A Merman's Vow(Sequel to A Mermaid's Cry)

Chapter 17-Rumor Mill

Zola

I am slowly going mad with no sight nor sign of land after six days of sailing with our newly acquired company of pirates. However, they have thrown many a good party on our slow going journey. Just this morning I woke up hanging upside down by my leg stinking of rum from the Leviathan's main mast, although what amusement I had at the situation, and the dozen or so snoring mix of humans and Mer,  blew away the moment I laid eyes on Ares and Octavia glaring up at me with twin looks that would have killed a lesser Mer. I have been put on lookout ever since. Forced to watch Octavia bask in the warm breeze from above. Her chin length hair fluttering around her like a cloud of pure snow.

Bracing myself on our crows nest's slim rail, I currently have a view of her examining the mysterious sword and spear with Adila and Arcus. Side by side, the sail blocking the Leviathan's crew the sight of the strange weapons upon one of our larger crates, they look from the jewel embossed scroll gifted by my aunt to the gleaming objects laid next to it. If Octavia, the conniving creature that she is, had not threatened to deprive me of her company tonight if I so much as stepped off from my post, then I would be down there next to her. Watching her eyes narrow with concentration, her plump bottom lip being bitten by her pearly teeth as her mind forgets the world around her. All so she may uncover the secrets of that very scroll, scimitar, and javelin. Of which she has yet to figure out beyond her theory that another such weapon may appear to another amongst us.

It is a puzzle for all of us. Forcing ourselves to focus upon other tasks rather than this mystery that will haunt us till the secrets of the scroll are uncovered and Curse Breaker found. Ares has been quiet these many days, my friend I've consistently found staring off out to sea. My younger cousins and Iris have been hard at work. Teaching the younger female all manner of ways to defend and escape from the toughest of grapples and holds. Lucas has been ever watchful, even when charged with a chore or helping Adila with those deadly devices of Morzan's. Arcus has spent more time in the water lately, even more than when I, the Dred brothers, and Dora take to hunt for eel, sea snake, reef shark, and sturgeon.

It is a sight that has not gone unnoticed by our new human and Mer acquaintances. Including that of their charismatic, and to my observation, gaudy Captain Romulus. How Arcus managed to get himself finagled with a human, I will never know. But it sure does give me much to laugh at. Though I would never dare tease him or Adila. I get enough whacks to my head from Octavia that I do not need to be the target of more derisive glares and threats than I already receive each day.

"Please let there be something to end this torture," I mutter, eyes slowly closing only to spring open at the sound of what normally would have me plugging my ears full of wax. "Tavi! Tavi! Look! Look!"

Octavia whips her head up, annoyance blossoming anew at me waving and pointing towards the bow. But she relents, following my pointing finger towards a single gray gull perched at the very edge of the ship's rail. The wind buffeting its feathers before it takes off, heading in the direction we have been sailing for so long. Towards a long thin stretch of darkness on the horizon. Octavia grins, a sight I have not seen since last night's boisterous revelry when she, Adila, and the other girls, along with Lucas, joined me in the dancing and drinking with the Leviathan crew.

"Land ho!" Adila shouts, elbowing Octavia with mischievous glee, jumping over Calder and Clive sunbathing shirtless on the deck. Aiming for the rope ladder, climbing hand over hand while spreading the great news. A cry that quickly kicks up to the other ship, spreading like wildfire as everyone below me and on the Leviathan celebrates the glorious sight of land. I only hope that soon all will be as it should be. Corintha safe amongst those who love and care for her. And for those who have attacked and burdened us with such pain and sleepless nights, will pay for all they have done.