Fallen God Family
"I'm not gonna say anything." Sky said.
"We didn't say anything, Captain." Jay said with a smirk on his face that won't go away.
"We're just… admiring your strength, that's all." Jericho said.
"Welcome back… master." Jules walked up to Sky and bowed a little to him.
"Yeah. Jericho, set the next course." Sky walked past her and walked inside his quarters. One could hear the sound of a violin playing and a bunch of curses being casted and dispeled over and over.
Jericho walked over to Jay.
"How do you think we'll get it out of him?"
"Hard to tell. But it's only fair, he knows our secrets. He knows you have the magnetism ability, and what your father did to your family. And he knows about my 'love' story. It's only fair if he tells us a secret."
"Agreed… wait, you know about my magnetism ability?" Jericho turned her head around so fast she almost got whiplash.
"I've been with you guys for weeks, it isn't that hard to figure out once you connect the dots. Also I overheard you talking about it to Sky and your family… more than once. You're not very good at hiding it.
"Well… I guess it was only a matter of time, but I can trust you." Jericho tapped his arm then walked to another part of the ship.
Later that day when night fell, they decided to dock their ship on an island. On their way they were eating grilled fish.
Sky realized that all this time both Jay and Jericho were always looking at him, never saying a word, but he knew what they were saying from the way they were looking at him.
"You guys seriously want me to say it?" Sky said abruptly.
"Say what? We're just eating our fish, isn't that right, Jericho?"
"Yeah, what Jay said. Don't you agree, Jules?"
Jules, who was also eating fish, looked at Jericho before giving her a little nod in response. Jules didn't like any of the crew members, especially Sky, but she knew if she showed disdain towards the rest of the crew then Sky would hate her, and her work and plan would be for naught.
Sky continued to eat in silence while they kept staring at him.
"It was… I mean it happened when I was fourteen. Her name was Katie, and she was very pretty."
Jericho and Jay stopped eating in order to hear his story better. Jules however thought that by listening and learning about Sky, the better the chances at making him fall in love with her.
"And then… it happened, the end." Sky continued eating his fish as if nothing was wrong.
"Wait, what? That's it?" Jericho said.
"What's it?"
"You're just gonna leave it like that?"
"I mean, it is pretty cliche. And to be fair I don't think my failed love story compares to Jay's."
"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment, Captain." Jay said, confusedly.
"No, Sky, if you're telling a story you can't leave your fans waiting like that!" Jericho said.
Much like her sister she loves love stories even if they end badly.
"So you DO want to know. I mean there's literally not much to say about it. Katie was just a popular girl in my entire school. She asked me out, I was happy, we hung out for three days, turns out it was a dare, I was crushed, the end."
"SO THERE WAS MORE TO IT!" Jericho wanted to yank the hairs out of her head.
Jules didn't want to show it but she was smiling inwardly. Sky's story told her that she can use it to her advantage.
"You're not really good at telling stories, are you, Captain?" Jay remarked.
"I think I'm decent at telling stories. But when it comes to my own personal life, especially the ones that make me cringe, I want to end it quickly."
"That's… honestly fair." Jericho said.
"But I kinda wanna know what happened afterwards, Captain." Jay asked.
"Afterwards? Hmm… nothing, I acted as if nothing had happened or changed. I had some crushes here and there but nothing worth telling."
"Is that why you hated school so much?" Jericho asked.
"I wish. I hated school because it was boring, long, tedious, stressful, expensive, tiring, and whatever else I can't think of at the moment." Sky crushed the fish in his hands by recalling certain memories in his school life.
"That's it? That's not so bad, I thought you were bullied or something." Jericho said.
"I was never bullied, fortunately. I just hated the people, my classmates, the teachers, especially this racist teacher. The only one who I kinda liked was this old janitor. Oh and I especially hated the fucking tests! At what point am I gonna use trigonometry!"
"I mean you must've learned some useful things, right? What about simple math? That's important to know!"
"My parents are the ones who ended up teaching me everything I know about math. Remember, my parents own a store and I helped run it for years. Well, used to."
"Right… What about swimming?"
"Dad taught me."
"Fishing? I think you once mentioned a club?"
"I only joined the fishing club to 'make some friends' because my mom wanted me to. They didn't teach me anything I didn't already learn from my parents and Mr and Mrs J."
"Uh… history?"
"Okay, that one I can see how it's useful, but the teacher was boring as hell." Sky said.
"Cooking?"
"Mom taught me."
"Music?"
"My dad comes from a long line of musicians."
