The wreck was massive, they stepped into a cargo bay, the boxes rotted and old. The 2 looked for harper, finding more old items from before the war,
'Hey you want me to teach you something cool?' Fury turned to him, Baldwin nodded in the darkness, 'focus you breathing, breathe in deep and focus the oxygen to your eye, this is called an "Abyssal Art" and this one in particular is called "sea sight".' Fury demonstrated he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, Baldwin saw it, a blue aura focused around his eyes, he looked around, a gunshot rang throughout the bay, Fury fell to the floor, blood dripping from his ear, Baldwin took a deep breath and focused it towards his eyes, he felt the aura surround his vision.
Up on top a withered stack of boxes, a dark figure stood holding a pistol in its hand, it wore a plague doctor's mask, Baldwin ducked as a shot wizzed over his head. He jumped to one of the boxes, the bullets slammed into the hull around him, he got into a box and drew his own pistol, a revolver, he checked the rounds, still 6 shots, he focused his sea sight, and pulled the hammer back, he peeked through a crack in the box and pointed the nozzle out the end of it, he fired, the bullet slammed into the box the figure stood on, the box then crumbled into dust as the figure fell about 3 metres to the ground. He saw Fury slowly get back up and regain his senses.
The figure stood up, 'damn runts!' he shouted, 'You shall know the name of the moonlord's right hand man, Heins!' a burst of energy hit the room, and Heins started walking towards Fury,
'You do know why I'm here, young Stormblade!' Heins boomed through his mask,
'My fathers prison is about to get blown wide open!' Fury contested raising his fists, revealing long daggers.
'Those won't do much!' Heins smiled, as he dashed forward swinging a punch, Fury raised his dagger lined up with his elbow and blocked it, the dagger cut through the trenchcoat and into Heins' skin, he pulled back as a swing from the dagger grazed his chest, he leapt back and grimaced, 'I didn't want to use this but,' he raised his hand making an o shape and putting it to his mask making it look like he was looking through it,
'Mariners Abyss: Ghosts curse!'
his words rang through the bay as he slowly sank into the ground until his entire body was gone.
'Where did he go!' Fury asked looking around frantically,
'He's below you! He phased through the floor!' Baldwin said, still having Sea sight active he raised his pistol and cocked the hammer, as Heins leapt out of the floor, slamming his fist into Fury's chin, sending Fury backwards, landing back first onto the rusted floor. Baldwin fired, the bullet phased through Heins in an instant, unobstructed by what it phased through.
'How was he able to phase through the floor but not Fury?' Baldwin thought as he watched Fury, he stood up and readied for Heins next attack, Heins phased into the floor again, however he closed his eyes and began a chant, 'Oceans vast and deep, grant me strength, my foes a sweep!' his squall became visible, surging all throughout his body. Heins lept at him striking his cheek, however, Fury wasn't sent flying like before, he swung back, clocking Heins in the chest sending him backwards.
'That's it!' Baldwin thought, he figured it out, 'Fury I figured it out, he can only phase through non living objects, that's how his ability works!' Fury nodded, as he stood anchored into the ground waiting for Heins' next attack.
Harper awoke sprawled atop the deck of the Anna Marie, the planks rotten and splintered, he looked around feeling a sharp pain in his head, he felt for it and found blood on his hand, 'damn it, that hurts!' he whimpered, he looked up, some flamingoes circling overhead, he found his Bident lying not far from him. He felt uneasy, as if he was being watched, he looked to the sea, seeing a small ship anchored not far from him, a small boat coming closer, he waved his hands into the air, shouting for help, the boat stopped onto the rocks and a group of 5 men came up the rotted ladder onto the deck, 'Hey we saw the smoke from your ship we wanted to ask if you need any help, we radioed for the coast guard to come, where's the rest of your crew?'
'I have 2 more crewmates, they're still in there,' he pointed downwards, 'but thanks for helping me!'
