Chapter 1
I died when I was fifteen years old.
I was an orphan left to tend for my mother, left alone by the death of my father. My life had been tragically plain until my mother went insane after my father
died. We had all lived together until my twin sister died too. She died a few days after we were born. My mother used to say that she wasn't meant for this
world, and she wasn't strong enough to survive here so she promised to see us in heaven. I was eight when I promised myself that I would be the best brother I
could be when I met her in heaven again.
My father died when I was eleven from scurvy and heat-fever; he was a pirate who sailed all over the seven seas. He came to visit us once every ten years and
on the day he was supposed to meet us at the port my mother received the news that he had died. Ever since that day, she spoke to me less and less; and
eventually she just lived in the wooden chair my dad had made her. She sat at stared out the window waiting for him, and sometimes if I was really quiet I could
hear her whisper, "You weren't there...you weren't there."
I had only one picture of him-it was a tiny wooden frame of my father staring out at the sea on his ship The Prophetess. He named it after his name for my
mother, for when they met when they were children my mother used to dream that they would get married someday and her dreams came true. He then called
her "his lovely prophetess" and said she was created from the magic of the sea. My father saw us once every ten years, which means I only saw him once before
he died, but every month he would send me letters and trinkets from all over the world from his travels. Once he gave me his favorite necklace-an old,
tarnished, silver medallion with two pistols and a drawing of his ship on the front. On the back, the words "Ego vobiscum" were inscribed in Latin. It translated to
"I am here". He told me to think of him every time I was afraid, and I wore it always.
When we knew of his death, I did not speak to my mother about him because I knew her heart was broken. After a year, her mind was gone and she could not
speak at all. I had to feed her and care for her, and get food by trading our own items for necessary items. I made the repairs for our little house over the cliffs
on the shore, and every year on the day my father was supposed to come I held my mother's hands and tried to talk with her. She did not talk, though; she just
sat with her hands limp in mine, her eyes dull and dead. On normal days, I used to chase the wind and dandelions in the breeze in the field by my home. I
would go down the cliffs and swim in the ocean, and pray that my father could hear me.
I usually played down by the shore with my friend Jane, who was my complete opposite. Her mother had died of influenza when she was a baby and she was
raised by her father who was the owner of a small inn. She had white and golden hair and fair, freckled skin while my locks were chocolate-y dark. I had always
been small for my age while she was tall and graceful looking, like a swan. She always called me Stormy, after the tiny Wilson's Storm Petrels that soared along
the horizon and hopped on the surface of the water. "James," she would say, "I'm surprised you can't skip on the water like those little baby birds." we would
laugh and play in the water almost every day. One day, when I was twelve, I received a letter from her father saying he had sold his inn and he was taking Jane
to live in Ireland with her aunt and uncle. Without her, I was never the same.
Chapter 2
Me and my mother lived silently with each other until I turned fifteen, when one day I found a book written by my father. It was hidden beneath the floorboards
under my mother's chair. I was cleaning while she was asleep in her bed and I accidentally came across the small bundle of papers-one hundred or so-bound in
leather titled "The Spirits of the Sea". I started to read it, and believed it to be wonderful fiction. It told stories of a mysterious man who was cursed to safely
ferry the souls who died at sea to the underworld for eternity. The story told of his adventures, his loneliness, and his love. He wrote of the man being so deeply
and terribly in love with a woman and not being able to see her but once every ten years. The man had a little child, a daughter who died as an infant, and a
son, who he said he was proud of. He wrote that his family "kept his heart". The book ended with a dark prediction: the sailor will die a fatal death by the hands
of the thing he loved most. I read and reread the story many times, and when I tried to speak to my mother about the book something very strange happened
indeed.
