Author's note: Disclaimer in the prologue. Again, corrections and constructive criticism encouraged (and reviews in general! Let's not forget reviews in general!). I happily lay claim to Tee, Gelasia, Thanos and Canace, and Lycou and co. (except Drakon, as you'll probably figure out) are sadly mine.
Three Years Later
Sinbad, legendary ex-pirate and scourge of the seven seas, saviour of the Book of Peace and all round good guy, slept fitfully as day's first light crept into his room. What started as a peaceful night of rest became a morning of nightmares as Sinbad could only watch the all-too-familiar nightmare playing in his mind... over... and over... and over... Every time he tried to tear his mind's eye away, to make it all stop, something unseen, something he couldn't explain, forced him to look. Even worse, it forced him to stay asleep until he couldn't take it anymore. Sometimes he thought Morpheus himself willed it. He continued watching the nightmare, still not surrendering on trying to wake up as he tossed and turned.
"PRINCE PROTEUS, LOOK OUT!"
Time seemed to slow then, just as it always did in this part of the dream, allowing Sinbad to fully experience the utter horror of Proteus's final moments. The strangled gasp escaping his lips as his face paled and the hairs behind his neck stood to attention. And finally came the yard catching him out where other more threatening foes never could, where nothing never should. It rammed his head and brought him with it into the sea's foamy rage. Proteus thrashed around trying to stay afloat and grabbed the very thing that killed him to save his own life. Surrendering himself at last to his fate, his eyes closed and he breathed his last.
With her distinctive throaty chuckle Eris materialised onto the scene, her supernal black hair and mauve dress flowing serenely despite the raging storm. She beamed at the still form of Proteus still floating around in the ocean and drifting very far from his ship. She blew him a kiss and chuckled again. "Oh, this was just too easy. Why didn't I think of it before?" And then she turned her attention to Sinbad, as if she knew this was his dream. Glancing sidelong at him she purred, "I guess I have you to thank here, Sinbad." She raised her eyebrows. "If you were here, you could've saved him."
"I knew there was a reason I liked you." Her form slowly dissolved into a cloud of smoke, and as she began to disappear again came the throaty laugh. "Thanks for my new trophy."
And the cloud of smoke vanished into thin air.
Sinbad awoke from his dream with a start. The cold sweat that issued from his pores began to dry and cake on his skin and unknowingly he had allowed his breathing to become erratic. He took a few very deep breaths in a conscious effort to calm himself down. Changing into his normal clothes, he tried to remember. Remember what Marina told him. Good air in, bad air out. Good air in... bad air out. He growled. It wasn't working. It never worked.
"Dammit!" He punched his cabin wall, taking a little pleasure in the impressive thump.
He sighed and headed up above deck. Maybe a little sea breeze could get some sense back into him. Yeah, that was it; a little sea breeze. He quickened his steps up the companionway and breathed the fresh morning air of the Mediterranean Sea. "Ah," he said. "This is more like it. Nothing like the smell of the sea in the morning."
Jin and Li passed him by, saying a quick "morning, sir" before flashing each other a knowing look. Sinbad raised an eyebrow as Jin whispered to Li something about the lines of, "Pay up. He had that dream again."
"He did not have that dream."
"He did so. He always has that lost look when he has that dream."
"That 'lost look' could've been about anything! Maybe he lost his underwear again!"
Sinbad greeted them back and shook his head as they resumed their normal duties, still arguing over whether or not Li had lost the bet. Dear gods, sometimes Sinbad thought those two would bet who'd die first if that resulted in any money.
"Sinbad!" Kale called from the helm. "Any orders?"
"All sails to Syracuse, and don't get us killed."
Kale rolled his eyes. "Aye, Captain."
"Morning, Captain!" Rat plopped down seemingly from out of nowhere. He grinned at Sinbad through yellowed teeth, but suspended upside down on a rope, it looked a bit weird. "Do you know where the lovely signorina is this morning? I do not, and going just one morning without seeing her gentle beauty makes my heart feel as if it would burst into a thousand pieces!" At this he clutched at his heart with a melodramatic flourish, causing him to tumble from the rope onto the unforgiving wooden deck. Dusting himself off Sinbad noted he still smiled. "So, have you seen her?"
Sinbad shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. You know how Marina can be someti - "
Something small and about half Sinbad's size brushed past him and hugged him from behind for some sort of protection. A young voice shrieked with formidable force despite being muffled by Sinbad's body, its vibrations almost tickling Sinbad back. "I'M NOT GONNA! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"
Sinbad turned to look at the young boy hugging his back in what looked like both defiance and fear. "Tee, what in the name of the gods do you think you're doing?"
"THERE YOU ARE!" Marina, in all her "gentle beauty" shouted from the helm, eyes bulging with exasperation and knuckles whitening dangerously as the grip on a bunch of clothes tightened. Unusually fancy clothes swaying with every step, she stormed over to the guilty clutcher of backs. That would've turned Sinbad on if her weren't so scared. As if catching herself losing control, she stopped awhile to gather her composure, what was left of it anyway. A few short breaths later, she pleaded with Sinbad just short of saying it through gritted teeth. "Sinbad," she said. "Please reason with your son. Dymas's palace is no place to wear sailor clothes."
