The Heart of the Sea

He sat below deck, the smell of salt and alcohol in the air, his newly sharpened sword sheathed at his hip. He took one last sip of rum before flopping onto the floor. Sunrays danced around the room through the cracks of the floorboards, warming his tired face. It had been months of sailing now, his captain looking for his “finest piece yet” on some lost island in the middle of the sea. He honestly didn’t think his captain would believe the drunk and nutty man, but alas, here he was in the middle of the ocean, listening to his crewmates chatting and walking around the deck above him. He felt the waves rock the ship; a feeling he learned to ignore after 17 years on the ship. The ocean was his home, sure, but land was a nice change from the constant smell of rum, sweat, and vomit his crewmates produced. He just hoped that they would find land soon; rations were running low.

“Imere!” A gruff voice yelled from the stairs. “Get up ‘ere!” Imere flung his hands forward and sat up. He stared up at the man in maroon, the sun making his face hard to see.

“Ye find land or somethin’?” Imere said, pushing himself to his feet.

“Ai! Now quit sitting on yer arse and get up ‘ere!” The captain waved his hand for him to follow; his only hand.

“Land?” The boy said excitedly. He scrambled up the stairs, the sunlight blinding and hot on his face. He leaned over the railing, squinting at the small speck of gray in the distance. He laughed, his hazel eyes bright with excitement.

“Ai, now go mail the sails before I make ye match me hook.” He brandished the silver hook in the boy’s face. Imere rolled his eyes before grabbing the rope and yanked it downwards. He would do anything if it meant getting off of the ship, even if it were only for a few minutes.

The final row boat hit the rocky shore with an ear splitting screech. The captain was unfazed; he was far to busy basking in his glory to care about some dinghy his crew would fix.

“Ye see this, lads?” He opened his arms, showing off the dull gray island. “Me greatest treasure be here, can ye feel it?” He swung his face around and held it mere inches from Imere’s face, his eyes wide, filled to the brink with gleeful insanity.”

Imere peered around his captain’s face and looked over the rocky landscape. “Ye sure this is the right place, capin’? I don’t see no trees ‘ere. No animals neither.” He locked eyes with his captain, annoyed.

“Tree? Why would the Heart of the Sea be in a tree, my boy? It’s a rock!” He yelled, droplets of spit now littered over Imere’s face. Imere hummed in sarcastic agreement as he wiped his face.

The captain turned on his heels and marched forward. “Come lads! We got a heart to find!”

The crew scoured the hot rocks for what seemed like hours with no sign of the blue gem. They did find a pond in the center of the island, but there was nothing alive in the rancid water.

“Oi! Capin’! Look ‘ere!” One of the crewmates yelled. “Found a cave!”

Imere watched as his captain ran towards the cave faster than he’s ever seen him run before. By the time Imere caught up with him, there was a dastardly grin on his captain’s face.

“Clear a path, lads; we be goin’ in.” The crew yelled ‘ai’ and got to work. They flung stones up and out of the entrance, stacking them haphazardly near the grotesque pond.

When the entrance was clear, he shoved the two men who found the cave down first. His crew was replaceable; he himself was not. He waited a few seconds, listening for screams or yells from the men, but when silence greeted him, he jumped in after the two.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but when they did, a blue glow caught his attention. “Lads! Get a move on!” He yelled towards the entrance, his feet now gravitating towards the light like a moth to a flame.

Imere signed before jumping down, his left hand on the hilt of his sword. “Can’t treasure be easy to get for once?” The man next to him muttered.

The crew followed their captain, and the men he was using as bait, down the cave. The light started to grow brighter and brighter, a heart beat was soon heard beating deep within.

Bum dub. Bum dub. Bum dub.

They two men leading the way soon turned a corner and gasped. The captain rushed forward, his sword in hand.

“Oi.” He hit one of the men on the back of his head. “Just a skeleton, never seen one before?” He teased.

“I-it was standin’, capin’. Standin’ like me ‘n you! The man blubbered.

“Pff! A skeleton? Standin’ like me? Have ye lost yer mind, boy?” The captain chuckled. “That be just a pile of bones! It can’t do nothin’! See?” He jabbed the skeleton in the ribs, then hit it’s skull with the flat part of his sword. A groan came from the skull and two eyes rolled down into the sockets. The crew yelled and jumped back, the captain pointing his sword at the creature.

