This poor chapter that was still waiting to be finished... I'm so sorry... Would you forgive me, fifth one ?
Anyway, it won't answer, so... I'm back ! Listening to some Takanashi Yasuharu happy-sailor&adventure-stuff (staring at the Fairy Tale OST), I've decided to finish this chapter... I already see someone who will be happy to read it ;D Cheers, little Sunbeam !

Disclaimer : Story based on the albums of Sound Horizon and Revo... Though this Idolfreed Erhenberg is still so mysterious...


Chapter 5 : Time has come...

When Ido opened his eyes, he felt as if an enchantment had suddenly broken. He was lying on the bed, trying to gather his memories. The sound of his soft breathing calmed his blury mind, while he was staring at the dark wooden ceiling.

Right... This young woman disappearing in the night was all of what he remembered. His dreams had been as blank as a void. But he didn't really mind. Thanks to that, he had managed to regain the vivacity he had lost during his trip.

Today was the day after all...

He stood on the bed and took the two little dolls made by his daughter out of his pocket. He caressed the soft wool silently during a few minutes.

"I hope Gauthier will reassure her..."

Smiling, he added

"She is a soft sunbeam after all..."

He felt a calming warm surrounding his chest. It was the light of Love... And as he knew that he would not feel this again before a long time, he stayed lying on the bed and closed his eyes once more... Visiting in memories the long and widing road leading to his door... The wild forest in which the wind was always singing softly. The leaves cracking under their feet, when they were walking their way home in autumn. The long days of winter in which snow froze the wet stones of the old well, while they were looking through the window, next to the fireplace... All these feelings.

Though he would have prefer to stay here, he took a deep breathing, and stood up. The mist of his sight disappeared. He looked through the wooden window and listened to the song of the ocean. Seagulls seemed to laugh lowdly while playing in the immensity above them. The boundary of the two azure... Matching together as if the world was a neverending Horizon... It was beyond that. The World that he was searching for... was just beyond that scenery...

Ido took some time to make himself better looking. Then, he went out the room, taking his lugguage with him. Going down the stairs, he was surprised by the deep silent that was covering the atmosphere around the bar. There was nobody at the tables, and the entrance door was wide open, as if the barman had wanted to aerate the place. The refreshing scent of the ocean was thus soaking his ownself. And that made him feel even calmer than he actually was.
He suddenly heard some glasses ringing against each other. The spanish patron was hidden under the counter in order to clean it minutely, silently. Ido smiled, amused by the enlightening situation, and sat on a chair in front of the counter without making any noises, laying his lugguage next to him. He waited by glancing calmly at the principal bar in which all the bottles of alcohol were exposed. French wine, liqueurs, asian alcohol... All presented in colorfull bowls put on an ebony shelf, lacquered in a so perfect way that it could have been confused with obsidian. The young man hadn't noticed all these details the day before. All this organisation and this artistic presentation. Maybe because at that time, he had been absent minded... Or distracted... His trip had been long and tiring after all. Or maybe...

"Ah !"

Ido jumped a little. The patron had raised from under the counter and noticed his presence eventually.

"Señor ! I didn't even notice you were here ! Hope you slept well, the happy crew yesterday sang until night had fallen. I had to kick them out, or they would have destroy the place by banging everything around while falling... Alcohol can be destructive !"

He laughed louldly, and Ido joined him. The man seemed way more relaxed than the day before.

He suggested him a simple, yet delicious breakfast, while continuing to enjoy the calmness and the lightness of the ocean scent. The blond man took as much adventages as he could about this last "simple life" experience on the ground world, before going through the vast immensity.

"Do you know where this young red dressed woman had gone ?" he asked to the patron

"¿ Qué? ¿ Cómo?

"You don't remember ? The woman that was dancing in the middle of the crowd of men yesterday evening..."

The patron frowned.

"Well, there were just the crew yesterday... I don't think I've seen any girl out there... You must have been in some trance to have seen a girl, Señor !"

"What..."

This time, Ido was the one who frowned. Didn't he remember ? Or was he jocking ? It seemed that the first option was the most probable. This man had surely been as drunk as his customers the day before. Strangely, Ido didn't want to think about another solution. He was not the one being mistaken. That woman had truly been there, on this same table, at the bottom left of the bar. Dancing with her red dress. Charming the others eyes. And her red lips. Red.

"Well, today is the day. Did you prepare all your stuffs ?"

"Mmh ?"

Ido was drawn out from his daydream. "Wait...Was I just thinking about her ? What a bad widower I am..."

"I have everything right here" he said while showing his luggage. "I'm ready to go at any moment... Though I would stay on your table forever to eat these wonderful pastries..."