"Ah, signorina!" Rat cried before Sinbad could do anything. "My heart's blossom! My one true joy and inspiration! I was so afraid I would not see you today! I - "
Whap!
"Not now, Rat!"
One of Tee's shoes mysteriously shot into Rat's mouth, and Marina's hand mysteriously carried only one shoe instead of formerly two. Marina glared, and Rat promptly spit out the shoe and handed it back to her with the utmost grace and courtesy he was capable of (which, they all knew, wasn't really that much to begin with). "Ah, the signorina throws with such passion! Such" Taking one look at the family, Rat smiled and climbed back onto his rope. "Ah. I see." Making his way up to survey the sails he called back, "We will speak later, then, signorina!"
Sinbad looked closer at the clothes in Marina's white-knuckled death grip. They did look pretty fancy. Those must've been the clothes she got from trading with the Athenians. So this was what all the fear was all about! He put on his best "father" voice and twisted around to scold his son. "Tee, listen to your mother."
He shook his head. "No! I've worn sailor clothes there before!"
Marina growled. "Tee..."
Another shake of the head. "No, Mom! I won't!"
"Tee, it's King Dymas's birthday! Don't you wanna look nice?"
"No! I don't wanna wear the stupid clothes!"
Sinbad watched on helplessly as the two argued, as they so often did these days. To think Tee wasn't even a teenager yet. His head darted back and forth as the two exchanged verbal blows. Unfortunately Tee inherited his mother's hotheadedness and word skills. Sinbad grimaced, head still bouncing back and forth in a pretty unflattering way. Somehow he thought he preferred to be still in bed having the nightmare.
"... and I'll TELL you why you should, young man! Because he won't like it and he'll be mad!"
"He won't! I've worn sailor clothes there before and he didn't mind!"
"What about all the others, then? The officials? The nobility? The ambassadors? The royalty? The - "
"UNCLE PROTEUS DIDN'T MIND!" Tee finally bellowed, his face now thrust out defiantly to meet his mother's. Both faced each other off with equal intensity, nostrils flared, faces reddening and voices growing hoarse, but the last sentence struck something in the both of themin the three of them. A dead silence fell across the three, as painful memories wriggled their way back into their psyches, emerging from what they thought was the dead and making them pay for not killing them before. Tee's anger slowly trickled off until he begrudgingly took the clothes and trudged off to change, ignoring the stares and murmurings of the crew. A whisper, and a gold coin furtively passed hands from Jin to Li.
Sinbad cleared his throat, and the men went back to work. He slicked back his hair and straightened out his clothes. "Great," he said, and headed up to the helm to take charge, "We got him to put on the clothes, we did it without violence and we did it as a team." He took the helm and slapped on a smile. "Excellent parenting today."
"I suppose..." She followed him up. "Sinbad." She sighed. "Sinbad, you know this is the first time we went back to Syracuse since..."
Sinbad held up a hand, not taking his eyes off the island so near yet so far away. The smiling facade wavered and finally dropped. He knew what she was going to say. He understood. "I know."
"And... are you sure you're all right with this? You've never wanted to talk about it and I wondered if you'd really"
"I'm fine."
He felt her take a step closer, sensed her try to literally reach out to him to get him to open up. "Sinbad..."
"I'm fine."
"Well." She made her way down to check up on Tee. "If you say so. Make sure Dymas's wine is ready by the time we get there."
Sinbad continued looking out at the horizon, focussing on the little island that they would get to in a few minutes' time. Syracuse. He struggled to keep his face neutral. Syracuse, his former home, the place of some of his best times... and his worst. The place where he first met Proteus and then later first saw Marina. The place where Tee was born, and where he and Marina announced that their son would be named after Proteus, in honour of his former best friend and the man who gave him the opportunity to clear his name and save the Book of Peace. Proteus was so touched then. He tried to hide it from his wife and his father and everyone else there, but he was. He and Sinbad shared manly punches on the shoulder after the announcement, looking as macho as the occasion called for, when Marina forced them into a hug. Both "manly men" reluctantly embraced much to everyone's amusement, and joined in with the laughter. It would be the first of many more happy visits.
They came more often as Tee grew older. The boy loved his namesake, his "Uncle Proteus"; he talked about him whenever the subject came up, and sometimes when it didn't. The two were close, even though Sinbad's seafaring adventures meant they couldn't see each other as often as they wanted. So it happened that on some of their shorter or more dangerous adventures Sinbad would leave him awhile in Syracuse. Tee never liked leaving. Proteus never liked seeing him leave, either.
Some had thought he was beginning to think of the boy as something of a son, which Dymas more than just frowned on. He nagged at Proteus to produce an heir. A male one. A daughter was good - gods knew Dymas would've utterly spoilt Gelasia if it wasn't for Proteus's and Canace's influence - but there needed to be a male successor in order for the monarchy to continue the way it was. At long last a son came: Thanos, but the joy was short-lived. After Thanos died of illness only a few days after his birth, Proteus gave up on more children. When the issue of male heirs came up, a piece of Syracuse's eldest prince died inside. With a shrug and a ghost smile he always said there was time. There was always time.
