Miguel Seminario

The sun scorched the metal floor, making it difficult to scrub the ship that we were still using. Even with us being surrounded by plenty of saylors who would be curious about it. The water swayed, splashing on the floor as I threw it from the bucket.

"Hey!" Bondi looked up from the ground he was on, eyes narrowed. "I am working right here."

I leaned against the railing. "You're the one who made it so we're stuck here, scrubbing each passing day. Who's bright idea was it to go into town, without knowing where Saul was?"

Bondi shoulders slumped as he went back to work. "I didn't expect him to be there. It was bad enough we ran into the Captain, who is also the one letting everyone know that we're not saylors!"

I looked towards the city. Pipes. More pipes. The daily whirlpool that looks like it was about to catch a boat. For the fours days we've been there, things continued to be the same.

Most of the crew, but one or two, would go into the city. Captain Velwyn would spend all his time there and from the words the others share when they got back, he was doing more gambling and forcing people to deal with him. Taking what wasn't his.

Saul came back to the ship with us and hadn't once left. Whenever Bondi tried to sneak off, the quartermaster would appear and scare him back underneath.

Each day, we would wake up and start cleaning. Didn't matter how late we tried to sleep in or how late it was. Until the middle of the night we would have to go around the very large ship and clean.

Clean it all. The whole thing.

If we didn't, so far Saul made us redo the whole thing the very next day. There was no skipping over a section. It was like we had joined some type of training ship and we were the only two that decided to sign up.

"There's no controlling the Captain," I finally said as I turned back to him. "Do you want to get more water or should I?"

"You do it. I'm already on my knees."

Swinging the empty bucket, I headed back into the ship, the heat stronger than it was outside. The metal made it like a steam room, with no escaping from it. It was cooler outside or with the frozen food.

It took me a few minutes to reach the kitchen. The tables were empty, and a pile of cleaned dishes were piled in boxes. There in the back I found the faucet that had been closest to us.

As I waited for the bucket to fill up, I stared at the ceiling. A question I heard circled around my head.

Did I regret being a pirate?

It was hard to say. Being a smuggler, who didn't go onto ships or onto ships that sailed, hadn't been too bad. Though it had cost me a few things and changed my life.

It was something that I had enjoyed. Something that let me be with George.

But being a pirate wasn't all that bad. Besides them trying to teach me to navigate every now and then. And when I had to cook for the crew and they threw fits when it wasn't done on time. And when we got attacked or ran into sea beasts.

Being with them, the air didn't change all that much. I wasn't always looking out to see if a fight would break out. I didn't have to worry that an official or saylor would decide they wanted to try and get on my business.

Turning the faucet off, I slowly made my way back up to the top. Both of my hands carried the bucket, the water splashing over the edge as it bounced against my knees. It was cool and felt nice, but I knew if I lost too much I would just have to remake the trip.

Returning to the top, I rubbed my forehead and stared at the sun. Nothing like cleaning on a hot day to really get thoughts working.

The hours passed as we moved from the open, to cleaning the floors and walls inside of the ship. Than the rooms that we took over.

Around the time the sun was setting, we took a break. Bondi decided to go see what there was left to eat, if anything, while I went to the top. The air wrapped and me as I looked out at the open waters.

Ships came and went. Slowly.

Wooden ships. This was the only warship that I had spotted. Though all the others avoided coming close to us.

Some sails were painted.

Blue. White. Gold.

Some had other designs on them. Flowers. Fish. Crowns.

The symbols and colors didn't let me know who the ship was as I didn't recognize any, expect a few. And those were only the fisher ships. Long hauls that moved slower than everything else in the water.

Bondi's voice appeared after some time passed.

"Here."

I turned, my hand rising in time to stop what he threw from hitting my head. Glass hit the ground, but it didn't shatter by some luck. The pain was sharp but faded as quickly as it came in my hand. 

I bent, my hand that hadn't blocked the item grabbing it. "Next time you throw something at me, I'm going to shove it down your threat."

He raised his hands. "It couldn't have hurt that bad. You didn't even flinch."

The coolness spread through my palm as I looked at him.

"I didn't have time to. You threw it before I could react."

"I threw it after I grabbed your attention."

"You said, here." I placed the bottle onto the ledge. "When did we get glass drinks?"

"When the Captain decided those on the ship needed to have fun too."

I stared at him. "The captain hasn't returned to the ship."

Bondi shrugged. "The note said it was from him." He took a drink, before pausing and looking at it. "I have this bad feeling. Like, someone is staring into my soul."

"You mean Saul." I nodded behind him. "You sure it came from Captain Velwyn?"

His look said he wasn't.

Shaking my head, I looked back out at the sea. The waves were slowly growing, but I could see any storm clouds in the distance. I knew if one of our navigators was there, they would be able to let us know if a storm was coming.

The silence dragged on between us. 

It didn't take long, minutes before the sun was gone from the horizon, that it happened. The boat appeared, rowing right for us. Filled with saylors, some of who had their backs to us.

Saul had been the one to bring our attention to them.

"So, what's the plan?" I looked at Saul.

"We should hide," Bondi said as he peered over the railing.

"Oh yes, lets hide. Not like they saw us or anything. What with you running around throwing things. Of course, they wouldn't think anything of that."

"No need to get crabby," he mumbled. "I'm just saying that it's a good plan."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"We don't know why they are coming," Saul said as he jumped into the conversation. "We just act like everything is normal. That the captain isn't on the ship and he doesn't want to be distrubed in town."

