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CHAPTER FIVE: BRIGHTER THAN THE MOON HERSELF
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"Have a little friend over?" Fowler hummed in amusement, gripping the steel bars of his prison. "Throwing a sleepover, are we?"
She delivered the Blancefield book on Fowler's request. Earlier, he heard a peculiar thud coming from the bedrooms, when Sogo had leaped on top of her. He assumed Mizu stopped at a port and picked up a prostitute. One willing enough, considering those frightening eyes.
"Didn't think you had it in you. Heh. Might be mine, alright.... What color was she? How was she? Come on, then! Out with it!"
Unimpressed, Mizu laid the book on the floor and kicked it beneath the bars. It slid through.
She was relieved he regained his sanity, but they still had months to go before reaching London, and he could ultimately lose it again.
"I was hoping you'd be generous enough ta' gift me a whore, but..."
"You know, no matter how much I'd pay, I don't think any would want to touch you," Mizu replied, maintaining the firm facade of a wall between her and Fowler.
She turned around, not wasting her breath any further. He couldn't touch her, physically or psychologically.
"Can't wait to meet who you've got up there and have a go myself."
And then... he did.
She stopped walking, as if struck by lightning at that very instant.
Noticing he struck a nerve, Fowler raised a brow as his smirk deepened. He chuckled, shaking his head at her obvious jealousy. The chuckles then spread to a roar of laughter. It was unexpected entertainment.
"Mizu! A little whore's made you soft?! That's her job, ya' dimwit. Jeeesus."
She forced herself to walk, picking up the pace. Gag him. I'll gag Fowler. Talks too much.
He obstructed that seemingly impenetrable wall she erected, causing a crack in it. Planting the seed for more in the future, like a grapevine crawling up and beyond her fortress.
"No sorrier sight than a man in love, tell ya that much," He raised his voice, taunting her as she left the brigs.
Fowler caught on to his captor's weakness and would never let go, as long as he was imprisoned.
"And take precautions! Don't need any more wee bastards running around in the world!"
Idiot.
*
Sogo looked down from her seat on the edge of the bowsprit, ready to jump to her death into the ocean.
With her kimono on, she straddled the wooden pole, the only thing keeping her from the dangerous, dark, and freezing waters. Beside her hands were the small, peculiar teeth marks, and several more than the ones Mizu discovered earlier. The indents of molars piled over each other. Small enough to be human. Unnatural enough to not be.
Some were there from last night. Most from moments earlier. And all belonging to Sogo.
The waves crashed against the ship violently, and the foam leaped up like hands begging to be brought to the surface.
She slowly slid forward, pulling herself closer to the edge. . .
"I won't stop you if you want to jump."
Wide-eyed, her face turned to the ship behind her. Mizu was on the deck, watching her. Returning from delivering Fowler his book, she found Sogo's door wide open and immediately went to look for her.
"Although, I don't think you really want to."
Her nose was a bright red as she sat in between the violent winds. Her tangled, frizzy hair was like tree branches howling through the forceful breeze.
Mizu stared at Sogo's face with heightened focus. The woman's round, monolid eyes with downturned lashes gave her the appearance of a doe as she stared back. The clash of such an angelic face with the gruesome action of jumping to death wasn't lost on her. Mizu noted sharks circling as she navigated throughout the night. There were better, cleaner ways to die.
I'm glad you came. Sogo's subconscious suddenly said. Rejecting her own desperate thought, she tore her gaze away from Mizu to the treacherous sea below her.
"Drowning is a terrible way to go. You know that better than anybody," Mizu said, extending her palm out from the safety of the ship. "I could end your life for you instead, Sogo."
Her eyes widened. She slowly turned her intense gaze from the teeth of the ocean to Mizu. Those clear eyes were stronger than any moon above the sea. She was tugged from each direction, although they both led to tragedy.
Analyzing the onryō's expression, the ningyo noticed he meant those words. He'd painlessly end her suffering. A mercy killing.
In a rage, her eyes swelled with tears. "I don't want to die at the hands of a man."
