It was a good day in the town of hargeon. The weather was fine, and the sky was blue. It seemed like nothing could go wrong at the birds chirped outside, so loud that it happened to wake a certain man out of his dream. This man was, of course, the Machia of Pjhantom Lord, The Maleficent Collector, Geb Majura. Today, Geb didn't land on his face as he woke up. This was usually a sign that he waIt was a good day in the town of hargeon. The weather was fine, and the sky was blue. It seemed like nothing could go wrong at the birds chirped outside, so loud that it happened to wake a certain man out of his dream. This man was, of course, the Machia of Pjhantom Lord, The Maleficent Collector, Geb Majura. Today, Geb didn't land on his face as he woke up. This was usually a sign that he wasn't meant to do work today. You see, recently he had been waking up by falling on his face, and that would usually strike him as a sort of "sign" that he was meant to make lots of money today. So, when Geb woke up just laying on his bed like any other day, he assumed it was nothing. He could just relax today in peace with Gallent and have lots of fun. Perfect! It had been a while since he just sat down and read a book or something anyways. Perhaps Geb could finally truly enjoy this vacation? Sure, it was meant to be a workcation, but he was sure he could spare taking a day off. The loan sharks didn't come soon.. or so he thought.

You see, when he looked at his calendar, Geb noticed something. The due date for the money was due much earlier than he remembered. In fact, it was due tomorrow! He panicked, knowing that those insanely strong loan sharks would most likely kill him. What was he gonna do? He didn't wanna die just yet! For one of the first times in his entire life Geb felt one hundred percent true fear in his heart. He was pounding in his head, and couldn't think straight. Then all of a sudden, something slipped though the mail slot of the hotel room. he gasped in fright, but then noticed it was just an envelope. Oh. Well, he figured he might as well read it while he could.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down and walked over to the envelope on the floor to look at it. Picking it up, it seemed to have no stamp or anything on it, was this delivered by the sender themselves, straight to his hotel room? Geb decided it to be best to open up the letter and see what in the world was in inside.

Opening up the envelope, Geb found a note. It was a bit dirty, as though it had been handled roughly, not to mention it was folded in half in a crude way. Who in the world wrote this note? Putting his hands forwards to open the note, he read from the top of it.

"Dear Geb Majura, my friend,

It had come to our attention that we will be needing your help sooner than I thought. You see, it is I! Balthazar. I told you that I was going to contact you again, didn't I? Well, anyways, meet me at the same beach where you took the crates from. There's a job that I wanted to talk to you about. I've sent one of my men, my first mate specifically, to deliver this letter to yer door. If you have read this, I ask that you please throw it out after ripping it to the tiniest pieces you can make. Thank you lad, and have a good day! I'll see you there as soon as possible."

Geb blinked. It was from that pirate he met the other day? Well, to be fair he did tell Geb that he would have some work for him later. Well, this worked out perfectly for Geb. It would allow him to repay the loan now, so there was no reason in the entire world not to do it now.

Geb got into his clothes, and would head out the door bravely. He decided to not take Gallent with him today, after all, the little bugger would most likely just cause him more and more anxiety. While Geb loved his munchlax, sometimes it was better just to leave him behind. Besides, who knew what kind of work he would be doing today? If it was of a dangerous sort, it was probably best just to leave Gallent behind. Especially if it involved sneaking around, which was the thing that munchlaxes were the absolute worst at out of anything that they did. Well, besides maybe running fast.. that was one thing that no other species was worse at on this entire earth, Geb was sure. Well, okay, maybe SOME species would be a bit better at it...

Geb began to walk outside to make his way to the beach. Geb remembered that he needed to rent a bike to get there, just like he had to do with Bianca the last time. Speaking of which, where was Bianca? Well, maybe she didn't get the memo from Bal. Oh well! Geb was fine with taking all the money for himself. Though it was a little bit harder without a team member, he was sure he'd make it through just fine, right?

Geb parked his bike by the beach, making hi way down through the forest on his way to the beach where he met the pirates last time. Coming out of the sea of trees, he instead came to a sea of sand, the beach. Crabs were once again crawling all over the place, making Geb once again very very hungry. He wouldn't mind eating a little bit of crab right now, but that would have to wait until after he paid off his loan. This was crucial, he needed it soon.

