Her cerulean eyes lifelessly watched a miniature trading island turn into a tiny dot, squashed between the fiery sky and the rough sea. Her black, shoulder-length hair swayed in the rowdy wind. Robin's skinny, shivering body was imprisoned on an old boat, its wooden hull stained with fresh blood.
"I'm sorry..." she heard the mermaid say, "I don't think I can go any faster..."
Robin turned to her. She saw overwhelming exhaustion in her eyes; she probably failed to get a single second of sleep for the last several days, being constantly on a move.
She saw a thick bolt protruding from her tail. She most likely had no opportunity to treat her aching wound this entire time.
Robin's eyes fell down. A book lied right next to her. She opened the soaking pages. The disfigured letters danced in cacophony. It was unintelligible.
She clenched her fists.
"Leave," she muttered.
"Huh...? Sorry, I was thinki–"
She jumped to her feet, struck with excruciating pain. "Leave!"
"Robin...?" bewilderment painted Sharley's face.
"Swim away! Now!" Robin screamed.
"Please..."
"Come on, go!" she threw her arm, pointing to the sea, "I don't need your help! I can row myself, with my powers, look," she clenched her teeth and pulled on the bolt, "Just a little–," she whimpered silently.
"Robin, please..."
"Are you deaf?!" she gave up, unable to endure the pain, "Go away!"
The mermaid cast her endearing eyes down, "Did I do something...?"
"Yes! Yes, you did, and now I hate you! So go!"
The mermaid remained silent.
"What is it?! Do I have to make you?! Is one wound not enough?!"
No response.
"You'll die, don't you get it?!"
Sharley's expression lit up, "Oh, I get it, you're talking about my tail!" she smiled with relief, "Don't worry, we, sharks, heal fast, so it's already–!"
"Wha...?" Robin stared in disbelief, "Are... Are you stupid?! Did you not see what happened on the island?! Everyone," she quivered, "Everyone died! I killed them! And you'll die too if you stay, because that's what always happens!" her lower lip twitched, eager to give in to the overwhelming emotions, "Always..."
Sharley's smile wavered, but did not go away. It got softer instead.
Robin turned away, "Come on..." her voice trembled, "Just... Leave..." she sniffled, "Why did you follow me, anyway...? I'm no one to you..."
Sharley beamed with her sharp teeth on full display, "It's because you're special, you see! First of all, you praised my teeth!" she bent her pinky, "You're a human, but you never threw a fishing net at me (I hate nets!)" she bent her ring finger, "I saw you in my prophecy!" she bent her middle finger, "...you look tasty..." she muttered under her breath, bending her index finger, "And, look, now we've got a scar bond!" she pointed to her tail and Robin's thigh with her thumb.
"You're so stupid..." Robin slumped her shoulders and sat back down.
"A little bit, yeah."
She wrapped her arms around herself, trembling, "If you stay, you'll die from exhaustion, and a bunch of sharks will come and tear your body apart... And I will be eaten by seagulls, piece by piece..."
"That's awful, Robin... Don't say things like that..."
Robin sniffled.
"There's a small merfolk village nearby," Sharley mumbled, "If only you could breathe underwater..."
Robin froze for a moment. She slowly turned around. She reached under her dress. She pulled something out.
"What is that?"
In her hand was a pen. Robin pressed the button on top. A bubble escaped from the tip.
They looked each other in the eyes. There bloomed tiny flowers of hope.
Shortly after, a large bubble with a child inside dove underwater, pushed deeper by a tiny shark. The bubble first passed by wide emptiness of the upper layer of the sea, descending to a much more lively middle layer, where countless schools of fishes roamed back and forth, accompanied by occasional larger specimen, including dolphins, turtles and sharks.
Upon reaching the lower layer, they were greeted by an aquatic forest, which was overgrown with varying in color and length seaweed and gigantic corals. Here and there rested sunken ships and skeletons of Sea Kings. Amidst all of that stood out a long, pitch-black crevasse that had two rows of houses built on each side of it.
The buildings looked like polished by the sea rectangular stones with two holes in each of them. As Robin and Sharley got closer, they bore witness to dozens of merfolk roam the small town: working, chatting, playing. Some of them noticed the approaching bubble. Their expressions got tense.
"Hello!" Sharley waved.
Everyone scattered inside their houses. Only one merman remained, swimming towards them.
"Good evening," he said, eyeballing Robin, "Is there trouble?" was the first thing he asked.
He possessed a thick body and a hefty belly, his abundant chest hair swaying gently in the seawater. A large red nose took up a big porion of his round face, and below his waist, instead of legs, grew out a comically short tail.
"Yes! I mean, no! Is there a doctor in this village? We're really, really hurt."
The man took a long look at them and their wounds. "Let's hurry," he said.
They entered a slightly bigger building from the rest, equiped with six beds made of pure stone and six nightstands. Three people were inside, one – a tall mermaid with a snow-white tail and bright red hair and lips. The other two happened to be fish-men. One had his elbow bandaged by seaweed. The other suffered a wrist injury. Their gazes fell on Robin.
"You! You're that brat!" they yelled in unison, jumping up, "How dare you sho–"
Before they could reach her and pop the bubble, Sharley got in front and bared her teeth.
"Move, kid!" they commanded.
She pouted, "I won't! You shouldn't hurt cute little girls like–"
"Vasily is dead," said Robin with her head down, "I killed him."
"Bullshit! We've been chasing him for years!"
