Chapter 54: Chapter 52 – Her past

- POV General -

It had been three days since the Cerberus sailed more or less calmly to its destination without having crossed the path of a new storm. The ocean had been quite calm, but that didn't mean that the crew on board could relax, far from it. On the contrary, for the Hysterics, the last few days had been very busy, everyone had always had something to do in preparation for their adventure or in connection with the ship.

Edward Hartvigsen had been busy repairing every part of the Cerberus with what he could using the tools they had brought with them. He had been the busiest, and had not waited to heal to get to work, assisted by the two brothers. The others had not skimped either, as the navigation had to be done, the daily maintenance tasks as well as the management of everything on board.

Even Katherine and Ulysses had finally found a way to help out in their own way to the delight of the rest of the crew. Indeed, the mother and son had become the ship's cooks, as no one really knew how to cook, let alone the Captain. The vote was unanimous when she asked, and it didn't even take a second for the others to accept Katherine's new position with joy and relief.

Cerberus was small, life was not easy, but as time went on, a rather pleasant group dynamic was established despite recent events. Everyone had accepted the fact that the exotic animals had chosen a master and that they now had two children and a pregnant woman on board. Ulysses was also opening up a little more, as was his mother, who was becoming more discreet and silent.

The many traumas of her past life were still painful and indelible scars reflected in her behavior. Katherine still acted a bit like a slave, feeling free but still worried about tragedy. She trusted Hestia, her heart was different since meeting her, but the visceral fear of being abandoned again, silently gnawed at the mother.

However, for her son's sake, she kept silent, putting on a brave face while being plagued by doubts, especially about her feelings for the Captain. During these days, the gray-haired woman had observed a lot and had started to understand little by little the one who intrigued her irreparably. Her qualities as well as her faults and although Hestia was becoming more frightening to the mother's eyes, she was also becoming more attractive and mysterious.

"Good morning..."

"H-Hello Captain."

As Katherine stood alone leaning on the rail at the bow of the ship, her bright hair dancing in the wind, the Captain had joined her. They hadn't really had time to talk seriously to each other despite the fact that both of them couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. With her eyes fixed on the horizon, Hestia had decided to come and talk to her alone now that things were calmer.

The silver-haired woman had answered quietly before instinctively checking to see if the sleeves of her dress were in place and covering. Hiding her body as much as possible, keeping the little dignity she thought she had left especially in front of the one who had saved her. The young woman with blond hair had noticed it but decided not to approach the subject, preferring to go gently not to rush her.

"You don't have to call me Captain, don't force yourself."

"I-I'll think about it...thanks"

"Perfect~ So tell me, how are you finding life on the Cerberus ?"

Hestia had turned to lean against the wooden railing watching those on deck, busy doing various things. It was the first time since they had left Gaze that they had been alone, and though she hid it well, the young woman was still a little nervous. However, with Seth still around the shoulders and her Captain's attributes, it was more like Ulysses' mother was feeling very impressed and very stressed.

"It's...it's scary...but you all seem to know what to do despite the danger and so sure of yourselves, I have to admit it's also reassuring. A-And then...although scary, it's nice to see how free you are on this ship that, in the middle of the ocean, looks so tiny and vulnerable."

Katherine was telling the truth, she who had been a slave most of her life was discovering this for the first time which was as fascinating as it was paralyzing. It was impossible for her not to feel insignificant which was normal at first, the unknown and freedom were two things more frightening than one might think. Stroking her snake's head, Hestia stared at the sky before answering the last sentence the woman had spoken

"You say that like you're not, but you're free as well...Katherine."

"I-..."

It was the second time the Captain had spoken her name and in that moment, the pregnant woman's heart had leapt without warning. She had become paralyzed and watched the waves come and go in the distance to stay focused on something. Katherine was indeed free of physical violence and restraint but was she mentally ? It was going to take time but unfortunately time would not wait and neither would the risks it brought.

"Look, I don't know what you've been through or what made you end up in Gaze with that family of dogs but now you are well and truly free. I...mmh...just knowing that you are makes me strangely happy ahem but..."

At that moment, Ulysses' mother realized that with all these new changes and states of mind in her heart and mind, Hestia did not know her story. Yet she had told her part of hers, which had given her an idea of who she was. Remaining silent, Katherine nevertheless let the Captain continue what she wanted to say, easily guessing that it was more or less important.

