章 64: Grand Pride
"Arrrr! Full sail, my crew! Come! Treasures await us!" Zvezdnyy yelled out as she stood by the wheel of the ship. Her cutlass was out and pointing at an indiscernible point at the horizon.
The girl no longer dressed like a Victorian noble. Gone was the fine clothing, replaced with tough and sturdy coats and pants resistant to the corrosive effect of salted water. Gone was the top hat, in its place stood a black bicorn pirate hat with gold trimmings that held a skull near the center. Gone were the nobility, replaced by corsairs.
And yet… Given how her cutlass didn't reflect the sunlight as typical of actual swords, it was easy for anyone to deduce it wasn't a real cutlass.
All the weapons on Zvezdnyy's body such as flintlock pistols held no rounds and were more props rather than the real thing. Thus, it was more like Zvezdnyy playing as a pirate.
"Aye Captain!" One of the men yelled to the rest of the crew spread out on the deck, "Full sail!"
Over three minutes, every one of the dozens upon dozens of square sails on the Santisima Trinidad stretched out in full. They caught a strange wind and sped forth at speeds much faster than any contemporary ships.
"Three minutes. Your men are found wanting, Shturman Iskander." The girl commented as she tilted her head towards the quartermaster.
"Little girl—"
"That's Captain Zvezdnyy to you, Shturman!"
Standing on the stairs leading towards the roof where one would find the ship's wheels, quartermaster Iskander, dressed in a cloth shirt that barely contained his bulging muscles, exhaled like an old man who moved too much.
"Captain Zvezdnyy. Once more, those who followed me came from all walks of life. They are skilled in the ships of my time, not this advanced piece of ship coming from 2,000 years in the future. My men are still learning."
"Hmm, make sure your men learn quicker, my Shturman." Zvezdnyy's eyes moved away from Iskander and towards the rest of the deck. She lasered in on the dozens of men, all busy running the ship.
Then, she turned up to the sky, "My Starshiy Pomoshchnik Kapitana! Summon all the winds at your command!" Zvezdnyy yelled out to the figure above her behind the ship. "Treasure awaits for no one!"
In response, the strange wind became even stronger. It became so strong that stuff like loose nails and ropes started to move, dragged along by this strange wind.
By now, Zvezdnyy's ship possessed such momentum that it was better described as a 'city-block-sized speedboat'. It was almost a miracle that the mast of the ship didn't bend or even creak when it was met with such strong wind.
"I will definitely find all the treasures sooner than Drake. That's a promise I, the Zvezdnyy Rebenok, the Pirate Who Shall Conquer The Seas, made." Zvezdnyy said to herself, a near-whisper heard by no one.
"Serpent! Sea Serpent off the starboard bow!"
A crewman's yelling broke Zvezdnyy out of her fantasies about uncovering buried treasure chests full of gold. Briefly, the girl was annoyed before squashing it. Taking out her monoculars, Zvezdnyy's enhanced gaze swept across the sea beyond the ship's deck.
It took a few seconds before Zvezdnyy found the direction from which the sea serpent was coming. To the right, near the front of the ship. Through the monoculars, the captain can easily spot the head of a serpent full of scales that jut out like defensive spikes.
Though she would never admit it, Zvezdnyy has no idea what nautical terms like 'starboard bow' really meant. She became fascinated with pirates after seeing this one movie about them that had a cat and mouse in it. It was an almost perfect movie in her opinion.
The only imperfections were how deformed those three pirate captains actually were. Devoid of a hand and a leg, they were subhumans. Thankfully, with just a single wish, those animated subhumans became human again.
Raising a cutlass, the girl began, "Arrrr! It seems this Sea Serpent wants a piece of me! Well, it's gonna take everything it's got if it wants a shred of—"
*BOOOOM*
A brightness eclipsing the sun itself basked the Santisima Trinidad in full. A wave of heat slammed into everyone before an explosion of sound rocked the ship, causing the heavy thing to sway akin to a metronome.
Once the light died down and the heat persisted, Zvezdnyy's monocular focused back on the sea serpent.