And hopefully the pirates would have just the right amount for him. It was time to get to work, and Geb was gonna make sure to do it just right so he could finally pay off that money. It was no time for stalling, or for second fguesses. Geb wasn't going to die here, no way. He was going to make it out of this in one piece, with his body, soul and heart all intact. It was time to go and be a pirate for a day! And he was honestly pretty excited. Who else got to work with pirates? not many people. He faintly remembered being amazed at the pirate stories told when he was a kid. And now, he was going to be helping a real life one.. he wouldn't lie, it ignited that childish sense of wonder within him.

Geb walked up the dock towards the pirate ship, his heart beating. He wasn't sure if he was super excited or super afraid, but it wasn't the time to be thinking like that. It was the time to do his job, and he was gonna do it as well as he possibly could for these guys. These pirate in a way had essentially given him a way out of a one way ticket straight to the depths of hell, and Geb was gonna use it to the best of his abilities. He wouldn't take this chance for granted. It was very few times in life a man got lucky, and he didn't care if he didn't get the blessing of whatever diety was making him fall on his face in mornings. That was just a myth! one that he made up, at that! This wasn't because of divine intervention, this was a path of fate that he had carved with his own soul, and he was going to walk the path all the way until the very bitter end of it, and see what was waiting in the light that was there. Geb could only hope that it was something extremely worthwhile, and luckily for him, in the future he'd find out it was indeed.

Geb looked around the pirate ship as he walked onto it. There was the crew, mostly sharpening their blades and cleaning the deck. One of the crew members walked up to Geb, he seemed a little drunk, but sober enough to the point where he was able to actually able to form a coherent sentence. Geb supposed that it was good enough for him, and that he would hear this man out. "Yes?" geb asked, as the man pointed to a nearby door. "Cap'n is in there, Mr. Geb sir. Said he's been waitin' for ya. Happy you're helping us by the way, we need someone as strong as you for out plans tonight."

Geb blinked. "Your plans tonight? What would that be?" he asked, as the man moved towards Geb, as geb stayed cautious of the man. "The capn was supposed to ta tell ya, but I suppose it makes no difference. You see, tonight we'll be raiding the town. Capn wants you to help with the setup for it all." Geb was a it surprised. They were going to raid the entire town? Well, they were supposed to be pirates after all. It made sense they would want to raid.

Geb walked into the captain's cabin. It was very clean, especially when one considered that this was a ship of pirates. There were many antiques across the walls, most likely things he had collected on his journeys. It seemed balthazar liked gold a lot, and that was apparent by how the room was decorate with a lot of "bling" jewerly, as it was called. At least, as far as Geb understood. He believed it was a bit of a disgrace to both art and the material of gold, himself. But it wasn't time to be complaining about something as petty as that.

Geb would make his way forwards in the cabin, to the point where Balthazar was sitting. He was eating an apple by himself, as he turned around his wheely chair to face Geb. "Ah, Geb!" he said, happily, as he raised his hands. "I'm so glad you've come. You see, I need your help with something, something big - and only someone with your physical strength is capable of doing it. Are you up to the challenge, lad?" he asked, as he stood up from his chair, throwing the apple core inthe garbage nearby with near perfect accuracy, it landing almost directly in the middle of the bin.

Geb would smile. "It's a pleasure seeing you, Balthazar. So, what is it that I can help you with today, sir?" he said. Balthazar laughed, pattting Geb on the shoulder. "No need for the 'sir', lad. Anyways, we plan to do a great raid on Hargeon today. Lots of plundering, pillaging, and so much more. It will be most likely our most profitable yet, and we need you to help us set it up. Tell me, would you say you can move very big objects?" he asked. Geb nodded. "Yes, I am in firm belief I can do that. I've done it before."

"Alright then lad. Let me tell you our plan in that case." he said, as he leaned against the wall. "Alright, so we have to get into Hargeon at night, but it'll be a pain if our presence in the night is known. We can't walk all the way there from here without getting caught either, we need to dock directly at Hargeon in night." Geb nodded. "Lemme guess, there's something that is directly preventing you from entering the docks without alerting all of the guards?" Geb had an idea of what he was talking about, but didn't say it.

