{Author note: Hello, I'm Fraudnotes, the author. I would first, like to express my gratitude towards you, whomever made the bold decision of giving my story a chance. I am a new writer, very, very, very inexperienced, so you may see some mistakes towards my writing, grammar, or choice of words; I'm never one to be afraid to take criticism or be corrected, I love learning, whether it be new words for my vocabulary, lessons towards my format or writing styles, or other things. I am very excited to show my creation to you all, I hope you guys enjoy it! if not, I'm sorry for wasting your time. enjoy!}
Chapter 1: Peter Quill
THERE'S a quote in the ancient texts found among the sands in the ruins of Nahda that states, "Life's riches does not appear in the form of gold or material wealth; true wealth takes the form of the people that you cherish, spend time, and create memories with." He must've been a philosopher who lived quite a splendid life with the ones he held deeply in his heart. So I decided to live by those words…
As I came to—pulled from the comfort of my own thoughts, I found myself strolling around the city, overseeing sights that had become ordinary for myself. As I walked, many people around me had called out to me; A man who looked to be dressed in decent clothing waved and greeted. "Hey Peter!"
Another came from an elderly woman who wore clothes that signified nobility. "Peter, I want to thank you for helping my grandson the other day, that darn boy starting fights, I'm afraid of what'll become of his future!" She said while letting out a sigh.
"Don't worry Lady Pitrous, I'll always keep an eye out for your grandson." I replied.
"Thank you, I just wish he'd be more reliable like you Peter." Her eyes were suddenly laced with worry as she pointed her gaze towards my right hand. "Oh my, Peter are you okay?" she questioned as she held up my hand, revealing the burn marks that had stained the area from the base of my thumb up to the base of my index finger, including small parts of my backhand.
"No need to worry Lady Pitrous, I had an accident earlier when cooking breakfast for my brother." I reassured.
"This won't do," she argued. With her left hand, she lifted my burn-stained hand, and placed her right hand above mine. Closing her eyes, she had whispered a short phrase to herself, then, small flickering lights in shades of jade had appeared below her palm. After a couple of seconds, she had raised her hand, displaying my altered hand, now showing no signs of any burn marks. This hadn't surprised me at all, because she had used a well-known and popular practice that the people of our land have considered a blessing.
MAGIC.
This practice had been discovered in 20BFA (Before Franz's Ascencion) by King 'Franciz Julius Immortal' himself. King Franz had discovered a way to evolve the human body further by completing a ritual usually practiced at the age of 16, to inherit the ability to Influence mana and produce and wield magic. While the gift of magic is useful to many, not all gain the ability to practice and control mana. Using the statistic King Franz had researched and calculated, dating back to 5BFA, he had realized that only 1 out of 50 humans can gain the ability to influence mana. This meant that the number of mages, people who practice the art of magic, were limited. You were either gifted the art or rejected by it. Unfortunately, I was a part of the latter. I had no talent for magic, which was a pity, since mages tend to make a lot of gold through their expeditions. Still, I should consider myself lucky, If I could wield magic, I'd have been sent 'out there'.
"Though unnecessary, thank you Lady Pitrous."
"You're welcome Peter, and you should be more careful, especially since you can't see clearly."
"Yes Lady Pitrous." I assured.
After we parted, I continued walking towards my destination; replying to anyone who greeted me with a wave and a smile. I even noticed some young ladies giving me glances. Some of them—well—most of them, when responding, they squeal and turn to their friends. I let out a soft chuckle. I'm no stranger to my own appearance, even though I can't see my own self clearly, my friends explain how attractive I may seem to the opposite gender. I stood a bit taller than most of my peers, my long locks of pale light blonde hair paired with my feminine facial structure that could easily be mistaken for a woman's—if not for my physique. I was androgynous and it seemed as though that was their type.