I woke her, fed her, and sat her in her chair by the window like I had every other morning. I spoke to her like I also did normally, but when I said, "I found this
book written by Father," her eyes shifted from gazing at nothing to almost burning into me. She hadn't looked at me in five years. She opened her mouth, and a
raspy breath came out. "It is true," she whispered. "All of it. He gave it to you to understand...to save him." I was in shock, because I had forgotten what my
own mother's voice had sounded like. "You must find him, James. You must find him and save him." I shakily grasped her hand in mine and asked her what she
meant. I saw her close her eyes, kiss my cheek, and then she spoke for the last time. "I will be free. And when I am, I will give you my heart...if only you had a
you heart to give." she said, which I could barely hear. And then I knew that her words weren't for me; they were for my father. She clasped her hands together
and laid them on her heart and passed away.
I held her for what seemed like ages, and finally put her body on our horse and led her down to the shore. I kissed her cheek and let her drift away in the
current while my tears mixed with the ocean and I watched her leave me forever. When the sun set, I slept on the sand until the sun returned in the morning. I
had searched the house for any more evidence of my father, and pondered what my mother had told me before she died. "You must find him and save him from
his fate..." "It is all true.." I was so confused by what I heard. At first I thought she was talking madness, but then I remembered what she said after she
learned the death of my father. The very last words she said to him before her death, the last words that were meant for him. She would say those words to
herself when she missed my dad the most, when he was gone on his voyages-when she thought I couldn't hear her.
I lived alone for the next few months, but one night I couldn't take it anymore. I tore my home apart-ripping cupboards off walls and kicking floorboards to
check if they were faulty. I found a large painting of my mother and father kissing in the water below the cliffs. It had no frame-just a thin piece of paper with
watery details of their figures and shadows. On the back there was a message to my mother. It read:
"My dearest Prophetess,
I write this to you in my hour of most desperate need. They know where you, James, and the chest are. You must move away to the spot where this painting
was made- do you remember? I need you to give James the diary and the chest when he turns sixteen, in case anything happens to either of us. You must
promise me, my love. I will see you in three months. I am in good health, and The Prophetess is holding up extremely well. My crew is loyal to me as they will
ever be, and all the souls are being ferried to the farthest gate like usual. Be safe, and send for me when you have moved to a safe place. I will see you and our
son soon, Elizabeth, I swear on my heart. You will raise James to do great things. He will make us both so proud one day, I know it. I love you more than the
waves on the sea. Yours for eternity, Will"
I was both confused and heartbroken by this letter, because I did not know what most of it meant. I wished I had just seen my father one last time. I had never
missed him as much as I did at that moment. His letter had said something about a chest, to be given to me, but I had never heard of anything like it before. I
began making up scenarios in which he had left me and my mother treasure, or important documents, or papers about our history. But none of those made
sense in my head. I went to sleep that night feeling unsure, and I knew I had to find that chest, if it sill existed.
Chapter 3
The next day I searched my house again, and when I found nothing, I went down to the ocean to think of clues he might have left for me to unravel. I went to
the small cave I sat in when it rained and when I didn't want to go home, one I had loved ever since I had first found it. It was a deep dent in the high rocks
about 100 feet from the water. It was about 10 feet high and 12 feet wide. It had mostly sand for the ground, and at the back a few rocks I used to climb with
Jane. I walked inside and started digging near the entrance of the cave. After no luck, I began at the other side, then the back. Finally I glimpsed something that
glittered a foot and a half below the dry sand, and dug furiously. I held in my hands a tiny silver coin. I sighed in frustration, then looked a bit closer at the coin.
It took a while to decipher, but it said " Ego vobiscum" in the tiniest letters. Tears misted my eyes because I knew he left it for me or my mother. "I will see you
and our son soon, Elizabeth," I remembered seeing in the message. I knew he had meant it. But if he had scurvy, wouldn't he had seen symptoms three months
before he died? I inquired to myself. Wouldn't there have been any signs when he was writing the letter? I became curious, and kept digging.
