(2838 words)

This is the first request for this book! Thank you to Naominicely for the wonderful idea! 

Your POV

Here we were, at the destroyed Ghost Ship. We had finished fighting Bellum at the Temple of the Ocean King, then the chase of him fleeing to the sea. We destroyed the Ghost Ship after shooting at the eyes of Bellum with the S.S Linebeck, which had been destroyed after we found Tetra. She was restored back to normal as well. 

After seeing the S.S Linebeck get hit by the crow's nest of the Ghost Ship falling and hitting it, while the Ocean King was standing on the deck, Link was grabbed my Bellum. Turning to look at the octopus like enemy I narrowed my eyes and gritted my teeth, reaching for a short sword I had on my side. 

While Linebeck was panicking over the loss of his ship, I was grabbed with Link. During Link's struggle, the Phantom Sword fell from the sheath on his back and got Linebeck's attention. Making the distraught Captain get torn from his thoughts, he turned around and took a few steps backwards as he saw the sight we were in. 

Looking to Bellum as Link and I had struggled to get from his grip, we watched as it's eye grew wide before turning to look down. Following his gaze we saw Linebeck, holding the Phantom Sword as the tip of it was through one of Bellum's eye tentacles. Feeling my heart warm at his sudden bravery I smiled gently. He was no longer the Captain Coward we had known through our journey. Though he was still shaking like a leaf in the wind. 

As soon as he pulled the sword from the eye Bellum threw Link, Tetra, and I towards the drift wood that we were previously standing on. Tetra was still unconscious from when we found her, now Link was out cold, and I was on the brink of unconsciousness. Blinking slowly, as my vision had blurred in and out of focus, I glanced around a little. The sky was a deep purple and the sun was missing. Hearing the waves clash against the wreckage of the Ghost Ship, was the only thing I heard, that was before I heard Ciela's voice. 

"Wake up! WAKE UP, Link! (y/n), that goes for you too!" 

Rolling over to my side slowly, I groaned to myself. Blinking and collecting my barrings I looked for the hero in green and the pirate. Finding Tetra on a different piece of wreckage, she seemed to be fine, just still unconscious. Planting my hands under me, I started to get up slowly. Seeing Link on the other side of the wreckage we were on, I watched him blink and shake his head as he got up. 

"Wake up! Hurry up already, you two!" 

Hearing Linebeck's voice as he waved the Phantom Sword around, trying to fend off Bellum, we rose to our feet. Linebeck turned and tried to make his way towards us, that was before Bellum had gotten hold of him. Wrapping his tentacle around his arms Linebeck struggled to get out of his grasp. Feeling my heart pound at the state of my friend, I stared hard at the monster. 

"Link!" was all that he said before he threw the Phantom Sword to the hero, who had caught it. Looking at the sword he held, the one that was made from the three pure metals by Zaus, I gulped gently. How were we going to get out of this one? Hearing Link gasp, I turned back to Linebeck and Bellum. 

Bellum wrapped more tentacles around Linebeck's torso and Linebeck had gasped. "Whoa! Ugh... What?! Let me go, monster!" With that he turned around, revealing that Bellum was attached to his back. Watching in horror as the very monster that had taken the power from the Ocean King, possessed my friend. 

He stepped forward a few times before falling to his knees, rearing back as he gave a scream and a purple mist started to envelop him. Gulping as I stepped back a couple times, in fear of what was going to happen. A purple tornado spun around and dissipated as quickly as it came. Turning around to face us was none other than Linebeck in a Phantom's armor. His face was pale and almost zombie like. Uttering our names one last time before he ended up being taken from our view by a matching helmet. 

Feeling my heart rate pick up, my hand went towards my mouth as I tried not to scream in terror. My breathing had started to hitch as I felt a panic attack setting in. At least until I heard Ciela. 

"You need to stay calm! Bellum's the bad one, he's latched onto his back! Get behind him and slash at his back!" 

Reaching for my short sword as Link got to work, I wanted to help. But where the hell was my damn sword?! Turning around as I looked for it scanning the wood floor of the wreckage. Shaking my head I growled as I couldn't find it. Snapping my head back around as I heard a commotion. 

"Whoa! He got me! Sorry, Link... Don't worry about me" 

Trying to find out what was going on, I noticed that Ciela had gotten caught by Bellum. Dammit! I wasn't going to lose any friends tonight. What were we to do? Link had blocked Bellumbeck's sword with his own, causing the two to fight for a moment. Pushing Bellumbeck backwards as he fell to his knee, Ciela was able to get loose and give Link a Phantom Sphere. 

