The days after that passed by uneventfully. The seas were calm. The small waves lapped gently against the ship. Atlas avoided the rest of the crew after his chat with Linlin. He decided he didn't need another crazy person making any more declarations about him.
Instead, his mind had been preoccupied with that weird sixth sense he'd had about the sea monster. It felt like a vivid dream, and yet clearly it had been at least somewhat real. The creature had attacked just as his dream one did.
But no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to make it happen again. He tried. He really tried. The frustration of hours spent sat, eyes closed, trying to push his senses outward and feel for anything around him. He never got more than a trick of his own imagination.
He lost count of the amount of times he'd snapped his eyes open and shot his hand out, "reacting" to an attack that never came. All he could say was he was happy no one else saw that.
Shaking his head of the memories, he groaned ruefully. He stood up after another failed attempt. Seagulls circled lazily in the currents above the ship. They were close to land now.
No one had bothered to fetch him or even to tell him where they were going. Linlin seemed to have disappeared after their last conversation. Most of the others seemed more interested in the bottom of their drink than him.
Kaidou acted like a moody brat whenever he'd seen him. Huffing as he stormed off somewhere else. Clearly, their last encounter left a mark on his ego. Atlas wasn't concerned, though. If the kid wanted to make it far, he needed to learn when someone was his opponent or not.
Atlas didn't attack Xebec even though he had no desire to join him at the start, because he knew that path only led to death.
The kid was definitely strong for his age. Atlas wondered what he was like at his age, but the years had all blended together in the lab. Even the memories from before had grown hazy. Like a reflection in rippling water.
The bitter taste of it all filled his mouth. He moved to the railing and spat out at the sea to loosen the feeling.
"Something not taste right to you?"
A deep, questioning voice from behind had Atlas stiffening up. He turned to face it.
Standing to his side was a slightly shorter man, still giant compared to any normal human, with long golden hair and an unusual white moustache like a crescent moon.
"No..." Atlas' deadpan face gave nothing away. Cautiously, he waited for what the man had to say. Linlin had left him scarred already.
"Gurahaha, not much of a talker? Don't worry, kid, I heard about what Linlin said. I would be mute too after that!" His laughter came out in bellows that shook the air around them.
Atlas eased a little as he watched him. The man seemed like a kind uncle. His laugh was boisterous but warm. It made even Atlas' lips quirk in a half-smile.
"Yeah, it was... weird," Atlas summarised the best he could while trying not to step his foot into anything. He was still the new guy, after all. It would be all too easy to say a joke and end up stuck on the sea floor, not quite drowning but not quite breathing.
"Gurahaha, weird is one way to put it. Downright mad is more like it." Whatever worry Atlas had, this man clearly didn't share it.
"Yeah haha. I suppose when you say it like that."
Soon, even Atlas couldn't keep his straight face as a chuckle escaped him before he could pretend otherwise.
For whatever reason he couldn't really bring himself to worry too much about it. This man seemed so easy-going and welcoming.
The warmth he gave off was like a nice fire in a blizzard after the years spent in that lab. A foreign concept of emotions and happiness attempting to rise up through it.
Atlas' face fell. Suddenly changing back to the mask of indifference. He crushed that feeling as quickly as he could. He nearly let himself lower his guard! What was he thinking?
Had he learnt nothing? No matter how nice they may seem at first, you should never trust so easily.
The man's twinkling eyes dimmed too. He saw it all unfold on Atlas' face. Some of the mirth was lost as his laugh grew less loud. He hid it well, Atlas never even saw, but a look of pained sadness flashed across his eyes a second later. He watched the young man go from chuckling softly to cold and unsmiling in an instant.
"Ahh, well I would leave her to it for now. Harmless really, she will grow bored eventually haha." He said it half-heartedly as he chuckled to hide the awkwardness. He knew Linlin wasn't one to give up once she set herself to something truthfully.
"One can only hope." Atlas' dry reply left the conversation hanging. A long pause dragged out the moment.
The two just watched the horizon for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.
"Edward Newgate."
The sudden words caused Atlas to snap out of his thoughts.
"Hmm?" was all he managed as he tried to come back to the conversation.
