Ambrose pushed the plate away, and even though the food looked delicious, the single mention of blood and human flesh made his stomach churn with disgust.
“Not hungry?” Damian smiled and then shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well, more for me!”
After snatching the plate, he dug in eagerly, savoring every bite.
Ambrose tapped his finger on the table while looking around the small dining hall and at its few remaining occupants.
‘So, they are all abducted, just like me. I wonder what has happened to them and if there’s any way to escape.’
After finishing eating the food, Damian wiped his lips and said, “As you can see, I can also eat human food. I am half-vampire, after all.”
“Half-vampire?” Ambrose curiously asked.
“Yeah, my father was human and my mother a vampire.” Damian explained. “That’s why I was somewhat of an outcast in Nightdale, but since I had my parents, I didn’t care much.”
“How did you get abducted?” Ambrose asked, curious about his circumstances.
Damian sighed and combed his nightly black hair back with his fingers.
“It happened during the Blood Moon…”
“Blood Moon?” Ambrose frowned.
“It’s an event that happens once a year on the Dark Continent. Like Light Continent has Crescent Moon Night, Dark Continent has Blood Moon.”
Damian said and then cleared his throat before saying:
“During Blood Moon, all creatures in Dark Continent will be reduced back to their primal instincts. It is easily the bloodiest night of the year.
“As I am half-vampire, all my vampiric desires are heightened during that time. I yearn for the taste of fresh blood and the thrill of the hunt.
“Without being able to control my desires, I left Nightdale and ventured to the nearest forest to find any prey to quench my thirst on.
“Unfortunately, no matter how many animals I killed, my body desired the taste of human blood.
“Then, in that fog-shrouded forest, I saw him. For some odd reason, Mars was there, looking at me with that fucking grin.”
“Then what?” Ambrose asked curiously, eager to hear the rest of the story.
Damian sighed. “I attacked him, of course. I wanted to plung my fangs deep into his neck and drain him of all his blood, but that was a very grave error.
“He defeated me when I was at my strongest moment, without even breaking a sweat. He then talked to me about fate and some bullshit, then dragged me to his ship.
“I was the fifth one to get recruited.”
“How long has it been since then?” Ambrose asked curiously.
“Two years…” Damian sighed and unbuttoned a few buttons from his coat, then touched a medillion hanging around his neck.
He opened it and revealed a faded photograph of his family.
“Do you have family?” He asked out of nowhere.
Ambrose stayed quiet for a moment before nodding slightly. “I do.”
Damian closed the medallion and smiled. “Family is everything. I don’t care if all my fate is drained, as long as I get to meet my family one more time.”
Ambrose nodded heavily while the dining hall suddenly shook a little as the ship crashed into a large wave. That lasted only a moment as the ship quickly stabilized.
“What is your name?” Damian asked as he put his hand in a handshake. “My full name is Damian Black. Nice to meet’cha.”
“Ambrose.” Ambrose replied, offering a firm handshake.
Damian nodded and then looked at the remaining crew. “I suppose it’s my duty to introduce you to others.”
At first, he pointed at a handsome man with curly blond hair who was leaning against the wall with a guitar on his back and a bowl of food in hand.
He wore a loose v-neck white shirt with a richly colored open-front vest and dark blue trousers with laced boots and a silver necklace.
“This is the first mate, the person Mars abducted first.” Damian said with a sign of respect. “He has been longest here—his name is Apollo De La Fountaine.”
“Yo.” Apollo waved his hand before returning to his food.
Damian then looked across the dining hall towards a small table tucked in a corner.
There sat a man with gray eyes, short silver hair, and a very serious face who seemed completely absorbed in a book.
He wore a black long-sleeve shirt with ruffles at the collar and cuffs. On top of that was a black vest with a few silver buttons and a long suede coat adorned with patches and embroidery.
On his waist, there was a scabbard with a silver-hilted sword.
“He is the second person that got abducted—his name is Leon Feux Lambard.”
Ambrose nodded towards the serious-looking man, but he didn’t acknowledge the greeting and simply changed a page in the book.
Damian was not bothered by his cold reply and instead turned to a person who was also sitting at the same table as he and Ambrose.
He was short but lean, with shoulder-length brown hair and a soft-looking face. He wore a billowy, off-white shirt with an open-front vest, all buttons opened, and a wide belt with a small dagger tucked inside.
He had a very pleasant-looking smile on his face, as if he were one who found joy in the simple things in life.
