Curse of the Zodiac Serpent
The Choice

Ekans laughed after a deafening silence had filled the room for a little too long. “Heaven’s you two! You’re acting like I’m to kill the girl. We will simply bleed her until we have enough.”

“It sounds like you are to kill her.” Kenji pointed out.

Ekans reached forward yanking Ayako from Kenji’s arms and into his own hold. His long slender finger wrapped around her forearms sending chills through her entire body. “It might, but there’s no guarantee. Won’t know until we try.” He shrugged.

“What if it doesn’t work?” Kenji was fanaticly protesting at this point, at first Ayako thought maybe it was for her. But with his next statement, that little bit of hope faded. “What happens to my men if it doesn’t work?”

“With a few pints of blood or all ten, it’s just at what point remains to be seen.” He shrugged again. “Only one way to replace out. But to answer your question, they all die, not right away but the curse will continue to eat away at their bodies until they can’t take the change any longer. You, of course, being the exception.”

“Why can’t you do what you did to me for them!? Buy us more time!” Kenji pleaded, he really did seem desperate to save his crew.

“I told you before, that spell was a once-off. I can’t do it again even if I wanted to. Be thankful that it worked on you in the first place, or your fate would be the same as theirs.” Ekans mulled over some thoughts before he continued. “If the ritual doesn’t work it may at the very least extend the curse, meaning you can replace another sacrifice while you still have time.”

“I don’t want to kill people! Neither does the crew!” Keiji protested.

“You brought the girl here knowing damn well what could happen. What’s one life versus twelve?”

That shut Kenji up, there was no denying that he had kidnapped and taken her from her home for this reason. But Ayako could also tell he was struggling with his internal morals. However, if their roles had been reversed and she had to save the imperial family by sacrificing a single person, she would. She oddly didn’t resent him for his choice or his role in all this.

“Leave, prepare your crew and bring them back at nightfall. We will finish the ritual at midnight when the moon is high.” Ekans ordered. He then turned, dragging Ayako with him as she continued to protest in his hold.

She glanced back to catch that hurtful expression on his face again. As his so-called captive, she couldn’t bring herself to hate him even though she should. Instead, it made her heart ache. Anyone would think she was going mad.

Kenji stood stationary watching as the god dragged away the innocent girl. Not to mention the wrong girl! He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, the snake had been adamant that he needed certain blood, so why would he settle for less? Was this destined to fail? Would the girl die for nothing? If she did it would be his fault... Could he stomach that?

All the nagging thoughts were causing his head to ache. He began to walk slowly back through the valley and towards his ship. He felt helpless and lost. He hoped that just maybe the fresh air would help clear his mind.

He wasn’t sure how long he had wandered the island, but by the time he had reached his ship again, the sun was on its way down, ready to set soon. He was exhausted hungry and parched. Slumming against a wooden pole that tired the vessel down he slid down to sit on the wooden dock.

What was he going to tell the crew? He didn’t want to get their hopes up if this failed. He placed a hand on his aching temples, using his palm to shield his eyes from the fading light.

“Captian?” A familiar young voice called down moments later. Shortly after the sound of feet landing on the wooden surface beside him followed.

Kenji looked up at the young pirate. “Should you really be doing that on your leg?”

Dimitri smiled gingerly as though slightly embarrassed. “The princess helped me strap it last night, and after the change, it’s almost completely set now.”

“At least you didn’t lose the limb after the change. And she’s not a princess.”

Dimitri froze, knowing immediately what that meant. The boy couldn’t replace any words to respond. Both the point of the missing body parts and the princess.

“How are the others holding up?” Kenji knew Dimitri had the longest life left. He’d been a stowaway on the ship when they had been cursed, getting mixed up in something he shouldn’t have. But because of his age, the curse wasn’t eating away at him as fast as the others, he was still a spry young man who was able to bounce back... for now.

“A-A few lost some more teeth and a couple of toenails didn’t come back.” Dimitri paused, the air around them growing more solemn. “What’s going to happen to us now? What about her, is she...” He couldn’t say it.

“She’s alive... for now.”

“You look... torn.” Dimitri tried.

“I am. The girl has a good heart, she helped you and I... when she had no reason to.” Kenji sighed. “It’s not certain if the ritual will work to lift the curse but in the least, it could extend it, buy us more time... But we’d have to replace another...” He trailed off.

“Captian... don’t carry this burden on your own. The crew know what’s at stake, talk to them, and let us carry some of the weight for you. We should come to a decision together don’t you think?” The younger, seemly wise pirate boy pointed out.

Kenji couldn’t help but crack a half smile as his optimistic thinking. Dimitri was one of the main reasons he had fought so long and hard to keep the crew alive, this innocent young boy who shouldn’t be here. His crew weren’t just men to him, they were his family.

“Too wise for your age.” He muttered.

“What was that?” Dimitri asked confused not catching what he had said.

“Gather the crew.”

“Yes Captain!” Dimitri immediately scaled the side of the ship using a rope that had been thrown over and hoisted himself over the railing.

By the time Kenji ascended the ramp up and onto the ship, the crew were gathered and waiting. He filled all the men in on the current situation and then proposed to them two choices.

“One, save ourselves and gain more time to replace another sacrifice. Or two, save the girl.”

“If her blood doesn’t work, who’s to say anyone’s will? We could just end up roaming the seas replaceing blood sacrifices to just extend our miserable lives.” A pirate pointed out.

“I don’t want to live like this forever.” Another stated horrified.

“Save the girl!” Dimitri suddenly yelled.

It wasn’t long before every crew member was chanting it like a bunch of cheerleaders.

He sighed shaking his head at their antics but couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“If you’re to make an enemy of a snake.” An unknown voice rang out behind the captain.

Kenji spun on his heels as the crew stopped dead at the appearance of the newcomer.

“You’re going to need a better plan than just save the girl.” The man speaking seemed to simply materialize out of thin air. He had long black hair that flowed gently in the night breeze and piercing red eyes that cut through the darkness.

“Dragon, at your service.” The man bowed low in greeting.