Chapter 61: Chapter 59 – The Code and the Hidden Message

- POV General -

After more than ten minutes of hovering around the bedridden Captain, all happy to see her finally awake, Kali, Achi, Mysie, Joe and Lucas calmed down a bit. Katherine and Ulysses were again standing back but unable to hide the relieved look on their faces. Seth was happily sliding on Hestia's shoulders while Loki and Azeil were almost jumping on her, forgetting that she wasn't fully healed. 

"Ouch there there good boys haha~"

The two tigers, who were really still just cubs, couldn't hold back their childish joy, licking their mistress' face as they purred. Their two saber teeth rubbing against her cheeks as she tried as hard as she could to get away from the excessive affection. The young blonde woman was just as happy to see that everyone was okay but after sweeping the place with her eyes, looked up at her friends. 

"How is Edward ? He's not here"

"He's dead."

"..."

"TIRED ! I mean he’s dead tired !" 

Mysie had answered without thinking for a second causing a small fright in her Captain who had still found this announcement strange. After looking at her with perplexity, the young woman with golden hair laughed not without holding her ribs right after. She was out of danger but still very weakened and far from being healed, this time her wounds having been much more serious, realizing it while Lucas spoke.

"He's fine don't worry, probably playing with Odin on the deck or making the two brothers slave away to get over his frustration at being restricted in his movements."

"I see, that sounds just like him. Good~"  

All was well. Touching her still aching and buzzing head remembering that night very well, a small relieved look burning in her still tired eyes. Then, not having forgotten them, Hestia turned her head towards the still silent mother and son before beckoning them to approach. The others moved aside to let them pass while the Captain slowly stood up and signaled to the others that all was well.

She still felt pain but had the strength to stand upright showing almost no sign of weakness despite the many bandages covering her. Hestia had not forgotten that the most fragile of the group were these two and she could not imagine the fear they must have had. For these two former slaves who had just been freed, the sight of her condition could have given rise to an instinctive desire to give up on this island and its dangers, which was normal.

"I must have scared you, didn't I ?"

The young blonde woman regretted it because all she wanted to avoid was being unable to protect them as she had promised. Barely a week after leaving Gaze, she already found herself close to death ? Unacceptable. However, the Captain couldn't change the past, so raising both hands, she simply stroked their heads gently as Katherine almost whispered back followed by Ulysses.

"Yes...very..."

"I was a bit sc- no...very...very scared."

It was the first time the silver-haired mother was receiving what she had so far always given her son: pats. It was a harmless gesture and while the little boy automatically smiled, she was quick to do the same although shyly. It was very pleasant. But, feeling her head spinning, Hestia would eventually sit back down casually on a wooden crate before tatting her pockets in search of her cigarettes. 

"So ? What's the news ? I guess I stayed asleep for a few more days so I-..."

*grooooowl*

"Ooop I think I need something to eat first~"

It was good timing since the meal was about to be ready and in a barrel stored in the ship's hold, dipped in coarse salt, something was waiting for her. The mood had greatly changed since the young woman woke up and a huge weight had left their hearts. All that remained was to regain strength before continuing the journey, but before that, the sleeping beauty had to be brought up to speed after a good meal.

______

Thirty minutes later, a curry of jaguar meat was served in wooden bowls, carefully prepared by Katherine. However the convalescent had a little something extra, for on a large iron tray sat the raw heart of the beast she had killed. As a well-known hunter, her friends had done everything possible to offer her this little something that this time she could not get herself.

Yes, Hestia had not seen Joe and Kali scrambling to make a stretcher in the middle of the night to get them back to camp only in the morning. She hadn't seen Buggy and Doggy going back and forth to bring back parts of meat from the two animals, clumsily butchered by Lucas. She hadn't seen her friends doing their best to survive without her for three days. The young woman had seen none of this but deep down...she knew.

It was time to eat, however, and while for the first time ever humans and animals were peacefully reunited, life seemed to be back on track. There was also of course alcohol and everything else that the Hysterics thought made a good pirate meal. It was a real meat feast, in addition to the curry there were steaks, slabs, roasts, meatballs, meatloaf, in short… everything that would allow everyone to gain strength.

It was almost hard to believe that a few days before in a fight to the death, two of them had almost died for anyone watching the scene. Edward had his right arm in a splint made of cloth and branches but was eating happily, his black cat Odin on his head. Everyone's face had a smile on it, the atmosphere was joyful, everyone taking down the pressure that had built up far too much.