"Right… rowing a boat?"
"Mr and Mrs J taught me."
"Navigating?"
"They never taught us that in school."
"Fishmen and mermaid biology?"
"They also never taught us that. Closest I've learned were from books I saw in a library, once."
"What, really?" Jay found that hard to believe. "That's something everyone should know! How does your school not teach you something that important?"
"Budget cuts. Or I think it was because the principal was using the school's resources to fund his gambling addiction?"
Jay scratched his head.
"Oookay, so you might not have gotten the best school but it's useful! If you just give it another chance-"
"Nope." Sky shook his head. "I'm not going back, I'm not graduating, I'm gonna dedicate my life to this, clearing portals and whatever else."
"Okay." Jay gave up and continued eating his fish.
Some people, like Jay, believe that school is useful and fun.
But to some people, like Sky, school is nothing but a waste of time.
"OH! I know." Jay suddenly said, "What about making friends and meeting new people? That's someone school is good for!"
"I've never made any friends. Nobody has ever wanted to hang out with me. You three are the only friends I've had, well, I don't think Jules counts because she's here by force."
"..." Jay.
He didn't know what to feel about his Captain to hear him say that. Somehow that short sentence made him feel worse for him than his other story.
'Oh, right, he never had any friends. Would that count as a shameful secret?' Jericho thought.
"Master, maybe we can be more than friends, if you'd like." Jules leaned closer to Sky and even placed her hand on his thigh..
Sky looked at her annoyed. Retracting his leg he said, "I already know what you're plotting, so don't bother wasting your breath and my time."
Jules closed her eyes and continued to sadly eat her fish.
But Sky didn't want to end the night like that, so he said, "If… no once we get stronger, I'll find out if your brother is okay. I won't right now because we're still too weak, but at this rate we're bound to get stronger. Just keep making potions."
Jules looked at Sky unsure of what to think.
"Oh, I almost forgot to give you this." Sky handed her a book he was keeping in his inventory.
"You have a high intelligence stat so you can easily memorize the entire book. Do it when you have the chance, it'll improve your alchemy knowledge by a lot."
The night ended with them spending the night in a hotel. They didn't even bother counting today's loot they collected.
{Loot collected}
{Sky Rouge}
{Level: 171}
{Stat points: 10}
{Sky: 30+ str, 22+ int, boiling steam(new skill), 33+ spd, 55+ vig}
{Str: 245} {Dex: 224} {Spd: 370} {Int: 338} {Mind: 200} {Vig: 370}
{HP: 13,400/13,400}
{Mana: 7,340/7,340}
{Jay Press}
{Level 126}
{19+ str, 44+ dex, 12+ spd, dash(new skill given by Sky)}
{Str: 182} {Dex: 163} {Spd: 101} {Int: 165} {Mind: 80} {Vig: 182}
{HP: 1,920/1,920}
{Mana: 825/825}
{Jericho Haydie}
{Level 112}
{30+ Int, 21+ vig, 32+ dex, Lightning bolt(skill)}
{Str: 98} {Spd: 110} {Dex: 124} {Int: 162} {Mind: 88} {Vig: 141}
{HP: 1,510/1,510}
{Mana: 810/810}
To Sky all of their stats, his included, were nothing special. But he cannot wait to see how drastic the changes will be in the future.
Laying there on his bed Sky was thinking if there was a better way he could've gone towards getting stronger?
'Now that I think about it, we had five months to pay back Jericho's debt, I could've taken my time and not have sold off as many red scrolls as we did. Then again I was so eager to get the rewards from the quest. Oh well, what's done is done.'
Meanwhile…
The sun rose. The inhabitants of Paradise island were all living their lives as usual.
Boris had arrived at the island and strolled towards HQ to report what he had done and found on Edgar's island.
Before he even stepped foot on the building there were several Caribbean officers running back and forward.
"Woah, woah, woah, what the hell is going on?" Boris stopped one of the officers.
"Boris, sir! I don't have time, I gotta do this quickly!" He ran off without saying anything else.
Seeing that something was obviously wrong, Boris ran into the building.
At HQ however it was hectic. Almost everyone was in a state of panic.
Boris arrived at Georgia's desk. She was overflowing with paperwork which was an unusual sight.
"Georgia? What's wrong? Why's everyone like… this?"
"Can't talk. Busy. Ask Xero." Georgia didn't even look at Boris, she was reading and writing down and filing reports.
"No, first tell me did you find the mermaid on Sky's ship?" Boris asked in a serious tone.
