Ten months

Mabel dragged Katelyn to the bathroom, closed the door, and opened all the faucets to make as much sound. Mabel leaned close to Katelyn.

'Tell Jeri what happened quickly. I'll keep watch.' Mabel left the bathroom with Katelyn still inside.

Katelyn stepped on the tub with the running water and sat down. She covered her mouth and whispered 'access chat: Jericho Haydie…'

Meanwhile…

Sky was smiling as he found a way to 'cheat' DEVOURER into getting him guaranteed purple item drops.

"Jules!"

Jules heard him call for her and she walked towards him.

"Yes?"

"Same time tomorrow we should arrive to get the sword. Do you have anything to tell me before we get there?"

Sky was told that he'd reach the island in five days two days ago, but the reason they were arriving sooner is because he has been increasing the ship's speed with his ability to manipulate air.

"I don't know. All my ancestor said is that he hid the sword on the bottom of an island. I checked the island but couldn't fully check until I got caught."

"Shame. Do you even know how to find it?"

"No."

"Hm, it might not even be there but we'll look."

"Are you really going to destroy an item my family has been keeping secret for generations?"

"I could say the same to you, you were going to steal something that your family has been keeping secret for generations."

"I was going to use it for good, to destroy the humans."

"Wow…"

"Oh, come on, our races have been at war forever, is that surprising?" Jules scoffed and sat down on a barrel.

"True, but how were you going to use it when you know you can't wield it?"

"I wasn't sure how, but I thought if I could actually wield it instead of letting it rot in some abandoned island, I would grow strong enough to wipe out the human race. But if it was able to take over my mind, then I would have given it to some human and watch them wipe out their own kind, or at least the majority."

"Not a bad idea. But how were you going to give someone something if it was able to take over your mind…"

"I would have first given it to someone before I used it on myself, someone weaker than me so I can kill them and take back the sword."

"Ah. I've always been curious about mermaids, just one thing or two."

"What?"

"How do you live underwater? Like do you own houses or something?"

"We do have buildings of all shapes and sizes. We don't pay taxes, we never focus on money really, that's only a human thing but we do indeed do trades like a nice necklace could fetch for a fish or two."

"Hm. What do you guys do with shells that you find on portals?"

"We just use them for decorations, though some use it to lure men to some treasure with it if we're too lazy to use our voices to catch men off-guard. In fact we use shells to mostly trick human women since our singing doesn't seem to work on them."

"Why doesn't your singing work on women?"

Jules shrugged.

"I really don't know, I don't think anyone can explain that. It doesn't appear to be a gender thing either because some of the merman have impressive deep voices and yet it seems their singing only works on men, except you of course with your ring and all."

Jules still believes in the lie Sky told her that the reason her hypnotic singing didn't work is because of a ring he has, but really it's because he has the {power of the mind} that makes him immune to mind control.

"Wow, strange. So how well does using money on women work? Almost as good as your hypnotic singing?"

"It's pretty close, actually. I mean there are occasionally those who have common sense and know when they see a trap. Though from my experience women tend to fall for the chest trap compared to men."

"Good to know."

"SKYYYYYYYY!!!" Jericho came running screaming.

"What, what is it?!" Sky panicked hearing her scream and even grabbed his staff. Jules stood beside her.

Everyone else who heard her scream came running.

"The Caribbean knows about us!"

"What? What the hell happened?"

Jericho explained everything she just heard from Katelyn. Jay looked worried, Jules was nervous, Jack was confused, Sky was pondering.

"It didn't seem like they had much of a choice really but to tell the truth." Sky rubbed his head.

"I'm sorry. If we didn't go to visit my family they wouldn't have known about us."

"If we didn't visit your family the pirates would have killed them or captured them."

Jericho gasped because he was right.

"But they're okay, right?" Jay asked.

Jericho nodded. "Yeah, they're just… I don't know, sad? That they had to tell him about us?"

"Wait, how did they even know to ask… Jericho, did Katelyn tell you what this Caribbean officer looked like?" Sky asked.

"She said he wore a red uniform and had a dirty loo-" Jericho didn't finish her sentence because she and everybody else realized who she was talking about.

Only the slaves and Jack had no idea what happened.

