THE HUMAN SIDE
"What?" Mrs Täro asked. The captain had earned the moniker "Mad Shark" in her honest opinion. He had done a great deal of things in this trip of theirs to get from the north to the west to where they are now, going to this land in The Unknown. First it was pirates, then it was stowaways, castaways, and saboteurs, now he was trying to make his ship fly?
"Are you MAD?" She yelled, "Not only would that be stupid it would utterly do nothing other than waste time and resources. If I was to cast fly on this ship I wouldn't even get it out of the water. It's simply too large."
"Yes I know. What I'm saying is you won't be alone. Does anyone else in that mage sect I picked up know how to cast fly too?" he asked, wandering around the deck. "Hey," He grabs a random deckie walking by, "Get the quartermaster to my cabin as soon as you are able." "Aye Captain" the deckie responded before running below deck to complete whatever tasks he had.
"Practically everyone there knows how to cast Fly except for the druids, but we don't talk about that." Mrs. Täro stated while looking down at the deck mumbling that last bit.
"Well then let's hope that'll do." He said before marching into his cabin.
'This whole time I thought this captain to be far more intelligent than most of the men I've known but now I don't think so. I told him in order for the spell to work the thing it is casted on needs a brain. The ship obviously doesn't have that so what the fuck is he thinking.' Mrs. Täro internally monologued. 'This vessel has no soul, no heart, no living piece of anything in order to operate or use a fucking spell so why the fuck is he so set on this pointless endeavor.'
This whole time she was thinking she had unintentionally casted fly on herself and was floating outside the door to Captain Watanabe's cabin. To all the deck hands it looked like the captain may have finally set off the powder keg that was this ship's resident Shaman for the voyage. And they all steered well clear of her and her power over the laws of nature. All but one man, who to the crew was quite possibly either the dumbest or bravest bastard on this ship.
"Ahhh. Mrs. Täro. You look as lovely as ever. May I ask what may have the captain done to incur your wrath on such a lovely day?" asked a voice from behind her. It was a deep baritone that she knew it belonged to only one man on this ship. And oh boy was he a man to her.
Turning around she was met with a chiseled stomach. It was obvious there was muscle there but there was also plenty of fat to make a muffin top. Looking up to the face that she knew was already smiling before she could even see it.
"The Captain has asked a stupid? Dumb? We'll go with idiotic endeavor that will get us nowhere other than waste our time Quartermaster." She said before finally getting a look at the now addressed Quartermaster.
To say the Quartermaster was massive would be an understatement. He was easily the biggest man she had ever met. His skin was weathered and tanned from all his years at sea but he didn't look a day over 30. He was clean shaven in well every regard from his head to his chest and all the way down if she was to guess. He was absolutely massive, in every sense of the word, from his muscles to his obvious love of food and wine. The only articles of clothing he wore was a pair of pants and boots. In her honest opinion he could do without the pants.
"Oh well. That certainly sounds like a problem. Let's go see what he has for us then shall we?" he said walking past her only to stop and hold the door open for her.
"Well thank you Quartermaster." she said giving him a smile and small curtsy before doing a complete 180 on the emotional chart and storming inside.
"And what do you thin…" she started before the words died in her throat upon seeing what was going on inside the cabin. 'I wasn't outside for that long was I?' she thought, looking around the room. All over the room from bulkhead to ceiling were charts, boards, math equations, weather logs from the mages weeks ago. And in the center of it was Captain Watanabe. He looked like he was trying to solve the questions asked only by the Gods, and he was actually finding a solution.
"Oh dear." she felt much less heard the Quartermaster behind her. "It would seem the captain has finally gone mad." The Quartermaster stated closing the door behind them and chuckling at his weak pun.
"Not mad! Mr. Johnson. Inspired." corrected the captain not once looking away from everything. "I believe I know how to get us to the land in The Unknown. Mrs. Täro, You said in order for something to us the spell to fly it needs a brain or it just floats up and down right?"
"For the eighth fucking time yes! In order for the object in question to accurately use the spell Fly it needs to know that it is flying and to actively function to use it." She said getting angry and constantly using the same explanation.