"So, instead of arriving early—or even AT LEAST remotely on time, you're out here hitting on random ladies?" a familiar voice had called out and chided me at the same time. I turned my attention to the voice, a man standing at a height closely leveling mine, curly and short black hair that looked well-kept, and packing quite the large stomach that's covered with the long-sleeved blue shirt and bib overalls he had been wearing. "don't even think about making excuses, we all saw you smiling, waving, and even chuckling"
Heavy guilt sat on my shoulders and throat making it hard for me to find the right words to ease the anger of the familiar faces in front of me; their gazes piercing my very soul like predators eyeing their prey. "I—u—uh…"
To his right, a tanned man shorter than me who wore a gray tank top and a sleeveless and hoodless jacket, with spiky hair that flowed upwards that seemed to be applied with gel, mocked me by repeating my sudden stuttering. "what's you're excuse this time?" Both of them kept nagging me for my shortcomings, but it felt as though it was mostly motivated by envy towards me getting more attention from young ladies by the day.
Suddenly a man about the same height as Munich, with short straight with hints of wavy black hair, and wore square shaped glasses, a maroon long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves casually rolled up to his forearms, came in to save me. "Alright, alright, Munich, kid, settle down, we all know the three of us will never get the same attention that peter does, so stop projecting your pent-up anger towards him." He said bluntly. "Thank you, Alex" I expressed.
Both of them had quit their nagging and softened at upon his words. The three of them were my friends, people I'm close with, and people I wouldn't trade with anything in the world. My tall four-eyed friend turned his attention to me and said "well, now that you're here, we can go to work now." He turned, facing the direction of our workplace, "boss and the others have probably been waiting for us his whole time." He closed his eyes looking down with hints of fear lingering around him as if it had become his aura. The three of us behind him looked at each other, I gave an awkward smile at the two who gave me gazes that seemed to blame me for my lack of punctuality. After straightening ourselves we went ahead and started walking towards our destination.
______________________________________
"Peter…. I have to go…. take… care of your…" said a blurred face of a man. My father, whose face I can't seem to recollect. As much as I'd like to remember his face, I couldn't even recall his sorrowful words that I had promised to fulfill.
"-e? -te! Peter!" I was suddenly pulled out of my thoughts by my chubby friend Munich. "Is everything alright?" he said. "you're not dozing off again, are you?" he followed.
Startled of his sudden worry, I let out a sigh. "It's… not that, I—just recalled something Important." I shrugged.
Upon hearing my response, his face worsened and I realized that he must've misunderstood. "If you're talking about Cleo then-."
"No Munich, It's not that…" I immediately cut him off. It was quite a soft topic for me.
Surprised, he looked forward, straightening himself and fixing his throat. "My bad Pete, I thought it was about…" he said.
"It's fine."
"Though, we all still do wish Cleo comes back punching and kicking again" he added. "Thanks." I finished.
After a bit of walking, my companions and I reached our destination, it was a port. To be exact, the city's eastern port, 'The greatest port of continent Laurasia'. swaying your head left and right you could see many memorable ships of all shapes and size. Watch as each ship's crewmen maintain their large vessels with maximum efficiency, their captains who give orders and review each of their crewmen's work. "Oh, they're over there." Alex pointed over to a group of men near a 'Barque' wooden ship. The ship looked to be 190 feet (58 meters) long with three masts. When nearing the ship Alex called out to them. "Boss! We're here." One of the men—a white man dawning black clothes with stripes of purple, black hair that leaked below the black dixie hat on his head, and was just a few inches shorter than me but with a physique much larger than mine, had turned his attention to us. Eyes widened, he said "YOU KIDS AR' FUCKIN LATE!" his crewmen behind him could only stifle their laughter.
Alex could only throw a nervous smile, while the other two pointed at me as if saying that I was their answer to a question that was never asked. [fake.] I thought.
______________________________________
Upon finishing maintenance, we boarded the ship. After stepping on the deck Alex approached the ship's captain with his left hand behind his neck. "Thanks again for letting us sail with you Captain Argous" Alex mentioned.
"There ain't no need for you to be grateful to this old man given the number of fish my men and I receive from you younglings, I still wish that you and your group could arrive earlier, or maybe next time I'll leave ya'll behind" he replied.
