(Sequel) John Laurens X !Mermaid! Reader

°Chapter 13: Fight fire with fire°

While John and Y/N kept practicing, Hercules and his group had made their way to the market place. It was very crowded but was also very hidden under the ground. People had found a hollowed-out hill and decided to sturdy it up so people could set up shop. 

Americans weren't allowed on land anymore unless they had a permit. They didn't really hand it out all willy nilly to men. American women and children were allowed to stay but were instructed to stay home. Not that anyone wanted to go out anyway, it was freezing. 

The market was crowded and everyone was bumping into each other. Even though the bazaar was underground, it wasn't isolated enough to keep the cold out. Now that it was night, it was extra cold. Which was arguably good for the preservation of the food. But that didn't really matter at the moment.

Hercules and his group waddled through the crowd and stopped every so often to buy produce. While the cook inspected the quality, Herc let his gaze wander. He wasn't looking at anyone in particular, just zoning out. Suddenly he realized he'd been staring at a gentleman in the distance for a while. To avoid an awkward situation, he looked away.

But then he noticed something weird about that guy, so he lifted his gaze from the floor and back towards the guy. Yeah, he had definitely seen that guy somewhere before. But where was it? 

"Mulligan, let's go," The cook, suddenly said as he wrapped things up with the salesman. "Erm... Y-Yeah, let's get going." Hercules agreed as he looked back at the guy who had suddenly disappeared. 

'I have a bad feeling about this.'

Meanwhile above ground, a very sketchy figure stood on top of a hill. Clearly a woman. One of a very high ranking to say the least. She had her gaze fixed on the gatekeeper who yawned every so often. A few moments later, a guy came running towards the sketchy figure. He was calm and collected as he said: "You were right ma'am. I saw that spy." He informed. 

The woman smiled slightly, parting her lips. "Ah, I see," Her gaze seemed sharp even though her expression was soft. Maybe a bit too soft for the thoughts that were crossing her mind. "Soldier, do you know why we as the upper class need to assert dominance every now and then?" She asked the guy who stood by her. "No, why?" The soldier calmly answered. "Because even though you make it extremely clear that your servants are nothing but dirt beneath your boot, they have a passion that can't be extinguished in one go," 

The soldier knew extremely well that his commander was ruthless and was like this all the time. But he also knew that she had drunk enough for an entire army before they came here. "Yes, ma'am. That seems logical to me. But how do you plan to assert that dominance? We didn't come here with an entire army," 

"Soldier, I have another question for you." She smiled, her smile growing wider. "How do you combat the fiery passion of vermin?" She asked. Obviously, he didn't like where this was going. "How, ma'am?" He asked but he didn't get an answer. Instead, he got this weird look from his commander. Her sick grin made it seem as if her eyes were glowing like the full moon behind her.

"On this cold winter night." She shut her eyes as the soldier uncomfortably shifted. "Let's bring these gentlemen some heat." She said looking at the exit and glancing at the ship next to it.

"Burn it down."

John had his share of awkward situations. Hell, he even had his share of awkward situations that he created. Acting as if he was drinking while Y/N was actively drinking was one of those situations. (Well, everyone had been drinking after Hercules and his crew left.)

In a drunken haze, Y/N fell asleep on their last game. Not wanting her to get a stiff back, he grabbed her and let her rest on his chest. He was completely sober during all of this. Maybe he would've stopped acting like he was drunk if Y/N wasn't so damn adorable when she got excited about their game. 

Just thinking about it made his cheeks flush. "Stupid a$$," He mumbled to himself. When he looked down, he remembered why he did it though. Her peaceful, lightly flushed face was all he needed to see to get the memo that, yes indeed, he had fallen. Not that he enjoyed falling for her. He hated it. He hated her. Well, he wanted to hate her. But some things just go as planned sometimes. 

'This thing has gotten me too worked up.' He thought covering his cheeks with his cold hand as he closed his eyes. For the first time in a while, he actually felt warm. Very warm. A bit too warm. Really, what was up with this sudden heatstroke?

When he opened his eyes, in the mids of the dark blue scenery he saw something interesting. A bright yellow spark, dancing in the wind. It was so pretty to look at. He blinked a few times. Maybe it was more than a few times. 

"Hold the f*cking metronome," He suddenly said as he widened his sleep-deprived eyes. 

That was a fire. That was undoubtedly a fire that had been creeping closer to them. "Erm, guys?" He called but didn't hear a single squeak. He looked around and saw that everyone was asleep. "Guys?!" He called a bit more in a panic. That little fire suddenly started spreading faster than he could follow. "GUYS!" He yelled but no one woke up. The flames started approaching him. John panicked and looked at Y/N who hadn't moved either. "Y/N, we gotta go," He said as he shook her, but she didn't give a sound. The silence was almost scarier than the fire. 

John quickly looked toward the side of the ship which was a few inches away from him. If he could only stand up and wake them up himself. But he was stuck with the tail. That stupid tail. He knew he could escape by getting off the boat and into the ocean. He glanced at Y/N. He hesitated for a second before quickly grabbing her by the waist and carrying her toward the edge of the ship with all the power he had in him. He leaned against the railing, hugged Y/N from behind, and leaned back fully.

Headfirst they plunged into the water, John hugging Y/N as tightly as he could as to not lose her as they hit the water. Almost immediately, she got her tail back. When they started slowing down in the water, he let go of her but she still wasn't moving. He bit the bullet and grabbed her under his arm as he swam up to check on the ship. 

When he came back above water with Y/N over his arm he was horrified to see the ship all up in flames. The entire thing.

No one was swimming beside them. Everyone was still on there.

Everyone.

And John couldn't do anything but watch as the fire danced around the corpses of his crewmates.