Here's the second chapter as promised.
Btw, there's reference to some other humor story, with Eoleo's singing.
That's about all you should know. ENJOY!
They reached the pirate city in the middle of the afternoon. Since the city on the cliff had been burnt during the eclipse, the pirates had moved to campsite near a cliff, and on the shore. It was supposed to be temporary, but at the end of the eclipse, the village where they used to live was destroyed. So the pirates built a new city in their campsite.
Piers's ship dropped off the group of Adepts, and then returned to Port Rago. Apparently, the Tuaparang were just at its gates, and unless if the city gained more reinforcements, it was going to lose.
So the young Adepts, with Kraden began to search for their old friend, Eoleo, the fire Adept and the son of the famous pirate king Briggs. They would then, look for Himi who was, normally, with him.
Except for Amiti who still despised pirates, and who wanted them all arrested, everyone was rather glad to be at Champa.
Matthew walked towards the inn, hoping to find Eoleo there, but it was empty of all pirates. Tyrell and Rief checked the shops, but he wasn't there either. Karis and Sveta searched the beach, to no avail.
When they met up, none of them looked happy.
"Any luck?" Rief asked
"No. You?" Tyrell said
Karis and Sveta shook their heads.
Only Amiti seemed to be happy. "That's good. Now all we have to do is get to Tonfon, forget about the useless criminal and get to the Apollo Sanctum before the Tuaparang."
"Eoleo isn't a useless criminal." Rief said
"All pirates are criminals."
A small child walked up to the group. "Did you say 'Eoleo'?"
"Yes. Do you know him?" Kraden demanded
The boy nodded. "He was here not so long ago with some weird girl. I think they headed off for the old Champa city. Probably to get some things forged by Obaba."
Kraden nodded. "Thank you for telling us." He turned to the group. "I suggest that we stay here for tonight." he said "I'll get the two of them with Matthew and Tyrell." he turned to Amiti. "We don't want any problems, so if you can't support the faces of pirates then stay in your cabin in Eoleo's ship. At least nothing bad will happen."
Amiti answered with a nod.
"The three girls can stay aboard the ship"
"THREE?" Rief cried
"Sorry. I took you for your sister, though you don't look like her. At all." Tyrell said "The first time I saw Rief, it was just like Amiti." he added "I thought it was a girl."
The two water Adepts shot Tyrell dirty looks. They walked back to Brigg's ship.
Kraden, Matthew and Tyrell reached the cliff where the old Champa city had once been. Instead of having large, wooden boats, and houses, rock pillars and vines, it was all black. The houses were entirely burnt, it was amazing to see that the rock pillars were still standing, the vines no longer existed, and the boats had all sunk, and even the few who survived were lying on their sides, the wooden planks were rotten and untreated.
The small group walked inside the cave and climbed until they reached the highest place of Champa.
An old lady in her centenaries was standing there, looking away in the distance. She stood on the very top of the cliff-the highest area of the city.
"Obaba…"
The old lady turned around. She was covered with wrinkles, and her long, white hair was tied to a ponytail. Her red eyes were unreadable as ever.
Seeing the shock in Kraden's eyes, she chuckled: "This look on your face…Am I so ugly and old to your eyes?"
"No Obaba, no"
She silently laughed. "Of course I am. Soon, I'll be gone. Gone with Briggs, my son. I'll be able to see him again." She looked at him again. "But I can still forge a few weapons. But I somehow think that this isn't why you're here."
Matthew nodded. "We need to see Eoleo and Himi. We were told that they were here."
The very old lady looked back at the cave from which they had entered. "Try looking where I usually forge weapons. They could be there."
"Thank you elder."
They reached the round and huge circle which was full of magma. This was where Obaba forges her weapons. The magma bubbled and ripples formed on its surface, showing that it was being used. Suddenly, a huge pillar of the boiling earth shot in the air, seriously vibrating the ground. The three humans had to hold on to something to keep from falling over.
When the magma had calmed down again, they took several cautious steps towards the pit. On the other side, Eoleo and Himi were standing, looking inside.
"Is it ready?" Himi asked.
