"Royal Flush."

  A tall bronze skinned man ughed as he finished the st sip of brandy, with a cigar intertwined in his finger.

  "Captain, you always win. It's not fair. I won't py with you again." A hazel haired man compined. He wore a polka dot scarf around his neck and was dressed in a trashed navy blue coat with a brown rugged t-shirt underneath paired with bck trousers and brown boots.

  The bronze haired man took a puff of his cigar and slowly stood up from the chair, he patted the hazel haired man's shoulder gently as he spoke.

  "As captain I order you to py with me and no one else."

  The hazel haired man grumbled as he stretched his arms, lying on the round table in sadness.

  "Not fair, captain. Bullying your first-mate like this."

  Captain Buckwick smirked, his golden teeth twinkling under the mplight.

  "The quicker you grasp it, Finnegan, the stronger you'll be. Power rests in the muzzle of a gun, and the master of that gun? What does he become? The Captain."

  The bronze haired man walked toward the wooden door. His height was almost three meters, he looked akin to a monster as he walked.

  He retrieved a sleek bck hat hanging upon the back of the door, a hat that had the embroidery of a skull drawn upon it.

  Pirates.

  Holding the cigar in his mouth, Captain Buckwick walked toward the deck. He looked at the treacherous waters of the Pasafique ocean. It was dark, empty as if calling toward him.

  The small light from the cigar illuminated the waves below and the bronze haired man stared into it… looking at his reflection. His fingers reached out to the waters.

  "Watch yourself, Captain... lest the sea cims you as its own."

  Buckwick slowly pulled his fingers and turned around. A small smile curling onto his face as he looked at the new person behind him.

  "Finished frolicking with the wenches, are we?"

  The new person was fair skinned with sleek ebony locks, he was dressed simir to Captain Buckwick. He walked toward the railings of the ship, a foot away from the bronze skinned man.

  "Aye."

  He rubbed his matchstick to light a fme to light up his cigarette only for it to flicker away due to the gentle breeze that came his way.

  The fair skinned man sniffed the air that smelt like salt as it suddenly came at a standstill. He looked toward a certain direction where thunder boomed and the clouds crackled with white in them.

  "We're sailing straight into a tempest, Captain Buckwick."

  The bronze skinned man looked ahead where the dark clouds threw electricity down toward the water, making the waves dance and tingle. Taking a puff of his cigar, he rexed a little before speaking.

  "The treasure of Morgana. It lies in that storm."

  He looked at his, first mate with a ck of urgency.

  "Chart the course for me to take the helm and wake the others until then I shall take a nap..."

  Ethan Bckwood nodded. He was the navigator for the Doomskull Pirates and this was Captain Buckwick Doomeye. One of the Thirteen Pirate Kings. One of the strongest and most influentials Pirates to exist on sea and in the current era.

  Each Pirate King has at least an entire ocean at their command, the uniteral right to loot ships, cargo, ravage…. be it the navy, merchants or pirates.

  Although the benevolent captain like many other Pirate Kings takes protection fees from the pirates in his ocean, sometimes he simply destroys them all and take their entire treasure.

  Afterall, he is Buckwick Doomeye. The Pirate King of Anhition.

  Of course, one does not need to follow the ws in the Pirate Constitution but for some… they are sacred.

  Until now, everyone that has opposed the legendary pirate ship- 'Ats' has come to realize why the Captain's st name is Doomeye.

  However such realizations only come to one in the afterlife, until then they all live in ignorance.

  Ethan removed his compass out from his pocket. There was no needle in it… only four directions but the navigator already knew where he had to chart the course toward.

  Gncing at the sky above, he observed them before nodding. Walking toward the desk in the base room of the deck, he used the protractor to mark the locations and the route that had to be taken.

  After a few minutes of careful observation and mapping, Ethan grabbed the map and put it inside of the chart tube while climbing above the stairs to the deck.

  As he gnced at the sky in the distance, a chill went down his spine. For some reason, Ethan had an ominous feeling about the storm.