"I don't know what we'll find on the island we're about to reach, but I want you to know...that I'll do anything to honor my promise. However, I still don't know if your presence is a good idea either, especially since..."

"I-I understand...we're in the way..."

"No ! I-..."

Once again, Hestia wasn't exactly being delicate despite already trying hard not to sound too rough. Once again she felt out of place and suddenly began to think of her boots on a man's face to calm herself down. Taking a deep breath, the Captain who was doing her best cleared her throat before explaining what she had meant with more precision.

"What I meant was that I don't know what lies ahead and if this choice to take you to this unknown destination was the best choice as far as your safety is concerned. That said, I don't regret asking you to come especially when I see that the little on is smiling much more since we met you."

"..."

"A week ago, taking a 7-year-old boy on board would have been unimaginable and I would have even slit the throat of whoever even offered to do it hahaha~ Ahem...but yes the future is uncertain, especially alongside pirates, that's why I wanted you to know that you and your son are not chained to the ship...at all"

Until now, the golden-haired young woman had never said those words but as cruel as she could be, she knew that saying them was important. Her tone was serious, she had even turned to look at Katherine who could feel the weight of her intense gaze. Despite their presence on Cerberus, now that Ulysses and her mother were free, they had every right to choose their destiny even if it was away from the Hysterics.

"I grew up an orphan..."

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Suddenly, the woman with very light blue almost white eyes, had spoken those words that had made the one next to her straighten up. The atmosphere had changed slightly and as the sea wind made their hair dance, Katherine was finally going to speak her heart out. It was not usual but on this ship lost in the middle of the ocean as if alone in the world with only the sky as a witness, she felt ready to give herself up a little.

"I grew up an orphan on the Southern Continent in a poor orphanage where the two managers found me as a baby outside the doors. From the beginning of my life I was alone and rejected by parents who obviously did not want me for reasons I will never know. At the age of 16, when my guardians decided I was serviceable enough, they sold me as a slave to a wealthy nobleman who collected young women."

Katherine didn't stammer, her eyes were serious and the further she went into her speech, the more her hands and her entire body began to tremble. It was hard to think about the past and Hestia understood this very well but she always remained silent forgetting everything around her. Taking a deep breath in turn, the mother focused more on the multiple waves in the distance before continuing to tell her story.

"The abuse, the beatings, the feeling of being nothing and being born only to serve I know it from that age until the day I became pregnant with Ulysses. Because of this, I was dragged from house to house until he was born, the slave traders judging that we were no longer worth anything. Then we lived in Gaze for seven years with our last master and his children, I got pregnant again because of him and...and the rest you know."

All her life, Katherine had been used, treated as a thing only to satisfy those she worked for, those who owned her. Ulysses had been born into this world and at the tone of her mother's voice, Hestia felt the enormous weight of regret but more importantly guilt. The shame gnawed at her and would probably never really go away but as she spoke, she realized that confiding in her was somehow liberating.

"I...I can't say my life has been a model of success, even my blonde hair has gone gray from everything I've been through. A-As if...as if life wanted to remind me how weak I am although I don't need any of that to know, just...looking at my body is enough..."

The Captain hadn't said it but her physical scars that the former slave hated so much, she had seen them many times. To her, it was what also made her beautiful and proved the courage and strength she had shown but to Katherine, it was just the stigma of failure. To Hestia, even that silver hair she hated was what made her unique and even worthy of pride, but that she couldn't say.

"Everything that life has given me, it has always taken it away afterwards, I must be cursed hahaha~ It took me 37 years to finally be free and this brave feat I'm not even responsible for, I owe it more to my son and a pirate Captain wanted by the Navy. As if I had always been waiting cowardly for someone to come and save my life..."

Hestia was speechless, realizing that the cracks that had become scars were quite deep and even deeper than she thought. That said, it was normal with what she had been through but that didn't stop her from feeling her heart clench with every word she spoke. The beautiful silver-haired woman then suddenly brought a hand to her face, gently wiping away with a trembling hand the few tears that had started to bead.

"E-Excuse me, I think I only know how to cry, for a woman as brave and strong as you I must seem ridiculous, I apologize."

"No you..."

