Everything happened so fast that I could hardly tell what was going on. I woke up to the sound of a door creaking open as three shadowed figures crept into my room. There wasn't a light of any kind, so I couldn't see who the men were. They quickly approached my tub, and before I could make a sound, my mouth was gagged and my hands tied.

I knew then that something was not right. Two of the men lifted me out of the water and carried me toward the door. I fought and wiggled in their grasp with all my might, but the men were a lot stronger than me. They continued to carry me out the door and to the stairs. I finally managed to slap one in the face with my fin, and he cried out in pain. This caused him to let go of me, and I landed on the floor with a heavy thud.

"'Ey! Keep it down back there!" the third man whispered urgently. "If ya blunderin' idiots wake anyone up, we'll all be fish bait!"

"Yeah, yeah. Quit yer bellyachin'."

"If yew two mangey dogs weren't carryin' the goods, ah'd cut ye open meself!"

I bit down on my gag in frustration. Not only was it difficult to move with tied hands and no legs, but these jerks were talking about me as if I was cargo again. If I never saw another pirate again, it would be too soon.

"C'mon then. Pick 'er back up an' lets git outta 'ere. Ye don't want them t' catch us, do ya?"

The two men apparently agreed with the other because they quickly picked me back up and hustled for the stairs. They softly crept across the deck as to not alarm whoever was sitting in the crow's nest on guard duty. I'd hate to be that guy in the morning. Not that I should care since my situation was a tad bit worse at that moment.

I was carried across a plank to another ship and taken below deck. The three men excitedly ran through a maze of halls to a room that was a lot smaller than the one I was being kept on the Queen Lady. They shoved me inside and closed the door without unbinding my wrist or taking my gag out.

It was a long time before the door opened again. I squinted against the sudden harsh light and tried to discern who was standing in the doorway. Whoever it was was a lot better dressed than the pirates who abducted me.

"So, you're the mermaid our good friend Arthur caught," the man said with a grin. He was dressed similarly to Arthur, but the his color choice was a lot more feminine. I assumed he was the Captain. "Oh, how rude of me! Let me take that off for you, ma chérie."

The pirate removed my gag with a flourish and bowed. His wavy blonde hair framed his scruffy face, and his blue eyes never left mine as he bowed. I wasn't sure if I liked him any better than the other pirate captain.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the captain of this ship, the Bloody Rose. Many call me the most fabulous pirate captain to sail the seas, but you can call me Francis."

He winked at me, and I couldn't hold back a shiver of disgust. If possible, this guy was even worse than Arthur. "What do you want with me?" I spat at him.

"Ohonhonhon! A fine question, ma chérie." He flicked his hair away from his face. "Mermaids are the most beautiful creatures in the sea. When I heard Arthur caught one, I had to have it for myself. A beautiful creature for a beautiful man."

These pirates were all the same. To them I wasn't a living person. I was an item, a thing to collect or trade. Anger boiled inside of me, and I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white. The ship jerked violently as if it had been struck by a wave.

"Let me go, you pig, or you'll be sorry!" I growled through clenched teeth.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." His previously playful eyes hardened dangerously. "You're mine now, you see, and I'll do what I want with you."

"Arthur will come after you." I did my best to hide the fear beginning to pool like ice in my stomach.

Francis laughed. "I wouldn't count on it, ma chérie. The Bloody Rose is the fastest ship on the sea. There's no way an ugly thing like the Queen Lady could ever catch up to us."

He must have found this thought very amusing because he continued to laugh as he closed the door. Darkness swallowed me up at the same time my panic did.


Captain Kirkland sat at his desk with a quill balanced precariously between his fingers. He was doing some logistics in his ledger book for the last shipment of fish they had sold in Wend. Arthur wasn't the type to let this kind of paperwork slip through the cracks. He liked to know exactly how much gold he had, and how much he owed. There hadn't been any red ink in the book for years.

"Cap'n, we have a problem," Christov said as he slammed open the door to the Captain's quarters.

The noise startled Arthur so much that he dropped his quill, which left a messy ink blot on his ledger. "Oh for the love of...what is it, Christov?"

"We found Jamison dead this mornin' sah."

"Dead?" The Captain looked up from trying to wipe away the ink with a handkerchief.

"Yes, as dead as a fishie outta water."

"Well, does anyone know what happened? Did you ask the people he sleeps by? Not that they would notice since they all snore like walruses..."

"He was on watch last night, Cap'n"

This made Arthur's blood run cold. "The Bloody Rose?"

"Gone. And the mermaid's missin' too."

"What?" The Captain jumped to his feet. "Where is she?"

