A fine day, the wind is gentle, the sunshine is bright. On the dock, noisy as it is. She, the Blue Pearl floats steadily on the drifting water, its sail making noises from the wind.
¡°Good morning, Captain Spiro. All fine?¡±
¡°Good morning, Jack. I¡¯m good. All ready for another explore for new land. And you?¡± his heart said: ¡° Not so good.¡± But he can¡¯t let his underling know his cowardly side.
¡°Orr, a bit busy. But the Blue Pearl is all in order. Just waiting for you and your family to aboard.¡±
¡°Thanks. Do you think we can come back safely? They say the forbidden sea is dangerous.¡± Artemis saw Anne walking quickly towards them, ¡°Oh, Jake, please meet my Lady, Anne. Anne, this is Jake. He is one of our crew.¡±
¡°My pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Spiro.¡± Jake bowed.
¡°My pleasure, too.¡± Anne replied quickly, and then looked at Artemis roily.
Artemis turned back at Jack and said, ¡°Please excuse us, Jack.¡± Then he led Anne away.
¡°Not at all, sir!¡± Jack shouted back, and marched away happily, he had always love sailing with Captain Spiro, a lot of happy memories¡
¡°What¡¯s the matter, darling?¡± Artemis whispered.
¡°It¡¯s Domovoi, he¡¯s been running around the ship crazily since we have arrived. I don¡¯t know why. Is this normal, I mean this can¡¯t be normal, is it? But, is he OK? Quick go to the deck!¡± Anne went pale; she jumped up and down anxiously and gazed at Artemis.
¡°Quick. Take me to him, what are you waiting for?¡±
Anne ran off instantly. Artemis followed behind. They ran across the dock on to the Blue Pearl.
On the deck, their Domovoi ran around and around, shaking his head crazily, bumping into things, and crashing himself furiously into poles. The crew were chasing around the deck to stop him. Artemis rushed towards him, trying to stop the violent action, too. Artemis held onto him just in time, before Domovoi could crash his head onto another pole. All of a sudden, Domovoi stopped; he stood there staring at his dad with out any expression in his eyes, like a dead man. Artemis went pale. He carried the insensible Domovoi into the Blue Pearl¡¯s bedchamber, laid him on the bed, his lips were white. Artemis touched his little face, it was cold as ice, he wanted to cry, but didn¡¯t. His heart writhed, why, why is this happening, why¡ Anne came in the chamber; she walked softly but impetuous towards Domovoi lying on the bed. Artemis held Anne¡¯s hand on his shoulder tying to console her, ¡°He¡¯s alright now; he just needs a little bit of sleep¡± Although it sounded calm, this didn¡¯t do ant better to both of them. As the furnishings and food got carried aboard, the Blue pearl was ready to set out. Artemis and Anne stood side-by-side, hands together on the deck, they prayed to God, they only wished to come back safe and let everything be normal¡
All the way above them, among the clouds, God listened carefully to there prays, he too wished them peace, but he wasn¡¯t sure of their safety, for they were heading for the forbidden sea¡Maybe he could stop them by giving them threats and others to scare them off. There were a lot of reasons God can¡¯t stop him. God knew Artemis never faces down to terrifying waves, but the strongest reason of them all was ¡°it¡± is calling out to them. All the other gods and spirits in heaven were confused, what is so special with this forbidden sea, even God is worried and can¡¯t do anything about it¡
¡°Jack! Come quick, bring some water, too!¡± Artemis calls out loudly, Domovoi has wakened, it has been four long days since he fainted and became a ¡®dead¡¯¡¯ boy.
¡°Yes sir! Right away, sir! ¡± Jack runs in with a bowl of water and some food. Instead of bossing around the crew, Jack has been Domovoi¡¯s, or you can say the whole Spiro family¡¯s maid these days.
¡°Thanks Jack¡± Artemis takes the bowl and tries to let Domovoi drink the water. ¡®What if Domovoi doesn¡¯t drink the water? What if he is going to die?¡¯ Artemis couldn¡¯t stop thinking about the terrible things that may happen. To his surprise Domovoi held the bowl and drank the water in a gulp and started eating the food that still lay on Jack¡¯s tray. But Domovoi as a 10-year boy didn¡¯t speak nor did he make any other movements. He sat there staring out of the window into the brimless ocean.
Anne burst into tears: ¡°Lord, what is happening!! Artemis please let us go back and never come back. My lord help us, oh please do help us¡¡± Anne fainted in Artemis arms again.
Artemis held up his hand gave a little wave to Jack. Jack knew his master wanted him to help Captain Spiro carry his wife on the bed, too. Lady Anne had fainted about 7 times during the four days.
After laying down Anne in the soft but dangerous bed, Artemis stepped out of the bedchamber and out in the opening.
9 months ago he stood here in exactly the same way, but there is a huge difference between now and then. Just 9 months ago: Artemis, how brave and a heart filled with confidence facing the terrific waves, looking young and enchanting, breathing in the gale, standing on the very top of a rocking ship. But now, a face of distress and perplex, using only his bones to crutch his body and soul, blowzy hair and crude mustache sticking out of his skin, where can you find a bit of his inward handsome face.
Artemis felt like sinking into an abyss; he could fell it, fear and danger gushing out of it, blackness slowly covered his soul, sinking little by little. A voice or maybe an echo filled his ears: ¡°Come, come with me.¡±
¡°Who are you?¡± he tried to ask with his last few senses, but nothing came out of his lips.
¡°Come, I will lead you to me. Come to me. I need your help.¡± The voiced echoed even louder in his weak ear.
There was another blurry sound; he didn¡¯t know what it was saying.
He then heard another three other voices, 5 sounds mixed up fighting in his ears, he felt dizzy and his head started to ach in strong pain.
Artemis tried to use his hands to block all the noise out, at last he couldn¡¯t handle the pain, Artemis screamed: ¡°Nooooooooooooooo!¡±
His mind went blank.