"Boris." Sky muttered. It made sense how they knew about them. Though he is still puzzled as to why Boris visited Jericho's family.

"Wait, we're way stronger than before, we can take him on, right? If he ever shows up here again." Jay said.

"No. Our stats are between 20,000-30,000 each, his stats are at the hundreds of thousands. His lowest stat is Mind at 99,000. And he has the ability to slow down time, and he can do it better than me, for now at least. At this point if he shows up again we have to resign ourselves again and give up Jules."

Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air. They could not fight him currently.

"What do we do?" Jules asked.

Sky scratched his head thinking of something.

"Run, most likely. The sword isn't the problem, it's that I cannot afford to lose you, Jules."

"Because of my talent to create potions, right?"

"Of course."

"Figures."

"Wait." Jack took a step forward grabbing their attention, "I don't know what's happening but if this guy is that powerful and is coming after Jules, can we just trap him in the painting? It's what happened and we couldn't leave until you let us, and you said only your crew members can leave with you."

"That is true, but it won't work. There are only two ways to leave that painting, I either use the same item I used to leave that painting, or we kill the boss. He is definitely stronger than the mini-boss that almost killed us, and something tells me he might be stronger than the boss."

"Not to mention you would need to somehow trick him to enter the painting." Jules said.

"Yeah… oh well, time to go back to that awful place, Jules. Prepare to be punched again, sorry about this, but they won't ever find you there."

"Nononononono!" Jules shook her head and took a few steps back as her back hit the side of the ship. Sky grabbed onto her shirt and about to punch her, but was interrupted.

"Cap'n, why not just give the Caribbean guy the sword?" Jay said.

"Why would we do that?" Sky said ready to punch Jules who was shaking her head.

"You said it yourself, Jules is more valuable than the sword and you were already going to get it to destroy it. If we just give him the sword he'll leave us alone, that's the only reason they're going after her. If we give it to them they'll leave us alone, and they might even reward you for finding the sword."

"True… I already have the Abyss family looking for us, I don't need some powerful Caribbean chasing after us."

"Yeah, and even if you hide me from them, who is to say they won't imprison all of you?" Jules had her arms up defending herself from Sky. it wasn't her getting hurt that scared her, going to that horrible limbo place scared her.

"Good point." Sky retracted his fist which made Jules relieved.

Jack leaned close to Jericho. "Does he usually punch his crew?"

"Only when he has to hide us." Jericho said with a blank look on her face.

"Wait, what?" Jack had no idea what that meant. How does punching hide somebody?

Jericho patted Jack's arm since she couldn't reach his shoulder.

"I hope you never experience that place." Jericho said as she sat down.

'What the hell is she talking about?'

"Okay, so we go with Jay's plan and we give the Caribbean the Night sword."

"Nightmare blade." Jules said.

"Eh."

"Wait, the nightmare sword? Did you just say that?" Jack's ears perked up hearing that name and his eyes sparkled. Anybody who has studied and trained with the sword has heard of that weapon once.

"I said blade, though I guess others also call it that. It might be called sword now that I think about it..." Jules touched her lip and thought about it.

"Yeah, Jules knows where the sword is located, maybe."

"Didn't it get lost in a portal or something?"

"No, that was a lie my ancestor told everyone because it's actually cursed. It's a cursed sword." Jules said, looking at Jack.

"Wait, how cursed are we talking about?"

"Very. That's why it's hidden. Anybody who wields it gets taken over by the sword."

"Oh… well at least I'll get to see the sword."

"I was hoping to clear more portals along the way but now we need to focus on getting to that island and find that sword." Sky walked behind the wheel and extended his hands towards the ship's mast.

Strong winds were produced from his hands and it pushed the ship to reach even faster speeds than ever before. The entire ship shook but only the slaves tripped due to the sudden burst of speed.

"If we're lucky Boris will use his ship to reach Servus Terra in a few weeks from now if they're at Marjack. But if he decides to run there… he might make it in a few days… or a day."

"What will you do if he goes back to my family?" Jericho asked, both her and Jay were worried.

"If that happens… ask Katelyn and Mabel to tell me immediately and I will teleport to them, as long as they haven't moved the tiny boat I left in their backyard it should be okay. Once you're done, check the map every now and then for any ships or enemies that might attack us. I'll be focusing on getting us there as quickly as possible so I need you on the map."

