Church of Healing? One of the five orthodox gods?

Roseus looked at Blodwen with great confusion.

There were only a few ways to come across a treasure belonging to the churches.

Becoming a high-ranking sailor of the navy who worshipped one of these five gods.

Or stealing it from one of these people’s dead bodies.

For some reason, Roseus had the feeling that it was the latter.

Blodwen smiled as he started working on Roseus’s wound next. The pain was ghastly as he felt the flesh of his back knitting itself back together. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Something wrong with that, kid?" Blodwen growled at Lavender.

Perhaps due to her depression, or some other personal feelings that were dwelling in her heart, she didn’t seem to shy away from the man’s rough words.

Lavender was once a believer of the five orthodox gods, however she was a part of the Church of Civilisation, whose focus was on the advancement of humanity. They were said to worship the God of Knowledge, however lower-ranking members of the church were not given much information on the true nature and identities of these gods.

"You don’t look like a believer," Lavender then said, as if testing the man.

Roseus felt a cold wind enter the room, as though Blodwen had invited it in himself.

The green-haired man glanced over at the religious woman from the corner of his eye. This time, it frightened her enough to force her to look away and remain silent.

...

After a while, all of the members of the crew were healed. Although the pain of the injuries still lingered, the wounds were cleaned and sealed, and would likely not become infected.

Afterwards, Blodwen asked to speak to Roseus and Dawn alone.

The others looked sceptical. The man told them to wait in the hut until their captain and first mate returned.

He warned them not to enter the basement, otherwise they would most likely die.

It wasn’t a threat, but it was enough to deter them.

...

With hesitant steps, Roseus and Dawn followed the man outside. They circled the lake, as the light of the moon shone down on its surface.

Blodwen must have noticed Roseus looking down into it, as he gave a short explanation.

"That body of water is connected to the sea. It’s how I hunt and stay strong."

"..."

Roseus suddenly felt the urge to step further away from the water.

So this isn’t a lake, but rather a smaller part of the ocean? Is he suggesting that he dives into the water to hunt?

Suddenly, the shark skin carcass draped over the man’s back made sense.

Roseus didn’t have time to ask any questions, as Blodwen started talking.

"So, where do I begin? You probably want to know why I’m here, and what the significance of this island is. Or maybe you want to know about your parents, and where they are right now? You probably have a thousand questions you want to ask, but I’ll start with what’s most important."

Blodwen stopped for a moment. He outstretched his arm, as if trying to hug the entire island.

"This has been my home for the last six years. My mission has been to await your arrival, so that I could join your crew when the time was right, and help you reach the Eighth Ocean."

The words stunned Roseus. Not just the fact that this man, who seemed more powerful than anyone he had ever met, was speaking about joining his crew, but also from the fact that the man had been alone on that island for six years.

He wondered how he had survived... What had kept him going for so long...

Blodwen gave him the answer.

"Prophecy, boy. Your father knew that his prophecy might not be about him, so he planned to leave his best men at various different islands along the way to the Eighth Ocean. His hope was that you would follow him someday, and recruit us all as you used his hat to follow his journey. He knew that leaving his best men behind might make his chances worse, but it would also increase the chance that his son would succeed. I was the first that offered to stay behind."

"..."

A strange feeling of encumbrance suddenly fell onto Captain Roseus, as he considered the meaning behind these words.

His father had sacrificed so much to make sure that he succeeded in reaching the Eighth Ocean. He had even left behind a man as great as Blodwen the Green, whose bounty was 40,000 Halo’s.

There were many questions floating around in his mind, but one was at the forefront.

"What about my brother, Aeros? He is equally a part of the man’s bloodline. How does he know that the prophecy wasn’t about him?"

Blodwen smiled, already expecting such a question.

"It was your brother who gave you these wounds, no?" Blodwen guessed.

Roseus nodded his head.

"Then Redeye was right. He knew that his oldest son would join the navy, and chase after you once he heard that you were setting out to sea. Through this, both of Redeye’s offspring will travel towards the Final Ocean. He believed that if it wasn’t him that fulfilled the prophecy, it would be you. He wanted it to be a pirate after all. However, he couldn’t ignore Aeros, so he said when the time came, he would send him a message too."

Roseus’s eyes went wide.

My brother received a message as well...

"What did it say?"

Blodwen’s face slowly lost its smile. It was as though he knew the words were about to hurt the young captain in front of him.

Still, honesty was important in times like this.

"He sent him a message saying that you were going to set out to sea, and that you would most certainly make the world a worse place if you did. He suggested that Aeros set out to sea and bring you back."

"And so, the cat and mouse chase of prophecy has begun."

"..."

The words hung in the air for a few moments. Dawn looked over at her captain to see what sort of expression his face wore after hearing the revelation.

To her surprise, his face remained calm and unbothered.

"That won’t work," he then said calmly.

Blodwen raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"That won’t work, because the next time my brother comes for me, I’ll sink his ship and all of his men."