Anchors Away

꧁14:Suspicion (He knows)꧂

Dusk had fallen, and now Aqua sat on a barrel at the corner of the deck like she always did, a few feet away from the trio gathered around the middle talking about the incident just a few hours ago.

The siren's back was slouched and her face was hidden in her hands as she kneaded her brows with her fingerpads and mumbled continuously, "It's that stupid pirate song. It's definitely the song, cause then why didn't it work?"

"Marina, you okay?" she lifted her head and looked towards Oliver- the one asking the question."I- yeah, I'm- I'm fine..." She stuttered and claimed it was just seasickness before lowering her head again.

Oliver, leaning at the mainmast stood straight and followed Emily as she walked over to the distressed siren, "rest all you want, we'll be in the hold if you need us, okay?" Aqua nodded; feeling Emily's hand lightly patting her head before running her fingers down the siren's midnight-colored locks.

A light knocking sound can be heard on the main deck's floor, an indication of the Therondia siblings walking away from the siren, and into the hatch leading to the lower deck.

Oliver glanced at Aqua before disappearing with his sister and cousin in the hold.

His suspicion toward her died down a bit but still remained, something about her was off and he wasn't the only one to think so, he noticed how his father would eye the girl as if he was peering at an enemy from a distance, waiting for them to do something horrid.

Emily asked him to light a lamp as the suns were setting, and he followed suit. During this time, Aqua dove deep into the dark; freezing abyss, swimming past a variety of fish, plants, and other things living within the waters of Pacifica.

She sprinted her way to the throne room calling out for her cousin, once she had found the merfolk she seeks, she did not hesitate to swim to her and ask, "Why did you stop the song?!" Before Ocean could respond, Aqua grabbed her by the shoulders, "I did not give the signal to stop yet! We were so close to- to flipping over the ship- I- Ocean why?!"

She was genuinely conflicted, resulting in the girl stumbling over her words as she motions to her cousin whom she left in charge.

Ocean could only look at Aqua and watch as she dropped to her knees, her palms found their way to her face. 'She's really stressing out about this,' Ocean thought.

"I'm sorry, I know you have no intention of stopping the enchantment just yet, but that's part of the reason why I ended it," Ocean claimed, and got down to her level, all the while stroking Aqua's hair, who slightly lowered her hand and looked at Sean in confusion.

"Trust me, Renee," Ocean cupped her cheeks, "It's for your own good."

~*~*~

Oliver was starting to get bored of listening to his sister and cousin converse with each other, these are one of those times where they actually get along so he couldn't do anything.

His thoughts started to wander off to Aqua, he felt that he needed to check on her while he had nothing to do, so that is what he did.

He got up from his seat and made his way back on deck; the two girls didn't even realize that he left, they merely continued on with their conversation.

Exiting the hold, he peeked his head from the hatch looking over to Aqua who was now curled up in her usual spot; staring into the ocean and humming to herself as the waves calmly carried the ship to Anecahaore's border.

Oliver walked over to her, hearing her voice gradually getting louder the more he takes a step closer to her area, her voice that strangely comforted him and reminded him of home, her voice that sounded a little too familiar.

It wasn't until he reached her that he noticed a comb placed behind the girl's head to hold back strands of her hair to keep them away from her face, a comb that again was a little too recognizable for him.

It was a comb adorned in shells, pearls, and rare crystals that are only to be found within the Empire of Pacifica. How did he know that? Why his siren friend told him. Now he was even more suspicious of her than he ever was before.

"Do you need something?" He heard her ask in a quiet voice.

"No, I don't, I just wanted to check on you," claimed Oliver, "how are you doing Marina?.. Are you feeling better?"

He watched as Aqua hummed at him before resting her right cheek on her knee, her eyes stuck staring at the view of the vast ocean, --the scenery they have been looking at since yesterday.--

"A lot better compared to earlier." She plainly said; their conversation stopped just like that, resulting in awkward silence, Oliver sat beside Aqua and brought up the comb just so they could have something to talk about; also to attempt to lighten up the atmosphere.

"About the comb, you're wearing, It's beautiful, and very unique too, I've never seen anything like it." What a liar.

"You think so?" She looked at him and he nodded, "Thank you," she smiled, "I made it myself."

"Did you now?" He said and turned his body to face the girl nodding at him. "It's the first one I created, although I did get a little help from my cousin back then, she was the one who taught me how to make these." She explained and took the comb off to let him have a closer look.

'I feel like time just rewound itself, she told me the same thing back then,' he thought, at this moment he was sure it was her, everything was falling into place now, there are too many hints indicating that she was the girl he was searching for, the girl he longed to see again. All of this can't just be a mere coincidence. Right?

But some things didn't sit right with him. Sirens had just attacked them, and if she was one of them, does that mean she had planned this since the beginning? If so, why? Does she want to get rid of them that badly? If the sirens failed to sink their ship, could that possibly be why she was so out of it earlier? If she was planning on getting rid of them, is she really leading them to the meteor?" He just has to prepare for whatever was going to happen.

Oliver shook off those thoughts and just focused on what was happening now.

Once he had returned to the cabin, an image of the girl appeared in his mind, making him smile, he was glad that he managed to cheer her up, hopefully, they're on her good side now.

He laid on the berth with a smile plastered on his face, if his sister saw him now, she'd surely make fun of him for smiling like an idiot, but that aside he was glad.

Glad that he had found his Aqua again.