The Beginning of the End: Chapter 1



Joule Wayco stood atop a cliff-side, staring into the setting sun. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, all while wondering how he had come so far, yet it felt like he was no closer to where he was headed. He opened his eyes just long enough to watch the sun slip over the horizon; he clutched his necklace in his hand tightly. A voice suddenly broke the peaceful silence, “Hey Wayco! You coming, or what?!” Wayco turned around to look at the origin of the voice: Kougar Redd, the captain of the Nova Pirates. He stood with a smile on his face, awaiting Wayco’s answer.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there!” He continued to stand near the cliff-side. He swallowed hard.

“Well, hurry it up! We gotta hurry if we wanna catch that Terrill Punk guy!” Redd motioned for Wayco to come along and began to walk towards their ship, the Magnolia, or as she was lovingly referred to by the crew: “Maggie.” Wayco continued to stare out into the sky as it slowly turned to night. He looked down at the magatama necklace he still held in his hand, and smiled half-heartedly while he put it around his neck; he turned towards the ship and jogged to catch up to Redd. '''Ten Years Ago… '''

An eight year old Joule Wayco sat beside his brother and sister, Joule Torn and Joule Marzia, on their parents’ merchant ship. The family of five was travelling back to their home island in the South Blue. It had been three days since they left their most recent island location, where the family had stayed for nearly a month before deciding it was time to depart again.

“Check me out, Wayco!” Torn leapt from his seat next to his older siblings and positioned himself on the ground to perform pushups. “I can do one-armed pushups now!” Wayco could only watch with a smile on his face as his six year old brother attempted to do a pushup with one arm.

“Ever since we left the island, you’ve really gotten into working out. What’s up with that?” He laughed at his brother’s poor attempts; however, Torn continued to attempt the one-armed pushup, but he was obviously struggling.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve always loved working out!” His lip slighting pouted, which was always a sign that he was lying.

Marzia decided to chime in, “Torn, you’re six years old. You didn’t even know what working out meant until just a few weeks ago.” She and Wayco laughed at their brother’s expense while his face began to turn red.

“Oh yeah, then why am I so buff?” He flexed his arm muscles to show his siblings his ‘improved’ physique. However, the two just continued to laugh.

“Are you trying to be like that strongman we had seen at the carnival while we were there?” Wayco raised an eyebrow as he awaited Torn’s answer, but Torn only succeeded in looking away from embarrassment.