I fell asleep after digging for hours in the cave. When I woke, I dug even deeper to find any glimpse of my father and what I found changed my life forever. I
uncovered a medium-sized wooden chest with a circle in the center, and when I saw it I quickly put my hand around the medallion my father had given to me so
long before. I took it off and pressed it up to the lock. It did not work at first, but when I flipped it over so that the words touched the chest, it immediately
opened. I saw hundreds of letters to my mother and me, all from my father. There were jewels, notes in bottles, dried flowers, books of poetry, drawings, and
songs all inside the chest. But when I stopped rustling the papers and held my breath, I heard something that shook me to my bones. I closed my eyes and
heard a...heartbeat. Yes, coming from the box, there was a living heartbeat. I gasped as I lifted the last letter from the box, and I saw a human heart that was
beating at a regular pace by itself. I didn't dare pick it up, so I used a letter to shift it to the side. Underneath the heart was an expertly folded piece of paper. I
read it over and over. It said: "My son, my James, this is for you.
My heart is yours, and I need you to protect it. This may seem ridiculous and crazy, but please. Follow my instructions. Read my diary: it will explain most of
why I need you to keep this. Your dear mother, if she is alive when you are reading this, can answer any of your questions. If you are reading this, I have
probably passed away... but not completely. Let me explain. When I was twenty, I killed the monster Davy Jones to free my father and myself and my friend. I
had to stab his heart so I could survive, and that put upon me this curse. If I stabbed his heart, mine must replace it and I must become the captain of the
Flying Dutchman. I have to ferry the spirits of those who died at sea to the next life, and only come to land one day every ten years. Your mother knew this, and
I told her to keep my heart safe. She did, and then you were born. She promised me that when you were old enough to understand, she would pass it along to
you so that if anything happened to her, it would still be safe. Now I am dead, James, but only physically. I had to protect you and your mother from the East
India Trading Company-the men who are really trying to kill me, body and soul. I told you that I died of scurvy, but only so that they would not find you and kill
you, me, and your mother. I am so deeply sorry I had to lie to you, my son. I hope you can forgive me. Anyway, the curse also states that if I go on land when
it is not the day I am allowed, my physical body will diminish and only my soul and heart will remain. I was foolish and stupid, and my physical body melted
away. But I am still alive, James. I am alive and I am waiting for you. My soul is still ferrying lost souls to the underworld, but I am trapped in the underworld
until my heart is reunited with my soul. This is where you come in. You were definitely smart enough to find my heart, and I trust you with it. The curse is not as
strong as love, and that is why I get this chance. That is why you can bring me back. What you must do is travel to the underworld with my heart and bring it to
my soul so I can come back and see you. I can still only see you once every ten years, unless you choose to stay with me forever. In this chest I gave you
something to put inside the medallion I gave you- a charm. It allows you to come down to the farthest gate one time. When you succeed and reunite me, you
can either choose to stay with me and sail with me forever, helping me ferry lost souls, or you can choose to go back above and see me once every ten years.
Now we are not at that point yet, so do not think about that. You just have to trust me. This sounds insane, I understand. I know. But listen. Can you see my
heart? Right now, it is beating for you. It has been every since I first saw you. I love you, James. More than the waves on the sea. I know you can do this.
Love, your father
P.S. I wrote down instructions on how to get to the underworld. Good luck and best wishes. I hope to see you soon."
I was completely taken aback- I had no words and no thoughts for a very long time. I just sat staring at my father's beating heart. I decided that there was
nothing else I could do but rescue my father, so I found the sheet of paper telling me how to enter the underworld. I grabbed the tiny silver charm at the bottom
of the chest, and closed it inside the medallion that also transformed to a locket. I marched out to the water, whispered "I hope you know what you're doing," to
my father, and waded waist-deep into the ocean.
Chapter 4
I didn't want to think of what I was doing, so I tried to do it as quickly as possible. I searched the water and found the biggest stone I could see. I picked it up,
waded out farther, and swam to the sandy bottom. I sat with my legs crossed, the rock on top of them, and slowly waited as my brain began to fuzz into
darkness. I felt sick and heavy, but the next thing I knew, I was being dragged at 1,000 miles an hour down past the ocean floor by a dark blue-tailed mermaid.
