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A flash of light billowed for the shortest of moments from the blackest of skies, followed by a roaring crash and rushing waves the size of hills that surrounded a lonely vessel the size of a small merchant ship. Small flickers of candlelit lanterns scurried about in a hurry, distant voices shouting out to one another in despair of what could await them in beneath the abyss of the deep blue.

"Lower those sails, Mr. Smith, you help him, Mr. Leonard. We need to slow down the ship if we're to make it out of this storm alive. I need some of you to secure those cannons!! Hurry or they'll bring our deaths upon us a lot quicker than the might of sea." A voice, clear and crisp, commanded atop the stern of the vessel where its helm was located along with a tall man of slightly tanned porcelain color was holding the ship's direction steady. His blue eyes seemed tired from sleepless nights, his hair, although hidden beneath his hat, was matted and damaged by the sun, which was no different from his face that held such a grim look upon it. "Someone find my first mate!! Where is that girl, for heaven's sake or so help me God!"

"She's in the lower decks, Cap'n de La Coure, I'll get 'er." A man, drenched from the rain and the waves that fought against the vessel's movements, responded to his employer's call. Following his duty under his Captain, he scurried down beneath the chaos that awaited above him, looking for his fellow crewmen. "Marcela?? Miss Gaspar, Victor needs you above deck. I suggest ye hurry, the Captain seems to be have a rough time handling that wheel and we've got our necks with that storm on us."

The Captain let out an aggravated sigh but only shook his head once he saw his first mate. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Gaspar. You know the seas better than I do and I can surely tell you we've lost our heading about a mile back. But one of my fears have been realized, blasted water is filling my ship." The weary man let go of the helm, the wooden wheel spinning out of control, before straightening out his overcoat and his hat. "Alright, go below deck to your post and try to manage our situation with the water... the heading doesn't matter now. Our clients can wait a day or two. Next time don't hesitate to tell the messenger that you're busy trying to save our skins." A small smile was added to his final words as he gave a nod to the woman before him.

"I can only hope this storm is only passing by, rather than settling in around these waters." The Captain commented before rushing over to the railing above deck at the stern, letting out a short yet loud whistle. "Oy! What the bloody hell is the matter with you? Secure that fastline immediately!! What did I say about those cannons? If those get loose the entire hull will be damaged and we'll be the feast of whatever seafaring creatures of these here parts!! Get a move on!!" His words were directed at some sailors on the starboard end of the deck who seem to be having trouble with the cannons again. "Oh what the hell am I doing? Might as well get my hands dirty before I die."

The Captain graciously tapped his hat at his first mate before running down the small stairs leading down to the deck and the center of the ship. Despite the rain, his footing was well gripped on the wooden floorboards of his ship as he ran over to grab an end of a single rope. That same rope was attached to the four sets of cannons that were on that single side of the ship. "Come on then, lads. Pull!! Pull!! Careful now... careful, get it around the central mast and tie it down."

"Well done, men. Let's secure the ones on the port side and then we'll focus on the sails. The clouds are clearing ahead and we'll need all the speed we can muster to try and get out of this, otherwise we'll be in this storm until we sink." The Captain bellowed above the roar of the waves and the crack of lightning, his words despite their grim sentiments were always meant to encourage the men to gather that human desire to survive so that they can do their job with more motivation. It wasn't the best way but it was the only way he had learned when he was a young sailor, rather when he was a boy for he was still a young man.

Victor glanced over at the men who were popping up from the hold with their buckets, his heart racing at twice the speed as his mind ran wild with images of his ship sinking along with his men, but that changed once he noticed the urgency of the man subsided. That could only mean that Marcela had done a fine job, like always, and he would have to make it up to her later on. His attention reverted back to the men he was helping, grabbing hold of the rope to secure the cannons to prevent another incident. "Mr. Leonard, since you're free and wandering about, how about ye do me a favor and get a hold of the helm before we crash into a reef??" The satirical tone in his voice was both lenient but stressed as he pulled on the rope and pushed on the cannon near him to balance the weight as the ship rocked violently.

The sailor that Victor had addressed stared in fear, but snapped out of it immediately before stumbling about and scurrying above deck to the stern to take hold of the helm. "Go it, Captain, now what?"

