REVISED VERSION
First of all, thank you to all the readers of this story! I must say I was overwhelmed to see the response I got for this story. I had never had so many reviews or story alerts in such a short amount of time. I guess this means Philip and Syrena are receiving the love they deserve from us fans! And again, thank you :)
Secondly, I added a couple of scenes of my own imagination and it definitely contains spoilers, so in case you haven't seen the film yet, you might want to think twice before you read this.
For the When you believe followers, I'm working on the next chapter and it will be posted once I finish this story (It's going to be 4 or 5 chapters at the most). Maybe I'll post it sooner. Thank you for your patience :)
Hope you like it!
Chapter II
"Tear"
"Philip"
He raised his head and looked at Syrena.
"Thank you" she finished, in her usual quiet voice.
The missionary lowered his head again to continue the task at hand. He was bandaging with a strip of cloth the mermaid's left foot, the one he injured with a sword.
"Don't thank me" he spoke, not daring to look into her eyes, finishing to tie the fabric "It's the least I could do for wounding your foot… or fin"
Syrena smiled at his awkwardness and was pleased to see Philip's job was almost done. He had convinced her to bandage the injury to prevent some infection and she gave in to his request. The mermaid was beginning to trust that man sooner than she had expected, but he had definitely earned her trust.
She couldn't deny she hat hated him for a moment when they first met. She had saved his life back at Whitecap Bay and he had attacked her right after it. Such a common behavior from a human, after all. The pirates had taken her captive because of that man's fault. The mermaid had seen something in him worth saving and he had turned out to be just like all the rest. Until he proved her wrong. Amongst those pirates Philip was the only one who cared for her well-being, who showed kindness and compassion. There was no way she could continue to hate him after what he had done for her until then.
"All set" Philip smiled, as he tied a small knot to secure the cloth
"Move! We must not waste more time!" an angry Blackbeard shouted "Cleric, stop playing around with your fish and move! If we lose more time, by my daughter's soul, I will take your years when we reach the Fountain!"
Syrena's blissful mood was gone in a second. Those beautiful eyes of hers were now looking daggers at the captain of the crew. Philip's face mirrored her own and he cursed under his breath as he picked the girl up and cupped her in his arms as he had done before.
They followed the rest of the pirates as they crossed a narrow river which was not very deep, reaching barely Philip's thighs. The water was crystal clear and it flowed calmly around him.
The missionary's heart almost shattered as he saw Syrena's expression. She missed the water. She wanted to jump from his arms and flow with the river just as she did in the ocean. The longing was noticeable in her face, her body claimed to swim again, her legs wanted to become a tail once more.
The only thing she did was lower one hand and caress the surface of the water with the tip of her fingers as Philip continued to walk through the flowing water. For an instant her hand acquired small scales here and there, but as soon as he lifted her hand, they disappeared.
"You miss your home" Philip stated more than asked, as it was his intention.
"Everybody misses one's home when taken away from it" Syrena responded sadly.
"If I could help you escape without getting us both killed, I promise you that I would"
"I know"
During the nights Philip made sure Syrena was resting near him or at least within his sight. It was a dangerous environment the one she found herself in, being surrounded by pirates, wicked members of Blackbeard's crew. Her astounding beauty was for once not a trap to lure men towards her, but a trap for herself. He was well aware that underneath the icy glances the pirates gave her, thinking of her as an animal, or a creature as Blackbeard insisted on calling her, there was a hint of lust for her as well. Who wouldn't desire such a beautiful woman after all?
The missionary knew he wouldn't ever forgive himself if one of the men did anything to harm her. Syrena was trapped with them because of him; he wouldn't allow any more damage be done to her. That was the reason he was her constant guardian, during the day, but mostly during the night.
