Here you are guys. Got another chapter out. This chapter is mostly dialogue, with about no action. Next few chapters will be pure action, I promise haha.
Chapter 10: Death’s Borders Broken
“Davy? What’s going on in there?!” Zolina yelled.
“I’m coming mate!” Sam said.
Davy heard the footsteps of his friends approaching the back room, where he lay on his knees, still staring in disbelief. The figure before him stared back, in a mixture of expressions. Davy could see shock, fear, and curiosity.
It can’t be… Davy thought to himself. His friends had gotten here, and gathered at the entrance to the room. Davy didn’t look, but he could hear some of them gasp and mutter.
“B-Billy?” Davy asked.
“Who?” the man before him asked, who Davy had found was his lost brother. His brother who had died saving him and the Sorcerors ten years ago. Davy ignored what he said and tackled him in a massive bear hug, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“I thought I lost you, brother,” Davy said through choked sobs. “You were dead though, I saw you die. How are you here?”
“Wait a minute!” Billy said, pushing Davy away. “What’s going on? Who are you people? How do you know me? I don’t even know myself!”
Billy stood up and walked past Davy. Davy sat on the floor in shock, not knowing what to think. His brother couldn’t have just forgotten him. What was happening?
“Billy,” Sam said, stopping him as he walked out. “You remember me, don’t you? It’s Sam Bladebeard! You lived with me. We were best friends. Remember?”
Billy looked down, as if straining to remember. He bit his lip, and just stood for a moment.
“Ahh!” Billy yelled in frustration. He stormed outside of the room and into the tavern, kicking over a stool on the way. “Just… ahh! I don’t remember anything! Who are you?!”
“Billy,” Zolina said softly. “I’m Zolina, this is Sam, and Kate, Meg, and your older brother Davy. You remember us, right? We’re the Shadow Sorcerors, your friends and crew.”
“Don’t you remember the
Shadow King?” Meg asked. “Our ship?”
“I don’t remember anything!” Billy cried out, waving his arms. “I just woke up here one day, a while ago. I… I don’t know what happened. Who I am, who you are, how I got here, anything!”
“Billy,” Davy said, putting an arm on his brother’s shoulder. “You’re name is William Fireskull, but you go by Billy to us. You’re my younger brother. You served aboard the
Shadow King, our ship. You saved us all when you sacrificed yourself to destroy Jolly Roger. And —”
Davy was interrupted by a whimpering. He had completely forgotten about Smelly. Everyone’s attention turned to the dog, who was staring in disbelief at his long lost master. His ears went down and his tail began to wag.
“Who’s dog is tha—” Billy never finished his sentence, because just then, Smelly jumped on him and began licking his face. Billy struggled, and pushed the dog off of him. Smelly whimpered, and trotted off into a corner, where he sat down sadly.
“You don’t even remember your dog?” Kate asked.
“I don’t remember anything, I told you. I just woke up here on this island with no memories of anything. The only memory that came back to me was when I walked into this plaza, and saw this horrific battle scene…”
“Complete memory loss, eh?” Witchdoctor Dan stepped forward. Everyone had completely forgotten he was there. He had been watching from the back, seeing what was going on and waiting to come out. Everyone stepped aside as he came to examine Billy.
“Hmm… very strange…” Dan muttered. “You just, woke up! Poof!”
“Aye,” Billy said carefully, eyeing Dan carefully.
“Now what none of you fools have commented on,” Dan said. “Was the fact that Billy here should be dead. Dead. Laying at the bottom of the ocean with the shipwreck of
The Harkaway. Now I can’t help but wonder, why are you here now?”
“I told you, I don’t know,” Billy said.
“Mmm, aye, you’ve said that,” Dan muttered. “Let’s make a hypothesis, shall we? Billy here died ten years ago, aye? Well, we all know about all the dead rising and end of the world and such, well, I think that the fact that Billy was a strong user of voodoo in life made it so he would be more probable to be resurrected should something like this ever happen. So here he is today. The fact that you have no memory left is probably due to the fact that you were dead for ten years. Bring a man back to life after that long, he won’t remember anything unless it was particularly scarring, such as that scene you remembered.”
“Alright then,” Billy started. “Since your so well acquainted with the dead, then explain to me why that strange red orb, which I am now guessing is a ghost, didn’t attack me when it approached.”
“Interesting,” Dan said. “Rage Ghosts are normally very aggressive. Hmm… aha! Of course! Rage Ghosts have a grudge on the living! They didn’t attack you because you are dead!”
“I suppose that explains me being unkillable,” Billy muttered. “Wait a minute, I’m dead?”
“Aye, it’s a disturbing thought, isn’t it? One day I thought I was dead, but then it turned out that—”
“Dan!” Davy said. “Is there a way we can cure his memory?”
“It can be done,” Dan said. “But I would need a lot of time, which we don’t have. I understand that it is important for us to get Billy’s memory back, but we have to get to the mines.”
Davy nodded, “Aye, you’re right. Billy, trust us. We’re your friends.”
Billy was silent for a moment, and then nodded.
“Well,” Sam said, clasping his hands. “Now that that’s settled, I say we get some sleep and some food. We have a long day tomorrow.”
The others nodded in agreement. People pulled up stools and grabbed some of the remaining drinks in the bar, and Dog was able to find some food in the back. The group had a good meal, and after a little bit of talking, everyone found a spot on the floor and went to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was late now, but Davy couldn’t sleep. There was too much on his mind. He was still in shock that his dead brother was back. He had mixed feelings. His first was obviously joy. His long lost brother who he had loved so much was back after being taken unfairly. Was there reason not to be happy? There was. Another part of Davy told him that the fact that his brother was back was simply not natural, and it partially scared him that he was back. It wasn’t like Jolly Roger raising the undead, who were mindless and served him without any objections. This was just… different.
Finally, Davy couldn’t take it anymore. He slowly crawled to where Billy was laying down. He could see that Smelly had moved closer to his returned master, but Billy hadn’t noticed. The dog lay sound asleep. Billy turned over to see Davy coming to him. He made no sign of any kind as he approached. Davy sat next him, and offered a small smile.
“Ahoy Davy,” Billy whispered, trying to offer a smile back.
“Ahoy Billy,” Davy responded. “Billy… I… I know this is hard for you. Your memory gone and all. But we’ll fix it. I promise.”
“You know,” Billy said softly. “Sometimes I remember things. Little things, like senses, sounds, those things, aye? But never anything full… like seeing only the colors of a painting, the raw material… but I can’t put it together to make the full picture. When you stumbled upon me, well, I felt something.”
“And what was that?”
“Love. I guess part of me, somewhere, remembers that you’re my brother.”
A small tear streamed down Davy’s face. He couldn’t help but smile. Part of his brother was still there in his mind. Trapped, but still there.
“Where are we going tomorrow?” Billy asked Davy. “That Witchdoctor said something about a mine?”
“I’ll tell you in the morning,” Davy said with a small smile. “Until then, we should rest. Good night brother.”
“Good night…”
Davy moved back to his sleeping area. The borders of death, separating the two Fireskull brothers had been broken.
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I hope that chapter answered some questions you guys had, haha.