Alrighty y'all sorry for such a delayed upload, this work week told me to go sit tf down somewhere lol, it had hands and beat my ass like I owed it lunch money
Anywhooooo, enjoy lovelies!
Also we will in fact be ending at 60 chapters just fyi :)
I'm working late so my apologies for any errors too, I'll double back on this chapter tomorrow with an edit

Alistair

"That's enough." I spoke, my voice low as my gaze met King Daedron's. His eyes glanced down to my right hand that had since now wrapped itself around the handle of this sword. His sword.

"Just a little lo-"

"No." My words cut his off, before a different sound pulled his full attention towards me again. That was the sound of this very sword being unsheathed.

King Daedron paused to look at me a moment, both his hands still holding the sides of Caspian's head as the white haired man continued to shake within that grasp. I didn't care what blessing Caspian gave this old mad man, whatever Daedron had decided to do to him did not have my blessing. And if this man thought I was just going to stand here and watch Caspian go through something that was clearly causing him pain, he was sorely mistaken.

"You'd bode well to keep from doing anything irrational." King Daedron warned.

"And you'd bode well to keep from giving me a reason to," I countered, to which Daedron's eyes widened slightly. His gaze continued to hold mine, almost testing my thoughts and whether or not I had what it took to challenge him. The convulsing Caspian's body was now doing made me point this sword directly at this deranged man.

And that was when I finally heard words that stopped me from taking a step closer. "So be it." Daedron muttered far from enthusiastically before I watched him slowly take a knee in front of Caspian. The white haired man's body had begun to settle itself finally, before seizing to shake completely when Daedron gently connected his forehead to Caspian's. He whispered something to the man, but not even I could hear it.

Instead, all I could do was watch as his fingers finally detached from Caspian's temples, before he slowly shifted away from him. When Caspian finally opened his eyes, I had meant to release a sigh of relief, simply grateful that he had opened them at all, but when he turned back slightly to face me, that breath that was to be released found itself hitched.

His eyes were now a piercing blue.

"I'm sorry," I heard this psychotic old man say. "Fixing you required I strip all of your mortality from you. You will no longer have control over the eyes of the Lockehearts... then again, did you ever really?"

That pulled Caspian's gaze from mine and back to his grandfather's.

I was still trying to stomach that this man was even his grandfather in the first place. For the only name he had been known to have was Davy Jones. The demon of the sea.

When he had first pulled my ship to the bottom of these waters, I thought I was to pay for whatever havoc my younger self had inflicted upon the seas... yet when he then posed me with a question, asking what I was willing to give to be it's Keeper, it felt like I had already died and this was now me meeting whatever creator governed the afterlife. I thought it fitting then because there was no other way to justify the man that existed inside of the Kraken, but the feeling of having my soul soon after ripped out by said mad man, I had realized the finality of my decision.

Davy Jones was the Keeper of my soul, as I was the Keeper of these very waters. And up until this point, there wasn't anything I had done that had summoned him again. Not until now...

Not until I managed to take his grandchild aborad my ship... as a slave.

"As I told you, mending your mind at this age of yours was quite the sensitive task. There were... blocks that I couldn't quite lift-" Daedron stopped himself a moment to glance my way in disapproval for stopping whatever he had been doing to Caspian... but my sword was still angled directly towards him and I truly saw no issue with taking my chances. I knew and felt first hand what pain the man could infict. He lacked all grace when a problem presented itself in which he deemed himself capable of solving. "Do you understand now?"

Caspian slowly nodded.

"The palace..." I heard his quiet, wavering voice say.

"A sacrifice." Daedron answered. "Your father knew exactly what it would take to give his children a fighting chance. And contrary to what you witnessed that night Caspilius... your father never wanted to hurt any Holy Man."

Daedron allowed Caspian to take a few steps back towards me, which was the only thing that made me comfortable enough to sheathe my sword. He was now within an arms distance of myself.

"He never wanted to hurt The Holy Men. Why you ask? Well it was something those citizens themselves could never understand... and that was that they were still citizens. No less, citizens of a nation your father worked diligently to pour nothing but love and guidance into. He detroyed the palace- your home, the home he built for his family, in an effort to end the bloodshed. With every man he cut down, he didn't see them as the enemy. He saw them as his neighbor. As his family."

Those words alone had stunned me into silence. For I hadn't known that Caspilius, Caspian's own father, had destroyed the palace of Azultia. All this time, I had thought...

I couldn't see Caspian's face well while he kept his gaze directed forward, but I hadn't missed when his hand raised itself to wipe the salty water that had slipped past those piercing blue eyes, away.

"And even with your mother, the very thing that pulled him away from the test of these waters to find something more stable like land... even when their ties to life were severed, each one had only one wish for you. Only one profound message... and that was that this fight wasn't yours. Your father tampered with your memory to keep you safe. And your mother? Well I believe she used the last of her life energy to tell you something you may have misinterpretted all these years."

Daedron took a step forward towards Caspian, and I almost unsheathed this sword again until I watched as his hand gently grazed the left cheek of his grandson, drying some of those tears.

"When your mother told you to refer to the words The Oracle told you... she had meant more than what you interpreted. Gaia had told you-"

My body shifted forward immediately with the mention of that name. When I had heard it before, I thought I had heard wrong... yet now, well now it was as clear as a day during high noon.

That flippant hag.

For all the years I had questioned what exactly that woman was, this revelation was not what I could've ever predicted. No less from the hands of King Daedron.

I now understood how exactly this woman could have such a pull on my fate. It was the simple fact that she owned the ability to see it.