She took me to a gate where I showed a strange seahorse looking creature the small silver charm, and the gate was opened. I was pointed to a small boat with
a lantern inside, and I swam over and sat down. The boat was suddenly being pulled up at insane speed to the dark surface. It was dark and starry, though
when I "died" it was afternoon. I floated in the boat for what felt like an eternity, and all around me were also people in boats. They all looked straight ahead,
not seeing me or anyone around them. We drifted through a small tunnel, only large enough to fit one boat at a time. I made it through and saw nothing but
gold. A gold sky, gold water, a golden sun shining up from underneath me. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
I suddenly caught myself. What am I going to do when I do reunite my father's heart with his soul? Do I stay with him? What if he's not even here? Where am I
supposed to go? But all those thoughts vanished when I saw my mother. She was not in a boat like I was, but floating on the top of the water in a golden
nightgown. She almost blended in with the shimmering water, but I could tell her apart from all the other women floating next to her. She looked young, happy,
and smiling. Her eyes were closed but I could see the smile on her face as she drifted by my boat. I tried calling out to her, but she seemed not to have heard
me. I watched her float by me until we reached the golden shore.
I stepped out onto normal colored sand that was wet from the golden water lapping the shore, and started walking towards a huge hill in the distance. I kept
walking through green pastures and rolling fields, where I saw a large group of young women talking and laughing by an orchard. I walked over to the orchard,
and recognized someone I never thought I would see. "James?" I locked eyes with a beautiful, radiant, chocolate-haired girl who looked like a feminine version
of me. "Alice," I whispered. "James, are you dead?" she said as she embraced me tightly. I shook my head because my throat was full and I couldn't speak. She
let go of me and introduced me to the other girls in the orchard. "We are the young virgins who died before we got a chance to live," she continued. When she
finished, she pulled me aside. "Are you here to see Father?" she said soberly. "Yes," I said. "I just found the chest with the letters and his heart today. I don't
even know how this happened," I wondered aloud. "Have you seen him? Or Mother?" she bit her lip and I saw tears spring up in her eyes. "Mother?" she
whimpered. "Oh, James. I'm so sorry." she hugged me again. "No, I haven't seen Father. I am not allowed to leave The Orchard. I will be condemned for
eternity, although I have thought about trying to escape hundreds of times. James..." she paused. "You have to do this. Then we can all be together, the four of
us. Mother can join us and we can live forever." I hugged her goodbye, and promised her I would see her again.
When I made it past The Orchards and up the great Hill, I knew I was coming close to my father. I climbed up with hundreds of the other souls who were in the
boats next to me, not seeing me at all. The sun had gone away when I left the golden ocean, so above me was darkness covered with stars. The Orchards had
been dark as well, just not as deep blue like I saw on The Hill. I reached the top and looked out, but I only saw darkness below me. I stopped short when all the
other spirits that I had journeyed along side of started jumping into the darkness. They said nothing, just flew themselves off The Hill and I had the sick feeling
in my stomach that I had to join them. I stepped up to the edge, which wasn't visible from the ground below, and jumped.
My body felt like it was being pulled in one place by a giant magnet, but after a while I softly touched the bottom. I looked around and saw everyone vanish into
the sand below; being sucked by some force through the bottom that I stood firmly on. I looked up and saw waves- I was underwater again. There was silence
all around, and I wondered why I wasn't being pulled under the sand as well. I realized that this was the spirits' final stop, and I had to keep going. I walked
slowly, deep under the waves, not knowing what to expect next. So I kept moving my feet along in a straight path for hours and hours; almost days. I was
shocked to see a sign poking down in the sand. It said "Your journey is finished. Nothing beyond this point." I recognized it as my father's script, and saw sure
enough that there was nothing but darkness everywhere I turned. I felt discouraged, but remembered the meaning of my journey and thought that I must go
through the sand like the others did. I started digging, but since the bottom was so loose it flew up without an issue. I finally gave up and ripped off my
medallion, and plunged it in the sand. Light started pouring upwards from the bottom, shining on me. The ocean floor began to quake and I lied down on the
sand. I fell through, and seemed to be floating downward. I tried to swim, but soon enough I was in a little golden room that was completely empty. I suddenly
saw a tiny, glowing orb, floating in mid-air. "James?" I heard a voice call out softly. "My son? Is it you?" I searched around frantically, wanting to see my father.
