Chapter 7 – The Dangers of the Grand Archipelago

“ORIANA, WHO THE HELL IS THIS KID?!”

“I can explain!” Oriana shouted back, now collapsed on the deck, the burns on her sides screaming at her for running.

Alice looked to be in rough shape too,
“I am all ears…” She said through tired breaths, lying back on the deck and closing her eyes.

‘That fight really took it out of me…’ She thought, turning her head to look at Oriana.

“Okay so I was captured by this large guy… Mark something or another, and anyway I needed to get out, and this girl helped me, and I said I would let her come with me… but I didn’t actually think she would come?” Oriana practically vomited words, her speech coming out as one, barely coherent, string of speech.

Alice chuckled a little, but only as much as her aching lungs would allow.

“Well we’re stuck with her now… What’s your name, kid?” She asked, her head tilting in the girl’s direction.

Stella, who was now standing, looked between the two and grinned.
“I am Stella! Nice to meet you…?”

“Alice. And if you’re going to be sailing with me… phew my chest hurts… if you’re going to be sailing with me, then there are a few rules. You respect myself and any other crewmates, and pull your own… phew… pull your own when on board. That understood?” Alice spoke through wheezes, a hand going to her chest that ached with every breath. She needed a rest.

“Understood Captain!” Stella announced, with a salute.

“You can knock down the formalities… no salute needed…” Alice muttered with a pained chortle.

“Why did I not get given the rules when you kidnapped me?” Oriana asked, holding her side, which was screaming in pain.

“You made it quite clear you didn’t want to stay with me once we made land, if you recall. Is that still the case?” The pirate raised an eyebrow.

Oriana looked away for a moment, frowning to herself,
“Well… I don’t approve of stealing or hurting innocent people… but you did save my life. And you aren’t a bad person… so… I will happily call you Captain, if you will have me?”

Alice beamed through her exhaustion,
“Of course! Well then, Oriana, Stella, welcome to my crew!”

~

After an hour of sailing they reached the small island that Alice had been aiming for. They dropped anchor just off shore.

Alice let out a sigh of relief as she climbed into the shallow water and trudged onto the beach, Oriana and Stella at her tail.
The sun shone uninterrupted through the clear blue sky, letting the small collection of trees cast their shadows across the small island’s sandy beach.
Alice could not feel any movement on the island — a relief. Almost as soon as she reached the warm, undisturbed sand she crashed to the floor, snoring away.

Oriana and Stella looked to one another, and then at Alice.

“What are you doing, Alice?” Oriana asked, kneeling down and nudging her.

“Go away… tired…” Alice grumbled back, her eyes not opening.

Stella let out a giggle,
“She just fell asleep in the middle of no where… that is… amazing… how did she find this place anyway?”

“She can sense the earth. She is a relic user, apparently.”

“Like Markus? I never liked that guy, but oh boy were his powers cool…”

“I suppose you could say that…” Oriana muttered, running a hand along her shirt and wincing in pain as she grazed over the burns beneath.
“I am going to go for a bathe on the other side of the island… see if that will do these burns good.”

She began to wander off down the beach. Stella frowned,
“So… what should I do?”

“Hmmm… watch over Alice for me? And keep an eye out for other ships. If you see anything coming near to the island come and find me.” Oriana called back.

~

The salt water washed over Oriana’s bare skin, and soaked her now let down hair. Cuts and grazes she did not know she had flared up, making her wince and growl. Her burns were fiercely stinging now.

After the initial shock, she found her breath and let out a sigh, sinking into the water. The trees in the centre of the island swayed softly in the light breeze, which made Oriana smile.
She closed her eyes and relaxed to the sounds of the waves against the shore.


It must have been hours before she heard footsteps coming down the beech, and a smug voice ringing out over the beach,
“You having a good time there?”

“I thought you were asleep!” Oriana called out, sitting up suddenly in the water, her back to Alice, who snickered. Blood rushed to Oriana’s cheeks.

“I feel much better for a rest.” Alice exclaimed,
“Stella is feeling peckish, so I was going to get some food out. Do you want in?”

“Yes, that would be nice. I will be over there in a second.” Oriana stood, glancing sheepishly over her shoulder to Alice, who was staring.

“Maybe put some clothes on first, ey?” The pirate exclaimed with a smirk and a wink, before turning away and strolling away.

~

Oriana neared Alice and Stella, both of which were sat next to a campfire. Alice held out two kebabs, poorly constructed with chunks of meat. Stella held one of her own, which looked the opposite of safe to eat.
Oriana raised an eyebrow as she sat next to the fire, and was handed a kebab by Alice.

“This looks… appetising…” She murmured, blowing away the smoke that rose from it.
Alice had already tucked in, seemingly not bothered by the heat. She stripped the stick clean, before snatching away Stella’s as she attempted to eat it.