  However he was not scared, his belief in the Captain, Ats and the Doomskull Pirates was unwavering. They had been through storms that could eat nations and had survived. Not even a storm created by God could end them.

  The unique power of Ats lied in its special ability. It was a ship that could never sink, that was its unique selling point.

  "I should inform the others…. "

  ~

  Before long, the arm bells were ringing and the scout on the Crow's Nest's shriek could be heard all across the Ats.

  "STORMMMMM!!!! STORM!!!! STORM IN THE DISTANCE!!!!"

  As the ship sailed, the waves became more turbulent, pitch bck clouds covered the violet night sky.

  Red thunder boomed in the distance and struck the water with power. This simple action parted the waves causing them to collide with the ship with a lot of power.

  With each passing second, the storm was becoming stronger and heavy rain began to pour down. Gigantic waves crashed against the ship as it sailed through them.

  On the Ats, water gushed onto the wooden board and the sailors hung to any furniture that they could find with extreme precision, ready to battle with the waves.

  Soon the ship was in a position where it rose into the sky, riding an enormous wave capable of sinking an entire city. It was a phenomenal scene, from a far low angle it would seem as if the ship had raised as high as the moon, touching it.

  Today was the 13th of the Month, Janvier, year 1435 of the Eramnesian Calender. However there was only a single moon present in the sky- The Phantom Moon, while all the others were in the dark.

  "…according to my calcuted records and today's date… there should be two moons in the sky but why is there only one?"

  Captain Buckwick was in a dilemma. This was something he had noticed since the evening graced the boundless waters.

  At first he ignored it but with the approaching storm and the abnormal size of its waves, he was a little taken aback by the influence of the celestial body on the waters and the storm.

  From the window in his captain's chamber, he looked out at the dark waters and the phantom moon in the sky that had a wide smirk etched onto its face.

  The eyes were hollow and shaped like triangles while its usual creepy smile had curled further than its usual state.

  "The Phantom Moon is excited tonight." The captain put a finger upon his chin as he contempted.

  It was never a good sign when the Phantom Moon was excited also considering the fact that the only time The Phantom Moon would be alone in the sky without the company of the other moons was once in thirteen years.

  Sighing lightly, Captain Buckwick gnced at the ghosts and spirits around him. Some of them were banging their head on the wall, while some wailed in agony and the others ughed psychotically while trying to kill themselves despite being dead and having no physical body.

  Grunting, Buckwick wore his eyepatch again and instantly all the ghosts, phantoms and spirits disappeared from his vision.

  He rubbed his ears with irritation as he gnced at the moon in the distance that was flickering like the fire of a faint candlelight. At that moment, Buckwick felt that the eyes of the moon were directly gazing at him, he could swear that the moon's smile had curled even further.

  "Tch…." Buckwick clicked his tongue in annoyance. "The ghosts are freaking their non existential brains out today."

  The Phantom Moon had always been a headache to Buckwick. The entities reted to the Astral World would be the strongest when the Phantom Moon would shine in the sky.

  Today was even worse since there was no other moon to block its influence. Captain Buckwick despite not being able to see the ghosts could hear them loud and well, they were freaking out. Each and every one of them.

  Captain Buckwick was a little confused although. "However it is different, I have never seen them this psychotic before. Is it because of the Moon's mood tonight?"

  Confused as he was, Buckwick shook his worries. They mattered naught for he was the Captain of the Doomskull Pirates. Something he took immense pride in. It was not much to worry about.

  Outside of the Captain's Cabin, sailors pulled the ropes for the mast with all their might as the wind swayed with great power while the sves below in the lowest floor of the ship did their best to oar the emergency galley style sweeps.

  However right at that moment, a huge tentacle rose from the depths of the ocean and grabbed the leg of one of the sailors.

  Before the sailor realised, he was already in the air, he filed his body and wailed loudly but to fail for he was pulled mercilessly inside the murky waters of the raging Pasafique.

  The others gnced at each other and screamed loudly, some gripping the rope tighter while some loosening their grip.

  "Kracken!!!!"