"Okay." Jericho ran down to the crew's quarters to call her family.

"Jay, keep an eye out just in case Jericho misses something. Your eyesight is the best here."

"On it, Cap'n!" Jay jumped on top of the mast and acted like a bird looking for prey.

"Jules, I want you to really think about everything your ancestor said as anything could be a clue that can help us get the weapon."

Jules nodded though she wasn't happy about giving the nightmare blade to the Caribbean but what choice did she have?

"What about me?" Jack asked.

"Just keep making food. And I also noticed you've been practicing your sword technique."

"Oh, Jay mentioned you could see the level of our skills. I kinda get how that works but is that how you knew I was practicing?"

"No, I heard you. You do know my quarters are in front of where you practice, right? And you practice really early."

"Right… Also I want to ask… nevermind, I'll ask you later, right now you're doing something important." Jack walked back down and unsheathed his swords to practice.

Sky nodded and put all his focus on increasing the ship's speed.

Meanwhile…

Boris appeared on his ship, he looked at his men and said, "Everyone! We are leaving in ten minutes! Get the ship ready to depart the island!"

His men put down what they were doing and quickly got on the ship untying the ropes and pulling the anchor.

Boris took the phone and made an important call.

"Xero!"

"He's not here right now."

Georgia answered the phone while filling out some paperwork.

"Get him on the phone, Georgia!"

"This is not Georgia, it's HQ."

"Georgia, I am serious."

Georgia noticed his tone and decided to stop playing right now.

"He's really not here right now. I can leave a message when he comes back."

"Where is he?"

"Trying to find leads for Lucious, and also looking for the Abyss family. He's not on a ship right now so you can't contact him on his ship either."

"Shit. Tell him to call me as soon as he gets back, it's important." Boris hung up the phone before Georgia could ask him a question.

Georgia placed her phone down as well looking worried for Boris.

'Hope he's okay.'

Boris looked at his men and they were all ready to leave.

"Sir, where to?"

"Servus Terra. And… Paul, where are you?"

"Yes, sir?" A man walked up to him.

"Stay here and keep an eye on the family at this address. It's just two women in that house." Boris handed them a piece of paper with Jericho's family home address.

"Um, yes sir."

"Don't bother them, but keep your distance. Observe them and if you notice anything abnormal let me know."

"Aye." Paul jumped off the ship and looked for the house address.

"Everyone else, let's go."

The ship immediately left the island and made its way to Servus Terra.

"Sir, I just want to be sure but you're aware that Servus Terra is two-to-three weeks away, right?"

"I know."

"And we're still on portal duty, correct?"

"No, forget about that. I can't say why but it's important we get there fast."

"Yes, sir."

Boris stood by the phone waiting for Xero to respond.

Meanwhile…

Xero was floating on top of the ocean with arms folded, wondering and pondering.

'Why would the Warlord come to that island? Why would they slaughter everyone there?' Xero could not stop thinking about that one fact.

Xero knew the Warlord never took action himself unless it was for something important, but no matter what he thought he cannot think of a solid reason.

He sighed thinking that he'd never find him or his family, then he heard a raspy awful voice in his head.

'Get here, now!' 

Xero's eyes widened. It has been nearly two months since they called for him, and before that it was six months, they never call him this often.

"I'll be right there."

'Hurrrry.' The voice slurred and nothing else could be heard.

Xero hurried to the Caribbean base as fast as he could even slowing down time to hurry up. 

In a matter of minutes he appeared in the building and soon he managed to scale the entire tower reaching the final level. There was no one there because it was all freezing and lonely. To his surprise the door was already open for him.

He took a deep breath before entering that room again and clearing his mind. He appeared before the three hideous beings who were covering themselves with the white sheets.

One item stood out from the room, an item he hadn't seen before, a human skull was on the table facing him. 

Xero found this weird because this family does not ever collect skulls or bones of any kind. And not to mention the Fallen God family should not have any human body parts in here.

"What can I do?" Xero asked calmly.

"Xero, are we hideous to you?" 

Xero was thrown off by the question.

"If a kid were to see us would they run away or towards us?" The fat tall one asked.

