Amphitrite - Wilbur Soot

~twenty~

this chapter contains a very bloody and violent scene. if that bothers you, i'd suggest skipping this one and waiting until the next chapter comes out. stay safe <3

~~~~~~~~~

I couldn't find Daphne. No matter where I looked I couldn't find her. She wasn't on the shore, she wasn't by the rocks, she wasn't on the pier; I couldn't find her and it scared me. With shaking hands and rattling breath I frantically searched and searched and searched... but to no avail. I had no way of knowing how long I had been gone, but I guessed it had to be a concerning amount of time. Eventually, I dove into the surf and checked all of her spots. My cove. Thetis' cove. The reef. The kelp forest. She was nowhere to be seen. I clambered back onto the shore. My ears picked up the sound of faint shouting coming from the village. My curiosity led me towards the noise, finding a distraught and anxious Wilbur talking loudly to the townspeople. His eyes latched onto my wet and cold form hobbling towards him. Immediately he ran to me, wrapping my frail body in his arms. Barely I processed that it was nighttime now.

He said something, but I didn't hear him.

All I could hear was the beat of my heart.

Panic set in.

Something was wrong.

Somehow I knew exactly where I needed to go. So without wasting another second I sprinted towards the other shore; the one opposite the castle. Helia's castle town sat on a peninsula, surrounded by water on all but one side. There was a side I hadn't seen in nearly twenty years. And yet, there I was, in a full sprint towards the scene of the crime.

I faintly remember hearing Wilbur run behind me, yelling my name. But he didn't know that I had seen a hauntingly familiar ship sail past the main dock. He didn't know the crimes that ship was capable of committing. He didn't know the extent of the torment that the crew had caused. He didn't know and I didn't expect him to. I didn't expect anyone else ever to understand the hell those monsters had created. Not only for me but for every woman they set their greedy eyes on. Just remembering that night sent a wave of nausea through me that knocked me to the ground.

"Lorelai! What the hell is wrong?" Wilbur shouted, falling to his knees next to me. Tears were streaming down my face and my breath came in short and ragged gasps. Nothing I did kept my hands from shaking.

"Daphne- I can't-" I stammered between breathy sobs. My eyes didn't leave the ground in front of me once. "I have- have to find her."

"Daphne. Your sister. You can't find her?" He asked, calming down slightly, but I could see the same panic that overflowed in me begin to bubble in his chocolate eyes.

"No."

I got up and ran again, this time with Wilbur in step. Together we crashed through the branches and briars in pursuit of the hope that I would find her alive. If those men could do that to me, who knows what they'd want to do to a nymph? I didn't want to think about it.

Step after step after step after step. Never quite going fast enough.

After what felt like eons of running on uneven ground, we broke through the trees to find that cursed ship and captain, his crew crowding around something on the dilapidated dock. At the raucous sound of Wilbur and I bursting through the woods they all turned around with their saltwater-wisened leathery faces and missing teeth and squinting eyes and torn clothes and rusty blades at their hips.

I looked to my right and saw a singular swan, just watching.

Could that be-

"Tie them up!" The captain screamed in his rocks-on-rocks voice that shook me to my very core. "Oh, the pay we'll get for Prince Wilbur's head and a nymph's blood!" He laughed, but it sounded more like nails on a chalkboard. Just coming face to face with my main aggressor sent me into a spiral, one that Wilbur must've sensed because he quickly grabbed my hand and held it tightly. But I could feel the fear emanating from him.