“This guy is our storyteller!” Damian laughed and wrapped his arm around the young man’s shoulder. “He is also the youngest of us—his name is Henri Ragnar?k!”
“Hey.” Henri greeted with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes. “Where are you from?”
“Um, Amaterasu.” Ambrose replied as he almost replied with “Nocklund” by instinct, but managed to catch himself just in time.
“Oh, you are far away from home.” Henri said, and then dipped his spoon in the soup. “It must be quite an adventure for you to be here.”
“You could say that…” Ambrose sighed.
Damian then looked over Henri and pointed at the green-haired young man leaning by the door.
He was a green-eyed young man with curly green hair and an absent-looking expression on his face.
He wore a long, black suede coat with a green vest and had a small silver earring in his left ear.
“This is Loki Gunnarson; he is our very own magician.”
Loki lazily waved his hand and then snapped his fingers. In an instant, a white-feathered pigeon appeared on top of his palm that began to coo softly.
“Whoah… how the hell did he do that?” Ambrose asked in shock.
“He is from an ancient village that was full of spellcasters.” Damian said. “They had a magic book from ancient times. Apparently, it belonged to one of Ancient Grounded Gods. 𝗈𝒱𝗅xt.𝐜𝒪𝑀
“Unfortunately for them, Mars went there, killed them all, stole the book, and at the same time, abducted Loki.”
Henri excitedly hopped from his seat and tried to catch the pigeon, but Loki closed his palm, and the beautiful cooing stopped.
When he opened his palm again, the pigeon had disappeared.
Almost at the same time, Henri and Loki started bickering, looking like two brothers of the same age—they also happened to be best friends.
Damian looked away from them and pointed at a lean figure standing near the wall and the kitchen cabin.
He had a teen-aged face with well-shaped features and short brown hair. He wore a buttoned vest with brown trousers and had a notebook tucked inside the vest.
His eyes were black, but it was like there was a whole new galaxy inside them, with a starry sky and thousands of planets.
“This is Jake,” Damian said.
“That’s all?” Ambrose asked. ‘I guess he is the most normal person around.’
“Heh.” Damian suddenly chuckled. “He might look normal, but he is the most special of us all.”
“How come?”
“He is Starborn.” Damian said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Once every hundred years, a star falls from the sky and shatters into thousands of small fragments. From those fragments, a baby is born.”
‘So he is a freaking alien?’ Ambrose looked at the brown-haired Jake with a stunned expression.
Jake glanced at them and nodded briefly before returning to his food. He didn’t look very talkative, but his mysterious origins only added to his intrigue.
“Do not challenge Jake in armwrestling; he is going to break your arm.” Damian chuckled and rubbed his shoulder. “I speak from experience. All Starborns have extraordinary strength.”
“Got it.” Ambrose nodded.
Damian then scoffed and glanced briefly at a rugged-looking man who was prostrating on the ground in front of a bloodied hand puppet.
“You already know him…” Damian rolled his eyes. “This is Ors, the piece of shit cultist. He killed his entire family to join that cult.”
“His entire family?” Ambrose frowned. “I thought you only needed to kill one to join.”
“Yeah, but he wanted to make sure.” Damian smiled in anger. “We don’t like him, and he doesn’t like us—better keep it that way.”
Ambrose nodded and glanced at the praying, rugged-looking man who was clean-shaven with a bloodied cross tattooed on his cheek. He looked like he hadn’t bathed in a few months and wore tattered brown robes.
Damian then looked towards the door and saw that one person had already finished eating and was leaving the dining hall.
The person was a young man with pale skin and otherworldly beauty, with the number zero tattooed on his cheek. His hair was snow white, and his body was quite short, as short as Henri’s.
He wore an oversized sweater and sweatpants as if he were shuddering from the cold.
His expression was cold and expressionless, with soulless-looking eyes.
“This guy is Zero.” Damian said. “He was abducted before you. We found him in a science laboratory. Some sick scientists had been doing experiments with him since he was a child, and because of that, he is rather emotionless.”
“Oh?” Ambrose watched as Zero walked away from the dining hall, his white hair billowing behind him.
“That is everyone.” Damian stood up and smiled. “Let me show your room.”
“Okay.” Ambrose nodded and watched as most of the crew members also left the dining hall to return to their cabins to do their own stuff.
‘So, these are the people I will have to travel with from now on.’ He wondered curiously. ‘From what I felt, these guys are powerful. This pirate crew is absolutely ridiculous.’