"That's the case exactly. Ya see lad, there's something that watches the seas vigilitantly at night - the lighthouse." Yep, that was what Geb was thinking of. It seemed he was right in guessing it was the lighthouse. "So, you want me to disable this lighthouse, right?" Geb asked. balthazar laughed and nodded. "Quite exactly lad! I need you to meet me in an alley by Reagan's place at dark. He'll be helping us out with some equipment he managed to get his hands on. See you then, alright? Stay safe, I dont want you dying beforehand, hahah!" he laughed to himself.

Geb nodded. "alright sir, I wont let you down. So, meet you by that place? Alright, sounds good. It's great that Reagan wants to help." Geb smiled as he left the ship. The crew was still preparing, now loading their cannons. It seems like they were serious about this raid. Perhaps Geb should get Gallent out of there tonight, and the two could sleep out of the town for tonight... that would most likely be for the very best for the two of them tonight. They didn't wanna get caught int he crossfire after all.

Later that evening, Geb met up with Reagan in the alley. The night was dark, but soon the commotion would start. It would just take a little bit of time first, and that time would be spent turning off the lights so the pirates could get in completely undetected. This felt so cool! Now not only did Geb feel like a pirate, he felt like some sort of secret agent as well. Today was really reigniting his childhood spirit of wonder. This was actually a lot of fun, plus, he'd be getting some money off of it as well. Score! Geb made his way out of the alleyway with Balthazar.

The two would swim towards the lighthouse, getting out of the water and using the equipment they managed to get to climb the side. The plan was to climb up the side and once there avoid detection, climbing the stairs up to the very top. It seemed easy enough actually, but Geb always knew that things would never quite go his way all the time. After 17 years of life, it would be pretty surprising if he DIDN'T know that, actually. Luckily for him though he did, so there were no worries at all in that.

Geb was ready. He was going to do this. He made his way and disposed of the lantern. next Bal turned to him. "Thank you so very much lad, we wouldn't of been able to make it without ye. You really did od us a favor. Meet me during the raid or after and I'll give you a share of what we pillaged, the same amount that we promised, alright?" Geb nodded as the two parted ways for the time being. Bal may have been a pirate, but Geb thought he was honestly a pretty nice guy all in all. Not a bad pirate, but not a bad guy either. If geb ever wanted to become a pirate, he would want to be like that. But only to the people he considered allies, he wouldn't give a damn and be evil to the other people. A pirate's life, after all!

Geb made his way out of the beach and used his bike to get back to the main hargeon hotel where Gallent was staying, along with Geb of course but Gallent had been in there all day eating chips. Geb finally got to the hotel's entrance, it seemed as though the raid hadn't started yet. Good, good. If it had started, he'd be in trouble. Again, Geb would rather prefer to stay out of the crosshairs of the conflict entirely. Sure they were nice pirates talking to him, but he was sure to everyone else they weren't. Taking munchlax out of the hotel, the two made their way up to a camping site that was on a hill overlooking Hargeon. Geb didn't like camping, but this was for his safety and all, so he supposed it was okay. Geb lay in his sleeping bag, watching a fire go off from downtown. So, they started? Well it seemed like Geb andf Gallent were able to make their way out just in time. Than god, Geb certainly didn't want to get tied up in that business. He'd wait until tomorrow to get his money, so for now he just went to sleep peacefully.

The next morning the two woke up and began to head to Hargeon. The path was short since it was downhill. A lot of the city seemed in ruins almost, the other places untouched. It seemed to be random, except for the fact a lot of high value homes were targeted. Well, it would make sense for pirates to go for the big stuff after all. They'd gain nothing over just going for the poor homes.

Geb hopped on his bike, leaving Munchlax in the hotel once again. Again he parked his bike, and again he walked through the forest, and again onto the sandy beach. There standing was Balthazar. "Hello, lad! I see you've come to pick up your pay." From there, Bal handed Geb a massive sum of jewels. Geb blinked. "This much..?" he asked. Bal nodded. "Aye aye! You helped us out a lot after all. We'd need to properly reward you, eh?" Geb smiled. "Thank you Bal. And sail safely, the knights may look for you more now." "You too, lad."

And that was the story of how Geb became a pirate today and was able to finally pay off his loan, just in time too! It seemed like the tales of Geb (and Gallent!) would be going on for much, much longer. And to think it all could've been ended so easily.. well, the two men, or one man one animal, headed off to their hotel room to take a nap. And who knew? Maybe Geb would wake up on his face once more that day.

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EXIT