"I don't know! Okay! Ask Xero."
Boris took a long look at Georgia before he entered Xero's room. Xero had a bottle of wine on his table, on the ground were several dead fishmen. There were so many dead bodies the smell was unbearable even with all the windows open.
"Xero? The hell is going on?" Boris asked. It was weird to see Xero drinking especially during work hours.
"Oh, you're back. Well a couple of things. First, Lucious is missing."
"What?" Boris leaned closer unsure if what he just heard was true.
"Lucious is missing. He fought something on the tower in the 500th floor and made a mess on the higher floors all the way to the top. No one has seen or heard from him since."
"Oh, shit. Lucious was one of our strongest." Boris couldn't believe it.
"I know, and everyone in HQ knows about it, but it's only a matter of time before it hits the newspapers. I think it was the Abyss family, but it's hard to tell."
"Abyss family? No wonder there are so many dead fishmen here, were you trying to get information out of them?"
"One of them has got to know something. I just gotta keep killing until I find out."
"But how do you know it's the Abyss family who did this?"
"Who else could it be? So what did you find? Something good I hope?"
"Well, here." Boris handed him a card. Xero ripped it and a pile of reports fell on his desk.
"Oh, great, more paper…" Xero begrudgingly started repeating the reports fast.
"Here's a lot of the illegal shit I've been able to find on Edgar's island, you'll see that he's going to jail for a very long time. But there is something else and I didn't write it down."
"What would that be?" Xero said while reading through the reports.
"The mermaid, technically it's a merman, the merman I found claims that his sister knows the location of the Nightmare sword."
"Yeah, I've heard that before many times, and they were all wrong." Xero said unfazed by his words.
"I know. But I just want to be sure if this is another false lead or not, and not to mention that this merman is a part of the Ikin family."
Xero looked at Boris.
"He told you that?"
"Yes, and he is telling the truth."
"The Ikin mermaid family are the ones who lost the nightmare sword. We've been tracking them down for decades to find out if the stories are true."
"Well, their last name changed and now the descendants are called "Mayfeather'' and I believe Sky Rouge has the only mermaid in this world who knows the location of that sword."
"Ohhhhhhh, shit." Xero realized something and closed his eyes tightly.
"What?"
"According to one of the reports Sky did have a mermaid, but gouged out her eyeballs and sold them to pay back the debt."
"Yeah, Xero, I already know that."
"Then you must know that it's useless now."
"Listen, Xero, I know the chances are slim but the mermaid could very well be alive. And also who's to say that Sky doesn't know the location of the nightmare sword?"
Xero looked at Boris for a while.
"Huh, that's not a bad theory. You know what? You can go find them and make sure."
"Thanks. Wait, did they already leave the island?" Boris asked.
"Yeah, yesterday."
"Dammit."
Boris got up from his chair but Xero quickly stopped him.
"There's something I want to ask before you leave, Boris. You could have kept this information to yourself yet you're sharing it with me?" Xero asked, curiously.
"I… I don't trust many people. I don't even trust Lucious, as strong as he is, he's a greedy bastard, same goes for a lot of people here. But I know I can trust you, and maybe Georgia."
"Hm, thanks. But let's say this kid does know the location of the nightmare sword, and that the mermaid is alive, what are you gonna do?"
"I'm not gonna hurt them. I like this kid, he paid off an enormous debt to his friend and saved her family from slavery, that's rare in this world."
"Agreed."
"But, it's different when it comes to the nightmare sword. Greed and power can bring out a man for who he really is, and what if Sky isn't who we think he is?"
"Time can only tell. Now go." Xero waved at Boris.
Boris sighed and left the room.
Xero scratched his chin with a smile on his face.
"Hm, when he gets a bit stronger he can take over my position… no, I cannot place that burden on him, not when the Fallen God family are-"
'Come here, now.'
Xero's eyes widened as a familiar voice rang through his head. He closed his eyes, composed himself and said, "okay."
In a flash, Xero left his office room that is located on the third floor and appeared in a second on the 999th floor. There were still many Caribbean officers looking for evidence.
"Xero, sir!" Everyone quickly saluted him.
"Everyone, leave this floor. You don't have to go home but you got to get the hell out of here, now!" Xero pointed to the ground and raised his voice.
Everyone nodded and left the floor in seconds until it was just Xero by himself. With a loud sigh he walked up to the door and managed to open it.
The doorway leading to the hall of the gods cannot be opened by anyone other than the God family themselves, or if they give someone permission.
