"That's why I can't remember anything up until the impact.", Lucian remarked silently with a tense look on his face, although he couldn't be very concerned anyway. Due to his blank conscience, he had nothing and no one to miss.
Seeing as Lucian didn't seem agitated or disappointed at all, Priscilla spoke up, "You should be able to remember basic things though, like speech, family members, age, and your name.", stated Priscilla reassuringly.
That's good to know.
Lucian thought for a small bit and finally said, "My name is Lucian Crowe, I'm 23 years old, and I don't remember much about my father, but I do know that whenever I attempt to remember him, I have this sinking feeling in my gut. As for my mother, I'm not aware of who she is or where she could be at this moment in time.
"You said your last name is Crowe, correct?" asked Ozzus as he slowly rose up from his chair.
Lucian looked up at the tall man, "Yes, is that a concerning?"
"No not at all, it's just that there is a prestigious noble family in Novus that shares that same last name. It's just speculation but the possibility of you being related to them is very good. That mother of yours may just be the head of that family."
"If that's true then could you take me there once, we dock?". If what he's saying is correct then I might not have to scrounge around for scraps in the slums after I separate from these two.
Ozzus held a tender smile, "Sure, I'd be happy to"
Priscilla stood up and looked back at Ozzus who was cleaning his dirty bowl and plate. "I'll be the one to take him there. Do you not remember what happened last time you had an encounter with lady Sylvia? She slapped you across the face so hard that I thought the mark would never heal."
Pulling his attention away from the delicious stew, Lucian inquired, "What exactly did he do that was so bad?"
"He was drunk one day and started acting like a hooligan, then he said some things he shouldn't have near a rather sensitive noble. I was too far away to hear what he said and whenever I try to get an answer as to why, he just redirects the conversation because he's embarrassed."
A full-grown man that acts like a gradeschooler...Interesting. "If someone like him is too embarrassed then it must've been pretty bad.", Remarked Lucian with a slight chuckle. "You said we should be arriving at around 8:30 correct?"
Ozzus pulled out a pocket watch and clicked it open to reveal the time, "yes, the current time as of right now is 7:45 wrapping up dinner and preparing the ship for docking is the number one priority."
"Alright, I'll help with getting cleaned up", remarked Lucian after he ate his last chunk of meat.
Ozzus nodded, "I appreciate it. Priscilla, you go clear the deck, ready the anchor, and prepare the mooring lines."
If Lucian set aside the charlatan goof act that Ozzus had on before, he would have thought he was a well-respected captain.
"On it.". Priscilla pushed her and Ozzus's chair in then swiftly walked out the door.
The room was quiet, not a sound was peeped by the two for a whole two minutes as both seemed to be sifting through jumbles of their own thoughts. Suddenly Lucian spoke out, "By the way, how come you guys are the only two on this ship?", asked Lucian while gathering the plates and bowls.
"We have a machine below deck called the accelerator that can control and keep the ship perfectly on course. It can even speed it up or slow it down. Cost us a fortune though and it took forever to figure out the controls."
Ozzus held up two fingers while keeping his attention on the dishes, "it has two steam compartments with each one used for each side of the ship sort of like how a train has a steam engine. When the steam is compressed, it will push out a large metal wall to help turn it with the rudder. If both are pushed out that'll slow the ship down which we mostly use for docking. When the steam is decompressed the two metal walls retract. It only needs one person to man it, and it has a periscope that goes to the back of the ship so we can view it in third person for steering and docking."
"The ship doesn't use sails because we have a sort of paddle in the back that helps push the ship. The only times sails might come into play is when we need to get somewhere fast. If that happens, I'll have to hire a temporary crew."
"Wow, that seems pretty advanced for this era, no?", said Lucian as he picked up a small plate.
"You'd think so, but we've got some pretty sweet scientists in this era with most of those big brains having been birthed right in the city of Novus. Many people now days are starting to call this point in time the grand industrial revolution."
Lucian's interest was now peaked to the fullest, "Who could have made such a contraption?"
