A man sits on a wooden chair by the edge of Stepstones. He leans back on the chair as he grabs the cup of tea on the table beside him. He has a piece of paper on his other hand.
Guess it’s my turn.
He takes a sip, before placing the cup back on the table. He checks his pouch of potions, it has been categorized properly. He grabs an sheathe blade that was leaning by the table, having a unique red ribbon on it. He walks to the very edge of the cliff, his sheath being dragged on the ground.
He lifts his sword into the air. He unsheathes it right as the moon rises from the sea of clouds. Light that sparkled like moonlight began to coat the blade. He throws the sheathe down the cliff. The sheath made a thud sound that echoed all the way back up Stepstones. Music to my ears… he thought. He grabs a bottle of warding and throws it down the cliff. He waits for a bit, before jumping down himself.
“This is?” The same man stands in the town square by the fountain.
“Your punishment.” A man with a blue samurai hat handed him a file of papers.
The man was once a criminal who had done some unspeakable crimes, but retired to Palo Town once he got rich. Sinking many marine ships, stealing private chests, the list goes on. During the invasion, he managed to escape to the Stepstones and eventually climbed up to Cirrus Island alive. Since there was no bounty board in the town, he had his identity hidden for three months. That was until by some coincidence, an old man recognize him as Percivale Ledger, the Stricken Moonlight. The old man was also part of the planning committee, so he ordered him to go on the next mission by himself as a revenge.
“Keep in mind, you’re going alone.” The blue straw hat man said.
“Yeah yeah, just give me the stuff and I’ll head out tonight.” Ledger snatches the papers from the straw hat man’s hands.
“If you don’t intend on reading it, I’ll give a brief summary.”
“Recently a huge wave was reported heading towards Palo Town by the sentry. We’re hoping you can go scout and recover any supply hotspots if possible.”
“If you manage to kill Tilly, bring some evidence of hers back here.”
“And?” Ledger looks through the documents.
“I don’t see the summary of the last expedition.”
“That’s because she failed.”
“She never came back to Stepstones, already presumed dead by the committee.”
“Where’s the second expedition documents then?”
“He said to figure it out yourself.”
“…”
As Ledger went through the documents, a piece of paper slips from the samurai’s hand. It lands right at his feet. The samurai signals him to pick it up. As he does so, he checks the words written on it.
Here’s the summary of the second expedition, don’t make any suspicious movements. - L.Elius
He turns to the back of the paper, there’s all the information he needs. He looked back at the samurai, he smirks before shuffling it into the stack of documents. The blue samurai signals Ledger to come closer. The samurai whispers into his ear.
“I’m sorry.”
“Shining Radiance!”
Ledger cushions his landing by stabbing an atlantean right in the head. He flashes the atlantean with moonlight before jumping into the air. All the atlanteans at the bottom of Stepstones were alerted and came swarming at the man. The warding potion that he threw finally landed onto the ground, causing the atlanteans to scream in pain. He shatters an invisibility potion as soon as the warding took effect.
Ledger, now invisible hopped from ship to ship, trying to avoid accidentally alerting any atlanteans on board. Every leap of faith he took made no sound whenever he steps onto a ship. There was the occasional stares from random lost sailors or lesser mutated atlanteans, sensing a beacon of magic appearing and disappearing.
Ledger arrives at the edge of the sea of atlantean ships. He was on a ketch, the deck covered with seaweed and atlanteans. The captain of the ship stands proudly at the helm, with a diving helmet covering the horrors that lie behind it. Ledger tip toes his way to each lost sailor, stabbing them silently in the back as soon as he got into melee range. One fell after another, the captain didn’t move an inch. It seemed like whoever the captain was, isn’t him anymore.
Ledger finally got behind the atlantean captain. He prepares to end it with another stab to the heart, just like what he did to the lost sailors. He made sure each step he took wouldn’t alert the captain.
“MRBBLBBBLBBRBB-”
“Crap.”
The captain turns around, its hand already aiming a flintlock at the invisible Ledger. It pulls the trigger, sending a bullet directly at him. He ricochets the bullet back at the atlantean. The pellet did nothing but make a dent at the diving helmet it wore. He rushed in to interrupt the atlantean before it could reload its shot.
“?!”
A block of stone blocks the incoming attack. The atlantean aims directly at the shocked adversary with its next shot. Thankfully the shot misses, giving Ledger the time to retaliate. He powers through the stone block with his blade and slashes the atlantean’s body. This sent the entity crashing into the pillar of the ship.
Ledger conjures up a javelin made out of moonlight and tossed it at the atlantean. The exact same stone brick reappears to block the attack. The javelin sends a flash of light, blinding the atlantean. He appears in front of the atlantean and drove his sword into the diving helmet. The atlantean’s hands were still reloading the flintlock, so he twists the sword that was still embedded in it’s head, making sure it loaded its last shot.
“If only I could have sparred with you longer.”
The ship is turned and heads towards Palo Town.
“Welp, this is awkward.”
The ship Ledger sailed has sunk into the abyss sea. He did successfully arrive at Palo Town, but his only way of going back has been destroyed by an atlantean with a cannon as an arm. He is hiding in a tree, as the atlantean that shot down the ship was right under him.
