Chapter 30: Listen

It was not the singing that woke Black Antler. It was the sadness in the voice.

Black Antler stirred as the Jolly Roger slid by The Devorador. The song faded as the ships passed, but the tone hit Black Antler like an arrow.

"Ahh!" Black Antler gasped. "A - A - ahh!"

The pirates had hung Black Antler's wrists, knowing that the body freezes faster when it's stretched. Unable to conserve his heat by curling into a ball, Black Antler first lost feeling then lost consciousness. And although his unconsciousness was filled with wild hallucinations, at least it took away the pain.

But when he awoke, Black Antler hurt.

"Ahhh!"

"B-B-lack. Ant-t-t-ler?" John lifted his head, peeling a layer of ice from the mast. "Bl-ack An-tler?"

Black Antler gasped. "AI-Knt-br-r-r-eev!"

John squint. "W-hat?"

Black Antler cringed. "Brrr-reev! Brree-vth!" Desperately he tugged the ropes as his body spasmed. "AI CNT BREEV!"

Helplessly John stared. Black Antler was twisting uncontrollably but his torso was stiff. Rib cage anchored by frozen muscles, the brave could not expand his chest to fill his lungs.

Suddenly John understood.

Black Antler could not breath.

"Help!" John yelled. Frantically, he pleaded with two pirates across the deck. "Help! Help! He can't breath!"

The pirates turned. Seeing Black Antler they shared a round of laughter and alerted the crew. They gathered around the brave like scavengers; it was a rarity to see a body freezing to death.

"He's bitten!" whooped Mr. Starkey. "Dirty Injun is bitten by the frost!"

Billy Jukes gaped in awe. "What's bit him? Icy spirits?"

"Aye!" Black Murphy said, hooking Billy Juke's arm. He pointed at Black Antler. "The injun's been bitten by demon angels! Angels too evil for Heaven and too cold for Hell!"

"First ye see him shake!" Genlteman Johnny yelled, shoving Black Antler. Billy Jukes ducked as Black Antler swung, his body juddering uncontrollably on the rope.

"And then!" Turk pulled his eyelids. "He goes loony! Sees things! Nasty things! Unreal things!"

"Until his eyes freeze!" Scallop struck Black Antler's ribs. "And pop like glass!"

"But he won't bleed!" Mr. Starkey broke an icicle from the shrouds. Balancing the tip, he threw it at Black Antler. The icicle broke skin, but Black Antler's body was too cold to draw blood. "He shant bleed till he burns!"

"Burns?" Billy Jukes jumped for an icicle. Enthralled, he watched Turk stab Black Antler's shoulders. "When will he burn?"

"The burn!" Bluebeard's pirates cheered from The Devorador. "The burn comes last! Before freezing to death!"

"He'll burn all over!"

"Feel fire on his skin!"

"Burrow into a hot little ball!"

"And then…" Mr. Starkey raised an icicle. "...the devils will take him. To the place where ALL - "

He struck Black Antler.

"- SAVAGES - "

He struck again.

"- GO!"

The icicle shattered. As John screamed, the pirates beat Black Antler, taking turns like children at play.

Shark listened. But he did not partake. Instead, he stood aside Mr. Smee, waiting as Captain Hook and Lord Bluebeard rowed a dingy through the ice.

"Dear me oh my." Mr. Smee rubbed his knit cap. "The poor captain skiffing on the frozen sea!"

Fretfully he beseeched Shark. "Tain't that dangerous? What if the mer get him! What if the leviathan swallows the longboat?"

Shark tracked the dingy.

"Seawitch is beneath them." he said as ink spread from the dingy to the surrounding ice. "And she's in more danger than they."

"She is? The seawitch in danger?" Mr. Smee scratched his nose. "How? I thought the capn said they were meeting the mer ally?"

Shark smiled. His eyes glittered black as a dark head lifted from the ice.

"There's no mer fond of Mistress Seawitch. Good, evil, cursed, pirate allied or not."

Mr. Smee brushed his cheeks. Jumping as Black Antler cried, he vigilantly monitored as the mer ally swam to Lord Bluebeard and Captain Hook.

"Hold your alarm." Captain Hook said as the mer noticed Bluebeard and the seawitch. "Lord Bluebeard and Mistress Seawitch are our friends in this scheme. You might have rivaled before. But remember: it is a common enemy we share."

"Basalt." The seawitch grinned underwater. Her tentacles reached around the boat. "Basalt, King of the Northern Neversea. Cursed bloodline for all eternity."

The mer swerved backwards, murderously glaring at the seawitch.