"But the Captain isn't on the ship," Bondi said.

"And if they demand to see him, even if we say he's not here? Or want proof of who we are?" I asked, ignoring the obvious.

Of course, Captain Velwyn wasn't there. It was a good thing the pirate wasn't or else he would get the rest of us busted. We didn't need that to happen.

"We play it out until we can't." 

We waited for them to arrive, Bondi throwing the ladder over the railing to give the saylors away up. Five of them boarded the ship, a surprise greeting us as he claimed over the railing. The blue mask he wore was once more over his face, covering the scars I knew lined his chin.

Miguel Seminario.

I looked at Saul, hoping that he would be showing something that told me what we were going to do. No such luck came as he stared ahead. He folded his arms over his chest, the look on his face warning anyone smart enough off.

Or anyone that wasn't Miguel Seminario.

Bondi didn't return to where I was standing. Instead, he stood behind the five saylors, mimicking how Saul was standing. His arms crossed over his chest, through he couldn't pull of the look that told someone to stay away.

"This is a beauty." Miguel words sounded out, his voice as rich as I last remembered it. Deep, with only the faintest of accents that told where his birth place was. He was older yet he continued to thrive it seemed in getting promotions.

Getting no reply the Commodore started forward. The other saylors looked around, different expressions on their faces. The air was heavy, but there was no danger coming off of them.

I didn't get a sense that we were in trouble. At least not yet.

"Is the Post Captain on the ship?"

"No."

Saul met Commodore Seminario walk, stopping steps in front of me. It could almost seem like a stare off between the two of them.

"A shame. I wanted to rile that kid up. Such a pain. Getting all the best toys." He turned, taking in the view of the metal and lines. "Do you happen to know how the ship is ran?"

Saul didn't waste a second in answering. "Energy. Pixie Dust."

I stared at Saul, hoping that he would expand if only for my benefit. I couldn't see how Pixie Dust could be used in the war ship and had never gone to the room where all the magic was happening to see what did make it work. I had always assumed it was electricity powered by the gemstones that caused sparks.

"So you do know!" Commodore Seminario clapped his hands together as he looked back at Saul, before his eyes met mine for a moment. "Can I see it?"

"No," Saul said as he took a step to the side, as if to block the door from Commodore Seminarios view.

"In due time." His attention returned to me. "Aren't you going to say hello to your Godfather, Rachel, dear."

I flinched at the fact he had indeed recognized me.

"What can I say, I rather avoid you."

"Child, I know you were raised to be more respectful. I see you're following in your parents footsteps."

I smirked as I rocked on my heels. "Oh yes, loving the saylor life, can't you tell?"

He nodded. "You haven't made it to captain yet. Do you need me to pull a few strings?"

"Captain? I would most likely become a pirate before that happens." I looked towards Saul to see that he had tensed but didn't look in my direction. "Did you come all the way here to see little ol' me?"

"I did."

If I could have seen behind the mask, I knew that he would have a smile on his face. He was up to something. I had known him long enough to know that.

Commodore Seminario might have been my Godfather, but he was above all else a tricky man who plans weren't up front. He could kill a Goblin behind your back, all the while making it seem like he didn't do it just to get the shark's skin. The truth wasn't always that clear of a picture with him, because it would have been for the skin but somehow, he would add some twist.

I've seen it happen often enough with my parents. I've seen him do it when I was thirteen and was able to stop a hanging from happening. He twisted the truth and made it seem more believable.

That was the last time I had seen him.

"Are you here to tell me your retiring and bedding down in some remote area?"

"Child." His tone turned scolding as he shook his head. "You should have more respect for us old people."

"You're the one who said it." I tilted my head and stared at him. "What is it you wanted, Commodore Seminario? Post Captain Kyd has me scrubbing the deck and if I don't have it spotless, the rank I do have will drop to nothing more than an Antbear."

"That would be a good job for you." I scowled at him, waiting for him to reveal why he had come to the ship. "You're having dinner with me in four days."

I raised an eyebrow, my eyes looking to the saylors that had moved to explore the ship. Bondi still stood to the back, though he was giving me a look that said everything that I was sure was going through Saul's head. I was in deep deep trouble.

Why could a sea beast appear then?

"What if we leave before then?"

"I already have that taken care off." He waved at the single saylor that stayed with him. She walked forward, giving him a piece of paper. "This here commands that he remains docked here until new orders are issued. After that little episode with Ivan de Veenboer, he wont be having much freedom."

"And you want us to pass that onto him?" Saul asked, stepping back into the conversation that he had let carry away.

I had a feeling that things were going to only be getting more dangerous for me. But questions had never been asked, and I couldn't help but let a few facts stay buried. If Captain Velwyn didn't want to know, then I didn't have to mention anything that could be important one day.

Commodore Seminario looked at him. "Yes." He held the paper out.

I watched as Saul took it and didn't take a glance. "I'll make sure that he gets it. Anything else for you Commodore Seminario?"

He shook his head. "No. I already delivered the news and paper. I'll see you in four days, Rachel."

He turned, with a wave of his hand directed at me. I watched, rocking on my heels. I tried to figure out what he wanted and the real reason for his appearance.

I thought about Post Captain Kyd and what he could have done to make him get restrictions. A shiver passed through me as it felt like once we were able to get away from this city, that it still wouldn't be the last I heard of him.