Content warning: self-harm as a part of the curse breaking ritual from "Thank you, Genya" to "The trunk closed."
There was a cyclone of water surrounding her again—but it was not the tranquil blue of the noon-day sea. It was as black as obsidian, as the night Alina last saw the Volkvolny. She stood in the center of the same rock, with the gold and treasure all around her, her hair even acting like it was underwater once again.
Where the woman in the first dream stood, there was an equally as beautiful man in black wizard's robes, watching her.
He raised a hand, and spoke in a language that sent chills down Alina's spine.
From the cycle of shadowy seas emerged the monsters—the crew of the Volkvolny, but in the form they were under the moonlight.
Alina turned to see Nikolai's monstrous form, climbing up on the rock, reaching for her with an onyx claw.
He touched her right before she woke up.
Alina reached for her cheek just as her eyes flew open. She blinked—only to see Nikolai in front of her, touching her shoulder.
She scrambled to sit up, wrenching herself free.
"Oy, what do you think you're doing?"
"Sorry, had to wake you—we're here," he explained. "At the Isle of Curses. Your role in this story is almost done."
Alina frowned. "I thought you said it would take about a week to get there."
"To be fair, I did think that." He shrugged. "You must carry some luck, or perhaps the same favor with the Lady of the Water that your mother did."
"Lady of the Water?" Alina had heard the epithet before, but the owner of it escaped her, perhaps from the fogginess that came with waking up early.
"The New World goddess of the ocean." Nikolai strode away from Alina, towards the large painting on the wall. "Luda, I believe she was called."
Alina looked to the painting and gasped, for the very woman in the painting was the one she had seen in her dream. Of course, she had seen it before her dream, so perhaps it had influenced her?
But then again, she was now living in a world of magic, curses, and flying ships that ferried lost souls between the dead and the living.
Who was to say that dreams didn't carry a supernatural significance of their own?
She still felt uneasy that Nikolai had touched her, recalling the ending of the dream.
He paused a moment, then turned back around, looking Alina up with an almost longing look, one she did not quite understand.
"I'll leave—you should get changed and get to the top deck as quickly as possible." He paused, and for a moment, Alina thought he might say something else. Then he stopped, shook his head ever-so-slightly, then smirked again. "I hope you've put thought into where you wish to go after this, Miss Starkov—because we're all about to be free."
Alina could only hope that was true.
Nearly everyone was on the main deck by the time Alina made her way out of the captain's cabin. Genya took Alina's arm and guided her to where Nikolai and Zoya were standing close to the bow of the ship.
"About time, everyone's been waiting for you before we board," Genya chided. "Could've dressed a little faster, don't you think?"
Alina just shrugged, instead taking in the scene around her.
She could barely see the shore just in front of them, covered in silvery-blue fog, quite unlike the typical version that rolled in on cloudy mornings at Port Keramzin. The water was as black as night. A thrill of unease trickled down her spine, raising the har on her arms.
"I don't think I like this place much," Alina muttered.
"We won't be here very long," Zoya declared. "We get in, we break the curse, then we get out. Then hopefully we never have to see this accursed place ever again."
Zoya then looked to Nikolai, who was being uncharacteristically quiet. "We should also burn that map, so no one else may ever find Morozova's gold."
Nikolai nodded, letting out an absent hum of agreement. He glanced at Alina. "Right, you're here. Genya, you are too, and David?"
"Right here!" The alchemist, a boy with glasses strode forward, notebooks and papers nearly spilling out of his arms. "I've got all the notes, the ones from Old Man Starkov, Vasilissa—"
"Thank you, David." Nikolai grinned, returning his gaze to the fog and the shore they were now anchored toward. "Looks like a great day to break a curse, mates—let's make the most of it!"
A cheer went out through the crew, and Alina couldn't help but look behind her. All of these people had been waiting for her, needing her to help. Even if the way they had kidnapped her, she could understand why they'd done it.
And this had been her parents' ship, her mother's legacy.
