03. No Entry

Already Penny had fallen in love with Sapphire Island. It was such a beautiful island with a blanket of snow that glimmered with innocence. She loved everything about the town, from the beautiful kimono styles they wore to the friendly people, who were extremely welcoming, even if she did have a hard time understanding them. The natives of the Island didn't speak International Aquarian but instead a language called Nippon.

However, something wasn't quite right about the island, as though the picturesque village were a front hiding a dark secret. Penny had noticed when she went about the island gathering the supplies for the Leo earlier in the day that the natives kept giving Alex disgusted and upturned looks and took particular interest in his swords. They even went as far as crossing the street to stay clear of him. The first mate seemed oblivious to it all and continued on like it was any normal day. It was now late afternoon, and the crew was starved and in desperate need of some food, especially a certain captain, whose nose was leading them to a place to eat.

No matter what island they were on, Levi always managed to find the place that served the best tasting food just from a sniff of his nose.

"How did everyone cope with the native language when collecting supplies?" Tommy asked as he kicked his feet through the snow. "Myself and Penny struggled. Nobody here speaks Aquarian."

"Baden and I had to point and guess, but we got there in the end." Oberon sat on Baden's shoulder, getting a free ride to the restaurant.

"We did alright." Mirella covered her mouth with her hand as she spoke, so as not to accidentally let her venomous spit catch anyone. "I speak a little Nippon, so Vulcan and I managed."

"How about you, Blondie?" Tommy nodded in the first mate's direction.

"We got by." Alex shrugged.

Levi chuckled. "He's being modest. Alex can speak fluent Nippon. His adoptive father is from this island."

"What?!" Everyone was surprised that Alex of all people could speak another language.

"I told you not to say anything," Alex hissed at his captain, who cowered under the shadow of his hat with a cheeky smile.

"If your adoptive father is from here, why do the natives not like you?" Penny inquired.

Alex shrugged. He had no idea why the natives were being strange to him, but one thing that stood out to him was that they directed their glares to his swords. Before Penny could dig a bigger hole into Alex's mysterious past, Levi stopped in his sniffing tracks and looked up at a swaying tavern sign creaking to the wind. The sign provided the tavern's name in a combination of kanji and hiragana, none of which any of them could read except Alex. Below the name was a picture of a suspicious looking raven, like it was up to no good.

"Let's eat here. Smells amazing!" Levi burst through the door before anyone could object to his choice.

The tavern was old and worn down, broken glass windows and tiles drooping from the roof. The paint peeled off from the woodwork, and the sign looked like it was about to drop off at any given notice. Stood at the entrance was a bouncer who didn't seem too bothered by Levi's bounding entrance, but his sharp eyes locked onto Alex.

"The Raven," Alex said, translating the name of the pub.

"It doesn't look awfully friendly." Mirella held tightly onto Vulcan's hand, and he squeezed her hand back.

"We'd best go in before Levi makes any weird friends," Tommy sighed, and everyone agreed.

They all piled in one after the other until the bouncer stood in front of Alex, blocking his path.

"No entry!" The bouncer spoke Aquarian but with a strong Nippon accent.

Alex frowned and attempted to pass through again, but he was stopped a second time.

"No entry!" This time the bouncer pointed to his swords, shaking his head. It seemed those were the only two Aquarian words he could speak.

Did he mean no swords were allowed? Alex thought. If so, he could take them to the Leo and come back.

"I'll take my swords back to the ship," Alex spoke in Nippon and clutched the hilts of his swords, an action that had the bouncer stepping back fearfully.

"I'm sorry, it's not just your swords, but you as well. No swordsmen are allowed to enter the premises." The bouncer shook his head and spoke back in his own language, thankful the foreigner could understand Nippon, a rarity when they had tourists or pirates visiting the island.

"Well, why not?" Alex was getting annoyed now and was cold from the falling snow. He could see his friends already sitting down and ordering food and drinks within the warm atmosphere of the pub. They didn't even wait for him, which was typical of them.

"Spirits and anyone associated with them are bad luck." The bouncer shrugged.

"That's ridiculous!" Alex complained, his voice rising in anger. "You're not letting me in because of some superstitious crap!"

His swords started to hum angrily alongside him, and the bouncer could feel the negative energy in the air. He wasn't the only one. Everyone, from the people on the street minding their own business to the locals in the pub, stopped and stared at Alex, feeling the spirits' energy amplified by Alex's emotions. The crew was confused by the sudden change, wondering what the fuss was about.

"I don't want any trouble." The bouncer raised his hands, suddenly fearing Alex. "Just leave and take your swords with you."

"What have you done this time, Blondie?" Tommy returned, looking for him.

"He won't let me in because I'm a swordsman, and they don't like spirits," Alex explained.

"I don't blame him. You're a shitty swordsman," Tommy joked, only to receive a death glare from Alex. "Just speaking the truth. Kurome has a tendency to possess you." He smirked, knowing he had irked Alex with the truth.

Tommy sighed and looked over the situation, noticing the gathering crowd and the hostile looks they were aiming at Alex. It didn't look good, and he was sure they were about to bring out their pitchforks.

