Lucy awakened, roused by the chill and damp of the dense fog that had rolled into the harbor during the night. Shivering, she got up and began packing her few belongings. The inn in town would be much more comfortable than any ship.
As she pulled a small box from the hold, its lid opened and two pieces of paper fell onto the deck. “So that’s where they were,” she murmured. She picked up the papers – death certificates – and by lantern light, proceeded to read the names out loud. “Lone Powder Dudley. Lost Grip Drosselmeyer." There would have been a third name, she reminded herself, had not her more merciful shipmate stayed her hand, insistent upon capturing the pirate instead of killing him.
“What have I become?” she asked herself. Before taking on pirate hunting, she had never considered doing harm to another person regardless of what crimes they may have committed. Thanks to her shipmate’s firm sense of justice, she had at least been spared the additional blood-guilt of a third victim; but she would never forget the expressions of utter disbelief on the faces of the other two just as her well-aimed arrows embedded themselves in their hearts.
“This is why so much has gone wrong,” she whispered. “This is why Lulu was taken... why my other sisters have gone away... why I'm now alone. The powers that be are punishing me. I’ve become the very thing I detest most in this world… a murderer.”
Lucy paused to wipe her eyes, tucked the box underneath her arm, then launched the small rowboat that would take her to shore.
To be continued…
As she pulled a small box from the hold, its lid opened and two pieces of paper fell onto the deck. “So that’s where they were,” she murmured. She picked up the papers – death certificates – and by lantern light, proceeded to read the names out loud. “Lone Powder Dudley. Lost Grip Drosselmeyer." There would have been a third name, she reminded herself, had not her more merciful shipmate stayed her hand, insistent upon capturing the pirate instead of killing him.
“What have I become?” she asked herself. Before taking on pirate hunting, she had never considered doing harm to another person regardless of what crimes they may have committed. Thanks to her shipmate’s firm sense of justice, she had at least been spared the additional blood-guilt of a third victim; but she would never forget the expressions of utter disbelief on the faces of the other two just as her well-aimed arrows embedded themselves in their hearts.
“This is why so much has gone wrong,” she whispered. “This is why Lulu was taken... why my other sisters have gone away... why I'm now alone. The powers that be are punishing me. I’ve become the very thing I detest most in this world… a murderer.”
Lucy paused to wipe her eyes, tucked the box underneath her arm, then launched the small rowboat that would take her to shore.
To be continued…