Seven Seas

Margaret Stone ran to the moonlit shore, her nightgown pulling sand along towards the waiting sailboat. Behind her, Aaron shouted angrily and breathed heavily, stomping in the soft sand. The captain pushed off gently as Margaret got close, not wishing to deal with the wrath of her new husband. She hopped in and they made for the sea, Aaron swimming for a couple of minutes before returning to land, looking on with sadness, not fury. The wind carried them quickly out of his sight in the dark, foggy morning.

“I’ll explain in the morning.” Margaret said, noticing the concern on captain Shan’s face.

“It’s not my business, ma’am. Seen much worse here.”

Margaret nodded gratefully at Shan and sat with her back against the ship’s rear, hands on her belly, falling asleep. They sailed on through jagged passes, trying to evade a coming storm.

“Ma’am.” Shan nudged his passenger awake. She looked up to see the open ocean, the ship rocking slowly with the sail down.

“Morning, captain.”

“Think we’ve got a problem.” Shan gestured to the liquid on the floor. “That ain’t seawater.”

“This can’t happen now.” Margaret began to panic, her breathing sped up considerably as she imagined the horrors of childbirth on the treacherous ocean.

“While I’d have agreed an hour ago, it appears that we are not the ones making that decision.”

“Curse that man.” the young mother said under her breath.

“Again, not my business… but… if we’re doing this here, it may well help to have a distraction. I’d welcome you to share, if you're so inclined.”

“I’m not sure.” Margaret hesitated, then felt the boat rock heavily coinciding with a painful contraction. “OKAY.” She yelped and started her story, clenching her teeth at times. “My parents wedded me to Aaron. I wasn’t upset. At first…”

“Keep going. I’ll do the same.” Shan instructed, stripping down to his underwear to use as blankets for the birth.

“We got along fine. Until he started obsessing over this ancient relic.”

Shan grew quiet, listening intently and remaining still. In this region of the world, there were few legends and fewer objects known to be lost to time.

“It was said to be back on Perris. That’s why we moved there. I’ve never made a bigger mistake.” She breathed quickly for a moment to steady herself. “We found it.” She grabbed her pocket. “Aaron moved to strike me last night and I realized Silas and I would never be safe with him. That’s when I found you. I had to leave. And Shan…” Margaret smiled. “...I took the relic.”

“Oh?” Shan was clearly acting strangely, though Margaret had her focus elsewhere. “And what’s so special about said relic?”

“Whoever wields this relic commands the ocean.”

“Indeed, ma’am.” Shan sighed, realizing what he had to do.

“Shan?” Margaret asked with terror in her eyes as he stood tall over her. She used the relic to raise the seas and water stood above the captain just before he struck her in the head with a plank of wood. That was her end. Moments later was Silas’ beginning. Shan retrieved the anchor shaped relic from Margaret’s pocket and fixed it to his captain’s hat.

The call of the ocean alerted more than the water itself. All manner of creatures lurking below, which man rarely saw, emerged from their depths to meet the new master of the seas. Shan stared down at his hat before putting it on. In that split-second, a scaled spike came from beside the ship and pierced through his chest, harpooning him. He was pulled over the edge into the vast unknown.

Baby Silas slid around on the floor of the sailboat alone, the hat on the floor beside him. He cried softly despite the chaos of the swarming sea creatures battling below and a storm beginning to rage above.

Reacting to the desperate aura of the lonesome newborn, the relic began to command the ocean. Water below flowed upwards against the bottom of the ship, forming a tower and a cradle. Seaspray transported phytoplankton and microorganisms to Silas, who survived only on them until he was old enough to lift the captain’s hat and rule the water below. By then, the stranger’s body aboard had decayed, eroded by the salt in the air as well. Silas began to steer the ship alone, the skeleton of his mother left alone as a haunting reminder of his mysterious past. The ocean’s cradle remained, allowing him to sail unperturbed by anything below.

Silas sailed the world as he grew older and more confident as a captain. Legends began spreading of a travelling sea-tower. Word reached the places Silas’ mother wished would never reunite with her son.

As Silas came upon a land-mass, he noticed a fleet below. The commander stepped forward and spoke loudly as the fleet faced the sea-tower and its captain.

“You have something of mine.”

“AHHH.” Silas responded, never knowing a single word.

“Lower your vessel.” the commander requested, gesturing to convey his message.

Silas brought down the sea-tower, coming to sea level for the first time in many years. The commander looked upon him, scraggly hair, weathered skin, wearing the clothes he was birthed upon.

“My son.”

“AHHH.” Silas grunted at the commander’s open arms, his ship a step away from Silas’ own. The kindness in his eyes and the open expression of love he held, ready to embrace his lost child was overwhelming. Silas lunged forward off his ship and into his father’s arms.

Commander Stone looked down at the hat on his son’s head and the relic upon it. His eyes widened and his hand reached back for his pistol.

“I’m so glad I found you.” Aaron said to the hat as he pointed the gun at his son’s head and pulled the trigger.

He released Silas from his arms and looked away as the limp body fell into the ocean. With the hat in hand, commander Stone informed his fleet that the mission was over. He surged water behind the ships and sped off, leaving behind his treacherous legacy for good. When they arrived at the harbor, Aaron began to draw up plans for conquering the ocean and the world at large. His captains gathered around in the ship’s hold, listening intently and envious of the quiet radiance of the hat in his hand.

While the men spoke of the future, they had not an inkling that it would never be realized. Crawling from the darkest depths of the ocean, new blood still rolling down his spine from the entry wound on the back of his skull. The bullet was stuck in the exit wound at the top of his head.

Under the ocean, saltwater filled the wound and he swam to the surface, following the ships all the way back to the harbor. He climbed the side of the commander’s ship and found his way to the entry of the hold.

As self-important men spoke plans into the ether, the door of the hold creaked open. Rain poured in the open air behind the blood-soaked mad child of the ocean. Everyone looked on in horror as if a ghost had risen to haunt them. Their weapons had been left on the deck, so they were reduced to defending themselves with their physical prowess alone.

Silas smiled as he hobbled forward, enjoying the reaction from the men in the room, who flinched each step he took.

“AAAAGH!” Silas shouted. He lunged at the nearest captain and jumped onto his chest as he backed up. Blood soaked the vertical beam the captain’s head collided with, causing the other men’s fear to raise. They began to flee the room, the only one remaining the commander. Silas stepped toward him and noticed an apparent lack of the terror that the other’s exhibited.

He grabbed his son by the throat when he was close enough. Silas tried to reach his father’s throat or eyes, but his arms were too short. He was losing air as Aaron squeezed, eyes crazed. Those same crazed eyes looked back at the commander and he eased up for a moment, seeing his son mirroring himself.

As his throat reopened, Silas smiled wide and vomited seawater into commander Stone’s eyes and mouth, causing him to release his hold. Silas reached down and grabbed the dropped fallen captain’s hat from the floor. He looked around at his victory without the ability to command the ocean and found strength within, for it was not the hat that gave him power, it was he who recognized his own beneath it. Aaron Stone recovered, wiping his eyes to see his son clearly. A moment of pride filled him as the hull of the ship was breached from behind, Silas commanding the ocean and inviting creatures of the deep to devour his father.

A ship emerged from the ocean below, colliding with the commander’s massive vessel, which had already begun to sink. Silas emerged atop it, raising himself in a sea-tower. The captains who fled looked up in horror.

The captain of the ocean, Silas Stone allowed one to live and tell the tale, beginning the legend of Seven Seas.