A month later
"Some pirates we are." Perry grumbled to Alvar as they repaired the side of the Nwalmaer. "We barely go out to plunder anymore. Have we already retired and the Captain not told us?"
"He just snuggles with that Arteias girl day in and day out; I knew she'd be bad news when he decided to take her from that island." Alvar griped around the nails in his mouth. He hammered a piece of lumber onto the ship. Tillion listened to them talk with an unreadable expression, and then slipped away.
He trudged the length of the Island until reaching the cove where the Dreadful King was docked. Not finding his Captain on board, he sighed bitterly and retraced his steps, knowing exactly where it was he'd find him.
It took him an hour to climb up the rock wall leading to the upper half of the island, and he arrived in a sourer mood than what he'd begun with. Sure enough Zaken was there on top of the ledge, sitting on a rock with Triage, watching the sun as it began to set. She had her head leaning on his chest, and they didn't hear Tillion arrive.
"I'm thinking of hanging up my hat and going landfall." Tillion could hear Zaken say. Triage lifted her head and looked at him in surprise. She looked decidedly healthier than she had before, and Komugi figured he'd been letting her out regularly now.
"But why? I thought you lived for this." Triage said in surprise. Zaken smiled at her warmly and kissed her forehead.
"This isn't the kind of life I want to share with you though. I'd rather be just a man." He said softly, caressing her cheek. "Unless that kind of person is undesirable to you?" Triage returned the warm smile and latched onto him in a hug.
"You are my desire; I could care less what you are." She whispered, hugging him fiercely. She pulled away from him with a giggle and resituated herself against him. "What kind of children would we have?" she wondered aloud. Zaken looked down at her with raised eyebrows.
"Children?" he repeated in surprise. Triage giggled and looked up at him.
"Of course, you do want some, don't you?" she asked. Unable to bear hearing any more, Tillion slid back down the cliff with a scowl before he heard Zaken's response.
"He can't disband the pirates, not until I get my own ship!" Tillion growled, brushing the rocks from his pants. "I've waited nine years for my own crew; I'm not going to let him settle down until I get it!" Tillion sat roughly on the rocks and began to think. "It's that Arteias girl's fault…she's softened him. I need Zaken to still be searching for that stupid treasure for my plans to work…what to do, what to do." Komugi felt her blood run cold as a dark smile crossed Tillion's face, and she looked up to where Zaken and Triage sat in worry.
The perfect time for Tillion's plan to be pushed into motion came in the form of a visit from the Ice Queen herself. Kylon, thinking Zaken planning something big since he did not plunder the coasts any more, also decided to attack the island thinking he'd get the 'jump' on him. He was driven away quickly and his ship sunk through the combined efforts of Freya and the Nwalmaer. Kylon and what remained of his crew swam to the shore, humiliated.
Triage sat in his quarters as he received the Ice Queen formally, happily reading a book. Tillion slipped in soundlessly and startled her with a tap on her shoulder. "Oh, Tillion, I didn't hear you come in." she said with a smile, shutting her book. Tillion lowered his eyes at her in a dark smile, and Triage tilted her head at him curiously.
"What? You cannot possibly be serious! You dare to choose an Arteias over me?" Freya demanded. Zaken had met her on the sandy knoll where Glaki lived, and she trembled in anger. "You foolish mortal, do you not realize how much of an honor it was for me to choose to bed you?" she snapped. Ice formed at her feet with her anger, but Zaken regarded it with disinterest.
"I am not your property, Freya. Our encounter was pleasant, but for me that's all it was." Zaken said simply, looking away from her. Her eyes widened and she dashed to his side to look at him in his eyes.
"You…you're not the Zaken I knew then." She breathed, backing away a few steps. "You are nothing more than a soft fool! A wolf tamed to a simple house pet! What has she done to you?" She lifted a hand to her mouth and sobbed daintily.
"I don't know what you're talking about; I'm quite satisfied with myself." Zaken responded coldly. Angry that her tears had no effect, Freya's head snapped up again.
"She will break your heart, that Arteias. They are a flighty breed, and tie themselves to no one. Sure she may be satisfied for the moment, but she is immortal, Pirate King. She will tire of you once you begin to show age, and leave you for the next pretty face that happens her way! You will end up dying old and alone!" Zaken's faced her quickly with this, as she had spoken the one word that would forever get his attention. "I'm sure when you're not around; she's bedding each and every one of your crew. Highly sexed creatures those Arteias, they take after the god that created them to an uncanny degree. Go see what she's doing, since she expects you to be receiving me." Zaken stared at her silently for a moment before spinning around and racing towards the cove where the Dreadful King was docked. Always made to follow Zaken in his memories, Komugi looked over her shoulder in time to see Freya smirking darkly and mouthing "Your turn, Tillion."