"But what if it was affected by an outside source?" He asked walking over to a board on his right and writing down more numbers and gibberish that she thought was Qunari text. But why would he be writing in Qunari? He told her he was from the east. The Qunari live in the west and have never left. Those that did were called Tal-vashoth, basically a kill on site for any Qun.
"I mean yes but the second that force stops it goes right back to floating where it stops. And is that Qunari Text?" she said walking next to the captain in order to see if she could make out anything that was written on the board. All she got were numbers, letters and words in a language she couldn't pronounce and unknown figures that she had no clue of where they came from and how they fit into the whole mess.
"That doesn't matter right now," he said waving her off dismissively. "Mr. Johnson can you tell me how much fabric we have left to replace the sails in case of damage?" he asked, turning and walking up to the quartermaster.
"If you've been reading my reports, Captain, then you would know we have a little over 30 bundles on deck two and 10 bundles on deck three." He responded looking a bit miffed that the captains hadn't been reading the reports he was ordered to provide on a weekly basis.
"I've been reading them, Quartermaster, I just wanted to see if you were more focused at the task and not on the fine northern ass that was trying to bed you." He responded looking to Mrs. Täro while she blushed profusely at not only being caught in the act but realizing if the captain knew then more than likely the entire ship knew.
"And Mrs. Täro please do try to go after someone within your age group. Because while Mr Johnson is an exceptional figure for men everywhere, he is over sixty and will be falling apart sooner or later." he finished turning and walking back to the board putting more numbers on it.
Mrs. Täro looked to the Quartermaster with a look of unsuppressed shock. 'Over sixty. The man is built like an Ox and he's over Sixty?" the Quartermaster looked at her with a knowing look.
"How is he over sixty?!" she shouted in the captains ear after regaining her composure. To Watanabe's credit he merely flinched instead of falling over like almost everyone else she had done that to. "He has been a part of the crew since I was a lad. My father was the third captain of The Banyan's Rage and he told me Mr. Johnson was a young man when the second captain passed." He stated motioning to the Quartermaster not once looking away for his notes as though if he were to look away they would simply vanish.
"And while the Captain is right I want to know why you are expecting damage to the sails, Sir." Mr. Johnson started, marching past the captain trying to make a change of subject to look upon another board with more numbers and Elvish? "Captain why are you using Elvish on this board?" He asked before looking to another board and seeing Dwarvish. "And Dwarvish." every board he looked at was a different language. "Captain what aren't you telling us?" He asked turning around to see the Captain look more ashamed than fearful. He looked like he was upset from not talking instead of angry from being caught.
"Mrs. Täro. Is anyone listening to us?" Captain Watanabe asked, looking at the ship's current Shaman. "Uhhh. Oh!" she looked confused before she understood the question. She gained a serious look and a shimmer flew through her eyes. From her perspective it looked like the entire room had been covered in pale floating lights. And she knew they were indeed being watched. "Yes Captain." This caused a look of pure rage on Watanabe's face before he marched across the room to a cabinet by the giant window that made the back of his cabin. Opening the cabinet revealed it was empty. But to Mrs. Täro it was anything but. It was covered in runes and script from every known language on the planet all leading to a center point. And that is when the Captain pulled a knife from his belt and cut his hand.
"Captain what are…" Was all Mr. Johnson got out before he slammed his hand into the center of the cabinet. To him and Johnson it looked like he just left a bloody hand print on his wall. To Mrs. Täro it was as if the entire room was covered in a light so bright it burned and she screamed.
*Line Break*
*Huff* *Huff* "Hey Hercules?" *Huff* "Didn't you say the others would show up in a month two months ago?" Damocles asked putting down a boulder the size of a chariot.
"I don't Know Damocles. I figured they would have been here by now" Said Hercules a few paces to his side on a hill doing push ups with an even bigger boulder on his back. "And why did you stop. The sands haven't stopped." he said pointing to a sand timer with one arm while still doing push ups with the other.
"When do you think they'll be here?" Damocles asked, leaning against the giant rock. "I feel like something's going on and you're not sharing."