"Ha ha, you're right, Señor, you're right !"

Whatever Ido would have said, the patron wouldn't have accept any money from him. He seemed to be this kind of altruistic person that was just happy to help, with a smile, with a hand raised, closing his pockets from any other material thanks than a simple "thank you". "It's just a pleasure to help. It's just a pleasure to see you smile and showing your gratitude through a bright shining glance." It was all that his behavior was implicitly explaining.

Then, the young man took his bags, fixed his sword on his belt, hidden under his black long coat, and went away from the Tree Anchor. He stared a last time at the sign above the door. Smiled. And walked along the beach full of mariners and sellers gathered together. The sun was high in the sky. It was midday, at that time... And the time was about to come.

He continued walking through the place, and reached the quay where most of the boats and ships where at anchor. One of them was an impressive galleon. A large ship with long white sails, still folded up on the masts. On the prow was engraved a long wooden figure. A woman with red ribbons and a blue dress, who was lickely to protect the sailors with her hands stuck against the wood.

"This is the most amazing prow's sculpture you've ever seen, isn't it ?"

Ido turned himself to face a man sat at a little wooden table full of papers, just in the border of the quay. He seemed quite old, wearing a black three-cornered hat and a bushy white beard. His eyes, merely hidden under the folds of wrinkles, were of a pale iced blue, piercing through the things he was staring at. And at the moment, Ido was the target of his staring...

"Has she a particular meaning ?" he asked in order to avoid the uneasy feeling of being observed in detail.

"She is a nameless spirit. It's said that this galion is recent, but the sculpture on the prow had been added even more recently. And its story is quite complexe and mysterious, to say the truth. This sculpture had been made by a french "hand of god" a long time ago, ordered by some italian nobles. But the sculptor died before even having finished it. The original customers gave it up because of that. What a waste. She has the purity of an angel, isn't she ? Like she had been made of two wonderful women's hearts. Red and blue, blue and red... Though I can't see it well anymore... My eyes are not as piercing as before."

At that point, Ido frowned. He thought : "As if he didn't just pierced through me just with a sight a while before... Maybe it's the power of an old sea dog... Wait, speaking of old sea dog..."

"Are you... The actual owner of this ship ?" he asked, the face lightening up suddenly.

"As so, you'll refer me as "captain", moss ! But anyway, your voice is clear and acute, you're a young man that has strenght and courage, a step-forward-guy that have a blury mind inside light eyes. I guess you're here for the recruiting ? Get of your announcement and read it to me, if so..."

Being quite impressed by the description of the old man, Ido didn't understand what he was asked at first. Then, stutting, he took the aformentioned paper and read it aloud. The old sea dog shook his head.

"When I was younger I thought a lot before choosing my crew. But now I'm an old dying man, it's like I don't have the time to think about it. If some men recruited are not skilled enough, it's not my problem anymore. They know what they are doing, and they know what awaits them if they fail. All of that is a question of life and death, when you're at sea. If you make a single step on this ship, you're one of us, and you'll have to take your responsability until the very end. And you have to keep in mind that our destination is not the one of Paradise. I hear you have a sword on your belt (Ido took a single sight on the dark wooden sheath hidden under his coat.). Then, you know that you'll have to use it when you'll walk on the ground of the New World... Even knowing that, will you put your foot on the deck of the galeon ?"

The man waited a moment, his little eyes gazing through Idolfreed.
This time, Ido didn't sigh, knowing that it would be a sign of wickness in front of an old captain. He just put discretly his hand in his pocket, and caressed the two little dolls of Clara.

"I don't think I have any choices, now I have done all this way from Germany..."

The white haired man raised a finger, pointing the sky.

"You always have a choice. You could come back to your nest right now if you have the will, as much as you could risk your life during this journey by coming with me. All is a matter of choice. It is what will built your own self. And it is what will allow you to flap your wings to the sky instead of being stuck to the earth. Just raise your head, moss. You'll see that there is not just this ground and this miserable landscape around you. It's even larger than what you think. And more beautiful. I'm old, I've seen many things, and you know what ? Even if I've passed through a lot of miseries, I'm still searching for beautiful things. And I secretly thing I've found some of them."

Saying this last thing, the man smiled, showing his decayed teeth.
Ido was quite surprised by the speech of the old sea man. He was still too young to compare himself to the man, anyways. But he had already lost beautiful things, several times. The first being Bettina. The second being the sight of his Sunbeam. And his native territory. The landscape set in his way. The laughings of the children around the place. The reminiscence of childhood days, at sea, fishing by night...
The sea. The smell of salt. The fresh wind. It was all there. So, maybe, maybe he had regained an element of what was "beautiful" for him. Something that he had forgotten a long time ago...

