Byrne inquired along the way and finally spotted the iconic black sails at a much larger market sector. The ships of the Black Sail fleet were several sizes larger than those surrounding them. Unlike the colorful flags of other Ship-Nations, their sails were dark as ink; from a distance, they looked like a bank of storm clouds pressing down on the sea.
Finding the Black Sail fleet was one thing, but as an outsider, securing an audience with their Captain was clearly not a simple task. Fortunately, with Puspe's recommendation, Byrne wasn't worried about being turned away.
Ten minutes later, guided by the Black Sail crew, Byrne arrived at the Captain's cabin. Inside was Captain Helder, alone. His skin was bronze, and he wore an eye patch inlaid with a deep-sea pearl over his left eye. Helder sat in a chair crafted from the spine of a giant fish, resting his chin on one hand as he stared at Byrne. His intentions remained unreadable.
"I've read that old fox Puspe's letter." His voice was raspy, like old scrap metal scraped raw by years of sea wind.
Byrne didn't beat around the bush. "Captain Helder, I want to know where Darussel is."
Upon hearing this, the hand Helder used to stroke his chin paused slightly. "Darussel—"
Helder fell silent for a moment. His single eye narrowed in the dim cabin as if a taboo had been touched. He didn't answer the question but instead asked, "Heh. Traveler from the stars, how do you know that name?"
Byrne repeated the explanation he had given to Puspe. Helder smiled, neither fully believing him nor immediately calling his bluff. He stood up, walked to the wall, and pulled back a tattered cloth curtain.
Byrne looked over to see a nautical chart behind the curtain that was far more ancient than the one Puspe owned. Helder took the chart down, laid it on the table, and after a quick scan, pointed his finger to a spot on the right side.
"Traveler, this is the place you are looking for. But there is one thing I must correct you on. 'Darussel' is only the first half. The full name is Darussel Bosa. In the ancient tongue of us Louvielle, it means 'The Tears of the Mother Goddess'."
The Tears of the Mother Goddess...
Byrne looked in the direction of Helder's fingertip. On the chart, the area marked Darussel Bosa was completely blacked out. Twisted lines were drawn around its edges, resembling churning waves or perhaps some form of hideous tentacles.
Byrne asked curiously, "Why is this area blacked out?"
Helder squinted his single eye at the blackened spot on the chart and spoke. "Because the Tears of the Mother Goddess is the most treacherous sea area in all of Lusaka. It has the fiercest storms and the most powerful waves."
Helder paused, a trace of deep dread flickering in his eye, as if he were recalling a nightmare capable of devouring a man whole. "The storms and sea monsters aren't the most terrifying part. It's the curse."
Byrne was stunned. This was the second time he had heard the word "curse." The first time had been from Liam on Puspe's ship. It turned out the "Deep Sea Curse" the boy mentioned referred to the Tears of the Mother Goddess.
Helder ignored Byrne's reaction and continued. "Any ship that approaches that cursed sea finds its compass spinning and its steam engine stalling. Even worse, if you don't steer away in time, it's as if the Mother Goddess has plucked out your soul; you simply cry without stopping. The symptoms only fade once you are far from that sea. Over time, it became known as the Tears of the Mother Goddess. That isn't a name of praise—it's a warning."
Byrne stared at the chart, lost in thought for a long time. Finally, he spoke, "Captain Helder, thank you for telling me this. But in my hometown, we have an old saying: there's no such thing as a free lunch. Tell me, what do you want me to do in exchange for this information?"
Helder laughed, his raspy voice echoing in the cabin. "Traveler, you are much sharper than that old fox Puspe."
He turned and sat back down in the bone chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest in a slow, rhythmic tempo that carried an undeniable pressure. "A century ago, the Captain of the Black Sail fleet was an extreme adventurer. He braved almost every dangerous sea in Lusaka, until only the Tears of the Mother Goddess remained. That old Captain didn't believe in superstitions. He took the tribe's most elite divers and three of the sturdiest cutters of the time to force their way into Darussel Bosa."
At this point, Helder fell silent for a long while before continuing. "Two weeks later, only a single wrecked ship with a broken mast drifted out. Only the old Captain remained on board, and he was completely mad. He died shortly after, but before his death, he kept muttering one sentence over and over."
Helder paused and looked directly into Byrne's eyes. "He said that at the bottom of Darussel Bosa, it isn't old-world ruins that lie in silence—it's a graveyard."
A graveyard?
Byrne thought this was strange. It didn't match his expectations. Why would the old Captain see a graveyard? It should have been much more likely to find a starship.
Byrne suppressed his confusion and asked, "A graveyard on the seabed? That's incredible. Captain Helder, did the old Captain describe what it looked like?"
Helder shook his head. "No. He was too far gone. He never said anything else besides that sentence." Helder then shifted the topic. "Alright, I've said enough. It's your turn. Now that you know the situation in Darussel Bosa, do you still intend to go?"
Without any hesitation, Byrne nodded. "Of course."
"Very well. Among the crew who followed the Captain back then was an ancestor of mine. Since you are determined to go, I'll ask you to do something for me."
Helder placed a broken stone fragment on the table. "The other half of this fragment was lost within the Tears of the Mother Goddess. I want you to find it and bring it back."
Byrne looked down. The stone was rough, carved with twisted patterns resembling waves—likely a totem or perhaps a snippet of an unknown script.
"This is—"
"It is my ancestor's ship-plate. He entered Darussel Bosa with the old Captain, and in the end, only this half of the stone plate drifted back. We Louvielle drift all our lives; we don't even have a place to be buried when we die. The ship-plate is the mark of our existence in this world. I don't expect to find my ancestor's remains, but I hope to recover that lost half of the plate."
Byrne asked, "Captain Helder, forgive my intrusion, but finding such a small stone fragment in the ocean is like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Hearing this, Helder shook his head and pressed the half-fragment into Byrne's hand. "No. I say this because there is, naturally, a special method."