-
The Shanty Codex I, by Saint Morgan LeFay.
Calling Leonie overwhelmed would’ve been an understatement.
A week passed, yet he showed no signs of recovery.
As she sat on a stool near the comatose bounty hunter, she lamented not being more careful. The young woman used to pride herself on being cautious, yet here she was, nursing a man who was on the verge of death because of her.
“Oh, Yves,” she said with a sigh. “I’m so sorry.”
Had it not been for her brother, she would’ve succumbed to the same ailment, as she didn’t understand half the symptoms Yves showed.
As the days dragged on, the details of the job that landed him in such a situation became a haze—something that only intensified her confusion.
Think, Leonie, think!
The client’s appearance wasn’t much to speak of, making it nearly impossible to locate her in the wild. The same went for her speech patterns and mannerisms. She could’ve been from anywhere, making narrowing it down equally unachievable.
“Eloise. Alize. La Frontera,” she pondered aloud. “What does any of that mean?”
For the past few days, Leonie hadn’t thought much of it, attributing it to the fever that swiftly turned into a coma. But on second thought, Yves wasn’t that kind of person. Gibberish wouldn’t be his last words—not when he could provide a clue instead.
The vagueness presented another issue, however. Leonie might have been an intel broker, but she wasn’t the most knowledgeable, and that left her but one choice.
“I’ll be back soon,” Leonie said as she turned her gaze to Yves. “Don’t die on me, alright?”
Or else I won’t forgive myself.
Luckily, it was the late afternoon, a period that brought with it the heaviest traffic to their establishment. Leonie essentially sprinted to the ground floor, looking for a broker she could rely on.
“Leonie!” a feminine voice said from the side. “What’s the rush?”
Leonie turned and was greeted by Lucia’s gorgeous face. “Lucia! When did you make it to Orange Town?”
“Just now,” Lucia replied with her characteristic smirk. “I thought I should drop by.”
Lucia Santiago’s case was a curious one. She was a black market supplier who had the best intel, yet none had the slightest clue where she got it from.
And no one knows how it’s always correct.
“What about your mates?” Leonie wondered. The fact that she mostly traveled alone gave the younger woman second-hand anxiety, but the sentiment didn’t seem to be shared.
“Who needs a ship when you can just swim?” Lucia said as she sipped her rum.
“Rum at this hour?” Leonie asked in shock, causing Lucia to snort.
“It would take a lot more to get me drunk.”
The Submerged were truly enviable. One could have all the artifacts in the world, but as long as the blessings weren’t a part of your body, you didn’t truly have agency over them.
If only I could afford a fragment.
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Leonie cut straight to the point. “Do you know what this means?”
She then handed Lucia a piece of paper with the words Yves had mumbled before passing out.
“Eloise? Small-fish pirate,” Lucia explained. “Alize? No clue. La Frontera? Likewise.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“One out of three—not bad,” Leonie said in an attempt to lighten the mood, which failed miserably
“That’ll be two silver,” Lucia said with a serious expression, before bursting into laughter a second later. “Chin up! You know I’d never charge my little Frenchie sister.”
The confirmation that Eloise meant something was validating to Leonie. Whatever Yves had said before blacking out wasn’t gibberish after all.
“Well, I hope you mean it,” Leonie said as she took a seat next to her old friend, “because I have a few more questions.”
The Jamaican woman snorted. “Bring it on.”
Leonie asked the only relevant question. “What can you tell me about Eloise?”
Lucia’s amusement turned into disgust.
“Not much to be said, truly. Rolled with Anne Bonny for a while—neither she nor her brother was competent enough.” Lucia’s disgust turned into mockery. “Sailed on their own for a while. Accumulated some nasty rumors. Yeah, that’s it.”
“Nasty rumors?” Leonie asked, before cursing herself. That was by far the least important bit.
“Honey, let’s not go there,” Lucia said with a giggle. “Why the sudden interest, though? I doubt she’s as important as New York right now.”
Leonie was about to ask about New York, but she had no time for it.
“A partner of mine said those three words before falling into a coma,” Leonie explained. “So I figured it might be a clue of sorts.”
Lucia raised a brow. “A partner, hm?”
