A Mermaid's Tale

Chapter 20

I never found Arthur that night, despite the fact that I looked everywhere for him, and the next morning we arrived in Xerux on the Eastern Continent. The docks around the city were filled with all kinds of different ships, and the place was much livelier than Okonfo had been. I could see a large market similar to the one in Southern Continent's village, but this one was much bigger. Eagerness to explore welled up inside me as I waited for the landing crew to be organized.

Arthur had reappeared not too long ago looking about the same as usual, but there was just something off about the way he moved and talked. No one else seemed to notice except me, so it was possible I was only imagining it. Something loud thudded beside me as I was thinking, and I turned to see Alfred huffing and puffing while sitting on a crate. A thin sheen of sweat covered his brow, which he wiped away with his sleeve.

"It's hard to move around on these crutches," he explained with a carefree grin. He gestured to the strange sticks he leaned on to help him walk.

"Are you sure you're supposed to be walking around? What if you hurt your foot some more?"

"Eh, I'm not worried." He waved away my concern with a flick of his wrist. "It's better than sitting around doing nothing. I swear if I have to spend one more minute counting the number of cracks in the ceiling, I'm going to die of boredom!" He made a grumpy pout with his face that made me laugh.

"Just don't overdo it. No one's going to help you if you fall over."

"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes playfully, and I was glad to see him in his usual high spirits. It was a little disconcerting to see him so down and serious last night. "Are you going ashore?"

I nodded. "Probably. Arthur's going to look for someone that Vladimir mentioned, and I should really go with him." I snuck a quick glance at Alfred's face to see his reaction, but he didn't even blink at the mention of the pirate.

Speak of the devil.

"Alright, listen up!" Arthur shouted over the rabble of men crowded on the deck. "We're going to be docked here for a while, so you're free to go look around for a while. Those of you who are staying to watch the ship have already been informed. You're all dismissed."

It didn't take long for the men to disperse to wherever they planned to go. The deck emptied quickly leaving only me and Alfred along with Arthur on the deck. The pirate captain met my eyes and nodded once.

"Looks like that's my cue," I said to Alfred.

"Bring me back something cool," he called out as I walked toward Arthur.

The pirate met me with another nod. "(Y/n)."

"Where's everyone else?"

"I thought it'd be best if it were just the two of us," he explained.

I tried to discern if there was some ulterior motive behind his decision, but there didn't seem to be any as far as I could tell. "So, what's the plan?"

"We don't have many leads other than to look in this city, so we may be here a while." Arthur turned to disembark from the ship, and I followed behind. "Our best bet is to ask around and see it anyone knows who this person is."

"It's too bad Vladimir didn't tell us more," I mumbled.

"I was actually surprised by how much he did tell. Usually he needs more...persuading before giving up information."

I had a pretty good idea what kind of persuading he meant by the smirk that appeared on his lips. He didn't slow his pace as we entered the main market area and were immediately surrounded by mobs of people. This was nothing like the market in Okonfo. It was dirtier, smellier, and at least ten times louder. On the other hand, the wares being sold here were much more interesting, and I had to constantly swivel my head to see everything.

There were some stalls that sold nothing but fabric, but it was the most colorful cloth I had ever seen. Women examined and fingered bolt after bolt of fine fabric in just about every color I could imagine. Some even had prints of dragons and other mythical creatures on them. Other stalls sold candy stacked in the largest mounds I had ever seen. Children flocked around these vendors and admired the sugary sweets. I made a mental note to get some for Alfred on our way back.

The next stall to catch my eye was a merchant selling all kinds of weapons. I had never seen anything quite like it before. There weren't any cutlasses and knives on display like the ones the pirates aboard the Queen Lady used. Instead, these weapons were much more elegant in appearance with long, thin blades that were honed to a deadly edge. I imagined one of those swords could slice open a person with one deft swing.

"Ah ha! I see you have good eye," a man with a thin black beard said to me. "Would you like to hold?"

"Is that alright?"

"Of course! Pretty lady like you holding one blade better advertising than thousand painted fliers."

It was hard to understand the man through his accent, but I stepped toward his stall anyway. "Which one should I pick?"

"You don't pick blade," he said with a shake of his head. "Blade pick you."

