Pirates!

The sea was calm as usual. It was near land, islands, many of them. Some inhabited and some not. Regular folks living their daily lives, nothing out of the ordinary. Gathering sticks or fruits or even hunting small fish or rabbits or any small creature that can be eaten.

I glanced the ship with my telescope. I, the captain of my fleet. My duty was to patrol the seas for the low lives who made it difficult for the throne. The throne that ruled the country and the seas that surrounded it. Everything was in order, perfect order. Like a clock ticking away every second and keeping time on cue, everything in the country was on cue to the last millisecond.

However, a small glitch seemed to mess things up. Disrupting the perfect harmony of the flow. It was a spot, more like a blot on a perfect white tunic. The blot had to be dealt with before it increased in size or caused a disturbance. Here the blot was a young man named Jack. Jack had upset the throne. He saw the throne as an obstacle to the freedom of the people. So, he used his words, beautiful like a song on an early spring morning, to lure the young, both male and female alike. The tune rang success with the young at heart and age. Somehow, it might have contained a wave or a secret code that only they could understand.

Nevertheless, it was them in the ship. She was beauty. Not very robust or powerful. But good enough for a good chase. I signaled to my crew and charted a route to the ship. They had to be caught. This insubordination had to be stopped and put an end to. After this, only the voice of the throne would rein supreme in the ears and hearts of all in the country. 

As I peered, I saw! I could not believe my eyes. How was it supposed to be so. Besides Jack was my own teenage daughter. So sleek and athletic. Brandishing her bandana with pride. How could she jump teams and side with the enemy. Not her fault I thought and consoled myself. It is those evil words of Jack that have sidetracked her from the good goal.

I had to catch them now. It was to be done. I had my orders and word to the throne that had to be kept. As we neared the ship, we were spotted. They started off and swam with great speeds. Theirs was a swift one. Stealth was not an option anymore. On my orders, we jumped into the sea and gave chase. We had to catch them and I had to do it even more carefully. My heart was on board the enemy vessel. 

Jack's ship turned and twisted along an invisible path between the islands and the rocks that floated in the sea. Trying to hinder my path or better still, sink my ship. I was not to be trifled with. And I had chartered these waters time and again. I knew them well and was not to be fooled with. This was my catch, it was now or never.

I had to slow them and warn them. I had the upside this time. With great care, I managed to convince my crew that the occupants of the ship had to be taken alive. So with precision, I ordered a couple of cannon balls launch. It crippled their offenses and they could not afford to fire back at us. This was a warning and also a precautionary measure that had to be taken to protect my family and also my crew family, who had enlisted their lives and trust to me. 

The running ship did not seem to have quite understood the message that I was trying to convey. So to slow then down even further, I ordered a precision firing to cripple their speed and it was done. The ship stopped. They would all be caught very soon and all would fall in place.

But things that seems to be easy are never ever easy. In fact, it is all so difficult, that you wished it would have been difficult from the start sot hat you could at least have been prepared to deal with this monstrosity of a problem in the first place. The occupants of the ship began to swim ashore tot he island, somehow, it was the island that I would not go to on a normal sunny day. The stories that lived on that island was scary enough to haunt and hunt away all of the inhabitants. The houses and buildings on that island, desolate and lonely. It had a eerie ring to it. Were these kids crazy enough to hide there or were the stories a means to keep prying eyes away from Jack and his minions.

My crew refused to come along with me on the island, they offered to monitor the shores in case anyone decided to take off from the island. It was surrounded from different sides to ensure not a bee escapes the island. I grabbed my gun and sword and hopped off on the spooky shores. This was a chance I could not let go. It had to be dealt with spook or no spook.  

As I walked along the shores, searching for my offenders, something caught my sight. The whole island was filled with houses that were abandoned long ago, maybe a century or two. Still all of it looked like a desert, somehow nature did not find it appropriate to reclaim the land and fill it up with trees and creepers.

I saw something or someone fallen on the shore. Had the island claimed it's victim, should I run back to my ship, or should I continue ahead? A million thoughts ran through my head. Instinct got the better hold of me and I sprinted towards the shadow on the ground. It was one of the crew, fallen lifeless, dead, or sleeping in an endless sleep. No wound or any sign of torture, still he lay asleep with a smile that can be compared to the sweetest honey. Possibly a specter or some strange magic had claimed him. I looked ahead and ran in the direction of the footprints in the sand. I had to find them before the strange island claimed more victims and my daughter.