"But despite everything, so far my only pride is my children no matter where they come from and if it wasn't for them I would have given up on life long ago. Maybe one day you will also...throw me aside but for now, Ulysses' smile is among the things I cherish most. Our coming here may be an unconscious decision but..."

Pausing for a moment, Katherine then touched her belly, a gesture she often made to give herself courage and stop crying. Feeling the life she carried in her hand was a natural calming almost equal to her son's smile. Turning to Hestia for the first time since their conversation, the Captain could see her cheeks glow as the wind gently blew her long silver hair shimmering like silk.

"We were just strangers, poor slaves but you and your friends have done so much for us, more than anyone else, so it doesn't matter if you are pirates and if the journey is dangerous. I know you will keep your promise and do everything to protect us as you did without hesitation, without even knowing our names. We are not chained to the ship, but I can tell you without lying that at this very moment, it is here and nowhere else that we want to be."

At the end of her sentence, Hestia and Katherine looked at each other without saying another word, the Captain's grey-green eyes plunging into the mother's light blue ones. They stayed like that for many, many minutes, with different intense but also comforting feelings. Hestia's eyes shone wildly, making it impossible to read them, but Katherine's eyes were so expressive that she spoke through them.

Sadness, pain, regret, fear, guilt, but also hope, gratitude and courage brought new joy. After opening up a bit about her past, Ulysses' mother felt a weight lift off her chest noticing that it did more good than harm. She hadn't known Hestia long but felt she wouldn't judge her, after all, she had seen her at a pathetic time in her life.

Katherine, too, had seen the Captain's most terrifying sides and, despite having first called her a murderer and a monster, she was beginning to understand. Those days on the Cerberus, watching, had given her a little more insight into who she was. The former slave couldn't read Hestia's eyes, but she could detect that hard glint that never disappeared from her mostly cold gaze.

"T-Thank you for listening to me."

Suddenly, breaking the silence unable to bear more of Hestia's vibrant gaze right away making her turn her head embarrassed, Katherine whispered these words. She felt her heart racing and couldn't help thinking back to the kiss they had exchanged. Ulysses' mother also knew that the Cerberus Captain loved women a lot, having heard many of her nicknames here and there from her crew.

Was she really any different from these many other women ? She didn't know, but her heart didn't choose and just spoke out in her chest, not knowing that this was also the case for the one in front of her. Hestia who always let herself be carried by her desires, suddenly approached slowly without even realizing it herself. While she was just above Katherine's face, she finally spoke.

"It's okay, because I care about you,and I think I-…n-no I'm pretty sure, I lo-..."

"CAPTAIN, LAND IN SIGHT !!!"

As the Captain was about to finish her sentence, suddenly Mysie's voice shouting from the crow's nest snapped her out of her trance. During the conversation she had felt alone in her world with the one she found both so fragile and so strong that it took her several seconds to emerge. Walking away from her embarrassed at the thought of what she was about to say, Hestia quickly regained her seriousness once the information had reached her brain.

"What ??"

Mysie had just said "land in sight" but according to Joe the Sailing Master the island was only to be reached tonight and not before, so why ? Noticing Hestia's frown, Katherine although wanting to know the rest, moved away from herself so as not to disturb. Thus, the young woman with golden hair annoyed to have been interrupted, turned the heels after having excused herself with a brief nod.

"What do you mean land in sight ? Sailing Master !"

At the announcement of the young woman perched at the very top of the mast, the crew had gathered beside it just as confused as their Captain. Using a rope, she descended in turn to explain what she had seen with her telescope. Landing on the deck, Mysie came to stand right next to Joe and Kali who were also waiting to know more. Everyone was silent, curious and a little lost.

"There is an island to the North East of our position, several kilometers from here, and I'm positive that it is our destination."

"Captain, I have taken all the necessary measures and I don't understand why we can see it from here but I don't change my statement, we will arrive tonight"

All of this was strange, but Hestia trusted her subordinates and friends, so despite the confusion, she nodded her head. Whether they arrived soon or tonight, their destination was soon to be reached and therefore many mysteries would be solved. What had Diana Hellfire left behind ? What was so special about this island ? The Hysterics didn't know yet, but it wouldn't be long before they were confronted with the mysteries, beauty and danger of this world.

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