She touched the medallion, that would soon leave her forever. It had been such a constant, that last reminder that there had been a life when she was Alina Starkov, and not Alina Keramsov.
Now she would be Alina Starkov once more—and Alina Starkov was the daughter of pirates.
It was the least she could do, to free her mother's crew and help her parents move on to the Land of the Dead.
She would eagerly do her part.
Nikolai led the entire crew onto the island that was almost completely rock, barren and devoid of all other lives except for the living, breathing pirates. They entered a grotto in the small mountain that made up the majority of the Isle of Curses.
Alina gasped—the grotto was made of sandy beaches and little rock islands, and upon the largest mass was the chest she had seen in her dreams.
She found herself looking to Nikolai for reassurance, even though he didn't know why she was afraid.
"It's going to be alright," he said with a grin. "Come on, sweetheart, we've got a show to put on."
He ushered her up with Zoya, David, and Genya to that big rock, right in front of the chest with all the goldsmithing work details that included the same stag design as on Alina's medallion.
Nikolai then turned to address his crew.
"For longer than even I have been a member of the crew, a captain of this ship, we have all been working towards this glorious day."
Alina couldn't help but admire him—indeed, he was truly the Pirate King, a mix of the commanding of royalty and the charisma of a chivalrous outlaw. Looking out at the crowd, she could see that they admired him the same way. With wide, adoring eyes, they watched rapturously, like the ladies in Port Keramzin did at the Chapel of Saints.
"We have all sacrificed, sacrificed blood and time and gold, in order to reach this day." Nikolai smiled. "I am proud to have worked with you all to reach this goal. Now, with the help of the daughter of Captain Daiyu and Old Man Starkov, we can usher in a new day as the Pirate King and his crew!"
With that, he took Alina's hand, raising it into the air. The crew of the Volkvolny cheered, roaring louder than thunder or cannon fire.
And Nikolai and Alina shared a smile, one that she was certain meant more than just triumph over the curse of the Morozova Gold.
"Now enough prattle!" Zoya barked. She looked to David. "We only need the mermaid tears, the medallion, and her blood, is that correct?"
"As far as I know." David bumped up his glasses with the edge of one of the many books he'd been carrying, and a few tumbled out of his arms. Before they could reach the ground, or perhaps the water of the grotto, Genya gracefully swooped them up.
"Thank you." There was a flash of a smile before David opened one of the journals, mumbling and nodding to himself as he checked the information. "Yes, those are the only missing ingredients to break the curse."
"Excellent." Zoya turned to Genya. "You're up, Safin."
"Right, so, you might want to think of something sad, or—" David hesitated. "I don't want to pinch you or hurt you to get the tear—"
"No, we don't want that," Genya agreed. "Besides, nearly everyone knows a tear of joy is far more powerful. . ."
"Would you two stop blathering and get on with it already?" Zoya raised an eyebrow.
David turned pink. "You mean, that if we—you would—you would cry of happiness? I mean, I thought you still hated me for that mermaid trap—"
He was cut off by the kiss of a mermaid. And as Genya had predicted, a single glowing tear rolled down her cheek. She broke quickly and caught the tear with the tip of her finger. Then she flicked it over the treasure, which glowed.
"Thank you, Genya, David." Nikolai then looked to Alina. "You'll need to give your blood with the medallion. Do you want to do it yourself, or—"
Alina shuddered as he pulled out his knife. "You do it—make it quick. I trust you."
She closed her eyes and pulled the medallion off from around her neck. Nikolai took her other hand carefully, as one might a lover's.
It was over quickly.
She felt the warmth on her palm trickle down as she dropped the gold onto the chest.
The trunk closed by itself, shuddering and locking itself.
Alina looked to Nikolai. "You're free, then?"
"Yes, I—"
He stepped towards her, in the shaft of blue moonlight through the grotto's roof.
Alina's hand went to her mouth as tried not to scream, to retreat from this monstrous form, reaching for her as it did in her dream.
"I don't understand." Nikolai's shoulders sagged. "It should have worked—the curse was broken—I thought—"
"You really thought I would let you go so easily?"