Path 2

Chapter 3

Setting sail for...

originally by: Jackie

"Yo ho ho, it's a pirate's life for me," Mila sang bitterly as she scrubbed the bridge of the ship.

She couldn't understand why she had to wash the deck. It was raining for Pete's sake! Another storm had moved in last night, but thanks to Darius' quick thinking they were able to make it to shore and dock at the nearest settlement.

After he did this, he and Morgana went into town for some vague reason, leaving Mila behind to tend to the ship.

Mila was drenched to the bone in the downpour, shivering. She cursed Morgana, who had ordered her to do this, no doubt her first act to make her life on board the ship as unpleasant as possible.

Mila wished she knew what that bat's problem was. Why was she so mean to her? Was she angry that she couldn't get her way and throw Mila off board? Was she trying to toughen her up?

She would never know what went on in that homicidal bat's mind, nor would she complain about her harsh treatment, for she had vowed to herself that she would see it through with this crew no matter what happened.

Her plan was to obey everyone's wishes, avoid getting on anyone's bad side, especially Morgana's, and, as soon as they found the treasure, take her share, rebuild her life and become a wealthy spice merchant, owner of not one but an entire fleet of ships, living the good life like she always dreamed of doing.

As Mila scrubbed the deck, fantasizing about what it would be like to be rich, she was unaware that a short corgi emerged from the hatch way, carrying several scrolls under his arm.

He did not see Mila, for he pulled the brim of his hat over his face in an attempt to protect him from the pouring rain, and it was because of this that he ran and tripped over her.

They both fell on the wet deck, scrolls scattering everywhere, but they recovered at the same time, and when they saw each other they were equally surprised.

Mila's first thought was, "Must be another member. I thought this crew was a little short on hands."

The corgi asked, "W-who are you? What are you doing on the ship?"

"O, sorry, my name is Mila," she quickly introduced herself, "Darius let me join the crew."

"O, you must be the new recruit!" said the corgi, standing up and began to gather his scrolls, "I heard about you. Sorry I couldn't introduce myself earlier. My name is Leeko. I've been very busy lately working on the maps."

"Maps?" asked Mila.

"Yeah, I'm the ship's cartographer," said Leeko, helping Mila up, "but what are we doing standing here in the rain? Let's go inside."

"Wish I could," said Mila, "but I got orders. Morgana said she wants to see this deck spotless when she gets back."

"Which would be in a couple of hours," said Leeko, "Trust me, when they go on a pub crawl...I mean, "reconnaissance mission", they usually take hours. You have plenty of time to scrub it before they get back."

"Well, in that case," said Mila, smiling, dropping her rag to the deck, "I think I'll join you."

Mila sat inside Leeko's cabin, a blanket covering her. It was warm and cozy inside, for a small wood burning stove heated the room.

"Darius told you what we're all about, right?" said Leeko.

He was taking down several thick books, and Mila stared at him curiously, wondering what he was doing.

"Yeah," said Mila, showing Leeko her coin, "We're after these things."

"Is that all?" Leeko asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mila frowned. "Yeah," she said, "That's about it. Why?"

Leeko smirked. "I see Darius only told you the half of it, didn't he?" he said.

"What do you mean?" Mila asked, puzzled.

"It's true that we're hunting those coins," Leeko answered, "but that's just a small prize compared to what we're actually after."

He opened a a very thick book, which, Mila was able to quickly enough, had the title that read, "Myths and Legends of the Caribbean."

"You see," Leeko continued, beckoning Mila come closer and showing her what he found in the book, "hundreds of years ago a there was a great wizard that tried to rid the world of all its woes. Basically, he was trying to put every bad thing back into Pandora's box. He did this by trapping it into coins, like that one you have right now. He was planning to destroy them, but, unfortunately, he was killed and the coins were scattered across the world."

"That's tragic," said Mila.

Leeko nodded. "Indeed," he said, "but there came another sorceress named Scarlet, who tried the same stunt as the wizard, this time with the Seven Deadly Sins. She trapped them in eight clay tablets-"

"Whoa, wait, eight?" Mila said, confused.

"Yes, eight," said Leeko, "Apparently there is an eighth sin no one knows about. Anyway, she, like the wizard, was killed by someone called the Good Knight, though, I highly doubt he was good if it murdered someone trying to rid the world of evil. Like the coins, the tablets were scattered, but this time across the Caribbean instead of the world."

"Wow!" Mila said, "but what does Darius want with the runes?"

"He wants to destroy them, of course," said Leeko, "A noble thing to do, I admit, though, in my opinion, I believe these tablets are very dangerous, for the Seven Deadly Sins that are trapped inside could have strange effects on whoever possesses them."

Leeko closed the book shut and put it back on the shelf. "Though, there's at least one positive thing about it," he said, "there's no rivals that we know of that's after them, for what bloodthirsty pirate would be interested in a couple of dusty clay tablets."

Mila smiled and nodded. "Seeing that you're the cartographer," she said, "where are we going to find the first one?"

"Well," said Leeko, "there is several places I picked, actually, and it's good to have second opinion. I was thinking that we should first go to.."

Choice 1: The Isle of Pleasure is a series of islands that are renowned by pirates and infamous to the rest of Caribbean for the bizarre cult that inhabits them. All the priests of this strange religion are females, who are highly skilled in the ways of sex and have disproportionately large assets.

Leeko believes that the tablet of Lust must be hidden somewhere there.

Choice 2: The House of the Lazy Duke is an old, abandoned castle located quite somewhere near a the large town of Westerfront, built on a cliff overlooking the ocean, which many regard as being a splendid view.

It's because of this that many a wealthy person had tried to buy and renovate the castle, but after purchasing it and living in it for a while, the owners suddenly grew very lazy and squandered their wealth away on endless feasts, growing very fat.

Leeko believes the tablet of Sloth and/or Gluttony can be found there.

Choice 3: It is said that the cave near a small fishing village is cursed. If you wonder in there you might be eaten by strange beasts that emerge out of it every decade, which would later be killed by the villagers as it begins to wonder around.

Leeko believes the tablets of Wrath and/or Rage can be found there.