My friend gave the proud captain a slight nod while smiling awkwardly, then went towards us. "Good thing the captain is as kind as ever." He said with a sigh. "Thanks Alex" I replied. The crewmen started prepping to sail off, three men started raising the anchor using a wheel to pull it up, some started fixing the triangular sails of the fore, main, and mizzenmasts, while the little people left had gone to double check the equipment. Captain Argous was standing proudly near the helmsman responsible for steering the ship, near them was a tall light-skinned woman who had beautiful streaks of long red curly hair flowing across her shoulders, dawning a white uniform with brown boots and a coffee-colored tricorn on her head. She was lady Marianne, Captain Argous' first mate and… his lover—specifically his wife. She was a very capable woman who had sailed the seas with her husband for many years, learning how to voyage the seas, fight using her sword attached on her waist belt, and… she was also a mage.
[Quite the outstanding woman] I remarked.
I noticed that the triangular sails had been hoisted and were straining with the wind. Suddenly Captain Argous declared. "Onwards men!" Thus, the ship had sailed.
My friends had been chatting amongst themselves while I was sightseeing, so I rested both my arms on the boat's railings and continued casting my gaze upon the seemingly endless blue sea. Many seagulls flock among the sky, countless ships of all shapes and sizes come and go, the heavy wind playing with my streaks of pale angelic blonde hair and the white dress shirt I had been wearing. It truly is peaceful.
"Quite the beauty eh?" a familiar voice questioned from behind me. I turned around and had seen Captain Argous with cigar between his index and middle finger. "I know that we get to see these sceneries almost everyday… but they sure still give me peace just by lookin at em" he took a step beside me, joined me in resting his left arm and right elbow on the boat's railing. He took a breath at the cigar and blew it out. "y'know, I've never really told you this, but I pity you kids…" he said. "At your ages, you lot should'a been at school by now, learning all sorts of bullshit like, etiquette, proper communication skills, law, science, math…" he followed. "Yet, you and your gang are here, in a ship headed straight to dangerous places" he finished.
His words carried much emotion, it moved me. It reminded me that, again, I was 17, at my age, I should've been at least a 2rd year at a university, but life has its hardships. "Don't worry too much about us, Captain Argous" I replied. "This may not be the life we deserve, but were damn hell having fun" I followed. The captain had chuckled at my response.
"Looks like I was worried for nothin" he said. "Get your IDs ready, we're close" he mentioned to me and my friends before heading back to the quarterdeck.
"Don't worry guys I have it all here" Alex stated as he pulled out four papers. Getting a closer look, the papers contents were information about us. Our full government name, age, address, hair and eye color, family members, hell—even our foot size is written. "When did you even have the time to have this all made?" I asked.
"About a week ago when I made you guys fill out some papers."
"Is that why you were so eager on us being serious on answering those questions?" Kid asked. Alex simply nodded.
Arms crossed Munich told me, "As reliable as ever." We chuckled. Kid looked a bit puzzled and decided to speak his mind. "We've been going out and beyond the grand reef without any papers, why'd they start asking for IDs now?"
"Kid, while we may not witness it, we're still at war with the 'Fishmals'" Munich explained.
FISHMALS
are a different species from us humans. While we humans live and dominate the land, the Fishmal species are the sovereigns that govern the water. They had made the deep ocean their domain and stay on top of the aquatic food chain. Apparently, at some point in the past, their leader, a specific race of Fishmal had an out with the king of the Eastern domain's Merryworn city. This had led to an Epochal war that had lasted for generations, and probably more generations to come. At least that's what I heard according to a few stories that come through. I haven't garnered much information about the history due to my lack of education.
"Something must've happened for them to have raised the security" Munich added.
"Yes, something did happen." Alex responded. "A week ago, a Fishmal spy had secretly breached the city, it was able to achieve this due to it being a part of the 'Seepcast' race." The 'Seepcast race' was one of the many races of the Fishmal species, this race was particularly special due to their form being almost non distinguishable to us humans. Being able to breath on water and land their only flaw at being able to disguise themselves among humans was the scales on their skins. The scales would be laced with beautiful shades of light colors, making it hard to conceal with no cloth. "Apparently through hiding in a battleship while wrapping itself with human clothes that cover his scales, it gave himself a name and an identity and began living a life at Merryworn city. not much information was given about what he had done, how much damage he had caused, or how long he'd stayed. Just that, after moments of the private execution, they had ordered the border at grand reef to 'inspect every ship thoroughly and to compel all ships to submit documents containing information about every member currently aboard'. "I guess we're lucky it was a Seepcast and not a 'Creetus'" Munich mentioned.