"Here, James. I am here." I stooped down and gingerly walked over to the floating light, which I guessed was my father's soul.
"I have it here, Father," I said timidly. "What do I do?"
"You must hold my heart close to your medallion and keep this light in your hand. You have to hold yourself strong, alright? Thank you so much, my son. I ha-"
"No, Father. Let me do this first. I can save you." the light was silent, and I closed my right hand tightly around it. I held a small sack containing my father's
heart, and pulled it close to mine. I felt a surge of energy rush through me, then light shone all around. I couldn't see anything besides the light, so when I fell
to the ground, I saw a man passed out next to me. I ran to him and shook him, and when he opened his eyes there were tears in them. "Son, I know your
mother is gone. I am so sorry I left you. I promise I'll never do it again." I moved closer to him and he embraced me. "You're a lot taller than when I saw you
last," he laughed. "You're a man now, James. You completed a task more difficult that I could have done." I looked at him, confused. "The spirits you saw on
your journey were tests. You could have tried to save your mother, but you knew you couldn't. You could have stayed with Alice and forgotten about me, but
you knew that you would see her again when you did your job. You could have walked endlessly through the bottom of the ocean, but you listened to my words
and found me. Not following orders is what caused all of this to happen, James. I sailed off shore where you and your mother lived almost every day, longing
with my heart to see you. One day, my heart spoke louder than my mind and I took one step on land to see you because I couldn't take it anymore. My body
melted away, and only my spirit and my heart remained. Your mother knew this, but she could not express it because she knew she would be punished as well.
The curse says that if I step on land when I am not supposed to, my body vanishes and the one who keeps my heart will be deceived by themselves. Your
mother's heart knew I wanted to be with you, but her mind constantly told her that I had abandoned her. I don't know if she can forgive me, but I hope with
everything that she will. James, I...I hate to force you to choose, but will you stay with me? Here? And sail the seas forever, with your sister, mother and me?"
he waited for my response. If I chose to stay, I would only be able to visit land once every ten years, but I could be with my family forever. I nodded at my
father, knowing my life was at that moment completely different. "Yes," I said. "Yes." he embraced me and soon we were being sucked through a vortex. My
whole family appeared on The Prophetess.
Chapter 5
My sister told me that I had to leave my own heart on land to keep it safe, either bury it somewhere on land or give to someone to keep. I immediately saw
Jane's face flash through my mind, and my father smiled. He told me to close my eyes, and I fell asleep. When I woke up, my heart was being locked into a
chest much like my father's. I had a matching scar on my chest, and we sailed to Ireland to see Jane. He told me that her father made her move away because
he knew about us, and he wanted to keep us safe so he moved where he knew the East India Trading Company couldn't trace him or us. He had been my
father's friend since they were young. We stopped off shore, and I couldn't step on land so I put the chest in the water with a letter inside and let it float out to
shore. I saw Jane sitting by the water, but she didn't see me. She opened the chest, shocked, and read the letter. She looked up at me, as if seeing me for the
first time, and yelled "YES! Yes, with all my heart!". We were married ten years later, and our daughter has met my whole family. Jane and Marina receive all
my daily letters, and since they are bonded by the curse to me, they cannot die of old age. I see them every ten years. My sister and mother and father still
keep their hearts buried deep in the sand inside the cave, where they are safe; where they will be for all eternity.