Arthur felt worse and worse about the whole ordeal the closer the Queen Lady got to the Gulf of Misery. Yes, Yao wanted him to go to the Ruins of Tantus in a place called the Gulf of Misery. If that didn't make him hesitant, he was a fool. The Captain was not a fool, however, and he was seriously considering forgetting the whole thing. At least until the mermaid showed up on deck.
Her feet skipped lightly across the wooden deck. The Captain had never seen anything so graceful. She was as good on her feet as she was in the water, although he was under the impression that she would disagree. At that moment, she seemed to realize she was being watched because she turned to meet Arthur's eyes with an intent gaze. His heart almost stopped at the intensity of her look, but her face quickly transformed into a smile. She joined him at the helm in a heartbeat.
"How are things going?" she asked in a soft voice.
"We're almost there."
She frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Don't worry it's-"
"Don't say it's nothing, Arthur."
She got him. He didn't want to divulge his worries, so he decided to go a different route. "I was just thinking about how you still owe the whole crew some pies."
Surprisingly, the mermaid laughed. "I can't believe you still remembered that."
"You owe me," Arthur said with a smirk. "Especially after that." He nodded at the knife strapped around her hip in its red scabbard. "It suits you."
"I'm glad you think so," she said as her smile returned. "But really, do I have to make those pies?"
"Going back on your word?"
"N-no!" Her smile quickly shifted to dismay. "It's just..."
"How's this? If you can find a suitable replacement for your pies, I'll let you off the hook."
"Really?" Her eyes shined excitedly. "Okay, deal!"
The Captain chuckled softly. "A deal made in haste can lead a pirate to ruin and waste."
"What?"
"Just something my old captain used to say."
"Your captain?" She seemed intrigued. "Who was he?"
"Well, we never knew his real name, but we all just called him Germania. Captain Germania."
"Tell me more about him."
"Not now, love." The ruins slowly appeared through some thick foliage on the shore. A small beach stretched out in front of the leafy forest, and Arthur steered his ship close. "It looks like we've arrived."
The crew assembled on deck once the Queen Lady settled herself and dropped anchor. The Captain picked a small handful of able-bodied men to accompany him and the mermaid in the ruins. They took a few small rowboats to the sandy beach and took a look around before making an attack plan.
"Alright you lot, I want two groups. I'll lead the first, and Christov will lead the second. The mermaid will come with me, and we will cover the western side of the ruins. Whoever finds...whatever it is first will be rewarded with gold." A murmur of excitement followed the Captain's words. "Let's get moving!"
Arthur lead his group into the the green foliage. He drew his cutlass to hack through the large, leafy plants, but they hardly seemed affected by the deft strokes. His group fought their way through the undergrowth until they reached the gray stone ruins that was their destination. The place was worn down and crumbling after what could have been centuries of neglect, but as Yao had warned there were signs of recent human activity.
Captain Kirkland bent down to touch some ashes from a recently extinguished fire before turning to address his party. "Be on the lookout. There's no knowing who's been here."
"That's a bit eerie right there."
"Don't think 't was spooks, do ya?"
"Don' be stewpid. Spooks don' light fires."
There was a general grumbling of uneasiness as the group pushed on. Stone pillars lay collapsed on the ground around them, which they had to climb over to get to the main structure of the ruins. Many of the columns had moss or creepers growing over them making it hard to balance. The Captain offered the mermaid a hand over the last fallen pillar in front of the large, hopefully abandoned structure.
"What do you think it is we're looking for?" she asked as she landed on the spongy soil.
"Not sure," Arthur replied. "I hope we find it fast."
"Why? Scared?"
"No! I just get a bad feeling about this, that's all."
He held her hand a little longer than necessary before turning to walk toward the ruins. It could have been a large meeting hall or temple at one time, but the elements had reduced the stone structure to nothing more than what looked like a mass of gray rocks being swallowed by the forest around them. A chill went down the Captain's neck as he approached the dark entrance. Every nerve stood on end, and he really wanted to turn back and forget about the whole thing.
"The other group should be inside by now," he mumbled more to himself than anything. He took a deep breath and stepped inside.
It was dark. Really dark. Arthur couldn't even see his nose as he walked down the corridor, which was rather damp and echoed every sound. Some of the men behind him lit the torches they brought along, and soon everything was visible. The Captain blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light. Strange images of half naked men and dragons danced in his vision, or so he thought until he realized they were carved into the walls along either side of the hallway.
"Wot do ya suppose they mean, Cap'n?"
"I haven't a clue," Arthur told the curious crew member. He had never seen anything like this before.
"It looks like they're worshiping something."
The Captain turned to see what the mermaid was referring to. She stood in front of an image that depicted men on their knees bowing to an odd cat shaped object. Or at least something that looked like a cat's head. All the other men and dragons on the walls seemed to be running toward the cat head.
"I swear I've seen this figure before," she said as she pointed to the cat.