Philip was especially aware that Scrum kept his distance from her. Ever since the poor sailor had been enchanted by Tamara's looks and melodious voice, Scrum couldn't keep mermaids out of his head and he insisted on getting a kiss from one. Syrena was the only mermaid around so…
Every now and then, Philip would look to his right, where the girl laid on the ground a few meters away, sleeping peacefully to make sure she was alright. She seemed fine and that relieved him.
He took out his Bible and with the dim light of the fire the missionary began to read an excerpt of it. In times like those, where he felt alone and lost, like he didn't belong (because that was for sure, he did not belong with those pirates), he tried to find comfort in God, praying to Him or reading about His wonders in the world of men.
But truth be told, at that moment he found comfort only in Syrena. Somehow he could identify himself with her. Maybe it was that compassion and kindness she had showed to him. From all the men they were surrounded with, him and her seemed to be the only ones who were able to show some. Or maybe it was because he felt equal to her, since neither of them belonged there. They were strangers amongst ruthless men. Philip felt they were somehow bonded by that.
The missionary closed his Bible and laid it next to him. Again he turned to watch the mermaid and this time he noticed she was shivering. Slightly, but the trembling was still noticeable.
He stood up and walked towards her. It was almost impossible that she wouldn't be cold, the only thing she was wearing was his white shirt and it didn't even cover her legs. Philip wished he had something else to cover her with, but he knew his vest wouldn't suffice even if he used it to protect her from the night's chilly air.
If she slept near to the fire she would be warm enough. He had been sitting near it just moments ago and he found the temperature to be quite pleasant. Yes, she would sleep more comfortably there.
"Philip?" she whispered, still half asleep as the missionary was carrying her to take her near the fire.
"I noticed you were cold" her lips seemed to be slightly purple and her hands felt like ice "I'll just take you near the fire"
"No!" something immediately snapped in her. Her sleepiness was gone and she seemed terrified out of the sudden. "No, no fire"
He felt her body tense in his arms, she clutched his vest with her hands and the worried look on her face was enough to make Philip remember the way all the mermaids had swum away from the fire back at Whitecap Bay.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he whispered swiftly "I forgot, I'm sorry"
Syrena only nodded and he saw how she slowly began to relax again, but still she was shivering. He preferred to think it was still from the cold and not from the huge fright she had felt because of him.
"You're still cold?"
"Yes"
So the fire wasn't an option. What else could he do?
"But you are warm…" she whispered softly.
Philip put her down on the ground and he laid next to her. His arms went around her body, to embrace her, his own body heat was to help her warm up. She coiled up, and the missionary couldn't help but smile as she snuggled next to him.
Philip was shocked by the gloominess of the place they arrived. It was already night, it was cold and foggy, but what was horrible about that place were the various corpses of mermaids tied to tree roots next to some pools of water. There were nothing but bones, and the suffering they had endured was still present in that place.
He was carrying Syrena as they arrived there and out of instinct he held the girl closer to him, and his grip around her body tightened, trying to protect her. But his efforts were useless; the Quartermaster took the mermaid from his arms, and carried her to one of the pools, as other zombies restrained him from following her.
The lower part of her body changed into a fish's tail as it entered the water. The Quartermaster didn't let go of her yet. Those ponds were very deep as Blackbeard was saying and she could easily swim away.
"Your sisters were harvested for their tears" the captain spoke in an almost teasing tone as he looked around, watching the dead mermaids. His gaze, then, locked on the mermaid "Syrena, won't you cry?"
"All die, even you!" was her response. It was the first time Philip saw Syrena defying someone; she was being stronger, and less afraid than she usually was. No wonder the sight of her sister's corpses had affected her. He could sense a blend of anger and hate in her voice "Soon, I hear" she added, being her the one who teased Blackbeard this time.
"Listen…" Syrena turned her head from him as Blackbeard spoke. He moved quickly towards her and took her face violently with one hand "Listen! Can you not hear your sisters scream? Do you not hear them?"
She stared into his eyes, her own colder than even and her breathing becoming faster as she tried to keep her anger from escaping.
