Hello! It's Friday and I'm back with a new chapter! Today I don't have much to say, just that I hope you like it. It's a light chapter, just to make it more clear that there's something going on between Magnus and Alec (dah!). I wanted a chapter where we could see the opinions they both have of each other before other things start to happen lol so yeah, hope you like it. See you on Tuesday!


Chapter 8

After Alec's discovery, the research on the location of the island had reached an impasse. They had been reading for days and still there was no sign of the island. They had even planned a route across the Atlantic in search of patches of land, but they hadn't found anything useful and the situation was starting to frustrate them.

"Okay, enough! Everybody out!" Magnus exclaimed, slamming on the table the book he had been reading for the past few hours. "We've been locked in here for days! We need air! Come on! Out!"

Raphael and Ragnor didn't hesitate and immediately stood from their respective chairs and headed out. Alec, however, remained where he was.

"Come on, Alexander!" Magnus said, practically dragging the boy by the arm. "We need to clear our heads. This obsession is leading us nowhere. Come on! Out!"

Alec snorted, but stood up, following Magnus outside.

"See? Fresh air!" Magnus exclaimed, letting the sea breeze and the sunlight help him relax. "Nothing like a beautiful day at sea to make it all better." He said, though Alec wasn't listening anymore, he was sitting on top of a barrel with a book in his hands.

"Oh, no, Alexander!" Magnus exclaimed, taking the book from Alec's hand. "I said enough of this. I know you want to keep looking, but obsessing with it isn't going to help us much. You need to rest and that's an order."

"You're not my father."

"No, but I'm your captain and you must obey my orders."

"Or what? Are you going to make me walk the plank?" Alec asked. It was clear he was not in a very good mood—none of them were.

"No, I'm going to lock you up in one of the cells and exclude you from this investigation." Magnus said simply. He knew Alec's bad mood was because he was as frustrated as all of them were.

"You can't do that!" Alec protested.

"Watch me."

Alec rolled his eyes and exhaled loudly, clearly showing his discomfort.

"Really, Alexander." Magnus said. "After we have cleared our heads, we will be more productive, believe me."

"If you say so."

"Come…" Magnus said, motioning Alec to follow him. He wanted to take over the helm of the ship. They didn't have an specific course yet, but he just needed to be behind the wheel. "It's time for me to take my rightful place again."

Alec sighed but followed Magnus.

Magnus immediately sent the man who Ragnor had put in charge of keeping the ship on course back to his old tasks and took over the helm, feeling complete almost immediately. He and the helm were one when they were together. Whenever Magnus was behind it, he felt as if nothing could go wrong.

"Oh, how I've missed this!" Magnus exclaimed, exhaling loudly and filling his lungs with fresh morning air. "Doing research is fun, but this is what I love."

Alec only let a tiny smile escape from his lips.

"Anyway, it seems that I'm doing all the talking and we're here to clear our heads, so tell me a story about your family, Alexander."

"A story?" Alec asked confused.

"Aye, a story. It can be whatever you want."

"Hmmm, I don't know." Alec hesitated. "We are a very boring family. We don't have adventures or anything."

"I sincerely doubt that," Magnus said, "besides James, you have a little brother and a sister, right? Tell me about them."

"Their names are Max and Isabelle, although we call my sister Izzy for short." Alec said. Talking about his family seemed to have improved his mood considerably. "Max is eleven and well, he likes to do what kids his age like to do. He's always getting in trouble, not as much as Jace used to do when he was his age, since Max is very smart, but sometimes he tends to be quite a headache. He's very perceptive and loves to read stories. He has a great imagination. He's all day coming up with these stories in which he's always the hero and saves the world."

"He sounds charming." Magnus said. "What about your sister?"

"Izzy is like my best friend," Alec confessed, "we disagree on everything, but I wouldn't change her for anything in the world. She's brave, smart and very pretty. I think every boy in town is in love with her somehow. She's currently engaged to a guy who managed to get my father's approval. Don't ask me how that happened, but it did, and thank God for that because her last boyfriend, some guy named Meliorn, was a real jerk. He didn't treat her as she deserved, but fortunately, she found Simon. And she looks happy with him."

"So this Salmon is your soon to be brother in-law?"

"Simon...and yeah, but I don't mind, I kind of like him. He's weird most of the time, but he's completely devoted to my sister, so I'm okay with him being part of the family."

