Chapter 28: 4 Ways To Escape Captivity
*If this chapter displeases you, don't drop it, please. There's another chapter that was released at the same time as this one, that will rectify certain 'displeasing' moments.*
[ 3/12/1482 - Next Morning ]
[ Word Count 2337 ]
" Hello" - Speech
' Hello' - Thoughts
* Boom* - Sound
<<<<<<>>>>>>
(Marco's POV)
It was a beautiful day out on the seas. There were no clouds to be seen, no annoying sudden weather changes, and no Marines in the vicinity. Making this the perfect day for my escape.
' Now how does one escape captivity? Should I just jump overboard? No that won't work, I'd just drown. Wait, I got it!'
To make sure my plan would come to fruition, I checked around the ship and saw that Bullet was lounging around on a chair, and Achilles was by the steering wheel casually turning it when need be.
They were both distracted, so this was the perfect chance for me to make my escape, and what an escape it would be; it'd be so good that it would leave them both in awe.
I readied myself as I walked to the middle of the ship. I took in a deep breath and shouted loud enough for the entire world to hear.
" Help! Help me! They've taken me against my will!!" I shouted out to the large sea, waiting for something to happen.
A beat. Then another. And another.
"..."
"..."
And simultaneously Bullet and Achilles broke into laughter at my misfortune.
" Hahahahahahah!" Achilles fell to the ground and started rolling around, dying from laughter.
" Kahahahahahah!" Bullet bellowed out like the bastard he was.
" I- I can't. Help, I'm gonna die. Hahahahahh!" As soon as Achilles managed to calm down and was able to stand up, he fell down once again and started laughing.
" He tried to shout out for help when no one was in our vicinity!" Achilles once again managed to poke fun at me.
" Stop laughing at me, you damn bastards!" I snapped due to my rage at my failed attempt at escaping, and at the fact, that I was being laughed at like a fool by these two.
" No, no way. That was too funny. I can't man, I'm going to die."
" Indeed, that provided a much-needed laugh. Thanks for that Marco." Bullet chuckled.
" I'm not your damn stress-reliever!" I yelled in annoyance.
" Not with that attitude you're not." Achilles added his two cents.
" Shut up no one asked you anyways."
" Hah, well you have much to learn, my young apprentice. But you should stay away from the art of escaping, with the show you put up today I doubt you have much talent in that." Achilles once again mocked me. The gall of that man!
" Just you wait, I'll make you rue the day you made fun of me!"
" Heh. Well since you just decided to pull mutiny on this crew, you'll have to scrub the decks for a week straight."
" What! No, you can't do that to me. You know I didn't mean anything I said, it was just a joke."
" Nah. Now get to it, chop-chop."
I glared at my 'Captain' with the most amount of venom I could muster at the time.
" Two more weeks for that glare."
"..."
" Well, I'll be in my quarters if you need me. By the way, I'll also be assessing how good of a job you did. So be thorough."
" Stupid green-haired captain," I muttered as I kicked a pebble that was in front of me.
[ The Next Morning ]
The new day had just begun, Achilles and Bullet were still asleep; so now was the best time to escape this crew and my unfair punishment of cleaning the deck.
I walked to the edge of the ship, and I braced myself. I then ran to the very edge and jumped, as I did I quickly transformed into my phoenix form and took off flying.
After about 3 minutes of flying, I realized something that proved to be disastrous. This realization was that I was running out of stamina, I was hungry and I was out on the open sea. That meant I had no way of landing for any reason.
After around another 15 minutes all my strength had left me and I started plummeting into the ocean.
" I'm too young to die!" I shouted as I made a harsh impact on the cold water.
As I continued clawing at the water in a desperate attempt to survive I was suddenly taken out of the water, and was flying in the air; I wasn't in my phoenix form so I knew it wasn't me, and I felt a pair of arms grabbing my sides. As I turned my head to see who saved me, I was greeted by a mop of greenish-blonde hair, and a glare filled with annoyance.
" H-hey Captain n-nice seeing you here."
He didn't reply to me, but instead stopped flying - however, he was doing that - and let us plummet down to the ship. As we were about to make contact, he shot one of his legs out which broke our fall, effectively engaging the impact.
" How the hell did you get into such a situation?!" He yelled at me as he put me down.
" I, I don't know?" I responded.
" Not only did you get me wet due to the fact I had to jump in the water myself, but it also could've killed you if I wasn't there!"
" Uh, my bad?"
" At least try and sound genuine!"
" You know what, I'm not dealing with this, it's too early for this bullshit. Marco, you're not cleaning the deck anymore."
I was shocked but elated, but just before I could celebrate Achilles spoke once more.
" You're cleaning the entire ship. Meaning the toilets, the deck, and anything else that can be cleaned. Bullet watch over the brat so he doesn't try some other stupid way of escaping. I'm going to change and cook something for us to eat."
Bullet only nodded in response to what Achilles said.
[The Next Day]
It was a beautiful afternoon and I was just flying around the ship in my phoenix form to increase the amount of time I could stay in this form for. As I was doing that, something in the distance caught my eye. I had enhanced sight in this form, so I could see far beyond what any normal human was capable of. Due to this I was able to tell the thing in the distance was a ship, and it wasn't even a pirate ship. This was it!
' I finally have a real chance to escape this place,' I thought to myself as I perched upon the highest point on the ship and waited two minutes. I did this to regain some stamina, and so the ship would be closer, which would make the trip easier and shorter.
