Thank you all for your wonderful comments about the last chapter :) I too laughed when I wrote about Lord Doitsu and his two missionaries XD This is just a heads up for anyone who isn't too familiar with some of the minor Hetalia characters because Romania makes an appearance in this chapter! Himaruya-san didn't assign him a human name, so fans have most commonly dubbed him Vladimir. Thought I'd throw that in there if anyone was curious. Please enjoy :)
"I don't know who you are but if you think I'm going to-" A man with feline-like eyes peeked around the door and stood with his mouth open when he saw who was at the door. "A-Arthur..."
"That's Captain Kirkland to you," the pirate said as he narrowed his eyes.
"Of course...w-what brings you here?"
"I need to find something," Arthur answered. "Something very difficult to find."
The man fidgeted nervously and adjusted the small black hat perched precariously on his strawberry blonde hair. "I'd love to help you, really, but I don't really do that stuff anymore..."
"Don't lie to me, Vladimir." The Captain leaned in closer to the man.
"I'm not lying! I gave up that life." Vladimir fidgeted even more and looked around nervously with his red eyes. "Yup, yup. I don't deal with mystics and spooks anymore. I just stay at home and work in my zen garden."
Arthur narrowed his eyes. "That's a load of rubbish." He grasped the door and pushed it back forcefully. Vladimir stumbled back into his hut, which was full of gold charms, shimmering relics, and several crystal balls of varying sizes. "Zen garden...right."
"I can explain! I can explain!"
The Captain drew his cutlass and pointed it at the man's throat to silence him. "I don't want an explanation, you stupid git. I need you to help me find something."
Vladimir stepped back slowly and sighed. "I guess I don't have a choice..." His cat-like eyes met the mermaid's, and he seemed immediately intrigued. "Oh ho! What do we have here? A mermaid..." He turned to Arthur with a grin that revealed his pointy canines. "What kind of trouble did you get into this time, Arthur?"
"That's not important," Arthur growled. "And it's Captain."
"Heh heh heh. Why don't you two step into my humble abode." Vladimir stepped aside to let Captain Kirkland and the mermaid pass. "We'll be back in a bit," he said to the others as he slammed the door in their faces.
"Would you like some tea? I always have a pot brewing," the strange blonde man said as he walked toward a small fire pit.
"That's the best thing you've said yet," Arthur replied as he sank into a wooden chair. One of its legs was shorter than the rest, and it wobbled as Arthur shifted his weight.
I looked around the dimly lit hut curiously. The red curtains made the faint light coming through the windows appear eerie and almost malicious. I could imagine some kind of demon pulling itself up from the shadows on the floor and try to take a bite out of my leg. As much as I wish I didn't have legs, I didn't want want them to get gnawed off either. That was enough to convince me to sit in a second wooden chair.
"Here we are." Vladimir pushed away some of the junk on the table in front of us and set down two cups of tea.
The cups looked a little dinged up and dirty, but I didn't want to look rude, so I took a sip anyway. I was surprised by the taste. "Wow, this is great!"
"I'm glad," the cat-like man said. "I grew these myself in my zen garden."
"You don't grow things in a zen garden," Arthur murmured, but he looked pleased with the tea too.
"Fine, fine. I picked the plants in the marshes." Vladimir rolled his red eyes. "You can find plants in the marshes that make the best potions. It's too bad all the locals are too scared to go in and help me pick them..."
"Why?" I asked.
"They're afraid of the ghosts," he said mischievously. Then he laughed. "They think the marshes are haunted."
"Well, they aren't, right?"
"Oh, they probably are." I looked at him in surprise, but his face showed no sign of joking. "Lots of people die in the marshes." He grinned toothily. "So what do you need me to find?"
Arthur lowered the cup from his lips. "We need to find the-"
He never got to finish because Vladimir snatched the teacup from his hands. The odd man peered inside the cup and studied its contents carefully. "Not looking so good, Arthur," he said with a click of his tongue. "But it's not bad either. Very ambiguous."
"What is he doing?" I whispered to Arthur.
"Reading tea leaves. It's a way of telling the future," he answered in a low voice. "And it's Captain Kirkland," he added much louder so the feline-like man would hear.
Vladimir just chuckled. "May I?" he asked as he reached for my cup. I handed it to him and watched as he read the dregs left at the bottom. "How interesting."
"What?"