Magnus smiled. It was evident in the way Alec had talked about his siblings that he loved them very much. He talked about them with such pride and affection that it wasn't hard for Magnus to see that the three of them, Jason, Isabelle and Max were Alec's reason for doing what he was doing.

"And what about you?" Alec asked.

"What?" Magnus asked back distractedly.

"What about your family?"

"You already know what there was to know about them." Magnus said, thinking of ways to change the subject. He didn't like to talk about his parents much.

"But I shared something, you have to share something too."

Magnus meditated for a second. "Did I ever tell you how I got the Danube?"

Alec shook his head.

"Poseidon himself built it for me."

"The God of the Sea?" Alec asked incredulously. "Yeah, right."

"You don't believe me?"

Alec shook his head again.

"I'm not lying, Alexander. In fact, as surprising as you may find this, I do not tend to do that very often—lie. And believe it or not, the Blue Danube was a gift from the God of the Sea himself." Magnus said. "It happened a long time ago, I was near the coasts of England trying to get hold of a ship. I had just found the Fountain, but I didn't own a ship. You see...until then I hadn't been more than a cabin boy."

"If you didn't have a ship, then, how did you find the Fountain?"

"That was an accident, but I'll share that story another day." Magnus said. "As I was saying, I was just a cabin boy, but I wanted to be a captain, so I asked around and that was when a man told me that there was a ship that was recruiting. I signed up for the sole purpose of organizing a mutiny and take possession of the ship, but when we were on our third day at sea, tragedy struck us."

"What happened?"

"The captain was obsessed with mermaids and he wanted to capture one for himself. I don't know if you're familiar with the stories that people share about these creatures, but they are all true. They have beauty like no other being in this world, but they are lethal—deadly creatures. Anyway, there's a bay on the coasts of Ireland where mermaids usually gather and-"

"Wait, you're not kidding? Are we talking about real mermaids, with tails and all?"

"Yes, tails, long hair, beautiful singing voices." Magnus said. "But let me continue...my captain decided to send us there to capture them, but it was a mortal trap, Alexander. Mermaids aren't very friendly, so when they saw us approaching, they attacked. Many men died that day, my captain included, but I survived. I managed to swim all the way to the shore and that was when I saw her."

"Her?"

"There was a mermaid trapped in one of nets that we had thrown in an attempt to capture them." Magnus said. "So I released her and healed her—she had injured herself while trying to escape. I made some sort of small pool with rocks and held her there until she was in better condition. On the third night there, her father, who turned out to be Triton, son of Poseidon, appeared. He tried to kill me, of course, thinking that I had captured her, but she told him what I had done for her and he spared my life before parting with her. The next day, Poseidon appeared and offered me a gift for what I had done for his granddaughter."

"So you asked for the ship?"

"Aye, I told him I wanted a ship, the fastest ship in all Seven Seas, so he put his hands over the water and from the waves the Blue Danube emerged. Poseidon appointed me captain and since then I have sailed the seas with it, well, until Valentine stole it from me, of course."

"Don't worry, we will get it back." Alec said. He looked more relaxed than before, he was leaning on the railings just looking at the sea while listening to Magnus's story.

"I know, Alexander...I know."

o-o-o-o-o

It was getting late and the sun was starting to set. Alec and Magnus had been talking all day, sharing stories; Magnus about his many adventures as a pirate and Alec about his life back in Alicante. They had shared a lot of stuff, silly stuff, random stuff, but nothing too personal. Alec had noticed how Magnus deliberately avoided sharing anything that might reveal some detail of his personal life.

Alec didn't mind it, though. He was no one to force Magnus to share what he didn't want, but he had to admit that the mystery intrigued him. Magnus intrigued him. The pirate was a map that Alec was learning to read, and he liked it. He would never admit that out loud, but he really liked him. Magnus wasn't only the famous pirate, discoverer of the Fountain of Youth, he was also a man, an intelligent man with a great sense of humor that despite what others might think, had a good heart.

Or at least that was what Alec had gathered with all the stories he had heard not only that day, but since they had met. Magnus didn't seem to notice, but all he had done over the years hadn't been for his own benefit as he claimed. All his stories involved the pirate helping or saving someone in some way. He never acted out of selfishness, and although he said otherwise, Alec could see beyond the facade. Magnus could be a pirate with a past of crimes that could send any man to the gallows, but he wasn't a bad man. Underneath all that flamboyant personality there was a man of noble feelings and good heart.