"Maybe we'll find out more the further we go," Arthur replied. The pictures creeped him out even more, but he couldn't back out now. Continuing was their only option.
"Hm. Maybe." The mermaid turned to follow him when her foot pressed some kind of trigger in the floor.
Arthur reacted before he could think. He reached out toward her just as the floor beneath her feet retracted into the wall. All he could see were her panicked eyes as she fell. A grunt tore at his throat as he caught her by the arm and landed heavily on the ground next to the hole. The mermaid dangled over gaping darkness that threatened to swallow her whole if Arthur let go. He didn't intend to.
"You're slipping!" she cried.
The Captain felt it. Too much of his body was hanging over the drop, and little by little, he was sliding toward it. There was nothing for him to brace himself with.
"Just let go!"
"Not...a chance!"
The words barely made it out between his clenched teeth when he lost all contact with the ground and fell head first into the darkness.
~000~
He woke up to the worst headache of his life. Then panic washed over him as he couldn't recall ever falling asleep. Captain Kirkland sat up with a start and immediately regretted it. He was sure stars would be floating in his vision if he could see anything at all. It was completely dark. He entertained the thought that he might have somehow gone blind, but pushed it away when it made his growing anxiety worse.
"Arthur? Are you finally awake?"
The Captain turned toward the mermaid's voice, but he couldn't see her. "(Y/n)?"
"Yeah, it's me. Hold still so I can find you."
There was a patting sound coming from Arthur's right, so he moved his hand in that direction hoping she would find it. He didn't realize what a relief it would be to even be able to feel someone else in the oppressing darkness. The mermaid locked her fingers with his and held on tight. He could tell by her touch that she was pretty worked up too.
"You must have hit your head when we fell because you didn't answer when I called," she said quietly. There was a slight tremor in her voice. "I knew you were okay because you kept groaning, but then you stopped and I was afraid..." She fell quiet and didn't finish her thought.
"It'll take more than a knock on the head to do me in, love." Arthur gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"I found your hat." She put it where she must have thought his head was, but ended up shoving most of the feathers into Arthur's mouth and nose. "Oops. That wasn't right."
"Curse this darkness," the Captain hissed under his breath. He set the hat on his head as he tried to peer through the murk. "Can't see a thing."
"I didn't look around because I was afraid I'd get lost, but we can look around now that you're awake."
"Not that there's anything to see..." Arthur grumbled as he got to his feet. He also helped the mermaid to stand, and the two of them slowly began to shuffle their way through the darkness.
She squeezed his hand when his foot kicked a small rock across the floor. Her touch had a calming effect, yet still sent his heart beating wildly in his chest. She had more charm than she knew, this one. Arthur thought about this as his hand made contact with some kind of wall. He had never met anyone quite like her. She was brave and tough, even if she didn't always have the bite to go with the bark. The only selfish thing he had seen her do was forge the heart-bond, but the Captain didn't blame her for that. He would have done much worse to get out of the situation she was in.
"Can you tell me about your captain now?" she asked. Her voice echoed. "Or even better, tell me about how you became a pirate!"
"I'm not sure that's a story you want to hear."
"Please. I really need to know, and this darkness is weirding me out. If one of us doesn't talk, I'll go crazy."
Arthur paused. He had been following the wall for some time, but it didn't seem to be leading anywhere. As far as he knew, it might have been leading them in a big circle. With a sigh he kept walking and began to speak.
"I ran away from home not long after my mother left. My father was a drunk and had the largest gambling debt in our town. I left before his problems killed us both." The Captain went silent for a moment. "I stowed away aboard the Queen Lady. I knew when I saw it that it was a pirate ship, and I knew only pirates would take in a runaway."
"Just like Alfred," the mermaid mused. "Looks like it runs in the family." He could practically hear the smile in her voice.
"They found me and let me stay," Captain Kirkland said, ignoring her comment. "From there I worked my way up from the bottom. Christov was there back when old Germania was captain, but I'm the one who promoted him to first mate. Those were the good old days."
"What happened to your old captain?"
"No one's sure. We were out on a raid when things went bad. Most of us made it out alive, but Germania and his first mate weren't one of them. We never found their bodies, so it's hard to say if they died. Some of us thought they used the whole thing as a reason to run away."
"What do you think?"
"Don't know. He was a weird one, the old captain, but he sure knew how to whip them into shape." Arthur sighed wistfully. "I sure do miss that old man sometimes." As he said that, the wall under his hand disappeared. "Hold up." He probed the air with his hands, but there was nothing. "I think there's some kind of exit here."
Just as he said, there was some kind of tunnel leading out of whatever room they had fallen in. Arthur led the way through the tunnel. He couldn't tell if the tunnel was part of the ruins or if it had been made at a later time. It definitely led up though. A faint light appeared further along the tunnel after a while, and the Captain picked up his pace. He was tired of the perpetual darkness and longed for the sun.
