Summary: When Gazpaccio joins Marco Pollo's expedition to El Dorado, he makes a mistake in getting too friendly with one of the locals. He now has to navigate the challenges in raising two boys who have the blood of gold in them.
Human!AU of the Armada from Pirate101.
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Consequences of Actions
It all started with a trip he and his colleagues had only dreamed about before.
Any sensible adventurer would have longed to visit the city of lost legend, rumored to be full of gold and endless riches. His intentions were aligned with that of his fellow crew members at the time, to obtain this mysterious wealth and take back a famous tale to tell. He had been grateful to be included in such an expedition that was surely going to mark itself in history books. He, along with the legend Marco Pollo himself, sailed with great expectations of discovery and riches.
When they got there, El Dorado appeared deserted. That should have been their first warning of the hostility and danger that was to come. Still, he and Catbeard, Erika, Argos, Egg Foo Young, Christopher, Jenny, and other faces that had only been a blur to him jumped out of their ship and explored the lands they had sailed to. He remembered shoving anything that looked golden into his pockets and, once those had been filled, stuffing his shirt with jewelry and riches. When his need for physical memorabilia was sated, he took to exploring the area in curiosity of what exactly this land was and who it had once homed.
Marco Pollo pointed him to some ancient carvings and texts he’d found in what looked to be an empty library. His colleague excused himself elsewhere, leaving Gazpaccio standing alone trying to make sense of what he was seeing. That was when he encountered his first company of El Dorado’s native - the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen, stepping into the library and introducing herself with the clearing of her throat. She was dressed entirely in glittering gold, with tempting eyes that looked just like the ocean.
When she opened her mouth, he did not understand the language she spoke. And when he attempted to communicate back, she did not comprehend his words, either. But it didn’t matter, because their body language was one of mutual understanding. He would confess to being a bit of a Casanova at times - never with any serious intent of commitment. He wanted to savor his youth rather than settle down at his age.
Besides, how could he commit to a place he didn’t belong to?
Those first impressions of sliding off her glittering garment and worshipping this mysterious woman’s body led him to believe El Dorado was a welcoming place. He had never caught her name, as she left him after their arrangement. She must have been something special to reach out to him with no intent of harm…looking back on it, he found it odd. Why had she chosen him ? Had he only been at the right time, right place? Dwelling on what happened afterwards…he could only believe so.
El Dorado turned out to be a dangerous place. He learned extraordinary things during his brief time there, but no amount of its rich history could compensate for his life nearly being taken. The locals had eventually made their appearances known, and they were not happy for the intruders on their land. They were angry and attacked them. The place was practically a tomb of its original creators, although they’d realized that far too late. He and the crew nearly escaped with their lives, while others had lost them on those golden lands. They vowed to never return, never even speak of the place, in memory of their fallen friends and respect for the population that wished to be left alone there.
Fleeing with whatever gold and fine material he’d managed to steal, Gazpaccio’s goal was to begin his toy-making business once he returned back home. A career he’d dreamt of having as a child, when he first began his hobby of building gadgets and toys. He did not care what the others chose to do with their newly-acquired wealth, and had parted ways with them upon returning, giving well wishes for their futures. He knew his own was bright and promising.
He showered Valencia with golden wonders and toys he made that were inspired by the golden city he’d been to. Life went exceedingly well in that time, despite what happened back in El Dorado. It had almost completely vanished from his memory, had he not received some… visitors , nearly a year later.
He was sleeping in his bed rather peacefully, having concluded a successful day of selling his machines and toys to various wealthy families and children. His business was thriving, he had made a name for himself in his homeland. He was a famous ToyMaker . His father was proud of him and he was involved in affluent circles now. The clothes he wore were no longer the scratchy rags he had as he begged for gold on the streets.
His life was perfect .
It must have been in the middle of the night when something forcibly grabbed him from his bed and started dragging him out of his home. The grip was powerful and unrelenting, despite how much he fought and writhed to be free of its hold. Once he had fully awoken and his surroundings were no longer a blur, he recognized the arm that held him. He was being taken by the large sentinels who attacked him no less than a year ago.
He had no clue how they found him. He had so many questions - why had the sentinels not slit his throat and be done with their vengeance? Were his fellow crew members in danger of being found? Had they already been killed? There was no time for questioning, as these men forced him onto their grand ship and started sailing him back to their city.
Despite the fear paralyzing him to his feet, Gazpaccio still admired the vessel he was on, and attempted to memorize the route they were taking him. It was different from the way Marco Pollo had discovered the golden city. But despite how attentive he was, the danger he was in clouded his mind and he could barely recall half of their trip.
The sentinels were abrasive as they manhandled him. He felt like a prisoner and fully believed that was what he was now. They unwillingly brought him back to the place he swore on his life to never step foot in again.
But he was not killed. In fact, he was shocked with why he was brought here.
