How did I get in this situation?

I'm almost naked, first of all.

Second, the queen of the elves is lying, also naked, dead in front of me.

Third, the seven elves I'm locked in this room with, king included, are blaming 'me' for the murder.

What, no theories?

You're asking me?

Oh yeah, I suppose I should catch you up to speed.

As you can probably infer, Aquarou saved us from certain death apparently at the ridge. But in turn, it caused the largest disaster in a hundred years. How many lives were worth our's I wondered? But that's not fair, I would have done the same thing to save my crew.

Hell, I would destroy the whole world if my crew needed me to.

After the wave carried us to shore we searched out our only ally in the area. I was, stunned by her. She wasn't what I was expecting.

When El mentioned the smell of Orcs I was sure they were coming to raid the already damaged town, but that wasn't the case. The Orc K... Queen, Khara, is a genuinely kind person. She was concerned about the damage and was quick to offer supplies and medicine. Honestly, her Orcs probably saved more lives than both Aqua and I combined.

Of course in meeting her, Coya inevitable found out my identity. It went over alright actually. Really Coya was more interested in teaching Khara to better use her other senses, apparently, a technique Coya relied on regularly in the dungeon.

I used a communication device Triff had designed for emergencies and contacted Karlie to deploy relief to the village. I wished I could do more, but honestly, I was terrified to stay.

Everywhere I go damage comes.

The Arena, The Vault, Yellow Sands, and then The Ridge. If I stayed during the rebuilding of the town surely a fire or something would have engulfed it.

I was in a deep funk for awhile after that. I didn't want to return to shore, I didn't want to visit the elves, I didn't even want to venture into black seas or investigate islands.

I just wanted to be alone.

I even rejected desert.

I think it was just too much in too short of time. Aquarou said all the blame was on her for the disaster but she's wrong. Again others are taking responsibility for things I caused.

It was El actually who brought me out of my deep depression, not for lack of trying on the others part of course. But it wasn't for reasons I expected, she claimed she had no real desire to return to the elven forest. She claimed what she said at the tournament was half true.

"These last six months have been better than all thirteen years I spent in that forest. If the next place you go really does fall to ruin so be it. We have survived every disaster you claim you're responsible for so whats the worst that could happen? Humans or lesser beings die? Who cares? Fuck em. Be selfish Captain, don't forget you are a demon as well as a hero. You don't always have to play the hardest role."

Fuck em? Really? I still wonder where she learned that language. It couldn't have been me. Right?

From there El further took my mind off the tragedies with the help of her body.

I definitely didn't teach her any of that. Perhaps Alice?

In any case, it helped. She was right, there is a way I can feel responsible while also taking things in stride.

I just have to knowingly neglect some of my responsibilities. It's simply prioritizing more important things. Mainly, my crew's happiness.

I'm just one person, I can't carry the whole world.

Various stuff happened on the way, we met a band of mermaids, Ye broke his foot, and Mirna perfected the snickerdoodle recipe.

Nothing terrible honestly. I mean Ye was in a bit of pain but Aqua can apparently heal animals as well so it was nothing to worry about.

We did still avoid stopping in villages though, I think Rou choose to do it out of consideration for me.

Life returned to normal on the ship. Water wars II began with the formation of a new super group, Mirna, and Aqua, the Axis of Evil as they called themselves. Old enemies reunited to fight the traitorous scourge, but Aqua and Mirna were not easy targets.

An armistice was formed once the massive tree grew visible in the distance. We had no choice El hadn't mentioned how difficult it was to get into the Elven forest by sea.

The roots of the world tree are said to extend to the core of the planet. I don't know about all that, but they definitely extend far. The coast outside the forest was studded with what looked at first like floating logs. In fact, they were roots, they fished outwards from the land and intertwined into an impassable maze.

El apologized sheepishly and asked to see a map. It took her a few minutes to find the right islands but she soon explained how to pass through the makeshift sea wall.

We backtracked and found the small island that indicated the opening. It was completely unnoticeable, it looked as blocked as anywhere else, but once we got closer we noticed a few of the roots were indeed just logs placed to camouflage the opening.

We ran for awhile through the narrow channel at ten percent thrust. Our overall control was decreased because we were no longer hydro-foiling but it's still an extremely maneuverable ship despite its massive size.

As the shadow of the tree grew above us so too did the danger from the path we took. We bumped roots a few times but luckily that sound of snapping wood was never heard.

Soon a port was visible. It also looked like nothing but a tree root. It was an extremely long log sitting half beached on the coast. The top face was loosely planed flat, if not I wouldn't have even recognized it as a pier.

Well, maybe the boats attached to it would have set off the realization.

We docked carefully while getting odd glances from merchants loading a purple boat. They were particularly interested in the purple beams that made up half of our ship.

'Please don't think we stole it,' I silently prayed to any nearby spirits or gods.

El quickly turned into someone completely different. She walked down to the men and said a few quick words in a heavily clicking based language. Her posture is stiff and proud, she reminded me of how Clove acted when in the capital.

We also had to change as well apparently. I wasn't complaining exactly but really, leaves? Were we entering the elven forest or the garden of Eden?

After a short walk escorted by similarly naked guards, we finally entered the forest. But really is that leaf going to offer any protection to the guards in the event of an attack? I suppose Elves rely mostly on magic though.

The forest path was lined with an assortment of plants and flowers, it emitted a soft pleasant scent. Above us sat long bridges and birds nest shaped buildings dotting the trees. We met with El's dad and the crew was quickly whisked away along with El by her older sister. I spoke with the king for a few minutes and then he announced this dinner.

I didn't expect so many elves to speak common so well, perhaps the broken Elvish El taught me is pointless.

It was going well actually. Despite the strange situation El's mother and father were pretty nice people, they seemed extremely grateful for me returning their daughter, but something still felt off.

Around that time El's mother, the Queen, fell over and a nearby elf doctor quickly pronounced her dead by poison.

Of course, the blame quickly went to me. Who else? I was a mysterious guest from the human world after all.

I don't blame them for assuming it was me, but it's clear I'm being framed, perhaps something even more sinister.