RISING FAULTS
For three months Damocles trained under Hercules. Three months of some of the most ridiculous and strenuous training activities Damocles had ever done. Most didn't even make any sense. Save the damsel in distress? What damsel would be in a war zone? Why would there be one in the first place? The concept of a damsel in distress was idiotic to him. Yes there would be people in danger and yes they would need saving. But for there to be just one in an enemy camp? It was just plain ludicrous to even think about. Marius had saved countless people on his trek back to Rome and not once was there ever a sole woman in danger. It was always groups of three or four. The only thing he had learned from this type of training was what powers had awoken in that time frame. For the most part the only powers that have awoken were those of Pax, Justitia, Hercules, Mercury, and Pietas.
Mercury and Hercules was pretty self explanatory, speed and strength respectively. When Hercules learned that his powers had awoken his training regime took a full turn. Hercules made him wear weights of various sizes and shapes from fitted greaves and gauntlets to a literal boulder he had to lug around for a full day. And when Mercury's awoken he had to run everywhere to all his training areas while still wearing the weights. Damocles has been doing that ever since.
Pax gave him the ability to understand all languages be it written or spoken. It has surprisingly been very useful as everything in his home and around it has been written in the worlds tongues. During one of his 'rest days', ever since unlocking Mercury's power Marius found he was rarely if ever tired, as Hercules put it Damocles decided to look into some of the books he had in his room, and was he surprised. This 'New World' was home to many creatures he thought to be either myth or legend ranging from Elves and Dwarves to giant serpents called Dragons. Every species has its own language both spoken and written with many different sub-languages as well. And ever since discovering this Damocles would be found in his chambers studying this world, its cultures and people, on his rest days.
Justitia gave him the power to 'see', allowing him to see anywhere, be it on the other side of the world or in the past. Damocles definitely had fun learning about the world and how it was working.
The human civilizations were vastly different only in appearance, and they were all to him completely uninspiring.
Those to the north had been almost exact copies of his home. Raving and mad, yet noble and just in their own ways. They had laws and edicts yes, but other than that they were basically living like animals. No hallmarks of civilization, only tribes and clans, pelts and wood, little to any smiths and artisans. They were integrated with the other mortals of this world like Beast-men, Orcs, Goblins, Talking Bipedal Lizards, and so on. The one redeeming quality for them was the clans and tribe set up. It didn't matter what they looked like, if they were in the same tribe then they were family. Anything else wasn't worth their time unless they needed something. And if they needed something they went west.
The west was ruled by a King of kings, with kings ruling there people but answering to a king who ruled over them all. It looked to be in a constant state of war be it civil, with kings trying to one up the other to be the new True King, or with other nations vying for more land and power. The only thing he is able to figure out is the True King is the strongest king. One can be the strongest over there but if not born with royal blood the other kingdoms will not recognize the new king making a civil war to usurp the none royal. Race and class played a huge part on this side of the world. For every kingdom was ruled by a different race from Human, Elf, to Dwarf. None of the more exotic species lived on this continent. Looking back they all just up and left. They weren't run off or slaughtered but simply chose to go north or further west until they got east.
Those to the south were somehow all humans. No mythicals like Elves or Lizards like everywhere else. A look into the past showed that at least four of the nations there had a witch hunt for anything not human for a whole century. Sure there were little pockets all around but if they were found it was basically a death sentence on the spot. The biggest one was by far the dwarves deep within the largest mountain range. The nations knew of them but they had no feasible way to get to them and when they did they were slaughtered in the tight corridors made by and for the dwarves.
The east was very confusing to him. Four Human kingdoms, one Elven, one Dwarvish, tribes of Beastmen all throughout, and one even ruled by those flying beasts called Dragons. And that was only what he had glimpsed at.
Before the power of Pietas activated.
To say Pietas's power was debilitating would be an understatement. The power activated during one of his training sessions with Hercules strength and Mercury's speed. Damocles could remember nothing from the moment it turned on to finding himself in his bed three days later. In Hercules's words he "-was supposed to be going from one end of the island two hundred times in five seconds in a full kit with a pack filled with rocks. One second I saw you the next I heard thunder, come to find you screaming in the dirt trying to cover your ears before you passed out with a trench running down the eastern side if you want to go see. You only did one-thirty by the way.", Damocles soon found that he could hear everything if he wasn't focused. That in turn caused another series of faints and knockouts due to information overload. This led to some very dangerous training programs centered around using only sound to find his way through a maze of catacombs under the island. How Hercules found the time to build these he would never know. But one thing was certain. It forced him to control the power to the point he was able to both see and hear conversations of the great leaders of this world instead of merely watching and guessing what was the current goings in and around his home.
