by Ryan Gilbert
“Riggs, why’d you have to get us into this?”
Ororis dropped to her knees and crawled behind a stack of barrels once she heard the voice. Peaking between the barrels, she saw that it was only Eli, talking to himself and too preoccupied with his task to even notice her. If he was all that she needed to get past, it would be easy.
“I just hate this job. Why couldn’t we be fighting fish… or drunks? Both of those would be easier than this.”
Silently, the mermaid crept out from behind the barrels and sneaked towards the unsuspecting pirate.
“I mean, of all the crazy adventures to get into, getting into fire fights with the most dangerous ship on the sea has to be the worst one of all.”
Licking her lips, Ororis was inches away from Eli. She was ready to strike. Her fangs were eager to tear out his throat.
Suddenly, he turned around.
Both Ororis and Eli stared at each other for a quick moment, neither one saying a thing. They just stood there in stunned silence. Both of them were just as surprised as the other. Eli could not help but be frozen in place by the beautiful creature in front of him. It was almost like he was dreaming.
*thwack*
Ororis kicked the pirate in the head, knocking him unconscious before he could say anything. She had expected some sort of resistance from him. Perhaps it was pure terror, but, whatever it was, it made her plan a whole lot easier. Now, all she had to do was find the emerald.
She searched the entire bottom deck, but could not find it. She found a door that would not open, but after a peek through the keyhole, she knew that the emerald was not in there. Captain Riggs was smarter than that. She knew it. Surely, he would have hidden it somewhere safe.
*rustle* *rustle*
On the deck above her, the mermaid heard someone moving. If the crew was back already, she would be in serious danger. There were no portholes out of which she could escape. She was trapped.
Slowly, she made her way to the stairs. Stealing a quick look, she could not see anyone moving around up there. Sticking her head above the wooden boards, she realized that there was only one person: a girl.
Thinking to herself, Ororis remembered her briefly from the battle with the Red Sky. Julia had not seemed like much of a fighter back then, so she would probably be an easy target.
As the mermaid crawled across the floor, she tried to keep pace with Julia. She did not want her to discover Eli’s unconscious body.
Julia seemed almost to be walking faster and faster, like she was nervous about something. Ororis was having a hard time keeping up with her.
Then something caught the mermaid’s eye. There, hanging out of Julia’s pocket, was the necklace. Ororis could almost see the green of the emerald. She yearned to feel her power coming back to her. Not thinking clearly, she stepped out from behind her hiding spot. She just wanted to feel that power running through her body once again.
*creak*
Julia spun around and drew her sword immediately. Her inexperience showed as her hands shook intensely.
“What are you doing here, witch?”
Ororis giggled a little.
“Well, aren’t you the brave one? I think you know why I’m here,” she said, letting her red-eyed gaze fall on the necklace in Julia’s open pocket.
Julia shook her head incessantly.
In a timid voice, she said, “You’re not taking that. I won’t let you.”
She held the sword in front of her with two hands, backing up as the mermaid advanced.
“My dear girl, what makes you think you’ll have a choice?” Ororis laughed.
Taking a chance, the mermaid used some magic to create a sword in her hand. Once she could feel the steel in her palm, she tried to hide her sigh of relief, but it was not the time for relief. It was the time for getting that for which she had come.
Ororis jumped forward, swinging her sword to the side, trying to take off Julia’s head. The girl dodged to the side of a wooden beam, stopping the blade just in time. She tried to strike with her sword, but it was such a flimsy strike that Ororis simply blocked it with her boot.
Julia grabbed onto a stack of barrels and shoved them into the mermaid, but Ororis moved backwards just in time to avoid being crushed. Climbing over the fallen stack, the mermaid swung her sword over her head. Julia blocked the strike and nearly fell to the ground.
“Did the Captain teach you this?” asked Ororis, distracting Julia for a second before snapping her back to the fight with a quick sword thrust.
“As a matter of fact…” Julia started as she blocked the thrust.
Hissing in frustration, Ororis swung her sword at the girl’s feet, but Julia jumped over the swipe.
“… he did,” she finished, slashing at her assailant once more.
Julia was quickly gaining confidence in her fighting skills, a good thing for her, but a bad thing for Ororis. As the swords kept flying, the mermaid wracked her brain to try to find a way to beat the girl.
She swung her sword at Julia’s legs again. Just as she thought, the girl jumped. Instead of striking with the sword again, Ororis used her momentum to spin around and sweep Julia’s feet out from under her. Caught off-guard, Julia fell and cracked her head off the ground. The mermaid kicked the girl’s sword into a corner and held her own weapon against the girl’s throat. Julia was as good as dead.
Holding her head, she scooted away from the cold steel, but Ororis was only a step away. Julia was in too much pain to stop her, no matter how hard she tried. The mermaid reached down, scooped the necklace out of the girl’s pocket, and pulled it away from her.
“I told you that you wouldn’t have a choice,” bragged Ororis, placing the emerald around her neck.
Julia could barely focus enough to see.
“Now, you pathetic human… prepare to die,” said Ororis, raising her sword high.