I wasn't really sure what he meant, but I decided to give it a try. His narrow, slanted eyes watched me while I looked over each blade carefully. Some of the longer swords would have been too much for me to handle, so I opted to look at the smaller knives. Their silver surfaces shined in the late morning sun. None of them really appealed to me until I saw a knife with a blade the length of my hand that had something engraved in it. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a fierce looking sea serpent bearing its curved fangs.

"Ah, good eye, good eye," the man said with a nod. "Very nice, yes?"

"How much?" I asked as I carefully gripped the handle. The red wrappings felt soft and comfortable in my hand.

"For you, only six hundred gold. Good deal. Very good deal."

"Six hundred?" I bit my lip and set the knife back down. "I don't have that much."

"Okay, okay. I willing to lower price, but just for you. You buy it for five hundred and ninety gold."

At first I thought he was joking, but he smiled earnestly at me. That was hardly a discount at all! I was about to decline again when a familiar voice called out from the busy crowd.

"Dang it, (y/n)! You can't wander off in a place like this!"

"Oh!" I turned around to see Arthur storming toward me with an irked expression. "I completely forgot!"

"Honestly, you're completely hopeless." He came to a halt next to me and pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "If something happened to you..." He didn't finish his thought, but he did notice the weapons I was looking at. "You want a knife?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. They just caught my eye."

"Which one?" I pointed to the engraved one. "How much?" he asked the man.

"Ah! I see you are very intelligent man. I sell you for seven hundred gold. Very good deal, yes?"

"What?" I burst out indignantly.

I was about to tell Arthur he was being ripped off, but the pirate raised his hand to keep me quiet. "I'll give you three hundred."

"Ho ho ho! Funny man!" The vendor chuckled heartily. "How does five hundred sound?"

"Three fifty."

"Four fifty."

"Three seventy five."

"Four twenty five."

"Done." Arthur pulled out several bags of gold coins from his coat and dropped them in the man's hands.

"Thank you, thank you." The man opened a bag and smiled at its contents. "Pleasure doing business."

"Here you are, love." Arthur placed the sheathed knife in my hand. "Don't lose it now."

"H-how could you spend so much?" I asked as I followed him back into the crowd.

"Consider it an investment in your safety." He shot me a pretty charming smile before adding, "Also, something like this could sell for much more than what I paid, if you have the proper connections."

"So you swindled him!"

"I'm a pirate, love. It's what we do. Besides, that engraving on there," he tapped the knife with his fingers, "is what the people of the Eastern Continent use to depict the Leviathan. I thought it was fitting." His fingers trailed across my collarbone to the silver charm hanging around my neck.

My skin broke out in goosebumps from his soft touch, but I didn't say anything about it. Instead, I bit my lip and looked down at the knife. Even in its sheath it was beautiful. I found it hard to stay mad at Arthur. "Thank you."

"What was that?" He glanced back at me mischievously.

"Thank you." I leaned in close and gave him a peck on the cheek.

This caught him off guard. "I-it was nothing," he sputtered. "I was just doing the gentlemanly thing." He said this, but his face was bright red.

I linked my arm around his. There wasn't a hint of the run down, emotionally crippled Arthur from last night, and I was glad. "Still. Thanks."

His eyes flickered down to me for a moment. "You're very welcome."

"Now, where are we going?"

"Well, while you were off spending large amounts of gold, I was doing some real work and finding leads." He stopped the two of us in front of a building with a red roof that smelled strongly of herbs. "Most of them pointed to this tea shop."

Paper lanterns swayed from the eaves of the tea shop, and cheerful chatter drifted through the doorway when Arthur slid open the screen door. A few eyes turned to watch our entry, but otherwise our presence didn't cause much of a stir. The smell of burning incense wreathed around my head as we pushed our way further into the shop.

"Who are we looking for?"

"I'm not quite sure," Arthur replied in a low voice. "I was told we would know when we spot him."

We maneuvered our way around the shop some more, but no one seemed to stand out. I was distracted by some strange, yet beautiful writing on a hung scroll when someone grabbed my wrist.

"Hey, honey. Why don't you ditch this scrawny loser and come play with us big boys."

