Honestly, this chapter is so self indulgent
Have fun!
14. The end of the journey
=== ?
I would like to say it all came as a surprise, but lying is more of Robin's thing, and to be honest I don't think it'd be believable at this point, however I will save you the painful search for our prize, which the before mentioned mermaid had still to even describe to us, and go right into the problems, all you need to know about our treasure is that it is the main reason I'm telling you this right now
Once they got to the island they searched for the treasure following Robin's directions, Benedict helped figure them out, Dirk commented on how he would've been very useful in any other of the adventures Robin had pulled them into, to which Robin answered that he wa busy doing his job , which Benedict translated into him learning how to be a bane
They hit the marked spot after many hours, the one to find it, much like in the prophesy, was Karkat, who recognized the markings on the rock as Alternian, that is to say troll language for mertrolls, Kanaya said there was a slight yet important difference that made her incapable of read it, so Karkat was the one to do the honors and take the bag inside, mostly because he knew how to do it without activating any traps, though once the bag was out a gunshot rung on the air, Robin was glowing before anyone else could move, Dirk had his sword out and Roxy had pulled out her guns, then the others took out their respective weapons. In front of them stood a cherub and his crew, one the three standing closer knew better than the rest; it started with a simple phrase
"I think you have something I want"
And then hell broke loose…
Robin had a plan, as expected, she made a distraction and told them to go in separate groups, she had Benedict do copies of the bag but not the contents, Jade filled the fake bags with a special powder that would explode when opened, so if the bait got captured they would only have one chance to escape, Robin was going to try and lure Caliborn alone and told Roxy to take care of his sister, she gave the original to Benedict
"Lizten Doe, I'm allowing you to break the lawz of merfolk, uze the chansse wizely"
Benedict gave a half-smile and bowed, with that said he went away, Dirk followed him after a violet glare in his direction, he didn't look back once, didn't know what would become of the rest of this unlikely crew. When all was said and done Dirk was going to sail back home and maybe stay there for a while, away from monsters and crazy pirates, though maybe he would have some company this time around, that would probably bring him more problems than not… seriously, at this point, when did it not?
Dave ended up running away with Karkat, a few men on their track, but the mertroll was swift now that he had gotten used to walking and running, almost like he had been at it for a while, he wondered about Dirk and Roxy, then he felt sorry for whoever decided it was a good idea to give chase to Rose and Kanaya, as far as he knew all females were terrifying, well he didn't know if that applied to Jade but he'd bet that she was terrifying when she wanted to be, John never told him the answer to that though
Dirk and Benedict somehow ended up on the enemy's ship, Benedict had a plan that was a bit Aresta styled but with a slight twist so it wouldn't blow out of proportions a anything the two rulers of merpeople did tended to do. Dirk was far more amused than he probably should be at the comment, and decided to give the bane a hand in doing the little stunt, mainly because it was rather ingenious. It consisted on bringing as many men as possible so that Benedict could knock them all out with his singing magic, the only problem with the plan was that he couldn't concentrate on protecting Dirk from collateral damage, he tells the pirate he has a way to keep him safe from magic effects for a long enough time but has refused to tell him anything about the method, Dirk hopes it doesn't involve anything too crazy
For a moment, midlist the careful pursue Caliborn's doing without knowing he's being deceived, Robin wonders if anything will take form before they have to all go back home, she's pretty cure Cassie will be okay with either outcome, well maybe not the one Robin fears, she then remember what she told Benedict and smiles because if he uses singing magic then something will definitely happen, oh if only she could be there to witness it
The plan involved them getting on board of the Juju without dying, which was easier than they though as most men had left the ship to run after their crew mates, the few that were there joined the ones that had been following them and Benedict ended up having quite the audience, he knew that there was no backing down now, before they surrounded them he turned to look at the captain and prayed to every god of the sea that the man would forgive him as he pulled him down on his level
Now Dirk hadn't known what to expect really, but in the fraction of a moment where he was being pulled towards Benedict his mind flashed with the possibility of betrayal, even though thanks to Jade he knew that to be improbable, then they crashed and everything stopped
Wet, of course they were, somewhat warm and definitely smaller, lips connected with his probably chapped ones, Benedict's eyes were forcefully closed, and remained like that a few seconds after he separated himself from the other, Dirk was left standing there star-struck trying to make sense of what had just happened and then Benedict started singing, much like with victory he could hear the words clearly but by the scenery around him they did not affect him, the song was entirely on merfolk tongue, so he didn't understand much of what it said, but Benedict's voice was clear like water, wild like the ocean, hearing merpeople sing was always quite overwhelming, but this… it was breathtaking
The song finished and Benedict breathed out before setting to check the damage, he didn't make any comments on what had just happened, didn't really say a word until he finally turned around to look at him, grayish-blue eyes widening
"Your eyes"
Dirk made a quick movement to see his reflection in the clean part of his sword, the effects were supposed to last long enough so maybe it had to do with Benedict's magic; that made him realized he was being stared at. The bane had come closer while he was pondering, his entire being seemed to be shaking but there was no fear, not of him at least
"Can I… try something"
He seemed nervous, there was also a linger of hope, he was quick to continue
"I just… the color's so familiar"
It was then that Dirk understood, he knew it was important for merfolk, Robin had made sure of it the last time, though back then the process didn't exactly have the best results. If it failed again… Benedict was hopeful, and nervous but damn if Dirk wasn't too; the new navigator had probably seen the worst of him in the trip, and yet had laughed at the cliché, he had also started helping him, saying that he had helped Robin in its moment and that he could never cause him as much trouble; Robin would probably kill him if he didn't go along with this, for mainly the same reasons as she had gotten mad at Jake last time; there was also the fact that Dirk maybe, possibly, definitely, had a soft spot for the brunet, so he nodded and Benedict swallowed
Benedict's magic felt similar to how it looked, like a welcome water rush in the hottest day, it even smelled like the sea though Dirk didn't know if that was because of their location, the spell didn't require singing but it did concentration, though it took the bane much less time than he thought it would, soon a pair of brightly colored birds appeared, one of them shared the same color with Benedict's eyes, the other… was a well known shade of orange, he heard a shaky breath and brought his eyes back to Benedict, who was looking at them too, a tentative smile forming in his lips, he looked back at him
Gunshots were approaching them fast, together with what could be described as maniacal laughter, Robin appeared then and took them with her right before an angry cherub got into the ship, Dirk had never liked teleporting but Benedict helped him stabilize, when he thanked the merman he received a different smile than before, right then he thought that this was the most beautiful being in existence, or maybe being connected to Benedict was affecting him, he didn't care either way