"Come on, it's time for dinner." Magnus said, snapping Alec out of his thoughts.

He had been so immersed analyzing the pirate that he hadn't even noticed that the crew had set a bunch of tables on the main deck and were already eating.

Alec was starting to make his way down the stairs to join the crew when Magnus stopped him. "We won't be joining them tonight." Magnus said, pointing to the poop deck, where another table had been set. Ragnor and Raphael were already there. "I thought we could spare the crew of all our theories about the treasure."

"Okay…" Alec said, following the pirate to the upper deck.

"Please, please join us." Ragnor said, scooting two chairs for Magnus and Alec to sit. "Tonight's menu is the same from yesterday, so you better not complain. Our cook isn't the best, but he was the only one who volunteered to this, how was your description, my love? Oh, yeah, suicide mission."

"My dear Prince, always so wise with your comments." Magnus said, taking a seat.

Alec sat down too and immediately, they all began to eat. The food wasn't the best, but when you were hungry all was considered a delicacy—and Alec was very hungry. They hadn't been eating properly for days. Their minds had been focused entirely on finding the island, so it was really nice for a change to simply enjoy a day off.

Alec was thankful that Magnus had practically forced him to take a break. He hadn't realized how much he had needed a good rest until now that he was sitting on the poop deck with Magnus, Ragnor and Raphael, enjoying a meal while the crew had some fun.

"What are they playing?" Alec asked. He had been observing the crew and they all seemed to be very engaged in some dice game, but Alec couldn't understand how it was played.

"Liar's dice." Magnus said. "It's a silly game of chance and deception created so that people lose everything and win nothing."

"You say that, my friend," Ragnor said, "because you're a terrible, terrible liar and you can never win."

"What are the rules?" Alec asked intrigued.

"The main goal of the game is to expose all the other players as liars." Ragnor said.

"How?"

"You make bets trying to guess how many dice of what face will appear on the table, including yours." Ragnor said, but Alec wasn't following him.

"Each player gets five dice and a cup to prevent other players from snooping," Raphael intervened, trying to explain the game, "when the game starts all the players shake their cups and place them on top of the table without showing their dice. Before bids begin, each player is allowed to look at their own dice to see what numbers they rolled. Then, the game starts and someone makes the first bid. The goal is to eliminate all the other players and their dice until one wins. You achieve that by challenging the previous bid maker and calling him a liar, meaning that you think there are less dice on the table than what he said. Are you following me?"

Alec nodded.

"Once you call someone a liar all players must reveal their dice," Raphael continued, "if the bid was correct, the challenging player loses. If the challenger was correct and the previous bid maker was bluffing, then the challenging player wins and the challenged player loses a dice. You eliminate a player when they have no dice left to play. Bids must be a same or higher quantity of a higher face, or a higher quantity of any face. For example, if the first bid was 'four sixes,' then the next bid would have to be at least 'four sevens,'—same quantity, higher face. Or, 'five sevens,'—higher quantity, higher face. Or, 'five threes,'—higher quantity, any face. I know it's sounds complicated but it's not."

Alec shook his head because he didn't think it sounded that complicated, he had understood completely. "And, what do they bet?"

"What we have in our possession, gold, food, rum." Ragnor said.

Alec smiled. The game looked entertaining.

"You don't want to play, do you?" Magnus asked.

"It sounds like fun." Alec confessed.

"It is!" Ragnor exclaimed. "Especially if you're good at lying, are you good at lying, Alec?" He inquired.

Alec shook his head.

"But you're good at deceiving," Magnus intervened, "you put on quite a show in Cartagena."

Alec blushed.

"I don't know why, but I get the feeling that you would be good at that game." Magnus added.

"Maybe one day I'll join the crew." Alec said with a smile. "We'll see, but until then, let's get back to work! We have an island to find."

o-o-o-o-o

If there was something that Magnus had discovered during these past few hours, was that even though he had tried to avoid it, he was drawn to Alec like waves to the seashore. It was inevitable, there was something about him that had unlocked something in Magnus, something that until they had met, he hadn't even known it was locked.

They were back in Magnus's quarters, trying, as they had been doing, to find the bloody island. Ragnor and Raphael were looking for clues in Jonathan's stories while he and Alec were looking around the rest of the books. So far, the search had been unsuccessful. They had only found useless stuff, but after their break Alec had been so positive that they were going to find something that it was hard not to believe him.