"Your readings are practically identical." He showed us both cups, and sure enough, the tea leaves were uncannily similar.
"What does that mean?" Arthur asked in a serious tone.
"Everything, or nothing." The pirate tensed, and I could tell he was becoming annoyed. "But I would be careful if I were you. Your mermaid friend here has a lot of powerful magic surrounding her."
Arthur glanced at me for a moment. "Like what?"
"That charm around her neck has powerful magic. Very powerful. I'm very curious as to where she came across such a thing." Vladimir fixed his red eyes on me.
"I-I got it from Ojigwa," I stuttered out. "She said it might be important and that I should take it with."
"Oh ho! So you got it from that wrinkly old prune! That explains so much." I wasn't sure what a prune was, but it apparently was amusing to both Arthur and the strange man. "I've never seen such a rare mercharm before. I wonder where the prune found something this valuable."
"What is it?" Arthur asked. He seemed curious despite the apathy he had shown me as of late.
"A Leviathan charm. Very rare, and very powerful. It absorbs ocean magic like a mermaid usually does."
My heart pounded heavily in my chest. "It absorbs ocean magic?"
"Yes, and I suppose you'd find that quite useful in your current condition." He grinned widely. "This will keep you alive."
"B-but you said this is a mercharm! If that's true then there must have been mermaids before me..." My voice trailed off as the full impact of what I was going to say hit me.
"Yes, I'm sure there were," Vladimir said as he put our teacups away. "Quite the mystery, isn't it? Well, enough of that. What is it you want me to find?"
"The Lunar Islands," Arthur said without missing a beat.
The odd man paused and adjusted his hat. His fingers curled around the two ribbons trailing down from it. "The Lunar Islands you say. You're not the first ones to have asked for me to find them."
"Who else?" Arthur narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Foolhardy explorers...outlaws...pirates like yourself. All of whom have probably never been heard of again." Vladimir's eyes darken. "You're asking for the impossible. No one has ever made it to the Lunar Islands and back again."
"Why not?" I couldn't help but ask.
"They're surrounded by strange mists that never seem to fade. Most ships that go in never come back out, and the ones that do are always empty."
Arthur snorted. "You said you wouldn't tell me where it is, and then gave me all the information I needed."
"What are you talking about?" the strange man questioned.
"There's an uncharted patch of ocean between the Sea of Quan and the Sea of Norden that's always shrouded by a strange fog. Every sailor has heard the stories of the monster fog that seems to eat ships whole. That's where we need to go."
Vladimir sneered. "Heh! Just because you know where it is doesn't mean you'll find what you're looking for. The mist will eat you too if you're not careful."
"That's why you're going to tell me how to get through it."
"Not likely."
In the blink of an eye, the pirate captain pulled a revolver out from his coat and pointed it at the odd man. "I'd rather not have to do this, Vladimir."
"Okay, okay! I'll help you! But if I ever see you around here again, I'll curse you before you can get to the front door!"
"Just tell me how to get through," Arthur growled as he put the gun away.
"Alright. Sheesh. You need to sail to Xerux."
"What? Why?"
"Because I don't know how to get through the fog, but rumor has it someone in Xerux does." Vladimir shrugged. "That's all I know."
"Fine." Arthur stood up and rifled around in his coat. "Here." He threw a small bag of gold on the table.
Vladimir's eyes lit up. "Maybe I won't curse you that badly," he said as he scooped up the pouch of coins.
The pirate grunted and turned to leave. I quickly followed him out of the dark hut. The bright sunlight was pretty harsh on my eyes when I stepped out, but they quickly adjusted as we were mobbed by the guys we left behind. Peter handed me his paper pinwheel as he hopped around excitedly.
"It's for you," he told me. "I forgot to give it to you earlier."
"Thanks, little one." I smiled and mussed his hair.
"What happened in there?" Alfred asked with concern.
"Yeah! We was gettin' worried!" Squeaker added.
"We're setting out," Arthur replied without giving much of an answer. "The Eastern Continent awaits."
Arthur watched the clouds suspiciously. The sun was beginning to set and would have colored the sky with an intense blaze of reds, oranges, and yellows if not for the gathering storm clouds. Large, dark clouds were being blown in by the wind, which had increased in intensity since the Queen Lady had left Okonfo's harbor. The Captain didn't like the look of this one bit.
