Dangers of the Sea || Byler Story ||

24 - Bad Negotiations

Third Person POV:

Zia entered the captain's quarters with the usual tray of bad food.

The whole group was all in one huge cage across the room from the unconscious Mike, whose brow was furrowed in his sleep. His tail was curled around his body, twitching every now and then.

"You're going to feed him that?" Lucas questions, eyeing the disgusting food.

Zia gives him a glance before setting the tray on his ground, standing up again and grabbing the bandages and burn cream.

"Did he really kill a whole crew of pirates?" Will asks, staring at Zia as she sits down next to Mike.

"I'm not allowed to talk to you," She whispers. "Captain's order."

She gently shakes Mike's shoulder, making his eyes open. Hey, I have the burn cream for you. Zia says, causing the mermaids in the cage to raise their eyebrows in shock. Do you want to use it right now?

Mike grumbles something under his breath, shifting ever so slightly.

"You're a mermaid too?" Max questions, making Zia look up at her.

Mike tries to sit up, but inhales in a breath as he winces in pain. "Watch your side," Zia says, helping him fully sit up. "The prince is here."

That made Mike's eyes widen. "Shit, I wasn't dreaming," He mumbles, looking at his friends.

"Mike, I'm so glad you're alive," Will says, letting out a relieved sigh.

The ravenette smiled. "So am I," He says, before looking down at the tray of food. Lucas cringed in disgust when he reached for it, but when Mike pushed it away and revealed the real food, Lucas also let out a sigh of relief. "I think I'm good on the bandages," He says, turning to Zia as he cracks open a crab leg. "But I'll have some more of that burn cream."

Zia nods, unscrewing the top and begins applying it to Mike's burn on his shoulder.

"He'll be in here in a moment," Zia whispers, making Mike tense. Will tenses with him. "I don't know what he's going to do."

Zia continued applying the burn cream for a few minutes as Mike finished the food.

Then, the door slammed open, revealing the first mate. "Zia, are you almost done?" She asks. The young girl nods, making the first mate sigh. Then the first mate walked back out of the room, and the captain entered.

"Mermaid." He says, placing the fire whip on its stand. Mike almost immediately relaxed. "We'll be going on another voyage, I have a plan for some of the enemies you can dispose of."

Mike's face went pale in fear. He didn't want to kill more people.

The captain chuckled. He patted the top of Mike's head like a dog. "Don't worry, you won't remember anything," He says. Mike's face contorted in confusion as the captain stood up, walking to his desk and grabbing Max's bag. "You see, little witch, I know you have some spells able to be made. And there's a certain spell I want you to make for me."

"I'm not making you any spells," Max says angrily. "You can't force me."

The captain clicked his tongue. "Well, if you don't," He says. "Your friends here will face some consequences." He waves at the group. "I have some weapons that will hurt them in quite a unique way."

Will glared at him. "Do your worst, I don't care," He says.

"Yes," Lucas agrees. "We won't tell you anything."

Dustin and Jane nod. "If you leave marks on our skin our parents will murder you," Jane says, annoyed.

"You lot are very strange," The captain says. "Well, if you won't tell me anything.."

He walks back over to the fire whip standing, picking the weapon up and swishing it through the air. The moment he touched the handle, Mike's eyes latched onto the weapon, unmoving.

"Someone has to pay the price," He says. "Either you tell me or I burn the little mermaid friend here."

Will watched in concern as Mike didn't move. He didn't even look at anyone, just stared at the glow whip.

The captain whipped Mike's arm, burning his skin when no one responded.

"What spell do you want?" Max says almost immediately.

The captain grinned. "Now that's more like it," He says, continuing to swish the weapon around in the air. Mike went back to watching it with wide, terrified eyes. "It's called the Flask of Control."

Max's eyebrows furrow in deep thought. "Why would you want that?" She questions.

"No." Mike whispers, making the captain turn to him. "No, no, no."

The captain chuckles. "Using this is very useful and quite fun," He says, holding up the fire whip. "But it's still annoying to teach my tools their lessons. It would be much easier if I could just tell them what to do, don't you think?"

Will's eyes widened. "Absolutely not," He says. "No, you can't do that to Mike."

"Why not?" He questions with a smirk. "It's legal in human laws, and even if it weren't, I'm a pirate, I follow my own laws."

Max chewed on her lip, staring at the ground. "If I make it for you," She starts. "Will you let us go?"

The captain barks out a laugh, making both Mike and Zia flinch. "Of course not!" He says. "You lot are stuck with me until I find uses for you all."

"Then why would I make it for you?" Max questions.

The captain whips Mike's back again in response, causing the ravenette to cry out in pain.

Max chews her lip more. "Fine," She says. "I'll make it for you."

"Oh, you're not making it," The captain says, laughing like it was the most absurd thought in the world. "You're going to tell us the instructions and ingredients. You'll stay right in that cage."

There was another moment of silence, but then the captain held the fire whip above Mike's head.

"Yes, fine, I'll tell you how to do it," Max relents.

The captain grins. "Excellent." He says, walking back to the fire stand and placing it down. He turns and grabs the seat behind his desk, pulling it over to Mike. He sits down, before glancing at Zia. "Zia, go get what she tells you."

Max's eyes soften as the young girl walks over. "We'll need ocean water, lily pad pollen, ground smooth root powder, and bee wings." She says.

Zia nods, before running off.

<^> To Be Continued

(1k words)

yikes