Chapter 22 - Getting attacked
Star Illusion | ATEEZ Pirate AUMy head must have turned into a pile of mud as I don’t remember the Royal navy making an appearance this early. Or is this the change in timeline? I scratch my head confusedly.
“Royal navy.” Aurora mumbles under her breath. Strange light spark in her eyes and disappear when Yunho calls our attention.
“Miss. Don’t worry, you’re safe with us.” Yunho smiles.
To think of it, they’re pirates which means they are bad people. Shouldn't we be safe with Royal navy? But since Ateez is the main character, the Royal navy becomes the villain.
“Let’s not waste anymore time. Miss Star I need you to tell me everything you see in your premonition.” Yunho continues. I can feel urgency in his tone. The presence of Royal navy actually threw them off guard.
“Okay.” I answer Yunho and close my eyes, digging into my memory.
The crescent dagger was stolen from Aurora’s parents and somehow ended up in the hand of an unknown band of pirates. Their ship was caught in a heavy storm resulting in the ship sinking, all of the crews died. Later the wrecked ship resurfaced on an unknown island. This is the tricky part as I don't know where the island is. So I can only describe the surrounding geography.
As I talked, the navigator jot down on his notebook the whole time.
One hour passed by quickly and suddenly a loud cannon sound could be heard from our ship. In a brief moment, the other ship fired back which made our whole ship shake violently.
The fight has started. My blood runs cold as fear creeps into my heart. Am I going to witness another bloody fight?
“I guess that's enough information for me to estimate the location.” Yunho is a young talented navigator. He is able to predict the area from my poor description.
“Stay here and don’t leave this room. It’s for your safety. I’ll be back.” He warns us, taking Wonderland map and going inside Hongjoong’s cabin.
I am left with Aurora in this vast room. The room fills with continuous cannon sound from outside. I tremble in my seat every time cannonballs hit our ship.
Because the cannonball has no eye, it might penetrate into the room and explode in my face any second. Especially I'm a side character, there’s a high chance that I would become cannon fodder for real.
Aurora also winces and gets paler by seconds.
But she has nothing to be worried about since she’s the protagonist, she won’t die easily. So I shift my chair to stay close to her in hope that her halo will protect me too.
Suddenly the ship lurch violently, I almost fall off the chair.
Ouch! I hear Yunho's painful groan from another room.
“Yunho what happened?” I shout, worrying that he got hurt. But he doesn't respond back.
“Wait here. I’ll look after him.” I say to Aurora and head to Hongjoong’s cabin.
I open the door and stride inside.
My eye quickly found Yunho on the floor, his hands covering his head.
I crouch down next to him.“ You okay?”
He looks up startled, “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Sorry, I was worried.” I pout while observing the red swollen forehead of Yunho.
Yunho's face turns soft when he sees the girl pout guiltily. “No, I’m fine, thanks. I slipped when the ship lurched. Miss Star, I don’t want to be rude but please leave. I’ll be outside in a minute.”
“Ok, don’t tell Hongjoong that I’m here. And I didn’t see anything.” I quickly cover my eyes, remembering that Hongjoong only allowed trusted people inside his cabin. He would be fuming if he learned that I get in without permission.
Yunho chuckles softly at the girl's funny reaction as she gets out of the room.
When I get back into the quarter room. There’s no one in sight.
No one, I repeat.
Where’s Aurora?!
My gaze noticed a slightly ajar door. I can only draw one conclusion that she escaped again. Again.
Oh my gosh! Does that girl have ‘escape mode’ activate all the time?
Then a scene suddenly surges from my memory causing me to tug my hair because of my forgetfulness.
My brain definitely turned into mud. I totally forgot that the supposedly Royal navy is actually pirates that disguised themselves. Aurora misunderstands, thinking she could escape with the Royal navy. And apparently, her escape attempt failed. But this time she isn’t the one that got hurt, the Ateez member that saved her is going to be hurt instead.
