The legend lives on from the Mormusan on down
Of the channel they called 'Mavro Canali'
The channel, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of the sea turn gloomy
With a load of five-hundred souls more
Than when the Solpari stood empty,
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the Grimm of the channel stirred angry.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned.
None of that could save them all though
When that monster came hungering
It was over in a few minutes, no more
And they all sank to the bottom.
The legend lives on from the Mormusan on down
Of the channel they called 'Mavro Canali'
The channel it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of the sea turn gloomy.
"The Wreck of the Solpari" - Heather Montgomery
When I whirled around, Harbinger in hand, I had been expecting one kind of monstrosity or another. Maybe some kind of spectral being like the Revenant, maybe a construct like the snowmen. What I hadn't been expecting was a short, affable looking old man with a weathered face that bespoke of years of sailing on the seas.
Beside me, Taiyang inhaled sharply, "Qrow…" He hissed, "This was the captain of the Solpari, Saltz Fitzgerald."
The man chuckled and scratched his chin, "'Was'? I still am… I suppose." He gestured to the two of us, "Come, we have much to discuss." He turned and began tromping his way down the hall. Revealing a set of chains that were wrapped around his ankles, their ends trailing off deeper into the ship.
Lifting an eyebrow, I hesitated for a moment, then sheathed my blade.
"You're not serious." Taiyang asked incredulously.
"If he wanted to kill us, he would have just called in his buddies." I said, jerking my head back at the snowmen and ghosts in the large room behind us, "He wants to talk, so let's talk. We need to find out what in the world is going on here anyway."
Taiyang grimaced, "Yeah, you're right."
"Usually am." I quipped.
We followed the captain down the hall; the clanking of his chains echoing in the otherwise silent ship.
"So young man, you seemed to recognize me." The captain commented over his shoulder, "How has this come to be?"
Taiyang hesitated, then looked at me and I shrugged.
"The Patch History Museum had an exhibit on the wreck." Taiyang answered.
The captain smiled ruefully at that, "You know, I always hoped to be famous one day." He let out a slow, wheezing laugh, "I guess be careful what you wish for."
He stopped in front of a large, metal door, which let out a loud screech as he opened it to step inside.
We followed him into what appeared to be the captain's quarters, a large, rotting desk dominated the center of the room and the walls were covered with dilapidated maps and charts.
"I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of accommodating guests." Captain Fitzgerald admitted, "Only one bottle of scotch survived the waves." He reached into the desk and pulled out a large bottle of the golden liquid, which he set down in front of us, along with a trio of glass cups.
He took one and gestured to the other two, "Go on, drink up, might as well use it up now."
I grabbed one of the glasses and Taiyang followed my lead, I took a cautious sniff and then downed it; letting out a sigh of satisfaction as the liquid burned in my throat.
"Why's that?" I asked the captain.
He examined his glass for a while, then set it down in front of him, "Let me guess, that history museum you mentioned, it claimed it was a Grimm that drowned us?"
Taiyang nodded, "Yeah."
"Well that's a bunch of hooey." The captain stated flatly. "That was no Grimm, it was something else, something ancient and more alien than any Grimm on Remnant."
He was silent for a moment, "It all started with that damn fog." He told us, "It rolled in faster than you could spit. Damn near blinded us." He shook his head, "That's when the distress signal came in over the radio." He jerked his thumb at his chest, "I'd been sailing for near on forty-years, ain't no fog I couldn't navigate. So I had the boys lock in and we headed for it." He poured himself another thumb of scotch and knocked it back, slamming the cup back down on the table, making it shake.
"Damn my pride!" He spat, "I had a bad feeling in my gut the whole way in, but ain't no sailor worth his salt going to leave a fellow soul to the sea. We found the ship alright, a little schooner, only one survivor still on board; claimed the sea had taken the rest. He was an odd fellow, maybe about this high," He lifted a hand up, indicating a man of average height, "Mayhaps a little round at the belly, but it was his eyes. They looked like they had seen something, something that had taken the mind inside."
The captain trailed off, then shook himself, "Anyways, the fog, it followed us, then a couple of crew members went missing, then some of the colonists. The lads starting getting suspicious, talked of a murderer on board." He shivered, "So we set a trap one night, poor Wilkins, by the time we got into the room, that odd fellow had already carved some damnable symbol straight into his chest."
"What did the symbol look like?" I asked him.
