Chapter 2

" How in the hell did she find out that we docked in Aleko island?" I ask the two nitwits when I'm in the row boat. Romelles ship in the distance was already half way up, Pirates raining down and splashing in the water, shark fins insight.

" We made a bet." Vex said causally. His blonde hair blew over his face when the wind picked up, some of it hid in his brown tattered bandanna. His linen shirt poked out from underneath his ruby red waist coat and his woolen jacket went past his waist.

" A bet?" I raised an eyebrow and waited for them to continue.

" Yeah we wanted to see how long it took for you to escape Romelle, I bet 15 gold pieces that you would be out in 30 while shit face over here thought it would take an hour." Erik said, rowing the boat to my ship in the distance.

" So you sent out a message to Romelle to capture me to see how long it would take me to escape?" I asked, crossing my arms. They nodded. I stared at them , dumbfounded.

" So who won the bet?" I ask after a minute.

" Pay up short stake." Vex grinned, holding out his hand.

" What?! No! He was in there for like 40 minutes!" Erik shouted.

" Yeah it was closer to my time so hand the gold over." Vex said, crossing one arm.

" You dumbass it's not closer to your time, you can't even tell time!"

Their bickering went on for most of the boat ride till we finally made it to my ship. The Bloody Harpy. It was a beauty for sure. The woods color dark as ashes, the sails tanned and blood stained, and our Jolly Roger wasn't a skull but a Harpy.

I reached out for the rope latter and started climbing on, leaving the bone heads behind in their argument.

" Well looks like the Captain was able to escape." Came a voice when I reached the deck. I looked to see Calliope. Her dark purple hair down to her shoulders, her hat slightly crooked. In her hands she held onto my own hat.

" Guess I owe Vex some gold." She smiled, holding out my hat.

" You were in on it too? My own crew has little faith in me." I laugh and take my hat from her. My crew members shuffle past me, giving me small nods and resuming their work.

" you think that killed her?" Calliope gestured behind to Romelles almost sunken ship.

" Oh no, definitely not. Romelles not the type of person to give up so easily to some measly sharks and a sunken ship, nah she'll be back." I say, shrugging. If I know her well enough, I'd say in a couple weeks she'll have a new ship and already have a guess to where I am.

Calliope just shook her head.

" I gotta tell ya Finn, your choice in women suck." She gave me a smile before it turned in a disappointing frown, her gaze looking behind me. Erik and Vex had finally given up on their quarreling and had hauled themselves on to the deck.

" I actually can't believe I agreed to one of your bets." She said to them, her voice laced with annoyance.

" Yeah, for the first time I'm not the one who owes you gold." Vex said proudly. At that Erik exploded causing them both to get into another argument about who owes who. Calliope just rolled her bright eyes, her attention going back to me.

" Where to next captain?" She asked. I thought about it for a moment. At this point I've almost seen all of my home country's sea but haven't been out of it yet. I don't know why I'm still waiting to leave, once out I'm away from Romelle and I can leave my past behind me. But open sea to get to other countries is dangerous. Weather so bad it would sink us in a second, creatures from below so big it could sink a whole country. But it would still be nice to go out, to sail through those oceans, to see other lands. Why was I still waiting?

" Some where away from Romelle for awhile." I sigh after a moment. She nods and turns to the crew.

" Set sail for Conoca Bay captains orders!" She commands, everyone immediately went to work no questions asked. That's what made her such a good Quartermaster. She stood tall and strong and was able to get things organized better than me. She could be scary too at times.

" You two!" I turn to Erik and Vex, both stoping their conversation or whatever they were doing and stood still.

" Go get the row boat out of the water and meet me and Calliope in my quarters when your done." I order them.

" Yes Captain." They say before turning to the edge of the ship to retrieve the roe boat.

As Calliope and I walk to my quarters someone's calls out for me.

" C-Captain Finn!" A small quivering voice shouts. Foots steps run towards as I turn around to see Reeve, my youngest and probably one of my smartest crew members, holding a message falcon.

Reeves though was shy and not the best at fighting. He's great with a dagger but his swordsmanship wasn't the best. While daggers are only good for short range fighting, swords were better to use during combat but he couldn't. I've tried many times to reach him but it hadn't seemed to click for him.

His sandy colored shaggy hair fell in front of his bright brown eyes a lot and he always seemed to wear the same out fit every day. A tan or white undershirt with a mossy green waist coat. Leather trousers or breeches and leather brown boots.

" C-Captain Finn you've received a message." With his cheeks slightly flushed and he was panting, he held out the bird to me. I could see a note attached to its right leg.

" Alright bring it with." I gesture for him to follow and continued to walk to my quarters.

Once inside, he hands me the bird and I take off the note. I fall into my desk chair, spinning slightly around as I read.

" Finn Splently, Pirate Bandit of the sea. Queen Echo and I request your presence in the Kingdom Esmond for a meeting regarding a quest. We wish to see you in two weeks time please don't be later or we won't hesitate to send someone to get you. Your already in trouble with our laws so your best option is to come here. See you soon.

Yours truly

King Shi" I read out loud. The hell? Why am I being requested to see the King and Queen of Esmond? They're one of the richest royal families from my country and I'm already in deep shit with them. I can thank Romelle for that.

" Well Finn you kinda don't have a choice right now. You either go see what they want and hopefully not them tricking you into jail or we ignore them and have them send a army to hunt you down." Calliope said, crossing her arms.

" M-Maybe there will b-be gold involved as well." Came Reeves small voice from the corner of the room.

I stared out the small windows, looking out over the sea. It wasn't like we had anything better to do, all we've been doing was running from Romelle and other Kingdom rules. Even if it were just to get my ass in jail, I could still break out, I could break out of any prison.

" Calliope." I call, not taking my eyes off the blue sea.

" Yes?"

" Tell the crew to turn this ship around. We're heading to Esmond." I tell her.