“Let this one cook for a little longer.” Alice remarked, before handing it back.

Stella frowned,
“You can’t give me cooking advice… you burnt both of yours”

Alice glanced to Oriana’s kebab and then licked the ash from her own lips, before shrugging,
“It adds character.”

She tapped the ground and a small pillar of stone rose from the sand and functioned as a backrest for her to lean against. A scowl crossed Alice’s face and she shuffled forwards, peering at the rough edge she had pressed into. She raised her hand and knocked away the rough stone, a crack spreading from where she had hit it. Alice then leant back up against her wall, a satisfied smile spreading across her lips.

Stella watched with wide eyes,
“How do you do that… you are a relic user!”

Alice grinned and nodded proudly.

“How does it… well… work? You’re not carrying a relic or anything, that I can see… unless its up-“

Oriana’s snort of amusement cut her off.

“Oh, relics aren’t physical things. You absorb them… it is said that human’s are the most recent in a long line of descendants of a god-like race called the Goliaths. And relics are supposedly the left over essence of a fallen Goliath. So when a human finds them, they are able to absorb their power and use it. With it comes control of an element, and a boost in your physical ability.
Though any human is able to reach the same physical abilities as a relic user through training and hard work. If I had known I would come to possess a relic, I probably wouldn’t have bothered working so hard to become the power house you see before you.” Alice finished with a laugh, flexing her chiselled biceps.

“It’s good to see that our captain is so humble…” Oriana muttered as she slowly picked at her kebab, braving the bitterness.

“So you absorbed the essence of a dead god…?” Stella asked, making a face.

“Exactly!”

“I don’t buy it… but are you saying that I could become as strong as you too?”

“With enough training, for sure. You might not be able to command the earth, but you can certainly get strong enough to pack a punch of your own.” Alice’s eyes twinkled as she spoke.

“Like Markus and his goons?”

The twinkling dwindled.
“Uh… something like that.”

Stella sat there with an ear-to-ear grin, practically vibrating with the excitement of that idea.

Oriana reminisced on Alice’s words,
“So even an Angelica could become that physically strong?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“It is odd… the idea that we descend from the Goliaths is not something that the elders every mentioned.”

“Back in your tribe, you mean?” Alice tilted her head.

“Yes… that… It makes me wonder why relic users are not hunted like we Angelica. If someone-“

“I will stop you there. Because we are. Hunted, I mean. Do you really not know anything about the Three Lords? You seem to know who Crow is, but you aren’t aware of who Raven and Magpie are?”

Stella and Oriana both shook their heads. Alice took in a deep breath.
“Very well then. Before we go anywhere else, you two ought to know the real dangers of what you are going to get yourself into.

No one knows where the Three Lords came from. One day they seemingly appeared out of no where and gained a constrictive hold over the Archipelago and its residents. Each now control a domain of the Grand Archipelago.

Crow resides in the bitter tundra and ice islands to the North. Being a Demonica himself, he is developing an army of those demon users. He hunts the Angelica and Demonica alike. The Angelica, and Demonica that do not join him, go missing.
Magpie controls the tropical islands in the central ‘band’ of the Archipelago. He is a known relic user, and it is largely believed that he is able to control the winds. He ‘recruits’ relic users into his service, and all who do not bend to his will are taken away.
Finally, Raven, who inhabits the desert islands to the Archipelago’s South, is a magician. If I remember correctly, he lives in the largest city in the Grand Archipelago… Esotarico… or something like that… Melissa only mentioned it a few times…”

Oriana raised an eyebrow,
“Who is Meli-“

“No interrupting! Raven’s followers spread far and wide capturing any rogue magicians who do not conform to his set practices in magic. So, as you can see, no one who has notable strength is safe on the Grand Archipelago unless you are with the Lords. All who go against them are branded as pirates, criminals, rebels. So, if you two are still willing to follow me, that is the enemy that will be on our us at every twist and turn.”

Oriana and Stella stared at Alice with looks of unease.

“I thought Demons and their users only to be a myth… yet another thing I was never taught about… and these Lords, control the entirety of the Archipelago? Why do people not just… leave?” Oriana’s eyes trembled. This situation was not at all what she had imagined when she set out on her own.

“The area surrounding the Archipelago is dangerous. Even the strongest people are at constant risk of being eaten or killed by the creatures out there. The Archipelago is safe from that… or at least it was, before them…” Alice trailed off, before perking up and grinning her signature grin,
“My goals are simple, make a name for myself, and free the Archipelago from these tyrants. So, are you two still with me?”

Oriana and Stella looked at each other, and then back to Alice. They spoke in unison,

“Yes!”

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