Abram looked at the strangely dressed woman before him.
Her expression was that of calm confidence, and her strange silver eyes bore into him with an intensity that compelled him to trust her.
"What… do you mean?" Abram asked. "Even someone like me can help?"
"Don't think so little of yourself, sir. If you did not have extraordinary qualities, you wouldn't have been assigned to this ship." Madam Dollie said.
Abram looked back out on the ocean and watched as the Dagon moved back and forth in a zigzag pattern. It didn't seem to be heading straight for them, but he thought it was moving a little closer every moment.
"What can I do about that thing… I don't have any special treasures or abilities like the Captain."
"Do not worry, sir: There is a special treasure on this ship that anyone can use, as long as they have the courage," Madam Dollie said. Abram scrunched up his face, wondering what she could be talking about, then his eyes drifted behind her, falling upon a massive device.
"The Fire Lance?" Abram asked, his jaw dropping.
"I heard a rumor once. You know of the boatswain Valos?" Abram nodded, and she continued: "He was once a lowly crew member, a new recruit in fact. One day, the Zheng Yi sailed caught the attention of a Scyvian battleship. Henry was sailing on a different ship in his fleet and left his then boatswain, Craven, in command of this ship. The battleship was hot on our tail, and the sea did not favor us. Craven continued to order a retreat, but Valos disagreed. Do you know what he did?"
Madam Dollie pointed her fan at Valos, who was standing at the stern of the ship. Abram shook his head, waiting in anticipation for the answer. She obliged him.
"Valos had seen the Fire Lance operated before. It is not difficult to do. It simply requires the touch of two hands, and the will of the user to aim and fire. Without receiving an order, Valos commanded the Fire Lance, single-handedly sinking our pursuer, and saving the entire crew. Craven was furious, but when Henry came back, he tossed Craven overboard for his cowardice, and Valos was promoted to boatswain. Or so the rumor goes."
The dramatic tale would have been hard to believe if it were coming from any other lips. But Abram believed every word.
"So if I use the Firelance, I can save everyone?" Abram asked, feeling equal parts nervous and excited. "But I need permission to do that…"
He trailed off, remembering what Caltry had told him before.
There were two people on the ship who could give someone permission to man the Fire Lance: Captain Morgan and 'her'. He realized now that at the time, Caltry was referring to Madam Dollie.
"Ma'am… Are you saying that… you are giving me permission to use the Fire Lance?"
"You want the people of this ship to respect you, sir. The crew, the boatswain, and the captain. If you were to engage in a spectacular act of heroism, you might be showered with praise and gain the recognition you deserve. I believe you to be someone capable of such heroics… Have I misjudged you?"
"U-uh no ma'am. I can do it. " He said. "I mean, I will do it." She smiled at him, showing pearly white teeth. If he wasn't so focused on psyching himself up for the task at hand, he would have noticed that four of her teeth were abnormally long and pointed.
Abram rushed towards the Fire Lance, first tripping over his own water bucket. He fell hard, but got up quickly, paying no heed to the fact that his nose was now bleeding.
He reached the massive tub-like device, walking around it until he found the manning station. A pair of levers jutted out at an awkward angle, each having a large orange gemstone on the end bigger than his palms.
Without thinking too hard about it, Abram placed his hands on the two gemstones, and they began to glow with orange light. Then something strange occurred:
Abram was suddenly outside his body, looking down on himself and the ship. He could still feel the gemstones in his hands, and the deck underneath his boots, but he could now look down at everything as if he were a bird flying over.
He looked into the distance to where the Dagon was swimming, and tried to will the Fire Lance to turn. The sound of gears could be heard, and crewmembers started pointing towards the bow of the ship as the massive weapon complied with Abram's wishes.
Once he thought he had a good shot, he tried to will for the weapon to fire, ignoring the man that was rushing toward him to try and stop his actions.
Intricate patterns along the Fire Lance began to light up one after another, an orange glow starting at the base of the cylinder and moving up to the massive nozzle. Once it reached the tip, a loud boom shook the ship.
A long bolt of dark orange energy shot towards the Dagon… And completely missed. It dodged around it easily and started moving directly toward the ship at an accelerated pace.
For a moment, Abram thought about willing the Fire Lance to fire again, but before he could, two hands forcefully tore him from the device.
"What has gotten into you, lad!" Caltry shouted. "I told you this thing was off limits."
"But the Dagon," Abram replied, a wave of exhaustion hitting him.
"You fool. You should have just left it alone. Now you are in much more trouble than you could imagine."
As if to prove his words, the door to the captain's quarters flew open.
"What in Hell is going on?" Roared Captain Morgan.
"A Dagon was sighted a good distance off Port-Bow," Valos informed him. "I was staying out of its hunting range, and then some suicidal Idiot decided to use the Fire Lance without permission. Now the beast is heading our way."
Morgan and Abram locked eyes. The rage in that stare could turn a man to jelly.
"I will deal with him in a moment," Morgan said to Valos. "First, we have a sea monster to slay."
"Want me to hit it with the Lance?" Valos asked.
"No. It's moving too fast. I will have to take care of it myself."