"I… I."

The short fat one with deformed hands grabbed three paintings, the painting of the founding father and mother of the Fallen God family, Etras Ver Deiser and Blanche Deiser.

The third painting was of the Fallen God's family's eldest son, Dragon Ver Deiser.

'I was wondering why I didn't see those paintings when I walked through the hall.' Xero thought.

The short fat one caressed the painting of Dragon slowly.

"Xero, how many generations of your family have served us?"

"It's hard to tell. My family has been part of the Caribbean for countless generations."

'I don't understand these questions.'

"Good, that's very good." The fat one lied down and started sliding off his chair.

Xero almost forgot one rule when talking to them, they never make sense. Their brains don't seem to function well even if their stats are in the millions.

"Are you troubled, Zero?" The short fat one asked.

"Yes, I have come across an enemy who is powerful and is hiding from me. I have been looking for him for a long time now and he seems to be growing stronger, somehow."

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" The tall fat one snapped his fingers as the tall one went to retrieve something from their treasure room.

Moments later it returned and it handed something to Xero. It was a crystal ball.

"Put your hands to it and think of the person and you will be able to see what they do."

Xero, instead of being glad, felt nervous to take the item.

"Thank you, sir, but I can do this myself,"

"Well why didn't you say so? Give it back."

Xero handed the crystal ball to the tall figure.

Truth is Xero is following another important rule all those in his position followed and told him, never, ever take anything from the Fallen God Family. They are greedy and do not have compassion or pity for anyone else. If you get an item from them they will ask for something in return afterwards, and it is always something you love that they take from you, most of the time it's family, and if they don't have family they take years of their life instead as payment.

The tall figure placed the crystal ball back in its place safely.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Now that you mention it, why did we bring you here?" The fat tall one looked at his siblings who shrugged their shoulders.

"I believe it was… I don't know. Leave us."

Xero sighed inwardly. As he took a step back suddenly all three individuals surrounded him, making him sweat bullets. He didn't even feel or sense them till they were right beside him. The putrid scent of death invaded his nostrils and eyes making him want to vomit and cry.

"We remember now. You didn't answer our question, are we hideous, or beautiful?"

Xero closed his eyes, holding in his tears, it was like cutting onions. He wasn't afraid, it was the overpowering stench that made him cry.

"There is no right answer to that, whether someone finds you beautiful or not is in the eyes of the beholder. To some they will say you are good looking, or him, or her, or even me. That is why there is no correct answer."

"Good answer."

Xero turned and they were already back on their sofas as if they hadn't moved at all. No matter how many times it happens he will never get used to them.

This question had once been asked to someone in his position nearly a hundred thousand years ago, when the Fallen God Family didn't like that person's answer they skinned him alive, and for a while all the Caribbean flags were made of human skin.

It was a dark part of history Xero hated because until the Fallen God family is gone no one is safe. Since then almost no one knows about it anymore since it was taken off books and records that only he and a few select others have access to.

"Oh, also, we will go down to the lower world, all three of us."

Xero turned around to face them.

"And… what would be the happy occasion for that?"

"We decided there are simply too many lower lifeforms in the lower world, and we want to hunt and eat them."

"You mean just fishmen and mermaids, right?"

"Humans, too."

"How… how many will you kill?"

"We will only leave about a million humans alive, and fishmen, and mermaids."

"But… why? There are a hundred million humans in total between the Land of the Dead and the Land of the Free." Xero didn't show it but he was worried and scared.

"We know, but don't worry, you will live since you're so useful to us, and we like you."

"But... I have a niece."

"She is of no use to us so we don't care really, unless it's to squash her."

Xero didn't know what to say about this.

"As for why, it's because we truly think there are simply too many lower lifeforms."

To them humans and everyone else were the equivalent of insects or livestock, to be consumed or squished by them. That is why they will never procreate with 'lower lifeforms' They only take pleasure in killing and consuming them.

"I see." Xero said.

"You can leave now. We will see you in ten months from now." The short fat one waved his hand at him.

Xero left slowly pondering and thinking. Once he left the door behind him closed.

'Ninety nine million humans will die. We have eight million Caribbean men… how the fuck.' Xero sat down on a chair processing this information.

'Ten months…'