Eleanor observed the strange black chains that had rubies mixed in, which wrapped around the woman's wrists.
Noticing her gaze, the angel moved her wrists near Eleanor, allowing her to take a closer look at them without having to strain her injured body.
Without realizing it, she had gotten close enough towards the woman that when the angel reached out to touch her, she didn't flinch.
Bright light burst from her shackled hands, slowly healing the severe injuries that coated her body.
Her formerly white priestess attire had long since deteriorated into a mix of ugly browns and reds, with not even holy magic being able to restore it.
The angel reached out and removed the gag that was wrapped around Eleanor's face, finally allowing her to speak.
"T-Thank you, your e-eminence"
She stuttered through her words, not knowing how to properly thank her savior, fearing she would sound rude.
The angel merely nodded her head in acknowledgement.
Eleanor spoke again in hopes of trying to grasp her situation.
"I-I appreciate you saving me, but why are you out so far from the Sea of Wishes?"
The golden-eyed angel held out her chains again towards Eleanor, attempting to show her the purpose of her travels.
Immediately coming to an understanding, Eleanor concluded that the angel must've been looking for a way to free herself from the chains and, with that goal in mind, had come to the Sea of Chains for a solution.
Isn't it too literal that your chains could be broken inside the Sea of Chains…?
Eleanor gradually gained the impression that while this woman was intelligent and beautiful, she also still had a childish innocence to her thoughts.
Standing up, she bowed to the angel before introducing herself.
"Your eminence, I, Eleanor Lynn, am the priestess of the southern regions of Sea Fallen, a believer in the God of the Depths. I will accept any command that you bestow upon me."
The angel simply smiled and gestured for Eleanor to follow her as she began to walk out of the room.
Following behind, she almost collapsed after a few steps due to her not having moved her legs much in the past couple of weeks.
Adjusting herself, she continued behind the angel while holding onto the wall for support.
Reaching the deck of the ship, Eleanor finally grasped the size of the vessel.
Large black sails hung from the masts with cannons lining each side of the boat, each adorned with golden fixtures.
In the center of the deck lay a small containment facility with a magical stone resting inside.
Eleanor had heard of such things from the fishermen down at the port, recognizing it to be the heart of a small sea terror.
Brave hunters killed these weaker beasts without much struggle, with the parts of their bodies being sold to the merchants in various markets around the capital.
The hearts were specifically rather important when the correct conditions were met, creating a deterrent effect that prevented other weaker sea terrors from approaching.
The effect had been discovered after studying one of the Ghostships and learning that each ship was embedded with some sort of core that radiated the aura of a high-level sea terror.
This allowed the Ghostships safe passage through most of the seas as long as they didn't come across an apex terror, which even the Sea Kings couldn't defeat.
The angel walked towards the heart, gesturing for Eleanor to take it.
Surprised by her offering of such an item, Eleanor stuttered a response.
"M-Me?"
The angel nodded again with a smile forming on her lips.
Eleanor reached out towards the odd-looking heart, grabbing it with both hands.
Holding the core within her hands, she let out a small squeak.
"W-Why is it so squishy!"
The angel's smile fully formed on her face; however, she was prevented from laughing by the curse on the chains.
Eleanor, having gotten used to holding the disgustingly soft heart, looked towards the angel awaiting further instructions with an unpleasant look plastered across her face.
The woman walked towards the cabin, entering the door without waiting for Eleanor to follow.
As Eleanor awaited her return, she wondered what the woman planned to do.
The angel returned soon after, holding a bottle of ink and a quill, interrupting Eleanor's thoughts.
Walking towards Eleanor, she took the quill and some ink and wrote on the deck of the ship itself.
Her calligraphy was elegant and beautiful, with her writing down instructions for Eleanor.
Take this ship. Head southeast. Find boat with flaming blue masts. Wave white flag. Explain situation.
Reading carefully, Eleanor understood the directions; however, she didn't know why the angel had told her to do such a thing.
"Your eminence, why must I go South? And who is waiting for me there?"
The angel looked at the floor and wrote three simple words on the floor that left Eleanor speechless.
"You will see."
Is such an explanation acceptable? Wait, of course it is. This woman is an angel; she must have a purpose in sending me towards the South.
Thinking carefully, Eleanor eventually responded to the words that the angel had written.
"If it is what you desire, I shall complete my mission with haste, your eminence."
Smiling, the angel started to become incorporeal as she vanished in a flash of brilliant golden light, nearly blinding Eleanor.
As she walked towards the helm, she grumbled under her breath.
"She could've told me to cover my eyes at least…"
…
Somewhere in the Sea of Chains, a few days after Eleanor's freedom, Aaron sat on the bow of his ship watching the crimson flashes of light crackle throughout the sky.
He laughed after one burst of lightning hit particularly close to the ship.
"This ship better have some sort of defense for this, or else we might be in trouble."
Aaron had directed his comment towards his crab friend, who was sitting on top of one of the cannons holding a fishing pole within his claws, somehow managing to use it properly.
The crab, whom Aaron had nicknamed Mr. Crab, didn't show any reaction towards the comment, continuing his expert fishing without a sound.
Tsk, I didn't expect a response anyway… but more importantly, where the hell did he get that fishing line?
He muttered internally, turning his attention towards the waves, which were ever-increasing in size.
After making sure they weren't going to submerge the small sloop, Aaron moved from his seat, walking towards the bucket by Mr. Crab.
Inside the bucket was a monstrous fish with strange white tumors growing from its body.
Grabbing the fish from its tail, he held it above his head, popping one of the pustules into his mouth.
A thick blue fluid inside the tumor dripped into his mouth.
The taste of the strange fluid was that of fresh water with only the tiniest hint of fish within it.
He had been disgusted when he first saw Mr. Crab popping the pustules in a bottle; however, after trying it, he discovered it wasn't that bad.
This allowed Aaron to survive off of the water pustules that existed on the fish while also being able to cook the fish carefully on the turquoise sails.
He had discovered, rather painfully, that they were made of real fire, which led to his arm being burned.
Mr. Crab had been catching these fish ever since they had entered the strange storm that had disrupted navigation, forcing all further wayfinding to be done with the small map in the cabin that had become Aaron's quarters.
Making his way towards his room, Aaron took one last look at the rough waves that rocked the ship before walking inside.
As he entered his room, he took out the map that he had stored atop the old cabinet he had originally discovered the strange parchment on.
Unrolling the map carefully, he noticed some strange changes that he hadn't seen the last time he checked it.
Previously, the map was clouded, indicating the storm that was following them, with only the red dotted line still pointing in the direction they needed to go.
However, now the edge of the storm was able to be seen on the map, with the city of Sea Fallen being located not far from it.
As the map updated, a small mark appeared close to the North of his location.
Its icon had large black sails with the outline of a small brigantine that slowly made its way closer and closer towards Aaron's ship.
Running outside the cabin, he looked off into the distance, slowly making out the outline of the black-sailed ship coming towards him.
As he was about to start preparing for a possible assault by the vessel, his eyes focused on the very front of the approaching ship.
Standing on the bow of the vessel was a figure waving a small white flag that even pirates accepted as surrender.
Immediate surrender? I guess this ship must be intimidating with its flaming sails.
Mr. Crab looked at him before vanishing into the hull of the ship, adjusting their speed to prevent the two vessels from colliding.