A few moments later
~Avery’s Perspective~
I block a slash from Castor before swinging back at him. He holds his long, wooden stick like a spear and stabs at me. I jump back and keep my distance. We move in a circle, facing each other. Pollux and Alex watch us spar.
“Hey Avery,” says a familiar voice.
Me and Castor turn to see Pax, William, and another kid walking over to us.
“Hey Pax,” says Castor. He shoots me a warning look that says “Don’t reveal anything.”
“Hey,” the black-haired boy says. “I’m Landon.”
“Nice to meet you Landon,” says Pollux, holding out his hand. “I’m Pollux.”
The kid named Landon hesitantly takes his hand. I turn to the other two.
“So,” I begin. “What do you want?”
“To say hi,” says William. “And to introduce Landon.”
Wait. Black hair, blue eyes, and light skin. There’s a kind of people with that unique look. Just like how 4th Sea people have brown hair. He could be from the Western 2nd Sea. And that could mean.
I take a deep breath. It’s a stretch, but if my intuition is correct…
“Hey Landon,” I say. “You’re Altavistan, aren’t you?”
Everyone freezes. William and Pax look at me in shock.
“How-?” Pax begins.
Shit. That’s not good.
“Let’s go to our room,” suggests Alex. “We’ll talk there.”
“Agreed,” says Pollux.
“Y’know, for a group of feared pirates, you’re quite loud.”
I turn around to see a group of Emerald Skull pirates standing menacingly. I sigh.
“Don’t know how you didn’t realize that sooner, dumbasses,” I reply. “I mean, he hasn’t tried to hide his looks.”
Their leader smiles as he pulls out his sword.
“Hand the damn kid over,” he growls.
I don’t respond as I pull out my flintlock and shoot the damn bastard in the head.
Everyone stands frozen for a few moments as the man’s body falls to the ground with a thud. And then all hell breaks loose.
End of Chapter XXII