Cy and Selene dropped to their knees and covered their ears until the Kraken stopped its primal shriek. The cool breeze swept sand past Cy’s feet and in between his toes. A trickle of blood oozed from one of his ears.
Davy Jones smiled back, his rotted and wooden teeth shining through. His eyes bulged, laced with thick blood vessels. The tentacles of his beard waved at Cy. Out at sea, The Flying Dutchman continued to thrust up columns of water to intercept cannon fire and the like. His green eyes met Cy's level gaze.
“Figured you’d be on The Dutchman still,” Cy said.
“Aye, and ye’d be wrong for figurin’ it, boy. She’s my biggest decoy—” The Kraken’s roar swept Jones’ matted hair in one direction. “Oh, ho! Next to ‘Ole Bessie, of course.”
“I take it she doesn’t like my Trophy.”
“That she does not. Could'a been one of her runts, she reckons. But she’s not been to Aquilantis in some time now.”
How does he know where I got this? He is an Alter, but still…
“So, who might we have here? A formal assassin versus…a new Vessel user.”
He’s sure taking his time with her. Does he see something I don’t? Is he just a pervert?
“Oh ho ho!” Jones doubled over laughing. He grabbed his stomach and lifted a hand up for them to stop. Cy glanced at Selene from the corner of his eyes.
“Oh, oh ho, Little Lassie.” Jones recovered his senses. “You hid it well from him, but now it’s time to spoil yer fun. Ya see, I’m an agent of chaos.”
“What’s he talking about, Selene?”
“She’s a Vessel of her own.”
Cy scanned her up and down. The daggers? No, they keep coming from…
“Your armor.” Selene cracked her neck. “So that’s where those daggers kept coming from.”
“Aye, she have a resupplyin’ tool.” Cy turned back to the monster. The Kraken floated steady in the water. Its tentacles just waved about, like Jones' beard, without purpose. Waiting on her master’s orders?
“Good to know. I suppose I should thank you, but I’m more curious as to what the Agent of Chaos wants on this beach.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere. And it’s not what I want, lad—What do you want?”
“Well, I sure as shit don’t want to fight you.”
“Pah! Course not. There’s a fight naught winnable."
“So what then?” Selene asked.
“I’ve completed my mission.” Jones spoke low and without color. “Now it’s time to do business.”
Cy clicked his tongue. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything to sell at the moment.”
“Oh no, lad.” Jones’ smile returned. “I’m an Info Broker.” Info Broker, huh? Just like The Painter… “For instance, I understand you're a would-be-Alter.”
“Something like that.”
Jones spread his arms out wide. “Well, I’d like to see you in action.”
“We’re a little busy, so if you wouldn’t mind controlling your beast—”
Jones cackled like a maniac. “Now there’s a fight I can’t win. She’s no Familiar to me, boy. Asides that, I wouldn't if I could.”
“Great, thanks. Selene, it seems we need to put our fight on pause.”
Selene glared at Cy. Her eyebrows met at the bridge of her nose. She grabbed her barren left arm and tried to cover it up.
OK, probably shouldn’t count on teaming up.
“Today’s full o’ excitement and news. Think I’ll have me some popcorn, just fer the occasion.” Jones’ eyes lit up a tan shade. Sand moved around the beach and formed a chair and an umbrella. He even formed a fruity cocktail drink, which materialized to real liquid and glass, with its own mini-umbrella.
“The sun’s already set,” Selene said flatly.
“Har har! Right you are, lass. But this umbrella be fer the moonlight.” Jones tilted his chin up to Selene. “And don’t think I forgot about little ‘ole you. I gave the Alter-boy a tip, now here’s yers.”
Jones' face and Pirate act both dropped again.
“That Vessel of his? It'll break your Vow."
Jones leaned back in his sun chair, kicked up his feet, and slurped his drink through its bendy straw. “Look out, kiddos. Here she comes.”
The Kraken rushed the beach and swung its tentacles at them. Cy dodged one, then dove and rolled in the wet sand to avoid another. Can’t control it my ass! Selene leapt from tentacle to tentacle in an attempt to scale the beast.
A stray tentacle even slapped at Jones, but an invisible barrier blocked it. “Ho ho! Bessie, you wily 'ole coot.” He slurped again.
Cy kept an eye on both his opponents, but tracking six flailing tentacles proved a difficult task in itself. Selene crept up behind him and sunk another knife in his back.
WHAM!
A wrecking ball of a tentacle slapped Selene out of the sky and onto the sand.
“Selene, please—” Cy ducked down low, then jumped up high. “We need to work together—” He dove again. “Like in Aquilantis.”
“But way bigger.”