Lord Bluebeard laughed. "It seems, si tu veux, the seawitch's curse bit more than the royal fry."

The mer hissed.

"Little Littoral, Littoral the little!" Mockingly the seawitch nipped her tentacles at the mer. "One breath of air for Littoral! Just one of Littoral's airy breaths! Then Leviathan dies and Lorelei cries!"

Angrily the mer lunged.

"Enough." Captain Hook swiped his sword. The thin blade whipped across the seawitch's tentacles and mer's face, but it could not cut Bluebeard's glee.

"This bickering stays our sails, delays our revenge! Time has wasted and waned too long! Hear me this, all of you…" Captain Hook ground his teeth. "I want that fairy! How else can I stake revenge on Peter Pan? And you – all of you Northern Neversea trout! How else can Basalt's kingdom be overthrown and sins avenged?"

Bluebeard spoke through the begrudging agreement.

"But who is to blame for our delay? Our mer's failed icicle fish? Our hooked captain who could not catch it? Mistress seawitche's failed curse on Pan of Neverland? Or the little girl who promises to bring you the fairy in exchange...for the life of Basalt's youngest son?"

Evilly, Bluebeard winked at the mer.

"This is a plot with many flaws. Si tu veux?"

"Ah." Captain Hook nodded at the mer. "Our mer ally tells me Master Peter has located the fairy's icicle fish."

The dingy teetered as Bluebeard and the seawitch turned. "Where?"

Darkly, the mer gestured to Captain Hook's hook.

"Hooks? The Graveyard?" Bluebeard stroked his jaw. "The icicle fish that ate the fairy, is trapped in The Graveyard."

Bluebeard laughed. The mer cringed. The pirate's laughter sounded like knives on plates.

"Yes." The seawitch writhed. She detested hooks. "The graveyard your pirates built to catch Basalt, has caught your only means of revenge instead."

"Oui." Swiftly Bluebeard skimmed the surface, splashing water into the seawitch's eyes. "Funny. Si tu veux, c'est drôle!"

The dingy tipped, one side lifting from the ocean as the seawitch seized the edge. A capsize might have ended the allegiance had Shark not fired his pistol from the Jolly Roger.

Startled the mer turned, making eye contact with Shark. They shared a moment of recognition as the seawitch released the dingy and Captain Hook spoke.

"Blast these tempers!" Captain Hook snarled. "Save your grudges for Basalt and his mer!"

Sulkily the seawitch receded. Nearly submerged, she scowled at Bluebeard's lingering smirk.

"Pray." she whispered. "How soon will the fairy be found?"

"That is dependent…" Captain Hook straightened his hat. "On Peter Pan's correctness and his little Wendy's acquiescence. The girl – " he clarified for Bluebeard. " – transformed into a mermaid."

Bluebeard fingered the oar. Frost gathered under his nails. "Pretty name. Pretty sound." He focused on the mer. "If the fairy is found, will she comply? Will this Wendy…"

Bluebeard licked his lips, savoring the word. He was intrigued by the taste, but that is another story.

"Will this Wendy mermaid," Bluebeard continued, opening his eyes to the mer, "surrender the fairy? To save Basalt's youngest from the seawitch?"

The mer did not hesitate to nod.

Captain Hook smiled as Black Antler screamed. It gave him a wonderful idea.

"But perhaps…" he said, heaving the oars through the ice. "…a reminder is in order."

Bluebeard clenched his tongue between his teeth. "Si tu veux." He grinned as the dingy disappeared behind the Jolly Roger and the mer ally disappeared under the sea. "Si tu v – "

Bluebeard stopped. Tilting his head, he listened, sifting sounds through Black Antler's torture and the pirates' cries.

Suddenly his eyes widened. Saliva built in his mouth as insane urges clamped his mind.

"Can it be…" he breathed, "…singing? Yes. Little Merrow sparrow? Is it you I hear?"

"Hear?" Absently, Captain Hook signaled to Shark and Mr. Smee. "Hear what, Lord Bluebeard?"

Bluebeard did not answer. Nor did he remember climbing the Jolly Roger, passing Black Antler's broken body, and boarding The Devorador.

Bluebeard only remembered unlocking the prison door, weaving through his dead wives, and dragging Merrow into his arms, her beautiful incantation a song in his head.

"There." Tigerlily said. Scared but satisfied, she sat cross-legged before the door, waiting for Merrow to persuade Tinkerbell's whereabouts and Hook's scheme from Lord Bluebeard. Sighing, she waited with the dead company of The Devorador.