Siren's Song (Completed)

Chapter 20

VICTOR

"Okay, one more time please." I rubbed my temples as we swam beneath the ships that made up Shipwreck Cove. Yakov was leading us to an area he was certain would gain us access to the inside.

Sighing in frustration Yakov grumbled before slowing to explain to me again what he meant when he had said that Captain JJ turned Minami into a siren.

"Captain JJ turned Minami into a siren when he captured his father to learn of our coven's whereabouts." Yakov began.
"Lilia, the goddess, she so generously bestowed upon me the "honor" of taking in new sirens she had created, or any that had been created. They would all sort of find their way to me or I to them through a connection."

"What kind of connection?" Yuri asked.

"It was an instinct almost, an uncontrollable pull that drew me to new sirens." Yakov scratched his chin trying to find the right words.

"Why you? Why did you have to find them?" I asked.

"Being the first siren created by the goddess, it was sort of my punishment. Within each siren born, I bore their their human memories. Their human lives played out before me right up until their very last breath. I was forced to watch humans lose their selves, and become blood lusting sea leeches." Yakov's brows furrowed.
"Back then, we were monsters. Horrible creatures of sailors nightmares. Our strength was her strength. The stronger we were, the stronger she became." Yakov scowled.

"What changed?" Yuri asked placing his hand on my shoulder, afraid to reach out to Yakov.

"There were two brothers. They were quite close growing up on their island home. Their bond was strong, unbreakable. Until a young woman came to the island to marry the eldest son, as was custom then.
The younger brother however fell for the woman, and she fell for him. The elder brother too loved her.
The triangle drew a wedge between the brothers causing the elder to hate and despise his younger brother.
To prove his love to the woman he sailed to find a treasure for her that was sure to win her heart, or so he thought.
When he returned she was with child and married to his brother." Yakov cleared his throat.

I felt my heart sink as his words lingered in my mind.

"What happened next?" Yuri asked squeezing my hand.

"The man had become so angry he took his brothers life. The woman he loved shunned him, hated him for what he had done. He stormed off taking to the seas to clear his mind.
Every day he thought of her. Of his brothers child growing inside of her. She was his. She was meant to be his.
The thoughts of her began to drive him mad. If he couldn't have her, no one could." Yakov swallowed hard.

"He killed her." Yuri gasped. Yakov nodded solemnly.

"He was so distraught over what he had done. He stared down at her body in his arms. Shouts of servants trying to get into the room rang in his ears. He fled through the window where he had broken in.

He returned to his ship and set sail again. After a month of being on the open sea. His grief and guilt swallowed him whole. He tied a cannon ball to his bootstraps and stepped off of the plank."

"He killed himself." Yuri gasped gripping my arm now. I shushed him and patted his head in comfort.

"Lilia had sent me to him. Another siren. I learned of all of his memories, and all of the emotions he felt before his final breath."

"What does all of this have to do with Minami?" Yuri asked me in a whisper. His head tilted to the side in confusion.

"That man was Captain JJ. Unlike the other sirens I had been sent to, JJ was the single one that held onto the anger from his human life. His thirst for blood was unquenchable. He was a monster.
Lilia sent me to kill him. When it came down to it, I couldn't bring myself to do it. The man was suffering from a broken heart. Guilt was eating him alive. So instead I changed him back into a human.
I gave him a second chance to right the wrong he had done in his previous life, or so I had hoped.
He had lost so much time as a siren. Over twenty years had passed." Yakov rubbed his face tiredly.

"I'm still not following." Yuro admitted clutching his head.

"The baby that his beloved carried. His brothers son lived." Yakov stared through the both of us sending chills down my spine.

I understand now.

"He learned his nephew was alive. All of his hatred came flooding back. He missed so much. He could have raised the boy as his own and still had a part of the woman he loved." I continued for Yakov.

"He was angered by how much time he had lost. How much life was wasted as a blood thirsty siren. He wanted us to suffer the way he had suffered.
His grand plan was to find our coven and slaughter us all. To slaughter the very monsters he had once been. He wanted us all to lose what he had as one of us. He wanted her to lose the power she had over him by taking away her power source." Yakov nodded.

"So that's why he wants to kill all sirens." I concluded.

"Yes. He must have gained the goddesses trust for her to turn him into a half siren. Another ploy in his plan."

"I hate to ask it, but why Minami? He doesn't know anything. His father studied the ocean, but that doesn't mean that he knew about sirens." Yuri scratched his head.

"Minami is Captain JJ's great nephew. His father was his beloved's unborn child. His brothers child. He needs his own blood line to carry out his final plan to defeat the goddess at her own game." Yakov finally said it aloud.

It all made sense. JJ discovered Minami's father as his nephew. He tried to take him to use his blood for his plans, but Minami's father had died during his crews raid. Minami was on the brink of death himself, so JJ had no choice but to change the boy into a siren.
Minami, confused and dazed escaped. JJ had been searching for him since.

"Why did Lilia want you then? What was so special about you?" Yuri turned to me.

I shrugged.

"To draw me out. She knows I have a soft spot for you and Yurio. You had become sons to me. I didn't want to do her bidding anymore. I just wanted to live the remainder of my life with my family." Yakov's eyes were honest as he stared at me.
"I had hoped mending your bond with Yurio would turn you both human again, and she would have no control over you, but everything is falling apart." Yakov sighed.
"JJ has Minami, and Yurio. He has all of the important pawns. He and the goddess will summon every siren in the sea and that is when he will strike. He will win this game, and no siren will make it out alive." Yakov's face turned grim.

"Not yet. It isn't too late. We can't give up now. We will defeat JJ, and stop him from wiping out all sirens. We can still fight." I shook my head and gripped Yakov's shoulders.

"You can't give up. They have our friends. I made a promise to Minami, and I intend to keep it." Yuri nodded beside me. Though shaking he raised his chin defiant.

"Will you help us Yakov? Will you help us end this for good?" I asked staring into the depths of his eyes.

His eyes I had become so familiar with over the years, hardened like steel. His hands clenched into fists. His jaw was tight and rigid. A determined look crossed his stern features.

"I am with you son." He inclined his chin.