"We ain't sure. We was hopin' ya might have an idea," the first mate answered as he shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"Oh, I have an idea alright." Captain Kirkland pushed past Christov and stomped across the deck. "All hands on deck! Everyone get to their positions and wait for my command!"

Peter's blonde head poked up from between some barrels. "Is something wrong, Uncle Arthur?"

"It's none of your concern, Peter." The Captain walked past the boy on his way to the helm.

"But-"

"Why don't you go help Squeaker keep a lookout? I'll need sharp eyes up there."

"Yes sir!" Peter shouted happily. He turned to run, but stopped before taking more than a couple steps. "What exactly am I looking for, Uncle?"

"Pink and purple sails," Arthur growled in reply. He gripped the wheel and steered the ship to the northwest.

~000~

"We can't just barge through there like a blind whale an' expect t' make it out in one piece!"

"Then what do you suggest?" Captain Kirkland asked in exasperation. They had found the Bloody Rose docked in some obscure town to the west of Gaal and had been watching it for hours. Arthur was starting to get impatient and a little antsy.

"We should do exactly what them rascals did t' us. Sneak in when it's dark an' git the gurl back without them evah knowin' we were there," Christov answered with a nod. "It's the only logical way, Cap'n."

Arthur looked to the three other men standing around his quarters. "Do you agree three agree?"

"It's always bettah t' make it out wit' yer skin still on," replied a man named Cutter.

The Captain sighed. "I suppose you're right. Christov and Lanham," he said as he looked at each man. "You two will be accompanying me aboard the Bloody Rose."

"Are ya sure, Cap'n?" Christov asked. "Shouldn't one of us stay behind t' watch the ship?"

"I need the best men on this mission. There's a lot of gold riding on this, and unless you don't want to get paid, we can't afford to fail."

The first mate nodded. "Yes, sah."

"Good. Now-"

"Can I come too, Uncle Arthur?" Peter came bursting through the door and ran up to the Captain's desk. "Please, Uncle! You have to let me help save (y/n)!"

"Peter, you know I-" Arthur stopped short. "(Y/n)?"

"That's her name," the boy told him.

"She told you her name?"

"Uh huh. She told me lots of things. That's why you have to let me come!"

Arthur struggled over the idea for quite some time. He didn't want to put the boy in danger, but he could be useful in making the mermaid cooperate if necessary. That meant Peter had to come whether the Captain liked it or not.

"Fine, you can come, but only if you promise to do everything that I, or Christov, or Lanham tells you, okay?"

"Alright!" The boy hopped around excitedly, and Arthur couldn't help but smile a little too.

It took a half hour for the four of them to get into a tiny rowboat and row to the Bloody Rose. Peter was so excited that he had almost tipped the boat over on a number of occasions. He didn't calm down until Arthur had threatened to leave him in the water and not come back. The boy sat and looked at the leather handle of his dagger after that.

Captain Kirkland also looked at the handle of his trusty cutlass. He had another dagger hidden in his boot, a revolver under his jacket, a throwing knife up both sleeves, a second revolver around his waist, and a poisoned needle hidden in one of his rings. He had gotten that on a trip to the east.

"Would ya like t' go up first, Cap'n?" Christov asked as he secured a rope attached to the railing of the large ship.

"Might as well."

Arthur grabbed hold of the rope and began to climb. It was pretty easy since there were plenty of footholds once he reached the upper half of the ship. Peter watched him climb nervously, but resolved to be brave. He grabbed the rope next, and was followed closely by Christov. Lanham brought up the rear after tying the rope to the rowboat.

The four of them quietly snuck around some crates as soon as they were all on deck. The Captain silently signaled for them to move toward the back of the ship to find a different way below deck. There were several of Captain Bonnefoy's men sitting around the stairs they were originally going to use.

Christov lead the way this time with Arthur bringing the rear. His usually loud boots didn't make a sound as the four reached another set of stairs. They crept below deck as quickly and quietly as they could, and Lanham blew out a lamp hanging on the wall. It was hard for them to see in the dark, but it was also hard for them to be seen in the dark, and that was what he was counting on.

The continued to wander around for quite some time. None of them really knew where they were going, and the Captain was beginning to grow frustrated. That's when he felt something odd.

"Wait," he whispered to the others. They stopped and watched as he peeked around a dark corner. "I think we should go this way."

"Wot makes ya so sure, Cap'n?"

"I don't know. Just a hunch. Now are you going to follow me or keep asking questions, Lanham?"

"Sorry, sah. Lead de way."

They barely took two steps down the hall when they heard voices from behind them. Captain Kirkland motioned for them to stop and stay quiet.

"What the Cap'n doin' stoppin' at a place like this?"