"Arg bucking hell, jats chooo good !"

Hestia didn't stop, she who usually ate a lot, was stuffing herself feeling a little more alive with each bite. Thus, in only 10 minutes she had swallowed the equivalent of three complete meals for 2 people without even realizing it. Under the amazed eyes of the other ten, the young woman with a satisfied look let herself fall into the grass, breathing softly and feeling almost ready for a nap.

As Hestia finished her bottle of rum in one go as if it were the sweetest of nectars, she finally took out her little iron box. Inside, of course, were her vanilla cigarettes, which she never parted with, much to the chagrin of those who couldn't stand the smoke. Bringing one to her mouth, the young woman rummaged in her other pocket to take out a small notebook known to all : that of her mother.

"You know...I've been thinking a lot about what's in this simple little notebook. It gives us precise coordinates of every important place in her journey but it doesn't fit. It’s unthinkable that my mother did not write anything about an island where everything is so huge. Isn't that the first thing you would think of when writing about this place ?"

"What do you mean ?"

"I mean that from the beginning we have been missing out on some of the most vital information..."

At her words, everyone was beginning to understand what the Captain had meant by that because she was actually not wrong at all. What was the real purpose of the notebook ? Why would she have sent it before she disappeared if it didn't contain secrets ? There was no way that the mention of the size of the flora and fauna had ever occurred to Diana and this realization came as a shock to the entire crew who almost felt foolish. 

"Don't make that face mateys, I too had not thought about it even though we landed here thanks to a coded map. Moreover, my mother always had little tricks, after all...a secret could hide another" 

How could she have forgotten? She who had spent fifteen years by her side watching, listening and learning what a pirate was. In those years of learning, Hestia had learned a lot of tricks to hide one message in another. She didn't know if she was right, but it was worth a try. So, cracking a match, the young woman lit her cigarette before opening the notebook to a particular page.

"Let's try here."

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The Captain had chosen one of the days in the year 657 when Diana and her crew seemed to have arrived on the island after having copied the Hamilton Kokosnuss map. On the first page, she talked about the diversity of species or the beauty of the place, which sounded almost false considering the danger of the place. Approaching the match just below the paper, Hestia concentrated on not burning it but rather warming it up. 

"W-Wait, what are you doing !?"

The young Achi who didn't understand what she was doing, almost choked on her food while she looked at Hestia with wide eyes, taking her for an even more insane woman. No one else was talking, all eyes were on the beautiful blonde who was not paying attention to the young noblewoman's panic either. After two minutes, with a satisfied grin, she slowly raised her piercing grey-green eyes before turning the notebook in full view.

On the page, the text written in black ink had almost disappeared and the heat of the flame had revealed a code written in a brown color. It was very light, almost too light, but there was a hidden message that had to be decoded, although most of the crew recognized the symbols. As Hestia was about to speak, a sudden pain in her ribs prevented her from doing so, leaving time for Ulysses to say a few words followed by Achi.

"It's...it's Morse code"

"Eh ? What's M-Morse code ?"

The little blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy had spoken aloud without realizing it, his bright eyes recognizing what he had seen in a book. But, when the young noblewoman had asked her question, Ulysses had realized his intervention and instinctively covered his mouth. However, he had the full attention of the others and in particular of Hestia who with a curious nod indicated that he could answer to Achi if he knew the answer. 

"I-It's a code used to transmit a physical, light or...huh...sound message using a series of s-short or long pulses...I think…"

"Would you be able to decipher it ?"

"N-No I...I recognized the symbols in the book's first page but I...n-never saw the alphabet or had time to continue reading. And I...I didn't really understand what it meant, I just remember what it said."

"I see."

Ulysses definitely had a very good memory, but he was still a little boy who, although he remembered the words, didn't always understand their meaning. He had a sorry look on his face, disappointed that he couldn't help more without knowing that the pirates knew Morse code. While his head was down in shame, Katherine instinctively hugged him, more proud of him than anyone else before someone raises their voice.

"Hestia...are you okay ?"

Breaking the silence, worried, Mysie had tilted her head to the side followed by her little monkey Ari who was on her right shoulder and mimicking her without even really knowing why. Indeed, the Captain was quite pale despite her smile which tried to hide her suffering body, her headache and her fever. She had very little natural energy which made her even weaker physically than a broken arm or ribs.

