Black and white mixed together in harmony.

Where there is black there is white, and where there is white there is black.

You will find the one with both there.

 

---

 

nautae | marines

 

 

The Marine Naval Academy is a highly prestigious, well-recognized institution that trains young people to become rational soldiers with a passion for justice. The Marine’s base is located at the very centre of the world map, and its Academy not too far away. The idea is that once a student graduates from school, they would be sent over to headquarters to work as a Marine.

 

The escalation system was simple, structured, and ensured job security. It was for that reason that Kyungsoo Potentia became a Marine. And when people told him he’d be starting from the “bottom”, he acknowledged it with his head held high.

 

“First day on the job and I can’t believe I’m stuck with you two on washroom duty!” Kyungsoo yelled in frustration as he scrubbed the floor with a sponge.

 

His head wasn’t held up so high anymore.

 

The male next to Kyungsoo was sitting on a chair and balancing himself on its hind legs. “Calm down, Kyungsoo. Aren’t you glad you’re still with me?” he chuckled.

 

“No, Jongin. I’m not,” Kyungsoo grumbled. He threw the sponge into the bucket of dirty water and glared at his partner. “And why don’t you help me scrub these floors?”

 

Jongin ignored the question and instead focused on what Kyungsoo had said before that. “What?” he exclaimed. “But we’re friends!”

 

“And what in the world gave you that thought?!” Kyungsoo shouted.

 

“Because! Friends help friends! And you helped me throughout school, so that makes us friends!” explained Jongin.

 

Kyungsoo scoffed and wrung the water out of his sponge. He continued scrubbing the floors, and said to Jongin, “Yeah and by ‘help’ you mean copying my notes and homework?”

 

“At least I’m here right now,” he muttered.

 

“It wouldn’t make much of a difference,” Kyungsoo sighed. “But, where is Yixing anyway?”

 

Jongin shrugged and stood up from his chair. He picked up damp cloth and started wiping the mirrors of the washroom. “Dunno. He’s probably walking on the beach again or something.”

 

“That, or sleeping somewhere,” Kyungsoo added.

 

“Man, I wish I were Yixing,” Jongin said with a sigh. “He doesn’t have to worry about anything in life because of his connections.”

 

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo mumbled in response. He tried not to think about it too much because it always gave him a sour feeling. It reminded him that life wasn’t fair.

 

Kyungsoo Potentia came from a poor family on an island that wasn’t even in most atlases. He was one of 7 children. The island of Minimus didn’t have much on it, and many of its people lived in poverty. He dreamt of becoming a Marine; someone who fought for justice and made good money doing it. It was his dream job, and he worked hard to achieve it. Now that he secured the position, he was able to support his family back home.

 

But he wanted more. Kyungsoo understood no one entered the workforce as a Sergeant or Lieutenant, but he was expecting a little more action than cleaning up people’s . Literally. He itched to patrol the seas and catch notorious pirates.

 

And he didn’t know why fate loved playing games with him, but he somehow ended up in a team with Jongin and Yixing. He didn’t hate them, but he didn’t like them either.

 

Jongin Lacus came from a middle-class family on the prospering island of Medietas. Jongin had one older brother and one younger sister. He lived a carefree life under the support of his parents, who owned a bakery in the capital of the island. Jongin became a Marine because he didn’t want to work in a bakery for the rest of his life.

 

Plus, as Jongin liked to say, “A Marine is cool, and I’m cool. It’s only natural I become one.”

 

If that were the logic behind how the world ran, Kyungsoo was sure Jongin was in the wrong field of work.

 

But he didn’t really mind Jongin either. He always had a bright smile on his face, and it was somehow contagious. He reminded Kyungsoo to smile and laugh in life. Also, Jongin was popular with the ladies and as his “friend”, said ladies also took an interest in him from time to time.

 

Yixing Sano came from a long line of Marines. His father was a Sergeant, and so was his father, and so was his father before that. In fact, Yixing’s great-great-great-great grandfather was the founder of the Marine Naval Academy. With Yixing being his parents’ only son, him becoming a Sergeant was already set in stone.

 

Sometimes, Kyungsoo wondered how Yixing was able to graduate with him and Jongin. He rarely showed up to class, and never did his homework. In fact, Kyungsoo was sure he hadn’t even seen Yixing’s face at the final exam.

 

And yet, the current record-holder for most gun shots fired in 10-minutes was Yixing. He also never missed a single shot. Yixing also set new records for fastest swimmer, strongest grip, and fastest rope tier. Kyungsoo had to admit that Yixing was a natural born Marine. It was in his blood, after all.

