Well, here I am starting another story. I didn't abandon my others, I promise! I wasn't going to start this until I finished something, but I don't currently have my others with me and I was feeling inspired so...here it is! As to why I'm writing a Beauty and the Beast story with pirates, well...it had it coming. And I have lately acquired a bit of an obsession with sailing and pirates and such. So enjoy!

Prologue

A soft wind shuddered over the waters, rippling in darker waves across the pale blue surface. Abruptly it stopped, dying out as a flame doused with water as it reached a veil of mist, hovering in a wide circle over the open sea. It was quiet, still and thick, like a curtain drawn closed, blocking out a scene not meant for prying eyes.

A white, incandescent moon shone from above, penetrating into the wall of mist in one streak of luminescent light. All it found there was nothing. Nothing but more water and more sea, though an eerie silence seemed to rest over the place. There were no sounds of waves splashing or of gulls still sweeping over the twilight laden ocean in their search for fish to quench a never ceasing hunger. There was only quiet, deafening quiet.

The water stirred. First a slight bubbling, then a loud splash as a figure emerged, bursting out of the water, throwing back a net of pale, silvery wet hair, leaving exposed a shapely figure of smooth, nearly translucent skin. She glanced around her, her wide eyes wandering slowly over the flat water and through the mist that shrouded all sight, though she seemed to look through it to lay beyond. A smile curled onto her perfect lips, a smile so sweet, but danger lurked behind her dark, glinting blue eyes.

Beside her, there were two more splashes as water sprang upward and two more beings rose from the water on either side of her. They were as beautiful as she; their hair, one black as night and the other white as the glowing moon, fell down their sides, framing their faces, then billowing out, surrounding them as it flowed out, resting atop the shimmering water

"Will he come?" the dark-haired one turned her head gracefully towards the center, questioning in a voice that rang of the sea, yet it was barely above a whisper, the first sound since the splash of their rise to the surface.

The white-haired turned as well, doubt displayed clearly on her delicate features.

"He'll come," the first answered assuredly without glancing at either. "I can feel it. He is drawn to me. He is marked."

The others said no more and she smiled again to herself. Yes, he would come. He belonged to her now. The thoughts were sweet in her mind, like honey to a bee, irresistible. She had his heart and his mind, and soon enough he would grow weak and then, then she would have his soul. Until then she would wait.

All around there were splashes as water sprang up from the sea and with it her sisters, the sirens, come to gain their souls at last. Finally the splashes quieted and the sea was still again. They waited silently, not speaking, not moving, barely even breathing. They were scattered all through the mist in a formation of lines, staring aloofly ahead, each beautiful and each deadly.

The calm was shattered with the blare of cannons being shot and propelled into something, of wood splintering into pieces, of men screaming for their lives.

The silver-haired closed her eyes, seeing the scene in her mind. Two ships, one small, narrow, it wouldn't withstand the fight; the other much larger and firing at the other—hard. A galleon, his ship. Yes, he'd come at last.

She opened her eyes and the scene was in front of her. The ships had entered into the mist, though they were still some ways away. Their outlines could be seen, dark, against the silvery-grey mist that seemed to swirl with figures of fancy dancing through it. The ships moved closer. They could be seen clearly now. The smaller was shrouded in smoke and fire. The other's cannons were out and were blasting into the smaller. The unfortunate ship had nowhere to go but straight to them, the sirens. They were waiting for them.

There was a lull in the noise. The cannons had stopped. The smaller ship knew it was lost; it would soon start sinking and they would be lost. The sirens glanced at each other. Now was their time.

They all looked forward again, raising their heads high into the air, taking a deep breath and opening their mouths. The song that followed was sweet and enchanting, harmonious and captivating. It was the song of the sea, of the deep, of all that had pulled on the hearts of these sailors to lead them to their ships and to the high waves of the sea. It was the song of everything they loved, everything they cared for, their own personal freedom emanated in the form of fair maidens singing sweetly to them, calming them in their panic of death.

The sailors soon appeared on the smaller ship. The smoke was clearing and they came, one and all, to behold the enticing creatures with their voices like angels. They appeared on the deck, practically hanging over the rail, trying to gain a better view of these beautiful creatures.

The sirens swam closer, gliding through the water as birds through the air, til they were almost directly beneath the ship, singing their sweet serenade all the while.

The first, the silver-haired, watched her sisters float past her, but she did not follow. She could wait for her soul. Instead she swam to the other vessel. She waited beneath it, just where he would be able to see her best. She sang solo now, apart from her sisters, a different song, a song of love, to remind him of his love for her, of her love for him.

He came finally, pacing across the deck to her, his brows etched in a deep frown. A black bandanna was tied around his head, nearly matching his unruly dark hair, and a round, black eye patch covered his right eye. She knew why.

"You sing lies!" he accused loudly, pounding his tan hands onto the rail and leaning over it slightly to glare at her all the better. "You care nothing for me. You have no heart, no soul."

She ceased her singing and merely gazed upward at him. "You knew that from the beginning," she said softly, simply. She watched him a moment longer, then started singing again. It had a sadder sound now, a mourning sound, just for him. A song of all he'd lost, but it could be better if he would just forget it all and come to the sea, come to her. Come.

She watched him stare at her, watched his eyes soften, losing their hard bitterness. She gave a seductive smile and reached one hand out of the water, outstretched to him.

He leaned forward, then back, gripping the rail hard. His knuckles were turning white with the effort. One hand darted into the pocket of his coat, black, like everything else he wore. "No!" he shouted, gripping a stack of papers, holding them far above his head. "I'm not yours, you won't have my soul, not now, not ever! I listen to the song of the winds, not your song."

She settled back into the water, slightly disappointed, but she had known he wouldn't come. Not yet. "Guard them carefully, then," she spoke. "Each one you lose brings you closer to me."

There were splashes nearby as her sisters' song continued. She glanced at the other ship. The sailors were in a trance and practically leaping off the ship to be with her sisters. They would follow them into the deep no doubt, and there they would die, gasping for air, with none to be found. They would know better than to follow a siren, but it would be too late. Her sisters would get what they wanted. She turned away from the galleon, ready to return to the depths, until another time.

"CĂ©leste, wait!"

She glanced backward, amused that he still called her that, the name she'd given him when she'd met him first, when he'd been so entranced with her. It wasn't her real name. She had no name, no soul, he'd said so himself. She was Siren. That was all.

"Is there anything, anything at all that can free me?"

She studied him for a moment. He was so headstrong, so desperate. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost, but not. Did he really think she would give him an answer? It would be folly, to tell him how to get out of her own curse. He couldn't have expected an answer, but she would surprise. "Find the ninth true wind, to complete your compass rose."

She watched the confusion grow on his face, before flicking her strong fin and diving back down, down to her home in the deep dark.