Work Text:
“Papá, what’s this weapon you have on your desk?” Amariz Seacaster asks one day. The half-elf teenager gestures towards a rusted sword that sits mounted on a small display on his writing desk at the back of the Hangman III. It’s surrounded by several small knick knacks and magical accouterments that have been magically enchanted to stay still so they do not move or fall over during storms and fights.
“Yes, Papá,” chimes in Riza Seacaster. “What’s so special about this sword that you keep it here on your desk? And why is it so poorly kept?” The pre-teen halfling joins her brother in asking Fabian about his choice of decoration.
“You’ve promised Amariz Fandrangor when he becomes of age. Don’t tell me you intend to give me this piece of scrap?” Riza asks with a wrinkled nose.
“And what if I did, my daughter?” Fabian asks calmly. He’s not yet past his prime for adventuring, but his human blood is finally becoming known. He’s one hundred and fifty now, gray streaking his beard and temples, and had unofficially given up adventuring when he adopted Amariz and Riza ten years ago. He found the orphaned child and toddler begging for handouts in an alleyway in Leviathan and brought them back to his ship and told them to call him Papá. He took much easier jobs after that, ones with less risk. His crew never said anything about their captain going soft, and instead all helped raise the tykes.
“Why would I want this?”
“Because it’s very dear to me and I think it will suit you, seeing as you’re becoming quite the adept rogue, Riza.”
The halfling scrunched up her lips, skeptical.
“It’ll be easy enough to clean, when the time comes. Now, come close and I’ll tell you about the sword, your estranged sister-”
“Cerize is related to it? Why not give it to her?”
“Because she has her own memento of mine, and as much as I love her, I do not think she would care as much about the significance of the sword.”
Fabian cleared his throat.
“Anyway, let me tell you about the sword, your sister, a compass, and a goblin. And you.”
“It started when I was about your age, Amariz, and I entered Arthur Aguefort’s Adventuring Academy. There, I meet the goblin who would become my best friend; Riz Gukgak. ‘The Ball,’ I used to call him. It started off as an act of bullying, I’m ashamed to say, but it soon became something more than that, a term of endearment that belonged to only the two of us. He was one of the best damn rogues to ever come out of that school. He had a sharp mind and loved to analyze clues. He used his brilliance to help me and my adventuring party crack some difficult cases back in high school. Hah! Why, freshman year we killed the dragon that ate his father (an awesome spy named Pok), and I’ll never forget him looking that dragon in the eye and telling him ‘I’m going to eat you, bitch!’ And then he did! While the dragon was still alive!
“You know, that dragon is now your grandpapá's ship down in Hell – do you remember the Goldenrod? That’s him! Oh, I remember the first time we visited my dad in Hell and as soon as we boarded the ship, The Ball asked for permission to piss on the deck. Papá loved it! And I was crazy about him. I crashed that ship into a building in an effort to save The Ball when he went missing in Hell. Killed your grandfather Gilear in the process, haha!
“Ah, anyway, The Ball… even though we had so much fun adventuring in high school, he had decided to pursue journalism after graduating, so we went our separate ways; me, on the high sea, and him, chasing after stories and getting little compensation for it. But one night, when I came back ashore to visit him and the rest of our adventuring party, he’d had enough of the quiet life. I invited him to join me as a pirate and he never looked back.
“...I loved him – more than anything else in the world – but he was afraid of relationships because of his asexuality. He was haunted by it, really. But after talking it out, we became partners and my life was never better. Our lives were never better. We were even married and had the rings to show for it, though we never really referred to each other as husbands. We sailed together for years.
“But alas, Umberlee rules the seas and she has her own plans. It happened one night as a storm rolled in. We'd roughed it through our fair share of squalls before, and this one was truly like any other: that’s one of the things about it that still gets to me, how normal the storm was. But one of the sails became undone in the high winds, and The Ball was the closest to the line to tie it down. I had warned him that because of his small stature he should leave it to the larger crewmates, but he was right there and simply wanted to make sure the Hangman III would remain seaworthy, to protect all of us. And just… one minute he was there, and then the wave came, and he was gone.
“The crew stopped me from diving into the dark depths of the sea that night, and most definitely saved my life. But I was heartbroken, to think that I could lose the most important person in my life so easily, after all the trials and tribulations we had faced together. I cursed the sea, cursed the storms, cursed Umberlee for taking the one I loved.
“We have a certain magical item on board the ship – Desire’s Needle, it’s called. It’s an enchanted compass that would always point to your heart's desire, and for me, it always pointed towards The Ball. So of course I immediately grabbed it, and as soon as the sea settled we began to follow it. But the needle just spun and spun, and despondent, I took refuge in the bottom of a bottle. It was while I was swimming in that bottle that I met Kimel, your sister’s mother. She was just another pirate on Leviathan, but to me she was a refuge. A tiefling with beautiful, cherry-red skin, a sharp tongue, and plenty of comfort to offer a heartbroken, drunken pirate. We spent many passionate nights together until she had to sail out again. I figured I’d never see her again, but fate had other plans.