"They'll get here once they've finished making their choices." he said, finally stopping with the last grain of sand falling. "Honestly I figured they would have made their choices easily." he stated looking off in the distance. The ships could be seen now but they were specks on the horizon. Some were in groups of three or four while others were merely alone. The only one that looked different was a massive group coming from the South. They were by far the closest. But they were too far away to take in any details.
"What do you mean 'their choices?" Damocles asked walking up to Hercules.
"We may be gods but even we can not be everywhere at once Marius. You of all people should know that." Hercules said, turning back to Damocles.
"I thought you said you would stop calling me Marius." He stated. Hercules had made it clear that he was a god. He had a title and soon a power to call his own when all the others had awoken. So why did he call him Marius again?
"Hm. Oh sorry. I'm not all here at the moment. A mortal just casted something I've never seen before and it cut me off." Hercules started looking back west. "We are able to make… I guess you could say copies but more connected. What he sees I see. What he feels I feel. I am him and He is me. But something has cut me off. I can still feel him and we are still connected but it feels different now. Like… He's just there now. But that can't possibly be right." He finished walking a little with Damocles following him.
"What do you mean your cut off? Does that mean you're weaker now?" Damocles asks, walking in front of Hercules with clear concern in his voice.
"No. I'm not weaker. I just feel strange is all. What has this mortal done?" Hercules finished before turning around and walking back to the training grounds.
"It doesn't matter. He's not dead and he's still connected so I'm fine. If anything that just means I'll just have to go to him and figure this out later." Hercules stated, sitting down on a bench next to the sand timer which now that it was closer was easily taller than both of them. "In all my years I've never seen anything like this. This is greatly concerning." He finished leaning back against the wall behind the bench.
"So should we worry?" Asked Damocles. This whole situation was not something he thought of when he chose to accept Discordia's offer. Sure he thought he would have to fight but he's done that for years so there wasn't going to be anything different. He thought of a great deal of things that could go wrong but he forgot one thing. The one thing Janus told him. The Human element.
And that's when he realizes he's thinking like a god now. Hercules had been treating him like a god ever since he showed up in his new home. And it's made his view jaded. He wasn't thinking like he used to, like a man who could die at any second of any day, he was thinking of humans and any other mortal for that matter as insects. Something that can be ignored and moved if need be. But even insects can kill if push came to shove. Some were slow and you didn't see it till it was too late like a spider. Others were fast and had numbers like bees.
"Worry? No. That will get us nowhere. I need to go. Make sure nothing has happened to me." Hercules started standing up and interrupting Damocles' train of thought. "If anyone will know what happened it will be Janus or Discordia. And I'm going to Janus first. If anyone has made their choice by now it will be him."
"What Choice?" Damocles asked again. He could tell Hercules was running him around the question. But why? This whole time Herc had been straight and truthful to him. So why all this secrecy now.
"The choice of who will follow you and report on your actions. Like I said where gods Damocles but we can't be everywhere. The only person who can do that is Justitia but that's cause she can see practically everything." Hercules finished crossing his arms and looking Damocles up and down. "You'll be ready soon. All the powers may not have awoken yet but training has progressed exceptionally well. I will be back soon. Hopefully." Hercules muttered the last bit. No one knew what or how Janus's head operated. It takes a lot to see both past and future. There have been many times where Hercules had talks with him only for him so suddenly spout some gibberish and saying 'sorry wrong timeline'.
"So I'm still not trusted. Even after you all chose me to watch this world?" Damocles asked marching with Hercules to the stone circle on a hill near his home.
"It's not that we don't trust you and it is more we are interested in what you will do. This is the first time in anything that gods have made a mortal a god and given him a task. And we never said you will be watching. Remember what Janus said. You have the power to act. So act, do what you want to do. Be the demon, the hero, the scourge of this place but it is all up to you what you chose to be." Hercules said. He finished his little speech and turned to face east. Once he did that the stones started to glimmer with a mix of blue and white shine before a ray of light shot into the sky taking him with it.
"I have to learn how to do that." Damocles said, watching the light fade off in the distance like a shooting star.
"Oh you will." Purred a voice right behind him.
And hearing that voice he paled. He knew only one woman, no, Goddess that possessed that voice. Discordia.