"Dunno. They say he's sweet on some gurl 'ere. Prob'ly wanna tell 'er all 'bout that mermaid we got."

"Ya seen 'er?"

"Naw, but Temis said 'e saw 'er."

"Yewd 'ave t' be the dumbest dumbo 'round t' believe a word Temis says. Ain't got one truthful bone in 'is whole body that one. 'Sides, why would the Cap'n let an idiot like Temis see the mermaid?"

"Suppose yer right..."

"O' course ahm right! Ahm always right! Ye don' go forgettin' that now..."

The voices faded away as the two men walked away completely unaware of the four from the Queen Lady that lurked in the dark. A shaky sigh escaped from Peter's lips, and he followed the others down the hall.

"It sounds like they have (y/n) here."

"Don't make so much...noise." Arthur whirled around to look at the boy. He had gotten another strange feeling when the boy said the mermaid's name. "Say it again."

"W-what?"

"Say her name again."

"(Y/n)?"

Again. Again he got that strange feeling, like he was excited to hear the name. "Keep calling for her Peter, but no too loudly."

"(Y/n)? (Y/n)? Where are you, (y/n)?" Peter whispered into the dark.

The sensation was growing stronger, and the Captain started to move faster. He hurried the men along as the feeling in his chest grew.

"What's goin' on, Cap'n?"

"I'm not sure, Christov, but I've got the darnedest hunch that we're getting close."

Arthur led them around corners and through twisting corridors. He was secretly glad the halls in the Queen Lady weren't this convoluted, but pushed the thought aside to concentration on the task at hand. Peter continued to call for the mermaid in a hushed voice as the group moved along.

Finally, the Captain stopped at a door. He was certain this was the one. Unfortunately, it was locked, and he couldn't get it open no matter how much he twisted the knob.

"If ya don' mind, Cap'n," Lanham said as he placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder. He held up a set of picks.

"Go right ahead, but be quick."

The pirate instantly went to work tinkering around inside the lock. He had the door open in a matter of thirty seconds. Captain Kirkland was the first to step in the room, and his expression instantly set into a scowl.

The mermaid was laying on the floor of a tiny little room with her hands bound. Her wrists were swollen and bleeding from struggling against the ropes holding them, and her tail looked unnaturally dry. The Captain swore under his breath. She wouldn't bring in as much gold in this condition.

"(Y/n)!" Peter knelt on the floor beside her and tentatively touched her shoulder. "(Y/n)! (Y/n), wake up!"

The mermaid's eyes fluttered open at once, although they took a while to focus on the boy. "Were you the one calling me, little one? I heard you saying my name for such a long time that I thought maybe I was imagining it."

She heard him? Arthur found that hard to believe since he could barely hear Peter when they were walking through the halls. He knelt down and picked the mermaid up in his arms and was surprised at how frail she felt.

"What happened to you?"

"I've been out of the water for too long," she replied weakly.

"Francis is a bloody idiot," the Captain murmured darkly.

"Takes one...to know one..."

Arthur was about to strike back when he saw her close her eyes. Icy cold fear clawed at his chest, but he didn't know why. She was just cargo, but for whatever reason he couldn't stand the idea of her fading away in his arms.

"C'mon, love. Pull yourself together. We're leaving now." He stepped out of the little room with the mermaid still in his arms and hoped he remembered the way out. "Hey, snap out of it."

The mermaid struggled to open her eyes and look at the Captain. He shook her, but she seemed to be slipping fast.

"Just keep your eyes open, (y/n)." At the sound of her name, her eyes opened wide, and she tightened her grip on his coat sleeve. "Don't do that, love. You're getting blood on the coat." Sure, it was silver instead of red, but he was sure it would stain anyway.

"All...you pirates...seem to care about...is clothes."

"A man's appearance is everything." The Captain hurried down the hallways as fast as he could without being too loud.

"What about...what's in here?" The mermaid moves her hands to point at his chest.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Your heart..." she breathed as her eyes slipped shut once more.

"Hey, you have to stay awake. (Y/n)? Wake up!"

Her eyes slid open again, and she focused on his face as he focused on finding the exit. He was very aware of her eyes roaming around his face, and also when they began to droop shut.

"No sleeping!" he said urgently. "You need to stay awake! (Y/n)!"

"Mhmmm? Sorry..."

Just then, the four of them stumbled upon the stairs and climbed them two at a time. A breath of fresh air sounded so good to Arthur that he didn't hear the click until it was too late. Captain Bonnefoy and a large part of his crew stood next to the stairs waiting for them to emerge. He had the barrel of his revolver pointed right at Arthur's forehead.

"Bonjour, my friends. I believe she belongs to me, non?"