Xero was no different; he could not enter unless he was granted permission.
The door opened and Xero was blinded by a beautiful gold light. Once his eyes got used to it he entered the room and closed the door.
There was a large room that was made of gold with paintings of the Fallen God family hanging on the walls.
Xero walked through the halls slowly while looking at the paintings.
The first paintings were of beautiful people. They were so beautiful one would think those were the faces of the gods. There were even small gold plaques written beneath them.
{Etras Ver Dieser - Founding father of the Fallen God family}
{Blanche Dieser - Founding mother of the Fallen God family}
These two are the ones who started the Fallen God family, they were the ones who were outcasted from the Land of the Gods.
No one knows the date the Fallen God Family came to be which is why there were no dates written. But records say that they came to be 700,000 years ago.
Next he saw the picture of their 75 children who were grown adults but Xero couldn't be bothered to memorize them. But much like their parents they had beautiful appearances.
But as Xero kept walking there were more and more paintings of the descendants. And the further he walked the more hideous the pictures became.
One would see some abnormalities from the ones in the portraits. Some had longer chins, smaller eyes, bigger teeth, no ears, the heads would be the shape of a cone, and it got worse and worse…
At one point there were no more paintings. The last painting was drawn and it showed something that wasn't even human anymore, but a hideous monster. It had no hair of any kind, its left leg was swollen like a balloon, it had more than ten fingers on its right hand, its nose was all the way down to its mouth like melted candle wax, it had no eyes, and its head was the shape of an egg.
The number of descendants had also decreased which is why in the beginning there were 75 portraits of children, but now there are barely two descendants after each couple has children. Xero thinks it's because the mutations are so horrible that newborn children cannot survive past a few days.
Xero had seen the paintings several times by now. And sadly the man drawn in the last painting was better looking than the living Fallen God Family. The last painting was drawn 300,000 years ago, one can only imagine how hideous they have gotten.
Xero made it to the end of the hall. He could hear the loud munching of and loud burping and farting echoing.
The room he was in was a large room made of gold. The roof and ground were made of gold but the rest was made of glass. The outside one could see the sun shining through the windows, but the sun was fake. Xero doesn't understand how but that's how it is. There were more rooms beyond this one but Xero never had the chance to see it.
The three 'people' are covered in layers of white sheets. Two of them were swollen like balloons not because of their mutations, at least that's what he thinks, but because they were beyond overweight. One of them was rather tall while the other was extremely short.
The third one was very skinny but extremely tall, in fact every part of his body was tall. His chin and head were two-sides cones including his nose, his fingers were long to the point he couldn't grab anything but had to use telekinesis, and since he was so tall he was crouching and had a hunchback forming on his back.
"Tho, vu kot da ding? (So, you got the thing)" The short tall one asked while eating. He is the only one who could not speak properly because his tongue was gone because he was never born with one.
Xero was disgusted at what they were eating. It was a living animal, its limbs were still slightly moving.
'Why are they eating that? We prepare and give them actual food every month.' Xero thought.
When he saw them at first he was scared and intimidated by them. He is still scared of them but there is a new feeling he felt for them, pure disgust.
But, he took out a packet of cards and handed it to the tall skinny one.
"Someone stole the purple scroll, I already said that, but someone was able to pay it back. Now the family won't have to pay off their debts to you anymore."
The skinny one took one of the cards and ripped it. Out of the cards a large pile of gold shells appeared.
"Well, well, well…impressivvvvvve."
"Vat id Tu ta baiuuu(add it to the pile)"
The skinny one took the rest of the cards and walked to the other side of the room. Opening the door Xero saw a mountain of treasure. It was full of shells, items, weapons, that went all the way back 700,000 years ago.
Xero would be lying if he said he didn't want their treasure. But he knows he cannot win against the three of them, just by sensing their mana alone made him terrified of them.
"Zero, do you know why we called you here?" The fat but tall one asked. He was the one in charge.
"No, why?" Xero asked, he didn't even bother correcting him on his name.
"Because of this."
They handed him some cards, playing cards to be exact.
"Play with ussss!"
Xero closed his eyes. He never understood these three, they sometimes act like immature spoiled children, and sometimes like mature adults.
'I have so much shit to do and they call me here for this?'
Xero wouldn't mind playing with them but not only did he have to always lose, but they never contributed anything to the Caribbean or to humanity, not for 700,000 years when they decided to be holed up in this place. But maybe because of their mentality they cannot do anything to help.
"Very well. What game will it be this time?"