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 FIFTY-THREE: MISERABLE LOT
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"You're awake!! Thank the heavens you're alive! Mizu!"
When she came to, it was nighttime.
Her cheek pressed against the floor as she lay sprawled on her stomach. She was cold, everywhere. Her eyes could not adjust to the darkness, and the freezing brick floor of the dungeon burned her skin. A liquid was all over her chest. It wasn't sweat that had chilled to the freezing temperatures, but the blood of another tortured man pooled to the center.
She pushed herself off the floor, pushing with her palms, and immediately her right arm felt like it was going to snap in half. The bruises of Van Ruyven twisting it were prominent, but thank the gods it wasn't broken. She was already so injured... if her dominant hand was done for, then she'd truly be useless...
She toppled back with her shoulders pressed against the walls, holding her right arm. It felt like it was on fire, even the oxygen coursing through that limb was painful. The memories came back to her—Van Ruyven broke her dominant arm—the memories came back to her. She was taken from the ship. Fowler escaped and roamed free, kissing her revenge goodbye.
Sogo was dead.
She screamed. The agony came from deep into her heart. It was carved out from the bottom and spilled like bloody guts out her mouth. She cried like she never had before, with all the pain she experienced in her mere twenty years of life. The hot tears ran down her face in masses and glistened her face. With every inhale, every deep, shaky, high-pitched intake of air, her lungs released another shrill cry from the bottom of her chest. Ichiro watched her with wide, fearful eyes. This pain was triggered by no physical wound. He could see, her heart was bleeding out.
"G...Get ahold of yourself!" He reached over, trying to console her. The chain on his ankle clanged with his steps. It was so heavy, his ankle was blue and bruised like the rest of his body. He wore only his tattered pants, and his massive back tattoo of the sea god Ryujin was hardly legible with all his burns and scars.
Mizu was brought forward by Ichiro's hold on her collar. She shook her head, crying out.
"She bled to death... She miscarried. I told her... I'd protect her."
His eyes went wide at those words. His grip on Mizu's collar loosened a bit, bringing her head down. He couldn't believe it, that possibility was incredulous. After all that Sogo survived, thrown into the water alive with her legs bound, this would be how it happened?
"Did you see her die with your own eyes?" Ichiro asked. Mizu said nothing and turned her head away, Ichiro took the answer, and he assured her, "Then there's a chance she's alive!"
