Kaden looked from Katarina to Arabella who was now surrounded by Ashik, Damien and Jarrus. Arabella didn’t meet his gaze; instead, she pinned her eyes on Katarina who trembled beneath her stare. Kaden frowned before he moved to block Arabella’s view of Katarina. She finally pulled her green eyes from Katarina and they landed on Kaden’s determined features. She frowned.
“I want you off of my ship.” Kaden suddenly declared. Damien’s eyes widened as Ashik did the same thing. Jarrus turned swiftly and limped toward him. His face told Kaden that the old pirate was instantly against the idea. Arabella was silent as she met Kaden’s determined gaze. Katarina stood behind him, looking somewhat triumphant. Kaden waited for Arabella’s response. He expected anger.
“Fine, but I am taking Damien and Ashik with me.” Arabella agreed simply as she turned to leave.
“Bella!” Damien objected instantly. He reached his hand out to grip Arabella’s arm to stop her, but she snatch it out of his grasp.
“Bells, what the ‘ell are ya doin’ girl?” Jarrus asked as he turned to Arabella in surprise. Arabella sighed.
“I only have one goal: kill the witch. It is clear that Lockes’ priorities have shifted. If he truly wishes for me to leave the ship, then I do not need him.” Arabella replied easily. Jarrus and the others stared at her in shock. Even Kaden’s eyes were wide. She was being far too easy. It was unsettling, but Kaden didn’t let up. Something wouldn’t let him.
“Why not take Jarrus with you?” Kaden questioned.
“Calypso was, is, and always will be Jarrus’s ship. I refuse to take him away from it.” Arabella answered as Katarina scoffed at her words. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at Arabella’s back.
“Bella, we can’t just…” Damien started but Arabella was quick to cut him off with a single look.
“We can and we will. Ashik, change forms.” Arabella ordered as Ashik bowed his head before he turned to the edge and dove off of the side. There was no pleading. No threats. No last minute goodbyes. The moment Ashik’s large, reptilian head appeared next the ship Arabella grabbed her brother and jumped onto his crown. And then they were gone. Kaden felt oddly empty. He expected a fight. He expected something other than what had gone down. The crew was silent as Jarrus clenched his fists at his sides and turned to Kaden. Absolute fury darkened his features.
“What is wrong with you boy?”
“It’s not like she was important!” Katarina replied heatedly as she moved to stand in front of Kaden. She wore a triumphant grin as Jarrus suddenly grabbed her throat. She let out a squeak of fear.
“You are not important, you ignorant whelp. And you’d realize that Lockes if you weren’t being bedeviled by this harlot!” Jarrus growled. Katarina’s eyes widened as Kaden pulled her out of Jarrus’s grip. The old man scoffed before limping away, pushing stunned crewmen out of his path. No one said a word.
Katarina felt immeasurable pride at the pull she had over the men that now surrounded her. Well, every man except the old captain who glowered and scoffed every time he saw her. Maybe she could get rid of him next. She didn’t have a lot of time to plan Jarrus’s removal before Maera’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
Is she gone?
“Oh yes! Maera, it was amazing. You should’ve seen the depressing look she wore!” Katarina replied aloud even though her conversation was mental. There was no one around her and she was too happy to care. She was free of Arabella Cartridge and her unwilling brother and ward. Now she had Kaden all to herself.
No fight?
“No! Kaden put his foot down and she just left! She must’ve realized how much he loved me more than her!” Katarina answered gleefully.
And you’re sure she’s gone?
“Yes! She’s been gone for days!” Katarina exclaimed easily. She heard a chuckle echo through her body and she frowned.
I suppose it’s safe to visit this beau of yours then. Maera suggested. Katarina’s frown disappeared as she grinned brightly.
“Please do! You’ll love him.”
***
While Katarina gloated and preened, she failed to notice a very large, serpent shadow following the ship.
Arabella and Damien sat safely inside of an air bubble Ashik created on the top of his large crown. Luckily, according to Damien, they wouldn’t die from starvation or dehydration because Arabella and Ashik could cook any nearby fish and desalt the ocean. Ashik didn’t bother to mention he could simply drink the salt water and eat the fish raw, and Arabella didn’t bother to remind her brother that she couldn’t die.
“Why did we leave so easily?” Damien grumbled as he sat next to Arabella. The wonder of swimming underwater without the threat of drowning had worn away and all Damien was left with was utter boredom. Arabella turned to her impatient brother.
“That girl isn’t using magic knowingly. If she believes that the threats are gone, she’ll slip up and lead us to whoever gave her magic,” Arabella explained for the third time. Damien frowned as he lifted and dropped his shoulders in an expression of frustration. Arabella ignored him as she lightly ran her hand along one of Ashik’s scales.
Yes, little one?
Let us know when you get tired. We can camp on a nearby island, if necessary.
“Are you guys having a secret conversation without me?”
I worry for him.
You are not the only one.
“Come on, you two! Don’t have secret conversations without me! It’s not fair!” Damien remarked dejected as he let his shoulders droop. Arabella rolled her eyes.
“Damien had I known you were going to be so annoying, I would’ve left you aboard the ship with Jarrus.” Arabella threatened as Damien shook his head quickly.
“No. I definitely would’ve shot that idiot girl,” Damien replied as Ashik’s body shook with his laughter. Damien gripped the scales beneath him as Arabella sighed. Suddenly, Arabella stood up and turned to face a random area of water. Damien frowned as he felt Ashik tense and pull his scales tight against his body. Damien barely had time to remove his fingers.
“What? What is it?”
“Mermaids. Damn it. Ashik, pull back.” Arabella ordered as Damien quickly climbed to his feet. Ashik did as Arabella commanded and stopped dead in the water.
