A man was walking down a beach, in a remote isle. It was late at night, and the man had just gone to get some water from the well. Normally, this man wouldn’t dare to go out so late at night, but there was a mishap in his family’s kitchen. And as the only man in his house, he had to refill his family’s water supply for dinner tonight.
He didn’t mind though. Long walks on the beach were some of his favorite past times. Hearing the waves crashing along the shore, feeling the sand beneath his feet, and smelling the fresh salty air helped him relax during his mundane duties. Because even though life here seemed to be boring, he enjoyed his peaceful life and he wanted things to stay that way.
With his home approaching ever closer, the man heaved the heavy bucket of water as he called out to his mother.
But that night, he was only met with an ominous silence.
The man opened his eyes and immediately rose from his bed. His breath was heavy and erratic, he clutched his chest to feel his heart beating like a drum. Cold sweat dripped from his head, as he slowly tried to recollect his thoughts. “That dream again…” he muttered, as he began to sniff out his surroundings.
His nose picked up the familiar scent of the sea with a hint of body odor that almost made him puke. Perking his ears, he could hear the rocking of wood between crashing waves. Feeling the area, his hands came in contact with the smooth cotton sheets of his bed, and the rough wooden wall. From these tells, the man had deduced that he was on a ship of some kind.
“Finally awake huh? It’s about bloody time.”
The man turned his head to the sound of the voice. Judging by the man’s voice, he was probably someone of high authority on this ship.
“How long was I out?” The former castaway asked.
“Straight to the point, eh?” The captain chuckled. “You were out for a couple of hours. We only just fished you out when you tried to strangle one of my men.”
“Apologies…” The former castaway bowed his head.
“No worries, the man is alright. So no need for bad blood.” The Captain leaned forward and stared down at him. “So where are your crewmates? Were they as fortunate as you during yesterday’s disaster?”
The man put a hand to his chin to recollect what happened yesterday. “... No. I was by myself when the storm struck.”
The captain looked at the man, skeptical of his story. “Quite a bit of supply rocking around what’s left of your boat… I find it hard to believe you need it all for one person.”
“Well, that is the truth.” The man confidently replied. “I was planning to go fishing, and my family is big. I only wanted to make sure I had enough barrels for the catch.”
“I see…” The captain looked at the man, his suspicion was still clear. “Then what of that helmet on your head?”
The man felt his head when he felt the cold familiar feeling of metal across his fingers. His helmet was still adorned upon his head.
“We tried removing it earlier, but every time one of my men touched it, you reflexively punched them in the face.” The captain remarked.
“Apologies… again.” The man once again bowed his head.
“As I said, there is no need for bad blood.” The captain comforted. “I could only assume that you have that helmet on for a reason. After all, no normal fisherman would wear the helmet of a warrior after all…”
“... The mask is to hide my deformities.” The man reluctantly replied.
“Deformities?” The captain repeated.
“I’m not exactly much to look at, so I wear this helmet to hide my face.” The castaway informed.
“I see… “The captain muttered. “Well, your story seems to add up. But there’s one thing wrong with it.”
“And what is that?” The man asked, curious as to what this captain was talking about.
“You’re Blind.” The captain blatantly pointed out.
At these words, the room fell silent, both occupants barely moved from their respective areas. The man gripped the sheets of the blind while looking away from the captain’s voice. Though no words were said, it was all the captain needed to know that he was right.
“...What makes you think I’m blind?” The man finally inquired. “You told me yourself, that your men couldn’t touch my helmet, so there’s no way you could get a closer look at my face.”
“True. I did say that.” The captain replied. “But your actions speak louder than words. The fact that you only noticed my presence when I actually spoke, told me everything I need to know about your sight.”
The captain stared down at the blind man for a good minute before the man finally sighed.
“It’s a force of habit,” He replied. “But I speak the truth that I was out fishing.”
“There is much to ridicule with that claim though.” The captain pointed out. “The Sea is no place for a man without sight. There are no paths to follow, no ground for you to touch, and the same noises and smells for miles around. So your story fails to hold water.”
Once again, the room fell silent. The captain stared down the man, hoping that he could get him to speak his true intentions. Instead, the man continued to keep his lips sealed, only this time his silence was not out of shock, but out of annoyance. In the shadow of the man’s helm, the captain could make out the faint expression of a scowl on his face.
This meant only one thing for the captain, and it was that this stranger wasn’t going to talk anymore.
The captain immediately got off his position and began to walk to the door. He knew that pressing the man further wouldn’t be a good idea, so it was better to leave him alone for now.
“... Well if you aren’t going to tell your whole story, I’m afraid we can’t let you leave the infirmary. So do me a favor, and stay here until we reach back to shore.”
The stranger merely nodded his head, as the captain left the room.
A few minutes after the captain left, the blind man grasped his face and sighed. “... Shit.”
On the lower deck, the captain was currently speaking to his cabin boy about certain matters.
“So ya want me to guard the crazy guy?” The cabin boy looked at his captain as if he was staring down the minotaur itself. “... Are… Are ya sure he won’t try to escape and try to kill us?”
“Not likely” The captain shook his head. “His boat is already smashed and it would be foolish of him to end the people who know how to operate this vessel, especially out at sea.”
The cabin boy nodded in agreement with his captain’s logic. But his face still showed concern over the matter. It was only natural. After all, this stranger could literally fight them in his sleep. So he was a clear danger to this ship and the men on it.
“Look kid, you just have to stay outside the infirmary and make sure he doesn’t leave. You don’t have to even be inside.” The captain reassured.
“But sir!” The captain objected. “What if he’s the one that angered Poseidon!”
The captain’s soft expression turned into a frown upon hearing that sentence. “... And what makes you think that he would be that man? I thought you and the rest of the crew agreed that they would be long dead by then.”
“I… I did but, that man is clearly strange.” The cabin boy twiddled his fingers as he looked down at the ground. “It’s why you interrogated him right? Because you also suspected something about him…”
“... Indeed.” The captain calmly agreed. “He is indeed hiding something. But it’s in our best interest to just leave him alone and continue on as normal.”
“But he could spell our doom!” The cabin boy began to raise his voice. “We should just drag the bastard up top and throw him over the side! We shouldn’t be giving him hospitality if it means we can-”
“Elpenor!” The captain bellowed. Upon hearing his name, the Cabin Boy Elpenor shut his mouth, realizing he had gone too far.
The captain merely shook his head. “Sailor Code No. 5…”
“All sailors are to rescue any survivor found at sea,” Elpenor replied. His head was lowered in shame upon being reprimanded by his leader.
“Exactly.” The captain nodded. “So even if they could spell trouble for us, we will treat them with the utmost care. Lest we earn the ire of Poseidon as well. Understand?”
“... Understood sir,” Elpenor muttered before walking towards the infirmary.
The captain walked in the opposite direction, back onto the top deck. Serifos was at least a day away, but if they sailed at night they could reach there by dawn. Normally, the captain would be ill-advised in navigating the sea at night, but he knew better than to stick around with his new guest on board.
He’s not sure, but he has a gut feeling that the castaway they brought onto their ship was an enemy of the Poseidon. That meant that the longer this man stayed on his ship, the more likely Poseidon would target his vessel next. So getting him back to the mainland was their utmost priority at the moment.
While he wasn’t looking forward to the upcoming overtime happening today, he was going to make sure his crew was going to get out of this bind.
‘Hopefully, nothing will go wrong before we reach the shore.’ The captain thought to himself as he began to order his men to prepare the sails.
But unbeknownst to them, a large shadow was forming beneath the water, and slowly catching up to them.