"It looked like a trident." He answered, "With some kind of wavy things across it, anyways, we sent the bastard into the sea with a couple of stones around his ankles." His eyes grew distant, "He was babbling the whole way, saying that his master was coming, coming to get us and all of Patch; all of Remnant. He sank fast, justice of the sea."
He let out a sigh, "But whether it really was his master, or what not, we saw something in the fog, something big, really big; damn near tall as a mountain. It was moving fast… too fast for us to escape. It caught up to us in the channel, so I made a choice," His eyes lifted and I could see the defiance in them, "I drove the ship straight into it, full speed." He said, "Went straight into its belly, and we sank together beneath the waves."
He leaned back in his chair, "Saved a whole mess of lives on Patch, of that I have no doubt, but it was a spiteful creature and sank every lifeboat we had sent to Patch before it finally went beneath the water." He closed his eyes, "I know not what power kept us from the beyond." He admitted, "All I know is that whatever it was gave us a task in our undeath, that creature isn't dead, just sleeping, and when it wakes again, we're to take it under the waves, this time for good."
"So that's why you brought it up on the beach…" I said slowly.
The captain nodded, "Aye, the Solpari and its crew will have one more voyage, and then… we can finally sleep."
"So what's the deal with all of the Tannenbaum stuff?" I asked him.
He sunk into his chair, "That…" He said, "Pertains to a more tragic side of the story…" He stood up, "Come, it is easier to show you."
We followed our host out of the room and back down the hall, the singing growing louder as we did so.
"So did that ring any bells?" Taiyang asked me.
"Oh yeah, and they're all bad ones." I answered, "That symbol is bad news, and with that fog... if that thing had gotten to Patch, there's no telling what kind of destruction it could have brought. The captain is lowballing on just how many lives his crew saved that day."
"Right," Taiyang glanced nervously at the room ahead, "You sure you're okay with him just leading us straight into the room full of spirits and the Revenant? I'm rather attached to my skeleton."
I shrugged, "You want to turn around, be my guest; but no matter how nicely you ask, I won't tell you what I found out."
"Screw you Qrow." He hissed as we followed the captain into the room.
Instantly, the song fell silent as the spirits and Mr. Frosty all stared at the two mortals that had just entered what amounted to a lion's den. Despite my cavalier answer to Taiyang's question, I shivered a little as I could practically feel the hunger radiate throughout the room.
"Stand down!" Captain Fitzgerald boomed, his voice echoing around the room.
Instantly the spirits of the crew obeyed, slowly returning back to their eerie singing. Mr. Frosty however, seemed far more reluctant, sliding towards us slowly, its eyes fixated on us.
"Stand. Down." Captain Fitzgerald commanded once more.
The Revenant-possessed snowman paid no heed, and I slowly began to draw Harbinger from its sheath.
The Captain sighed and then reached down and grabbed the chain around his ankle, and gave a single pull.
Mr. Freezy gave out a harsh screech, its twig hands reaching for its throat, stopping in its tracks. The captain let the tension go out of the chain and the snowman recovered, letting its arms fall back down to its sides.
The snowman glared at the captain, frustration and anger roiling off of its snowy frame, the undead man for his part, simply stood calmly, his hand still wrapped around the chain. With a hiss, Mr. Freezy turned and made its way back to the platform, where it continued its work on another snowman.
I let out a slow sigh of relief and sheathed my weapon, beside me Taiyang gave a weak grin, "So you do get nervous."
"Bite me Tai." I shot back.
"You must forgive my companions." Captain Fitzgerald wheezed, "They did not retain as much of their former selves as I did."
He led us up a set of steps and to a chair, where there was another specter, its form glowing gold.
It was in the form of a small child, no more than ten years old.
"This," Captain Fitzgerald said, "Is why."
We watched as the child ignored us, instead it fiddled with a small music box, a wolf howling at a moon intricately carved into its face.
"When the children died; they did not form individual spirits as we did." The captain explained, "Instead, they coalesced, becoming one spirit. For these long, miserable years, it's the only thing that's brought happiness into our lives."
The child noticed us for the first time and it smiled, despite myself, I felt my heart being warmed slightly.
The captain smiled sadly, "When we brought the wreck up to shore, we caught a radio broadcast of a song, a Tannenbaum song. It heard it and it sat silent as a mouse. Then when it finished, it started crying." He shook his head, "Damn near broke our hearts, so one of the lads started singing, sure enough, just sat still again." He turned to us, "That's when we decided, we know that it's our last hours; might as well make them happy ones." His eyes teared up, "Pay it back for being our sole light in that abyss."