The two of them stepped out into another hallway, one that was lit with crude torches attached to the wall. It was not the same passageway with the trap they had fallen in, but it had similar carvings on the walls. The mermaid stepped toward an image with the same cat head from before. Her brows furrowed as she contemplated the carving.
"I've seen this before, I just know it!"
The Captain stood beside her and watched her face. Light from the torches gleamed in her eyes and made her skin seem to glow. "I've never see this before. This whole place is a mystery to me."
"Ooo, this bothers me so much." She crossed her arms and glared at the image as if her gaze could make it spill its secrets. "This is a real stubborn oyster."
"What?"
She turned her eyes toward Arthur. "A stubborn oyster. It's a mermaid expression, so I guess you wouldn't know. It's what we call a tough problem. Is there a human expression for something like that?"
The Captain had to stop to think. "I've heard some people say something about a tough nut to crack, but I don't really say it myself."
"What's a nut?"
"They're seeds that come from trees. They're usually very hard, but good for eating." He looked at her oddly. "You've never heard of nuts before?"
"They kind of sound like these big brown things that we see hanging from palm trees on the beach. What are they called again...coconuts?"
Arthur laughed. "I guess they're a bit like that, but not really." He placed a hand on the mermaid's head. "You really don't know that much about our world, do you, love?"
"I guess not." She smiled and shrugged. "But I'd like to learn."
The Captain raised a brow. "Really? I thought you hated having legs."
Her smile faded. "I did but..." She smiled again. "There's a lot I like about having legs now."
"Such as?"
"Jumping, dancing, climbing with Squeaker, and playing cards with James. I like arm wrestling with Christov and sneaking into the ladder with Peter and Alfred. Most of all...I like being with you." She glanced up at him quickly before looking away.
Arthur was stunned. He knew there was something between them, but he had no idea she felt this way. "So it is you...it's you!"
She looked shocked. "What's me?"
"These feelings. They're yours!" Arthur placed his hand on his chest. "The heart-bond. I've just been feeling your emotions this whole time."
"N-no! No!" Her face shifted to a more frantic expression. "I mean, it's true that I have feelings, but I'm not transferring them to you. At least I don't think I am. You have to believe me."
"How?" Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Mermaids are notorious heartbreakers. How do I know you're not just playing me?"
"I'm not, I swear! You just have to believe me." She stepped closer to him, and he could see tears forming in her eyes.
The Captain didn't know what to think. He felt like he was being torn in half. Part of him was sinking under the weight of his doubt while the other part desperately wanted to reach out and wrap the mermaid up in his arms. He's had a fair share of hurts in his time. There was a scar on his back that went from shoulder blade to opposite hip, and another on his stomach right above his naval. Getting hurt was part of being a pirate, as was hurting others, but as he watched pain swirl in the mermaid's eyes he couldn't bring himself to hurt her. His heart may have been one of the least scarred parts of his body, but he was willing to put that on the line for her.
"Come here." He drew her in and held her tightly in his arms. "It's okay. I believe you. There's no need to cry, love."
"I'm scared, Arthur," she murmured against his chest. "I've never been in love before."
He froze at her words. He wasn't expecting that, nor what came next. She laughed. A real laugh straight from her core. "What's so funny?"
"It feels so much better getting that out there." She peeked up at him with wide, sparkling eyes.
"I suppose it is."
Then Arthur went out on a limb. He kissed her. He didn't know if he felt exactly what she did, but he didn't care. The Captain just wanted to make her smile and keep her smiling. He tangled his hand in the mermaid's hair and trailed his hand down her spine. She gasped. She wasn't the first girl he had kissed, but she was the first one to light a fire in his chest. He couldn't get enough.
He nipped playfully at her bottom lip before demanding entrance with his tongue. She complied, but hesitantly. Arthur smirked against her lips. She was so new to this whole thing, but he didn't mind teaching her. His free hand moved to the mermaid's waist and started to tug at her starched white shirt. It slipped out from where it was tucked into her trousers, and the Captain slowly trailed his fingers across her bare stomach.
"Arthur!" she gasped.
He took the opportunity to attack her lips with new fervor. A grunt lodged in his throat when she nipped roughly at his tongue as it tried to explore. Arthur always did like his girls a little feisty. He moved his free hand to the small of her back and trailed it back up her spine taking her shirt with it. Being a gentleman, he stopped before she became too exposed. She arched against his touch and clutched at the back of his coat as she kissed him back.
Suddenly, there was a faint shuffling, and Arthur froze. The mermaid pulled back and gazed at him questioningly. "What is it?"
"I thought I heard something." He heard the strange sound again only it was from behind them this time. "There."
"Smelling, yes. I smelling something tasty. Long time since people fall in pit. We not have people meat for long time. Only rats. Banksy don't remember the last time Banksy had people meat, kekekeke."
"What is that?" the mermaid whispered in terror.
Arthur paled. "Cannibals."