"But captain, if you mistime it, the creature will pierce right through the hull… It will sink us."
"Do you doubt me, Valos?" The boatswain swallowed.
"Of course not, captain." He took a respectful step back.
The captain held out his hand, and a saber appeared within it. He walked to the edge of the ship, facing down the Dagon that was only moments away from the ship.
He pointed the saber at the sea, and the ocean itself seemed to respond to the motion: a large stream of water flowed upwards towards the captain. He then assumed a peculiar stance, so that the blade was held horizontally behind his head as if he were about to swing a bat.
The water followed the motion, changing from a stream of water flowing toward him, to a large ring of water circling around him like a protective shield.
Then he waited. One moment. Two moments. Everyone on the ship held their breaths as they watched the Dagon hurtling towards them.
The Captain swung his blade in a downward arc, and the water circling around him shot downward in the shape of a thin crescent moon the size of a small building.
Right before the Dagon connected with the hull of the ship, the large blade of water connected with its 'neck', decapitating it, and killing its momentum instantly. The creature's body pitched sideways in the water, still making contact with the hull, but without causing any meaningful damage.
The ship rocked dramatically due to the force of the impact, and the green blood of the dead creature leaked into the ocean.
The Crew of the Zheng Yi collectively exhaled.
…..
Everyone had formed a large crowd around 3 individuals: Abram, Caltry, and Captain Morgan. Madam Dollie stood a short distance behind the Captain, watching the exchange with the eyes of a predator.
Morgan stood, lecturing the young boy, resting his hands on the hilt of his saber like it was a cane.
"Boatswain Valos was following his orders to keep the ship on an even course. He has years of experience under my command. If no action was taken, we would have stayed outside the Dagon's hunting range, and it would have left it alone, but because of your actions, you have endangered this ship, the entire crew, and my reputation. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes, Captain," Abram replied, looking down as the captain yelled at him.
"Look me in the eyes when I speak to you, boy," Morgan growled. "Tell me, why did you do it?"
"I wanted to do something heroic… I wanted respect, Captain."
"Respect? No matter which world I'm in, I will never respect stupidity."
Abram's heart dropped. He knew he had messed up, but why had things turned out this way? He had only wanted to help. His lip quivered.
"Caltry, did you tell him the rules of the Fire Lance?" Morgan asked.
"Yessir. I told him the first week he was on board that he needed your permission to touch the Fire Lance."
"So even without permission, you used one of the most powerful weapons on my ship. Is that right?" Morgan said to Abram.
Permission? There was still hope! A specific someone on the ship could vouch for him. If she told the captain what happened, maybe his reputation could be salvaged.
"W-wait! Captain, I had permission. Madam Dollie told me I could do it."
Morgan's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he turned to the woman behind him.
"Is this true, Dollie? Did you give him permission?" Madam Dollie put a hand over her mouth in shock.
"What? I assure you, such words never passed from my lips." She said. Abram's eyes grew wide. What was she talking about? Hadn't she put him up to it? He tried to sort through his memory to see if he could find a moment where she had explicitly given him permission, and realized that she had never put it into words.
She had merely implied it.
Caltry shook his head sadly as he watched the scene unfold. The captain sighed at Madam Dollie's response.
"If that's the story you are sticking to, there is nothing I can do." He turned back to Abram. "I'm sorry, son; you have proved to be untrustworthy. I have no need of a liability."
"Captain…" Abram started to say, but he never got the chance as his head was soon removed from his body by the Captain's saber, much like the Dagon's had before him.
A few sharp exhales sounded from the crew. They weren't shocked, but that didn't mean they were happy either.
Morgan then turned to the rest of the crew: "Alright, lot, get back to work." Everyone mostly followed suit, moving slowly away from the tragic scene. Morgan then turned to face Dollie once more.
"Why did you do it?" He asked her.
"Whatever could you mean?" She asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
"Don't play games. We both know this was your doing." A wicked, mischievous grin spread across her face, one that would be alluring to any other man, during any other situation.
"I was hungry, and I have not had anything to eat for weeks." Her fangs glistened.
"Dollie, I promised you I'd take you out to dinner." He said.
"That was a month ago." She said, pouting her lips. He groaned.
"Well, I suppose it's already done. I am going back into my cabin, and next time I come out I want this mess cleaned up."
"Of course. I will even lick the plate clean if you desire." She said. Morgan rolled his eyes and returned to his quarters.
Madam Dollie waited for the door to close, and then immediately got to work on the body. She placed her boot on the boy's shoulder, then bent over to grab his wrist, forcefully tearing the entire arm from his body.
As she brought the meat to her mouth, however, she became aware of the many eyes watching her. She met the gazes of several nearby crew members who wore horrified expressions on faces drained of color. One man looked like he was going to puke.
"Excuse me sirs, could you look the other way please?" She said, her voice sweet and innocent. "I am quite the delicate lady, you see, and I get bashful when people watch me eat."
Everyone gawking at her immediately turned their heads to look the other way. Only Caltry's gaze lingered for a moment.
"He should never have gotten involved with that monstrous woman," Caltry muttered to himself.