After the two minutes passed I immediately jumped off, became a phoenix, and took flight. I rushed towards the ship and after about 4 minutes of flying, I made it there. I smoothly landed on the ship mentally congratulating myself for my incredible escape.
" Who the hell are you?!" A man suddenly stepped forward and shouted.
" Eh, it doesn't matter. All that does matter is that he's an invader on the ship of the great Bounty Hunter Rowen. So let's kill him, and whoever the hell is on the ship that was chasing the kid."
As he said the last sentence I looked back and saw that the voyager was indeed coming here.
" Well shit," I spoke exactly what I thought of this situation.
Suddenly around 5 to 7 bounty hunters jumped at me, and I immediately transformed into my phoenix form and took flight into the air to avoid the furious attacks of the bounty hunters.
" Get back here you little brat!" Achilles yelled out from the voyager.
" I would if I could! But I kinda have an entire ship of people trying to kill me right now, you shitty captain!" I shouted back in annoyance.
" Quit your squabbling, and stop flying and come down here, and let me kill you, you little shit!" The leader of the bounty hunters yelled.
" Nah I think I'm good."
As I said that there was a sudden gust of wind and lo and behold Achilles stood in the center of the ship looking incredibly pissed off. I wonder if that's because of me.
He took a deep breath before he spoke.
" You know these past couple of days have really annoyed me; I have to thank you Bounty Hunters for giving me a chance to take out all of my anger on some human punching bags."
" Who the hell do you think you are, to mess with me, the great Rowen!" The leader of the bounty hunters yelled.
" Wait, Captain! Th-that man is Achilles, the upstart pirate who killed Eldroggo!"
As the Rowen's lackey shouted he suddenly paled for some reason.
" Wait, forgive me! I didn't know who you were, I'm so sorry, just let me live please!" Rowen shouted to Achilles as he kowtowed to Achilles and started sobbing.
" Why the hell are you bowing to the shitty captain?" I asked in genuine confusion at what would cause such action.
" You don't know? He killed the strongest and most feared bounty hunter in the entire North blue!"
" Oh," I responded in shock.
*Sigh* Achilles sighed.
" Fine. Just let me take this brat away, and you can leave this place scot-free."
" Thank you! All hail the great Pirate Lord Achilles!"
As Rowen shouted that, and his crew chorused, Achilles made a face of distaste.
" Let's go you stupid brat." Achilles said as he jumped up to me, grabbed me by my collar, and started walking on air back to the ship.
In around 3 minutes we made it back to the ship.
" Bullet, take care of the kid, I need some rest, and I need it bad." As Achilles said that he was already halfway into his cabin.
" So, uh, what's good?" I tried to start a conversation with Bullet, and the man just stared at me in response. I shut up after that.
[ Evening ]
As we all sat at the dinner table getting ready to eat, everyone was quiet, too quiet.
" Why?" Achilles broke the silence as he addressed me.
" Why what?"
" You know what I'm talking about."
" I'm afraid I don't."
" Why are you trying to leave so desperately?!" Achilles finally spoke of the situation.
" Because I want my freedom," I spoke in an even tone, feeling rage building up at his lack of understanding.
" You're on the open seas, how much more free can you be?"
" I can be on land, eating a nice warm meal."
" I freed you from captivity! You're on open seas without anything chaining you down!" As Achilles said that I felt my rage reach a boiling point.
" Am I?! How the hell is there nothing chaining me down when you took me against my will and forced me onto your ship?!"
" You agreed to join the crew! I freed you and brought you to a better place!"
" I only joined because I had no other choice. Besides, I'd rather be in my cell than be here with you!" As I said that, I immediately regretted it. Whilst it was true that I did not want to be here, Achilles had been kind to me since I 'joined' his crew, well as kind as a captor can be.
" Then leave."
" What?"
" We're currently approaching an island, we're about 30 minutes away. When we get there Bullet and I can stock up on our supplies, and you can get off the ship." As Achilles said that he got up and left.
Suddenly my food didn't seem so appealing anymore.
<<<<<<>>>>>>
(Achilles' POV)
As I sat in my cabin I reflected on the events that just transpired. Whilst I was incredibly saddened by the fact that Marco was going to leave my crew, I was also angry at myself. I was angry because I realized two major things.
One was the fact that I was actually being incredibly insensitive to Marco's feelings. He had been a slave, and when I saved him I felt that he owed me something and that he had to join my crew. In a way, I was no better than those who captured him.
The second thing I thought was the fact that I expected and thought everyone I would ask to join my crew, would join no matter what. This thought was further enhanced when Bullet joined my crew without any real resistance.
[A/N: When I say no real resistance I mean when Achilles officially set out and asked Bullet to join him, not the encounter prior to that.]
But now there was Marco. I was so hyped to have someone who in the future would be an absolute powerhouse, I forgot about what had transpired before he agreed to 'join' me.
I had been living thinking piracy was some sort of game, and getting crew members would be like catching pokemon. In actuality it's the furthest thing from that, these are people with complex emotions that dictate their actions.
Furthermore, Marco was only 8 at the end of the day. No matter how smart he seemed for his age, he was still a young kid controlled by impulse. I didn't even account for any of these things.
So no matter how saddening it is that Marco will be leaving my crew, I'll take it as the learning opportunity it is. I vow that I'll never make the same mistake with any other recruit as I did with Marco.
<<<<<<>>>>>>
And that's the end of the chapter folks
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