"That would be the man, the myth, and the legend known as Theo Lundqvist. He's recently been recognized as one of the youngest rising stars in innovation."
"How young could he Possibly be?"
"As of now, he should be about 22 years old."
The statement hit Lucian in the face, He's nearly as old as I am!
Seeing the dumbstruck expression Lucian had, Ozzus couldn't help but laugh a little. Once he finished cleaning a plate, he finally turned his gaze to Lucian, "You go help Priscilla with getting the deck tidy, I'll finish up here and go below deck to man the machine I told you about earlier."
Lucian nodded, "Okay."
As the young man walked to the door, he couldn't help but get consumed by his thoughts once more. Now that I've taken a closer look at this beauty of a ship, it's actually got amazing craftmanship, although that name might need a bit of adjusting.
"Don't forget I can read your mind."
"Right, sorry!", exclaimed Lucian quickly as he rushed out the door.
***
As Lucian strolled onto the deck searching for Priscilla, an empty wooden barrel hit his shins, nearly knocking him over.
"My bad!", Priscila yelled as she carefully jogged over to grab the container.
Still rubbing his shins, Lucian replied, "It's no big deal. where should the barrel go?". It was apparent that he was in pain due to the hint of struggle in his voice.
"It goes in the middle with the rest.", Stated Priscilla while pointing to a small cluster of barrels.
As Lucian rolled the barrel over to the others, his peripheral vision caught a small watery glint of a yellow light in the distance. "Priscilla, could that small light over there be the city you're taking me to?"
"Oh, good eye and yes, that is Novus, the city that never sleeps. The reason we're docking at night is because that's when the amount of trade ships dies down so there's plenty of spots to dock at."
"Wouldn't other sailors also use this same strategy for docking then?"
"Actually, the other sailors are prevented from staying out to late because of this oceans random and surging twilight storms. There aren't many ships out there that can tank a storm like the piercer can."
Yet another thing Lucian was in the dark about was whatever these supposed twilight storms, but now really wouldn't be the time to inquire about such subjects. "You've made quite the investment then."
"Indeed, we only dock in the daytime when we're trading or selling things so it's extremely useful. We're getting pretty close now, so I'll go notify Ozzus. You just get the rest of the barrels together."
"Alright, Leave it to me."
As Lucian finished propping up the last barrel, the storm conveniently started to die down, the waves became calm and the ship stopped rocking back and forth. Soon after, the loud sound of crashing waves caught Lucian's attention. What in the world could that be!? Lucian thought as he rushed to the left side of the ship only to find out that the sound was just the metal walls that Ozzus was previously talking about.
"All we need to do for the meantime is wait till were close enough to the dock and then I'll get the rope for mooring the ship.", stated Priscilla, immediately startling Lucian in the process
***
After five minutes passed by, the metal walls had retracted, and the boat was moving so slow it almost felt as if they were already stopped. once the ship was a couple meters away from the dock, Lucian waited for Priscilla's orders even though it made him shift his footing. It feels too awkward to be ordered around by someone who still a teen.
Walking over to the front of the ship it seemed that there were two men on each dock ready to catch and tie down the mooring lines.
"You throw the ropes on the left side while I do the right."
Lucian nodded as bundled up the rope at the front of the ship then finally tossing it to a large man with slick back hair then rushed to the back and tossed the other rope to a more built man with a fedora. Somehow, despite these confusing orders and lost memories, all of this felt unusually familiar and easy to do.
Once the ship was securly tied down, Ozzus returned from below deck with rigid and long wooden plank in his arm while his other arm was stretched into the air like he had just woken up. "Perfect docking as always. I've gotten the gangplank, so we're all set to disembark."
After Lucian and the others disembarked from the ship, Ozzus walked over to a paved road and held his hand out getting a small carriage to stop. "Honestus street please.", exclaimed Ozzus while handing the man 3 shillings.
Lucian's eyes were lit with curiosity as he said, "Is Honestus street where the Crowe family lives?"
"Correct, the Crowe family is well known for their head being a high-ranking official in the government and this wonderfully rich family may just be yours."