Jesper is pinned to the railing, his hair splayed in wet strands over his face, the bandaging around his one eye sloughing off, slowly revealing a gnarled gash like he’d been mauled by an animal; red, swollen, and bruised. Bones unfurls Jesper’s reluctant arm to immobilize with his boot, slamming an ax through his wrist, the hand nearly rolling away before Bones can grab it.
Jesper screams out in shock, trying to stand but his cut up knee won’t take any weight.
“How polite to offer your hand in this,” Bones says, laughing in Jesper’s face before headbutting him so hard he becomes dazed, the mad man still in his face. “You’re so fucking lucky you’re going to the sirens. I would have tortured you until my last breath,thenhanded you over.” He moves away, as if being near him anymore will force Bones to murder him. “I can’t look at him.”
Soren readjusts to grab Jesper by the collars, the Order of Ash leader beginning to cry, bleeding out all over the broken deck, his eyepatch sliding off to reveal eyelids that are sewn shut. Soren says to him, “You and I will never meet again. Enjoy your eternity.”
He then lifts Jesper to toss him over, and I near the edge to ensure that the sirens greet him, just barely witnessing his body getting sucked into the waves.A few tails breach the dark water right where the ocean consumed him, like shark fins when circling a feast.
The relief that floods my body nearly has me collapsing.
Soren nears me, as if he can feel everything coursing through me. He probably can, and I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. I look at him, holding up my wrist as blood drips down my arm, still unable to use my fingers. “I need to get in the waters. I’m bleeding out. I need the sirens. Pulling this out will kill me.”
Nora always made sure to educate me on proper wound management.
Soren and I share a prolonged moment of eye contact, an aged Zenith staring at the younger, more capable one; it’s officially time for me to let go. “Go ahead,” Soren says, nodding to me.
With the next harsh jolt of the ship, I let my body fall overboard, weightless as I plunge below, watching flaming the deck rise higher above me as I tumble between the two interlocked vessels.
I did it Nora. I’m so sorry it took me so long.
My body collides with the surface to expel all air from my lungs, before gently sinking down, pale hair immediately floating around me, the fires above giving off immense, diffused light.
A part of me recognizes it’s the sirens already tending to me rather than Nora’s blonde hair, but in that moment, I wouldn't mind if I didn’t wake up.
S O R E N
We all grip whatever’s left of this vessel to stabilize ourselves with the swaying ship. Blackwell is pinned down at the front of the deck, the Sea Wolf’s pearl eyes watching over him like it’s a true beast having captured its prey. I near whatever’s going on, along with Bones who still holds onto Jesper’s stump of a hand.
Tempest stands over Blackwell, a figure made of ocean water joining her, its eyes glowing white. The surface of the oceancreature’s body spins like a cyclone as if his ephemeral exists of fluid.Ta’Kan.Where his face should be, the rolling water gives vague impressions of sharp features. His hands, when they appear before recoiling back into the fluid flesh, are like claws made of brine.He gives off the same sensation as Misery or Cypress, like the mortals in this realm should not be witnessing their existence.
All the pirates around bow down immediately, the storm even letting up as Tempest stands with triumph over the fallen captain of Darkwater, who watches on in fright. “What are you doing?” he asks.
“You branded our daughter,” Tempest says, tilting her head. “So I am going to reap your soul.”
Ta’Kan’s hand is defined once more, moving over Blackwell’s mouth, the man starting to scream something high-pitched and primal—no ounce of decorum left—as a white, silvery essence pools in front of his face, shining brightly and almost with purity against the surrounding carnage.
Tempest holds out a vial, and the soul slips inside like silky air.
Blackwell’s body shrivels as skin wraps tightly around his bones; the shell of a cunt who fueled all of this. Bones nears the corpse, rummaging through the weapons until he finds a blade that he unsheathes. The one that killed, Anya, perhaps?
Tempest’s energy is as calm as the eye of a storm as she shakes the vial, the sound of a scream echoing inside like it’s trapped within a hundred layers of glass. Tempest’s laugh almost carries an edge of pity, like she knows Blackwell will suffer for averylong time. She faces one of her pirates, who is still kneeling. “Do a headcount on Storm’s Fury once you make it over to her. The sirens will sort out any bodies, and I’ll see if Sea Wolf is salvageable. I will be awhile.”
The godly figure looks down at Tempest, the oceanic energy slowly engulfing her as her gaze connects with mine, the cyclone of water advancing up her legs. “Misery is gone for now, Soren. I don’t know where he fled, but he’s far from here.”
The water slowly absorbs the pirate queen before Ta’Kan’s gaze meets mine, to which I immediately lower my gaze.
I’ve had enough of the gods for a lifetime, and I don’t need to interact withanymore. I’ll let her go do whatever the fuck one does with an ocean god. “Everyone, into the ocean!” I shout once the Ta’Kan’s figure slowly pulls back beyond the ship, Tempest disappearing with him as if she’s dissolved into salt water herself.
The ship tilts once more, and I let the momentum take me like it does with the remainder of these men. We all scuffle through the wreckage to reach the edge, and I catch myself on the banister before pivoting over, my body weightless until I crash through the water’s surface. The sirens are on all of us, beginning to pull everyone away as they force marrowkelp into our mouths.
I let the uncomfortable process take over, still fighting it just because it’s impossible not to. Once that pressure stabilizes, the waters are so calming compared to what was just endured above the water.
The sirens take me to a Jane, who elegantly floats in the water with hair gracefully drifting around her. I keep my eyes on her the entire time, as if my gaze is the chain that anchors me to her. Gills flex and contract in her neck, the sirens focusing on her chest wound.
One of them is Melona.
They weave something into her skin, another healing from behind with glowing hands. They won’t let me touch her, butdoallow me to float nearby, a few above paying attention to debristhat slowly falls through.I even take off my mask, in case Jane’s eyes open. I want her to seeme, not the black skull.
