Mitch found himself sitting across from Warner, his hands nervously caressing one another as he did his best to maintain eye contact with the harsh Lord of Cariquey. A small oil lamp kept the room lit, and beyond the sounds of a few chatting sailors in the night, the only sounds that were made were those of the washing waves.

“Do you know why the air is so stiff Sir Aldweck?”

Lord Warner slid out of his chair and folded his arms behind his back. He looked out of the window, glancing at the glaciers drifting alongside the ship.

“The air is sharp like a viper. It’s stifling and stuffy. The pressure of these waters keeps me on edge and it keeps me vigilant in my duties. In seeing over my people. When the sun falls and the moon rises, there will be predators who lurk for what I have. If I close my eyes for just one second, I could lose everything.”

“So, I ask you this, what brings you here after making such a fool of yourself? Your cowardice, incompetence, and lack of strength make you easy prey. How is it that you’ve risen to the rank of national hero? Answer me those two questions, and just maybe I won’t throw you to the lurking demons of the sea.”

Aldweck gulped. He inhaled and exhaled before looking at Lord Warner, “I seek an alliance with you, which would destroy your newly found alliance with the Harbrights. I understand that--”

Lord Warner grabbed a fork from his desk and raised it high above his head before slamming it deep down into Aldweck’s hand, nailing it to the desk.

Aldweck screamed in pain, jerking back in several directions to move from the pain. Nothing worked as he held his hand, tears ran down his face. His heart was thumping faster and faster as the blood poured out of his hand and onto the desk. He couldn’t control his breathing. Mitch was panicking on the inside. Was he about to die? Was this Lord Warner about to kill him?

“See!? You are weak. Your words mean nothing. You speak of things you can’t reach. I am the Lord of Cariquey, and what are you to speak to me? You are but an ant speaking to a great dragon.” The grey-bearded lord snatched Aldweck’s hair and jerked his ear to his mouth.

“Remember this well, ant. The Harbrights are coming, and the Lord of Cariquey is about to gut the coasts of Mariotta. Enjoy your coming days, because slaughter is upon your lands.”

He grabbed the end of the work and twisted it around, before pulling it out of Aldweck’s hand. Aldweck screaming all the while, nearly passing out from the pain. He grabbed his hand and held it as he felt the blood flow out of him. Aldweck scrambled up and ran through the door and down the stairs into the belly of the cruise toward his room.

He had to find Erick and get him to heal his hand. He heard some commotion over the balcony and leaned over to investigate the loud yelling.

“It doesn’t matter what you think of my master! You’re wrong. You’re wrong!” Erick was yelling at some guys who were twice his size. His face was all swollen up and bruised from where he’d been beaten up. Blood ran down his nose as the other guys laughed at him.

“I’ve heard you’re a pretty strong magic user that works under Sir Aldweck. Why don’t you use it on us if you truly believe in your master?”

Erick’s frown turned into despair, “I promised him a long time ago…”

“You need to speak up when we’re talking to you!” A blonde-headed boy in a suit and tie sent his fist flying up at Erick’s chin, making him stumble back and into a pillar. His knees shook and bent as he slowly crumpled to the ground. He was almost at his limit, but his eyes were like a fire that shot back at the group. They paid no attention to the looks that Erick gave them.

“I--I promised master I wouldn’t use my magic to hurt those weaker than me.” He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he stood up to face them.

“Weaker than you? Are you stupid? Look at your face! It’s like that of a rotten potato.”

A boy with slick black hair kicked him in the stomach and punched him in the face. They started beating him up over and over again.

“You bastards need to fuck off!” Aldweck came in with his bloody fist and smashed the blonde-haired boy’s face in and sent him flying back into the red carpet staircase. A bunch of the other boys looked at him before looking at Aldweck.

“Shit! It’s Sir Aldweck. Let’s dip!”

They ran off and Erick smiled weakly back at his master.

“I kept my promise master.”

“Are you stupid?!”

“Wha--”

“Look at your face! You should have burnt them to a crisp Erick. You...you shouldn’t feel entitled to any promise we ever made in the past. Forget about it. It’s fine for things to change.”

Erick opened his mouth to speak but then noticed the blood running down Aldweck’s hand, staining the carpet below.

“Master! You’re bleeding badly. Let me take a look.” He grabbed Aldweck’s hand and a yellow glow appeared over the hand and began to close the wound.

“You should take care of yourself first. You can barely see, why worry about me?”

“My job is to look after you. That was my orders given by the king, and my desire ever since we met.”

“Since we met…”

Aldweck’s eyes glistened as a memory flashed through his mind.

~ - ~ - ~

There, Aldweck stood high on the rooftop of a building in Mariotta. Holding Erick under his armpit with a disciplining look. He pointed out into the distance and the buildings that had become rubble mere moments ago.

“Look at what you’ve done. You may be an extremely talented magician, but at what cost? How many families have lost loved ones and homes? You destroyed people’s livelihoods to prove you were strong. You became lost with greed. I will correct you, and you will promise to me that you will not use your magic to hurt those weaker than you. This is the oath of life that you shall not break for as long as you breathe.”

