Will is and always has been extremely curious about mermaids, no matter how many times the adults in his life tell him that they are dangerous. he loves going to different parts of the world to see if he can catch a glimpse of one.
Mike is the same...
Mike's eyes were half closed, in the void of in between sleep and awake.
There were dozens of burn marks all over his body, arms, and a few on his face. Multiple of his scales were melted or charred, and he was bleeding as well.
His tail was almost completely dried out, no longer shining as it usually does.
Suddenly, the fire whip lashed through the top of the net, dropping Mike to the ground as the net began to unravel. Mike shifted his head to look up, his eyes tired and blank. They've lost their light.
"Oh, giving up already?" The captain asks.
The captain crouches next to Mike, holding the fire whip away as to not harm either of them.
"I have a few enemies around the sea," the captain says. "And they're not smart enough to wear wax plugs in mermaid invested waters. And I thought, now they we have our own mermaid, we can get rid of any pirate ship we want."
Mike blinks, looking away. The captain harshly grabs Mike's jaw, pulling him up to stare at him.
"Do. You. Understand?" The captain seethes.
The ravenette nods softly, his eyes wide as he stares at the fire whip in the captains hand.
"If you don't do as I say, I'll give you another lesson with my whip here," the captain threatens. Mike nods again, squeezing his eyes shut as tears well up. "That's better. I have a feeling we'll be good friends."
The captain drops Mike's jaw, and Mike gently backs away a few inches.
"You'll be fed soon," The captain says. "Don't complain."
With that, the captain leaves the room, hanging the fire whip on its stand as he goes through the door.
Mike's eyes fill with tears that immediately spill, dripping onto the ground. He gasps softly in surprise as he feels the drops slip down his cheeks. He gently touches the tears with his trembling fingers, staring at the wetness before bursting into more tears.
He cries for a few minutes before he faints from exhaustion and dehydration.
A few hours later, the door opens and in enters a younger girl, around the same age as Mike. She was holding a tray of seafood, taking a few steps toward the sleeping boy and set the tray on the ground.
Mike's eyes opened and glanced at the food. Sure, it was seafood, but it was all old and bad, with flies attached to it all already.
"Don't worry," the girl whispers. "I had to trick them somehow."
She pushed the bad food away, and pulled off a cloth. Underneath, a bunch of seaweed and crab legs were delicately placed to not show the fact they were still good.
"You can eat these, right?" The girl whispers. "I'm sorry I couldn't smuggle in more."
Mike glanced up at her face. She was younger then him, that was obvious, maybe 13 or 14, with darker skin and short curly brown hair. He gently took one of the crab legs from the place, expertly cracking open them and eating the flesh inside.
"Thank you." Mike whispers.
The girl beamed. "You're welcome," she says. "Captain also told me to clean your burns as well."
She pulls out some bandages and a container of some clear green-ish goo.
"This is just some burn cream," the girl says, twisting the top off. "It'll soothe them before bandaging." She gently scooped a glob of it and held it out to Mike. "Don't worry, it won't hurt." She takes Mike's arm and rubs the cream over one of the burns.
It almost instantly soothes the pain, and Mike's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Thank you," Mike says again.
The girl shakes her head. "Don't thank me," she says. She looks up at makes eye contact. My name's Zia.
...
"This is a good boat," Lucas says.
The group was sitting in a boat at a dock, far away from the palace but still in the bay.
"Hold this," Max says, handing Jane the green bottle. "Do not drop it." The princess nods, holding the bottle tightly.
Max and Lucas tied two ropes to the front of the boat, before tying the other end to their waists.
"If we need to switch directions, pull on the rope." Lucas explains to the humans as they grabbed onto the sides on the boat. "It'll be pretty fast, so make sure to hold on tight."
The two jumped into the water, transforming into mermaids. They glanced at the humans on the boat.
"Ready?" Max asks.
Will and Jane nod as Dustin gives a thumbs up.
Max and Lucas sink underwater, before the boat abruptly darts forward, cutting through the water quickly. The humans yelp and grasp onto the side of the boat even tighter as the wind goes past they're faces.
"Wow.." Jane whispers, looking around at the water in awe. "It's beautiful."
The sunset was setting and the yellows and pinks were reflecting on the water, so if you looked out, it was hard to see where the water ends and horizon starts.
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(Not my art, found it on Pinterest)
Will smiled as they continued gliding across the water.
His sister glanced at him, a grin of exhilaration on her face. He realizes she's never been outside the palaces outer walls before, except for the cruises his family takes. But this was far different from a cruise.
"How long do you think we're going?" Dustin questions.
Will shrugs. "Hopefully we get there fast," he says, his smile from just moments ago forgotten. "I don't want to think about what those pirates will do to Mike." He frowns in concern.
Dustin splashed water onto Will's face. "Calm down, we'll get there in time to save him," he says.
Will gives him an unimpressed look as he wipes the water off his face. "Really? Water?" He complains. "There could be bacteria or bugs in it."
"Oh I'm so sorry, you're majesty," Dustin teases. "Would you like me to throw a lily pad on your face?"
Jane giggles as Will sighs.
<^> To Be Continued
(1k words)
Some angst, hope, and comedy in one chapter. A treat for you folks.
Oh, who's that girl? 🤔 she seems a bit familiar to all my dear readers who read my latest book 🤗
