The Eighth Sea

Chapter 4

Wren

The prisons smelled like rotting fish and death, two things that Wren was quite familiar with, so at least he felt right at home surrounded by the rancid odour. Now, what he was not familiar with was the constant groaning and clanging that came along with being trapped inside a cold, dark prison with whiny prisoners who were far too sensitive about their upcoming doom. At least they could die.

Wren had been in many prisons before, but this was one of the worst in terms of prisoner service. The guards were harsh and cruel, and from what his cellmate told him, were always trying to find new ways to punish the inmates. And they didn't even give him a delicious last meal! Oh well. At least he'd be back on his ship in under a day.

As he leaned back against the damp, moss-covered wall, he listened to the other prisoners moaning and whining, some lamenting their fate, others cursing their captors. Wren couldn't help but feel a sense of superiority over them. They were weak, pathetic creatures who ended up in the jailhouse out of pure stupidity. Granted, he, too, was sitting in a jailhouse, awaiting his execution, but at least he had a plan for the future. Wren was different. He had worked around shipwrecks and mutinies (but not the Kraken), and he was certain that he could find a way to Levi eventually.

Levi. Oh, if that name didn't give him a sense of pride in his work. His curse, or rather, Scylla's curse, had actually worked! Only a man driven by greed would chase after his treasure, and Wren had never been a fan of selfish people. The man had seemed so innocent and harmless, but there was something about him that set Wren on edge. He had sensed a strength in the man, a willingness to continue living despite his curse.

To an extent, Wren wished he was like Levi. Not necessarily cursed, no, he had that. He wished he was able to die. It had gotten old: dying every few months only to reappear on the deck of his ship, watching his friends die with every shipwreck or botched mission.

But now, he finally had a chance to break the curse, and it all depended on Levi. If he could just convince Levi to come with him, he could finally be free. It was wholly selfish, but Wren was famous for his apathy.

"What're you in here for?" a mangy old man, a prisoner from the cell across from him, asked as he scratched his backside and picked at his teeth. Gross.

"Hm? Oh, just a small crime," Wren responded. "I managed to annoy the queen, kill a dozen of her guards; you know how it is. You?"

"Tax evasion."

"Hmm. The sexiest of crimes."

The mangy man winked flirtatiously. "You know it."

"Whoa, back off a bit there. You're old enough to be my great-grandfather, and he'd be three centuries old! Besides, I'm already taken."

"Hey, you started it," he huffed, before going back to scratching his rear.

"Alright, this is too weird for even me. I'm gonna turn in for the night. Might as well get some beauty sleep so that the guards have a pretty head to hang on their walls," Wren announced, stretching out his cramped limbs before curling up into a ball in the corner.

☆❊☆

He woke up to the sound of guards shouting and a bell clanging loudly. His cellmate had since moved in the night and was now holding onto Wren's leg like it was his lifeline. With a faint cry of horror, Wren immediately kicked the man off of his leg and brushed off his clothes. He'd be damned if he wasn't going down looking like the most attractive pirate of all time.

"Fields! Your time to die!" a guard announced, all too cheerily for this early in the morning. Or afternoon; Wren didn't really know how time worked at this point.

"Again?" he whined. "Killing me is so two weeks ago. I drowned."

"Oh, shut up," the guard replied, unlocking the door to let Wren out. "Hopefully this time will be permanent."

"Oh yes, I agree! It's been way too long."

"Bye!" the gross old man said as Wren was being dragged out of the prison. "I'll be thinking of you!"

"You'd better not!" Wren exclaimed cheerily.

Wren allowed the guards to lead him out of the prisons and out into the ridiculously cold morning air. He was immediately greeted by the loud cheering of the audience that had gathered to watch his execution—oh, they were in for a big surprise—and promptly waved at them, revelling in the attention.

"Looking good!"

As the executioner swung his axe in an arc down to Wren's exposed neck, Wren glanced out at the crowd to see who had called out, and immediately made eye contact with at least half of his crew who had gathered to enjoy the show.

Honestly, even though Wren was a bit miffed that they weren't willing to spare him the pain of a beheading (since the axe still really did hurt), he could hardly blame them for gathering to watch. It really was a pity that Wren himself never got to see the horrified reactions of the crowd when his body immediately decomposed into a skeleton, which pointedly brushed itself off before crawling back into the dirt, travelling underground towards Wren's treasure cave.

It was only a matter of seconds before Wren found himself back to life, this time aboard the Jolly Rancher instead of in the middle of the noisy square. However, he was not just anywhere on the Jolly Rancher; he was perched atop its highest mast, just barely balancing. One misstep and he would send another skeleton to join the bony procession towards the treasure cave.

Cursing his terrible luck, Wren awkwardly clambered down the mast, trying not to get his feet tangled in the rigging. Hector was already waiting for him on the deck, giving him that same irritated glare he wore each time Wren died again.

"Can you attack just one city without dyin' for the hundredth time?" Hector asked, sounding faintly irked. "Y'know, most people don't die so often. Why can't you be a bit more careful?"

"What's the point of being unkillable if I don't put it to good use?" Wren replied.

Hector just rolled his eyes in response, changing the subject. "What's the plan now, cap'n?"

"I still need to get that scribe from the queen, but I imagine that should be pretty easy. I just gave her some pretty solid proof that I am who I claim to be, and honestly, who wouldn't be intimidated by some recently killed pirate here to pester you for the second time?"

"Good luck. Try not to die again, or I'm not allowing you off the ship without supervision for the next month."

"You drive a hard bargain," Wren retorted as he prepared a rowboat to get back to the shore.

He rowed himself back to land, silently cursing Hector for not being kind enough to row his captain, who was still recovering from his last death, to the mainland and instead sipping some fruity drink while watching Wren struggle against the waves. Really, it was so hard to get good help.

As he stood at the docks, fastening his rowboat in place, Wren could already hear the confused cries of the audience back in the square. It seemed they still weren't over their shock after seeing his skeleton.

Wren strolled back towards the palace confidently, brushing past the shocked guards as he slipped past the front gate. This time, they were far too terrified of him to try to stop him, so he just walked straight to the queen's throne room. Queen Aria was already back on her throne, and it seemed she had been waiting for Wren.

"Why won't you just leave me alone," she snapped as he gave her an exaggerated bow.

Wren merely shrugged. "Just give me the scribe, and I'll be on my way."

The queen was quiet for a few moments. Wren could practically see the wheels in her brain turning as she considered her (limited) options. It didn't take long for her to wave one of her messengers over.

"Call for Levi," she demanded.

The messenger turned pale. "But surely, your majesty, you don't mean to hand him over to this pirate?"

"I have seen all the proof I need to realise this is indeed Captain Fields and that there is truth to his words," she replied. "I must do what it takes to keep my people safe from him, even if it means giving in to his demands."