"You bitch! You schemed with him!" she cried as she was pulled away from the sandy knoll. She returned her attention to Zaken as he raced through the island, roughly pushing his crew and slaves out of the way. He burst into his cabin panting loudly from exertion, and his breath caught in his throat as he found Triage and Tillion on the floor. Triage looked at him with large, frightened eyes, tears streaming from them. Her dress had been hiked up around her torso, and Tillion had his pants around his ankles.
With a shout of rage Zaken tore Tillion from Triage and flung him against the side of the cabin. He hit a shelved wall, trinkets and puzzles crashing to the ground around him. With all the fear of a man being caught, he scrambled to his feet, pulling his trousers up as he raced out of the cabin.
"You have been betraying me all of this time!" Zaken snarled as Triage pushed herself shakily to her feet. She shook her head in fright, tears streaming from her face as Zaken angrily overturned a table. "How many more of my crew have you bedded? Ten? Fifty? Or have you just been sleeping with my Chief Mate behind my back all this time?"
"Don't yell at her, can't you see this is Tillion's doing? He was raping her!" Komugi cried, trying to hug Triage protectively. "Tell him!" she exclaimed, looking at the frightened Arteias. She only sobbed as Zaken destroyed more of his cabin.
"Zaken, I only love you!" Triage sobbed, backing away as Zaken advanced on her. His face was contorted into an insane rage, and she screamed and ducked from his reach as he groped for her. He chased her out of his quarters and onto the deck, where she stumbled into some of his crew in her desperate flight. She ran onto the bow of the ship and stood on it, gripping her dress in fear. "Please listen to me!" she sobbed.
Zaken only growled and advanced on her, and she inched away from him on the bow castle. She looked above her head desperately; despair plain on her face as she realized there wasn't enough room for her to fly. Her eyes widened into a look of shock as her feet slipped on the wooden pole. Before Zaken could grab her, she fell from the ship and hit a ledge where Zaken had piled treasure. She winced and had but a moment to look up in horror as one of the many booby traps, a guillotine blade, fell from a nook in the wall. Komugi cried out and looked away before she saw it hit, knowing that the Arteias girl would not survive.
Zaken leaned over the railing with one hand still outstretched, his eyes wide. He fell to his knees, still staring at Triage's body as his crew began to gather around him, letting out noises of shock. Zaken threw his head back and let out an anguished cry, the sound echoing and carrying out to where the Ice Queen still stood.
"Good work." She said, a satisfied smile on her face.
"Thank you, your highness." Tillion responded, his own smile a dark grin.
Months passed again, and Zaken, now more ragged than ever, returned to his search for the Giant's Treasure. He and a small portion of crew trudged through a marshland, heading towards what Komugi recognized as Cruma Tower. Much of the crew had lost faith in their captain over the months, whispering amongst themselves that he'd gone mad.
Kenishee stood at the foot of the tower with two of her servitors, and cried out in fear as she saw Zaken approaching. In one smooth movement Zaken pulled his pistol from his coat and shot the two servitors again, and then fired a third ball into Kenishee's back. She gasped and fell, her hood falling away from her head slightly to reveal thinning blood red hair. She scrambled across the moss as Zaken approached, blood pumping from her wound and mouth.
"No more games Kenishee, where is it?" Zaken demanded coldly, lifting the Magus up by her cowl. She gasped for air, and Komugi realized that the sound echoed her in the present. "Where is it?" he shouted now, shaking her. Unable to speak, Kenishee merely pointed a shaking hand up to the tower and gasped for air. "You'd better be telling the truth this time." He growled, dropping her. She fell heavily to her side and laid there gasping like a fish out of water as Zaken and his crew entered the Tower of Giant's lore.
The crew was sorely unprepared for what beasts remained inside the tower, and many died at the constructed creatures' claws or fell over the sides of the tower into the gray abyss that surrounded the floors. Zaken pushed on like a man possessed, cutting through the monsters as if they were no more than toys. He reached a strange room devoid of all life except a strange, two-headed beast that Komugi instantly identified as Premo Prime.