“D...on’t....” The skeleton moaned. “Cu...rsed…”

The captain eyed the skeleton with disgust. “Cursed? What’s cursed?” He spat.

A feeble, shaking finger pointed at the source of the light and sound. A blue heart hung above a pile of rocks by a golden chain. “Death...never comes…” It said slowly.

“Oi,” The captain dropped his sword. “Yer tellin’ me ye are immortal?” The skeleton nodded and its jaw fell off and onto the floor.

The captain started to chuckle as he put his sword back. He then started to cackle into the air. “Bein’ immortal ain’t no curse! Bein’ immortal means I can be king of the sea! Me! King of the sea!” He threw his arms open and his head back. “Don’t that got a nice ring to it?” He said, his face in the skeleton’s. It was silent, boney fingers slowly trying to put its jaw back on. The captain smirked. He shoved his men out of the way and snatched the blue heart from its place. A bright light began to pulse from it, the heart beat growing in strength. He threw the pendant around his neck and watched as the dark cave lit up with a magical blue light.

He looped his hook around the chain and stared at the heart with madness in his eyes. “Can ye feel it, lads? Can ye feel yeselves bein’ filled with power?” He practically whispered. “Isn’t it great?” His eyes flashed a bright blue color, only to revert back to their normal shade of green.

He started back towards the entrance of the cave, all but one of his crew members followed. Imere was glued to his spot, his eyes unwilling to leave the skeleton.

“End it...break it…” It moaned one last time. His bones began to turn to dust right before his eyes, leaving nothing but a pile of dust atop ragged clothes. Imere was silent with fear as he ran to follow his crew.

The crew managed to get back to the ship with the busted dinghies, a few crewmates now fixing the holes in them while others poured drinks in celebration.

“Tonight!” The captain yelled from the crow’s nest. “We drink like we’ve never drank before!” His crew cheered, cups of rum shoved into the air. The crew drank and drank until the moon was high over the sea. Imere sat and watched his crew get more and more rowdy as the night drew on, the moon light shining down on his back. He couldn’t drink; he was nauseated by the skeleton that turned to dust before his eyes.

He was also trying to find a way to break that pendant, the one his captain had worked so hard to find.

He sat and pondered on the steps of the ship, ignorant of the clouds that began to block the night sky. A hefty wave slammed against the side of the ship, knocked him out of his trance. His eyes went wide when he saw the waves that were growing around the ship.

“Oi!” He yelled. “When did a storm come?!” He ran to close the sails before they ripped. “Capin’!” He hollered up at the crow’s nest. “Get the wheel! We’re in the middle of a storm!” He kept fighting with the ropes, his crewmates far too wasted to be of any help.

He was forced to watch helplessly as a wave slammed down onto the deck of the ship, sweeping men into the ocean. Before he could scream for his crew to help, salt water flooded his mouth. He was slammed against the railing of the ship, stunned. He spat out the water in time to hear a sickening crack as the wood under him split and splintered, the watery gates of Hell now open; and he was falling into it. He plunged into the sea, the salt burning his eyes. He tried to swim towards the surface, but a barrel full of rum slammed down onto him, his vision now nothing but black.

The storm was over as quickly as it started, the ship now nothing but a few pieces of wood floating on the waves. The moon was released from its cloudy prison and cast light down upon the sea. Beneath the waves were the bodies of the once formidable pirate crew and their captain. They sunk deeper and deeper into the sea, their bodies soon to be lost with the waves, eaten by the fishes.

When the last body hit the sand, all was dark and still. It stayed peaceful for over an hour, not even the hungry sea creatures dared to disturb the fresh bodies.

Light slowly began to shine from the ocean’s depth, with it were pulses of air in the beat of a heart. It lasted throughout the night, dying out when the sun rose over the horizon. Beneath the waves were the bodies of the pirate crew, parts of their bodies now wrapped in blue light. They were stiff as the waves washed over the exposed parts of their bodies, skin and hair were ripped away with the current.

For centuries, no one dared to look for the sunken ship and its crew; fearing that they would be the next to die. They decided to leave them to rest under the waves. No one thought that their treasures would ever be recovered; that they were lost with the ship.

That is, until a body washed ashore. Its face and body were mangled; bone showing on half of it. The other was covered in skin that looked as lively as the day before its death, a hazel eye trapped behind its remaining eye lid.