Eoleo, with his eyes shut, shook his head. "Not yet. It's amazing. I can literally feel the object with my mind."
"Eoleo! Himi!" Tyrell cried.
The two Adepts looked up in surprise, causing Eoleo to break his concentration. A huge pillar of molten magma shot out of the pit, and began to crash on the three visitors. However, Matthew raised his hands just in time, and blocked the wave entirely. With the help of Himi, he forced the melted earth back into the pit.
Once that done, the two Adepts raced towards their old teammates. The three visitors quickly explained their visit. Eoleo strapped his sword on his back.
"Let's go then!" he announced. Himi took her staff.
"I think we should warn Obaba. Maybe give her one last good bye. This will probably be the last time we'll see her. She's been very weak and ill these past few days."
Tyrell nodded in complete agreement. "She's right. The old lady won't last for long. As her great-grandson, I think she wants her last good bye from you."
Eoleo gestured to the door. "Head towards the ship. I'll catch up."
They finally able to set sail. Brigg's ship glided smoothly and quickly across the waters. The weather wasn't as good as they were hoping it to be, but it wasn't horrible. The sun was still shining, and the wind was blowing. It was up to Eoleo to see if he could allow his father's ship to go any faster. The Tuaparang had made unbelievable and remarkable progress. With the exception of Belinsk and Kolima Village, Morgal was entirely under their power. It was only a matter of days until they reached Tonfon. The group knew they had to make their move quickly.
Everyone was happy to be able to set sail again. Matthew had no choice but to threaten Amiti and Eoleo not to fight. So the ship shot peacefully across the magnificent sea.
What wasn't magnificent was Eoleo's singing pirate voice. He sung playfully and steering the wheel. To make things worse, the crew had began to sing with him. Nor the crew and Eoleo were aware that the deck behind them was empty. Everyone had hid under the deck, and into their cabins, hoping to save themselves from becoming deaf.
"Sorry guys." Tyrell said. "I had forgotten that Eoleo sung so badly." He struggled on the chair he was tied to. "Could you please release me now?"
The group had tied Tyrell to a chair for one, perfect reason. The last time Tyrell had heard Eoleo sing gave him the wanting to commit suicide. Fortunately, his friends had stopped him before it was too late. They weren't going to take any chances this time, so they tied him to a chair, with chains, and kept him away from weapons.
"Sorry buddy. I'm not letting you cut your throat." Matthew said. He was standing and leaning against the wall. Rief was sitting on another chair.
Tyrell began to shake in his seat wildly. The chains resisted. He shook the chair so much, that it did a back flip, and Tyrell hit himself on the head on the wooden plank.
Laughing, Matthew put his chair upright.
"You should've seen the look on your face! You looked like dad when he found us drawing on his shield in the attic when we were little. I think we used permanent marker. You had drawn a smiley face"
Tyrell grinned. "I remember. We were grounded for weeks"
"What did you draw?" Rief asked Matthew.
"If memory serves, it was Flint."
"Wait, it was Flint?" Tyrell gaped at Matthew. "I thought it was a toilet seat."
"I had to use white. You were using the brown marker."
Suddenly, the ship seemed slow to a halt. Matthew looked out of the window.
"What's wrong?" Tyrell asked
Matthew drew his sword. "Monsters on deck. I'll take care of them."
His back was throbbing. Matthew waited for everyone under the deck to be asleep, until he stole away from his room, and slowly climbed the stairs to reach the deck. He guessed that it was midnight, or a little past. He opened the door that led to the deck.
"PIRATES ON THE SHORE! WE'RE SINGING BECAUSE-"
SLAM! Matthew slammed the door widely. Eoleo's singing seemed to be worse at night then during the day. Hopefully it was his imagination.
"I've got to award him with the worst singing voice ever." Matthew told himself.
Making sure that he hadn't woken anyone up, he slowly slipped in between two canons. He took his shirt off. He showed Flint his back.
"Is it better Flint?" he asked.
The Venus Djinn shook his head. "It's getting worse. Matthew you really should tell Kraden. If you don't, it might actually kill you. It has covered your back entirely."
Flint was right. His back was covered with cracks that looked similar to fissures. The scar was all black. Some sort of dark energy was radiating from it.