 

Kyungsoo envied Yixing, but he sometimes thought that being “friends” with him wasn’t half bad either. Yixing was always calm, and taught Kyungsoo to step back and take a deep breath. He taught him to not let stress get to the better of him.

 

Kyungsoo and Jongin finished cleaning the washroom and stepped into the hall. The Naval headquarters was a maze of a building, and every hall had white tiles and white wallpaper. Calling the building “large” was an understatement. It was a gargantuan-sized structure with an even greater history.

 

It also meant that there were a lot of washrooms to clean. Despite the 100 graduates from their year, Kyungsoo’s team was responsible for cleaning 5 washrooms per day.

 

“Washroom #2 down, Washroom #3 here we come,” Kyungsoo heaved a sigh and started walking towards their next destination.

 

“We’re halfway done,” Jongin sang and did a small twirl.

 

“Just make sure to help from the beginning this time,” Kyungsoo told him.

 

“Alright, alright,” Jongin replied.

 

Kyunsoo nodded his head in approval and quickened his pace. He wanted to be done as soon as possible so he could ask some of the senior Marines if he could shadow them for a day.

 

.::.            .::.            .::.

 

Yixing walked along the beach and admired the blue sky. He listened to the seagulls’ song, and hummed a tune like he was singing along with them. He had already finished his daily tasks for the day: his paperwork, combat training and swordsmanship practice.

 

He felt guilty for not helping Kyungsoo and Jongin with washroom duty, but as the only son of the head Sergeant, he didn’t have much of a choice. Since he was a toddler, his parents had been shaping him into becoming the ideal Marine. After all of his daily tasks, Yixing wasn’t really in the mood for more work, and his frequent walks on the beach acted as his getaway from reality.

 

From the corner of this eye, Yixing spotted something glisten. He walked up to it and saw that it was a glass bottle with a cork on top. It contained a roll of paper in it. Curious about the contents of the bottle, Yixing picked it up and removed the cork. He shook the bottle until the paper slid out, and unrolled it.

 

Yixing’s eyes widened when he read the sloppy, chicken-scratch writing that drooped down the page.

 

“Princess Cirrus is with the Lux Pirates. – C.I.”

 

He read the message over and over again, and each time his jaw dropped lower. Weeks ago, the royal castle of Pileum reported that the princess of their kingdom had gone missing. No one knew where she went, nor who could have taken her. It was a mystery that everyone was trying to figure out.

 

Yixing’s hands clenched the paper and he shoved it back into the bottle. He stuffed it into his jacket and turned back. He had to find Kyungsoo and Jongin.

 

The logical thing to do would be to inform his father and all the other Sergeants, but Yixing wasn’t sure if the message was legitimate or not. They had received letters in the past with similar messages, but never one as specific as the one he currently carried. For that reason, many of the Sergeants stopped taking the messages seriously.

 

Princess Cirrus was worth $10 million, and anyone who had a hand in her rescue earned a portion of the reward. It was no wonder that the Navy had been flooded with letters regarding her capture, because everyone wanted a fraction of the money.

 

Yixing didn’t want to waste his relatives’ time with potentially fraud information, but he didn’t want to dismiss the message either. He had a strong feeling that this message contained the truth, because it was the first letter he had received with initials.

 

C.I., Yixing thought. Whose initials are they?

 

Yixing checked the washrooms he, Kyungsoo and Jongin were responsible for, and found the two in the 3^rd one. Kyungsoo was scrubbing a toilet while Jongin was mopping the floors.

 

“Guys,” Yixing panted.

 

“Yixing! Where have you been?” Kyunsoo scolded him.

 

“That’s not important right now,” Yixing said as he ran up to them. He pulled out the bottle with the message in it and unrolled it for them to see. “I found this on the beach.”

 

“Princess Cirrus is with the Lux Pirates…” Jongin read the message aloud. “Wait, what? As in the missing princess?”

 

“Precisely,” replied Yixing.

 

“Probably just another fake,” Kyungsoo scoffed.

 

“No, I think it might be real,” Yixing protested. He pointed a finger to the bottom of the message where the initials were. “C.I.; those are initials. Why would someone put their initials on the paper?”

 

“So they can get some of the reward?” suggested Jongin.

 

Yixing shook his head. “If they wanted the reward, they would have provided their full name. How are we supposed to know who they are?”

 

“… because they don’t want us to find out,” Kyungsoo said in realization.

 

“Exactly,” Yixing said.

 

“But it could still just be a prank,” Kyungsoo said. “I don’t think we should get our hopes up.”

