Beginning of the End
Chapter One
Lily watched with a fascinated horror as the ship went down, the vessel and its captain consumed like fodder by the greedy gut on the kraken. Somewhere between disbelief and anger, the woman bobbed in the water some yards away from the demise of the Black Pearl and its infamous captain, Jack Sparrow. "Heartless…"
She knew better than to finish the muttered curse. It was pointless to state the obvious. Davy Jones was indeed a heartless monster, so it was wasted energy for Lily to state such. With a heavy exhalation of breath, she turned and dove beneath the water, swimming away from the kraken's feasting place.
The deeper she sank beneath the surface of the Caribbean, the cold fingers of sunless ocean depths wrapped more tightly around Lily's skin and scales. Her first thought was to go directly to the Flying Dutchman and confront Captain Jones, but she thought better of it and headed in a far more familiar direction.
The water became murkier as Lily moved further inland, as Caribbean blue became swampy green. Already, Dalma's acolytes were heralding the loss of Captain Jack Sparrow, sinking into the dark waters holding votive candles, paying silent honor to him. Lily slowed her pace to avoid knocking anyone over with the strength of her tail. Reaching the dock to the priestess' house, her head emerged, and a strong hand was offered to help her out.
"Thought ye'd be here sooner rather than later," the gruff voice noted with dark amusement. "Even brought ye somethin' to dry off with."
Once Lily was dragged onto the dock, she took the offered towel and rubbed it on her long, black hair, letting the fabric suck in the water. The process of drying her hair took far longer than it did for her tail to shift into legs. She stood up slowly, without her companion's assistance, and wrapped the towel around her nude body, trapping damp hair against her skin. "Is she going to do anything?"
He rolled a green apple around in his palm, shrugging a shoulder. "Only if they come." A pregnant pause followed, the silence filled only with the man's roguish grin. "Do ye think they will, Lily?"
"Yes!" the mermaid answered emphatically, without even taking a moment to think about her response. Lily frowned deeply at him, especially when that smug show of teeth bit savagely into the apple. "You're an ogre, Hector. An ill-mannered cur of an ogre," she spat before jerking away from him, taking the stairs two at a time.
His laughter followed her into Dalma's abode. Lily didn't look for the woman herself, but instead slipped into the back to rummage through a trunk full of clothes. The wet towel was discarded without concern, and she quickly donned a simple, flowing dress of teal and tan, cinching a belt of gold coins around her waist.
Lily gasped when a hand fell upon her shoulder, turning quickly and ready to punch Hector should he be leering at her, but there was no need. Dalma held out a boned comb to the dark-haired woman. "You wasted no time, Lily," the Voodoun pointed out, a mixture of amusement and sadness in her tone. "Do you plan on bein' here when dey arrive? Hide behind da screen and spy?" The mermaid took the comb, only to have her wrist grabbed by the priestess, and was led to the bed. "Sit. I will fix your hair."
Lily did as she was bidden, showing nothing but reverence to the woman who crawled behind her on the bed, reclaiming the comb to work on the damp, curly locks that framed her lithe body. "I don't know. I hadn't thought about it. I want to hel--…"
"Well, you can't!" Dalma interrupted, pulling on Lily's hair to emphasize that point. "You are lucky I do not prevent you from seein' Captain Jones." In contrast to the rough treatment not seconds ago, now the priestess' fingers were gentle and soothing as they worked out the knots in the ebon tresses.
Lily huffed out a recalcitrant sigh and her fingers knotted in her flimsy skirt. "You couldn't stop me if I truly wanted to. You know that." She peeked over her shoulder at the woman. "But you also know I will not disobey you." She faced forward and began tugging on the fabric that was much stronger than it appeared to be. "What can I do then?"
Dalma didn't answer at first, as if listening for something. She began to hum a tune that Lily knew all too well. She'd heard it here, in this house, from a music box, as well as on the Flying Dutchman from the box's mate. "You can keep Jack company," the Voodoun finally said. "Tell him no'ting, dough. Just…occupy him so he does not get in trouble…again."
"I can't tell him who I am?" Lily inquired with skeptical curiosity, lowering a hand without looking when she felt fur against her ankles. Jack climbed up her arm, over her lap to the other side of the bed. The monkey sat on the edge of the bed, tail wagging behind him, and watched the two women with beady, curious eyes.
"Especially not dat," Dalma admonished, though her tone wasn't as harsh as it had been before. "Jack Sparrow is a fiendish man, even if he is a good one. Da less he know about you, dear girl, da better." The priestess leaned over to pull a ribbon that peeked out from a jewelry box and used it to fashion Lily's hair into a loose ponytail. "Dere. It's done."
Lily rose from the bed, turning to face Dalma, who lounged back on the mattress. "Why does he do it? Why does Captain Jones deny these men their final rest?" When she'd asked the question before, there was accusation in her tone, but not now. The mermaid felt deeply sorry for the mishap captain.
Dalma leaned forward to slip off the bed and stood before Lily. The same height, their eyes met with ease. "He is lonely, child. Lonely and miserable, so he takes his company as he can."
The mermaid frowned, greatly displeased with the answer, but she knew better than to push. "And when will you tell me about the music box? The one Captain Jones has as well?"
Tension registered only briefly in the Voodoun's features, and then she gently held Lily's hands. "When da time is right, Lily. I will tell you how I came into possession of dat lovely trinket, but dat time is not today." She patted the mermaid's cheek softly, a tender smile on her chapped lips. "Go now and fetch Captain Barbossa. I don't want him out and about when Jack's crew arrives."
Lily's nosed wrinkled up. Why she had ever helped bring that man back from World's End, she'd never know. Had Dalma not directly told her to, the mermaid would most certainly have left him there after Barbossa called her 'his scaly siren.' And even now, she didn't want to go get him, but the dark-haired young woman nodded, stepping around Dalma to do as she was requested.
"Yes, Mama. I'll fetch the cur for you."
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