*Line Break*
The ocean was beautiful. Lush blue with wild life easily seen below the waves. But there was one thing that made this day a day full of foul moods.
"Tell me one more time. And don't you dare tell me what you told everyone else." Demanded a man dressed immaculately in a dress uniform with tricorn and all.
"Captain Watanabe, Sir, This land we're trying to get to. We can't. Simply put. If we stayed our course we would make it in the time table I told the others. But the small boats we sent ahead all reported the same thing. The reef spans the whole coast and it's too high for us to cross without risk of sinking." Replied a woman in a simple attire similar to all the other deckhands aboard the only difference being it was a little more *ahem* revealing and had a hood over attached to her coat to signify her place as First Mate.
"But it's coral!? What do you mean we can't cross!?" shouted the Captain more enraged at the inconvenience than the idea of turning around. They still had plenty of food and water, not to mention the abundance of fish that can easily be caught in the western seas, to survive being at sea for another three months before rationing had to be done.
"It's magic sir. The mages on the craft said 'the coral is enchanted' what ever the fuck that means. From what they described the water passed the reef is full of magical 'essence'. The reef around the island seems to be feeding off of it somehow and has increased its something or other. All I know is anyone who tried crossing got either stuck or capsized on the reef." explained the First Mate. "We've already lost five small boats to those damned reefs. The mages tried some magics to break the reef but all they did was feed the damned stuff. They said and I quote 'The reef feeds off of the waters outside the island and turns it into magic like bees feed off flowers to make honey.' cause they's been saying the oceans used to be filled with magics long ago. They're saying it's cause of that coral over there."
"Then what happened to all the 'magics' in the ocean if it's only around that damned island?" This was sounding more and more ridiculous the longer the captain listened to his First Mate. "It's not like it all vanished now? Does It?"
"I don't know Captain." stated the First sighing. "Here. Let me.. Let me just go get one of them mages to explain it better." She finally stated before walking out of the captain's cabin.
Captain Watanabe simply sat down behind his desk in exasperation. "How could this all go so wrong. I mean that damned psychic said we'd have problems getting there with 'Misfortune and Beasts' but I just thought she meant those fucking Demi-pirates we kept coming across on the way here." said the captain looking at the table in the center of the room. Upon it was two maps, the first one was currently being filled out and illustrated, the second was of the known world. The north was mostly mapped out with how small the continent was; the east and west were prominent but the borders were blank after a stretch of massive desert split them. The south was probably the most normal simply because the land mass was massive and was still being explored to this day. The only blank spot was the middle of the map. This was known as The Unknown as original as that sounded. It was known that way simply because no one bothered to explore that region of the world. Why cross such a massive body of water with giant beasts roaming the oceans when one only had to stay close to the shores of land and be safe from harm. Well aside from the pirates, mercenaries, and whatever else held a foul mood on that day, but that was par for the course.
Just then the door to his cabin was opened and in walked a small woman no taller than 5'8". Not even making it up to his chest if he was to stand. This was Miss Täro. She was the head mage for this group that came with the colonists from the north aboard his vessel, and while she was a Shaman that didn't mean she looked half bad for her age, whatever that age was. She held a staff of ivory and wore simple green and blue robes with a black hood . He never understood why northern women always wore hoods instead of a simple yet effective hat. Hats were nice, hats were sturdy, hats didn't fall over your face if they got soaked in a downpour on a day the ocean was angry.
"I heard you wished to see me Captain. What is it you wished to discuss?" asked Ms. Täro, stopping in the middle of the cabin. "Do you possibly want to debate the flaws of the hat to that of a hood again?" she asked in a much cheekier tone.
"No," responded Captain Watanabe in a response far too quickly to be natural. "My dear Shaman. I wished to know. What the fuck?"
"Excuse me Captain?" asked the Mage with a look of pure out rage. "I will have you know your men lost fairly." she said with her arms crossed and back to him.
"Uhh… No. I will ask about that later but I mean what the fuck do you mean we can't cross the coral reef?" he questioned while also pulling out a paper and writing down to ask her 'What did she do to his men and their money? THE MAGE YOU IDIOT!' cause gods know if she can cast some spell to mess with someone's memory.