Good. She’s talking again. “But we’re stronger, too.” Cy sheathed his Vessel on his back. Useless in this fight. “Got any spare arms?”
“Very funny.” Selene swung from one tentacle to another.
“Seriously—I need a weapon!”
“Here.” Cy winced. I hate you. A new dagger stuck out from his lower stomach, though it wasn’t deep. He yanked it out, and they fought the beast uphill, further away from Jones. Cy stood near the edge of a small bluff, about ten feet above the water.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Cy looked over the ledge. Damn, how far do I gotta fall tonight!?
The Kraken sprayed Cy with thick black ink. His wounds stung from contamination, and his vision clouded. The rocky shore became a slippery slope.
SMACK!
Cy landed face first into clumpy sand. He spat it from his mouth and wipedaway the the inky mixture from his face.
“Tarred and feathered!” Jones jeered and cackled on the sidelines. The Kraken emitted a unique noise that again brought Cy and Selene to their knees, covering their ears. “Didn't I mention? I taught 'er Sylvan.”
The Hell? Drowners and Kappas emerged from the water and tracked their prey.
“An Animal Control Tome,” Cy warned Selene.
"Fuck Tomes!" Jones protested. "Thought I taught you better than that, Bessie!"
“Fine, here.” Selene tossed Cy another dagger.
This is plain and…not Enchanted!? What a piece of crap.
“Right. Thanks.” Cy cut down the closest Drowner, then stabbed a Kappa through the throat. It got stuck in the Kappa's shell on the other side of its wound—Cy yanked once, then gave up. He roundhouse-kicked it to its back. “Anything bigger!?"
“You mean like the size of your Vessel?" Cute.
“Seconded,” Jones yelled.
“Assholes.” My Vessel doesn’t work like that.
? Ice ? ? Sand ? ? Sword ? [?56,620 // ?298,080]
A temporary curved sword forged into his hands. Cy ignored Selene for now, she could handle herself. He focused on the beasts in front of him and the Kraken’s tentacles. The sword flowed like a whip with each swing, like controllable liquid sand.
[Pang! Elemental Control increased to Level 36.]
[Pang! Curved Swords increased to Level 31.]
[Pang! Transmutation increased to Level 30.]
[?13,179 granted for Leveling Up multiple Open Skill Slots. ?69,799 // ?311,259 now available,]
Ohh fuuuuuck yeah!
Cy sliced through the Drowners and pierced his weapon through the Kappa’s natural armor. The sword even cut through the top layer of the Kraken’s rubbery skin, though that was surely just like a scrape to Cy's own.
Not enough for the main target. And I’m down to half my armor. I was foolish to let her deteriorate it so much. Three tentacles targeted him and slapped the ground from straight above.
“Har—Whack-a-mole!”
? Air ? [?67,799 // ?311,259]
Cy swept back the remaining Kappas off the bluff then rolled away from a slap.
? Earth ? ? Sand ? ? Water ? [?60,299 // ?311,259]
Quicksand sunk the Drowners and trapped them from the neck down. Cy dove away from another tentacle, which smashed the Drowner’s skulls like pumpkins.
? Water ? [?45,299 // ?311,259]
Cy used a large chunk of Ryoku to create a wave that pushed back the Kraken away from him. He enjoyed a brief moment of respite, then whipped his sword around to clear the battlefield, including a few beasts Selene fought.
“Well done, boy—but ye overlooked one thing.” A massive wave hurtled toward them all. Shit. “Equal and opposite reactions, Cyrus.”
“What are you, my teacher!?” Jones’ blue eyes sparkled, and Cy hesitated. Wait a second—
The wave rushed in, up to Cy and Selene’s chests. Jones created an invisible moat around himself. Then the tide swept Cy and Selene out to sea, toward the Kraken. A riptide forced Cy underwater. The monster snapped its beak at him below the surface and shot out more ink to muddle Cy’s vision.
[ERROR: Shrine Hunting — Quest Objective INCOMPLETED: Ascend the first tier of Marina Veridia.]
Salvos damn the System…
All the Inked Arts Cy had reserved for the battle washed away, and he couldn’t invoke any Runes while underwater, unable to speak.
The forces of nature swept Cy to the Kraken’s mouth in a vacuum. He swam away as hard as he could, but the dozen or so daggers protruding from his body slowed him down too much. His lungs begged for air. The snapping sounds, though dulled in the water, grew louder, mere feet away.
Cy wasn’t sure who was first to arrive, but he found both himself and Selene in the belly of the beast. His vision began to fade to black, not from the ink, but from a lack of oxygen. He coughed. Precious air bubbled from his mouth. His chest and lungs collapsed, filled with water.
Selene frantically swam through the mirky ink to the stomach’s lining and stabbed it.