"The treasure, give it to me!" Zaken demanded, pointing one of his rapiers at the creature. What remained of his crew limped in behind him, some supporting others on their shoulders. Premo Prime's heads looked at each other without expression, and then back to Zaken.
"BEEP INTRUDER DETECTED. INITIATING AUTO PROTECT SEQUENCE." A strange, circular construction with a glowing green ball hovering in the center of it said.
"Core, shut down, Master has returned!" One of Premo's heads stated happily. The two-headed giant then knelt respectfully in front of Zaken, tears of joy falling from all four of its eyes. "Your wish is my command Master, but what treasure are you looking for? You took all of it with you when you left before." Komugi's lips parted in surprise as she realized that the Premo Prime of the present time was in Innadril searching for Zaken!
"Don't play stupid!" Zaken snarled, thrusting the point of his rapier underneath one of Premo's heads. "The treasure that makes one immortal, give it to me!" Premo stared at him with large eyes for a moment before slowly pushing himself back to his feet.
"But Master said that it was unfinished before." He said sadly, walking back to the Core. "But if that is what master wants, that is what master will get…" Premo pressed one of the many buttons adorning the Core's surface, and a panel popped open. From inside of it he pulled the slab that Komugi recalled lying on the floor of his cabin when she was being held there.
"That was the treasure?" she said in disbelief, recalling how protective Zaken had been of it. Premo knelt before the Pirate once again and held out the block with reverence. Zaken took it and stared at it greedily, his eyes shining with madness.
"What are your orders now, Master?" Premo asked as Zaken turned. Zaken's eye twitched as he glanced over his shoulder at the two-headed creature.
"Wait here, and I'll come back for you." He said simply before waving his crew back out the door.
"And if master doesn't return, should Premo come looking for him?" Premo called.
"Do what you like." Zaken said distractedly. Premo Prime smiled happily as Zaken disappeared, and that piece of the puzzle was laid into place for Komugi.
Three months later in Zaken's memories, Komugi sat on the couch watching as Zaken sat at his desk, pondering the glowing slab. He had read the words that had appeared to her upon first bringing it back to the Dreadful King, but nothing had happened. Now he sat pondering it day in and out, hardly ever leaving his ship. His crew had become restless, and attempted to go out several times on their own to plunder. Without Zaken's leadership however, they failed mightily, and the Nwalmaer had fallen to Aden's battleships. The remains had been instilled inside of the Island, and now the survivors of both attacks shuffled around the cavern or made fixes to the Shepard's Flute.
"Sir, this letter just came from a Gracian messenger." Tillion said as he came in to the quarters unannounced. "I took the liberty of reading it sir, since you're distracted. They want to use what's left of our men and fleet to be used for military purposes in an attack against Aden." Zaken stared transfixed at the Giant's treasure, his eyes unfocused. "Sir!" Tillion shouted, slamming his hands on the desk to get his attention.
"I received a similar letter a week ago." Zaken said in a distracted voice. "I've already returned my response to them; the men should prepare for war." Tillion's eyes bugged out of his head with this news.
"You've turned us over to the very dogs we sought to fight against?" Tillion exclaimed, not believing what he was hearing. "That treasure has you bewitched Zaken, this isn't right! We're pirates, not military men!" He sighed in frustration as Zaken didn't respond, and turned on his heel to exit the cabin.
"Triage…" Komugi heard Zaken whimper, and she looked over her shoulder to find him covering his face.
"What'd he say, Chief Mate?" one of the remaining pirates asked him in a hushed voice. Tillion kicked a cargo box angrily, the group gathered in the grave cove of the Derech Eretz. On Zaken's orders, the slaves had caused a landslide to fill in the open end of the cove, sealing it off from the outside world and creating a humid cavern.
"He's turning us over to the Gracian army." Tillion said in disgust, leaning heavily on the slime-covered rocks. There were shouts of disbelief amongst the men, and a few began to fight each other in anger.
"Has he gone mad?" one shouted above the rest. Tillion stood straight and pulled on his tunic roughly.
"His lover is no longer the sea, gentlemen, but that cursed slab of rock that he grabbed from Cruma Tower. He's abandoned us to it!" Tillion snapped. Despite his angry outer appearance, his insides quivered in joy and excitement. This was it! This was the chance he had been searching for!
"I don't want to work for Gracian scum, I was born in Gludio!" another's voice came. "I'd kill myself before letting some army take control of me!" There were shouts of approval with this.
"You should lead us Chief Mate!" another cried. The crew agreed with this, and Tillion tried his best to contain his smirk.