Once Link caught it, Bellumbeck got up again and Bellum was able to grab hold of Ciela again. Waiting for Bellum's eye to open, Link was able to use the sphere and run around to slash at Bellum. Slashing his sword and having the same stand off between Link, knocking Bellumbeck back again. Doing the same process a few more times before we had gotten a bit far from him, making him spin around as he came at us. Link had his back to him grabbing the hero, I took him and threw him out of the way. Seeing as the sword Bellumbeck was holding slashed at my side. Watching as he held his sword up to hit me, I fell backwards and rose an arm in an effort to block the attack. 

Hearing everything stop for a moment, I looked up to see that Bellum had separated from Linebeck. He flared around for a moment before he turned into Sand of Hours. The Sand of Hours had ended up going towards the sky as Link turned to find Tetra awake. She waved and he gave a sigh of relief for a moment as he waved back to her. Ciela had fluttered close by as she watched the scene. Holding up the Phantom Sword, the Sand of Hours had been absorbed into his sword. The sky had returned to normal, as Linebeck started to do the same. 

"Yeesh. Ouch... What's going on here?! I thought..." Realizing what had happened, he looked at his hands shaking gently. Ciela had started to go over to him. 

"Are you OK? Linebeck! You were possessed by Bellum!" Looking at his hands for a second longer, he ended up falling to his needs. "What?! Oh.. That's right.. I... uh... think... I remember something about Link and (y/n)" 

Turning around he saw Link and I and bowed his head, shaking it. "Oh, Kid. I mean... Link, and (y/n) I'm sorry! I know I was possessed by that monster... but to think that I..." 

Link shook his head and smiled while Ciela ended up lowering to his eye level. "Shush, Linebeck! If you hadn't stood up to Bellum when you did... Who knows what would have happened to us... Well... I guess I got cut up in the moment..." By now he stood up and put his hand on his hip and the other behind his head. 

Smiling gently I watched as he went back to his usual mannerisms. "What?!" Ciela fluttered quickly as he shrugged his hands. "Are you sure you're Linebeck?" Crossing his arms he closed his eyes and sighed. 

"My ship... uh... took a little damage..." Putting his hands in front of his mouth as he remembered what he said, he looked at Ciela. 

"Grandpa..." 

Hearing some odd sounds, Tetra had managed to get over to us, while I was still on the floor watching everything unfold. Ciela joined Link as he looked at Tetra. Linebeck walked over and we started to try and find the source of the odd noise. The sword on Link's back had started to zap with electricity before the Sand of Hours went towards the blue sky and exploded into a firework of sand. Particles fell into the water as we looked towards it, wondering what was going on. 

A whale came out of the water, pushing a lot of water out over the wreckage as he landed into the water again. Link ducked down a little and stood his ground, while Linebeck... He got washed away a little. Giggling to myself as i watched the Captain get swept away before the whale started to speak. 

"Link... Linebeck... (y/n)... and Ciela... I have returned to my true form... For that, I thank you." 

The whale showed up and floated in the water by us. By now Linebeck had been sitting up, and watching the scene. "What?! old man, Is that you?! I never would have guessed you looked like that!" 

Looking to the Ocean King as he started to speak again we listened. "If not for you, I'd had been sealed up forever. This sea would have fallen into desolation and evil. You saved me and the great sea. Thank you." 

Linebeck stood up and walked back over to the hero and stood with them, his arms crossed. "Linebeck." 

"What? Who? Me?" he asked as he pointed to himself. "I have to make good on a promise I made you. I grant you one wish." 

With that I ended up coughing and then groaning, gaining the attention of my friends. They turned around and that was before Ciela and Linebeck yelled my name and ran over, followed by Link. Linebeck knelt down and looked at me as he held an arm under me. 

"Sup Captain?" I asked as I looked at him, a weak smile. "I hate to ruin the moment, but we've got some problems." 

Looking to my hand as it moved, the large cut was shown. Blood had soaked into my clothes as I had been laying here. The thing with sharp blades is that when you're cut with them, you rarely feel it, this being because the cut that is made is straight and clean. Whereas when you're cut with something dull it takes more force, making the cut jagged and shredded. 

"No, no, no. This isn't happening! Not today!" 

Putting my hand on the side of his face, he leaned into my touch for a moment. "Stop it, it wasn't you. You were possessed by Bellum. I won't hold you accountable." 