I was silent for a long time, "So why did they go after my niece?" I asked him.
The captain winced, "I'm sorry about that, I did not approve, but the ship has always had its own ideas. That's already stopped."
I lifted an eyebrow at that, "Alright, good to hear."
The captain nodded, then pulled out a pocket watch, "Now if you'll excuse me, we have to be casting off soon." He extended out a hand, "It was good to meet you two gentlemen, at least now someone will know the real story."
I shook it, "Thank you for your sacrifice."
Taiyang shook the captain's hand as well and then the undead man left the room bawling orders.
I sighed and turned around, "C'mon Tai, we're done here."
"Kind of feels wrong," He murmured, "You realize that we're not going to be able to tell anyone about any of this. They'd never believe us; no one will ever know just how much these men and women have sacrificed."
"I mean, Captain Geralt is an anyone."
Taiyang rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean."
I shrugged, "I mean, look at it this way, they'll also never know that they went on shore and horribly slaughtered innocent people to make Tannenbaum decorations."
He winced, "Fair enough." His gaze wandered over to the child spirit and he frowned, "Is there really nothing that we can do? It feels wrong to just leave."
I shrugged, "I mean, it's not like we can take any of them with us-" I cut off with a frown, "Actually, give me a second." I pulled out my scroll and tapped in a number. It rang a couple of times and then Geralt's face appeared in the viewscreen, his face covered with a strange cream, a pair of goggles on his face.
"What's up?" He asked.
"What's up yourself?" I asked.
"Oh just keeping myself and the girls busy." Geralt replied lightly, and in the background I could see flames spew across the ground.
"Are those flamethrowers?" Taiyang asked nervously over my shoulder. At that very moment, a small figure stepped into view. She was covered completely in a silvery suit and on her back was a large tank linked to a tube that she held in both hands. She hit a switch and a gout of flame shot forward, almost instantly evaporating the snow in huge swath.
"Is that Ruby?" Taiyang demanded, "What the hell is going on over there?"
Captain Geralt held up a placating hand, "Everything is fine, it's just that the girls were getting stir crazy and so I decided to rig up some stuff to clear the snow around the house."
I nodded, "Nice idea, but fortunately it looks like it won't be necessary. Long story short, we severely misunderstood what was going on and I needed to ask you something."
Captain Geralt listened to my question and he frowned, "Hmm… I suppose it would be possible, but difficult. You'll have to alter some of the core runes in the design."
"Can you walk us through it?" I asked him.
He nodded, "Just set up the scroll so that I can see it."
"On it," I took off my bag and began rummaging around for the ritual pieces, "Tai, go get the captain."
He nodded and dashed towards the sound of the captain's voice.
"Captain?" Geralt asked.
"Like I said, long story, I'll explain when I get back."
He nodded, "I'll hold you to that." He replied as I pulled out the mix of odds and ends that constituted the ritual pieces; all inscribed with runes that glowed a faint blue.
"
Alright, so first you're going to have to change the rune on the center-piece." He told me,
"That's the clock right?" I asked, lifting up the miniature table-stand clock.
He nodded, "Right, there should be a time rune and a soul rune on the back, you'll need to disconnect them and draw a binding rune."
I pulled Harbinger out of its sheath and very carefully scratched a line through the connection between the two runes and inscribed a circle with two lines around it.
"Done." I told him.
"Good, now get the holy symbol."
I seized a stone that was carved in the shape of the emblem of the Order of the Equinox.
"Right, there's a purification rune on it, you're going to need to alter that to connect with a binding rune and a shielding rune."
I found the rune in the shape of a rectangle with a cross in the center and quickly scratched two lines, one of which I drew another circle with two lines at its end; then I hesitated.
"Um… which one was the shielding one again." I asked.
"It's like one of those circle diagram things in a triangle."
"What circle diagram thing?" I asked.
"You know, the thing with the comparisons and stuff." He answered.
"Well that's descriptive." I said dryly, "But that sounds like a Venn diagram."
"Right, that thing in a triangle."
I began inscribing the rune on the stone, "How is it that you can remember practically every rune and ritual in existence, but not that?"
"You're the teacher, you tell me." Captain Geralt answered back, "Now, you're going to need something connected to whatever you're caging. Whether that be a sentimental object, a piece of it, whatever. You're going to put a binding rune connected to a cage rune on that."