"Edward Newgate. That's my name. The rest of the crew are a bunch of misfits like us too. They'll find their own way of introducing themselves," Edward said, he made to turn around and walk away.
Before he did, though, he stopped.
"You know, kid, whatever you went through there... you should move on from it."
With that, he left.
Atlas stood there. The words still ringing in his head. Replaying them over and over again.
"Move on."
Ha, like it was that easy.
The only moving on he'd do was when Saturn's head lay separated from his body. Not until then.
Not for himself and not for the others of his village that didn't even get those ten years.
The ship sailed on. Finally, the island hoved into view. A tropical paradise with golden sand and palm trees surrounding a sprawling sandstone town. Flat roofs and stout buildings housed pirates and other so-called scum of the sea that had no other place to call home.
But what really caught Atlas' eyes was the massive monolith. Rough sandstone hewn into a skull fit for a giant. Its great teeth sunk into the earth as if biting out a chunk from the ground.
To Atlas, the place shone with intense character. From the shabby homes and their shabbier owners. To the cheers and noise of a life of pleasure he could make out even from here.
It was almost too much. He was a man who'd gone thirsty for days suddenly finding a lake the size of a small country in front of him.
Looking intently at all the many sights his eyes could now make out, he soaked them in before moving to the next. Eager to see it all before it could be taken away from him again.
He may not know what this new life had in store for him, but he was already preferring it over the empty one of a lab rat.
Their ship sailed into port smoothly following a predetermined route, sliding in beside the quay to be moored up. Ready for them to depart with practised ease.
Atlas stayed by the railing as he waited, still unsure of what was meant to happen. Soon, Rocks appeared from within, his form walking out from the shadows of the doorframe and into the light. He made his way to the gangplank.
The workers shore-side worked hastily to put the temporary wooden bridge in place and ready, like their lives depended on it. Atlas didn't doubt that it did. With Rocks, his carefree demeanour seemed like a poorly made cover for the madness and cruelty underneath.
The way he moved, each step unbothered yet with the underlying intent to remove anything in his way.
Every second they continued to live was simply on a whim of the beast. As soon as he was bored, that would end.
Without a word, Atlas made to follow, the others on board doing the same. Like moths to a flame, they didn't need words to know what they should do.
He made to move and his crew followed. Each person in their own way.
John with a flamboyant and drunk gait, looking likely to trip and fall instead of land his next step. Shiki, floating a foot in the air like there was no fun in touching the ground.
Kaidou stood to the back. He was considered a rookie because of his age, and it seemed that feeling stuck with him. Not walking with the rest. Edward was no longer smiling so easily, his face looking tight and uncomfortable.
Linlin was probably the only other one besides John and Shiki who seemed unfazed. Strutting along confidently like a kid walking into their sandpit, not a care in the world.
A small man in a strange get-up trailed behind her, his large navy-blue brimmed hat obscuring his face from Atlas. The white feathered plume bobbed along after it, like a tiny musketeer.
An odd fellow following a mad woman. Atlas chuckled to himself at the sight. The giantess only made the incredibly short man look even more diminutive in height.
Without a single word to the worker on the quay, they continued up the main road. Rocks ahead, they all walked as a gang of misfits from a step behind.
Atlas was too preoccupied with sightseeing to care for the awkwardness of the situation. Maybe if he were paying it more attention, he'd feel uncomfortable with the way they treated each other like strangers. But the sights around distracted him from it all.
He was watching the streets, the houses and the shoddy street stalls that lined the road.
Colours covered the stalls as wares were displayed. Smells of fried food mixed with spices and scents, along with the ripe stink of liquor. He had seen how the streets were packed with meandering passersby that chatted or traded or shouted at each other.
Now, the streets were emptied as they walked through. Cleared in a rush as if catching a sight of them would be enough to upset Rocks. Even the drunkards lying in doorways or corners had managed to sober up enough to escape.
Something about that didn't sit right with Atlas. The way they ran from the man that was meant to be leading them and his closest subordinates felt wrong.
How could you lead if they're too busy running away from you in fear? Still, he kept shut. In the end, he couldn't care, not as long as he ended up with Saturn's head by his feet.
If it was necessary to follow a man that everyone feared and no one loved, then... so be it. He wouldn't become the monster. Just help aim a monster to kill another.