It has been three years
It has been three years since the pirate Cervantes de Leon visited one faithful bar in Capri, It has been three years since he was approached by a strange lanky mask-wearing man in that faithful bar in Capri, it has been three years since he and his crew mock the living hell out of the strange man for his appearances, it has been three years since that man silently directed the pirate captain to a quiet corner of that faithful bar in Capri, it has been three years since Cervantes de Leon met the man named Vercci, it has been three years since the merchant of death promises him a mountain of gold for his servitude, it has been three years since Cervantes de Leon agrees to the merchant proposition without even blinking an eye, it has been exactly three years since Cervantes de Leon and his crew set outs on a quest to find a mystical sword.
It has been three years.
Cervantes de Leon has counted each and every single day that he has spent in the vast oceans of the world, scouring every place, every nooks and cranny to find at least a hint to the whereabouts of the so called mystic sword. He withered storm, races tsunamis, and outguns the many pirates of the world. He met with merchant from India, battles with the Britannia Army, share a beer with a smuggler from Alexandria. He has been to parts of the world where even shadows are afraid to drops by. Yet, he is no closer to the mystic sword than he was three years ago.
The captain looks outside the window of his cabin, the calm sea seems to be mocking him for his inadequacy in fulfilling his quest. Lost in his thought, the captain was awoken by a knock on his door. "Come in" says the captain, in walks a young landlubber, no more than 17 years old, "Ahh... James, what did the seagull brought for me today?" ask the captain, the young lad pulls out a piece of parchment from his small duffer and laid it out on the captain's table "there has been words that a merchant ship has just leave Cairo carrying artefacts from an ancient tomb to be brought to Britannia, judging by the time this message was sent, we could intercept the ship in about a day sails" describe the kid.
The captain was deep in thought, he dared uttered the question "Does it says anything about a sword?", "a sword captain?" asked the puzzled young lad, "no never mind" declare the captain "we should get to it, our supply is only enough for about two or three more weeks, if can get our hands in that ancient booty that those ship carry we could sell them to our smugglers friends for a good bit of coins, tell the crew to get all hands on decks and set sail to intercept the ship, I want us to be there in 20 hours tops" add the captain, "Ay ay Captain" saluted young James, "you may be dismissed" said the captain
The young James began to exit the cabin while the captain is starting to be lost in his thought again when the landlubber stops at the door, "excuse me captain" asked the young lad timidly, "yes lad" the captain responded, "Why did you remember my name?" the young lad asked, "That's easy son, a good captain will always remember all of his crew, from his first mate to the young landlubber such as yourself" answered the captain. The young lad seems happy with his answer and shouts outs proudly "Thank you captain" before walking out of the cabin.
Cervantes de Leon can't help but smile for what he said was the truth but might not been the truth that the young lad has perceived it to be. The old captain has sailed the seven seas long enough, he has seen even the mightiest captain falls because of one rat in their crew. Cervantes has kept an eye on every single person on his ship for he knew that the moment he saw weakness not even one person would pass up on the opportunity at his head. He remembered his crew not out of benevolence but out of corruption, for his greed of power will not allowed anything to be taken from him.
Leaning back on his chair, Cervantes de Leon smirked at the thought of anyone thinking that he is a benevolent captain, not one person of his current crew has sailed the seas for the three long years that he has. His old crew has long gone, some was driven mad by the alluring ocean, some was eaten by the forgiving sea, while others simply just gave up when they reaches shore, and then there were the mutineer, those who were lucky was driven to the plank while the others fell to the steel of his blade.
One after the other his crew failed, but the great thing about pirates is that they grow like weed on a summer weather. For every crew who left, willingly or forcefully, there will always be other miscreants to replace them. However, the captain has learned a lesson, Cervantes has opted to tell his new crew about his three years quest of finding the sword, there is no point in dragging unsuspected pirates into an impossible mission.
And that is what it was, an impossible mission. In the three years he is at sea, Cervantes has only heard whispered about the existence of the sword, for all he know the sword might not existed at all. The captain also has no guarantee that the merchant would still be waiting for his sword to be delivered to him after three years has passed. But, from those whispered news about the sword Cervantes was buoyed. It told a story of a great sword possessing a power unlike any other in history, whomever possessed the sword would be invincible in every fight, unbeaten in every war and unequal in every battle. Cervantes no longer cares for the mountain of gold promises to him, he now only seek one thing that the sword could to him; Power
As his ship start to sail toward another conquest, Cervantes can't helped but smile at the thought "This time… For sure this time"