"Us? Meeting a member of the Creetus race? I'd consider myself pretty damn lucky if we'd even catch a short scene of the apex race of all the Fishmals." I stated.
"Pete's right, there's absolutely no way we'd ever come across a member of that race" Alex reaffirmed. As we continued discussing things about the different races, we noticed that the ship had halted and we had reached the border. Two large gray brick towers connected by an arch and built just above the sea. Its massive structure was supported by many connected large piles of wood planted on the sea floor that were strengthened by magic, with a large floor of wood for the base of the tower to be built on. Our ship was blocked by a visible wall of magical aura that stretched from both the towers, from the bottom of the arch to the seafloor. Our ship's Captain Argous had raised his voice to make an announcement. "Alright men! The Grand reef border's officials will now be boarding our ships." As soon as he finished, two men wrapped with the same uniform as Lady Marianne did, had stepped onto the deck from the sky. [Wind magic] I remarked.
"Good day gentlemen, we will now proceed with the inspection of this ship" One of the men dressed in white declared as he gave a light nod at his partner. Then his partner suddenly started Examining the ship starting with the equipment, the deck, even the cabins. While the man was conducting his inspection his partner had declared another statement. "I will now be examining your ID documents, please hand over your papers."
Upon his statement, Captain Argous had given the papers containing information of him and his crewmen. Alex had done the same and handed the documents to the official.
"Once I call your name, please step forward for inspection." The man continued. He had started voicing out different names of the people onboard. "Lady Marianne Vain, Vice-captain, 24, July 26th, Logos: Fire, Merryworn city, Navy, Married, 2 children, Relatives: Few. Correct?"
"Yes, the information is correct"
"Sir Argous fin Vain, Captain, 26, June 5th, None, Merryworn city, Navy, Married, 2 children, Relatives: Few. Correct?
"Aye."
"Step up, Sojourners," he said. Me and my friends took a step closer to the man. "Munich Busch, 17, April 14th, Logos: Land, Merryworn city, Fisherman, Single, Relatives: Few. Correct?"
"Yes sir"
"Jeremy Ann Kid, 17, June 3rd, None, Merryworn city, Fisherman, Single, Relatives: Few. Correct?"
"Yes sir!"
"Alexsonovinch Baran Mazanov, 18, March 2nd, Logos: Wind, Merryworn city, Fisherman, Single, Relatives: 2. Correct?"
"Yes sir"
"Finally," The man straightened his back. "Peter Christoph Quill, 17, July 4th, None, Merryworn city, Fisherman, Single, Relatives: 1. Correct?"
"Yes" I answered. And with that, our identities and business have been confirmed and the Navy official handed back the documents. After a few moments the official who was tasked with examining the ship for any suspicious variable had finished and regrouped with his partner. Both staring at each other, they clenched their hands and nodded. "We've completed our inspection and have deemed that your ship does not possess any suspicious objects or personnel onboard. You may continue your venture forward, best of wishes to everyone." With that, they floated back to their stations. The Captain and Lady Marianne headed back to the upper deck with the helmsman and after a couple of seconds, the wall that was made up of magical aura had started to slowly dissipate from bottom to halfway to the top, and our ship had continued pushing onwards. Beyond the reef.
______________________________________
After minutes of sailing past the border of the Grand reef, we've reached our group's destination. "Well, I guess it's time to part for now." Alex mentioned. "Don't forget to pick us up old man." He added.
"Yes, yes, now be on your way or y'all won't catch any fish" Captain Argous responded. I chuckled with Alex beside them. We approached our friends with some crewmen helping them set up two smaller boats attached on the left side of the ship, the ones we'd use to catch fish. "Everything's ready Alex, Peter." Munich exclaimed. With the boats and our equipment prepared, we boarded the rowboats with two persons on each boat. The crewmen started to slowly bring us down closer to water using a wheel to control the ropes attached on the rowboats. As soon as our boats touched the water we untied the ropes and had said our goodbyes to the crewmen. We waved our hands and smiled as the Barque ship we had previously boarded had sailed away to meet their agenda.
