Bounty Hunter Bash Jones Lock Arc Part Two

Cerpheres's Secret

The following morning came before they knew it. It only seemed a moment ago that they had fallen asleep before they were waking up. Although part of Chashathrophogh hoped that the events of the day before were some strange fever dream after seasickness got to him. Yet reality disappointed him.

Neither he or Bash knew what time they woke, just that it was morning, judging by the light outside and their hunger. When they walked down the stairs they saw Cerpheres cooking away, humming a happy and upbeat tune.

"Good morning sleeping beauties!" He sang.

"What do you want?" They said in unison.

"I think I've already said. However, right now, I'm cooking for you!"

Chashathrophogh and Bash sighed.

"Alright." They said, yawning.

They looked at each other for a moment.

"But I will earn you if there's any poison-"

He chuckled.

"Never fear, I don't like to waste food like that. Although, you're quite cute when you look like that."

He growled and gave him a look that if looks could kill…

This was met by a light-hearted giggle.

"And when you're angry too!"

Chashathrophogh rolled his eyes as his hands rested upon the weight of his dagger.

"Calm down! After all, if you kill him we will never get out of here!"

"See? That's a good reason to keep me around!"

"Also, I think he'll like it far too much."

"Guilty!"

Chashathrophogh rolled his eyes.

"Alright, but after this I will-"

"Kill him to your heart's content."

Chashathrophogh smiled.

Cerpheres chuckled.

"I see how it is. I'm on your list now. I like that."

"Unless there's a hefty bounty on your head. If so, it'll be after bringing you in."

"Sure, it'll give us a head start."

"Speaking of which, Cerpheres you have been here before and you were able to escape. So how did you get out of here?"

He looked up as his cheeks became red, looking drunk despite being sober. He liked his lips.

"Well I will tell you if you want."

Bash suppressed her annoyance and mild fear.

"Just try to tell it without sounding like you need some alone time."

He chuckled.

"No promises! Well when I was a child, my mother and stepfather never showed me any love. Yet the only one who showed me any was the court jester. Who I modelled myself on-"

"Just get to the part where you escape!"

"Oh! Well that came much, much later!" He said, pointing at her and cutting it back and forward playfully. 

Chashathrophogh tapped the weight with his. He looked down and smiled to himself as he shrugged.

"See, as I've already said, I love greatness."

"Too much if you ask me." Chashathrophogh said under his breath.

"So I wanted to surround myself with great people. So I gathered a crew, a great crew…I wanted to cultivate all the seeds of greatness that they had."

"Yet," He sighed."even though done became great, done could've become greater. So they had to go."

"Strena, take it to the Demon Realm! Calm down!"

He let out a shaky and long breath.

"Well some of them showed such greatness that…that…I could but contain it!"

Then a knife buried itself into the wooden table next to his hand. He looked down and then looked at Chashathrophogh, who still had his hand on his knife. They then looked at Bash who had her hand extended. He opened his mouth and smiled.

"Just get to the point that you escaped." 

He shrugged.

"I'm getting to that! Anyway, there was one that I had a close and intimate relationship with, mainly because I knew that it would bring out the greatness within her. She wanted to impress me, see? It was during this time that she told me of an interesting quest."

He licked his lips.

"That if it was completed it would put our names down in history. Even though I was not interested in the game, I knew that it would make us the greatest crew and…and…and…I had to do it!"

"Cerpheres!"

"Alright alright! I'll calm down. So this is what put us on the quest for the Pieces Of Eight. We set off,finding piece after piece. Soon we had them all! Every single one. Then I easily completed the puzzle. After all, it was an easy one to do. Even a child could do it. And that led us here. We stayed here for a good number of years before I found a way out. It was only the sea death god Deavay that could get us out of here. So I met up with him. He told me that he could let me go at a price."

"And that was?"

"You know, you interrupt quite a lot!"

"Just keeping you in line."

"Yes, well, he gave me a choice: stay here and live the rest of my long, long days here or sacrifice my crew and leave them to whatever fate each piece would have provided."

That was when Bash remembered the old man and that pig.  She remembered how each of them looked at Cerpheres like he was their savior. With a sink of her heart, she now knew why.

"And you accepted."

"Of course."

She frowned.

"How could you? They trusted you and one of them loved you! How could you betray them like that?" Chashathrophogh shouted.

Bash looked at him, shocked. Yet Cerpheres too looked shocked before he chuckled.

"I see you're not good with betrayal. I never could have imagined that! Anyhow! They were, admittedly, becoming stale so I was staying to lose interest. And you saw what happened when that happens." He said putting the plates in front of them.

"Well, we're going to have to find another way out." She said, again noticing just how handsome the man was.

She tried to picture him looking ugly in anything but quickly failed. She had to look away as she took a bite. Her eyes widened as she tasted the food in her mouth. This was better than anything that she had ever tasted before. She looked down, wondering how he could make the food taste so good.

Suddenly shu could understand why that woman could fall for such a creep.

"What is it girl?"

"It tasted great!"

He took a bite suspiciously. It was the best thing that he had ever tasted, even better than that grey stew his friend would cook for him.

"You're right!"