Charter: Valafar

–In the happy moments of life. Imagine your case when you are sailing on your ship in the sea, without storm and heavy rain, when the temperature is not so high and a cool breeze blows in your face. –As he told Athena this, Valafar closed his eyes and began to smile brightly.

–Hey, are you sure you're not a pirate? Because you talk like a real pirate who has sailed all the seas and oceans! –He praised the girl.

–No, it's not a pirate, keep listening. For me, the beauty of life is when I am with my family, we are outside and I take my musical instrument, the flute, and I play it as if I am everything. I get a sense of balance under my feet, as a kind of balance I relax and enter the incredible sea inside my head... I believe that beauty is in the moment, you just have to catch it. –Athena's eyes were closed as she said this, but when she opened them she saw Valafar staring at her, silently following her words.

They sat in silence for a moment, but the girl didn't like this awkward pause and decided to ask another question.

–Why are you looking at me like that? –She asked, turning her head slightly to the left.

–Maybe it's because I haven't had a girlfriend for a long time. –He narrowed his eyes and stopped looking at her.

–When I heard about you from others, I had an idea that you were a villain in the flesh. –She abruptly changed the subject to avoid continuing the conversation.

–It's just that I can be anything I want to be. I can be both bad and good. Look at it more broadly, everything is colorless and only you set the color of this event, I don't care what other people think of me, I do what I think is right. –His blue eyes turned away from Athena.

–I see that you have not given up your desire to return to the sea, to leave the kingdom and go sailing....

–I CAN'T! –He shouted sharply at Athena, who wasn't expecting it: –I'm sorry...I can't, for I am cursed by the water itself.....

–What does it mean?

-It's a long story and you don't need to know. –Valafar replied.

–But if I really want to know. –She looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

–All right! All right, it happened thirty years ago.

THREE YEARS AGO: Valafar

In my twenty-four years, I had become the youngest pirate to have traveled to all eight continents and nine seas of the open world of the Netherworld. I was very happy about this and decided to have a drink with my crew in one of the inns called the Whisk of Whale

–Valafar! Let's drink to a young pirate who has risen to greatness!

One of my sailors brought our drinks, which I paid for with real gold. We had a good time in the tavern. I enjoyed it, but I felt an uneasy sensation in my chest, as if a storm was coming.

–Captain! Do you know our course yet? –One of the sailors asked me, I was already thinking about the possibility of just sailing the sea and maybe robbing other pirates to explore the islands and find previously unseen artifacts and treasures with which I could live until the end of my days and have nothing to regret.

The sailor had indeed added another comma to my life. But our conversation was interrupted by a man I never expected to see or hear.

–Should you go to the sealed seas on the other side of the sea?

There was an instant silence in the tavern, no one could believe that anyone could say such a thing.

Nearby, at the next table, a familiar figure sat alone, he was very important in politics, because their network extended to every continent, very pious people who believed that evil was just a fiction and could be tamed, a messenger from the local court "Rose of Winds", their peculiarity was that no one ever saw their faces behind the blue golden mask, their identity was always incognito.

And if it was discovered what that person looked like, both parties were killed, the one who knew the identity and the one who removed the mask, even the people around them were purified so that there would be no unnecessary leaks.

–A messenger from the Wind Rose, you know there's a barrier up there and rumor has it these places are sealed for a reason.

I told him, but you know what, I was interested. Something in my chest demanded new horizons and exploration, I wanted more than that, but I wondered how I could get there, after the words of the messenger.

–If I tell you that I have one of the "keys", will you take me to the barrier tomorrow on your ship?

I would rather not have agreed, but I did, for after the man's words I was suddenly so drawn to that terrible place that I could not even sleep until I had left the tavern on my ship.

The whole crew was astonished when they saw a wall of fog rise up to the sky and let no one in, although it was fog, but it could stop a passing ship just like an ordinary impenetrable wall, the man stood at the stern of the ship and from under his dark as pitch cloak he took out a large golden lantern, then he lit the thing and held it against the fog.

But nothing happened until the torch was magnetically drawn into the mist, a strong wind arose around us, huge dark clouds gathered where a second ago there was a bright sun, and blue clouds became frightening.

For a moment it seemed to me that a red mist, like tar, came out of the mist, but immediately it disappeared into the sky, storm clouds appeared, the Gods were angry with us and the first to be punished was the messenger, he was struck by a huge bolt of lightning, leaving not even bones, just a handful of ashes, immediately scattered by the wind.

Then trouble came to my ship and my crew, we were all drawn into the whirlpool of the sea, in this whirlpool it seemed to me that the wind was carrying someone's evil cursing words to me, saying:

May the sea rage, may your bones walk on land forever