BANG
A shot rang out and Ororis’s sword flew out of her hand. She had been so preoccupied with Julia that she had not noticed the noises getting louder above her head as the crew returned. Riggs stood at the stairs, holding a pistol with a smoking barrel. He did not look like he was in the mood for joking.
“Ye better be glad I missed, Ororis. Next time, it’ll be your head,” he said.
Ororis laughed, “You’re too late, Captain Riggs. I’ve won.”
Riggs leapt down the last couple stairs as Ororis ran to one of the portholes. She leapt through the hole just before Riggs could catch her. The only thing he could do was watch as the water settled where she had landed.
Turning his attention to Julia, he tried to help her to her feet, but she begged him to let her stay sitting. Her head still hurt a lot. Gingerly, Riggs felt the back of her head. There was no blood, just a bump, thankfully.
“I’m sorry, Riggs. I really tried to stop her. I thought I could…” she said, starting to cry.
“Shush shush shush… ye don’t need to be sorry. Be glad you’re not dead.”
“That’s just it, Riggs.”
“What is?”
A single tear ran down her cheek.
“She has the emerald, Riggs. We’re all going to die.”
Riggs’ first instinct would usually be to immediately ask again to make sure that he heard correctly. For some reason, he did not. Looking through the porthole once more, the Captain realized there was nothing else that they could do except pursue the inevitable.
“C’mon, love… we’ve got to get you to Doc.”
“But… the emerald…”
Helping her to her feet, Riggs said, “It’s gone. There’s nothin’ we can do to change that. Now grab on to me and I’ll get ye up onto the main deck.”
Slowly but surely, the two of them made it up the stairs. Julia’s head was still pounding, but the pain was starting to diminish. Riggs had Petey search the ship for Eli to make sure that he was still there.
Clint rushed up to the two and asked, “What was all o’ that commotion? It sounded like ye shot s
omeone, Captain.”
“No, I missed.”
“Well… who was it?” asked the confused navigator.
“It was Ororis… and the emerald’s with her.”
“The emerald’s where?” asked Clint, his mouth hanging open in shock.
The entire crew listened as Riggs explained the situation once more. They did not want to believe what they were hearing. Ororis had possession of the emerald? That spelled bad news for the pirates.
“What’re we goin’ to do, Captain?”
Leaving Julia in Doc’s care, Riggs said, “The same as we were goin’ to do before… fight.”
Clint began to speak, but Riggs hushed him and continued with what he was saying.
“Mates, we have the most dangerous ship on the entire sea. Even the Navy’s said so.”
“But ain’t the Black Fog the most feared?” asked Petey.
“Times have changed, Petey. Ships change. When all of you were servin’ under Captain Richardson, would any of ye have thought that the Red Sky would be anythin’ more than a pathetic hunk of wood?”
The crew shook their heads.
“Under Richardson, would ye have ever seen yerselves gettin’ this much accomplished? We’ve sailed through black waters. We’ve fought ghosts and mermaids. We’ve even escaped the English Navy.”
The crew nodded.
“Ye don’t want to be known as cowards, now do ye?”
The crew shook their heads.
“Now is not the time fer runnin’. It’s the time fer fightin’.”
Clint threw his hands up in the air in resignation.
“Why does it always have to be us?”
Riggs heard him and said, “Because we’re the only ones that can. We’re the only ones bold enough and crazy enough to actually be a threat to Ororis. We unleashed her evil on the world, so it’s only fittin’ that we should be the ones to put a stop to it. It’s the right thing to do.”
Laughing broke out amongst some of the crew. Garrett strode forward with a conniving look on his face, accompanied by a sarcastic grin.
“The right thing, Captain? Ain’t we pirates? We ain’t bound by rules, much less by what’s right or wrong.”
Meeting Garrett’s intense stare, Riggs said, “You’re right. We are pirates, and we don’t have rules…”
Garrett nodded his approval, and some of his former crew went along with him.
“… but I have somethin’ that has more power than any rules. I have a heart… an actual lovin’ heart… and it’s tellin’ me that I have to do this.”
Standing on the steps to the helm, Riggs looked out over his entire crew. Most looked enthused. Some, like Ripper, looked like they wanted to fight. Most of all, they looked ready.
“Do we accept the fate that awaits us?” shouted Riggs.
With some hesitation, the crew said, “Aye.”
“Are ye goin’ to be remembered as bold and fierce?”
“Aye!”
The hesitation was becoming less and less.
“Are ye ready to sail to yer true notoriety? Ready to live on forever in the history of the sea?”
“AYE!” the crew shouted instantly.
“Then hoist the anchor and prepare to set sail.”
The gangplank was pulled onto the ship and the ropes tethering the Red Sky securely to the docks were untied. The anchor was hanging onto the side of the pirate ship in no time. Wind gushed into the red sails, pushing the terrific vessel away from Rebelde.
“Hoist the skull and crossbones, ye scurvy mongrels.”
The iconic pirate flag flew atop the ship, its tattered cloth flapping in the ocean breeze. The white bones grabbed one’s attention. For some, it was terror. For the pirates, and now even for Julia, the flag gave them a sense of pride and hope.
