A Pirate in Time (Completed)

32

I came above deck to see everyone preparing for a fight. Some were sharpening swords while others were carrying cannon balls across the deck.

"What do you see?" I heard my uncle ask a man with a spyglass.

"It's Phineas Grayne, Sir."

"Are you sure?"

"Aye," the man said. "The ship reads Bone Crusher and flies the Jolly Roger. I'm sure. 'Sides, I can see the blighter smirking at me from 'cross the water."

I squinted out at the ship. It was getting closer, but without that spyglass, I couldn't make out individual faces. But what were the chances that the Phineas on that ship was the same I'd met at that ball? He had said he was a captain.

"Full sails," Uncle Paul shouted before he made his way up to the helm. People automatically started moving.

I took the opportunity to walk up to the man with the spyglass.

"May I take a look?"

He looked startled, but handed over the instrument regardless. I thanked him and held it up to my eye. It took a moment to line it up with the ship, but once I did, Captain Phineas Grayne wasn't hard to spot.

"Bloody Hell," I mumbled when I saw him. It was Finn. There was no mistaking it. As if sensing my eyes on him, he turned around and looked directly at me.

I frowned, handed the spyglass back to the man, and ran my fingers through my hair. When I turned around, I caught sight of Jay by the stairwell. I jogged over him as he was putting his sword back in his belt.

"Jay," I said as I stopped in front of him.

His eyes swept over me quickly before he asked, "Do you have a weapon?"

"What? No."

"Here," he pushed a knife into my hands. I took it without argument, but wasn't finished with the conversation. I caught his arm so he would look at me.

"Jay, I know the captain."

He raised an eyebrow at me, "You know Phineas Grayne?"

"Yeah," I shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

"Holy Hell, woman. How many pirate captains do you know?"

"This should be it."

"Cap'n! She's hailing us!" Someone shouted from the crow's nest. Everyone turned their gazes towards the ship to see she was, in fact, sporting a new flag.

Uncle Paul squinted out at the ship. "Bring her about, but stay sharp. I don't trust these men."

"Aye Cap'n."

I felt the ship shift below me, and it wasn't long before we were pulling up beside the Bone Crusher.

Finn and I locked gazes from across the water. He tipped his hat to me before turning to his crew to give orders.

Soon there was a gangway plank stretched between the ships, and Captain Phineas was making his way across it with a handful of his men.

"Captain Phineas," my uncle said, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I was just passing through and thought I'd pay a visit to some old friends," he grinned with his hands clasped behind his back. "And some new ones as well."

I saw him wink after that statement, but tried not to think too much on it.

I felt Jay step a little closer to me, but I tried not to think too much on that, either.

"What is your current destination, Captain?" Finn asked Uncle Paul.

"Europe, I suppose."

"What a coincidence. We were just heading that way ourselves."

"Because Europe is definitely to the west," Jay muttered under his breath.

I smirked a bit, unsure if I was meant to hear that or not.

"Here's an idea," Finn clapped his hands together, "Let's both sail northeast while we do some catching up."

"Um, I guess?" Uncle Paul said uncertainly.

"Excellent! Mr. Stanley, please return to the ship and keep her close to the Black Ness."

"Yes Cap'n," the man nodded before walking back across the gangway.

Jay raised an eyebrow, "You trust your men to sail without you?"

Finn looked directly at him, "Not all crews are mutinous, Mr. Jackson. Besides, they could never outrun me."

His eyes swiveled to me during the last sentence, and I understood. He was a merman. He could probably swim just as fast as a ship could sail.

"How does everyone know about that?" Jay muttered from beside me.

"Oceans talk Jeremiah, I'm sure you've realized that by now."

"I suggest you shut your mouth before I send you to sleep with the fishes," Jay threatened with a hand on the hilt of his sword. It was then that I remembered something Neptune had said to me.

Poor boy thinks he's going crazy. He searches for an artifact he thinks can heal him. Something to stop the voices in his head.

"I do that quite a lot actually. It's not as horrible as one would think."

I rolled my eyes at that, but Jay simply left. I watched him go below deck before Uncle Paul seemed to regain his voice.

"Alright, everyone back to work."

That sent the crew scattering. I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I turned to follow Jay below deck. Finn's voice stopped me though.

"Elizabeth," I stopped walking before I'd even started and turned my head as Phineas stepped up beside me. "How are you?"

"Uh, I've had a pretty interesting couple of weeks. How are you?"

"Better now," he smirked. I couldn't help the slight blush that tinted my cheeks. He certainly was confident, "I must say, I was not expecting to find you here. What brings you aboard the Black Ness?"

"It's a long story," I shrugged, "But to make it short, Paulie Proctor is my uncle."

"Really? Is that why you love sailing so much?"

"In part. My dad used to sail as well."

"That's so great. I'm actually the first in my family to sail. Everyone else prefers to stay beneath the surface."

"I can understand that," I shrugged as I leaned against the railing of the ship and peered down at the water, "I've spent most of my life above it. I'm just now starting to catch up on everything I missed."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think Cecelia called me a Shift or something."

"That's incredible. It must be nice not to have a limit on your time out of the water."

"Yeah. How often do you have to go back under?"

"Usually once every couple of days. It helps that I'm constantly on the ocean. If I was on land, it would probably be closer to every day."

"Sounds exhausting."

"It's not too bad."

We fell into silence then and settled on listening to the soft swells of the ocean breaking against the ship. He looked like he wanted to say something. After a few minutes of silence, he seemed to find the right words.

"Elizabeth? How much do you know about Merfolk?"

"Not much," I shrugged as I stared out at the waves. He was about to say something else when a crashing sound from below decks interrupted him. I felt an overwhelming urge to investigate it, so I said, "Actually, could you hold that thought?"

I didn't give him a chance to answer before I was heading towards where the sound had come from.