"What of the captain though, enamored with the Giant's Treasure or no, you know he's not going to stand down easily." Tillion shouted, his voice giving away his excitement.
"Death to the Grand Pirate!" the men chorused.
"What are you talking about? Zaken has fallen ill; we need to merely talk to him, not mutiny against him!" Perry shouted, coming into the cavern. The crowd gathered about Tillion began to jeer.
"Continue sucking on the Captain's dick like a mother's teat Perry, but we're through with his madness!" a pirate shouted from Tillion's group.
"You'll have to get through us first, you son of a bow-legged whore!" one behind Perry yelled. The two sides came together with that and began fighting in the cavern. Knives were brought out skin sliced open, the blue water dyed red.
"Gotta warn Cap'n!" Krantz, who had been hiding in the shadows said, and lumbered off. Komugi, frightened for Zaken's well-being, raced off after the Giant, only to find the caverns fading away into darkness.
"No! I have to warn him!" she cried, swinging her arms as if to wipe away the darkness. "Zaken!" she shouted, gasping for air as she ran. "ZAKEN!" she screamed, the world fading away from her. She fell to her knees and wept bitterly, angry and frustrated with everything that Freya had forced her to watch.
A blue light bubbled to life ahead of her, and Komugi raised her head to it. She scrambled to her feet and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as the familiar form of Eva stepped from the light. She was the 'adult' Eva, and regarded Komugi without expression.
"I heard your prayer." She said, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder.
"I didn't pray." Komugi retorted, still angry at the goddess for trying to drown her back in the Garden.
"Your soul did, prayed to me and my brother Sayha." Eva responded, lifting her eyebrows. Komugi frowned and turned her head slightly, wondering why her 'soul' would launch a prayer at those two gods. "I've been watching you for some time now, trying to find a way to save the Grand Pirate's soul. It's admirable, but you're going about it the wrong way."
"Really, then how would I go about doing it?" Komugi asked bitterly, folding her arms across her chest. "How am I to know I'm really conferring with a god and not just experiencing some bizarre side effect from that black slug as well?" Eva shrugged lightly, the motion pricking Komugi's temper.
"You'll just have to hope that you are." Eva said. Before Komugi could respond with a colorful retort, Eva continued. "The only way to cure the Grand Pirate is to transfuse him with some of my mother's holy blood. It will stay the Giant's Curse and create a new Zaken." Komugi frowned and glanced away from the goddess in a skeptical manner.
"Right. And how does one go about getting the blood of Einhasad?" Komugi scoffed bitterly, shifting on her feet. Eva's expression lightened slightly and she pressed a hand over her heart.
"From here." She said simply. "But there is a condition to my giving you my mother's blood." She held up a finger at Komugi's surprised expression. "You must enter into a pact with me. Once you die, your soul will not join your family and loved ones in the abyss. Instead you must serve me as a fairy for 1000 years." Komugi pondered this seriously, but couldn't see the negative side effect to it.
"After 1000 years are up I'll just return to the abyss, won't I? Komugi shrugged. "No biggie, sounds like a doable deal." Eva's eyelids lowered as she smiled, turning the expression sinister.
"You do not realize the cycle of the abyss, do you?" she asked, holding up her finger. Her nail grew into a claw upon it, and she quickly drove it into her chest, above her heart. In her other hand she held a crystal bottle, and gold-laced blood poured out of the wound into it. "Serving me for 1000 years…you risk not reincarnating with your family and loved ones to be with them again. You don't remain in the abyss forever when you die—Mother only allowed my siblings and father to create so many souls." Komugi's eyes widened with this news, and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
"I'll be ok." She said firmly, drawing up to her full height. "When that time comes, I'll deal with it then. I accept your terms." Her smirk not wavering, Eva healed her wound and held up the crystal bottle. She shut her eyes and concentrated for a moment, and a black steam hissed and poured out of the mouth of the bottle. When the steam cleared, Eva's blood had turned a brilliant, pure gold.
"I have purified my father's blood from my blood. All that is left is the creating blood of Einhasad." Her hand darted out and grabbed Komugi by the back of her hair. The girl gasped as her head was forced backwards. Eva stood over her suddenly, and smiled darkly as she poured Einhasad's blood down her throat. "Never spill your own blood in a holy place, or my mother will find you and destroy your very essence." She heard Eva warn in a singsong voice. A light filled her vision and she let out a gurgling scream, the goddess of creation's blood hot and scorching as it filled her stomach.