"We will find out what's happening and why they don't like you, but I suggest in the meantime, you head back to the ship before you're shanked..."

"But I'm hungry."

Tommy rolled his eyes. Levi and Alex were too similar when it came to their stomachs. Food before moral sense.

"There is food left over in the galley. Besides, we didn't leave anyone behind to guard the Leo. It's vulnerable to thieves. Including Jessica's white beanie," he taunted.

"Watch what you say, or I will burn your grey blazer." Alex shot him a glare, telling him not to go there with Jess.

"You wouldn't dare. You know what it means to me," Tommy hissed back.

"Exactly why I would burn it."

If he weren't in such a public area, Tommy would have let loose his Atlantean powers on Alex and shown him who was more powerful, but he didn't want to reveal to the humans that he was one in case any of them were Atlantean snatchers working for King Mordred or the slave trade.

"Go back to the ship, Blondie, before you cause trouble!"

Alex huffed, but he couldn't help agreeing with Tommy. The natives were becoming more restless with him.

"Fine. Just bring back some alcohol." Alex stormed off back to the ship, grumbling to himself.

When walking past the locals, they cursed at him under their breath with their native tongue, causing Alex to grit his teeth and clench his fist, his nails digging deeply into his skin and causing it to bleed. It was the only thing that was stopping him from attacking them. He hurried back to the ship. He knew when he was not welcome.

He was making his way back to the harbour with his head slouched over, looking down at his boots crunching against the snow, when a woman with long, turquoise-blue hair accidentally bumped into his shoulder. She quickly apologised and continued on her way, looking to be in a hurry. Alex stopped for a second, wondering who she was, and his heart warmed as he looked over her beautiful appearance. She wore a white, fluffy coat with black jeans and very warm-looking snow boots. Her skin was as white as the fresh snow on the ground, and when she looked back over her shoulder, gazing at him with one deep blue dazzling eye, it captivated his soul. He was frozen to the spot in awe. He had never seen such blueness in an eye before, and his mouth gaped open, wanting to see the left eye as well, which was covered by her long blue fringe. She softly giggled, just like Jessica did, and paced with a bounce to her step, just like Jessica did.

"Hey, wait up!" Alex yelled, chasing after the girl who reminded him lot of Jessica.

☠️

Back at the Tavern, the rest of the crew was struggling to order food from the menu and ended up pointing to various different items to a very confused-looking waitress who couldn't understand International Aquarian. Their food and drinks eventually arrived, and the table became rowdy as they stuffed their faces and protected their food from Levi's thieving hands. The natives didn't know what to think of the strange group of pirates, which weren't like the normal blood-thirsty pirates the citizens usually came across. They all stared in awe, perplexed by the eccentric behaviour.

"Where's Alex?" Levi said in a muffled voice, his cheeks bulging with mounds of food.

"He went back to guard the ship." Tommy shrugged. "They don't let swordsmen in because they don't like spirits."

"Oh..." Baden nervously gulped down his food in response to this piece of information. "Why don't they like spirits?" he nervously mumbled, earning a pointed look from Oberon.

"I don't know, he didn't say," Tommy said through a mouthful of food.

Tommy was starving and the food was to die for, despite the pub looking shabby. As always, Levi had picked the best place to eat.

"Why don't we ask and find out?" Penny suggested. "Could you ask, Mirella?"

"I can try, but my Nippon is rusty." Mirella nervously played with her long purple hair.

The pretty barmaid wearing a black kimono soon came back with more food and drinks and Mirella asked why the tavern didn't like swordsmen? The girl didn't answer. She shuffled her feet and ran off before answering. The same happened again when Mirella asked a local and the bar manager. Nobody wanted to answer her questions. Or they couldn't understand her.

"Strange," Mirella mumbled. "Nobody seems to want to say."

"Maybe we shouldn't ask anymore. It seems like a touchy subject, and we're gaining unwanted attention." Vulcan nodded towards the bar, where they were gaining passive-aggressive looks.

"I can tell you why they don't like spirits."

Penny jumped back in fright when a man appeared next to her in a cloud of green smoke. He had shaggy green hair and was wearing a purple kimono like coat. He had only one good right eye, which was a deep, sparkling emerald colour. The left was covered by a green eyepatch, and around his neck he wore a golden medallion that had a sapphire stone encrusted within it. Immediately, the bar fell silent with petrified looks of horror from the man's sudden appearance, with some swiftly leaving without even finishing their food or paying for their drinks.

Tommy took quick notice of the sudden atmospheric change in the room. Everyone was scared of the man who had appeared out of nowhere, which forced him to be on high alert too. The silver scales on his cheeks resurfaced, no longer hiding his true appearance from the humans, and making sure the green man knew Tommy was a powerful Atlantean and not to be messed with. Even Vulcan had reached for the lump hammer on his back, and Baden was clutching onto his orange cane. In fact, all of them were prepared to attack if need be.

Except Levi, who was still stuffing his face, completely unaware of the new comer until the glimmer of the sapphire jewel around the green man's neck glinted directly into his puppy brown eyes. Levi stopped eating and reached out to the priceless jewel only a king could afford.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," the green man tutted.

