The sound of Calista's body dropping to the floor would haunt Darius' mind forever. It was sickening for him. To see his wife shot in the head by another fellow captain. He had already seen his wife thrown overboard but seeing her dying once again was too much for his heart to take.

"Calista..." he whispered to himself, his somber look still fixated on the body laying still on the entry way of the cave. There was a slight pause. Darius could almost hear his breath as he tried approaching the corpse on the shore.

Arsen, her grey eyes loomed at Calista's body before it darted back to Darius' frozen gaze. Her hands lay on his shoulder, pulling him back, shaking her head in order to reassure him. Her cold voice cutting through the eerie silence to call out his name. "Captain Thorren."

"It's not her."

Those words made Darius shiver. The thought of him being tricked by an Errantes made him back away ever so slightly before looking back at the three. Aloysius' lips curled into a frown as Arsen and Elysaria both exchanged glances. There was one thing certain in his mind.

If Arsen hadn't shot her and if he had rushed in her arms, he probably wouldn't be alive right now.

At that moment, he could only nod and thanked her. Arsen returns back the gesture before finally leaving the cave with the records on her hands and Elysaria following suit. Aloysius walked and stopped beside him before telling Darius that they shouldn't linger too long in the island.

"Alright, tell the others to regroup and prepare to sail," Darius told him.

"What about you?" Aloysius frowned as he saw Darius going back inside the cave.

"I'm just going to check something quick and I'll go follow." His friend hesitated but decided to follow his captain's orders. As Darius was left alone in his thoughts, he quickly tries to check the statue and the rocks underneath it.

He remembered something that Calista once told him back in Ravenbourne. Something about her sister telling her that she had dug some records in the island where vast ships were located.

There were no other island with ships ported at that time so he figured Malum Trench would be the only island filled with Everfrost sailors at the time. The others were far too dangerous to even stay for a minute.

He knew he could be wrong as well in his assumption. But if trying it would at least put his mind to rest, he told himself he would do it.

Darius went back near the statue, looking for a huge boulder with claw marks on it. It took him a while to scan the area, searching for the telltale signs his wife had described. He could remember that day he told it to him vividly, as if it was a memory playing in a loop in his mind. 

Lost in thought, Darius circled the base of the marble statue, his fingers brushing against the cool, worn surface. The ancient stone seemed to old and could possibly break with a few hits, but his attention was drawn to a massive boulder nestled in the shadows, bathed in the dying light of the day. 

His hands wiped off all the sand on the scroll, revealing a cryptic language he couldn't seem to read. Darius' lips only could form a frown. If Calista was here, she could've deciphered it to him. Unfortunately, she wasn't. He decided to go back to where his crew was, Aloysius standing on the deck with the map on his grasp. 

Aloysius turned to him with a frown, seeing Darius sitting on the wooden stairs with the scroll in his hand. He quickly went down to look at the old paper in his hands before furrowing his eyebrows. "What's that?" 

"I'm having the same thoughts, Aloysius. I can't read the writing. It's in another language." Darius turned to him. "Do you think Miss Arsen would know how to read this?" 

"I'm not sure," Aloysius answered before he shrugs. "We could take it back and find out once we dock at Arkenheilm." 

Darius nods at this. This scroll could be essential and maybe, in luck, he could find someone back in Arkenheilm willing to translate this to him. He puts the scroll back in the bag before telling the crew to depart.

Most of the sailors hurried back to raise the anchor and drop the sails as soon as Darius' order came. They all went to their respective areas as Darius went to the front with Aloysius behind him. 

It didn't take long before they had the Medusa moving in the rough waves. Darius looked ahead, a frown plastered on his face as Aloysius crossed his arms, still studying the records that they have along with the map. 

"We could take the longer route," Aloysius suggested as Darius nod. 

"Too much risk had already been done. We can't go back to where we were or we'll face the duke again." Darius agreed with his idea and both of them quickly looked back at the crew. Most of them were listening in so they were ready to help turn the ship around as soon as they got the signal from the captain.

"Chart a course away from the mid-way of Regimere, and let's not risk facing that duke again. These waters are vast. We can find our way around and find a safer way home." He quickly puts his hands on the wheel to turn it as the crew held on the side as the ship quickly moved sideways. After a while, they then set to work adjusting the sails and realigning the ship's trajectory.

As the ship sailed back to Arkenheilm, Darius stood at the helm, his eyes scanning the distant horizon. Aloysius joined him, his lips curled into a frown as he remained silent. It didn't take a while for him to break it however, a worried glance replacing his stoic expression.

"Do you think Miss Winterglade did the same?" his tone seems to catch Darius' attention.

The captain slowly turned to face him with furrowed eyebrows and looked back at the waves crashing softly in the ship. "It wouldn't be wise if they had gone back there. I guess we could only find out if she did once we go back. She's tougher than we are. Experienced in going in and out of the Regimere."

"She's younger than us but she's better than us." Aloysius nods at this.

"That I could agree on." Darius only hummed as an answer as they finally went back inside the ship, letting some of his crew watch it as they get dinner for a while. The night was still long and he needed all the rest he could get before he guards the ship at midnight with the moon rising way up in the silent sky.