Chapter Twenty-Five: The Magician of Maverick
"The first magic of love is our ignorance that it can never end."
Benjamin Disraeli
Ace and I sat on the deck of the Moby Dick, watching the crew as they moved back and forth – like the sea under the ship as it sails to the horizon. But there was no wind today. It was a smooth, true blue-water day. The sun reflected off certain waves and troughs and peaks, shining against the wood. The deck was filled with the usual chatter of the crew and I didn't take my eyes off of Lorenzo.
His white blonde hair stares violently back at me. His eyes, which seem darker than the bright sapphire blue that I remember from first waking up, read over the black leather book he has in his hands. Almost as if reading my mind – which I wouldn't put past him – he looks up from the book and stares at me with a blank, yet stern, stare. I drop my eyes to the hand that is wrapped around mine; my mind goes vacant as I count the freckles on Ace's knuckles.
When I feel Lorenzo's eyes off me, I look up again, but he has disappeared from his position on the deck. My eyes fall to all the faces on deck; I find Lorenzo at the railing directly across from Ace and me. He's leaning over it slightly; there's a thin, black device in his right hand, and his book is under his left arm.
Suddenly, a rope ladder starts to rise from the deck floor and hover over the railing before falling down, down, down to the sea waves below. I watch intently.
"Ace," I whisper, grabbing the freckled-man's attention almost immediately. He's half asleep in an afternoon nap, his hat already covering half of his face. He mumbles to me, asking why I awoke him. "Look," I say, pointing to the levitating rope and Lorenzo. Slowly, Ace starts to realize what's going on.
Magic.
However, as soon as the ladder hits the water, it starts to rise again – slowly, as if pulling someone up over the edge –
I see a flash of gold scales coming over the railing. The mermaid – Siren, I believe her name is – plops down onto the deck. The sunset orange and yellow gold flickers the same brightness of the sun. Everyone has stopped what they were doing. Her dark hair is in a mess of wavy curls that frame her face and fall to her waist. Lorenzo taps his utensil to her bare shoulder.
The golden scales fade with a white mist into tan skin, revealing a pair of long, naked legs. A flimsy white sheet is thrown over her bottom half. She halfheartedly moves to wrap it around her waist and stand. There are a few shaky steps at first before she's following step for step behind Lorenzo. Her eyes are droopy with fatigue and hopelessness. How long as she been his prisoner?
They disappear into the cooling quarters of the mess hall.
"Did you see that?" Ace asks me, bringing his fists up to rub at his sleep-filled eyes. I nod and ask the same. "Yeah," he replies with a breathy voice before leaning his head onto my shoulder and beginning to doze off. I ease him off my shoulder, letting him use my satchel as a pillow, before jumping down from the crate and following Lorenzo farther into the ship. Marco looks up from his position beside Whitebeard on the quarter deck.
I'm cautious as I follow Lorenzo and his captive, I watch as they walk into the small quarters Pops has given them before he comes out and walks back onto deck. Waiting a few moments to make sure he doesn't come back, I then walk up to the door to his quarters and turn the door handle. With barely a crack between the door and the frame, I peek in.
Lorenzo's mermaid is sitting at a desk in his quarters, staring at a large map spread out over the desk. A thin, tan finger slides over the indentations of coastlines and latitude-longitude markings. Pushing the door open just a tad bit more, there was a creak from the hinges, causing the mermaid-turned-human to spin in the stool and stood up on her newly acquired legs.
"Who are you?" she asked with slight worry in her voice, but the fatigue was evident on her face, and the droop in her eyes brought out the dark circles even more.
"When was the last time you rested?" I asked, stepping into the room and closing the door.
"You did not answer my question," she stated firmly, not weaning from the intent on figuring out who I am.
"I'm Faye. You're Siren, right?" She hesitates before nodding. I step closer to the desk, and she takes half a step back, the back of her legs hitting the side of the desk. Her hands reach back, looking for something to defend herself with something.
"I'm not going to hurt you!" I tell her, raising my hands up in a defensive manner, waiting to take another step. Her hands stop searching, and after a few moments of her ears picking out my words, looking for any falseness in them. Finally, she steps away from the desk, but keeps her hands fisted behind her back.
"What do you want?" she asks, suspicious of me.
"When was the last time you rested?" I asked, stepping to the side; farther from the bed and closer to the desk.
"Three days ago," Siren tells me nonchalantly, before turning and stepping away from me. I stare at her in disbelief.
"Three days? I can barely go a full day without a nap."
"The sea water keeps me energized, but after three days I get my usual small rest before Lorenzo has me guide."
"And you're showing us to Atlantis? A City of Gold?"
"I would not like to..." she tells me, but I can tell she didn't mean to. Siren continues, "but He has complete control of my actions. I am simply a puppet to him."
"And it's a spell, right? He's a witch." She nods. "Why don't you just look for a curse-breaker? Then won't you be free?"
"Of course, he's the Magician of Maverick; one of the most skilled Witches from that section of Witch Country. He keeps a tight chain on me. You're the first person to talk to me without him being in the room for the past two years."
"What!" I exclaim, in disbelief that such a thing was possible. She nods; her arms relaxing behind her back. I can see the faint glint of a letter-opener in her hands. "That must be horrible."
"It is not much of a difference from my actual life before he captured me. I only had contact with one person in my life, except back then I was able to swim where I wished."
