As if I hadn't had enough nights filled with explaining what I was, I had the absolute privilege of telling Captain Antonio Fernandez Carriedo what the situation was. About halfway through, my voice turned rough and started cracking, allowing me to find out that Carriedo spoke sign as well. That discovery made it much easier to get him caught up as we sat in Kirkland's plush cabin. When I finished, Carriedo sighed, turning his sparkling eyes to Kirkland. "Amigo, what have you gotten yourself into? Allistair is bad enough, not to mention asking to be bitten by a mermaid, but trying to sell her on the black market? That's just not good luck." Even with a serious tone, Carriedo managed to sound almost cheery about the situation. With a dead serious look on his face, Kirkland sighed. He looked older, small creases in his face being more prominent as he tried to think of something to say. "I have a favor to ask, Antonio. It isn't going to be a good one, though." As Carriedo leaned in to listen, I took the opportunity to slip out of the room and onto the deck unnoticed.
I realized that this was the first time I had actually been on the deck. At least, long enough to take in my surroundings. Men were scurrying around everywhere, each one with a job. The ones from Carriedo's ship were going back and forth between the ships like this was normal for them. I didn't pay any attention to them until one of them approached me.
"Excuse me, miss. My name is Aníbal, I'm from the Providence, Captain Carriedo's ship." I looked at him curiously, but not saying anything to interrupt him. "I'm sorry miss," he continued, "I just wanted to thank you. You saved my best friend from drowning without even knowing who he was." I wrapped my head around this information with surprise before attempting a smile. "It isn't a problem. I'm sure that if anyone could swim, they would have done the same." Aníbal looked hesitant, like he wanted to say something else, but he didn't have a chance to before a shot rang out, shattering wood accompanying it. Aníbal pushed me to the floor as people around us did the same, trying to avoid being hit by a wild bullet. It was then that we could hear the shouting coming from Kirkland's cabin.
"You can't be serious! How the fuck did you even think that was a good idea, Kirkland?" "Antonio, calm down, let me explain further-" "I'm not going to calm down! I joined the Navy to get away from that life while I still could and you want me to throw away everything I worked for?" Another shot, more splintering wood. The cold figure in my head was overcome with fear that he was desperately trying to hide. I bolted from under Aníbal and into the plush room, throwing myself between Carriedo and Kirkland. They were already spread apart, with Kirkland crouched and Carriedo pointing a gun at him. Both of them seemed fairly surprised that I was the one who burst in. Maybe they expected a crew member, but not the precious mermaid.
"Whatever you two are arguing about, can it be resolved without shooting at each other?" Taking a stance that would show me as the dominant one, I shot glares at the two men. "Carriedo, put the gun away and sit down. Kirkland, get off the floor and sit with Carriedo." Amazing, they both did as I said even though I didn't use any magic to enchant them the way I usually would. Kirkland was even blushing somewhat as I stood in front of them. "Now, tell me why you're fighting."
Carriedo was the first to talk, saying, "Kirkland wanted me to join you on your journey as a form of extra protection." I nodded, thinking for a moment. "Judging from your violent reaction, you're very much against that idea." Nodding from both of the men. "And you thought it would be a good idea to start shooting instead of coming to an agreement?" Again with the nodding, with their heads hung in shame. If anyone didn't know better, I could have been the captain instead. Secretly, I thanked one of my instructors for making us all military-ready just in case we enlisted.
After thinking for a while, I snapped my fingers with a resolution in my mind. "Carriedo, what if you came with us-" He opened his mouth to protest, quickly closing it to a finger telling him to wait. "You come with us and once this has all been resolved, you can take Kirkland to be judged or however you humans take care of criminals." Both men were quiet. Carriedo seemed to think it over while Kirkland jumped up, shouting once more. "Are you bloody mad? If I'm caught, I'll be executed for piracy!" I gave him a cold stare, obviously not in the mood to argue. "If that was your biggest concern, perhaps you shouldn't have become a pirate. Especially if you knew the consequences." Carriedo put a hand on Kirkland's shoulder, smiling and back to his cheery self. "Amigo, there are ways for this to work out for all of us. I'll go tell my men that we'll be traveling alongside the Silent Siren." With that, he left the two of us alone in the cabin.
The look Kirkland gave me was furious, but I knew that the fury was surface deep. It was just something to cover up the relief he felt for someone not only saving his life but also coming to a solution with Carriedo. My expression remained cold and steely, as it had been for the longest time before I met Lovino. Kirkland was yelling at me for being stupid and giving his life or something, but all of that was drowned out by the sorrow coming back in new waves. All of the life felt like it was being sucked out of my body as my mind travelled to Lovi's. I could feel the pain of cuts and bruises all over his body, the staleness of the water he was kept in. Oh, oh, Lovino, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I let this happen to you, I though. I almost felt tears come to my eyes as I felt him realize that I was there. Looking through his eyes, everything was much darker and dirtier than it was on my ship. I felt the sting of tears dripping into open wounds on his face and the total silence of the room as a weight on his shoulders. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and bring him back, but I couldn't even reach out mentally as I felt myself get dragged back to my own body.
-
I woke up on a fairly plush surface that I couldn't recognize. My legs ached and my head throbbed. I gingerly sat up and immediately spotted a concerned Carriedo and a worried Kirkland. "Chica, are you alright? You've been out for almost an hour!" I winced at the volume of the tan man's voice. He frowned and continued in a lower voice, "What happened? You were fine, but just collapsed and you wouldn't wake up." I almost didn't want to answer, sadness mixing with everything Lovino had been feeling. I finally replied in a soft voice, "It's kind of complicated. I kind of just...visited my mate's mind." Warm tears started rushing down my face, but they were nonexistent to my senses. I gently traced the semi-circular scar on my left shoulder that Lovi had made when we marked each other. I didn't want to be awake, where pain was constant and even the faint light pouring through colored glass hurt my head. I barely registered hitting the plush surface again as I fell into a swift and deep sleep.