The EXODUS  proudly sailed on the vast ocean, the captain of the ship Byun Baekhyun stood on the helm of the ship his bright blue coat ruffled in the wind he very carefully kept navigating their way along with their main navigator jongdae. They have been on the sea for the past 6 days after mining the black opal from the mines of South Wales moving towards Marlon.

Marlon was one the largest ports to exist, since the crew of exodus had constantly been working they were all eagerly waiting to get done with this shipment and have some time off. 

Baekhyun finally saw the sails of other ships near the cost from afar and knew that they would arrive by dawn. He turned around and passed orders to his crewmates.

"The port of marlon has been sighted prepare the ship for berthing. I want all the crew on there respective position."

The crew started taking there respective positions. Chanyeol came and stood next to baekhyun his eyelids became squinted  trying to locate the port. 

"What are you doing?" Baekhyun asked with a grimace of wry amusement.

"nothing just trying to locate the port" chanyeol answered.

"Why would you?  I am the captain and I just told you that we will reach by dawn so why are you doing it don't you trust my judgement?" Chanyeol kept moving forward putting almost all of his weight on the rails, baekhyun caught his shirt and yanked him backwards." IDIOT! You are literally going to fall in the sea. Where are your spectacles or binoculars? MY GOD somebody take this blind giraffe away from here."

"I just wanted to see it with my own two eyes what is so wrong with it? And you call me blind one more time imma literally forget you are the captain byun" chanyeol yelled back at him.

"okay enough chanyeol go back to your position and baekhyun go back to the wheel no more arguments." Junmyeon yelled from crew climbing ratlines.

" don't give me orders I am the captain" baekhyun yelled back at junmyeon.

"Then behave like one and do your job!" Kyungsoo yelled from other side of the ship.

​​​​​​"Everybody stop yelling" minseok yelled from the foremast.

"The entire world fears me and then there are these traitors" baekhyun muttered under his breath. 

Finally dawn came and they berthed there ship on the port. Baekhyun exited the ship along with 2 members of the crew, as they made their way towards the meeting spot  people kept staring at them.

Outside the crew people believed that baekhyun was a rude narcissistic man who was willing to go to any extend in order to complete his mission, he always spoke in money and he did not give a damn about anyone. And that was the reason why people kept staring at them.

His coat flew behind him, his face had a stoic expression, his strides were confident and he emitted  a powerful aura as he entered the building. The rest of the crew had stayed back on the ship as they had zero interest in these meetings only kyungsoo and junmyeon had come along with him.

4 men sat on a round wooden table with cigar in one mans hand and wine in another's, baekhyun sat on the table while kyungsoo and junmyeon stood behind him leaning on the wall in a calm manner. The room had wooden flooring and the air was filled with the smoke from the cigars the smell of old wine and rich silk cloth filled the air.

"so I believe the shipment is as it was promised." One of the man asked baekhyun.

" of course it is, exodus never fails on its promises we always deliver the best but the question is have you kept the end of your deal Mr changmin?"

"of course I have. 10,000 coppers for 2 crates of black opal" changmin the man with cigar in his hand replied.

"good." Baekhyun nodded his head. " kyungsoo bring the crates" he motioned towards kyungsoo to get the crates.

"Get the gem lamp" one of them spoke. 

A man hurriedly brought the gem lamp and handed it over to changmin. After properly checking all the pieces they gave them the money. But before baekhyun kyungsoo and junmyeon could leave changmin spoke again.

"Well I have 1 more job for you, only if you would like to listen." Changmin spoke.

"How many coppers?" Baekhyun asked

"95,000 coppers" changmin said.

Suddenly baekhyun was very much interested in this conversation his  lazy demeanour gone, 95,000 coppers for just 1 consignment damn that was a jackpot.

"Speak." Baekhyun said calmly trying to hide his excitement. 

"Well first i would like to ask you something Mr Byun." The man beside changmin spoke.

"What is it?"Baekhyun asked.

"What is the most precious gem in your possession  byun?"The old man asked.

Baekhyun let out a humourless chuckle and spoke." My possession?" Baekhyun moved closer putting his hands on the table and directly looked in his eyes "If you die and get reincarnated for the next seven lives even then you won't be able to have what I have. I don't have time for nonsensical questions either speak what the job is about or I'm out."

The man laughed "Right I always forget you are the byun baekhyun you've got all the precious stuff in this world in your possession but one."

"But one? What is that?" Baekhyun asked raising his brow.

"Balck painite" The man replied in a hushed voice.