"Whatever happen, I'll go with you. I have something to accomplish before returning home..."

"Then, you can join the deck. The goal you'll have to reach is your trip back, moss. In the same way than a lot of us. We have the same dream in mind, after all... Anyway, go ahead. I'll wait here a little longer. There are a few more people that have to come with us before the time has come. "

"Yes sir..."

While agreeing, Ido stepped on the board that leaded to the deck of the ship. Then, the scent of the ground and houses, the heat of fireplaces and chimney were blown away by the salt and dried flavor of the ocean. The world of the earth was left behind. He didn't dare to turn around. He just continued to walk on the deck, the wooden floor creaking under his feet.

In front of him, a crowd of men was forming around the entrance of the dormitory. People were probably preparing their own place, and stretching out their hammocks. The conversations were light, the faces were smiling. The eyes were colored and the hands moving in the air.
By curiosity, Ido approached the other men. A lot of laughing were illuminating the group. It was a good thing, surely... Maybe the trip wouldn't be so tiring in that way.

"Hey, don't push yourself too hard moss, you will break the beams if you put your hammock in that way !" one of them said.

With a teasing smile, the young boy he was adressing to answered "I'm still new in there, ya know, I dunno how all of tha' work ! Ya have to pull the ropes like that ? Righ'?"

The other man, in his forties, seemed indeed to have a stronger experience. His sun-tanned skin was the proof of the long hours he has passed at sea.

"Bha, let me do it, you'll break everything ! I guess you don't want to pass your first night on the ground like a poor pig. Let that be an example to you, guy !"

The other members of the crowd were doing the same, hanging on there hammocks everywhere they could, or putting them on the ground when they didn't have any place left. Ido found a great forgotten place next to a broken board of the wall, at the bottom of the dormitory. Through the crack forming on the board, light could enter, and Ido could even see a part of the horizon. Would his nights be easier to live, in that way ? So that he would still be able to stare at the sky, wherever he would be.

"Crew ! Attention please !"

The voice came from the entrance of the dormitory. The old man was standing next to the door, his hands on his hips, straighter than he was before. He looked like he wouldn't let pass any problems caused by a lack of discipline. That was the stature of a real captain, surely. Following that image, all the crew in the dormitory calmed down. Then, the old sea dogbegan his speech.

"The newer mosses have already weighed the anchor, and we are waiting for some of you to help raising the sails. In a few words : the trip has begun. I hope you have thought about joining the crew several times before coming here, because there won't have a trip back before we have finished our mission. Some of you may not survive before we reach the New World. There won't be any sweet coffins for these ones, except the bottom of the sea. This is another thing you have to keep in mind, mosses. I expect the older to take care of the new ones, but not to spoil them too much. I expect the younger to work hard on whatever tasks they are given. If you are lazy or fearful, just throw yourself out of this ship and swim to reach the Spanish banks. It is the last time you'll be offered to step back."

The captain stopped during a few seconds. The members of the crew exchanged some intrigued glances, waiting for one of them to jump out of the dormitory and dive out of the ship. Suddenly, this strange silence broke when the man-in-his-forties began laughing, followed by the old sea dog.

"Just look at you all, you imbeciles ! It seems that nothing will be able to harm your pride, since you don't have any ! Well, that is not a problem. If none of you has the intention to step back, I just have one thing to say ... Raise the sails, my crew !"

At that point, the man had rosen his fist in the air, followed by the sailors, screaming a "Yes Sir !" spiritedly.

Forming teams in a natural ways, they began working. Ido layed his last belongings on his hammock, smiling. So, it would be the atmosphere in this crew. What a surprise. Anyway, all that they had to do during the first weeks of the trip was to keep advancing on the ocean... The true work would begin latter, as well as the true purpose of it. But this was ok. Because Ido had joined the ocean once again. Listening to the singing of seagulls. Feeling the sun above his head. Smelling the salt fragrance of the wind...

And while he was pulling the ropes of the Spanish galeon to raise the sails, Ido looked at the sky, frowning to keep his eyes hidden from the capricious luminosity. A white bird was gliding high in the blue vastness, as if it was trying to reach the sun. Flying wherever the wind would guide it... To anywhere... To anywhere...


Finally...
I'm sure there are a lot of mistakes in the writing, I felt so tired after having thought in english during several hours, pfyuh... I don't know when I'll be able to write the next chapter. But I promise to think about it !
I'll read this chapter once again latter, to correct as much as mistakes as I can... Promise !
See you space cowboy~