Her physical injuries were nothing new, but for the first time Hestia was faced with a whole new form of weakness. It was as if her entire being was on standby, turned off, as if very little blood was flowing through her body because natural energy was just as important. Blowing a puff of smoke, the young blond woman too proud to talk about it straightened up as if nothing was wrong before answering. 

"Y-Yes, it's okay. Tell me instead, now that we know there's new information in the notebook, what can you tell me about where we are ? I guess that while I was sleeping you explored the surroundings since you found water."

Thanks to her discovery a whole new deciphering job was in prospect but she still wanted to question her companions. After all, the exploration of the island was just beginning and the more information there was, the more danger could be avoided. The first to speak was Lucas since he had been part of the scouts, his words being supported thereafter by Joe who had been also present.

"Well, it seems that since you have defeated the two jaguars, life has resumed in the forest which makes it now in my opinion much less dangerous and easy to cross. On the other hand, we haven't gone very far, we don't know what's beyond that, the trees are much too dense and we clearly need more information."

"As we have observed, the fauna and flora is of an immeasurable size which seems to be the case of the whole island constituting the main danger depending on the creatures that live there. For the moment it's hard to find our way around since the sun doesn't shine through but with the new directions in the notebook we'll probably know where to head."

No one had forgotten why they had set out for this special place : to follow in their parents' footsteps to find them, but also to discover what they had left behind. A bit like a giant treasure hunt, the entire journey of the Hysterics consisted of figuring out what was going on in the shadows and uncovering the many secrets of Diana Hellfire's crew, armed with a single notebook and a mysterious letter. 

"Maybe it would be possible to send the hawk above the trees to guide us ? I mean, look at these animals, they've pretty much chosen a master and you seem to be pretty good at understanding them"

Raising an inquisitive eyebrow, Hestia scanned the group with her eyes and in particular the exotic animals that had invited themselves onto the ship several weeks ago. Gradually over the course of the trip, they had become less fearful to the point that each one enjoyed spending time with a Hysterical. Next to Kali was a lynx, next to Lucas was a fox, an orangutan for Joe, the poodle for Achi and the hawk that seemed to have chosen the Captain herself. 

"Now that you mention it..."

The idea Kali had innocently had was actually pretty good and even if it wasn't sure it would work, it was worth a try. Of course Hestia didn't talk to animals but she could inexplicably communicate for some reason unknown to her. This was even more apparent when it came to her snake Seth, who was gifted with rather uncommon insight despite the already advanced intelligence of the animals in this world.

"You all seem to be so attached to these beasts, my cuties~ So be it, after all they can still be useful to us at some point. Train them well so they don't cause us trouble and that way I won't have to taste the hearts of rare exotic animals worth a fortune hahahaCOUGH COUGH !"

"Hestia !"

"Captain you..."

The young blonde woman had suddenly leaned forward to cough but before her friends could step forward to help her, she had given them a dissuasive look. An almost extreme tiredness caught up with her accompanied by a huge desire to sleep especially after such a meal. Sighing in front of her own rather destabilizing state, Hestia of a weary voice, gave her last instructions in the hope to rest a little before the official departure. 

"I-I will try to test Kali's plan, prepare everything for a departure, an indefinite trip and try to decipher the Morse code message. But remember, don't force it too much, get some rest too because we have another long journey ahead of us..."

"Understood !"

Realizing that they now had to let their Captain rest, the group began to move to clear their food and anything else that was lying around. They were in no hurry but all had something to do which instinctively made the mother panic. Approaching the busy pirates, in an almost trembling and still very submissive voice, she tried to convince them to let her take care of everything.

"W-Wait, please let me do it don't bother, please."

Without letting go of what they had in their hands, it was Kali and Mysie who answered her with a sweet smile understanding that she still thought most of the time like a slave. It was not her fault, it was rather natural, the still conditioned mother needing time to get used to what a free life was. So the two young women answered with sincerity, wanting only to help her on the path that was psychological healing.

"Katherine. You don't have to do everything yourself anymore~" 

"Here everyone supports each other and everyone helps~"

Surrounded by a hawk, a snake and two tigers, Hestia couldn't help but smile at the scene with tired eyes. Lying down again on the grass, her mind started to wander immediately after about their future on the island, hoping to recover quickly by the time they left. All of this was still exciting, however, with the Hysterics still unaware of the two Navy Commodores arriving on the other side of the island to hunt them down.

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