Mors Per Mare (ATEEZ FF)

10

There was a chill in the air as the eyes followed you down the deck. Wooyoung lead you steadily towards the captain's cabin and the door opened for you, revealing the face of the captain himself. His posture was one of intense frustration, and you took a deep breath of salty air. It didn't help, only seeming to hinder your attempt at breathing away the fear. He held it open for you and watched you sit down in the chair that was in front of his desk, only then did he shut the door.

"Y/N." He began softly, "As much as I wanted to give you all the time in the world to tell me how exactly you boarded my ship with this." He pushed a familiar tome across his desk and towards you. "After the events of today, I can no longer do that. The crew saw you do..." He stopped, turning his gaze from the tome to meet your eyes. "What exactly did you do?" Your fear turned to panic in seconds.

This whole thing had to be a dream, it just had to. There was no way that you could not only be on a pirate ship from the 17th century, but also how in this godforsaken domain that your demented mind had made up for you to suddenly be transported to could you ever somehow control a mother trucking beast of that size and nature?! It was simply impossible to believe. If pinching yourself hadn't worked on that day at the beach where you met Ifera, perhaps it had to be a bigger notion. Relief flooded through you at the idea of a possible escape from this whole thing.

Without any regard to the man waiting patiently in front of you for an answer, you raised your wrist your mouth and bit down hard. You let out a muffled scream through your hand as the pain kicked in. You could taste the blood that was beginning to pool in your mouth.

"Y/N! What the hell are you doing?!" The captain shouted, yanking your hand away from your mouth. "For what reason would you ever bite yourself!? Jesus, you're bleeding!" He cried as he studied the bite marks that went halfway around your wrist.

"I'm still here." You breathed out after waiting for a moment. And suddenly the panic was back. "Why the hell am I still here?!" You cried out, pain and confusion spurring you into a sudden mental breakdown. "I'm not supposed to be here!"

The captain's eyes darkened at your words. "What the hell did you just try to do, you witch?" He snarled suddenly.

"Captain!" Jongho came bursting through the door, sword drawn and pointed at you immediately. He'd clearly been eavesdropping, but that wasn't your concern at the moment. "What did she do to you?"

"Answer me! What game are you playing here?!" The anger in his eyes was enough to show you exactly why he was the Journey's captain although he had always seemed so kind and generous to you before.

"No! No, you don't understand!" You cried, cowering away from Jongho and the sword.

This was a dream, this whole thing had to be a dream. There was no way it could be real. Trying once more, you bit down on your other wrist. The pain shot through your arm, but still no waking up in the library where you must've fallen asleep. You tried again, higher up on your arm now. And again, on the other side. Tears began streaming down your face at the pain but still you couldn't stop.

Jongho's sword lowered to his side as he watched you unravel, backing away from. "Captain?" He called, the fear clear in his voice.

"Y/N!"

"No! It's a dream! This entire thing has to be a dream!" You shouted, biting down once again on your arm.

"Y/N?" Yeosang entered the captain's cabin now, hearing the commotion. He froze in his spot upon seeing you. "What the hell is going on here!?" He shouted at the two frozen men.

Seonghwa entered next, watching as Yeosang wrapped his arms around you as tightly as he could to keep you from attacking yourself with your teeth again. "Kim Hongjoong, what the hell did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything, she just started biting herself and then screaming about a dream!" He shouted back.

"This is more like a nightmare." Jongho mumbled, and something clicked in your brain.

How have you always gotten out of your nightmares in the past? It's obvious isn't it? You had to die.

In a spur of courage you lunged forward, shocking Yeosang enough for him to lose his grip on you. You made a grab for Jongho's sword, pulling it towards yourself.

This wasn't a suicide attempt. You would wake up if you died but you had to get out this dream, this horrible nightmare. And you had to do it now.

A hand stopped the blade though, wrapping itself around the sharp metal and stopping it from entering your general kidney area. Your eyes followed the arm all the way to a face and your eyes met the cotton candy boy from earlier. He simply shook his head at you, mouthing the word "no."

And then you blacked out.

It was warm when you woke up and there were voices talking slightly hushed somewhere in the room.

"There's no way that's normal behavior." Someone said.

"Put yourself in her shoes, Jongho. If she is from another time like she told Captain, then she's entirely alone. Imagine being alone for as long as we've been alive, Jongho. You can't tell me that you wouldn't act the same way." Another voice said.

"She's terrified, and she's convinced herself it's a dream as a coping mechanism." Another voice added in. "I would do the same if I were her."

"We don't know anything about her, how do we know she's not just insane?" Jongho tried again. "Yunho, tell me you think I'm right."

"Sorry, Jongho. I gotta sit this one out, buddy. She's got a reason to act the way she did. She's gone through a lot probably."

"And while I don't want to rush her and have that happen again, she needs to explain herself before the crew starts accusing her of being a witch." That voice definitely belong to the captain.

"You're one to talk." Mingi's voice snapped at him. "Did you not call her a witch, yourself?"

"If you were standing where I was, you would've done it too. It was terrifying."

"While, I don't think she's a witch, I agree with Captain Hongjoong, She needs to explain herself so we can help her."

"I can do my best. But the thing is... I don't really know what brought me here." You said, interrupting them.

You heard the squeal of wood moving across wood as they all turned to you. You opened your eyes and met the eight curious men with a sigh.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning, then?"

Hello! I'm so so SO Sorry for making you guys wait for like three whole months before I published a new part. It was really difficult for me write this part and I finally got over my major case of writer's block.

Oh right! MERRY CHRISTMAS! (I say with like two minutes left in Christmas day, but hey it counts.)

I hope you guys enjoy this part and I will hopefully be updating once again before I go back to school. Just so I don't leave you all on a total cliff hanger.

P.S. this needs major editing (T-T)