Chapter 74 She Would Rather Be Anywhere Else But This Ship!

Although for some reason I didn't stink and felt refreshed even though I have just woken up from sleep after a terrible day. I couldn't help but link this strange occurrence to what I assumed was one of the results of being an ascendant.

Though, the fact that my clothes smelled and stank was what pushed me. After all, it was an old habit of mine and I was a hygienic type of guy.

"Knock!! Knock!!!"

"Captain are you in there?"

A knock accompanied by a familiar voice that I could recognize even in a dream sounded from outside the door.

Walking over to unlock it, I saw Mad John standing with a visage of professionalism as he greeted me.

"Good morning Captain"

"Morning" I replied, walking back to the wooden box to pick up my clothes and my other accessories "You know, I was just about to go look for you".

"Oh! Then it seems that I arrived just in time" He replied, "For what reason if I may ask Captain?".

"Simple, I need to take a bath" I responded, removing my shirt and throwing it far away after catching a wift of the odour.

"Ahem!! I think that would have to wait for now Captain" He cleared his throat and replied.

"Why?" I questioned. After all, what was much better than cleaning up and putting on some clean fresh clothes early in the morning?

"It's because we have a guest"

I frowned. It certainly isn't Captain Crimson eye coming to visit this early in the morning, right?

Didn't he give me the whole day to think about my decision?

"Who is it that wants to see me this early in the morning?" I questioned.

Clearing his throat, Mad John looked at me with a distracted gaze.

"The person that came to see you this morning is the summoner, Annabelle, 3rd in command of the Crimson black eye crew" He responded.

"...Summoner Annabelle? I don't believe that I have met anyone that goes by that name yet"

Nodding his head in understanding, Mad John explained "I heard about your fight when you first arrived, so it's not surprising that you still don't know her. Do you remember those gigantic water spirits you fought against?"

"Yeah" Of course, I couldn't forget.

"She is the ascendant that had summoned them. I am guessing that her loss yesterday is the reason she came here this morning"

Although I doubted that, but I still wouldn't know until I spoke with this Annabelle and hear her reason for visiting me this early in the morning.

Still….

"Tell her to wait while I take my bath. Even If it's important she will wait till I am done. And besides, I can't go like this even if I wanted to".

Mad John looked at me momentarily.

"I understand Captain" He replied "Follow me, let me show you the bathing area".

"Alright. Lead the way" Gathering the clothes in my hands, I responded.

"Click!!"

Mad John walked forward with me following behind him. I tried my best to remember all the corners we passed so I wouldn't need to tell him to guide me to the bathe every time I wanted to use it.

And soon, we arrived at a large wooden door.

"Here we are Captain" He said "I will go and deliver your message to our guest while you take your bath".

I nodded my head and walked in.

…........

She would rather be anywhere else but this ship.

By now, she should have been lying in the comfort of her bed, daydreaming, re-reading one of her favourite works or waiting for anybody stupid enough to trespass into Captain Crimson eye sea. The realization that she wouldn't be doing that anymore, the dread she felt that she won't be able to see the face of her beloved Captain, the sleepless nights these thoughts gave her and the resulting sickening feeling in her gut as she walked into this ship wasn't one that she liked. She wasn't even sure that she could get used to it.

Although she has seen his capabilities that dwarfed hers several times over, his confidence to charge into the furious blow of Mother Andiara, Prince Wyatt... the man with a controversial rumour around him was nothing more than a snake wrapped in a lion's skin and hidden behind the mask of a sheep. If only she knew that everything about him was a lie, then she wouldn't have allowed herself to be embarrassed like that.

The other crewmen on the forsaken ruined ship passed her by as they went on with their morning schedules. No one greeted her, no one gazed at her no more than 5 seconds. She could see, she could tell that if they could, they would walk through her as though she never existed.

Although she didn't want to admit it but being treated like a nobody by a group of ordinary pirates who wouldn't even be alive to experience half of her life irritated her.

She would rather be anywhere else but this ship.

Standing at the centre of a seemingly destroyed ship, the morning sun rays did injustice to her body as they shined on her, almost drenching her with her sweat. A situation she had easily escaped because she was an ascendant. And so, by shaping her mana into a thin extra skin around her body, the heat was nothing more than a gentle afternoon breeze on the sea.

Gritting her teeth, she almost turned back and walked back to her room. Almost. But immediately the memories of her Captain resurfaced in her mind, she could do nothing but stand under the sun as she waited for their arrival.

"Whoosh...Drip!!"

Her eyebrows wrinkled in denial as she watched as the water drenched her feet, almost wetting her robe if she wasn't fast enough to take them up. Looking around, she could see the crewmen, mobbing the floorboard as they poured buckets of water around the floor.

"Hey! Are you guys blind?" She yelled, irritated by their lack of concern.

Did they have a death wish? If so, then she would gladly fulfil it for them.

"Damn it!!" She muttered under her breath.

She was worth more than this disrespect. A thousand times more worth than this.

Wasting no time, she raised her hands and spread her palms wide open. And out of nowhere, a bubble of water gradually expanded at the centre of her palm.

A brief demonstration of her power would show them. Surely it would tell them to treat her with the respect she deserved. If she could, she would show them hell, after all, she doubted that they had seen the literation of her kind of hell.

Targeting the crewmen around her, she almost sent it towards their faces to drench them and their clothes from head to toe, except….. One of them looked at her, staring at the bubble in her hands in surprise before the surprise dimmed away from his eyes like a pile of flesh rotting away to form carcasses, he looked at her and apologized.

"Sorry" And then went on with his task.

What-- What was that?

What kind of reaction was that? Why are they behaving as though they had seen women with a much more ferocious glare than hers?

"Tch!! Dammit" Cursing under her breath, she closed her palms and watched as the bubble of water burst and evaporated into thin.

She would rather be anywhere else but this ship.

She turned around to walk away Her feet stopped in their tracks immediately after she remembered the instructions of her Captain. She shook her head, knowing that she can't turn back now. She has already gone this far to turn back now. Tribulations were never meant to be easy, and besides, if her Captian really keeps up to his promise and granted her the one wish he pledged upon, then all this might as well be worth it.

However, she couldn't continue standing here!

The reactions of the crewmen around her when she had shown her magical capabilities and passion to obliterate their very existence unnerved her. Picking up her robe, she walked away carefully on the slippery floorboard before finding a shade near the entrance of a door.

She waited as seconds ticked by, the clouds overhead providing an extra shade as one minute turned into two. She shook her head tiredly, putting her pocket watch back into her robe. In a few minutes, she would be standing here for another ten minutes.

'Maybe I should go back and come back in the afternoon since this might be too early' She thought, vividly remembering the tired face of the man who had welcomed her.

"Miss Annabelle!!"

However, a voice directly called out to her. Narrowing her eyes at the figure, it didn't take her long before she noticed it was the Prince, Prince Wyatt, the one who had battered and defeated her til she went unconscious., walking towards her together with another man who had first welcomed her.

Her lips curved as she tried to smile. Tried. The Prince's arrival meant that she could finally go forward with her purpose of being here.

However, no matter how she tried to fake the fabricated expression on her face, no matter how she tried to hide the malicious intent in her gaze, she knew...

She undoubtedly knew..... that she would rather be anywhere else but this ship.