"Retard! Now he's doing it?" Tess snorted, but couldn't hide the anger in her voice.
"He probably realized that the cow didn't have a spark, and it wasn't needed …" Alan sighed for the hundredth time.
"Wasn't my ass! Who'll bring us home?" Tess grew more furious by the moment, "I can't fucking scale a mast! Can you?"
Obviously she was angry at the captain for letting his people die, and only expressed it in her own way, but Lee couldn't care less. His interest was peaked and he excitedly watched another pillar of fire shooting to the sky, and then another one.
This was a game-changer. They had spent over three months on Isabella and no matter how one looked, Freewon seemed to be a regular person. In the end he turned out to be one of those superhumans, and if a random drunkard could become like that, it was highly likely one day Lee might turn into one as well. Especially considering the position of his step parents in the capital.
The two were not as thrilled though.
"Oh no …" Was all that Alan could say.
Looking at the stepfather's snow colored face, Lee was confused. Weren't the sailors finally winning? Clearly the guy wielding fire would kill a beast no matter it's size, right?
"Moron! Idiot! What the hell …" Even Tess ran out of curses, and Lee felt her fists clenching as she pressed him closer to her chest.
For a while they stood on the deck in silence, and from what Lee could see the situation on the shore was resolved. Beasts fell back to the sea, and the remaining humans grouped up around the leoramus that remained lying on the shore. It seemed that the captain managed to kill one after all.
Lee guessed that probably the amount of casualties was the reason for the reaction his stepparents had, but he could judge that the moment the crew got back, and, in fact, it didn't matter. What he was interested in was whether the hunters got the spark and how did it look like.
Surprisingly they didn't have to wait for long. Soon Lee noticed one of the boats returning, but as it came closer it was clear there were only four people aboard and one of them was either unconscious or dead.
When they got on the ship, Lee recognized the first mate, except the guy had lost his left arm. Either it was the adrenaline or the shock that didn't allow him to feel pain, the sailor didn't even flinch when he pulled the captain's charred body up on the deck.
"How many?" Alan plainly asked.
"Seven." Was the answer.
"Oh? Then it's not as bad!" Tess was surprised, but the next moment the atmosphere turned beyond oppressive.
"Seven out of thirty five remaining." The first mate corrected himself and pointed at the body he just lied next to them, "Including Freewon."
"Then you're fucking six." Tess stated, but Lee felt suffocated in her tight grip again, "Alan, take care of his arm, otherwise there will be only five. And don't do anything stupid."
Alan nodded, understanding the implication. There was no way to save the mans arm, thus there was no reason to spend his powers on it. Properly bandaging was enough.
Lee, on the other hand, was pissed. Just as the things got interesting, his stepmother brought him inside and remained there. Alan soon joined, but neither said anything.
For several days Lee could enjoy the undivided attention from both stepparents, and it looked like taking care of him helped the couple to alleviate the depressive mood. On any other occasion Lee would've been thrilled he was finally allowed to train his physical abilities, but currently he was more interested in the spark and the beast parts that were surely brought back to the ship.
Several days later, when the family once again resumed walks on the deck, he overheard one of the sailors curse that it was all for naught and the spark they got was practically useless. Nevertheless, he still wanted to see how one looked like and, more importantly, learn how to use it.
Lee was positive he had seen the sparks before and a couple of them were blue, just like the one from leoramus should've been. And what was with the captain's charred body? As a superhuman who wielded fire wasn't he supposed to be immune to it? Like those guys back then?
There were too many questions and it was unlikely Tess would answer any, even if he voiced them right now. Clearly he first had to gradually let her and Alan get used to him being some kind of a genius, and then ask about advanced subjects.
The six men crew did their best to get the ship to the closest port city, but as it turned out, the captain's failed gambit brought them far off the course. There was an option to turn back and after a month or a month and a half, depending on the wind, they would arrive to the Cloud continent.
Freewon's idea was to take on a ten to fifteen day voyage, and cross the sea instead of hugging the coastline like they had done up until now. It wasn't close to being safe – both from the weather perspective and regarding potential attacks from marine beasts, but he claimed he had done it before and assured the crew he could do it again. The best part about it – they would arrive as close to the capital as possible to flaunt their success sooner.
The one handed first mate, who technically was now the captain, discussed the situation with the remaining crew members and they decided to follow the original plan despite them having less than fifth of initial numbers. The argument 'it can't get any worse' was ironclad and the main thing was to keep the plan secret from the two big shots.
As expected, when a couple of days later Alan realized they were in the open sea, he could only sigh and return to the cabin to his family. Tess, of course, was furious, but she similarly couldn't do anything about the situation, but swore to peel the skin off the motherfuckers responsible for the idea after getting home.
As any sane person would assume, it actually was possible for things to get worse. On the third day Isabella was caught in a storm and the six men crew worked their asses off to keep the ship afloat. The situation continued to worsen for several days straight until one of the sailors fell overboard. Fortunately the sea calmed down right after, almost as if it was the necessary sacrifice to appease the gods of the sea.
The three passengers didn't have it that bad, but were still mercilessly thrown around their cabin. Strangely enough Lee never got seasick despite the air in the cabin becoming increasingly stale and heavy. He guessed that the faint blue light shining from Tess's chest area had something to do with it, and the worried looks Alan threw her way were confirming enough.
The stepmother didn't seem to care one bit. She happily chatted with Lee, ignoring the natural disaster outside, until few days later they finally could safely step on the main deck.
Either the first mate was not as competent as Freewon or the winds were not what he expected, it took another ten days for the crew to finally see the land. After two people went to the shore to get freshwater and maybe hunt, they returned with annoying news that judging from the environment they most likely had sailed far to the south-west instead of the north-west, and it'll take some time to get back home. Nevertheless, the shortcut they took payed off, if one ignored the sailor who fell overboard, of course.
It was warm and happy afternoon when Isabella finally arrived to the first town in months, but sadly there was not much left from its initial grandeur. Lee gathered that for the crew and his stepparents it has been over half a year since the departure from the Cloud continent, and that seemed to line up with the approximate time he was born.
After anchoring, the remaining crew gathered on the main deck and discussed whether to use their own boat or wait for one of the cargo boats that were already coming their way. Apparently the dock workers didn't have much to do since apart from Isabella there were only two other ships in the port. Clearly they rushed over to see if there was a chance to earn a quick coin.
Alan didn't feel that way though. He stared at the rapidly approaching cargo boats with weary eyes and at one point seemed to notice something.
"Teresa!" He whispered, and rushed to the door leading to the lower deck.
During the months Lee spent with his two stepparents he never heard Alan addressing her any other way than Tess, but the following events quickly cleared up why he did so now.
The stepmother was giggling a moment ago, but turned dead serious in an instant, and rushed after him. They didn't go to their cabin though. Alan led the small group to the cargo storage and, despite the dim lighting, quickly found a rope. Then, after inspecting Tess for a bit, he unceremoniously tore her clothing, and said, "Tie me up. You're a pious believer. We served governor Satcher."
While Lee had never been more confused in his lives, Tess only nodded and followed the instructions.