He was directed to a magnificently-built crib, which had two infants sleeping inside, wrapped in the softest, golden blankets imaginable. They looked identical. He looked up from the babies to the sentinels that stood stock-still behind him, who had their arms crossed and feet planted threateningly. Fleeing was not an option.
“Why am I here? What is going on?” he asked for what had to be the millionth time, his voice sore from all the screaming he had done.
They did not reply to him, merely stepped out of the way for a small woman and a large man to glide past them. It was the girl from before, who he had slept with on his first visit here. She was shackled and being handled by the man who dragged her wherever she went. The look in her eyes was now dull and lifeless. She appeared thin and beaten, the golden glow to her only a dim light. He could see the bruises and cuts on her arms as she was pushed forward. Her eyes locked with his and she said something to Gazpaccio that he could not understand.
She leaned over to grab the babies from their slumber, being mindful of the metal shackles, and waited expectantly in front of him. He began to sputter in confusion.
“What do you want from me? Whose are they? I-I don’t understand…”
Without a word, she held out the two babies to him, and he had no choice but to take them. It was then he realized he was holding the children. He hastily tried to offer them back to her, but the sentinels threatened him with their weapons and shouted at him when he did so. So he withdrew into himself, holding the now quietly-weeping children in his arms, as his eyes desperately searched his company for an explanation on what was happening.
Nothing more was said – that was probably for the best due to their language barrier. He was led back to their ship, this time with the children in his hands, forcing him to leave El Dorado and return back to Valencia. They sailed quickly and remained virtually unseen during this small journey. Once they returned to his home, he was pushed off their ship and spoken to darkly, in what he could only assume was a warning.
They left as quickly as they had come. Gazpaccio numbly stepped back into his house, gently laying the babies on his couch and cushioning them between two pillows. As he watched them return to sleep, it occurred to him what had exactly happened just now.
These were his children. Their mother had been forced to give them to him, and he will never see her again.
He had sworn to never speak of El Dorado. Keeping that promise would mean… lying about these children. The thought sickened him and he abruptly stood from his seat, beginning to pace quietly around his house as he ran his hand through his brown hair over and over again. His heart was hammering away a mile a minute – what was he to do? What was he going to DO !?
What was he going to tell his father? He had two children now? But he hadn’t been seeing anybody…a few one-night stands here-and-there, sure, when he was in the less affluent cities of Valencia…but he’d taken the right precautions then! The only time he hadn’t was in…in El Dorado…
He would have to tell everybody, even his own famiglia, that their mother had passed away. It was a sudden thing, he received a call late tonight asking him to retrieve them from the hospital…one that was out of the way and no one had ever heard of…he’ll wrinkle out the details in the morning, but for now, that seemed like a solid plan!
Feeling a little more assured, he returned to the slumbering children in his living room. The sight of them still sent him into a frenzy, and to calm himself down, he plopped down in his chair and reached for a book from his shelf. Indulging in some literature was usually able to help get his mind off things.
What landed in his hands happened to be the First Book of Moses. As his eyes scanned the lines, he kept glancing up to the babies. After a minute, he was hit with a burst of inspiration to name these offsprings of his -
Kane and Able.
It was clever…a slight misspelling of the names of Caine and Abel. He did not know what to expect of these children, if they were to carry what the denizens of El Dorado had…whatever that may be. Its people were still a mystery to him, but he’d get to witness their talents and intellect firsthand. Perhaps this surprise of his was going to end up a good thing?
Thank you for the tag, @blind-the-winds! (In this post!)
Rules: Post a 24-hour poll featuring two truths and one lie about your OC!
Last time I did this for Sterling (from Minding Q's), so this time I'm going to do one for Celain! And I've decided to make it very silly.
Which is the lie about Celain?
She is extremely athletic and does competitive sports
She's an H-3 Nozzlenose D main in Splatoon
Her favorite animal is the crescent-caped lophorina
Voting ended onMar 15, 2024
I'mma gently tag @akiwitch, @my-cursed-prince, @basalamander-corner, @maddstermind, @athenswrites, @theglitchywriterboi, and anyone else that wants to do this!
Okay okay so I was tagged forever ago by @my-cursed-prince (here) and then just recently (here) by @autumnalwalker, and now I'm finally getting around to doing this haha
Anyways, I'm gonna do this for my character Sterling, who is one of the MCs in Minding Q's!
Which is NOT true about Sterling?
His middle initial stands for Quotidian—courtesy of his uncle.
He hates summer so much that he'll straight-up refuse to go outside.
As a kid, he was afraid of stairs after his cousin pushed him down a flight.
Voting ended onOct 24, 2023
Gonna gently tag @k-v-briarwood, @worldsfromhoney, @the-grim-and-sanguine, @planets-and-prose, @harleyacoincidence, and leave the tag open for anyone else that wants to do this!
