Old Man of the Sea

"Captain! The Spanish are here!" screamed a man from the crow nest on the main mast of the ship, after firing a shot with his flintlock pistol in the sea to gain his captain's attention, trying to overwhelm the screams of the dying and despairing people below.

"Gather the women and supplies you can, we are getting the fuck out of here!" ordered the captain to the men who missed Dylan's warning, the man on the nest.

The pirates worked quickly and efficiently, knocking out the resisting women and directly killing the few men who regained hope with the arrival of the Spanish.

"Leave the children, we don't need them" yelled the captain, seeing a few men with kids no more than 5. Of course, the problem wasn't their age.

They are pirates.

His ship just wasn't infinite and he preferred to keep voluptuous women and supplies than children. He could care less about the preferences of his crew, his words are law and he wants as many mature women as possible!

They managed to transfer all the goods and set sails in less than a few minutes.

Well, they left at least half of the women behind due to the urgency of the situation, along with some crew members blocked by the few still standing guards of the ship they boarded.

The pirate's ship was utterly black, disappearing in the night. The pirates were sure they'd survive this encounter with the Spanish. Their ship may be slower, but you cannot follow something you don't see.

"Ambush! Two ships ahead!" screamed Dylan seeing two other ships emerging from the embrace of the night

"Fuck" muttered Dylan with a crazy smile plastered on his face.

He wasn't happy or excited about dying fighting, for he was certain this was his last battle.

He was happy because he could finally reunite with his parents, his true parents.

The Sea!

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"Uhog...choug choug"

Dylan suddenly threw up every milliliter of water in his lungs.

He was dead, he was sure of it. Even the ship had sunk and he doubted the Spanish would save him when they decided to sacrifice even all of the prisoners in the pirate's ship.

Maybe they would save his captain just for a public execution, but he wasn't that important. He was just the sail master and they are usually kidnapped as few pirates can even read maps.

'...'

'No, I'm probably of more value than my captain...' reconsider Dylan in his mind.

He looked around, trying to understand his situation.

He saw other people around him, some were standing, some sitting, and others lying on the white floor.

Some of them had glaring wounds still open, a few had missing limbs, and others had part of their bodies completely crushed. But no one was bleeding.

No one was talking, or at least aloud. Some were muttering to themself still under shock.

"Silence"

It came as a whisper, but everyone heard the voice and even those who looked the more lost recomposed themself and looked towards where the voice came from.

From where the voice came from, Dylan could distinguish towering humanoid beings covered in light.

'Demons?' thought Dylan. He didn't think even for a second that those beings could be something other than punishers.

He was a pirate, born pirate, and been only a pirate.

There was no way he would receive something other than punishment in his mind.

"You have been chosen" the same whisper resounded in the ears of all present

Even when they were near, Dylan could not distinguish the feature hidden under those bright lights. He could barely look at them.

"You all distinguished yourself, dying for your beliefs and, or creeds" continued the voice that was whispering before, now louder.

"Each of you has impressed one of u-"

"Bullshit!" interrupted someone in a forced tone, causing the overwhelming power in the room to increase.

"Some of them have nothing to do with the ones present!" continued the new voice.

This time Dylan could associate the voice with someone as a being shrouded in blue light stepped forward

"I will be the first, or I might end up erasing those intruders!" declared the blue being, and, without waiting for any answer, he moved one of his arms, and suddenly Dylan found himself in front of the face of the blue being, floating a few tens of meters from the floor.

He could smell the sea from him, which caused the dead man to smile.

"Ahaha, my favorite child, we finally meet" said the blue being in a powerful tone

"You...you are The Sea!" asked Dylan, even though it was more a declaration than a question.

Those words caused a chuckle to escape from the lips of The Sea and the light faded away.

A man with long blue wavy hair, a thick unkempt beard, and glowing green eyes was revealed.

"You could say that"

In his left hand, he held a golden trident. His torso was bare, showing off his muscles.

"I am The God of The Sea" announced loudly The Sea...The God.