" A balck Painite. But painites are supposed to be purple which are themselves very rare how do we find a black one. They haven't been found sice 1654." Baekhyun replied clearly shocked.

"Exactly but you can find them."

"But how?" Baekhyun couldn't think of anything at the moment.

"A gem virtuoso" the man spoke in a voice barely above whisper.

"A GEM VIRTUOSO? there hasn't been one since the past 80 years." Kyungsoo replied clearly confused.

"Well gentlemen there have been rumours about this young lady who has a collection of gems that are clearly very rare quality even better than yours Byun. Imagine if she begins a trade of her own you would be at the highest disadvantage."

"What's the catch?" Baekhyun asked.

"Oh well you definitely are a smart man. We want you to find the virtuoso and then find painite, bring both of them back to us take your money and leave."

"95,000 won't do its a tough job requires alot of work." Baekhyun said.

"100,000 coppers should be enough." Changmin said

"Nah, kyungsoo let's leave." Baekhyun almost got up.

"200,000 coppers." The man beside changmin said.

Baekhyun looked towards his crewmates when the nodded in agreement baekhyun also agreed.

"Now we are talking. Sign us in make the contract by night and deliver it to us." Baekhyun said.

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She kept running her feet were automatically moving she had no choice, these men had been following her  since azlon and even now they were behind her, not her technically her gems which she had found  in the deep waters of the beryl sea after days of dredging. No matter what, she could not let anyone take them away from her. Her eyes fixated on a ship it looked empty it was almost dawn and she was dead tired she needed to leave Marlon by the night so without even thinking twice she climbed the ladder and entered the ship.

The ship was beautiful must be a pirate ship she thought to herself but her excitement was short lived when she heard footsteps coming from the quarter deck so she entered the room behind her and hid beneath the bed which was safely concealed by the bed covers. And then she finally took a deep breath and readied herself for whatever was to come.

Baekhyun had signed the deal and then he got back to the ship and explained the rest of the crew about the new deal. The rest of the crew was not very happy as they had been imagining a vacation. But baekhyun being a soft hearted person did let them have a 3 day holiday for which he was quite literally cursed alot after which they would start the hunt for both the gem and the virtuoso.

Finally after a long day baekhyun came back to his Chambers and fell on his beloved bed.

" what a ty day. Damn my muscles are literally sore." baekhyun spoke to himself and fell asleep.

The next morning the girl left from beneath the bed making sure not to make any sound. The ship had almost been empty for the past 3 days it looked like the crew had been spending time in the city, good for her she atleast had some privacy. She wandered in the kitchen and got herself something to eat took a bath and when she came out of the bathroom for the first time she realised that she was in the captains chamber.

She looked around until her eyes fixed on a certain map. It was the map of the beryl sea pointing towards a particular gem stone. They were searching for the black painite. Before she could pry any further she heard noises on the deck so she hurriedly hid under the bed.

Baekhyun entered his room ing his shirt snd throwing it on the ground, they would start for the beryl sea tomorrow morning so he needed to have good rest. It took him only a few minutes before he was in deep slumber.

The girl waited for an hour before she very slowly came outside. She turned around and for the first time she saw the man whose voice she had been hearing for the past 3 nights.

He was magnificent. She could not take her eyes off him, he looked so peaceful while sleeping. She traced the constellation formed by his moles on his face in the air very carefully so that she accidentally does not touch him. But she realised it was wrong she could not invade his privacy like this, so she crept back under the bed and fell asleep.

The next morning when baekhyun woke up they had already started sailing he removed the comforter from above him which he did not even remember putting on then he found his shirt neatly folded on the table. Strange.

He took a bath and came out when his eye caught the attention of something peculiar. A leg from beneath his bed. He unsheathed his cutlass and very silently moved towards the bed when he removed the sheets his eyes became as big as saucers.

A WOMAN A DAMN WOMAN UNDER HIS BED.

He coughed loudly inorder to wake her up. The girl opened her eyes very slowly. She looked at him with hazy eyes and smiled.

" Am I in heaven?"She sleepily exclaimed.

Baekhyun actually coughed this time.

" No miss you are on my ship THE EXODUS."

"Exodus..OH ." All the sleep in her eyes was gone and she suddenly got up hitting her head to the bed frame. " exodus! this is exodus oh my god. I'm so sorry I can explain its a long story I.. " She kept talking out of nervousness.