 

“I second Kyungsoo on that,” Jongin added.

 

Yixing sighed and tucked the paper back into its bottle. “Well, I’m not going to give up. I’m going to find the Lux Pirates and see for myself whether the information is valid or not.”

 

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Kyungsoo scoffed. “We’re washroom janitors.”

 

Yixing fished a small, leather wallet from his other pocket and flipped it open to reveal its contents. A gold badge hung neatly in the centre of the leather carrier, with the words “Yixing Sano – Lance Corporal” at the top.

 

“I’ll borrow a ship,” Yixing told them.

 

“Wait how come you have a badge? And why doesn’t it say Private, First Class on it?!” exclaimed a very confused Jongin.

 

Yixing flashed them a smile which revealed his dimples, and explained, “I’ve had this badge for 4 years now. I was already a Marine before I entered the Academy.”

 

“How?” Kyungsoo asked.

 

“I received personal training as a child,” he answered.

 

“Then why did you even go to the Academy?” Kyungsoo asked.

 

Yixing smiled tenderly at the two of them and explained himself, “Because on the first day of classes, my father asked me to attend the opening ceremony. I wasn’t a student at the time, but on that day I met two aspiring Marines in the crowd.”

 

“Wait…” Jongin started. “Are you talking about me and Kyungsoo?”

 

Yixing nodded his head. “You two were talking throughout the entire ceremony, and I wanted to tell you to stop, but when I tuned in on your conversation I never expected to hear what I did.”

 

“Well, just to let you know, Jongin was the one talking to me the entire time. I was trying to tell him to shut up,” Kyungsoo said.

 

“Hey!” Jongin exclaimed. “You were asking me questions too!”

 

“Yeah, ones like ‘Can you please shut up?’” Kyungsoo said with a smirk.

 

“Anyways,” Yixing continued his story. “I was really inspired when I heard Kyungsoo talk about his family, and I wondered why a carefree guy such as Jongin wanted to become a Marine. So, I joined the Academy.”

 

“For us?” asked Jongin.

 

“That’s what I just said, isn’t it?” he smiled at them. “I wanted to feel the same passion you two had. Prior to that, I had never really cared about being a Marine. It was always something my family told me to do, and nothing more. But since meeting you two, I’ve grown to like my position just a little better. You guys taught me something no amount of schooling would ever be able to teach me.”

 

Kyungsoo’s heart swelled with happiness, and a warm fuzzy feeling filled his chest. He wasn’t used to that.

 

“Yeah, well that’s still kind of a stupid reason to join,” he said bitterly.

 

Yixing ignored his comment and asked them, “Will you two join me in finding the Lux Pirates?”

 

“I… don’t know,” Kyungsoo answered. “This is all too sudden.”

 

“If we fail, you lose nothing. If we verify that this information is true, the both of you will probably be promoted to Private, Second Class, at least. Maybe even Third Class,” Yixing told them.

 

That was all Kyungsoo needed to hear. “Sold,” he told Yixing.

 

Anything to get out of washroom duty, Kyungsoo thought.

“Well, if Kyungsoo and you are both going, then I guess I’ll tag along,” Jongin said nonchalantly as he crossed his hands behind his head. He smiled cheekily at the both of his friends.

 

“Can you get a ship that’s big enough for all 3 of us to fit?” Kyungsoo asked. In his mind, he envisioned a tiny, rowboat fit for 2 people.

 

“Yeah, I was planning on just taking the S.S. Marina,” Yixing replied. “It’s basically my family’s property.”

 

“The S.S. Marina?!” Kyungsoo exclaimed. “But that’s a warship fit for 50 sailors!”

 

“Yeah, but I’ve driven it by myself before,” Yixing argued. “I take it out whenever I want to visit my family’s private island. Father doesn’t use it because he fancies the S.S. Atlanta more, and Mother likes that one better too.”

 

The S.S. Atlanta is for 200 sailors. Oh. My. God, thought Kyungsoo.

 

“When are we leaving?” asked Jongin.

 

“Tomorrow,” replied Yixing.

 

First day on the job and Kyungsoo suddenly went from cleaning toilets to going on a secret mission. Being a Marine wasn’t as “by the book” as he thought it was going to be.

 

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A/N: Hey guys! School's been a bummer lately so I haven't had much time to write D: But here's the latest chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading about Kyungsoo, Jongin and Yixing as Naval officers! No CirBaek in this chapter, but they'll be coming in soon. I'm watching Pirates of the Caribbean on Thursday so maybe I'll get some inspiration to write from that. Love you guys <3

\\ xoxo