Dylan heard a few gasps of surprise in the background, but he didn't pay them any mind. He was too shocked at the revelation.

There were many wars over different religions where he comes from, but even then they all agree on one thing: there is only one god, and that is God.

He always believed that the sea wasn't just salted water, that it was an entity, an entity that even if for just a moment, favored him. After all, he was born in the middle of the sea, on a pirate's ship.

If that isn't being favored by The Sea, he didn't know what else it could be.

Yes, he wasn't the only one born in the middle of the sea, but he didn't care.

Sometimes, when he was free, he would talk with The Sea. Well, he was the only one talking, but he was sure The Sea was listening.

Many took him for crazy, but very few manage to stay sane in the sea, so no one paid particular attention to his quirks.

Even then, the most he thought was that The Sea was a creature of God, not literally a god.

But, thinking about it, it was only natural. He lived till the age of 61...or 62. Well, he didn't know his exact age, but he knew he was born the same year the Pirate Queen died...even Queen Elizabeth died that year.

The point is, that he was one of the oldest people of his era, and certainly the oldest active pirate.

He was known as the 'Old Man of the Sea'.

And certainly, someone doesn't survive being a pirate for 63 years...yeah, he likes to increase his age. It should be easy to know when he is lying, after all his date of birth is very well known. In fact, in many bars and brothels around the costs of the world, there were rumors that he harvested the lives of the two Queens to be able to live this long as a pirate. But not many people even knew how to count, so he could add a few years sometimes, just to be the even older 'Old Men of the Sea'.

What he meant is that one doesn't survive as long as he did, conducting a life such as his, without the favor of a god!

The god didn't give much time to Dylan to compose himself

"Do you want to live again?" asked the god

"Live again?" echoed Dylan uncertainly. The god, instead of answering, snapped his fingers and the old man returned young, free of even his scars.

"...can I have back my scars?" asked the now young boy in a low voice, afraid to seem ingrate and offend the god.

The god understood what he meant and simply gave them back to him, healing them enough to not cause him any problem, but still making them eye catchy.

They are the proof of his journey, they are what a train is for a peacock, what sharp fangs and claws are for a feline. They are a sign, of the life he has chosen.

He was quite proud of them. He used to show them off to the teens that choose that lifestyle for the first time. He was even more proud of having lost only the little finger of his right hand even after all those years.

"Okay, ready to go?" the question was received with a nod

"Don't worry, where I am sending you, pirates strive" this caused a small to blossom on Dylan's face

"Wait! Wait! Shouldn't you give us three wishes? What about the choice of the world, what if we want t-" whoever was the stupid who thought was entitled to question a god, wasn't anymore because he was erased.

The God of The Sea simply turned facing a being shrouded in a yellow light

"Shut it!" the same whisper was heard, but Dylan was sure that it was the yellow being speaking.

"Do you have any question?" asked The God of The Sea

"N-...n-no" answered Dylan, clearly torn between satisfying his curiosity and his greed for a new life. Fortunately for him, won on the latter.

"...ask, I will see if I find myself generous enough" conceded the god

"My cat!" request instantly the scarred man

"No" and as instantly was turned down. Dylan was confused as to why would they reincarnate so many people and couldn't do it with one cat, but he wasn't stupid enough to question a god.

He then had the intention to ask for gold, but he changed his mind quickly. That wasn't grand enough to bother a god!

'Maybe golden teeth? Nah.'

'Golden bones? No!, stop with gold, you greedy bastard!'

'Maybe a little animal that can understand me? That would be cool. Like Nathan. That bastard managed to put his hands on a domesticated monkey from one of those merchant ships' thought Dyland, still incapable of making a decision.

Unfortunately, those around him didn't have all that much patience, even less those bright beings behind The Sea God.

"You know what, I will decide the gift for you" concluded the god

"And since you have been my favorite for centuries, I will even help you join the crew of The God of Freedom himself!" added the god causing stars to shine in Dylan's eyes.

Neptune didn't let him say anything more and snapped his fingers, letting the scarred boy precipitate through the floor.