He looked at me for a moment as he shook his head. "No, I'm not losing you! (y/n)... I..." Swallowing his pride and gaining his voice he spoke again. "I love you." 

Smiling gently as he looked at me I hummed gently. "I love you too, Linebeck." Smiling weakly to me, he looked over to the Ocean King. 

"You wanted to give me a wish right? If you insist on it, then save her! I don't want my ship, I don't want any treasure... If... If anything, she's the treasure I want. She's rare and she's beautiful. I won't be greedy, I won't be selfish and cowardly, just... just save her!" 

He was breathless as he held me close to him, his mouth was in a tight frown and his eyes looked watery. The Ocean King nodded gently before I started to glow and float up a little. Linebeck held my hand as long as he could before it was out of his reach. Looking around as I watched the cut start to close and the blood come out of my clothes. Being set back down on my feet, I looked at my side before smiling wide. 

Lifting my head as I looked at Linebeck, who had been a blur of blue as he wrapped his arms around me tightly, holding me to his chest. Wrapping my arms around him I smiled into his chest as I felt him shake a little. Hearing him whisper to me gently. 

"I should have told you I loved you before I thought you were dying." Pulling away for a moment I kissed his cheek before I looked at Linebeck. Letting him go, I walked over towards the Ocean King. Titling my head as I looked at his form upclose I smiled. "Do I get a wish too?" 

He blinked slowly and nodded once. Smiling as I looked at my hands for a moment, I felt Link grab my hand and Linebeck put a hand on my lower back before Ciela landed on my shoulder. "Then, can I have the S.S Linebeck back?" 

Linebeck was surprised. "My ship? Why would you want that?" 

"You really expect to settle down after this? You're a Captain and a Captain needs a ship and a crew." 

"What are you saying?" 

"I'll be your crew member if you'll have me" I said, a hopeful smile on my face. "Crew member? No, you'll be my right hand man" he said as he smiled down at me. Grinning wide I looked to the Ocean King as the ship appeared close by. Looking at her in her beauty I smiled wide. 

"The Sand of Hours is returned and peace reigns. The Ghost Ship will no longer haunt your world." 

"Our world?" Tetra asked. "So what world are we in now? What is this place..." 

A small fog started to form as the Ocean King spoke up again. "The time for you to return to your world is near..." 

Leaf flew out from under Link's hat and sighed. "The door to your world is about to open." Neri came out and joined her. "We are inhabitants of this world. We must return to the world of the Ocean King! Thank you Link, (y/n), and Linebeck. Your courage will not be forgotten." 

Hearing Ciela speak up she seemed to be sad. "Oh... Well, thank goodness, Linebeck! Now I don't have to look at you any longer. I was getting tired of seeing you all the time!" 

He shook his head and turned around, crossing his arms. "Ugh! That was my line! Get out of here, and good riddance!" 

Fluttering around to the side of him as he turned his head the opposite way, her voice lowered. "Well... I'm leaving now...Thanks Linebeck." Turning to look at her as she fluttered off, a fog rolled in as his face was long. Leaning my head onto his shoulder as I looked at him, trying not to be a blubbering fool. Holding his hand gently as we appeared on the deck of his ship he sighed heavily, looking out towards the water. 

"Hey... Look at me." turning to me he looked down at me, the corner of his mouth curling up. 

"Where to first, Captain?" A smile spread on his face before he looked at me. Leaning down he kissed me gently. Returning it for a moment, he pulled away and smiled again. "I believe you mean "what's second"?" he said as he looked at me. Rolling my eyes I looked away from him for a moment. 

"I'll admit to meaning 'what's second' in our journey, once you admit that you're going to miss Ciela and Link." 

He looked away and tried not to look at me, only for him to side glance at me before he sighed and nodded. "Fine whatever, don't say anything about it." he said as he shook his head and crossed his arms. 

"Classic Linebeck, you do know that I can write the young hero a letter right? You did the same thing once because you couldn't tell him you were grateful!" Blushing he looked at me an stuttered. 

"W-whatever! Let's just get going!" he said before we started to get the ship ready to sail. Heading towards an island that we could get some supplies on. I never did find out what happened to my short sword. At least that was before I ended up finding it wrapped in a blanket below the deck of the S.S Linebeck. Upon asking Linebeck how it got there he had shrugged and told me he wasn't sure, that perhaps the Ocean King transported it us with us. Though he said that with a slight smirk on his face, he's always been a terrible liar. 

Isn't that right? Oh Captain, my Captain!