Panic rises in me, I must not let any of Ateez hurt. Quickly grab my wooden cane, I run outside the room, not caring if the wound on my left foot is going to kill me later.
Screams, bullet sounds, sword fights, all horrendous sounds and scenes enter my sense once I step foot in the main deck.
Big crowd of pirates are fighting each other. I try to make myself small and invisible while trying to search for Aurora.
I briskly scan the crowd and finally spot the pink dress girl running on Starboard toward gangplank that connect Ateez’s ship with the other ship.
No, Aurora. Didn’t you notice that there’s no Royal navy here?
My eyes focus on the girl as I sprint toward her, hoping that I won’t get in the way of anyone's weapons.
Aurora, who’s running toward her freedom, suddenly stops short in her tracks as a scrawny pirate blocks her path. “Where’re you going? sweetheart.”
Aurora yells with disgust, “Go away!” But the scrawny pirate strides closer and grabs forcefully on her wrist. She screams and hits the man. The pirate let out an angry growl and raises his hand to hit her. But his motion is interrupted by the purple haired first mate. Wooyoung swiftly slash his cutlass across the back of the pirate making him drop dead on the ground. Aurora lets out a terrifying scream.
“Why are you here?!” Raging Wooyoung shouts at Aurora who’s beyond terrifying to answer him.
I’m a few meters away from them but I witnessed the scene clearly. The scene is just like in a book. That means the next moment...
When Wooyoung doesn't pay attention to his surroundings, an enemy pirate sneakily gets behind him and aims a dagger to stab him.
To my dread, this is the scene where Wooyoung got hurt.
“Wooyoung! Behind you!!” I scream on top of my lungs.
Faster, I need to get by his side faster before it’s too late.
Wooyoung turns around, his pupils dilate when he sees the dagger getting close to his chest.
He’s trying to lift up his cutlass to shield the attack. But it’s too late. He’s too slow.
Everything turns into slow motion. In that second, I jump in the air, using all my strenght to smash my wooden cane to the head of that pirate. He immediately fell down unconscious onto the ground. The impact made the wooden cane break in half.
A sigh of relief escaped my lips, Wooyoung is safe.
However, Wooyoung looks at me with wide eyes. “Y..You-” He hasn’t finished his sentence as he spots a figure behind the black haired girl.
“Behind you!” He shouts. Why is the phrase so familiar? I turn back and face a bald pirate that is ready to chop me with a rusty axe.
How do I know the axe is rusty? Because the axe is too close to my face. I don’t have time to dodge or lift my broken cane to intercept it, except closing my eyes to accept my cruel fate.
In the next second, I feel cold droplet of water on my body.
Is it my blood? I weep bitterly. I guess this is the end.
But weirdly the pain doesn’t come.
I re-open my eyes to scan my body. I shrink as I see blood all over me. Both of my hands quickly touch my face, neck, and body, I’m still intact. Then whose blood is this?
My eyes then meet with a body of the bald pirate sprawling on the ground, dead. Spontaneously averting my gaze, I suddenly want to throw up right here right now.
In front of me stood the combatant covering in blood from head to toe, the sickening smile present on his face. He strangely looks more alive than usual.
He stares at me with craze dancing in his glowing red iris. Crimson blood dripping from his long sword. I might be hallucinating as I see the air around him contort with black aura.
His presence makes me question myself that I actually die and transport to hell.
Because he’s like the real devil from hell.
Nevertheless, that devil just rescued me from death. He just saved me.
I open and close my mouth like dying fish but words won't leave my mouth to thank him as if I lost the ability to speak.
“Yahh! why are you here?” Wooyoung grabs on my wrist waking me up from my daze. At the same time, San disappears into the crowd.
“L..Let’s get out of here.” I stutter, thinking we should leave the battleground as soon as possible.
Wooyoung cuss angrily. This is the first time that I am scared of the raging first mate.