"Stop.you can tell whatever you have to infront of the entire crew." Baekhyun very slowly advanced towards her with a dangerous smirk on his face."And darling if we are not convinced with your explanation we won't take  a second to throw you off this ship. AM.I.CLEAR." He whispered the last words directly beside her ear causing a shiver to run down her spine. Her breathing had already become ragged.

Baekhyun took hold of her hand and dragged her outside. Damn she was screwed.

"May I have your attention we have an addition to our crew." baekhyun announced.

Now everyone was paying attention.

"A GIRL. what the heck is a girl doing on this ship?" Jongin asked amused.

Chanyeol kept coming close in order to make sure it really was a girl.

"Chanyeol what are you doing?" Baekhyun asked.

"Just checking if she really is a girl."He replied.

"Oh god chanyeol shut up" everyone yelled in unison.

"Okay" he raised his hands in defence and moved back.

" Well  now would you mind telling us what you are doing on this ship?" Baekhyun asked the girl sitting smugly on top of a barrel.

"Yeah let's begin with your name." Minseok said

The girl hesitated for a while but then gathered all the courage and answered.

"My name is Alayah èrcel" She answered in a low voice.

" A foreigner I see." Baekhyun replied.

"So what are you a spy an informant or a just somebody in search for a little fun?" Sehun asked.

Alayah tightened her fist, if he spoke again she would definitely break his nose but right now her main motive was to survive.

"Shut up sehun show some respect she is a woman." Junmyeon spoke seriously.

"Mam may we please know what you are doing on this ship?" Junmyeon asked.

She took a deep breath and began . "I came in accidentally while running away from a few men. I did not know it was exodus. I'm sorry I just needed a way out. I promise to not cause you any trouble. I just need a passage through beryl sea till Mayfield mountains. That's it and I will pay you for this passage."

"Mayfield mountains what work does a woman have in a place like that."baekhyun asked with a smirk.

" None of your business." Alayah said in a stern voice.

"Oh darling it is very much of my business we don't get involved in illegal business so you either tell us what you are upto or you can swim your way back to the port."

"But i am ready to pay you in copper." She said desperately. 

"But I don't need your copper" baekhyun said smugly.

"Then I will give you something you need."

" And what could that be?"

" The correct location of the black painite and in return you give me passage to Mayfield mountains."

Everyone on the ship became still after listening to her proposal.

"How do I know that you know the correct location?"

She knew it would come to this but it was finally time for her to reveal her identity she needed to get back to Mayfield with the copper that she had been saving in order save her father's ship. If the ship was sold to anyone else her last chance of getting it would be gone, her father's last memory would be gone and she could not let that happen. 

"Because I am the gem virtuoso"

SILENCE. 

Now there was absolute silence on the ship, all of them just stared at her.

"Fine we will know if you're lying very soon. Lay hyung show her the servant quarters until her 1st task let her rest." Baekhyun said.

After showing her the Chambers all of them accumulated in the meeting room below the deck to discuss about the matter.

"What do we do now?" Minseok asked.

" we take her to the twin rocks and ask her to dredge and find the sphene gems since its very hard to trace them there. If she succeeds then we know she is telling the truth."

"If she is not lying will we actually hand her over with the painite to those devil's?" Jongin asked.

"For now let's focus on the mission we can discuss this matter after finding the painite."

After three days of sailing they finally reached the twin rocks baekhyun explained her what she was supposed to find.

Alayah knew she could do it she could feel the rhythm of the stones and the magnetic pull of it calling her towards them. She knew they were hidden somewhere deep but she had to do it.

All the crew members stood near the rail as alayah stood on the rail " there's still time you know you can back out" sehun said and alayah ignored him, taking a deep breath before any other thoughts could come in her mind she jumped.

The water was warm, the saltwater burned her eyes she tried to adjust to her surroundings and swam to the surface to take a breath. After taking a deep breath she went inside listening to the song of the gems she kept swimming until the vibrations became very strong, she found the reef and started breaking it she found 1 but it was deeply embedded.

The bubbles escaped and suddenly there was a gush water in her lungs she couldn't breath she had to go back to the surface, she tried hard to get the stone and when she finally did the world turned upside down her vision started to blacken, before she finally closed her eyes she saw the silhouette of a man swimming towards her it was probably the most angelic thing she had ever seen and then she closed her eyes.

Baekhyun had been very agitated since she dived in he waited for a few minutes but it had already been 13 minutes he was starting to have scary thoughts so he decided to go look himself. He swam deep until he finally found her trying to free the gem. He was impressed that she had found the exact location of the gem. And in that moment he knew that she was actually telling the truth.