"She had told you that you were touched. Destined to lead the life only one before you had... And I hope you understand now that that was the touch of your ancestors. Caspilius, you are the first of our bloodline to fully inherit not just the powers of your father, but the entire bloodline, essence, and being of your mother. You are not just the son of Caspilius Lockeheart... you are the son of Armoria Delaniora, the womb of a woman who's bloodline altered your creation... and your father did not name you after him because of his lineage. His pride distilled in the name he gave you was a reflection of your mother's and his unuion. Caspilius Delaniora Lockeheart The Second. A title only known to us for the safety of your mother."

More tears had started to stream down the cheeks of Caspian, yet I forced myself not to approach. Not to interfere. Whatever he had seen, and whatever Daedron had done to him was needed. This explanation for this once lost man was critical for him to understand, that much wasn't lost on I. And so I didn't interfere.

"The only exception I ever made with that father of yours was on who he chose to love, and there isn't a day that passes where I have regretted my decision. I didn't realize then, but it was the kindness of my son, that drew out and cemented the kindness instilled in your mother. I used to believe a man's place was to wake up and immediately be whacked in the face with the responsibilities of fatherhood... yet seeing my son... watching the joy shaping you and Hodrus brought him, well it made me realize that some men are forced into fatherhood, while others willingly choose it."

Those words alone forced even more tears from Caspian. And all I wanted nothing more for, than was the ability to take that pain away. The way Daedron spoke of his own son pulled at my own heart... and so I couldn't imagine the damage it inflicted on Caspian's.

"And watching my son choose to be a pillar for you and your brother each and every day he chose to draw breath, only further solidified my choice of giving my blessing that night." His fingers gently brushed more of those tears away. "Life is a funny thing, isn't it? The context of any direction given, is so crucial to understanding. And I can only hope I gave you what your father didn't. Couln't. What he had meant to. And that's the view from above. The perpective of the little raven."

I watched as Caspian's lips tugged up into a genuine, warm smile. One that his grandfather willingly returned.

"I've missed you." I heard the white haired man whisper.

"That's even more humorous," Daedron replied, his smile widening, "For I don't recall having ever left you. When Gaia said that there is only one you will follow in the footsteps of, who did you believe that to be?" Daedron asked.

Caspian's eyebrows furrowed slightly at those words.

"There are some of us who have chosen land, yet there are some who've been called to the sea. The uknown. And you, Caspilius, were born to learn beyond the confinements of what dirt holds. Your father may have displaced you with the choices he made in your best interest... but he chose something stable... and he knew you were not alone. That you never were, and never would be."

Daedron was gentle with Caspian now, allowing the man to openly express his emotions. He welcomed it.

"And as long as that necklace remains around your neck, you will have the sea at your disposal... for if you call for me, I will come. I owe that much to the only son of mine taken before his time. He reshaped my definition of importance after all, given the power he knew he held and still sacrificed for the only thing he ever put first. His family."

That only made Caspian's smile widen, forcing those tears to droplets that slowly dropped from his chin.

"And so, I will release this ship. I will release this crew and its Captain. I will release you. And finally, you may not have asked for it, but I bless your return to the sea. And your budding romance with that deranged man." Daedron pointed past his grandson to me, to which Caspian turned his head back slightly. I would've cursed this mad man myself but Caspian's face was already growing flush as he took those few steps towards me again.

When my eyes found Daedron, I uttered the very same words I had told him when he had first released my crew and ship back to the sea all those years ago. Words that sounded strange to come from my lips after he had delivered such an insult. "Thank you."

Daedron nodded, watching as both Caspian and myself turned away from him. I didn't know how long I had left my crew in the dark and unintended to.

But before I could take more than a few steps, I felt something tighten suddenly around my neck, yanking me backwards.

Caspian's gasp rang through this rank smelling air, but the soft ground beneath his feet formed quickly around those steel toed boots, trapping him in place and forcing him to remain there as I was quickly dragged back to Daedron with forces I didn't know of.

"Grandfa-" Caspian started, to which his words were swiftly cut off.

"Remain there." Daedron spoke, his words sounding closer until he was able to reach around and wrap his massive hand around my neck. My back had stumbled into his surprisingly firm and sturdy build, keeping me there like a wall. "Alistair and I are not quite done."

...

Shit.

"L-Listen, I know I wreaked a bit of havoc on land-"

"Oh that's not the understanding I will attempt to reach with thee." This man countered as he whispered to me. I could hear his voice right against my left ear. "What you will answer to is the crimes of taking royalty, my grandson nonetheless, as a slave."

Okay, I thought to myself. Perhaps Cael had done well to worry.

"I-I can explain!" I was quick to return that whisper with. "I didn't know- had I known-"

"And yet you should have. The power you have is linked to his... now more so than before. Given the circumstances I'm sure I'm not fully privy to, I will allow this one exception. However, moving forward, the care of my grandchild is in your hands. You would do well to understand the weight of that." That deep voice of his was low, and for my ears only.

The hold around my neck quickly tightened, forcing me to nod. His words had cemented themselves into my memory, however it was the panicked look from Caspian that forced me to maintain my composure. I never wanted him to see fear in my eyes.

"You may hold the soul of the sea.. but my grandchild. That man standing before you. He is the heart of the sea. And if you ever lose sight of that simple fact, I'll strip you of all that I gave you and finally lay that stained soul of yours to rest."

Those words alone sent chills through my entire body. I knew he felt it as I shuddered against him.

"Have we reached an accord on this matter?" He asked me, to which I knew of only one answer that would appease this settled anger of his. Of the way I once treated someone who so clearly now meant more than the world itself to this man.

And I found myself answering him with it.

"Aye." I nodded once more.

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