His other hand grabs on Aurora's wrist but she still tries to pry his hand off. “For sake, can you stop fighting me?”
But Aurora doesn't stop. Wooyoung cusses one more time and let go of my wrist in order to drape Aurora over his shoulder. And he turns to me, “Follow me and don't ever think of escaping.”
I trail closely behind Wooyoung, not wanting another near-death experience.
On the way, we meet Yunho. “Oh my god!” He exclaims, relief washed over him when he sees us.
He almost lost his mind when he found out the two girls disappeared from the room.
He grabs my shoulders and pulls me closer to him. “I’m glad you’re ok.”
Both Wooyoung and Yunho swiftly fight against any enemies trying to get in our way.
In the next minute, we safely reached the captain’s quarter. Wooyoung uses his feet to kick the door open and throws Aurora roughly on the ground. The girl yelps in pain.
“Yunho watch over them.” He says, glaring at Aurora and me as a warning before going back to the battle.
I shakingly fall onto the floor. “I almost died.” My voice came out like a whisper.
“Then why were you outside?” Yunho is also angry both at the girls and himself. He should’ve watched over them but he failed his task. He went to store the map inside Hongjoong’s room where he hurted himself. When he came back into the room, the girls were gone.
“I was...” I gaze at Aurora who’s crying on the ground. How am I going to explain to him?
If I say Aurora tried to escape again, it would create more conflicts between them.
Yunho says when he sees discomfort in the girl's expression, “Whatever your reason was. That was stupid.”
Shock was an understatement. I was scolded by the kind-hearted Yunho. This hurt more than Seonghwa’s insult.
“I’m sorry.” I pout.
He sighs again, “Did you get hurt?” His eyes scan me searching for any wounds.
“No, I’m fine. It wasn’t my blood.” I feel disgusted at the sticky dried blood on my hand and dress.
Yunho gets up and comes back with damp clean cloth.
I use it to wipe my face and hands.
“I’ll find you clean clothes when this is over.” He looks at the dark spots on my dress.
Then he turns to Aurora and also sighs when he sees the girl still sobbing nonstop.
The entire time, I sit on the floor, hugging my knees. And Yunho sits beside me.
I jump every time a gunshot ring or hear crying pain outside the room. But Yunho pat on my back and mumble reassuring words. “We’re pirate kings. We always win the fight.”
True to his words, finally, the voice outside dies down. And the fact that no enemy storm inside our room meaning that we won.
That relieves me a bit but what will happen when Ateez interrogates our escape attempt. Will I get locked into the room again?
“I’ll look outside. Both of you stay here.” He says and leaves the room.
The room envelops in silence. Aurora already stopped crying but she didn’t utter a single word.
“You okay there?” I ask her. She’s sitting further away from me, also on the ground, hugging her knees.
“Can I have water please?” She asks, her face buried in her knees so I can’t see her expression.
But why is she asking a glass of water from a limping girl? Anyway I guess she is still disturb from the scene and doesn't have energy to get up.
I shakily get up and limp toward a table that has a jar of water.
My left foot is throbbing painfully. Yeosang surely gonna kill me as my wound got worse from running.
Reaching the table, I pour water into clear crystal glasses for me and Aurora.
Turning around, I almost drop the glasses.
The room has no sign of the female lead.
She disappeared again.
I let out an upsetting groan. Someone gotta deactivate her escape mode before I’m going crazy.
Putting down the glasses, I lift my dress and run out of the room for the second time.
Ughh, why Yunho didn’t lock the room?
//
Happy Birthday to our precious Yeosanggie (♡˙︶˙♡)
I hope he get more lines in the next comeback. He has such a beautiful voice, the world need to hear him.
By the way, I really appreciate your support. Thanks for reading until now. Every single comments are valuable to me. And I'm hope that this story will able to make your life a bit happier.
Lots of love ♡\( ̄▽ ̄)/♡
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