She stared back intently into the water and scooted closer to the end of the bowspirit. Mizu lowered her extended arm in shock as if bracing herself. These weren't merely words or flirtations with death anymore. She was going to jump.
Sogo neared the end of the bowspirit. She could either let go or slip off the edge. Usually, ship bows had an ornament or mask for spiritual protection against evil elements on their long, ocean-bound journeys. This vessel had none.
She heard the landing of feet beside her and looked over her shoulder. Mizu, with all the balance and agility of a samurai, stood perfectly still on the bowsprit that moved with the motions of the sea. Behind her was the full moon, illuminating the silhouette of her body. She stood before Sogo like a transcendental being, and again, she offered her hand out, seeking hers to close the distance.
His eyes... are brighter than the moon herself.
Sogo felt her heart clench inside her. The temptations of attraction dared to pulse through her as if she hadn't wised up about the men in this world.
No... I'd rather...
Mizu felt fear tumult her senses as Sogo's hands released the bowsprit, clasped between her knees. She leaned forward, letting the weight of her body take her fall into the water. She closed her eyes peacefully, her kimono catching air. The only milliseconds of peace before fighting for oxygen in the freezing waters. The last thing she saw in the darkness taking her to nonexistence — was bright blue eyes.
Suddenly, she stopped falling into the teeth of the ocean, and a strong grip seized her limp wrist. One of her slippers fell into the water below her. She watched it sink and twirl into the waves meant to feast on her.
Mizu grabbed her wrist just in time, laying on the bowspirit as an anchor. It was slippery, and holding a human, no matter how light, was still a challenge with one hand. Mizu clenched her jaw, keeping Sogo suspended in the air and breathing like her life depended on it just as much.
Sogo looked up, calmly, as if in a trance. "You said... you'd let me jump."
"And if I let you," Mizu replied, grunting for strength, "You'd die at the hands of a man."
*
Sogo and Mizu sat across the fire pit on the boat. The former stared guiltily into the flames with the wool coat wrapped around her kimono. Mizu analyzed her maps, as well as reading a nautical guide in English to prepare for London.
No one said anything. What had just happened wasn't mentioned.
But, as Sogo sized up Mizu's ethereal face and was in awe by her features, she couldn't help but wonder...
"It's rude to stare so much," Mizu said, without lifting her blue eyes from the page.
Sogo jumped like a cat caught in the act and tore her face away. "I'm sorry."
I just...
Have never met someone like you.
The splinters of wood from the bowsprit stabbed the back of her gums. Her tongue rolled over it, and the fragments pinched her delicate muscle. She winced, but bit her tongue to not let out any sound of discomfort. The last thing she wanted was for her bizarre actions to be exposed.
But, Mizu noticed her tremors of pain like clockwork, and she asked directly in her rugged voice, lifting her eyes from the sea map, "Why are you biting my bowsprit?"
Not expecting her to know, Sogo shrank internally, as if wanting to disappear from this sensitive, taboo topic. She turned her face from Mizu, unwilling to answer. The samurai stared at her for another moment. Her clear eyes intently waiting for a response.
With none offered, she turned her gaze back to the book.
"I'd just rather you didn't," she turned the page. "Bite something else."
They said nothing for some time, but Sogo's silence was all Mizu needed. Whatever it was, tearing into objects in a carnal rage was a monstrous compulsion her captive couldn't resist. It was as unnatural as it was violent.
There were worse transgressions, Mizu learned, like the trading of flesh, opium, and guns.
As the fire died down, Sogo laid her body on the wooden deck, finally drifting to sleep across Mizu, and she murmured out, "Yes."
Over the next days, Mizu couldn't help but notice that Sogo had bite marks running up her inner arm. When she stretched in her kimono, helped clean the ship, or tossed the fishing net, a gust of wind would pull back the sleeves of her kimono, and Mizu would lay eyes on the fresh, swollen punctured marks of teeth, bitten deeply into her flesh.
人魚 。
a/n: i know it feels a little slow, but the story is going to pick up action-wise in the next 2 chapters. i just think it's important to first explore mizu's (especially) and sogo's psychological state. i also love the idea of a creepy ship where surreal things happen!! thanks sm for reading <3