If this thing can wreck a ship, I’m not fighting it.
The atlantean suspiciously looks up the tree. Ledger didn’t move an inch, hoping that it just looked up randomly and wasn’t searching for him. He checks his pouch for anything useful.
Warding potions.
He takes a peek at the atlantean waiting for him on the ground. It suddenly looks at something else, before shooting at it. Ledger threw the warding potion as soon as it got distracted. The atlantean, now covered in a golden liquid, tries to wipe it off with its cannon fists. A completely different atlantean rams into the shrimp atlantean, pushing the pistol shrimp atlantean.
“What in the world…”
“…is this?”
“Based on the description of that guy from the second trip.” The sentry said.
“You drew this?” Ledger asks.
“Yup. I figured you need it.”
“Why… would I need this?”
“Because whatever it is, clearly sent him into a three week coma!”
“He said the atlantean looked weird. It was like a lobster covered in emerald geodes that are trying to replicate how it originally looked like. Its face is also heavily damaged by past foes, it lost an antenna and maybe an eye, since he said it looked semi dead.”
“Any stuff this thing did to scar him?”
“Its pincers were damaged, turning into large crystallized claws instead. He also kept saying it was too smart for it’s own good, so it is probably intelligent.”
“Though, I doubt it is. He did say it looked like it was rotting.”
“Thanks for the sketch I suppose…?”
“No problem!”
The lobster atlantean slices a cannonball in half. It digs into the ground with its pincers. The pistol shrimp atlantean shoots a explosive cannonball at the area where the crystal atlantean dug into. It did absolutely nothing. The ground shakes, prompting Ledger to grab onto the tree he is hiding in to prevent himself from being the target in the fight.
The crystal atlantean reappears behind the pistol shrimp atlantean after digging out of the dirt. The crystal atlantean does a cross slash, lacerating the back of the pistol shrimp atlantean. The shrimp atlantean turns around and blasts the crystal atlantean with an explosive cannonball. The cannonball explodes on the crystal atlantean…
“Did it just… block it?”
As the smoke subsides, an emerald wall appears between the two. The shrimp atlantean blasts the emerald wall, only to be pushed back by the explosion. The crystal atlantean only stood there, watching the shrimp atlantean struggling to even dent the wall. A crystal geode starts forming on the chest of the crystal atlantean’s as it lifted its arms, aiming at the shrimp atlantean.
The crystal wall disappears, making way for the decently large chunk of emerald heading straight for the shrimp atlantean. As the shrimp atlantean tries to block the attack, the chunk explodes into several much tinier shards of emerald mid flight, peppering the shrimp atlantean with it. The crystal shards explode, causing the shrimp atlantean to collapse onto the ground out of exhaustion.
What in the world is this thing…
The crystal atlantean eerily turned its head and stared at Ledger from a few trees away. He can practically hear the sound of its emerald body rubbing against each other, making a sound similar to someone cracking their knuckles.
…It knows I’m up here.
The crystal atlantean stabs into the ground, creating a large green explosion. It disappears without a trace, as if it had never been here. It’s fast… he thought.
Ledger slides down the tree with his sword in hand. Right as he touched the ground, he held his blade in a guarding pattern. His other hand already reaching into the pouch of potions.
A leaf lands on the ground. Ledger walks towards thetown while keeping his guard on his surroundings. The slight gust of wind or the rustling of leaves can be mistaken as the crystal atlantean’s fast movements. I have a feeling… if I kill this shrimp-looking atlantean… that other one is going to end me on the spot… he thought.
There were no atlanteans in sight. Ledger walks through the town, breathing in the intoxicated air. Since most of the atlanteans were washed away in the storm a few days ago, some buildings have collapsed while others are covered in seaweed.
Ledger stands by the fountain at the town square. He lays his sword on the ground. He grabs his necklace and opens the pendant that’s attached to it. It’s a picture of a girl standing beside Ledger.
Ledger didn’t care if he was exiled, he didn’t care if he had to kill the entire population of Palo Town atlanteans, he didn’t care if he got killed himself, all he cared about was his daughter.
“I’M NOT LETTING MY OLD MAN GO!”
“HE HAS TO, HE MUST REPAY HIS SINS.”
“HE DID NOTHING WRONG!”
Cecilia Ledger, daughter of Percivale Ledger. A white haired girl with blue eyes, similar to the magic she wields, that being crystal sapphire magic. A rather hyperactive girl who loves sky pumpkin pie ever since she arrived at Cirrus Island. She is arguing with the old man in the planning committee.
“WHERE’S THE EVIDENCE? THE PROOF?”
“RIGHT HERE.”
An old newspaper came out of the old man’s pocket. Out of all the news it covered, one stood out the most. A younger looking picture of her father along with a quote under it saying: ‘200,000 Galleons, alive or dead’.
“…”
“Speechless eh? Your old man over there did some nasty stuff.”
“Dad…?” She looks at him
“…The past speaks the truth.”