"...so maybe in the Bible." Alec was saying, when Magnus payed attention to the conversation again. He had been distracted trying to determine which color best described Alec's eyes.

"What?"

"I was telling you that, since this island has literally God's name in it, maybe we could find something in the Bible. I can't believe we were in a church and we didn't think about stealing one."

"There was no need to bring one with us, Alexander." Magnus said. "There's already one in the ship."

"You have a Bible?" Alec asked quite surprised, as if the mere idea of Magnus having a Bible were improper.

"I'm not liking that tone of surprise, Alexander. Should I remind you that I was raised by monks? I know the Bible well enough, but no, I do not have one, but he does." Magnus said, pointing at Raphael.

"I'm not letting you touch my Bible, Bane." Raphael said. Apparently, he had been listening to the whole conversation.

"And, what about me?" Alec asked hopefully.

"You're no better than him, you lied to a monk to steal from them."

"But it was his idea!" Alec complained, pointing at Magnus with an accusatory finger.

"I don't care whose idea it was, neither of you are going to touch my Bible." Raphael said.

"But we need it, Raphael." Magnus said. "Maybe there's something there about the island."

"There's nothing there, I'm telling you. I know it by heart and that island is not mentioned there."

"I believe you, but it wouldn't hurt to take a look, would it?" Magnus said, trying to convince his friend.

"Fine, but you'll do it in front of me. I don't trust either of you. You," Raphael said pointing at Alec, "because I don't know you, and you, because I know you too well."

"Yes, yes, don't trust us, just lend us your Bible." Magnus said, motioning Alec to sit beside him on the table.

"I have a question." Ragnor said all of a sudden. He had remained silent for the past hour or so. "I've been reading this nonsense until my eyes hurt and there's nothing here about the exact location of the treasure. I mean, if we managed to find the island, then we would have to look for the treasure to know where Valentine is, right? I don't think the island is as small as the Spiral, you wouldn't name an island the mouth of God if it were small. It must be at least twice as big so, how are we going to find it?"

"We will sink that ship when he have to." Magnus said. He knew that Ragnor had made a valid point, but first they had to find the island. It wasn't healthy to worry about the exact location of the treasure if they didn't even know where the island was.

"Fine, I just thought we should take that into account, you know, because that's going to be a problem too."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "Noted." He said, returning his attention to Alec, who was just starting to read the first page of the Bible. "You're not expecting us to read the whole thing, are you?"

"Do you see any other option?" Alec said.

"Yes, forget about this and stick to the vaguely illustrated books we have. They are easier to read."

"Come on, Magnus! It's just the Bible, didn't you say you knew it well enough? I'm sure you've read it at least once."

"Well, yeah, but like a long, long time ago, dear."

"Coward." Ragnor said mockingly.

"I'm not a coward, I just think this is a waste of time. If Raphael says that there's nothing there about the island, then I believe him, unlike him, I do trust my friends."

"And then you say that I am the melodramatic one." Ragnor said, suppressing a smile. "Just read it, Magnus, it can even help you score some points up there, you know? For when the time comes."

"My dear Prince, you know that no matter what I do, I'll end up in the underworld." Magnus said. "My soul cannot be saved. No amount of points will save me from going to hell. I'm a pirate, mate."

Ragnor and Raphael laughed, but Alec didn't. He was just looking at Magnus with an expression that the pirate didn't know how to decipher. "What?" Magnus inquired.

"Why are you saying that?"

"What?"

"That you'll end up in hell."

"Because it's true, Alexander."

"No, it's not." Alec stated sure of himself. "The fact that you're a pirate doesn't make you a bad person."

"What?" Magnus asked just to make sure he had heard correctly.

"Not all pirates are bad." Alec said. "You're not bad...I mean, you've committed crimes and all, but you're not a bad person. I know you're a good man."

Magnus tried to laugh at the sudden compliment, like Raphael and Ragnor seemed to be doing, but he couldn't. What Alec had just said had touched him deeply. And even though he was not sure if he deserved the praise, he was grateful that his skin had the right tone to hide those uncontrollable accumulations of blood, because after more than 108 years, give or take, Magnus Bane, immortal pirate and once captain of the world's fastest ship, had blushed.