"Alright, Let's get a move on everyone." Alex declared. On one boat was me and Munich, we we're in charge of catching fishes with fishing rods. The other boat had Alex and Kid, they we're in charge of catching fishes with fishing nets, we weren't full of cash so we couldn't really buy much equipment. We had to use what little we had to catch many fish to sell to the market and use as payment to the Barque ship and Its people onboard as our travel fee. Thanks to the war with fishmals, the prices of many things had risen, that includes fish, it also means that the Navy need rations to keep them energized for the war. This was how me and my poor friends had survived. Right now, we were beyond the Grand reef, a normal fisherman can just catch fish near the border and not beyond it, but we needed to catch twice—no, thrice as much fish as the average fisherman; So that we'll have enough to sell, enough to give as a travel fee, and enough for our dinner. So, we decided to go fishing beyond the Grand reef, where there was an abundance of fishes. We readied our fishing rods by applying our baits onto the hook, while Alex and Kid started throwing fish bait onto the water. After all preparations Munich and I threw our hooks onto the water, letting it sink deep, while Alex and Kid threw a big fishing net, with two lines attached from the net to each one of their arms, onto where they had previously thrown their fish bait. And so, we started the long and arduous task of fishing.
______________________________________
"58! Haha!" Munich expressed as he pulled out yet another decently sized fish straight out of the water. With his bare hand, he held the fish and placed it inside his 7th bucket full of fish. Curious, he took a peek at my buckets to see if I had any better luck than him. Unfortunately, I didn't. I had only filled 1 bucket, catching a measly: 11 fish. "Yikes, age catching up Peter?" He joked.
"Shut up," I responded with a chuckle. "I guess I've lost touch."
"Well, you better get serious, you're the only one who hasn't gone over 50" Alex advised. He and Kid have caught a whopping number of 103 fishes.
[Well, they are using a big fishing net rather than a normal fishing rod] I remarked. We had been catching fish for many hours, it was 3:49 Pm. The sun had started going down we have started to run out of fish bait, except for me who has barely caught any fish, of course.
"Hey! Over there!" Munich exclaimed while pointing his finger towards what seemed to be a battleship, our travel ship!
"*whew* I'm tired" Alex voiced out. We waited patiently for the ship to close the distance to us. The crewmen, upon getting closer, waved at us; and we greeted them by doing the same. They dropped ladder for us to climb on, when suddenly, Alex said. "Guys, let me and Peter go first, I want to discuss something with The Captain. You guys handle tying the ropes on the rowboat."
We all just agreed to it, Alex and I went ahead on the deck. As we step foot, Captain Argous had approached us. "Well, you lot ready to head back?" he asked.
"Yes, Captain Argous, but there is a slight problem that's bothering me" Alex mentioned. "What'is it?" Captain Argous asked.
"Our quota is supposed to go over 200kg of fishes; We're still missing 39kg worth of fish." Alex explained. "Some of us are having really bad financial issues, so we have to sell a lot." He added.
"No can do kid, our deal was we'd bring y'all home by 5." He argued. Dissatisfied with his answer, I decided to step up and push my luck. "Captain Argous, I want to say first that I'm one of the people who's really struggling with gold right now, I have to take care of my brother who's… very ill…"
After seconds of thinking, Captain Argous sighed. "Alright kid, you're lucky we got sudden orders to go retrieve something from Merryworn city and head back to deliver it today." He said. I smiled, knowing we have more time. "So, how many of you will stay and catch the remainin 27 fish?" He asked.
"Oh, Peter is the only one staying." Alex replied. "Why am I the only one staying?" I asked stunned.
"Peter. Kid, Munich, and I had already finished—no, we even went over our quotas, while you haven't even reached half yours!" He explained. "And besides, we'll leave the fishing net so you'll have an easier time catching fish." He followed.
"Valid, but Cleo is still waiting for me"
"No worries, Peter, we'll pay him a visit and keep him company while you're out."