"Oh. Uh. Forget what I said." she said, waving her hand back and forth. "The reef as far as some of the more seniors and me can tell is not enchanted but more cursed." She started taking a seat across from him.
Pinching the bridge of his nose and exhaling in a far more exaggerated sense then usual. "What do you mean it's cursed? How the hell does someone curse a fucking plant?"
"Quiet easily actually." She continued ignoring the Captain's interruption. "The coral sucks up magic from all its forms. And spits? We'll go with spits. It spits it out on the other side. We tried everything from explosions to using the water. All we did was feed it and possibly strengthen it." she stated summoning a board of black glass and had cartoony sketches showing all the forms of magic they tried and failed. "The only thing that worked was simply flying over but no one has the strength to fly all the way to land."
And with that a figurative candle lit above the captain's head. "So that means there is a way to the island."
"Did you not hear me right captain?" She asked incredulously. "There is no way to get there. The coral would rip the bottom of the ship apart or we would be trapped atop the reef. And we can't go through it cause anything we use isn't strong enough or will just be sucked up but the coral itself." She finished looking at him with a look of 'are you daft?'.
"YES! But not like that or any of those other things you said." Captain Watanabe stated waving his arms in a gesture of 'hear me out'. "We can't go at it. We can't go through it. We obviously can't go around it. But. What… If we can go over it?" He started standing and approaching the center table inspecting the map that was still being made.
"Ugh. I already told you no one here has the power to fly all the way to the island. I could barely make it to shore if I tried." she started walking up to him.
"No you idiot. You can cast FLY on anything right." he asked, turning on her and looking down on her.
"Of course I can. But if it's cast on any inanimate object it just floats like an inch or two off the ground if I don't try. It needs a brain to actually use the power." she stated exasperatedly. 'What are you thinking captain. I mean I know you're a moron but this is taking a lot longer to sink in.' she thought looking at him as he turned back to look at the map.
"Come with me." he stated before marching out of his cabin.
"Ahh. Captain fin-" was all she heard before the door shut behind him. Sounded masculine. Probably the quartermaster.
"Okay, what is he thinking of?" Täro asked before following him out.
"-ro." she caught the tail end of the conversation between the captain and a random deckie.
"No. Nothing like that. If anything her company is quite enjoyable if you know how to keep her attention." Watanabe stated to the deckie, and immediately he was hit over the back of his head by a staff. "Damn it woman! I just gave you a compliment. Would you give me a fucking break already?" He shouted, turning on her.
"After last week. I don't think so." She said, giving him a look that just screamed 'try me'.
"Fucking fine then." He said with obvious contempt. "Come on then. And the rest of you quit gawking and get back to work!" he shouted at his men who all jumped back to work after the stunning moment of 'Mad Shark' Watanabe being hit and only turning and yelling at the attacker.
"Alright Captain I'm lost."
"Hah! That's not the first time." He cut her off with a uproarious laughter.
"I'll give you that one only this once," she stated threateningly, "but what do you want me for again?"
"I want you to look." He said gesturing to his vessel. His ship if you could call it that, was a monster. It was roughly 134-ish meters from stern to bow and 55 meters from port to starboard. It's sails were a rich orange and red color making it look like the deck was in a constant state of autumn when the light hit it. They weren't like the eastern or southern vessels' sails. Those sails looked like a tent was opened and placed to catch the wind. It was more akin to the western shape with wooden supports added throughout the fabric so in case a tear was made it did not grow in size from use before it was repaired. The vessel was a nice deep brown wood with white paint along the sides and masts of which it had four including four side masts that extended to exploit excellent wind conditions and in case the main masts were damaged. It was also brimming with guns. Not cannons like the westerners for those were expensive and tedious to clean up after, although there were a few on both sides, but with Balista's and Hurling Machines.
"What am I looking at Captain? I have already told you your vessel is the most unique and massive thing I've ever seen. What more do you want me to say?" She asked skeptically, looking at and admiring said ship.
"I want to know if you can make her fly?"
AN: Swear to god looked up ancient Chinese siege weapons and I got HURLING MACHINES? I Think it'll sound better in their language but for now I'm laughing. Also, I'm giving Damocles 'followers'. if anyone has any Ideas on who and what they should be give me a PM and I'll see if it works. Seriously this is me to you what you guys got?