FWOOOSH!
The Kraken expelled water from its stomach in an attempt to take Selene with it. Cy saw two Selene’s and four arms. With his last bit of energy his reached out and grabbed one of those arms. The stomach emptied, and they tumbled down from gravity. The Kraken must have turned itself back upright, because they toppled back down again.
Cy hammered clenched fists into his own diaphragm until he heaved and puked out water. He rolled onto his back and gasped for air.
“It breached,” Selene said.
“She,” Cy said between pants.
Trapped in the belly of the beast. With a defensive Vessel, no weapons, a lunatic assassin, and—if we get out—another lunatic, waiting to fight us.
Cy rolled over on all fours, then stood. But first…
"We have to get past that beak."
Selene’s Binding Vow’s design was massive, beautiful even. Intricate gold traces outlined a black-filled void. Pops of crimson accentuated the gold outlines.
“Your arm…” It was completely barren, stripped of her armor. “Did the beak get it?” Selene drew two new daggers from behind her hips.
"Don't act like we are friends.”
Selene charged Cy inside the Kraken’s belly. He redirected her momentum and pushed her aside. His bare feet swelled up. Stomach acid…
Doesn’t seem to affect her where she’s covered in her armor Vessel, what little remains.
“I have to kill you, Cy. I can’t stop.”
Can’t get past this fucker’s beak, can’t go out the back way—gross. I could take her Vessel and survive, but then she’d die. With some difficulty, Cy drew his Vessel again. These daggers are taking their toll.
Ah, there’s an idea.
Selene lunged at him, for the final time. Cy took both daggers to his chest.
His expressionless eyes gazed into hers, which were wide in shock and horror.
Hopefully guilt, too.
Cy grabbed Selene's left arm and raised it. For once, she didn’t resist. They just locked eyes.
With his Vessel, Cyrus hacked off her arm, just below her shoulder joint, at the root of her Binding Vow.
Blood sprayed out and misted the Kraken's stomach.
Selene collapsed and writhed around in pain. That should distract her long enough.
Cy removed a dagger in his shoulder. Its Enchantment activated, and blood spurted from the wound. With that same dagger, he sliced a long gash in the Kraken's stomach lining where he thought the heart would be.
“The Painter’s anatomy lessons came in handy after all, eh?”
“My arm—Cy, my arm…” Selene sobbed and rolled side-to-side, in and out of the fetal position.
Carefully, with extreme precision, Cy pierced his chest with his own Vessel, just below an Enchanted dagger. He removed the Enchanted blade—and felt his heart stop—then removed his Vessel's blade. The wound healed up instantly.
Cy stabbed the open wound in his shoulder and then repeated the process on another dagger. Selene watched, crying and shrieking.
“W-what… What are you doing?” she cried.
Cy threw the daggers into the Kraken’s heart.
“It’s OK. Just breathe. Look at your shoulder.”
It terminated in a bloodless stump and had already healed. Cy removed the remainder of the dozen-or-so daggers. His Vessel healed up the last of his wounds, and he walked over to Selene. She scooted away from him, eyes wide in fear. He knelt down to her, his face still stoic and calm. He extended a hand.
“Do you still want to kill me?”
She slapped his hand away with her right.
“Yes.”
Cy laughed. Wrong question.
“Do you still have to kill me?” He kept his hand out for her.
Selene looked around, confused, puzzled. Her eyes looked left to right.
“I don’t…I don’t know.”
“My Vessel, Tensa, heals when it cuts instead of dealing damage. I thought it might sever your bond with your Binding Vow—and just for the record, I thought about it before that mangy bastard out there did."
Selene’s face dropped. She looked peaceful, even grateful to Cy for a moment, but that soon returned to rage.
You don’t know what I stood to gain from that Vow.”
“It’s a little too late for that now. But if you want to live, live freely, then take my hand. I’m going to remove those daggers now.” He nodded back to the beating heart, filled with all the Enchanted blades.
She glared at him, then looked at her severed limb, lying a few feet away, and studied its tattoos, which began to fade away. Selene grabbed his hand without looking at him.
? Shatter ? [?38,299 // ?311,259]
Blood streamed out of the beast's heart alongside the daggers. The Kraken shrieked outside. Its stomach gushed with blood, and it vomited them out onto the beach. They crashed on top of each other in the filth, mixed in with sand, saltwater, ink, and ichor.
The Alter Pirate stood before them. The little slice of paradise he'd conjured in the sand had washed away without a trace. Cy stood; he’d let Selene adjust to her newfound freedom, but he needed a way to get out of this next fight.
“You killed me favorite pet.”
“Live and let live.”
“Aye, so the fookin' saying goes. Fond of another one, meself—Kill or be killed.”
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