I made my way and jumped through the maze of broken structures. Along the way I saw a couple more bodies lying silent but happy along the path. I set my gun to stun and continued silently along the pathway. There in the gathering I saw a group gathered. Was this their den, their place of refuge. Nothing here, no food, no shelter to protect them from the elements. There is more to this than meets the eye. 

I confronted the group. They were surrounding the dame. Ready with their torches to assault her. Jack kept the mob away, from assaulting her. I watched in horror as the dame was none other than the daughter who had abandoned me. Would they make the first move? I hid among the ruins and drew my gun, loaded it, just in case anyone went close to her. She was still mine to protect.

Jack announced "There has got to be a logical explanation for all of this." He pointed to three people fallen on the ground asleep or dead I could not make out. Then he turned and said, "Tell us what is all this? Have you killed them? We all need an explanation now!"

My darling daughter looked at them all and spoke in confidence. She had a bright glow on her face, almost as if something magical had surrounded her. "Listen to me. I know you will not believe me, but I will show you all after you have heard all that I have to say."

"About a month ago, I visited the waters that graced these shores as an adventure. I wanted to know why this island was desecrated and desolate. While I was monitoring the island, I failed to watch my back and a huge wave washed me ashore to the island. It was broken, still it was beautiful. It called out to me and I answered. I walked along the beach to the broken temple up along this path. There I saw it, a beautiful black gem that glowed. The minute I touched it, a strange power flowed through me. It showed me the power contained in the gem and the history of this island."

"The people of this island, they never left, they are forever here. In the gem, that was formed in the womb of the nearby volcano. The volcano formed it and spat it out in the sea. A fisherman found it while reeling in his daily catch and the gem spoke to him. It had a life of its own. And it merged that life with that of the fisherman. Now it gave him a gift. He could absorb the life of a person he wanted, by a touch. The body would fall lifeless, but the life would live on in the fisherman and the gem. However, this new life is no ordinary life. It is the best life, with everything you could ever want or need. No sickness, no poverty, no oppression, just pure happiness."

"Slowly, all wanted a part of the happiness and this island grew lighter and lighter, with fewer people on it. In the end, only the fisherman and the gem was left. They grew tired and merged into the gem till a new host was found, someone who wished a different life or something good for others. That was Me. The gem chose me to save all of you."

The mob negated and called the story hogwash. It was not possible such a magic existed. At that, my daughter shouted "I will show you what it is." As she shone bright as the sun. Everything vanished. When I opened my eyes, I was not on the island anymore. I was standing in a lush meadow. The sky was beautiful and clear. The birds were chirping. I saw them all, the mob, and everyone, including the lifeless bodies that I saw on the seashore. All of them happy and enjoying. They spoke to the entire group, told of the ordeal, and how beautiful life was in this dimension. Then a flash and we were back on the island. My daughter was a bit drained from this task that she performed.

Then she spoke, softly. "If any of you wants to join the gem let them step forward. However, there are rules that cannot be broken. Once you move over to the other side, you cannot come back here. I showed you a gist of it and it took a lot of my energy, I cannot allow all of you to reside there temporarily. So it is a one way trip. Also, you will not be immortal over there, you can only live in that dimension as long as you were stated to live on this planet. After that, you will have to move to the afterlife. As you could note, the residents of the island have all moved to the afterlife, they no longer live in the gem. So take your stance, and select if you want to continue the fight here, where you may or may not win, or you want to go over to the dimension, where freedom is what you have."

I jumped out of the bushes and shouted. This had to stop. The mob turned angrily and kept me in my place. "I do not want to harm you, but daughter, I did see it drain you, why would you sacrifice yourself for just a cause." She turned to me and said "Dada I love you, but this is a small price to pay for what all these people can gain. Please don't stop me."

Individually, the people took their decision and all of them opted to move to the other dimension. Just as Jack was the last one to phase over, I hear gun shots fired in the air. My crew followed me, they could not let me perish alone. They stopped when they saw what lay in front of them. My daughter standing in the center. Lifeless bodies of all the perpetrators lying around her and me at a distance. They took us back to the throne.

Epilogue:

My daughter was engulfed in a trance, holding all those lives inside her and the gem. It was difficult for her I know. Still, she was hailed a hero for having destroyed all those who opposed the throne. Still she welcomed and accepted the people who revolted and who wanted freedom.

I on the other hand, saw the light in her task and started the fight for liberty, I had many a people who joined me, and in the near future we did win freedom for all.

Meanwhile, in the other dimension. The numbers increased, happiness was all around. But Jack seemed to have changed. The seeds of dictatorship had taken roots in his mind. He felt that order was needed in this dimension. Would the people comply, was it the beginning of the end or would they stop this tyranny before it started. Only time will tell.......

The End