Star Illusion | ATEEZ Pirate AU

Chapter 74 - What if

The moment an object emerges from the water, I let out a startle scream and almost drop the San dagger even though I can't see what that thing is since I'm quite far from the rail.

The surgeon tenses up and tightens around my waist. The combatant remains still. They're composed compared to me. But I'm not the only one screaming, the crews' shouts dominate the entire deck. They freak out for several seconds until they realize that the object barely moves. It simply floats above the wave.

"What is that?" I mumble while squinting my eyes at it. I want to go closer to the rail, but Yeosang has no intention to let me go. The crew murmur in baffled, guessing what the strange object is. That thing apparently isn't the sea witch, it looks like a-

"A corpse!!!" Someone yells at the same time blood drains from my face.

The pirates haul the corpse onto the deck. The body is a middle aged woman with long rose gold hair. She's beautiful even with grayish pale skin and lips. Her elegant creamy dress implies that she came from a wealthy family.

How did she end up in the devil's triangle? Especially, when we called for the sea witch. The crew whisper among themselves, questioning the same questions. We surround the body in a large circle while the surgeon examines her. Hongjoong and Seonghwa stand behind Yeosang, engaging in an intense conversation. San, on the opposite side, quietly stares at her, carrying the San dagger that I lend to him.

"Could the sea witch possess her?" Mingi mutters beside me, he aims his pistol at the unconscious body. We stand several steps away from the body in case she wakes up and starts attacking everyone.

"A lady drowned in the middle of the devil's triangle. That's utterly strange." Jongho comments, grabbing his chin. "The witch could be tricking us."

I nod, agreeing with both of them. It's definitely not a coincidence. The sea witch must be the culprit who sent this woman to us. But for what reason?

"She kinda looks familiar though." The first mate chimes in. He steps toward the corpse and stands next to San.

I stare intently at the beautiful dead lady. She is indeed oddly familiar, but I can't pinpoint who. Both Mingi and Jongho also nod their heads in agreement.

Suddenly, Yeosang gasps and turns around with shaky widened eyes.

"She's still alive."

His announcement struck fear in everyone's consciousness. We scoot backward in unison. The crew aim their weapons at her. Wooyoung quickly gets behind San who still remains unbothered. Seonghwa signals Yeosang to back away and turns to his captain for an order.

Hongjoong stays at the same spot. He fearlessly crouches down next to the woman and observes her face. His eyebrows tightly knit.

"Holy shit!!" Wooyoung swears out of the blue, startling everyone. His mouth wide open as he stutters on his words, "S-she looks like Aurora!"

---

"Mother!" Aurora cries while hugging her mother's body on the bed. It turns out the random body is Aurora's mother. That's why she looks familiar to us.

Once Wooyoung pointed out the familiarity, Hongjoong ordered a crew to escort Aurora to the main deck. As soon as she saw the lady, she broke down and didn't stop crying until now. We moved Aurora's mother's body to a room next to sickbay since the room was full of the patients from the previous sea witch attack.