"Oh for... West! WEST!! Just spin it and hold it to the left, we're already of course anyway. Just hold it against the waves so we don't turn over." Victor explained as he distracted the strain he was feeling from his arms before the others finally secured the cannons. Once he was relieved of that tedious task, he signaled the same group to get a hold of the sails and the mast. "You over there yonder, mind securing that cargo up there." His attention was now on a man above deck at the bow, where boxes were moving along to the rhythmic chaos of the storm. "When will this end?!"

"That's good news, Miss Gaspar, you had me worried for a moment's notice." Victor added with another small smile when he turned to look at her, realizing that the distance between them was in range of intimacy and so he took a discreet step back in time with the final shake of his ship. He also took notice that the rain was gone as well as the storm and his smile only grew brighter, all the while placing his hands at his hips and letting out a sigh of relief. "Ah, thank the Goddess of the sea. I think we've made... it..."

His moment of joy and relief left as quick as the rain had stopped, he quickly climbed the stairs to the bow before coming back down to meet his first mate and her brother. "Mist? In the middle of the summer? In the middle of the Ocean?" Victor quickly removed his hat to run his hand through the tangled mess that was his hair before placing the hat back on top of his head, his feet pacing about the deck as he heard Marcela's first call.

"We were heading East when we left Santo Domingo... The storm came in from the North..." The Captain was now pacing, looking rather disgruntled but oblivious to the situation. "I think we were pushed South, Miss Gaspar... Mr. Leonard, did you turn right or left?"

"Left, sir. You told me to steer... I steered right, sir. I must have let it slip when the last of them big waves hit us..." Was Mr. Leonard reply which was only followed by a string of swearing and angry muttering.

"Ahem... It's fine. We were going to end up here regardless of where you turned. Now what was that, Marcela?" Victor raised a brow as he questioned the woman before him. "If my calculations are correct, we're in the middle of nowhere and we haven't even left the blasted Carribean!! Oh my luck has been that of a bad gambler since the day I bought this ship." His frustrated attitude was so discomforting that he simply just plopped down on the deck and lied down on his back. "What's so bad about this mist, Miss Gaspar? Make my day."

Victor laid there having expected death during that horrendous storm and now he was spread out on the deck, hearing the words of his crewman about a terrible story that could possibly be the fate of his own crew and ship. His head was spinning, not literally, but his thoughts were racing so fast he could barely keep up and his breathing was no different as his chest heaved up and down from fear and excitement.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the reaction that his men gave off. They began to whisper among themselves before finally screaming out that they would die to their deaths if they didn't abandon ship. The panic was growing so dangerously that some of the men even began to bring down the boats to row away from the doomed ship.

"Enough! All of you stay put or I'll throw you off this ship myself!!" Victor commanded now on his feet, his face did indeed acknowledge the threat that laid beneath the story that Diego had told but he had to keep himself steady. "I believe your story, Don Diego. Even to say that I've heard of a similar story but only in books and even then when I was a child. It could be a myth, it could be a legend, it could be actual truth disguised as falsehood... I know not what to say to you men, but I do know this. if we are given the chance to defend ourselves against this thing then we shall. If you get on those boats and leave now, you'll meet a much slower death. It may be days or weeks before you drift ashore an island, that is of course you happen to go the right way, as in if you don't get caught in the current of the sea and out into the barren ocean that is endless as the sky itself."

The Captain's fearful face slowly changed as his mind began to get a hold of itself, as such he realized he had pulled out his sword in declaration of his words against the crew, which only made him shake his head and put it away. "Fool." Is what he muttered before approaching Diego and Marcela, calling over his shoulder to all his men before addressing the twins. "Prepare the cannons and clear the deck of any damaged parts, Mr. Leonard leave the helm and help the men, secure any part of the hold in case of being boarded... As for the two of you, come with me to the helm, we'll need to find a route out of here. Our only hope is to catch a decent wind to help us on our way, doesn't matter if we head back to the Isles of the French Empire or the Ports of the Portuguese or meet the sails of the British themselves... 'tis better a fate than that of confronting a ghostship."

The men gave a yell of hope as they all dispersed from their spots to get to work as Victor turned his back to the twins before leading the way back above deck at the stern, now that his resolve was strong there was little for him to fear other than that dreadful ship from Diego's tale.

