Ocean Of Broken Dreams

The Sorrow casted anchor and everyone disembarked.

"You go to my mansion while I have some things to discuss with our friends." – John nodded towards the hooded people from the Church.

The whole group went into the labyrinth of shady and dirty streets. There were some people but once they saw Alexander's group all of them immediately disappeared in the nearby streets and houses.

"Some residents of Blackwater are no better that rats…" – Commented James. – "And not even half as tasty." – Answered Doctor. Alexander threw him a strange glance but quickly retracted it after recalling the fight of Doctor against the God Guard on the Third Star Island.

After that he suddenly thought about something and went near the man whose eyes were covered by many dirty bandages. It was he who nearly killed Alexander then he arrived in Blackwater for the first time.

Around Old Hound's body were happily circulating some familiar to Alexander azure fog.

The boy thought for a second about what to say. – "Sorry, James told me that you can help me with one thing."

Old Hound remained silent, but Alexander suddenly felt that he was observed. 'I guess that I have his attention…'

"I have this artifact…" – He raised his hand to show the gray circle mark on it. – "…And one of its functions is to investigate. James told me that you could teach me observe without bothering or alerting other people around me."

There was still no answer, but the old man suddenly extended his arm and touched the Boundless Map. Alexander jolted. He suddenly had a very invasive sensation as if someone was scrupulously examining him.

After a few second the old man retracted his hand and nodded. – "I…can…teach."

The voice was very rough and coarse. It seamed as if he hardly ever spoke. – "Thank you!"

"…first thing…obser…ve…your…self."

Alexander who was about to go back and ask something to James stopped. – "I have to observe myself? With the artifact?"

"Yes!"

Since they were still walking and he had nothing better to do, the boy started injecting some purple flame into the Boundless Map.

'Ok, let's see what I have inside my body.' For a moment he felt a wave of strange energy entering his body.

He started observing.

The flowing blood.

Muscles contraction.

The movement of lungs.

The whole thing was even a bit hypnotic. 'So…that's a human body…'

The Old Hound's voice brought him back to reality. – "Stop…whole…body…Observe…on…ly…your…heart."

Alexander nodded even if he still didn't understand the utility of the thing, but once he tried, he was immediately blocked.

The energy that the Boundless Map used for the observation propagated chaotically and wasn't obeying him.

He tried during the whole way towards the Captain's mansion but managed only to move the energy, which he named as Boundless Energy, for a few millimeters before loosing every control on it.

"Need…practice…" – Commented Old Hound.

[…]

The mansion was very big, but even if it was probably very beautiful and luxurious once, now it was covered with many signs of neglect and erosion of time.

The building surrounded by a small garden was situated in the northern part of the city in the outskirts.

The whole group entered inside like if it was their own house.

"Why so stiff, Boy. This is the mansion built for the first crew of the Sorrow. It is our home." – James clapped Alexander on the back.

Indeed, once they passed the front gate the boy felt a strange sensation from his eyes, where was his brand of the Sorrow's crew.

It was as if something has checked his qualification to enter this seemingly abandoned place.

Once inside everyone went towards were rooms while Alexander didn't know where to go.

"Just pick the room you want." – Said someone.

The boy decided to explore the whole house before deciding. 'I can also train my Boundless Energy.'

On the first floor there were the abandoned kitchen and something like a living room. It was surprisingly cleaner than the rest of the house.

The only decoration were some portraits hanging on the walls. Alexander didn't know who they were, and the names written below weren't very helpful.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly one of the portraits attracted his attention.

It was a smiling middle-age man. His appearance was a stereotype of wildness. Bloody red hair, two scars, one under the left eye on the other one, longer than the first, crossed his right eyebrow and continued even under the right eye.

Still, it wasn't his appearance that captured Alexander's attention.

'His eyes…He also had his brand in the eyes.'

"Regulus Thaine." – He read the name of the man. 'Just who were you…I'll ask someone…later'

After that he continued the exploration of the house. The second floor had many rooms but half of them were closed.

He tried to use the Boundless Map, but something blocked it.

He quickly went past the living quarters and found a huge library. It also was in an extremely good shape. Not even a speck of dust could be found inside.

Alexander found books about everything from science to magic, from history to geometry of long-distance teleportation.

'Should return here sometime in the future…'

After exiting the library, he was about to return and choose his room but suddenly he noticed a shadow disappearing behind the corner of the nearby corridor.

Curious, he quickly followed.

He saw a very skinny old man, dressed in some simple rags quietly wiping the dust on the floor.

"Hey!" – Alexander called to him. The old man raised his head and smiled amiably. – "Oh, oh, oh, sorry for my carelessness, I didn't notice you." – He stopped clearing. – "But who are you? I've never seen you here before. You should be a new member of the crew, right?"

Alexander nodded. – "Yes, I've joined it on their last mission."

The old man's smile became even larger. – "That's good to see some new faces here! Oh, sorry for my manners. I'm Bryan, the butler and housekeeper of this mansion." – He bowed slightly with one hand behind his back.

"I'm Alexander."

"Oh, oh, oh, a good name. In any case, may I help you in some way?"

The thought for a second and then nodded affirmatively. – "Yes, I was looking for a room where I could live…"

Bryan's eyes shined. – "Yes, yes, the room. I may have a good one for you."

"Yes? That's good…Could you please show it to me?"

"Yes, sure." – The went towards the living quarters.

The room was one of the closed ones which Alexander couldn't inspect. The old housekeeper took out a key and gave It to Alexander. – "This one is normally closed since it belonged to the third captain of the Sorrow, but I feel that it suits you well."

The boy took the key. – "Thank…" – The old man already disappeared.

'All these talks about the manners and then you disappear like this…'

He opened the door and entered inside. There were a lot of space inside, many bookshelves, a wardrobe, a bed just under the window.

Near the bed there was a small table with two chairs.

He looked around and went near the bookshelf but once his hand was a centimeter away from the book, he wanted to take an invisible force stopped him.

"What the…?"

The same thing repeated with everything he wanted to take. An invisible forcefield stopped him. Not even his fire worked: it was extinguished right away.

He could only sign and stop his useless attempts.

"EVERYONE COME DOWN. I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU!"

The voice of Captain flooded the entire house. Alexander quickly went down in the living room.

Everyone was already there.

Captain was observing the portraits. Then he turned around. – "The Church gave us the reward for the previous mission." – He took out a bunch of rings and gave one to everyone.

Alexander was slightly confused about what to do when Doctor's voice whispered directly in his head. "Just inject some energy inside. It's identical to the storage function of your artifact."

The boy followed the instruction and found some strange looking objects inside.

He decided to examine them later since John had still something to tell them.

"We have a new mission, guys."

"But we've just returned, Cap." – Someone objected. Captain sighed. – "Yes, I know. But this one has the highest level of urgency and I'm the only free Ocean Lord."

"The Church noticed some space anomaly in the Gemini City. They sent us to investigate. Everyone here knows what the worst-case scenario will be so, without any delay, tomorrow morning we will sail to the Lower Ocean."

With that he went upstairs.

Some people immediately went in the city to by the supplies. James was also going. Alexander followed since he had nothing to do.

"Oh, you're coming too? That's ok. I will show you a very useful place."

Then Alexander asked. – "What is the worst-case scenario?"

Some black lines appeared on the James's fat face. – "The invasion. Invasion of some other world."