“Why are we stopping?”
“I need to see if the mermaids are just flocking to the ship because they’re hungry or if something else is leading them there,” Arabella explained. Damien’s eyes widened. He had never seen a true mermaid. He had heard tales of their beauty, but he knew they were deadly creatures. Ashik growled and the sound rumbled through his entire body. Arabella crouched down before she grabbed Damien’s sleeve and dragged him down into the same position.
“Do not move,” she whispered as Damien nodded his head before a sharp look from Arabella stopped him. He sat frozen as almost two dozen horrible creatures shot past them, unaware of their presence. Damien’s eyes widened as one finally slowed down to the point where he could make out its features. He felt his heart drop to his stomach as cold fear consumed him.
This creature was no beauty and it looked like it had survived countless battles against struggling sailors. Since the creature was alive, Damien assumed the sailors lost. Almost as if sensing his stare, the creature turned and pinned its cold dead eyes on Damien. He held his breath until the creature took off after the rest of the group. Damien shuddered as he exhaled and turned his head to look at his sister.
“What was that?” He whispered desperately as he attempted to calm his nerves. Arabella tilted her head to look at him with a frown.
“Mermaids.” She answered. Damien scoffed as he shook his head.
“No! That was not a mermaid!”
“Yes it was. Mermaid songs have a hypnotic effect. When they sing, their victims don’t actually see their true faces. They see the face they are most attracted to. It is what makes them so deadly, Damien,” Arabella explained as she slowly stood erect. Damien followed after her when he was sure his knees wouldn’t collapse from beneath him.
Follow them, Ashik.
Yes, little one.
Damien looked up when he heard soft voice echo through the water and pierce his heart. He didn’t notice himself walking to the edge of the air bubble until Arabella wrapped her hands around his ears and blocked out the sound.
“You don’t want to do that, brother,” she warned as she started to stuff his ears with pieces of fabric she tore from the sleeves of her shirt. Damien stared at her as the angelic sound from before became muffled and his will returned to him.
“Why doesn’t it affect you?” He grumbled as he picked at the excess fabric that hung out of his ears. Arabella shrugged.
“I am a woman. Plus, their magic is not strong enough to affect me.” Arabella explained as if it were common knowledge. Damien grumbled something about her being a know-it-all as he looked out into the dark ocean and frowned when he couldn’t see the mermaids or Calypso’s Fall anymore.
“Lockes is going to be angry when he realizes we’ve been following them,” Arabella mumbled to herself as she unsheathed her cutlass and looked at Damien in a way that told him to do the same. When he followed her actions, she smirked.
“After them, Ashik.”
***
Without Katarina to distract him, Kaden felt an emptiness like nothing else take hold as he stood alone in his cabin. In the days following Arabella’s banishment, Kaden noticed the only people who cared were Jarrus who refused to speak to him and he, himself. Not even Cook seemed to worry about where the dark haired woman had gone.
Had she gone after the witch with just the Leviathan and her brother?
Probably.
What would she do after she got her heart back?
Would she return to Calypso’s Fall and try to make nice?
What need would she have to return to his side? He has chosen another and basically expelled her from his life. He would probably never see Arabella Cartridge again.
A pang of guilt and pain swept through his chest at the thought. He had sworn to stand at her side and help her retrieve her heart. Yet, he had cast her aside all because some woman begged him to.
What the hell was wrong with him?
“Kaden?” Katarina’s soft voice brought Kaden away from his thoughts as he turned to look at the smiling woman. As soon as his eyes met hers, all thoughts of Arabella Cartridge dissipated and a stupid grin stretched across his face.
“Kat,” he greeted idiotically.
“Why are you hiding away in here?”
“I wasn’t hiding. I was planning our course. Without Bella, we’ll have to navigate ourselves,” Kaden replied truthfully. Katarina’s eyes darkened at the mention of Arabella but Kaden didn’t notice. However, before she could say anything, repeated dull thuds resounded from the hull and hauntingly beautiful voices echoed from outside of the room. Katarina frowned as Kaden started to head toward the door.
The two of them stepped out the captain’s quarters and were met with men running over each other to get into the long boats or to get below deck. Kaden frowned as he moved to look over the edge to see what had his men so frantic.
Upon one summer's morning, I carelessly did stray,*
Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay,
Conversing with a bouncing lass, who seem'd to be in pain,
Saying, William, when you go, I fear you will ne'er return again.
Kaden froze when he heard the beautiful voices echoing from the sea. Something pulled him from Katarina’s side and lulled him to the railing. He looked down and green eyes were mirrored back at him. His eyes widened when he caught sight of a woman with an uncanny resemblance to his exiled first mate.
His hair it does in ringlets hang, his eyes as black as coal,*
May happiness attend him wherever he goes,
From Tower Hill, down to Blackwall, I will wander, weep and moan,
All for my jolly sailor bold, until he does return.
“Kaden!” Katarina’s cry went unheard as Kaden leaned over the railing to get a better looking at the beauty staring up at him. Suddenly the beautiful song was interrupted by an ear-splitting screech and a man’s shout of pain. Almost as if a fog was lifted, Kaden shook his head and looked down to see the creature’s true form. His eyes widened when he saw it was nothing like it had been and was simply a grotesque monster with serrated fangs exposed at him in a feral hiss.
____________________________________________________________
*Jolly Sailor Bold- JSB is a sea shanty originating in the 1780s/1790s in England. It is thought to be an English rip-off of an old Irish folksong "Banks of Claudy". Also I didn't use the entire song in the chapter, but the video at the side does sing the entire shanty! :D
So it's not just a song from a Disney movie, haha.