“N-no! Of course not! I’ve just always loved to work out!” He defiantly crossed his arms. As the two siblings started to laugh at their brother’s pitiful lies once again, he eventually succumbed to the urge to join them: he cracked a smile and began to laugh alongside them. Only moments later, they heard their mother call them in for dinner, and the trio rushed to their food. '''Later that night… '''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">Wayco stared at the ceiling while he lay in his bunk. Everyone else slept quietly, but something troublesome kept him awake; he turned on his side and whispered to Marzia, who was snoring deeply.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Psst! Hey, Marzia. Wake up!” He nudged Marzia lightly, and she began to stir. She groaned in response, so he nudged again.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“What is it?” She mumbled the words, still trapped in sleep’s embrace.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">Wayco lightly bit his lip. “I can’t sleep. I have a really bad feeling.” He turned onto his back to stare up at the ceiling.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Maybe you just have to go to the bathroom.” From her tone, it was apparent that he was bothering her, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going wrong. Wayco continued to think for a moment why he would feel so uncomfortable. Everything was perfectly fine, so what would make him so nervous, especially since he usually doesn’t worry about anything? At least, not as much as this. He decided just to shrug it off.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Goodnight.” He closed his eyes, and before she could even get the words out of her mouth, he could already hear Marzia snoring once again. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, however. Somehow awful was coming, he just knew. But he didn’t know when.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">Suddenly, the ship lurched from side to side as massive waves crashed into its hull. Wayco’s mother and father burst into the room, screaming for the children to brace themselves: a monstrous storm was coming, and there was no escape. The next part was all a blur: wanting to help their parents, the children rushed onto the deck to help them pull the sails in and prevent the mast from snapping. Enormous waves continuously crashed into the side of the vessel, and the family was having trouble trying to stand their ground against the raging storm. Before there was even time to react, a lightning bolt struck the top of the mast, shattering it to pieces and sending the family members sprawling across the deck of the ship. Marzia slammed hard into the railing, and barely noticed two life preservers that almost mystically slid towards her… She snatched the preservers quickly before they were whipped away by the wind. Meanwhile, the ship itself cracked through the middle, and it began to pull apart, shooting splinters and planks in all directions; the ship slowly began to sink.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">Marzia screamed into the wind. “Wayco! Torn! Take these, NOW!” She thrust the life preservers onto her younger brothers, and then shoved them off the side of the ship into the waters below. Her timing had been just right, as they were caught in a wave that dragged them far away from the ship. Had they landed a moment later, the gigantic current would have sucked them down along with the ship.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Marzia! Mom! Dad!” Wayco helplessly screamed into the wind, crying for his family members that had most likely already fallen prey to the storm. Wayco’s erratic thrashing in the water made it difficult for him to stay afloat, and he soon found himself starting to drown in the oncoming waves.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">Torn’s voice shredded through the chaos, “WAYCO! HELP ME!!” Instantly, Wayco swung his head around to find his brother in the storm. He noticed a small figure that had just been sucked below the surface of the water; Wayco lunged out of his preserver, reaching out as far as he could to grasp his brother’s hand, which seemed to be getting further and further away.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">With a yell muffled by the water that surrounded him, Wayco thrust himself forward, completely releasing himself from his life preserver, just barely snatching Torn’s hand into his own. He swiftly pulled Torn close to him, and the both pushed themselves towards the swirling surface of the water. Wayco clung tightly to his younger brother. Even in a situation such as this, Torn still knew that there was hope. Wayco couldn’t give up- for Torn’s sake. If Wayco were to drown, then who would be with Torn to help him? <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0.5in;line-height:200%;border-style:none;padding:0in;">The ship had long since been out of sight for the two brothers, but the storm had died down considerably. The only clue as to how long they had currently been out in the water was the sun, which was now slowly peeping over the horizon, shining its rays upon the now calm sea. Wayco stared emptily at the sunrise, and he wondered how it had all happened so fast. Their parents and sister were gone, and the only family that they had left was each other. Stranded and floating in the middle of the South Blue, the two brothers simply awaited for anything else that destiny would throw their way. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">'''Present Day… '''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">Wayco sat at a table below deck, staring out of one of the several portholes along the interior of Maggie. He heard footsteps approaching form behind him, but he didn’t turn to see who it was.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Hello there, stranger.”  The voice belonged to Noriko Dime, the shipwright in their crew. She sat herself in the seat across the table from him and placed a steaming cup in front of him. “It’s tea; I just made it.” She flashed him a warm smile. He slowly lifted the cup to his lips, sipped from it, and returned the smile.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Thanks, I appreciate it.” She sipped from her own cup while she glanced out of the port hole, and then returned her gaze to him.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“So, what are you doing up so early? You haven’t been awake all night again, have you?” Wayco looked back out into the night sky, where the sun was just beginning to come over the horizon. His face turned expressionless.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Just thinking about how some things never seem to change.” She looked out towards the rising sun with him and sipped from her cup once again.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“You think too much, Wayco.” She smiled again.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“You know what, Dime?” He looked down at his cup. “I think I do too.” He looked back up at her and flashed a smile. The two laughed for a moment as they finished their tea.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%">“Well, I’m going up top to make sure everything’s up and running. See you at the practice session.” She picked up their cups, placed them in the sink, and walked towards the door.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"> “Okay, seeya then!” He yelled quickly as she left the room. His gaze wandered once again to the port hole which framed the rising sun. ''Maybe she’s right, I do think too much. But, you always told me that, too: didn’t you?''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%">                He smiled.