I'm left speechless. What was I supposed to say in a moment like this? Oh, sorry about that, seems like you're out of luck. Bye!
"What about the curse-breaker?" I ask, fully intent on freeing Siren from the spell. She simply shrugs, setting the letter-opener back on the desk and sitting down.
"I simply know there is one, not what it is. Only Lorenzo knows the breaker."
There's a moment that I stare at her, taking in the tired beauty. She should live more than this.
"Well, I guess that means I need to go to Witch Country and find the curse-breaker."
The expression on Siren's face is of surprise and disbelief.
"You're going to do what?" She asks me, leaning closer to me slightly.
"I'm going to Witch Country to find the curse-breaker," I repeat, more confident now, and leave the room. Siren is not far behind me.
"Do not be idiotic, Faye! Only Witches can go to Witch Country!"
"Watch me," I simply say and step out onto the deck. Siren does not follow me there, but there are plenty of eyes that fall on my reappearing form. Lorenzo was one of them. I ignored his eyes, even though the bright blue burned the skin on my neck furiously.
Walking up to Marco and Ace, who were chatting quietly to one another, I quickly interrupted their conversation and voiced a lie that I made up as the words left my mouth.
"I need more fabric, Marco."
My uncle raises a thin eyebrow up to his hairline.
"Is that so, eh?"
"Yup," I reply quickly. "I need to go get some more. Very soon."
"Well, we'll be at an island in two days time. You can wait until then."
"No," I say firmly. Ace stands back, surprised by the tone I speak with. "I need a special kind of fabric, and I can only get it from a certain island."
"And you need this special fabric because…?"
I'm starting to hesitate as I speak, and he knows I'm lying, but I have to continue putting up a façade in front of Lorenzo.
"The Nurses are in need of new uniforms. It's getting colder and colder, and those scraps for dresses they call dresses isn't enough."
"And this fabric will keep them warm, eh?" He asks, brow still raised, arms crossed over his chest. I felt like a child again, being questioned by my father over who broke the flower vase that mother always had positioned on the mantle of the fireplace. And while it was Jyrik's fault, I was still punished because of my convincing nature. I was never a very good liar.
Marco sighs and nods, finally. "Fine, fine, you can go get this special fabric. Take Ace with you, though, alright? We'll keep your posted on our position as much as we can. Do you know how long this quest for fabric is going to take you?"
"Five days to there, five days back, with three days in between for rest and buying."
"Thirteen days," he sums up. Pointing a finger, Marco sternly says, "And not a day more. On the morning of the fourteenth day if you aren't back I'm sending out a search party. Atlantis can wait." I say nothing. "Do you understand me, eh, Faye?"
"Yes'sir!" I mock-salute Marco before grabbing Ace's shoulder; pulling him in the direction of our quarters, I keep my true plan to myself until we're off the Moby Dick and out at sea. Ace simply packs a small bag of one change of clothes, a few provisions, and his few handheld weapons. I take a much bigger bag, with more clothes, and my book of maps.
It's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
After bags are packed, and another bag full of food and Beli for the trip is added into the equation, I'm saying goodbye to Marco, Thatch, and Pops, before Ace helps lower me down into Flicker. The bags are placed in a compartment put in a few weeks ago in case of trips like these. I place the bags out of the way and then prop up the seat back. Leaning against it, I wave up to the crew.
From far on the other side of the railing, I can see Siren with a slightly worried expression. From far away, the fatigue does not look as horrible as it had been when I was face to face with her earlier. Lorenzo is soon at Siren's side and pulling her from the railing and out of sight. The mess of wavy dark curls is the last thing I see before Ace fires up Flicker and begins the descent into the western horizon of the Calm Belt. I can already feel the currant of the waters become less and less until it is only Flicker making any movement on the surface.
The Moby Dick is far from sight.
"Go east," I tell Ace. The engine sputters from Ace's confusion.
"What? Why? I thought the island was to the west?"
"It is, but we're not going to the island. We're going to Witch Country. Now go east." The small transportation device slows to a float.
"Witch Country? Why are we going to Witch Country- No! I know what you're doing, Faye. We are not going to Witch Country to find some spell to use against that Loserno-guy. If he wants to enslave a mermaid, let him. He saved your life and is showing us the way to Atlantis. The least we could do is let him be."
I stare at Ace in disbelief. "You're just going to sit back and let him destroy Siren's life?"
Ace says nothing, and I'm taken back by the silence. I'm not quite sure how to deal with the problem now. There isn't much I can do. We're out in the middle of the Calm Belt with Sea Kings stirring the waters beneath us. I want to go to Witch Country – find a spell to free Siren. Ace wants nothing to do with them and continue onto the nonexistent island with the winter-weather-ready fabric that I, seemingly, need for the nurses.
Could I love a man that didn't agree with me on certain views like this?
I wasn't sure of how to answer that question.
But no matter what, I needed to get to Witch Country – with Ace or not.
A/N:
Happy 3rd birthday, oMaM! :D
And Merry Early End-Of-the-World/Christmas to all my readers! (this is only in celebration in hitting 30k readers!)
Let's try and get 200 reviews by Christmas, yeah? I'm hoping to have another update around that time. I'm feeling inspired. And guess what? We're barely even half way done with the story! YAY!
Love it? Have ideas? Hate it? Want me to hurry up and update again? Wanna express your dislike for fillers? REVIEW!
Apples.