“AND FOR THAT, HE MUST REPAY FOR HIS SINS.” The old man added.
“I’ll replace him.”
Ledger widens his eyes. He can’t possibly send her rig-
“Sure. Pack your stuff, next expedition’s yours.” The old man said
“You can’t be serious.” Ledger suddenly appears in front of the old man
“I am.”
Ledger held the old man in the air with his left arm. His right arm is winding up for a punch. The old man only smiled.
“STOP.”
Ledger drops the old man. He coughs while dusting his clothes.
“You haven’t changed one bit.”
The old man walks away.
“You’re not going anywhere, Cecilia.”
“I-”
“Back to the house, now.”
“…”
The next morning, Ledger wakes up to find a note on the table. He reads it, soon crumpling it. He grabs his sword and busted the door open. He headed straight for a very specific house.
He kicks down the door to the house. He grabs a matchstick and lights his waist lantern. Two spears pointed at him gradually shown itself as the light filled the house. He sees the old man by a wooden chair, sipping some tea.
“Eh-eh-eh, move that blade and the guards will stop you.”
“Where is she.”
“She left when you slept.”
“It’s a shame she accepted the mission, she had a lot of potential.”
“YOU.”
“Watch out for the spears.”
He grips onto his sword tightly. It was no use killing him, it would only make things on this floating village more of a mess.
“I’ll join the next expedition.” Ledger exlcaimed.
The old man places his cup of tea on the table.
“I was waiting for you to say that.”
“Wait until I find you, my sunshine.” He closes the pendant.
He looks at the balcony where the mayor once stood. He remembers when the invasion happened, the place going ablaze as civilians trying to run away from the atlanteans while some of the heroes and grand navy fought back the horde.
“Heeellpp meeeeee…”
He drew his blade. The moment the thing said those words, his breathing became heavy. The very core of his soul wants to take revenge, for her. He takes his rage on the dried up fountain, slashing it in half with a sparkle of moonlight. I’ll kill you, I’LL KILL YOU RIGHT NOW.
Ledger drags his sword on the ground, towards the mayor’s house. He peeks through the already hole-ridden door. A large figure, similar to an orca’s back was inside, weeping. He kicks down the door in rage.
The door goes flying into the orca atlantean, breaking into a pile of wood rubble. The atlantean echoes in pain, shrieking for help, but no one came. Ledger drags his sword on the cement, creating a sound similar to someone scratching their nails on the chalkboard. The sound terrified the atlantean, making it shuffle to the corner of the room. This only tempted him to make his blade screech even louder than the atlantean’s shrieks.
“Mayor Tilly.”
Ledger grabs a potion of warding. He throws it into the atlantean’s gaping mouth. The potion shatters, the burning sensation of it makes the atlantean scream. He walked towards it even closer, waving his sword around, ready to end it.
“EEEEEEEEKKK-”
It suddenly turns it’s head at Ledger. Something green shined brightly inside of the atlantean. He reacts by dashing backwards, leaving traces of afterimages. The green light inside her mouth disappears as she goes back to weeping.
It could’ve started bombarding me with magic… but it chose not to?
Unless…
Ledger approaches it again, this time with his sword in the sheathe. He walked closer to the orca atlantean, to the point it was in swallowing distance, nothing happened. He tries grabbing onto his swo-
The atlantean turns it’s head around again. The green light inside her mouth shun brighter than before. She had been charging it up this entire time when she was weeping. Ledger fully unsheathes his sword, unable to dodge the attack in time and intended to block it.
The bone covered in emerald crystals is shot at him. Ledger blocks it in time. The crystal starts to rapidly multiply and expand, pushing him back to the entrance of the house. As soon as he stepped outside the house, the crystal stops growing.
Isn’t this… what that other atlantean was covered in…?
Ledger strikes the crystal with his sword. The crystal retaliates with an explosion, blasting him into a random house through a window.
“My head…”
He gets up from the floor. He looks around his surroundings, it’s his house. His waist lantern lighted the room, there’s blood on the floor. It led all the way up to the second floor. He got up and shuffled his way upstairs.
It was dark, really dark. Ledger unbuckles the lantern on his waist, before sliding it to the middle of the room.
“What in the actual…”
There was a large white coral attached to the top of the room. It was surrounded by giant white crystals. There was also three appendages with a white crystal in each of them, coiled around the coral. There was also a very distinct bunch of white hair on the floor.
“Is this…?”
The creature wakes up from it’s slumber. The tentacles bloom into flowers, similarly to a red spider lily, the center is a very sharp white crystal. The crystal that’s embedded in them crumbles, resembling an eye sculpted out of crystal.
“Are you… Cec-”
Blood splatters behind him. He collapses onto the ground, a large hole in his head. One of it’s tendrils glowed a bright green before retracting to the main body.
“HehehehehehehHAHAHAHAHA…”
The coral makes sounds similar to a girl trying to cry as she laughed, before going back to it’s slumber once again.
Welp that was rough. Might have overcooked with this one but oh welpppp
I’ll write the new atlantean’s description in the comments since this story took 8 consecutive hours of brainstorming
hope ya enjoy :3