It was gone. A mountain of slowly settling steam encompassed the area where the sea serpent swam. Then, ripples emanated from the mountain of steam before the body of the sea serpent flew— no wait, it was her Starshiy Pomoshchnik Kapitana carrying the steamed carcass of the now-dead serpent.
Her Kapitana glanced up and down the ship, before eventually finding an empty spot on the ship's deck to drop the body of the dead serpent.
The serpent's length was such that it filled up half of the ship.
Iskander glanced at the steaming carcass, observing the damage a Goddess could wreak. The serpent was missing its head, its throat a region of charred blackness. Its scales were soft, and its flesh was bloated—its body was steamed nearly instantly. Such a method of death was unseen by Iskander throughout his whole life.
Taking out a knife, Iskander cut into the serpent's body, easily piercing the soft scales as if it were paper. The King of Conquerors cut out a small, still-steaming portion of the snake's flesh. With it being on the tip of his knife, Iskander blew on it. The rising steam bent like weeds in a storm.
Iskander ate the meat.
The meat was chewy, so it took a few seconds for the Conqueror to swallow.
"It could use some more seasoning," Iskander said before yelling, "Bring the salt! We're having serpent meat for dinner!"
Archer stepped up and quickly carved the serpent before it could cool off entirely. With a quarter of the serpent's flesh made into sashimi-like slices, the crew had a filling dinner of the first fresh meat they've eaten that's not salted beef for a few days.
Sounds of cheeriness filled the ship as the sun fell below the horizon and darkness claimed the sea. The Santisima Trinidad served as the only pocket of light in this abyss of a starless night.
"Why are you not joining us, o' Goddess?" Iskander asked as he approached the figure flying beside the ship. In his hands carried a plate of steaming, serpent meat.
Far away from the torchlight that illuminated much of the ship and its happy crew, Kukulkan hovered right in front of the vessel, watching the darkness like a hawk, ever vigilant.
"I am… thinking about if this is a wise choice." She said.
"All childrens have their curiosity about the world," Iskander replied. He gestured at the kid in question, "It is better to let their curiosity guide them, step aside instead of trying to intervene. Let nature run its course."
Zvezdnyy was laughing along with the crew. Her feet kicked the air as she clutched her stomach, as if the joke said by Ritsuka was the funniest thing in the world. To anyone looking on, it would be as if Zvezdnyy was having the time of her life.
"But what if she encounters a failure? What if she doesn't encounter a failure?"
"Failures make for memorable experiences. Memorable experiences build up a boy into a man. And so, it is the duty of the father to make sure the son's childhood is full of these memorable experiences. So it is with the mother."
"But what if she's constantly successful? What if she becomes too prideful?"
Iskander didn't know what Kukulkan was talking about. Until he saw Zvezdnyy accidentally spill her apple cider onto the floor. Without a second thought, the spilled cider returned to her cup and she started showing off what she could do. Dazzling displays of her world-altering powers, god-like in nature.
His mind connected the dots of Zvezdnyy's powers and her status as a child. Ah.
"Didn't Zvezdnyy encounter failure in the first Singularity? I was told as her mother you comforted her."
The self-proclaimed Goddess appeared extremely self-conscious, "I did. I am not her mother. I'm her guardian, and at most her older sister."
That made Iskander laugh loudly, prompting Kukulkan to vehemently deny it, "I am not her mother. It is as simple as that."
"Where is your pride? You may not have given birth to her, but you are her mother. You simply don't have the pride to claim the mother position that the girl so obviously wants. You claim yourself a goddess do you not? All gods are prideful beings as befitting of their powers beyond mortal kin. Where is your pride?"
"..."
That question seems to stump Kukulkan as though she doesn't know how to answer it. This encouraged Iskander to continue. Thinking about the time and encounters he had with this self-proclaimed Goddess, Iskander began to list off all the encounters he had where she didn't display a small ounce of pride.
"From the moment I met you, to just now, you have never displayed a single action that comes from pride. The more I learned about you, the more I realized no one else has ever seen you display a single action that derives from pride."
There is a fine difference between 'pride' and 'confidence'. Iskander would readily admit that Kukulkan has a lot of confidence in her abilities, but she doesn't take pride in it. She sees her power as a means to an end. She doesn't display it purposefully. Always for a utilitarian reason.
