Sons of the Tide (mlm)

Chapter 5: Backstory

Joseph

Joseph stared at Caleb, who seemed completely serious as he repeated, "My father is a sea god."

Joseph let out a small, disbelieving laugh. "You hit your head harder than I thought."

"Seriously. You just watched a cut on my face heal in, what, a few hours?" Caleb looked at him, deadpan. "And that storm only hit above the other ship, right? Because that's what I wanted it to do."

Joseph tried to speak, but found no words.

Caleb pushed the hair out of his face. "Listen, you're a pirate. You guys believe in myths and legends about the sea, right?"

"Yes, but more as precautions than anything. I don't go around searching for Davy Jones, he's just a legend about the depths of the sea."

"Actually, he's real, and he's a jackass. Never take the chance to meet him." Joseph was speechless at that, but Caleb continued on. "The sea is the oldest thing on the planet, did you really think it didn't have some ancient, powerful being inside it? At least one?"

"I never really thought about it."

Caleb adjusted the blanket again to re-cover where it had slipped off his shoulder. "Well, there are a few beings lurking inside the water."

"And one of them is your father?"

He nodded. "He's not really a god, per se, like Poseidon. He's older. More powerful."

"Who..." Joseph couldn't believe he was having this conversation. "Who is he?"

"Pontus." The name didn't ring any bells. "He's the personification of the sea. He is the ocean, the water, the animals. He's the waves and the storms."

Joseph shook his head and raised his hand. "You're telling your dad is the actual ocean."

He nodded, pursing his lips slightly. God, what the hell kind of man did he just still from Hawke?

"My mom is a sea witch. She lives on an island in the middle of nowhere." Caleb got a sad look in his eyes, like he missed her. "Pontus grew fond of her, over the years, and showed himself one night when she was on the beach."

"And what? Did they fall in love and have you?"

He snorted. "God, no. Pontus fucked her and she never saw him again. She didn't care, she knew who he was and that he'd make a shit father for her child. So she raised me on her own. I always knew my who my father was, I just didn't particular care to meet him. I knew the sea, so I knew him, in a way."

Joseph took a deep breath, trying to wrap his head around it. "God."

"Yeah, it's strange." He shrugged. "Nothing in the sea is normal, though. Not if you look close enough."

That was fair enough, he supposed. "So, your mother? Where is she now?"

"On her island."

"And why aren't you there?"

He smiled slightly. "I went looking for something I couldn't find on the island. I don't really know what it is or was, just that the ocean wanted me to go. Pontus may not have been a father to me but he does give me little signs, every once in a while."

"Like in the water, with the dolphins." Joseph was nearly loss for words. "That was Pontus saving you?"

"Most likely." He shrugged again. "Some of his 'godly' traits passed onto me when I was born. I can... enhance, I guess is the best word, the ocean and its weather. If there are clouds, like today, I can turn them into storms. Waves are easier to control, especially if they're already rough."

"This is why Hawke wanted you," Joseph realized. "He wanted to use you for your powers."

Caleb nodded. "Not like I would've done anything for him. My abilities are unpredictable at best, they only really work when I really, really need them too. Plus, he's an ass and I would never help him."

"Why did he keep you on that island, then? If the ocean is what you can control."

"Because I told him if he didn't let me go I'd sink each and every one of his ships." He chuckled. "He figured out I need to be on or near the water for my abilities to work. Being in the water is when they're strongest."

"God." Joseph leaned back against the iron bars, shaking his head. "This shit is crazy."

He laughed. "Welcome to the shit show."

"How did you learn, how did you go to school?" Joseph was assuming there were no other people on the island where he grew up.

"My mother. She was smart, and quick as a whip. She taught me things like reading and writing, and how to sail. We never went past our reef, though." He smiled again. "And she taught me practical magic."

Joseph raised his eyebrows in interest. "Oh?"

"I know a lot but I'm not near as good as she is. She's the master, you could say."

"So... How did you get captured by Hawke in the first place?"

"Honestly? Wrong place wrong time. He noticed my abilities when I tried to get away and I sank one of his ships with a freak storm that appeared out of nowhere. I don't know how he figured it out, but he knows who my father is."

Joseph couldn't imagine the destruction this man was capable of. It almost scared him.

Caleb yawned and rubbed his face again. "Any chance I can get some food? I answered your questions."

Joseph nodded and stood. "Once you eat, we'll do your chains up again."

Caleb frowned, and Joseph almost felt bad. "I figured."

He opened the door to the cell and closed it behind him. "It's nothing personal."

"I get it. You don't know me or if you can trust me." He shrugged. "If I get to eat I'll be fine."

"Food will be sent down in a bit, then."

He just nodded in response. Joseph supposed a 'thank you' was too much to ask for, since he was holding the man prisoner. Honestly, if it were just Joseph and Caleb on the ship, he would've let the man have an actual bed to sleep in and got rid of his chains. But he needed to ensure the safety of his crew. Their safety would always come first.

When he got up to the deck, he ordered one of his crew to bring supper to the prisoner and chain him back up. Cecelia was at the wheel again, and she nodded to him as he walked to his cabin. After the day they'd had, he was exhausted. Luckily, the port they usually went to for repairs was close and they'd be back up and running soon enough.

Joseph locked himself in his cabin for the night, his mind restless but his body ready to crash. He sunk into the chair at his desk and pulled off his coat, then his hat, and hung them on the back of the chair. The oval shaped mirror on the wall above his desk showed his sunset colored locs were disheveled and he had dark circles under his eyes.

Besides that, he had a few cuts and bruises all over his body, but thankfully nothing too severe. He looked away from the mirror and to the small framed portrait resting on his desk.

It was a black and white image, drawn from charcoal. A self-portrait of his late wife, and the last thing he had to remind him of what she looked like. It saddened him to see her perfect, round face, untouched by the fifthly hands of that pirate. All he could see when he looked at the portrait was the death in her eyes and the blood spattered onto her face the night he'd found her, naked and murdered in their bed.

He turned away from the photo and stood from his chair, rubbing his face. He needed to sleep, before he began thinking about his love. It was much too painful, and he'd already done his grieving. He just needed to kill the man who'd done that to her, and he'd be at peace. Maybe even ready to join her.