The Next Day, Lunchtime
~Pax’s POV~
“Will!?” I yell. I carry my meal as I walk around the towns, looking for Will. “Where are you!?”
No response. I run into Alex. They look at me with a look of annoyance.
I refer to them as they because Castor said that they prefer to be called that. The look in his eyes told me that he would explain later.
“Can you please tone the fuck down,” they snap. “It’s hard to focus when there’s a boy yelling.”
“Sorry,” I respond.
“William’s with Castor at the training yard by the way.”
“Thanks.”
I walk over to the training yard. Cassius and William are sparring there, their practice blades colliding with loud thuds. I watch them, mesmerized, as Castor sweeps Will off of his feet faster than I can blink. Castor notices me watching.
“Hello Pax,” he says calmly.
I nod back and walk over to a bench. There are bags under Will and Castor’s eyes from exhaustion. Apparently they sparred until 3 in the morning and went to sleep. They woke up at 9 and have been training ever since. I didn’t think they would still be there though.
I eat my food, taking sips of water between mouthfuls, as I watch Castor and Will continue sparring. Castor wins, every time, but there’s something different about the way Will is fighting. He’s more cautious, his eyes moving and scanning Castor’s movements, and he’s blocking more instead of dodging all of the time. He’s fast, but Castor is faster.
“Damn,” I say to Castor after I’ve finished my food. “You’re good.”
“I’m better with a spear,” he responds dryly. “And don’t you even dare say something about a pirate using a spear.” He looks at me. “Wanna spar?”
“Sure.”
10 minutes later, he’s telling me everything I did wrong and listing out ways I can improve. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve lost.
“I’m gonna go take a fucking nap now,” he states after he’s done. He walks away. Will looks at me.
“Can we talk?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I respond. “Sure.”
I sit down right next to him on the bench. He looks to the sky wistfully.
“Did I ever tell you how long I was away from home?” he asks.
“No, not really,” I respond. “And I didn’t want to dig into your past and make you feel uncomfortable, so I never asked for details. But to be honest, I’ve always been curious.”
He nods, as if what I said confirmed something. And then he says something completely unexpected.
“I’ve been gone for half a year,” he says suddenly.
“What?” I reply in shock.
He nods. There’s an air of sadness to him.
“6 months,” he continues. “You know how my old man didn’t approve of my love for swordplay. Well, one day, we had this huge argument. He found out that I was secretly learning how to use a sword without his knowledge. He was so pissed. He tried to hit me and I just, snapped. I packed my stuff and ran out the door. I spent most of my lamina on a ride out of here.
“For the first 2 months or so, I worked a small job of helping crews unload their cargo to get by, and then I tried my hand at working commissions. I did relatively well and bought a sailboat with the money I saved. I had always wanted to see the world beyond my town.
“After sailing around and learning the important stuff, I sailed over to Doom Island to get some supplies. I ended up hearing about their problems and decided to help. And the rest is history.
“But during that time, I didn’t send a single letter to my family. I never checked on them, never sent a letter telling them how I was doing, nothing.”
He begins to choke up slightly. I say nothing, waiting for him to continue.
“According to Castor, when Veridies crashed and began to attack, only one person survived the initial attack. My sister. She died of her wounds later. The rest of the family didn’t make it. And I wasn’t there to protect them.”
Tears begin to fall down Will’s face. He wipes them away. I stay silent, unsure of what to say.
“William,” I finally say. “I’m so sorry.”
He nods in acknowledgement.
I think for a few moments before letting the words leave my mouth.
“Listen,” I say. The words flow out naturally, as if I had experience in this. “There’s nothing I can really say to help you. You have to deal with this on your own, but just know that I’m here for you no matter what. And if you try to push me away and ask me why, I’ll just say it. It’s because you’re my best friend. We got into this mess together and we’re going to get out of it together, whether you like it or not. I’ll always have your back, no matter what.”
Will looks at me in shock.
“Since when the fuck were you a philosopher?” he asks incredulously.
“No fucking idea where that came from,” I shoot back honestly.
“Well you would make a great speaker. C’mon, I’m fucking tired.”
“Couldn’t agree more.”
We walk over to the barracks as the sun shines over us.
A few minutes later
~Veriedies’ POV~
“Pathetic cowards,” I spit out.
My men lie on the ground, many dead, a few alive but wounded. Our ship lies in ruins, dried magma all over.
“So what if we’ve been here for more than 3 weeks?” I spit out mockingly. “I am your captain, and you’re my subordinates.”
I look to the town in mild disgust.
“Since you spineless bastards are to weak to do anything, I’ll finish this myself.”
And cement my power as a pirate to be feared.
I activate my sky skates and fly away from the remains of my ship, ruined by Trigno’s stupid magma.
No matter how long this takes, I will end this once and for all.
End Of Chapter XXI
Author’s Note: Let’s just appreciate Pax’s epic speech skills for a second
)