Even though she wanted to stop Iskander and his plans for world conquest after the Incineration was solved, Kukulkan didn't bother continuing to protest against his desires. She objected to joining with Drake purely because it would put Zvezdnyy in harm. Based on records of her battles, Kukulkan kills efficiently, almost like a machine. She doesn't try to show off even though she easily could. More than that, she seeks to take her battle to places far from where normal humans could enjoy it.
"So, where is your pride?"
"...died." Kukulkan whispered, too quiet for even the ears of Iskander to pick up, then louder, "It died, Iskander."
That answer baffled the King of Conquerors. He stared incredulously at the hovering 'goddess'. He expected all kinds of answers from 'I'm hiding my pride' to 'being humble is a virtue' as some monks might say, but 'it died'?
He's met plenty of prideful people in his life, from city rulers to generals of opposing armies. They always lost that pride after he smashed it to pieces, before becoming prideful once more as Iskander helped them up without humiliating them. Such was true conquest of the hearts and minds.
So then, who did Kukulkan meet that smashed her pride so thoroughly that she would liken it to 'death'? Who humiliated her this thoroughly?
For the first time in a long while, Iskander felt… almost disturbed by Kukulkan. Like she was some kind of alien creature.
"Is that why you deny yourselves these earthly pleasures? Because you see yourself as unworthy of them?"
The plate of serpent meat stopped steaming by now, yet the cheery, passionate atmosphere aboard the ship continued with Zvezdnyy being the center of attention.
"No. They're just unnecessary. I don't need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe, so why would I consume unnecessary resources? Especially when it can be given to humans who need it more than I."
"You're no goddess. You're a machine. An empty shell of a woman," Iskander's tone was almost accusatory. He was glaring at the Machine now. "You stripped yourself of everything that 'doesn't matter' in your eyes, all so you can approach your goal quicker. You willingly walk the path of thorns of a martyr."
She is the opposite of him, and Iskander realizes that more clearly than ever. The King of Conquerors would happily call himself a hedonist, while Kukulkan is someone who would deny all pleasures if it would mean she would achieve her goals a second sooner.
Iskander cares for the journey, while Kukulkan only cares for the destination. How… peculiar for someone who claims to be a god.
"Do you even take pride in your claim of having saved a world?"
Kukulkan's lips thinned. "No. Because I've only delayed the inevitable."
What did Kukulkan mean by that? Was she after a greater goal?
"A king should be a vivid example to be followed. He should bond with his subjects and his way of living should be the gold standard upon which all others aspire to replicate. A God should be more— He should be all that and more. He should only care for his own enjoyment after Creation is done. But you, you're a distant martyr who cares for everyone. You isolate yourself so the pain that comes from walking the path of a martyr afflicts you alone. You're a liar when you claim to be a god. You are a woman with no pride whatsoever."
That seemed to cause Kukulkan's eyebrows to twitch in annoyance. She neared the King of Conquerors, leaning in much closer.
Being less than a foot away, Iskander could more than ever feel the perfection in Kukulkan's appearance, which only exacerbated her alienness—human faces always have some flaws, but she doesn't.
She placed a hand on her chest, in between the crevasses of her bountiful chest.
"Gods are transcendental beings. They are Perfection Incarnate. They don't make mistakes. They are always right. For me: gods are a mindset. I know that I possess not a single bit of divinity, but I aspire to that standard. I aspire to perfection. That way, whenever I make a mistake, I wouldn't make excuses to justify that mistake. 'If I am a God and thus perfect, I shouldn't make a mistake at all'."
What a… foreign way of thinking. What Kukulkan just said was utterly unfathomable to Iskander. Yet nonetheless, the giant man chuckled. A flawless god.
"Heh, what an idyllic view of gods." It was completely different from how his own culture viewed gods. Each selfish individual who lived on Mount Olympus embodied a single aspect of human life. Ares for war. Zeus for the storms. Poseidon for the ocean, "I think you'll find them to be flawed individuals rather than the incarnation of perfection that you so dearly aspire to be."
"I admit, to you Greeks it must be an extremely different view. However, I am more of the monotheistic kind."