Flabbergasted, I just looked betrayed and sighed. "Fine, I'll stay behind"
"Good, well that's settled I'll call the others up and leave one rowboat" He said.
The captain could only laugh at my stressed-out face as I kept sighing. Alex then went to the railings where Kid and Munich we're tying the ropes on the rowboats and called them up to the deck. He explained the situation to them and the two of them just patted my back and gave me words of encouragement. I smiled, and I continued to smile as I waved at them from the rowboat on the water seeing them sail away back to Merryworn port.
I sighed again. [Couldn't at least one of them have stayed with me.] I thought.
[Well, there's no use thinking about it now, they've already went ahead] I continued. After succumbing to my inevitable fate, I sat down and watched the shape of the boat sail away until they couldn't be seen anymore.
______________________________________
I sat down and started preparing the equipment. I picked up the can full of fish bait… when suddenly… my small vessel started to move slightly.
I looked around, I couldn't see anything that may have caused my boat to sway.
I turned my gaze back to the fish bait, I opened the lid and suddenly… the rowboat started to shake. I quickly stood up, and carefully checked my surroundings. I saw water, more water, and lots of water. Slightly shaking, I thought, [It's probably just my imagination.]
I sat down trying to calm myself. [Breath in, breath out] I thought. [Breath i-] I trembled as I was sure I had heard and felt something come up the water. I turned, again seeing nothing. I was more nervous than ever, [It couldn't be a shark or a dolphin right? No way, we made sure there weren't any in this area. It's definitely JUST MY IMAGINATION, yes, just my imagination.] I nervously pondered.
I calmly sit down, repeating my breathing slowly. I decided to nervously throw bits of fish bait on the water. After, I threw the fishnet that had a line connected to my arm to the area exactly where I had thrown the fish bait. I looked around to see if there was any sudden reaction from the mysterious figure that was either real or a figment of my imagination. After a bit of time passed, I couldn't see, hear, or feel anything suspicious. [I guess it really was just my imagination] I thought, relieved.
Though as if a deity had heard my thoughts, I felt the fishnet flinch. That was my que, I pulled the large fishnet towards my small vessel. I pulled and pulled, Until I realized… [THERE'S QUITE A BIG AND HEAVY FISH ON THE NET.] I was not built like a military mage, but I was still quite confident in my strength. Judging by its weight, this wasn't an ordinary fish.
I pulled harder, and after what felt like playing a game of 'tug of war' with Munich, I had finally reeled it closer to bring it up outside the water. I had heard and felt the fish violently hit the side of my rowboat before pulling it up. With one foot on the railing, the other on the boat, and both my arms on the line, both sleeves pulled up, I raised the mysterious fish from the comfort of the deep dark ocean. What came after, what I saw next, changed my life, the sight shook me to my core, the results of my hard work?
Judging from the figure, a pale white skinned woman, with long dark violet hair, dawning what looked to be a night blue extravagant dress, she wore ornaments, accessories around her body, but I couldn't clearly see their design. Although, I noticed some features that solidified her identity. She was a fishmal, and held quite a high status to be out here. The net left her tangled in a rather awkward position. Both her hands were reaching for her head which I could only guess was because of the crash accident that happened just moments ago. As I silently gazed at her, she had decided to speak.
"Owww…" She expressed. Her voice was soft, a bit angelic, like small birds chirping in the morning. After conveying her pain, I squinted my eyes and noticed she had started to slowly open both of her eyes.
After the fishmal and I stared at each other, without warning, sparks lit up my eyes to a point where I was almost blind, letters I could barely make out flashed before me.
PO...C...SE.
After shortly regaining my consciousness, I squinted as hard as I could, though I couldn't see any better I took a better look at the mysterious Fishmal, trapped in an awkward position inside my fishing net. I could only guess she was offering me nothing but a nervous smile that conveys the message 'Please spare me'. Although I knew she was a Fishmal, I didn't know what race she was, which was very important to how I would report this situation to the authorities. Then it hit me, after closely examining the more 'clearer' features, I slowly realized. [yes… she's a Creetus.]