Grabbing the wheel, Riggs spun the Red Sky out to the open sea. He knew that the odds were in Ororis’s favor. He knew that she had nearly caused the destruction of all sea-faring people. He knew that she had no qualms about killing anyone or anything to achieve total control of the seas.
He also knew that it was his duty to stop her.
His hands gripping the wood of the wheel, Riggs did not feel scared. In fact, he felt calm. He had something for which to fight, and that was the lives of everyone who sailed the seven seas. As the wind blew against his face, he stuck his hat on his head and sang a song to himself.
“Give me the sea;
Give me the wind.
Give me a ship
To plunder the land.
Steal and lie;
Steal and lie;
There are no rules,
But you will not die.
Raise the skull and crossbones;
Bring fear into a man’s soul.
Shoot and loot, steal his gold;
Send him down to the depths below.
Swords and pistols,
We prefer.
Mermaid magic,
Don’t deter.
This feeling is true;
Something no treasure can buy.
Drink up, mangy dogs;
For today, we cannot die.”
Ororis finally made it back to the Black Fog after a couple hours of swimming. She could almost feel the power running through her body already. It would feel so good to be reunited with her magic once more.
The crew helped her onto the deck and waited for a report. When they saw the necklace and the green emerald around her neck, they did not need one.
“Does this mean that you’ll turn us immortal now?” asked one of the sailors, daring to step forward and ask her what all of the crew was thinking.
Her red eyes darted to him and held him in her entrancing gaze. None of the men could tell what she was going to do. She had an unpredictable, sinister air about her. She seemed even more evil than before.
“Be patient. In time, I will give you eternal life… but not now.”
The crew’s tempers started to rise.
“But ye said that once ye got the emerald, ye would make us…”
She cut them off, saying, “I’m changing my agreement with you, and you better hope that I don’t decide to change my mind completely.”
That caused the crew to become quiet instantly.
“Once we destroy the Red Sky and that meddling band of pirates, I will give you your immortality. Until then, you must do my bidding.”
“As you wish, ma’am,” the sailors sighed.
Ororis held the emerald in her hand, and it started to glow once again. At first, it was a faint green light, but then it grew brighter and brighter. None of her crew knew what to expect. They had no control of the situation and were unsure of what would happen. They were scared.
The mermaid looked to the sky and shouted, “Restituere postetatem magicae ut me.”
Her eyes rolled back into her head as the words rolled off her tongue. The water around the ship began to swirl and the entire Black Fog began to shake. Waves crashing against the hull began to turn black once Ororis finished the first verse of her spell.
“Vindictis mare habe.”
Red, purple, green, and black mist surrounded the mermaid as her crew watched. The sky grew dark as the clouds blocked out the sun. Lightning lit up the sky repeatedly, frightening the sailors and threatening to set the ship on fire.
“Regnabunt mortae vivent.”
A green ball of light began to grow inside the colorful mists. None of the sailors could even guess at what it was. It grew larger with every second. Soon, it was encompassing nearly the entire ship. The water underneath the ship looked as though it was boiling. Steam was rising up the side of the ship like little, white tentacles.
“Morte illis opposuerunt me.”
Multiple bolts of lightning flew from the mermaid’s hands. The sailors had to leap out of the way as the lightning struck the deck, the sea, and even some men, knocking them to the ground. The wind began to grow increasingly harsh. All of the men had to grab on to something just to stand upright
. Those who did not grab on to something were thrown around like ragdolls.
Just as everything was reaching a crescendo, the sailors heard Ororis shout something from within the storm.
“Creatures of the sea, give me the power that was taken from me. Let me rain down vengeance on those who dare to question my rule. Allow me to wipe them from the face of the earth, and I will accomplish the greatest feat anyone could have ever dreamed of…”
The green glow turned to a blinding white. The Black Fog was spinning in the water. Lightning was spiraling across the sky, mixing with the gray clouds. Black water was pouring over the sides of the ship as the wind formed spouts of water all around the ship.
“… total control of the sea!”
Everything blasted away from Ororis. The force knocked all of the sailors off of their feet. Some even flew so far that they landed in the ocean. The wood of the ship cracked and splintered, causing many of the men to think that they were sinking.
All of a sudden, the mist stopped swirling around the mermaid and slowly began to disperse. The lightning ceased and the clouds returned to their usual shapes. The water stopped boiling and became calm once again.
As the sailors climbed to their feet, they saw the mermaid, standing right in the middle of the deck. Her black and red-streaked hair draped in front of her face, blocking her features from the men. With no clue of what to expect, they cautiously moved closer.
“Ororis? Are you alright?”
She did not answer, but instead stood perfectly still.
“Do you have your powers back?”
Again, she did not answer.
One of the men stood right in front of her and asked, “Do you have your magic now?”
In the blink of an eye, Ororis tossed her hair back and stared straight at the man. The red in her eyes glowed brightly and sparks dripped from her fingertips. Her tattoo of the sea serpent seemed to be floating above her pale, white skin. Her hands seemed like they were about to explode with fire.
She grabbed the man by the neck and hissed, “Does it look like I have my powers back? Does it?”
Tossing the man to the ground, she shouted, “Acer Morte.”