"I don't worship the Greek pantheon." Iskander admitted, much to the surprise of Kukulkan, "When you rule over an empire as vast and diverse as mine, you cannot follow a singular religion."
"Because that would alienate those believing other religions."
"Well said." Iskander nodded approvingly. A comfortable silence descended upon the two of them. It was the type of silence that comes when two parties both became satisfied with the result of a debate. It was a silence that Iskander didn't want to break.
Eventually, Iskander took the plate of now-cold serpent meat and moved to leave. Just as he took three steps, he turned back to face Kukulkan.
"Know this, o' Hero Goddess, it is fine to have vices."
Kukulkan shook her head, "Not when you have as much power as I do."
"Take pride in the girl in your care, at the very least."
____
The Next Day.
"Land ho!" Kukulkan shouted.
The Goddess's cry was rapidly disseminated to each of the crew, and less than a minute later, everyone on the giant Santisima Trinidad had heard of it.
The door swung open as Zvezdnyy burst out of her quarters. Her body filled with energy, and the girl was extremely excited about the potential of hidden treasures on this untapped land.
What met her gaze was a ship in busy motion. Her men ran across the deck, dozens going their own directions. It was like looking at a chaotic kaleidoscope except instead of colors, it was people.
It was loud. No one paid her any attention even when she was the captain. "Hmph."
Zvezdnyy stood proudly and began walking forward, at first slowly. Like water flowing around an iceberg, the men weaved around the slow-moving girl to reach their destination. This became less tenable when the girl started speed walking.
Inevitable— "Oof!"
Zvezdnyy collided with someone. It was Mash. The Demiservant didn't even look fazed compared to how Zvezdnyy got pushed to the ground
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Zvezdnyy!"
Quickly, Mash sprung forward. She grasped the kid's shoulder and tried to help her up. In response, Zvezdnyy slapped away the attempt to help in an attempt to look tough, like a real pirate captain.
"That's Captain Zvezdnyy, crewwoman Mash." Then, she yelled out, "Iskander!!!"
Out from the rush of people came forth the King of Conquerors, still dressed in a shirt that barely fit his gigantic body. Mash looked away with a slight blush on her face, still not used to Iskander's presence while Zvezdnyy spoke, "Explain to me the situation. Drake said it would take weeks to reach the 'X' spot on the map I conjured up."
"Ah, that's thanks to Kukulkan's winds. Her divine wind gave this ship unprecedented speed. We managed to reach the island in four days."
"Heh," Zvezdnyy smirked, "I've bested Drake in this race! Ha! I reached this hidden treasure far quicker than she ever could!"
Despite her Kapitana's weak protest, Zvezdnyy did manage to start a race with Drake after conjuring up a map of where a hidden treasure was supposed to be located. Although Doctor Romani protested, stating how they should be looking for a 'man with a metal claw' since Drake said he possessed the Grail which created this Singularity, Iskander supported the girl.
His impulsive nature meant he'd gladly take a detour to something worthwhile. And being able to sail on the greatest ship of the Age of Sail was definitely worthwhile.
"Yes, you indeed have, Captain Zvezdnyy," Mash affirmed.
"Heh!" The girl felt like she was ten meters tall with Mash's compliment.
As the ship's anchor dropped and transport boats lowered, it was decided that Iskander would stay aboard the ship much to his dismay. After all, his soldiers— the sailors of Zvezdnyy's Santisima Trinidad— were phantasmal in nature. They belonged inside his Reality Marble, and while he could manifest them without invoking Ionioi Hetairoi, they couldn't exist too far from the physical body of Iskander.
The soft sand of the beach softened Zvezdnyy's stomp as she got off the boat. Adjusting her hat so that it blocked the sun, the girl struck a pose as if she were in a movie, manifested a rock to place her feet on, and stared ahead at the island's interior.
"This untamed land... What a flawless sanctuary for hidden treasures."
Her Kapitana hovered near her, a meter off the ground. Zvezdnyy twisted her other feet touching the beach to deepen the marks she made upon the sand, imprints to show Drake who came here first.
Then, she pulled out her cutlass and pointed towards the interior, "Come! Buried treasures await for no one!"
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