mizuxfem!oc
The Ningyo (人魚, "human fish") is a creature with both human and fish-like features.
Many fishermen who find these creatures caught in their nets throw them back into the ocean.
For if a ningyo is caught, she will bring misfortune and cal...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: HUMANITY'S CRUEL SLAUGHTER
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It was when Mizu and Sogo were on the ship, ready to leave for their trip of paradise, when the first of the killings happened.
Masses of distraught, screaming people followed the path led by the Dutch. Their golden hair glistened like fire under the hot sun, and the Formosans's raven hair looked like a sleight of night running behind their horses. There were five officials, and they dragged three men and one woman by ropes securing their wrists to the horses. The binding was so strong, that their blood seeped into the rope. They could barely keep up with the steeds and were dragged, their knees scraping along the hot, burning sand.
"What's happening?!" Sogo asked, wide-eyed from the boat.
Mizu knew. "Avert your gaze."
"Why?"
She came closer to the edge of the ship, her fingers gripping the wooden brim as she leaned over. Her eyes widened as they instantly recognized—
"Ayi!"
It was the old woman, the owner of the Lotus, the widow Sogo called Auntie. The opium dealer with many, many illicit connections that Mizu learned about only a few hours ago. The woman who said Mizu reminded her of her late husband, Maru.
She was an anarchist. A pillar in the rebellion. The mother of the cause herself. A passionate, disruptive component organizing the Island's freedom. With all her connections, she organized raids of precious trade ships holding European cargo without so much as leaving her bedroom. Hundreds of guns were lost throughout the years under mysterious circumstances.
They finally found out how. She became sloppy with age, leaving a trail.
No, not sloppy. Mizu corrected, seeing herself in the prideful old woman. Arrogant. Blinded enough by her hunger for revenge she cut corners.
They were submerged in the water. Three of the men to be publically executed worked closely under her, calling her grandmother. They were young, around Mizu's age. Their fathers had died in the first rebellion.
How the snake continues to eat itself.
The couples who were once swimming leisurely swam away in a panic, reaching the shore and running away.
Ayi could barely reach her small head out of the water, but she kept her chin high and proud. She gave each of her executioners the evil eye, cursing them into this life and the next. As she fixed her tongue to proclaim her thoughts, she was smacked by one of the men's heavy whip, drawing blood.
Sogo and Mizu instantly flinched, as if they could feel it themselves. Rage filled Mizu's eyes and she instinctively reached for her blade.