Turned out he didn't have enough.
The bustle of activity in the harbour caught Sinbad's attention and removed him from the darker thoughts. He eyed the approaching isle and let out a low whistle. "Well, would you look at that." Boats and other vessels lined the pristine waters and floated amiably before the palace, the docks virtually swelling with men and messengers bearing gifts and tributes for the king's birthday. He'd forgotten how big a fuss people made over old Dymas sometimes. And soon Sinbad would be joining them in the fussmaking. He smirked. Maybe he should've gotten something a little more light than a few barrels of Roman wine. "Hope Dymas still likes his grog."
The startings of a crowd stirred and murmured to get a look at the famous rescuer of the Book of Peace. Activity in the crowded harbour all but stopped as the Chimera sailed in, as the leanings and chatter increased.
" - told you he was real!"
" - heard he faced off Eris herself and then she - "
" - bet he brought something good for the - "
" - never thought he came around any - "
" - said he was dead!"
Sinbad eyed them, a knowing look in his eyes. Ah, the fans. No matter how many times he'd gone to Syracuse, the crowds always seemed to appear. And the guys never seemed able to control themselves when the female fans arrived. "Kale!"
"On it!" He called to the rest of the crew. "Okay guys, you know the drill! Get the Chimera ready for docking! Remember, all contact with the crowds is strictly minimal! No exceptions! And Rat!"
Rat swung overhead to attend to a sail. "I know! No bringing in strange women again!"
Sinbad nodded. "Good. Now that we've got that sorted..." He manoeuvred the ship as only he could, narrowly avoiding the boats and ships that made up the mass of floating transport. Back in the day, it would've been a great robbing opportunity, but he tried to resist the familiar thief impulses rising up again in him. Someone needed to set an example for the men. Besides, they were only there for a short period of time. A few days, tops. Not too long, meaning nothing interesting would happen in their stay.
Right?
The Harbour of Syracuse, A Few Hours Later
"So." Drakon leaned against the fore topmast, pure boredom radiating even from the scarred half of his face as he contemplated the approaching city, scratching at an annoying itch on his back. He eyed Lycou, brown eyebrow raised and a smirk playing on his lips. "King Dymas's birthday, huh?"
Lycou yawned that little wolf howl of his again and looked out at the filled harbour. Drakon could sense the naked greed just oozing out of the man's greasy pores. "Yep." He turned back to Drakon, grinning. "Can you imagine the score we'll get out of this one? It might be enough to retire with!"
Drakon shrugged. "Whatever gets Kratos off our backs."
Lycou, for once, actually looked a little thoughtful. He turned his sights from the palace to a tower nearby. A light shone from the tower's top level, but it didn't seem natural. Blue it was, almost white even. Looked nothing like fire. Nothing that man could make, nothing that Drakon had ever seen... or maybe ever remembered seeing. Lycou broke the silence, "Why don't we try get that Book of Peace thing everyone's always making such a big fuss about? Bet it's worth more than all of Dymas's gifts put together."
"It is." Drakon studied his fingernails. Too long again. At that rate he was going to look like a woman. Bad enough his face was thin and angular and all too pretty... well, the section not looking like it was overcooked in some weird oven, anyway. "The Book would be too hard to get to, though. There are guards on every level, and if you look up to the - "
"ALL HAND GET READY TO DOCK!" Kleitos strutted on deck in that effeminate way of his. When Drakon was first found by the crew, he was nameless, burnt, half dead and suffering from amnesia. He thought it funny the way Kleitos strutted around and talked weird, but now he knew better than to laugh, tempting though it was. Everyone knew it was dangerous to mock him or Kratos. Everyone also knew the two were hot for each other. What they didn't know was why they insisted on hiding it. Rumour went they liked the "danger of being caught" and all that crap. Queers.
Drakon and Lycou set to work. Well, started on it, anyway. Just before he disappeared down the mast, Lycou popped his head up and gave Drakon a look. "Drak?"
"Yeah?"
Lycou's frown deepened. "How'd you know about the tower?"
"LYCOU! DRAKON! GET TO WORK!"
Drakon shrugged, ignoring Kleitos for a moment. "Didn't you tell me about it?"
"No, we've never even mentioned Syracuse to you, not before planning this heist, anyway. And you've never come with us there."
"Oh." Now it was Drakon's turn to frown. "Well then - "
"NOW, LYCOU AND DRAKON!"
Theron called up from directly below them. "Hey guys, Kleitos looks really pissed today. You mind?"
The two nodded and got to work. Drakon looked at Lycou one last time and finished answering the question. "Well then, I guess I don't know."
Lycou shrugged and descended down the mast, the earlier conversation forgotten. Drakon, however, found it a little harder to dismiss than that. Lycou had a point. They'd never really discussed Syracuse before and he'd never even been there- not with them; not to his recollection, anyway.
And how exactly did he know about the tower?