“After my time with Kimel, I returned to the compass (and still the bottle), hoping against hope that it would point me towards The Ball, but the needle never pointed in one direction for too long. I spent years – decades– searching for him, always hoping that (as grisly as it might be), I could even find a piece of him, his bones, even, so that I could resurrect him. It was very early during those years that Kimel sought me out and dumped a crying babe in my arms. My child, she told me. And while the babe had that same brilliant red skin as her mother, unlike Kimel’s black hair and red eyes, the baby had white hair and my silver eyes. She hadn't even named the child; she simply told me that she couldn't abort it due to her religious upbringing, but now that she found me she was done being a mother. So she left your sister with me and vanished. I never bothered looking for her.
“It was unfair of me, what I did to your sister. I had no desire for a child as well, and when I looked at Cerize she merely reminded me of my grief. And so I did a piss-poor job of raising her. The crew – especially my first mate – did most of the work. I neglected the child, always looking at the compass and watching the sea, hoping for a sign of The Ball. On top of that I became reckless, and my crew had to stop me many times from simply throwing my life away. I took up any quest I could find, anything to distract me from my pain, even if it were something above my capability. All with a young child on board!
“I know, I know. It was a shitty thing to do, and I feel great shame and regret for my actions. I was such a fool! A drunken, heartbroken, fool. My first mate really tore me a new one after one particularly ruthless attack on the ship, and after about seven years of neglecting the child on my ship, I finally tried to be a father to her. It was too late, though, and by the time Cerize was twelve, she asked me to drop her off at Leviathan so she could make her own way in the world. She hated pirates and everything we stood for. I did her one better and dropped her off in Solace where she could stay far away from pirates. Told her Elmville might be just the place she was looking for. But before I left her, I gave her the Sword of the Seacasters – your granpapá’s sword – and told her that I did love her and if she ever called for me, I would come.
“She never responded and the last I saw of her was her walking away from the ship at the docks of Bastion City.
“It was losing my daughter that made me understand that I was going about the wrong way to try and find The Ball. He was well and truly lost, I realized. And eventually, nearly a quarter of a century later, I accepted that I would never find him again, and instead I decided to try and find something of his to keep as a momento.”
Fabian sighs and looks wistfully at the sword.
“When I made my peace, that was when the Needle settled down and pointed in one direction again. We sailed for days, following the needle, until it eventually pointed down to the depths of the ocean. I was determined to retrieve some piece of my beast friend, the man I loved more than anything else, and prepared to dive.
“Yes I was ready and willing to risk the wrath of Umberlee once more by plumbing her depths, but I had a secret tool on my side. Years before the tragedy, The Ball and I had done a great service to the merfolk of Atllona and received enchanted bracelets that allowed us to grow gills and breathe underwater. I found the bracelets and equipped both for good measure before diving into the waters below.
“I believe Umberlee took pity on me, for the spoils I had been searching for were not too deep beneath the surface. It was not everything The Ball had on him when he fell into the sea, but it was more than I could have hoped for: his rusted sword – the Sword of Shadows – and about a half-dozen of the rings he loved to wear, including our wedding ring. I wear those rings even now.”
Fabian pauses to point out the enchanted rings that once belonged to Riz, though the wedding ring is on a beautiful silver chain around his neck, next to a battered misshapen half of a heart that – over the years – had seen enough wear that the ST ENDS that had been etched into it had long since faded away.
“After that, my life returned to normal, as best as it could be. I stopped being as reckless as I had been following The Ball's death, but I never gave up the pirate life, as you can tell. I made many good friends – though none quite like The Ball – and I even managed to convince an old friend – Aunt Adaine – to join me for occasional adventures.
“It was one day ten years ago when Adaine was helping me catalog all of our magical items that I pulled out the compass and found it pointing somewhere once more. Without a moment to lose we set off towards where it was pointed only to find…you two. I was given another chance to love, and I never looked back.
“Now, let me tell you a bit about this sword: the Sword of Shadows, it’s called. Aside from being sharp and the perfect close-up weapon for a small rogue such as yourself, it also allows the wielder to Misty Step once per day. But more importantly, this is the sword that killed Kalvaxus of the Red Wastes, the fearsome dragon that nearly brought about an apocalypse back when I was in high school. The same dragon that The Ball ate! It’s very special and dear to me, almost as dear as the gun that The Ball used to wield, but alas, the compass has never led me to that weapon. Ah, if I could only hold his gun once more.”
Fabian sighed and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
“Well, that is what I have to say about this sword. Think about it, Riza, for it is yours if you’d like it when you come of age.”
“Thank you, Papá.”
“Of course, my child. Now, would you like to hear a story about how The Ball and I managed to kill a cave dragon and the horrible repercussions that stemmed from that event?”
“Yes, Papá!”
“It all began with a quest…”