Empress of the Sea|✔️

Chapter 9

Rewritten
***

I will go find out where her ship is, Captain.

The owl circled and left the room, appearing frightened. Flying away into the sky, the owl sped up once, looking at the ocean beneath him.

Sehyun, not wanting to stand and close the door, called for Suzy to close it for him. He then reclined in his chair, studying documents he'd already read, and thought about what he'd do with the survivor.

Should he kill her, her entire crew, or none of them? Should he ask her to work under him? Should he sink her ship? Or should he wait for her to celebrate her first birthday on board her ship as captain if she hadn't yet? Should he "accidentally" let her get away with "living?"

Whatever would her curse be—

A loud crash shook him out of his thoughts.

"SUZY!" he called. Startled, he stood up quick enough for his vision to become odd for a moment. He felt as if the room were spinning.

The quartermaster ran into the room, saluting with her arm across her chest, two fingers pointing out. "Yes, Captain." Even Suzy appeared dishevelled, a rare occurrence.

"What happened?"

"There seems to be a force from underneath the ship. From my guess, it might be a leviathan." Her voice was steady, as always.

"A leviathan? From what proof?" Sehyun clutched his desk to avoid getting injured in case Suzy was right.

"I saw a large snake-like figure. It had scales of green and red. I am also certain it had more than one head."

Sehyun stood, twirling his pen in his right hand and tapping the table with the pads of his left fingers. He sunk into his seat.

Impatient, Suzy clutched her blouse.

Then, an assault from underneath the ship caused both the captain and his quartermaster to tumble. A bombard of attacks sent the ship moving from side to side. Water crashed onto the deck and the crew streamed out of their rooms, ready for action. They could hardly keep their footing.

Sehyun, the first to his feet, helped Suzy up.

"Captain, what are your orders?"

"Let me think."

"Captain!" she yelled. The first time she raised her voice in front of the captain. She'd never done it before. It was obvious. Leviathans terrified Suzy. "You need to tell me what you want me to tell the crew right now. Or we'll face some serious consequences."

"You say it is a leviathan, correct?"

Suzy, fed up with the captain's slow reaction, groaned in frustration. "Hurry—"

Another thrash issued to the ship to tilt a bit too much to the right. The crew members all ran to the elevated side to balance the ship out.

The quartermaster, using the wall to stand, gripped her head with her free hand. Her head had hit something when she fell the second time. "Captain, give me your orders so I may relay them."

"A loud thunder and a flash of lightning—but two heads—what book was it? How would one go about eating a monster?" Sehyun said, thoroughly out of context. His eyes darted around the room as his hand rubbed the surface of his desk, searching for his pen to twirl in his fingers. "Give me a moment. I am on the verge of a brilliant discovery."

Now, Suzy gripped her head more in irritation than in pain. "Give me your orders."

Captain Sehyun Han of the Black Egret built a posture one might have before giving a life-changing speech said, "Do nothing. The only way to fight a leviathan is to have another eat it. We might as well be its plaything for a moment. Besides, from what I can remember, a leviathan is always calm unless battling another, meaning that there are two leviathans."