Robin met their hateful gazes with serenity in her eyes, "Everyone else is dead, too," she spoke calmly, "I killed them."
The fish-men looked at each other, contemplating a decision. They faced her once more.
"And? How did he die?"
"Quickly. Nothing special, compared to him..."
"Where's his corpse?"
"On a trading island nearby."
They nodded to one another and returned to their beds.
So did the girls. Robin refilled her bubble with air and lied down on the stone bed, indifferent to the rough texture and a lack of blanket. The tall mermaid approached them and put two large leafs of seaweed on their faces. Both of them promptly drifted asleep.
Many hours later, Robin woke up due to a sting in her right shoulder and pleasant warmth in her right side. By habit, she snapped her eyes open and jumped away, almost leaving the bubble and experiencing the heaviness of water pressure firsthand. In front of her sat Sharley, a bright blush painting her cheeks. There was blood on her lips.
She swam away in a hurry without saying a word.
Robin refilled the bubble and sat down, yawning. She noticed shallow bite marks on her shoulder and white seaweed wrapped around her thigh and torso. A bottle stood on a nearby nightstand, firmly kept in place by a stone figure, with what resembled a mix of colorful seaweed inside. She grabbed it and gulped down in one go, licking her lips afterwards.
Quietly, careful not to wake the two fish-men up, she brought her hands together and several arms pushed the bubble forward, through a round window. She sneaked behind the building and attempted to urinate. Only to spill all of it inside the bubble. She made a new one and returned to the street, greeted by curious and apprehensive stares.
She roamed the village in search of Sharley, her eyes continuously jumping towards the eerie crevasse and its mysterious insides. Suddenly, something fast approaching from above caught her attention. It was a giant turtle. And a rider on it – the third pirate, who managed to escape from the ship unscathed.
"You shitty brat!" he roared, "You'll pay for what you've done!"
As everyone dispersed in panic, Robin brought her palms together. Two enormous arms rose up from the ground beyond the village. Slowly, fighting against the drag, the limbs connected, squashing the fish-man between them. Powerful vibrations ran through the sea.
As the arms disappeared, only a fleeing turtle and a large red stain remained. Robin sighed. Then the ground trembled. A loud, frightening noise escaped the crevasse. Screams and panic occupied the village.
"Oh no! It's blood!" screamed a mermaid, pointing up.
"The Mad Sea King has woken up!" yelled another.
"Quickly, prepare the Gift!"
Several mermen rushed out of the buildings and caught a random girl, restraining her with ropes. As Robin looked around, similar scenarios happened further up and down the street. Soon, about five roped children were brought together, their parents wailing, but doing nothing to help.
Robin felt something approaching from the depths below.
"Mercy!" yelled the merfolk.
"Praise the Mad Sea King!" shouted an older resident.
It appeared.
The creature reminded a gigantic black eel with bright yellow eyes, its huge mouth filled with thin, long teeth. It glared at the arranged sacrifice.
"Sean, my baby!" cried out a woman, restrained by her husband.
The creature leaped.
Only to stop abruptly. It released a horrid shriek and turned its long body around, taking a look at its tail. It was kept in place by a collosal leg. In a moment, eight more legs took shape from the ground, raising up. They began falling down, prepared to stomp the creature to death with their unimaginable weight.
"Human! Is it you who's doing that?!" swam up the red-nosed merman, "Cease this! The Mad Sea King is our only protection!"
Robin gave him no ear.
The eel desperately bit into the approaching foot, tearing out a chunk of flesh, only for another to drop on his head immediately after. The ground shook. The legs connected simultaneously.
An ear-splitting howl.
Then silence.
The merfolk peeked from their houses, speechless. Their heads slowly turned to Robin. They scowled.
"How dare you!"
The red-nosed merman charged at her. She brought her hands together and two skinny limbs grabbed him by the thick arms. They pulled them back. Then up. Repulsive cracking resou–
"Robin!" rang out Sharley's voice, "We're leaving!"
The mermaid pushed the large bubble up, easily outpacing its inept pursuers.
"Are you alright, Robin?"
Robin nodded. Her inexpressive eyes were glued to something down below. From the crevasse, several black worms appeared, entering the village.
"It's the babies!" exclaimed Sharley, her ecstatic expression promptly reshaping to one of repulsion, "Oh, no! They're eating their mommy!"
Robin watched the scene unfold with boredom on her face. A lot of gears were turning inside her brain.
"Aren't you glad, Robin?" asked Sharley, grinning.
"About what...?"
"Nobody died! I mean, almost... But it all turned out great! Don't you think so?"
"Great...?" asked Robin quietly, "I almost–"
"Do you think the villagers will be able to teach eel babies not to eat merfolk babies?"
Robin shrugged her shoulders.
Sharley salivated, "I wonder how eels taste..."
Robin turned to her, studying her moronic expression. "Thanks..." she whispered.
"Do you think it's strange that I never tried an eel?"
Robin shrugged again and turned away.
"Do sharks normally eat eels...?"
The bubble left the lower layer, hastily crossed the middle one and soon emerged on the surface.
The morning sky hung unwelcome, colored boring gray. Below, the sea mimicked its older brother, forging moody waves. The wind played along, whistling without rest.
"Where do you want to go, Robin?"
She pointed to the gloomy horizon, "To Brittle Star Archipelago."
"There again...?" Sharley sighed, disappointed, "Very well. Hold tight, then."