Prizes, Plunder, and Adventure

Chapter Twenty-One: Lamentation

When the Diligente arrived at the Triumph's side and her officers boarded the Scalan ship, it was to find Benny sitting at the siren's side, carefully petting their hair and singing softly in a language none of them were really familiar with, but it seemed to be keeping the Callaghans calm. "Oh," May gasped upon seeing the state of their wings.

"Your crew's here," the merman murmured. "Think you're ready to move yet?" Cary nodded once, stiffly, and shifted to get his feet back under himself, panting harshly against the fresh agony the movement caused. "Easy," Benny soothed, helping to steady him. Mayhem moved to his other side to help support him. They carefully made their way back onto the Diligente and into the captain's cabin, the crew unable to help but stare as their captains passed. It took the help of Rex and Francis as well to stretch them out on the mattress, after which the two of them left- Francis to get the crew back to work, and Rex because he knew his company wouldn't be wanted.

"Medical supplies should be in that cabinet there," Mayhem said as she gestured toward it. Benny scrambled over and yanked the door open, grabbing the box and hurrying back. May tilted her head at him, noting his heavy breathing. "Are you okay...?"

He took a moment to wipe his eyes, letting himself have his own breakdown now that they were safe and getting help. "That bastard... If he hadn't stolen their voice, they would have been able to warn me, and this wouldn't have happened... They're never going to fly again, are they?"

"There's a chance that they will. It's a slim one, but it's still a chance. Stay with them for a moment, would you? I need to go get some sea water." Benny nodded and watched her go, then sat on the edge of the bed to keep watch. Cary had slipped into unconsciousness at some point- a mercy, really. Benny could only imagine the pain they were in. He chanced a peek at the damage once more; there really wasn't much left of their once beautiful wings.

And now I'll really never be able to see him spread them for me again...

"I can't even begin to imagine how you're going to handle this once it really sinks in," he spoke softly. "I'd go insane if I could never swim again..." He glanced toward the doors at a bout of unexpected cheering, and wondered what was going on out there. Had Emmet returned? He hoped someone could catch the prince and explain the situation to him before he came barging in.

The noise caused the captains to stir again, and he carefully pressed a hand between their shoulder blades to calm them. Shortly after, Mayhem returned. "Emmet's back?" he asked.

"Emmet's back, yes. Rex managed to catch him in time." She came back over to the bedside, cutting off a piece of gauze and dropping it in her bucket. Benny watched as she ever so gently pressed the soaked gauze to the ragged edges of their wings, cleaning away the blood.

"So what makes you so sure they do have a chance of recovering?"

Mayhem smirked a bit. "Pa stole their flock's medical texts when he and Ma fled the islands. Between that, having a doctor that has experience in treating their family, and my own heritage, we should be able to help them regrow the parts that got blown off. There will likely be some scarring, but they should regain full use of their wings again."

Benny stared. "You can do that?"

Mayhem chewed her lip. "Not quickly, but... yes. If you plan on sticking around, I just hope you'll be prepared to deal with some very crabby sirens, because this is going to take months. Possibly even years."

"We're just grateful that it can even be done at all." They glanced down at Cary's grumbling. "We'll deal."

"What are you doing awake?"

"Hurts."

"Oh goodness I'm so sorry, am I being too rough-"

"No. Don't stop, it's helping..."

The seawater, Benny realized. They might be avian instead of piscine, but they're still creatures of the sea. He reached to get another piece of gauze to help, then stopped, looking back at them. "Can I...?" His gaze flicked to their wings, then back to their face. Cary gave a curt nod before closing his eyes again and clenching his jaw.

By the time the pair finished cleaning their wings and bound them against their back, they had passed out again. "I think they're properly asleep this time," May sighed with relief. "That's good. It'll help with the healing. I'm surprised they actually let you touch their wings."

Benny gave her a sheepish grin. "Uh. Honestly? This isn't the first time they've let me..." May gave him an intrigued look. "Cary displayed for me, too."

"Huh," May said. "That's... unexpected. If only because he's never shown interest in anyone else before." She gave Benny a considering look. "But somehow, I'm not surprised it's you."