Matthew pulled his shirt back on. He said nothing. He walked to his door, and touched the handle. He snatched his hand back.
The metal was freezing. It was colder than solid ice. Matthew looked at the handle, then back at his hand. The earth Adept stayed silent. Why was everything he touched so cold?
He was thinking about that, when suddenly, pain exploded in his back. He felt his bones melting, his back being torn apart. He had the feeling that his scar was tearing his shoulder off his body.
Matthew fell to his knees, trying to fight the pain. Flint leaped beside him. "Matthew! Are you all right?"
Suddenly, after some silent and invisible mark, the pain tripled. Matthew fell over, and fainted due to the pain.
Flint looked around, panicked. He didn't know what to do. He knew that he should get Kraden at once, but he didn't dare to leave Matthew. He ran around in circles, and stood still.
"Calm down," he thought "Calm down." Flint took a deep breath, and opened his eyes.
He dashed straight to Kraden's cabin.
Kraden gently lifted Matthew's head, and peered in his face.
"Get Rief." he ordered Flint. "He's good at healing things."
Flint dashed straight for Rief's cabin, but he slipped, and crashed in the wooden boxes that were piled up next to his destination. The box hit the wooden planks, making a lot of noise.
"Quiet Flint! The last thing we need is to wake everyone up!"
Flint managed, somehow to enter Rief's cabin. He quickly jumped on his bed.
"Rief, wake up! It's an emergency!" he whispered, trying not to wake Amiti who was sleeping in the other bed
Rief turned in his sleep. "No sis I didn't steal your pillow." he said in his dream.
Flint looked at him in complete confusion. He began to push the covers off the water Adept. "Rief! Wake up!"
Rief turned again, and put one arm around Flint. "Pillow." He squeezed the djinn so hard that Flint made a sudden "SQUEAK!"
"Rief! Let go and wake up!" he whispered loudly.
Seeing no response, he used his ultimate weapon.
"FOOD! PANCAKES!"
Rief sat bolt upright. "Bon appetite!" he cried. He then saw Flint jumping on his lap. "What the? Flint?" Rief asked
The djinn made a "shhh!" and told him to follow him.
Rief climbed out of bed, closed the door, and followed Flint.
"What's the problem?" Rief asked Kraden. They were leaning over Matthew, who was still unconscious.
The old man shook his head. "I don't know. He's burning, but I don't know where it comes from."
"His back!" Flint whispered loudly. "His back! It's coming from his back."
The two humans looked at the djinn. Kraden nodded. The turned the sick earth Adept over, and took off his shirt. Kraden turned pale and Rief scrambled backwards.
Matthew's back was covered with fissures. It could hardly be defined as a 'back'. It was a mess. The old wound the Foul Glutton had inflicted was slowly spreading.
Kraden shook his head. "He's his father's son." He grabbed a holy parchment, and pressed it on the teen's wound. Sparks erupted, and crawled all over Matthew's back.
The shock also jolted Matthew back to consciousness. He gasped, and his eyes snapped open.
"What…happened?" he panted.
He then realized that his chest was naked, and that Kraden and Rief were peering at him. He fell silent. He gave Flint a look of betrayal, whose eyes fell to the wooden plank.
"Matthew, why didn't you tell us?" Rief asked accusingly.
Matthew said nothing. "Can you heal it?"
"Of course." Kraden snapped. "It's just going to be painful."
Kraden gestured at Rief, who brought his hands together, and then, pure, healing water began to form from them, and gently hit Matthew's back.
Kraden took out a special healing parchment. "This is going to hurt." he warned. He placed it on the wound.
Blue sparks erupted, as it began to destroy the dark energy radiating from it. To keep himself from screaming, Matthew bit his lower lip so hard that he tasted blood. He gasped and moaned. He felt his muscles tense.
When it was over, he crumpled on the floor, panting. He tried to stand, but his legs failed him. He collapsed on the ground.
Rief helped him up.
"Take him to his room. He'll be alright." Kraden said.
Rief helped the barely conscious teen to his cabin.
Kraden turned to Flint. "I want you to tell me how he got this, and when."
Welp, review!