"We need but one tear" Blackbeard spoke as if trying to convince her. Her response was to hiss at him and her fangs were shown for the first time, making him let go of her face "Vile creature!"
"Chop off her fingers one by one!" the Quartermaster shouted.
"Take all the tears from behind her eyes!" a zombie, Gunner, yelled, craving to take out the mermaid's eyes himself.
Philip finally managed to free himself from his captors' hands and approached Angelica in desperation "Where's your voice in this?" he told her, expecting to see a little more of the mercy she had shown to him before.
"Maybe she'll have a change of heart when the sun rises" the woman spoke to her father, ignoring the clergyman's plead.
"Aye" Blackbeard reflected "She will burn but I cannot wait for the sun. Perhaps we should make a fire"
"No!" Philip immediately shouted. He had seen once Syrena's fear to fire and now they wanted to use it to burn her like the sun would have done if it had been up in the sky. He would not allow them to harm her in any way "You will not torture her!"
"Do not contest me, cleric"
"We need but one tear" Angelica told the young missionary as if it was not a big deal. As if saying that to him would convince him to make his poor Syrena cry one of her precious tears.
"I will tear every scale from her body one by one if I see fit" Blackbeard spoke, ignoring his daughter's intervention in the discussion "If that displeases you, go pray"
"I was wrong. Not every soul can be saved. Yours can not" Philip stated, looking sternly at the captain's eyes.
"Behold gentlemen! A man formerly of faith" he mocked him.
"That vile creature as you call her is worth a hundred of you!" the missionary shouted. Right after he did it, he regretted it immediately. He had revealed with those words, with the passion he spoke them, something he was sure Blackbeard had noticed and was likely to use against him and Syrena.
"You care for her? You fancy her… "
Philip closed his eyes in defeat, for Blackbeard did noticed what he feared he would.
"Do not deny what is clear to my eyes. The question is, does she fancy you?"
Again he took Syrena's face with cruelty and examined her expression. The girl only lowered her eyes and faced him again as forcefully as she had done earlier. But she couldn't deny either what was written on her face.
"My Gods, she does! We are in luck!" the pirate exclaimed happily and then returned to his cruel self again, threatening the mermaid with his words "Give me one tear, or witness the death of this poor soul"
Some of Blackbeard's zombie-man took Philip from behind and forced him to kneel on the ground, placing a sharp dagger on his throat, preparing to slice it with an order.
"Syrena. If you could shed a tear, I would be grateful" the missionary spoke. He knew if he died, horrible things would be done to her. He had to be kept alive for her, to protect and guard her as best as he could. If they killed him she would probably follow after him and Philip couldn't bear the idea of Syrena being killed.
"No tears" Blackbeard said only to the mermaid's ears "… yet"
The zombie standing behind Philip, holding the dagger, placed it against his skin and was about slice it as Angelica intervened.
"Father!"
Blackbeard's daughter still held the belief her father's soul could be saved and redeemed. Killing a missionary was definitely not going to help him with that and his daughter was well aware of it. She took out her own dagger, willing to take the burden of killing a man of faith to save her father's soul. But he gave her no chance.
"Quartermaster!" the cruel pirate shouted and signaled the zombie to go straight to Philip's chest.
Syrena's face twisted in pain, as the missionary's body fell to the ground. Some tears began to form in her eyes for what they had done to her beloved Philip. But if she shed at least one tear, she was giving them exactly what they wanted from her. Her sad expression changed in a moment to one of utter hate towards the black bearded man.
"My, mermaids are tough" he said with a hint of surprise "All of them… Tie her with all the others!"
Some crew members took her arms and even though she struggled with them, they managed to tie her hands to the roots of a nearby tree.
"Get rid of him" Blackbeard ordered the Quartermaster as he saw Philip's inert body laying on the ground. Syrena did her best not to shed all the tears she had as Philip's body was being dragged away.
That's it :)
Please let me know what you think of this chapter, please.