Victor stared off into the empty world before him, the mist clouding his sight from the rest of existence and all that kept him alive was the presence of his First Mate beside him. It was a peculiar feeling of security that was with him when she stood there, only because he didn't feel alone like he always had for most of his life and that lonely feeling would struggle with the peculiar one whenever he moved the helm. He didn't remember sleeping that night and he didn't remember if he had even sat down to rest, but the next morning he was at the helm again - staring at nothing.

Something called reality had struck his ears when he heard a distant voice familiar to his memory, warmth of the day awoke his body and mind as a small smile played at his lips when the words processed in his brain. A gentle sigh escape as no reply came from his throat nor did anything leave his lips except for that solitary exhale, the whole concept of that moment felt like a long forgotten dream but it became more real when the simplicity of the mist dispersed from sight and disrupted his dream-like state.

His eyes only met that of a distant object, a disturbing speck out in the deep blue. When had day come? When had moonlight or the stars come? When did they get out of the mist?... When did that ship get in front of them?

Those icy blue orbs grew wide and surprised as the Captain came crashing back down to the world around him, placing his hands on the helm once more and spinning it so hard it seemed that the helm would fall off and roll away. The Serendipity changed its course immediately, turning whichever way the Captain had turned the helm and a long melodic whistle bellowed from the stern of the vessel.

"Wake up, the lot of you, we have work to do!! Get those cannons ready on the starboard and aim at that ship. And someone get all the sails up so we can catch the next bit of wind that travels on these parts, I don't care if its a small breeze, just get me those sails up. NOW!!" Orders from the Captain nearly hadn't reached the ears of his men if it had been for his whistle and this time the man wasn't just standing but moving about. He quickly approached his first mate, giving her a bit of a shake to get a move on. "Marcela, snap out of it!! I need you now more than ever. I'm not giving up this ship not even to some wily baroness of wrecked ships."

Meanwhile, the men tried to muster up the will to follow the Captain's order and despite their nervous speed they were getting the job done. Pairs of sailors loading up the cannons with gunpowder and ammo, as others raised every sail on that ship.

The Captain returned to the helm to turn the ship, by now the second ship nearing them but it wouldn't catch the Serendipity at a good vantage point for its cannons, if anything the Serendipity had the upper hand.

Victor stood there idly, fidgeting and restlessly, waiting to see what would happen but when the moment came, he greatly regretted waiting for it with open arms. He was so... so confused, he didn't know what to do, what could he possibly do against that thing? He was but a man of no strength and no significance but to his ship and crew.

The odd encounter grew even more strange and frightening when the ship had caught up with the Serendipity and rode along side it without no struggle. Victor wanted to whine and yell at whatever higher being there was up there, watching, but all he could muster to say was, "Is it too much to ask for a little wind?"

The men had given up as they were scared out of their wits and weren't prepared to die, as no sane man would be. But no whispers, no cries for help, no creaking on the deck from scurrying men could be heard once that ship was alongside the Serendipity.

Along with his men, the Captain was staring at the woman with the strange eyepatch across from them on that evil vessel of the seas. He wanted to ask her something, he wanted to say something to her but his voice seemed to be gone and that didn't change once the ship widened the gap between them and their doom. It didn't change when those hatches opened and those cannons were preparing to fire, not even when they did fire.

He remembered hearing the gunpowder roar and hitting the floor, but he didn't remember moving. When the moment passed, Victor only realized that he had been saved by his First Mate and he stared at her for a very long time before glancing over at the ship in the distance. He got to his feet when he saw no harm had been done, which he couldn't explain how that happened but he wasn't going to stick around to ask questions.

Victor didn't whistle this time, instead he walked over to the rail and without taking his eyes from the Corinth, he simply waved at his men to move. His voice started as a whisper before growing louder and louder. "It missed. It missed! Its not firing again!! This is our chance, we're heading back to the Carribean!!" Victor couldn't see the girl anymore on the ship and when he looked at his men down on the deck staring back at him with ludicrous expressions on their faces, his patience only grew thin. "We're running away, you fools. Hurry!!"

In that instant a couple got their wits together and began working and slowly the others followed suit. But Victor's main concern was the Gaspar twins as he was approaching them and offering his hands to help them up. "You two are a special pair... Come on, we're not out of this yet and we'll need you to be awake if we want Diego to cheat death twice." He gave Gaspar a little encouraging pat considering the man had been traumatized by the encounter before turning to meet his First Mate's gaze. "I owe you, Marcela. That's twice in under a week you've saved my skin... and don't you dare say you were just doing your job. I owe you."