I turned to see some large ruffians eyeing me in the most disgusting way possible. "Um, no thank you."

"C'mon! We'll show you a real good time." The man holding my arm licked his lips provocatively.

"Please, we're not looking for trouble-"

The enormous man stood up with enough force to knock his chair over. I noticed the entire tea shop had gone quiet, and everyone was staring at us. "We're not giving you a choice here. You come with us, and we'll leave your shrimpy friend alone."

Arthur let go of my other arm and stepped in front of me to block me from view. "I believe the lady already declined your offer."

"Pheh." The man spat on the floor. "And what are you going to do about it, shrimp?"

Arthur moved so fast that I didn't see what happened. Next thing I knew, he was standing behind the ruffian with a cocked revolver pointed at the man's ugly head. "I suggest you release the lovely lady and leave the shop, otherwise I'll have to pay to have your brains cleaned off the floor."

"What...what are you playing at?!?" The man let go of my wrist and turned to lash out at Arthur, but something made contact with his head before any of us could blink.

"Hai-yah!" A lithe man had shot through the air and landed a powerful kick on the ruffian's head. The grungy man went flying toward the screen door and crashed right through. "Ai-yah! The rest of you better leave before I kick you out myself!"

The rest of the gargantuan gang ran off without a second thought. There was some hooting and hollering along with laughter at their retreat. I sighed in relief and took a moment to examine the newcomer. He was shorter than me, but obviously very fit. His facial features matched the sharper features of the native Eastern Continental people, and he had his dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail. I watched as he brushed off his clothes, although I didn't think it was too effective since his hands were covered by long sleeves.

Suddenly he turned toward Arthur. "You! You're causing trouble in my tea house, aru!"

Arthur stared at the little man in shock. "Me? It's your own fault for serving idiots like that!"

I could sense a dangerous tension between the two and decided to step in before it got out of hand. "Maybe we should find somewhere more private to talk?" I looked at Arthur pointedly, and he seemed to understand what I meant.

"Yes, I came looking for someone with important information."

"Eh? Is that so, aru? I guess we can step into my office. Mei! Clean up this mess!"

"Y-yes, sir!" A cute young girl with flowers tucked by her ears scurried toward the door to try to fix whatever she could.

"This way, please!" The little man's disposition changed to a cheerier one rather quickly.

We followed him to a small room decorated with dragon figurines and scrolls depicting some kind of cat. He sat down behind an ornate desk and faced us with a big smile.

"So, before we talk I think you owe me something, aru."

"Like what?" Arthur asked with narrowed eyes.

"You trashed my shop! I need gold to fix that!"

"You're insane! I'm not paying you!"

"Then I can't guarantee I have the information you're looking for, aru."

Arthur looked about ready to blow. I reached out to gently touch his arm. "Arthur, maybe it's best to just pay."

He look at me like I was crazy. "(Y/n), he's the one who kicked that idiot through the door, not me."

"But still..." I leaned in closer to whisper in his ear. "If we want him to talk, we need to pay him."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Fine." He reached into his coat and pulled out a bag of gold, which he threw onto the desk. "There, now talk."

The man reached for the gold and began counting. He also reached over for a small bowl of candy on his desk and offered it to us absentmindedly while continuing to count. "Candy?"

"Um, no thank you," I declined.

Once he seemed satisfied, he put the gold back in the sack and threw it in a desk drawer. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Let's start with your name," Arthur said.

The man smiled. "My name is Yao Wang, aru. I specialize in good food, tea, martial arts, and rare goods." His smile faded into a more calculating expression. "You're probably not interested in the first three."

"No, we need a way to get through the fog surrounding the Lunar Islands, and we've heard you're the one to talk to."

"That's going to cost you." Yao opened a different desk drawer and pulled out a faded yellow map. He spread it out on his desk and points to a large bay south of Xerux. "If you want that info, you're going to have to do something for me. There are some old ruins here, aru. I want you to go there and find something."

"Such as...?"

"You'll know when you see it." With that, Yao rolled up the map and stuffed it back into his desk. "Just watch out. I heard there have been strange people there, aru."

Arthur closed his eyes and sighed. "Perfect. Just bloody perfect."