Your Sweet Siren Song

Chapter 18: Ophie

I opened my eyes to blood. Blood was all over me. I tasted blood in my mouth. I noticed that Kai was nearby. When had Kai gotten there?

I saw Kai kneeling next to Vaxray, who was passed out. I turned my head to see Dives shove Aria into the ocean. Aria was here?

I looked over to see my sword. Dives had kept it on deck. I grabbed it and attempted to stand up. It was hard, but I managed to do it. I heard Aria start to sing, which cleared my vision. She sang such a strange song.

I shook my head and found Dives. I slowly hobbled over to him. He wasn't paying any attention to me. He was yelling down at Aria. It was hard to focus on his words, but I got the gist of it. He was threatening Aria. He was going to kill her.

With what strength I had, I stabbed him right through the gut. I leaned into his ear. "This is for Captain Temperantia, you vile fuck."

He choked out a scream, then fell into the ocean. I collapsed against the railing. I did what I could to level my breathing, clutching my gut. I did it. The horror was over. I closed my eyes. For the first time in years, I felt at peace. I silently prayed to my old captain. I opened my eyes to see Aria jump onto the deck.

"Ophie!" they yelled. They rushed towards me. "I am so sorry about everything that happened. I promise I did not want to hurt you, I was just trying to protect my clan, I-" I grabbed her face and pulled her into a kiss. Her lips were wet and stung from the salty ocean. Despite that, her lips were still soft.

"I forgive you," I breathed out. She looked deep into my eyes and smiled. She helped me stand up and I leaned against her as I made my way back over to Kai with a now conscious Vaxray. The two were holding hands.

"Let's go back to the ship," I said. We headed back, trying to carry all we could. Despite the efforts of my crew, we still lost some good people. Moa, Mary, and Arty hadn't made it. Aria tried to give them some of her blood, but they were too far gone.

Anne hadn't taken it well. If I was in her place, I wouldn't have either. Arty was her twin brother. The two had never been apart. Despite how different they were, they never fought. I made sure to tell her she wasn't alone and that she still had a family. She didn't say much, but I think she appreciated it.

Olive was probably doing the best out of everyone. He had only suffered a couple of bumps and bruises. He was the newest out of the crew, so he wasn't close with anyone. Still, he properly mourned each of their deaths.

Cerasus now had a new scar under their right eye. They seemed to be doing alright for the most part, only a little shaken up.

Josie had just barely survived, since I could never get rid of him. However, I noticed all of the alcohol on the ship disappeared. I was worried about him. Him and Moa were close. I knew they were secretly together, despite neither of them telling me. Josie had lost both of his partners in the last few years. He had always been an alcoholic but it was getting worse. Despite all of our bickering, I cared about Josie a lot. I couldn't have him dying in me.

When everyone managed to calm down and heal a bit from the previous day's horrors, we prepared a small funeral. We sent all of the bodies off to float in the ocean in three separate boats. Josie was a lot quieter than usual.

Afterwards, I went to sit on the bowsprit and watch the moon. I needed to hear the calm waves of the ocean. As I sat there, I heard footsteps behind me.

"Hey, Kai," I said. He sat down next to me and smiled. "I missed you, Ophie," he said, resting his head on my shoulder. I put my arm around him.

"I missed you too."

We sat there in silence for a few months, before he sat back up. "I've been thinking," he started, and I knew exactly what he was going to say.

"You can go," I said. He gave me a puzzled look. "I didn't even finish what I was going to say."

"No, but I know you. You want to settle down somewhere with Vaxray."

He looked into my eyes, then looked away. Tears started streaming down his face. "I've wanted to for so long but I never thought that you would actually be ok with it," he whispered.

I took his hands into mine. "I didn't either, but this life was never for you. I see that now. I was blinded by my fear of losing you. You were all I had for so long and I couldn't risk you leaving, but now I'm not alone. I haven't been alone for a while. Neither are you." I looked down and knit my hands together.

"I'm sorry for keeping you from chasing your own life, Kai. I should have known you're old enough to make your own choices. I trust you."

Tears were streaming down my face now. Kai wrapped his arms around me and I held him tight. "You promise to come visit?" he asked. I wiped the tears from his eyes. "I am going to visit unannounced twice a month to check in on you. You know I will."

We stayed like that for a while until I heard something crash below deck. I told Kai to head to his quarters. I headed below to find Josie smashing his empty beer bottles in the ground.

"What in the hell are you doing?" I yelled. Josie ignored me, going to smash another. I marched over and wrestled it out of his hands.

"Josie, look at me. What are you doing?" I asked again. He slowly looked into my eyes. His eyes were bloodshot, with dark purple bags blooming underneath.

"I..." his voice trailed off. He collapsed on the ground. I sat down next to him and wrapped my arms around him. He sobbed into my arms. "Everythin' I love breaks. I can't do this anymore Ophie, I can't," his voice cracked. I squeezed him tighter.

"Josie, what happened to Captain Temperantia wasn't your fault. Neither was what happened to Moa. If either of them found out that you blame yourself, they would beat your ass. You can't control their fate," I said, then I let go of him. I looked into his eyes.

"However, you can control yours. They wouldn't want you to keep self-destructing like this. Hell, I don't want you to."

Josie stared at the shards of glass that splintered the floor. After being silent for what felt like forever, he finally spoke. "I'll quit drinkin'."

I gave him a soft smile. "Good. Now, let's go find Aria and see if she can help you with those cuts."

After I knew Josie was safe, I headed off into my captain's quarters alone. I sat at my desk and unlocked a small hidden drawer. I pulled out a small painting I had of Captain Temperantia. I reminisced about his long strawberry blonde hair and deep brown eyes.

"Hi, Captain. I did it. I finally killed Dives." I could feel my voice crack. I wiped a tear from my eye. "I know you don't believe in revenge. I didn't want to have to face him. I wasn't going to kill him in spite, but I had no other choice. It felt like you were there with me, in some way. I hope I've made you proud."

A tear fell onto the painting. In some strange way, It felt like I did make him proud. I could almost feel him resting his hand on my back. I smiled and put the painting away. I left my quarters feeling like Temperantia was right there with me.