"Cage rune?" I asked.
The former knight sighed, "A square with three vertical lines in it."
"Right, thanks."
He nodded, "Good luck."
I hung up, "Damn, we're going to have a tough time one-upping flamethrowers for Tannenbaum." I muttered.
Taiyang walked in, followed by Captain Fitzgerald, "This gentleman said you needed me for something?"
"Yeah," I quickly explained my idea to him.
For a long time he was silent, then tears began to fall from his eyes, "Yes, of course." He managed, "That would mean all the world to us."
"You understand there's a risk involved?" I asked him.
He chuckled, "It would mean oblivion anyway if you didn't try. At least this way there's a chance."
I took a deep breath then turned to the child ghost, "Let's do this," I breathed.
About an hour later, Taiyang and I stood on the cliffs overlooking the channel, watching the ship.
"There it goes." Taiyang said.
Sure enough, the ship was slowly launching itself out to into the water from the beach; eerily silent despite its massive size.
"Oh dust and bones." Taiyang muttered, "What the hell is that?"
Off in the channel, something was rising from the water, something massive, with a myriad of limbs hanging from its torso and face. A fog began forming over the water, thickening with unnatural speed.
The Solpari drove on, disappearing into the fog.
As we watched in spellbound horror, the silhouette of the monster began shifting, moving towards the shoreline with great, ponderous steps.
Suddenly it stopped in its tracks, and there was an ear-splitting roar that seemed to crack the sky itself with its pain and fury. Slowly, surely, the thing sank beneath the fog; which began to dissipate.
Soon, the fog, the ship, and the creature were all gone, leaving the channel empty, the waves calmly lapping at the shore.
"Is… is it over?" Taiyang asked.
"Jeez Tai," I glared at him, "Never, ever ask that. That's like… cliche 101."
"Is it though?" He insisted.
I bit back an angry response and looked out over the waves, trying to hide the fact that every muscle in my body was tensed up and ready for action.
But there was nothing.
I let out a slow sigh, "It looks like it." I told him, "C'mon," I began walking back towards the house, "We've got to clean up the mess they left on the beach."
Taiyang frowned, "Wait, why are you going that way then?"
I grinned, "You'll see."
The rest of that Tannenbaum was eerily magical, Taiyang and I used the flamethrowers that Geralt and the girls had built to burn all of the remaining macabre ornaments remaining on the beach. Of course, being the girls of a Huntsman and Huntress, Ruby and Yang couldn't resist being in a place with so much fire. So after we had cleared the more disturbing pieces, we moved our Tannenbaum tree to the shore, and Geralt had somehow procured a massive bag of chestnuts that he proceeded to roast near the inferno. Taiyang for his part brought the meal he had cooked and we ate right there on the beach. Which afterward only left…
"Presents!" The girls yipped excitedly as they tore into the meticulously wrapped boxes with a savage glee. Taiyang had insisted on packing away the flamethrowers until the girls were older, which Geralt grumbled about just as much as they did, but the girls at least were appeased with their myriad other gifts.
Towards the end of the night, I beckoned Yang and Ruby over from their piles of toys. "I have a very special gift for both of you." I said, handing them a small box.
Ruby reached inside and pulled out what was inside, "What is it?" She asked in wonderment.
"It's a music box." I replied, "You wind that." I pointed to a small metal rod on the side, "And it plays music."
"Wow." She breathed, she grasped it and wound it around.
At first, it was silent, but then a calm, lilting tune came from the wooden box, almost like a choir of children singing.
"It's beautiful." Yang breathed.
"Thanks Uncle Qrow!" Ruby exclaimed, "We'll take extra good care of it, I promise!"
I smiled softly, "I know you will." I answered, gazing at the wolf inscribed upon its face as Ruby and Yang wound it around again, quiet as the box sang across the waves.
The Grinch can cry Chuck.
The Krampus can sob.
Even Belzebub can shed a few tears.
It doesn't mean much, but oh how it can burn.
I remember the tree and lights.
I remember the food and the presents.
I remember the songs.
That's when a fallen angel cries, Chuck.
Not when it hears the beat of the drum;
But when it hears the soft spoken lullabye.
See you around.
Sweet, sweet is the sound.
Sweet, sweet is the song.
Sweet, Sweet as nectar.
Happy be your Holidays, dear Sweetling.
Now and Forever.
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