong."said Junhee as they pull away from the hug.

"Its been a while, Junhee-hyung."Hongjoong replied, a smile still on his lips.

"Please don't cry. I'm sorry for disappearing like that and making you worry."Shinji apologized, while rubbing her brother's arm.

"Its okay Jiji. The important thing is that we're together again. I won't be taking my eyes off you so iIdon't lose you again."the older brother says, hugging his sister tightly.

"Donghunie, I can't breathe."Shinji taps his brother's arm.
The others could only stare at the reunited siblings with amused smiles.

"Now that we are all here, I think that have some matters to discuss."Junhee states, placing his hands in his pockets.

"Of course, we can talk about it in my quarters if that is alright with you."Hongjoong replied.
"Alright."

***

"First off, I would like to apologize for taking Shinji and keeping her with us without informing you. I'm sorry, especially to Donghun-hyung."Hongjoong bowed.

"Its okay, I know you took good care of her. Plus, I would prefer you to have found her than anyone else. Thank you."Donghun replied.

"Anyway, how did Shinji end up with you?"Chan asked.

"They saved me." Shinji spoke up." After Donghunie left and entered  the shop, a man violently took me with him. I pleaded him to let me go but he wouldn't. If Captain Hongjoong, Mingi and Jongho didn't came to save me, I don't know what would've happened to me. We got chased by the other savages and they were shooting back at us, so the captain and the others had no choice but to take me with them. Once they found out that I was related to Donghunie, they offered to return me immediately. But then, I found out something that the Captain is dealing with and I'm the only one who could help. So I decided to stay and help, in return for saving my life."Shinji stated.

"What do you mean?"Byeongkwan furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm the only one who can read the clues."she replies.

"To make everything clear, I'll tell you our story."Hongjoong takes a deep breath."A couple of weeks ago, we asked Claudia the sky witch for her golden compass. You all feel that awful changes in the sky too right? She agreed, and told us about the shifts in the sky that can only be fixed by returning the compass to whence it came from. I agreed to take the compass back, and a curse fell upon me brought by it, everyday starting that day when twilight falls I would turn to stone. Claudine only gave us a blank piece of paper, saying that it would help us, but we didn't know how. Until Shining came. We all know that she is blind, but she can actually and she's the only one who can see and read the clues for us. That's why we needed her help."Hongjoong stated.

Donghun turns to his sister."You can see magical writings? How odd."

Shinji nods."Right? Somehow I can. I thought for sure I wouldn't be seeing anything anymore."

Junhee faces Hongjoong."I understand, and I'm sure hyung here wouldn't want to be separated from Shinji again, and so do we. So what do you say?"Junhee extends a hand."Will you let us join your quest?"

Hongjoong gladly accepts the hand and nods curtly."Aye, thank you Jun-hyung." He says and eyes the rest of the A.C.E members."and to all of you as well."

"Anyway, here's the second clue."Hongjoong pulls out the rolled parchment from his pocket and gives it to Shinji.

"You've found the second piece
what luck you must have
You are down to the last
Hurry and move on fast

There's greens everywhere
A pool of deep blue
In a narrow cylinder
There it waits for you "

"A pool of deep blue and a narrow cylinder."Yunho thoughts out loud.

"Sounds like a well to me."Yuchan comments, getting a nod from Jongho.

"But they're lots of well is the skylands."said Seonghwa.

"It said there's a lot of greens. A forest or jungle perhaps?"added Byeongkwan.

"I think I know!"Yuchan raises a hand."Have you been to Wishuu? the one with the mythical well?"

"Oh the one that's believe to be  bottomless."Yeosang nods.

"You mean the next piece is inside a bottomless well? Did I hear that right?!"Wooyoung says with a horrified look, Mingi zoning out beside him as if having a crisis, and San shaking his head at the idea.

"We'll have to go and find out, let's go!"

***
Hi!!! Update for y'all
Sorry for being gone for a while, school has been too much T-T and I lounge around a lot in my free time to rest. Anyways I hope you guys are well🤗❤️