“Why would I listen to you!? Let go of me. You don’t know me, or what I’ve been through. Those people deserved it!”

Aldweck sighed, “I guess you won’t understand until I make you experience what they’re feeling right now.”

Aldweck summoned a large amount of magic and swept it over the rubble before driving the magic back to his finger and placing it at the center of Erick’s forehead.

“Feel all of their pain and repent for what you’ve done.”

Aldweck dropped Erick as tears started flowing down his face. He clenched his shirt hard and pulled it away from him as he gasped for air, flopping on the ground like a fish.

“W-What is this? I’ve never felt so much…”

Aldweck threw up all over the ground as the tears rolled down his cheeks. He started to have a panic attack as chills ran up his spine. He vomited again. He held his hands to his temples. For several hours this went on before he finally passed out. The memories and the pain he felt from each person he had hurt burnt deeply into his mind forever.

When he woke up he was in fresh clothes and in a warm bed.

He got up and smelled something delicious. Erick followed the aroma and found Aldweck cooking a meal.

“Ah, you’re finally up. I dispelled the magic. So you should be fine now. Would you care for a bite to eat?”

“Even if you took away the magic, the memories and pain I felt can never be forgotten.” He clenched his shirt as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“I did all of that?”

“Yes, you caused that much pain. Do you understand now? Do you understand what it means to be powerful? That it can hurt people more than it can help them? That is all I wanted you to understand. We can’t change the past, but we can make the future better for those who are still here.”

“Y-Yeah. I promise.”

“You promise? What?”

“I promise for as long as I breathe that I won’t use magic to hurt those weaker than me!” Erick shouted, before slamming his head to the ground.

“I will repent for what I’ve done by saving lives, but please let me serve you, sir! I have nowhere to go. I have nothing left but this pain I’ve caused.”

“Very well, as long as you breathe you won’t use magic to harm those that are weaker than you, and for as long as I breathe I’ll deal with taking care of you.”

~ - ~ - ~

Ever since then, Aldweck has taken care of Erick, and Erick was assigned as his servant guardian by the King of Mariotta. Erick became increasingly loyal and annoying to Aldweck and all of that led to the events here. Mitch finally understood their relationship better as his hand fully closed up.

“Keep your promise, Erick.” Aldweck looked sternly down at the ground, his brows furrowed.

“I was stupid to tell you to disregard the past, it was a heat of the moment predicament. I found myself so abound with anger I nearly killed those kids.”

“Master! I would never consider breaking that promise I made. Even though I made that promise to you, the pain inside of here I’ll never forget.” He tapped Aldweck’s chest.

“I still have nightmares. That’s why I practice healing magic daily, so I can try and heal others and heal myself from the curse of my past.”

“Forget all of that for now, who did this to your hand? Did you go see the Lord?”

Aldweck stood up and put his hands on Erick’s shoulders. Erick blushed.

“We have to get out of here.”

“W-Why?”

“Lord Warner put a fork through my hand and basically declared war on our kingdom. We are finished if we stay on this cruise ship any longer. We have to get out now.”

Erick hesitated, “We’re on a ship though. It’s not like we can just leave!”

“Can’t you just fly or some shit!?”

“Sir, neither of us are capable of flight. You must have a great time for jokes.”

“And I wish what you just said was one of them.” Aldweck sighed, turning around before a bunch of people were screaming to clear the way.

“Move out of the way! Please make way! She’s unconscious. We need to let the physician take a look at our Lord!” A woman with long black hair said as people came out of their rooms. A physician ran around a corner and started shouting.

“I heard what happened. Is Miss Zaya still breathing?”

“Yes, but only a little. We’re afraid she may stop at any moment.”

Duke Fourgon hurried into the room with Lady Monica close behind. His tie was in a mess and his hair was frizzy, “Lord Warner has collapsed! We need your help now!”

“What? The Lord fell ill as well? Bring Miss Zaya into the infirmary, I have to go get Lord Warner!”

A bunch of murmurs began to circulate around the ship.

“It seems unnatural that both Zaya and Lord Warner would fall unconscious at the same time. Is Sir Aldweck soon to follow?”

“It must be a coincidence, you’re reading into this far too much good brother.”

Mitch didn’t buy it. He felt something was terribly off. The Lord was far too lively to just suddenly collapse, and with Zaya also falling unconscious it was all too suspicious.

“Let’s go check on them and ride this out. Maybe things are going our way for once and the Lord of Cariquey will pass away.” Aldweck sighed, Erick, giving him a weird glance.

“Yes, master.”

“They may be our enemies, but if we’re not careful this could end badly for us as well.”

Mitch sighed. Things were getting crazier by the second, and he didn’t know how to stop this train wreck of a cruise from falling apart altogether. He just crossed his fingers that things would somehow work themselves out, but he knew that was far from what was probably going to happen.