“Business partner,” Leonie added, hoping Lucia wouldn’t double down.
“Just like the Rhys guy?” Lucia replied with a smirk.
Leonie had no way of knowing, but her face was definitely colored red.
“Anyway!” Leonie said as she cleared her throat. “I’ll go dig for more information.”
Thankfully, Lucia didn’t linger on the teasing. “Hope to see you around some more, Frenchie.”
Leonie simply nodded with a smirk before approaching other intel brokers.
***
By the time Logreef’s only village was done with its hospitality, Valeria had plenty of time to slip away. Evading Daisy would’ve been a hassle under normal circumstances, but that was exactly why Valeria chose to go to the town first.
So much for trusting her.
Still, she couldn’t risk it—not when the secret treasure was an ambiguous variable.
Studying the parchment for a few hours the day before proved surprisingly fruitful. Then again, a remote island’s mockery of a puzzle was nothing to her.
As Valeria delved deeper into the forest, she heard hurried footsteps approaching her.
Neither the pattern nor the speed correlated with that of a human, meaning it was probably the local fauna.
Her theory confirmed itself swiftly, as a pack of five wolves pierced the treeline. Normally, Valeria would’ve ignored the poor things, but their ravenous glares left no room for hesitation.
With the help of her artifact, she activated Fascination, then confidently walked ahead.
The Stanza instantly rendered the canines docile, even going as far as following her.
“Sit!” Valeria commanded, leading the pack to halt at once.
Enthral was truly a frightening Shanty. As much as Valeria loved using it, she dreaded encountering it in combat.
Then again, it was, after all, the purest of the Shanties—if Saint LeFay was to be believed.
Valeria naturally met more predators the deeper she went, with none having enough willpower to resist Enthral. The motion grew nearly mechanical until the foretold cave entrance revealed itself.
“Praise be to the holy parchment,” she mumbled mockingly, before entering its mouth.
Luckily, no animals bothered her this time. Not that they had the capacity to, as Observation would expose them long before they detected her.
The prospect of Francis coming here in the middle of a forest fire he caused, then going back home empty-handed, was slightly funny—assuming one ignored the part where he drowned.
“No wonder no one finds my jokes humorous,” she said as her voice echoed through the cave walls.
It wasn’t long before the dead end showed itself, and with it came... a glorious sight.
The dirt showed obvious signs of meddling—meddling that was too recent. The perpetrator must have been desperate, for he’d unearthed most of the soil.
Hideous ground aside, there was also a poem written on the wall.
Thee of most closeness, we meet again, it seems.
A suitable place for it, or so the omen deems.
Come forth and plow once more,
For lightning is a gift, and my kindness is the door.
“Lightning, you say?” Valeria murmured as it all clicked into place. “I knew it.”
Where else was such a remote village supposed to get an artifact from? Lowly as it may be, it was still the ultimate deterrent against those who weren’t endowed.
Suddenly, she felt a heartbeat approaching.
Valeria had nowhere to hide—and she didn’t need to. Not when she was the apex predator of the archipelago.
Eventually, the figure outlined itself.
“And here I thought you were interested in our village,” Pedro said with a sigh.
What is he talking about?
“You okay, buddy?” Valeria asked, genuinely confused.
“Don’t call me that!” Pedro spat. “I didn’t endure a month of humiliation for you to replicate it.”
The monologuing nearly made her burst out laughing, but she wanted to see where it was going. “Is this about Afonso?”
Pedro flushed red. “No! It’s about you showing up on our shores and acting like you own us!”
“To be fair,” Valeria said calmly, “you shot me first.”
“For good reason! The fact that you killed Afonso in seconds is exactly why he shot you.”
One would’ve assumed his anger was mere irrational rage, but the man was using an Untether artifact.
Making his words influenced by logic.
“So, what now? You’re going to zap me?” Valeria said mockingly.
Pedro, in turn, kept his hands lowered. “Let’s just say a lot of things can happen within a month.”
The young man then began singing. Whether it was an artifact or an innate ability, he was using the Shanty of Enthral.
Did he become a Submerged?
Luckily for her, the Stanza did nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
“What?” Pedro said, before the seasoned privateer pinned him to the wall using Acceleration.