They descended into the wreck, checking for any signs of life, they heard a gunshot as they rushed towards it, one man rushed around a corner and froze, 'what's going on Thomas, why aren't you moving?' the man looked down the hallway and froze in place, another man went to investigate, 'wait!' Harper took the man's sleeve and pulled him back, he searched into the man's backpack and found a mirror, he peaked it around, revealing a female figure standing at the end of the hallway, her hair was most peculiar, her hair's end, the tips looking like snake heads, she was dressed in a black trench coat.
'It's a medusa, I'd suggest not to look at its eyes!' Harper informed them, he gripped his bident tighter, 'Do any of you have a weapon?' one of the men pulled out a pistol, he took the mirror and stood on the corner, peeking the mirror out into the hallway and pointed the pistol as well, he fired once then twice, then a chain suddenly wrapped around his wrist, it yanked at him he gripped the wall as he was pulled into the hallway, he screamed as he was pulled further and further, Harper peeked making sure to not look at the medusa's face, behind her there was a second figure, dressed in a black trench coat with black hair, a human, he was the one holding the chain, the man was dragged onto the floor, the medusa walked forward, grabbed the man, by the hair, and stared into his eyes, he screamed as his eyes turned pale grey and his face slowly froze as well, he was slowly being turned to stone, his screams were dulled by his throat turning rock. Harper started to shake in fear, he looked at the signs on the rusted walls, barely readable, stood "Cargo Bay" with an arrow pointing down the opposite side of the corridor.
'We have to make a run for it!' one of the men said, his hands shaking violently, 'we can't win!'
He started to bolt down the hallway, screaming bloody murder, a chain was sent towards him, honing in. It wrapped around his ankle and pulled, making him slam into the floor, his nose burst open, bleeding profusely. As the medusa walked forward, Harper readied himself, she passed the intersection he leapt forward, slamming the bident into her back, blood gushed as her face planted into the deck, a chain wrapped around Harper's waist, he knew it was the man behind her. He gripped her body tightly, as the man pulled, sending them both flying backwards.
'Do you think we lost him?' Baldwin asked, out of breath, 'we should've, we ran through the entire lower decks.' The lower decks of the Anna Marie groaned as Fury and Baldwin pushed deeper into the wreck. Water dripped from the rusted beams, and the walls, once sturdy steel, now flaked away with every step. The ship had been dead for decades, but tonight, it felt alive. Watching them.
At last, they reached it, the anchor chamber. It was massive chains as thick as tree trunks stretched from the ceiling, rusted but unbroken, holding a colossal iron anchor denting the floor with its weight. Unlike the rest of the ship, this metal was untouched by time. It gleamed in the dim light, covered in unnatural symbols that pulsed with a faint blue glow.
Fury stepped forward, hand brushing the hilt of his dagger. A chill ran up his spine. Baldwin whistled low. 'Damn. That thing ain't normal.'
Fury reached into his bag, pulling out a bundle of small, worn-out explosives. 'Help me set the charges,' he said, his voice steady. 'Destroying the anchor should free my dad!'
Baldwin hesitated. 'Are you sure about this? We don't even know how this thing's keepin' your dad locked up.' Fury clenched his jaw. 'We don't have time to second-guess. He's down there. I know it.'
They worked quickly, strapping the explosives to the base of the anchor and along the chains. Fury wiped the sweat from his brow as he clicked the detonator into place.
A figure emerged from the shadows, a long black trench coat, a plague doctor's mask gleaming under the weak light, he had found them once more, 'Stop, you're making a mistake!' Heins said as he stepped forward, Fury threw the explosives by the foot of the anchor, a black thin wire connecting his remote detonator, he pushed down on the red button, but nothing happened, 'damn it!' Fury shouted, tears streaming down his face, Heins started to phase through the anchor, the explosives detonated, sending pieces of rusted iron everywhere, it all phased through Heins, but a pale hand grabbed him by the neck, that wasn't anyone from this world.