About an hour later, his fears were confirmed when it began to rain. It started off light enough, but it soon picked up and became a full on thunderstorm. Most of the crew was on deck holding onto the sails with long ropes to keep them from being torn away in the wind. A few brave souls were climbing the masts to try to roll up the billowing canvases, or at least disconnect them from the mast, but it was no good.
The sea tossed the ship to and fro as if it were a cork in a laundry tub. Huge waves crashed on the deck leaving behind white foam and the occasional bits of debris. While his men toiled to control the sails and bail water out of his vessel, the Captain steered with all of his strength. It was impossible for him to tell where he was going, but he trusted his sense of nautical direction and tried to direct the ship accordingly.
His messy hair was plastered to his head by the wind and rain, and the crew could faintly hear him roaring orders over the crashing of the ocean. Christov was doing his best to maintain order on deck, but there was only so much he could do. He stumbled his way up to the helm as the ship bucked and swayed to speak with the Captain.
"We can't 'old the sails much longer!" he shouted.
"Well, you're going to have to because we don't have any other choice!" Arthur replied through grit teeth. He blinked furiously to clear the water streaming down his face from his eyes, but he didn't dare let go of the wheel. "Blast this weather!"
"Cap'n! We need t' dock somewhere! The crew can't take much more!"
"And just where do you suggest we do that?!"
"The Fire Islands!"
Captain Kirkland turned to his first mate in surprise. "I must not have heard you right because I thought you just said the Fire Islands!"
"I did, Cap'n!"
"Do you know what you're asking?! That's suicide!"
"We're as good as dead out 'ere too, sah!"
Arthur looked down at his crew. They looked cold and tired. He didn't seem to have much of a choice in the matter. "Okay, Christov! But if anything goes wrong I'm holding it over your-"
He never finished. Instead he watched dumbfounded as the mermaid appeared on deck. She seemed to be shouting to someone about something and completely oblivious to the wave about to crash onto the deck. Water sprayed everywhere, and Arthur had to close his eyes to keep the salt from stinging them. When he opened them again, the mermaid was gone.
The Captain's heart clenched tightly in his chest and refused to relax. "Christov, take the helm!"
"No, Cap'n! There's nothing ye can do!" The first mate had apparently seen it too.
"Take the helm now! That's an order!"
Christov's expression hardened. "Aye aye, Cap'n."
Arthur barely heard what Christov said, but he rushed down the stairs as soon as his first mate had control of the wheel. What he saw made his stomach drop. Alfred was being wrestled to the ground by a group of men while the others tried desperately to hold onto the ropes. The Captain could tell they'd lose hold of the sails soon if they didn't get help, and decided to take control of the situation.
"What's going on over here, eh?" he shouted above the wind.
"It's (y/n)! She fell in!" Alfred yelled. "I have to save her!"
"So, you're willing to put this whole ship in danger to save her, are you, you stupid git?!"
The kid's face went blank, and then contorted with anger. "We can't just leave her!"
"We can, and we will!" His words were so definitive that the Captain felt a piece of himself die. He was practically giving out a death sentence.
"You bastard!" Alfred's glasses hung crookedly on his nose as he struggled against the men holding him back. He elbowed one in the face, who fell back clutching his now bloody nose.
Arthur didn't think. His foot seemed to have a mind of its own as it swung out and connected with Alfred's stomach. The boy quit fighting and crumpled in pain. Arthur took the opportunity to lean in closer and growl in Alfred's ear.
"You listen good, you little wanker! When I tell you we're not doing something, we're not doing it! Looking for (y/n) now would be a suicide mission! We'll find somewhere to wait out the storm, and then come back and look for her when the weather is clear, understand?"
Alfred nodded, but didn't look up at the Captain.
"Good! Now get back to work! There won't be any lazy men on my ship! That goes for the rest of you blokes too!" he roared at his crew.
He didn't bother to watch if Alfred got up or not. Instead, he went back to the helm. The Captain clenched his fists as he fought the wind and rain across the deck. There was nothing he could do about the mermaid now. As much as he wanted to jump into the raging ocean and look for her himself, he knew he couldn't after what he said to that insufferable boy. A captain has to live by his own words, or no one would listen to him.
Arthur managed to reach the helm and take the wheel back from Christov. He took comfort in the thought that he was still alive. As long as his heart was beating, so was hers.