Levi was snapped out of his daze and pouted, but still kept a watchful eye on the expensive-looking jewel. He would have that sapphire before he left the island, and no one could stop him.

"Who are you?" Levi mumbled as he returned to gobbling down his food.

"The name's Hiro, and as I said, I know why they don't like spirits." He spoke surprisingly fluent Aquarian for a native of Sapphire Island.

Hiro started his explanation, and everyone listened intently. Everyone except Levi, who was too busy concentrating on his food, his eyes every now and then flickering towards the blue sapphire around the green-haired man's neck.

"A very long time ago, the island was visited by a traveling swordsman. His visit was not a pleasant one, for he came to the island to hunt and slaughter many innocent lives for sport. He was strong and unbeatable, and many fell to his wrath trying to stop him. That was until the guardian from the sapphire temple used the temple's magical crystal, which had the ability to control the spirit of one's sword. She turned the Swordsman's sword against him and slowly the spirit started to disobey him, fighting back against his orders until the Swordsman disowned his sword, which drove the spirit mad with anger. He killed his master by chopping off his head."

Penny flinched from the idea of someone having their head chopped off. What a gruesome story, she thought.

"However, the crystal's curse is still alive to this day, and whenever a swordsman steps foot on the island, the spirits of their swords always start to turn against them, slowly disobeying their master, causing mischief and mayhem until the spirit finally breaks their bonds with their master and kills them. Just like what happened to the Swordsman. So now everyone on this island hates spirits. They're a menace to the island."

"What was the name of the spirit the Swordsman owned?" Baden asked.

Everyone looked at him at once. The Dandy Pirate was gripping tightly onto the handle of his orange cane like his life depended on it. He seemed most intrigued by the story.

"Er... I don't know." The green haired man shrugged and stared at Baden in deep thought.

Baden could tell Hiro was lying. In fact, his whole story was a lie. But what could he possibly gain from telling such a lie to strangers?

The man was still staring at Baden when he caught his breath with a hollow gasp and in the blink of an eye, the man had disappeared, leaving a resonance of green smoke from where he stood. Everyone gawped in surprise at his dramatic exit, with Baden dragging a finger through the green dust Hiro had left behind from his departure, inspecting it thoroughly and instantly recognising what he was.

"What a funny guy. We should ask him to join our crew," Levi said with a chuckle.

"Hell no!" everyone chorused at once and smacked him behind the back of his head, a lump instantly appearing. The captain pouted.

"We don't know anything about him," Vulcan reasoned.

"And it's strange that he can appear and disappear whenever he likes." Oberon shivered. "Do you think he's a cursed soul?"

"Possibly." Tommy lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair as he puffed smoke up into the air, which helped to hide his scales, but earned him a smack on the back of his head from Penny for smoking again. He quickly flashed her a guilty smile.

"I think it's in our best interests to tie Blondie up until we leave the island. We don't want him getting possessed by a spirit and going on a killing spree. He's been possessed by Kurome once before. What's to stop it from happening again here?" Tommy inquired, but everyone shook their head. They couldn't tie Alex up for the rest of their visit.

"Speaking of which we should head back and warn Alex," Vulcan suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement with his idea.

Penny looked towards her Captain. "Levi, we should collect the rest of the supplies we ordered tomorrow then leave this island as soon as we can before Alex's spirits turn against him."

"But I want to search the island for adventure," Levi pouted. "I want to find the Sapphire Temple."

"Why do you want to visit the Sapphire Temple?" Baden inquired with interest.

Levi jumped up excitedly. "It's important I go there!"

"Penny is right, Levi." Tommy took another quick drag from his cigarette, earning another glare from Penny. "I have a bad feeling about this island, and that Hiro guy was too suspicious for my own liking. I know when something is amiss. I am a god, after all."

"Baby-god," Levi teased. "You're not an actual god yet... ahh!" The captain screamed when water started to swirl around him.

Penny rolled her eyes and shook her head at her boyfriend and his behaviour, quickly grabbing his packet of cigarettes while he wasn't looking and flagging down the waitress for the bill.

"Oh dear..." Mirella looked down at the amount. "7000 joules. We only have 1000 joules left in the treasury."

"Well then," Tommy stopped fighting with Levi and rolled out his neck. "You all know the protocol... 3... 2... 1... scat!"

The Levon Pirates all scrambled to their feet and sprinted out of the tavern with only a trail of dust in their wake, and the chairs they had been sitting on left toppled over. It all happened within the blink of the eye. The waitress didn't even know what had happened. One moment they were the there, the next they were gone.

The entire crew was laughing their heads off as they ran through the snowy streets of the port town, unaware that they were still being watched by Hiro, sat on the rooftops, a cunning smirk on his lips. The next couple of days were going to be fun...

Next Chapter: 04. Poisoned Kiss

☠ Poor Alex, nobody likes him, but who was the girl with turquoise-blue hair?

☠ What's the weird guy called Hiro got planned?

☠Why is Baden acting strange?

See you next Wednesday/Thursday depending where you live in the world.

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~ Robin Xxx