I could say that it was difficult to watch two men in a stale match attempt to fight for our freedom, but it really wasn't. In fact, it was quite boring for us spectators. I had Carriedo and the remaining crew help the other Merpeople get clothing from some of the bodies. It's quite surprising, how much they listened to me when Ren was the first mate. However, he seemed to be absent from either ship at the time. I pushed it out of my mind, turning back to pay attention to the fighting brothers.

Nothing seemed to change, not even the standard banter. They were matched in skill, blow for blow and block for block. That is, until I noticed Allistair shift his hand away from his sword and towards something on his hip. As much as I hated interfering, I struck his cheating arm with the makeshift spear just as he started to cock the pistol with the intent of winning. He yelped and turned to me, growling like a feral animal. Arthur didn't seem to know to react as Allistair brought the gun up, pointing at my chest.

Rushing to finally put an end to this, I used the pole of my spear to knock his arm to the side just as he fired. With excitement flooding my senses, I didn't even register the pain in my left arm. Acting on that excitement, I dropped the spear and grabbed his arm, flipping him onto his back on the ground next to me. However, that was as far as he allowed me to go as he used his legs to sweep me off of the ground. As I gasped for breath, Allistair straddled my torso and wrapped his hands around my neck and started squeezing the life out of me.

"Just die already, you filthy mermaid! Die and pay for your crimes to my crew and me," he spat into my face, all judgement thrown away in favor of finishing what he set out to do. I scratched desperately at his hands as my entire body started to tingle, as if a limb had fallen asleep except everywhere. I started feeling tired and my limbs stopped listening to me.

As I was on the verge of falling asleep, Allistair's grip on my throat suddenly disappeared. His hands were still there, hovering over my skin. As I regained vision, I saw why he had stopped choking me. A sword tip stuck out of his chest at an awkward angle, crimson blood slowly dripping down the blade. Just as suddenly as it had been stabbed through, it was pulled out with an wet sound that could just barely be heard. Allistair just stared at a spot next to my head, complete shock frozen onto his face. His heavy body was pushed to the side by a small hand that wouldn't have fazed him while he was alive.

Behind the hulking body was a tearful Peter, clutching the sword in one hand. The sword was obviously something he had picked up as the tip rested on the soggy deck. Snot and tears covered his face as he dropped the sword and wrapped his arms around my torso. Not a word was said as he started bawling into my chest, his tiny hand clutching the back of my shirt.

-

It took a while for Kirkland to pry Peter off of me to let Ren bandage the hole in my arm. It was difficult not to scream as I realized the pain, but Lovino let me squeeze his hand. Thinking quick, Ren retrieved a bottle of alcohol from the dining area and let me take a few drinks to make the pain duller. It burned my throat and I wanted to cough the liquid back out, but I managed to stomach it for the time being.

The devastation wasn't as bad as we thought it had been. Most of Carriedo and Kirkland's crews had survived, and those that remained from Allistair's crew were imprisoned on Carriedo's ship. Finding large bolts of cloth on Allistair's ship, we were able to give all of the fallen souls a burial at sea. We didn't mourn for long, however, allowing Carriedo to take Allistair's ship, the Silent Siren had to take off on its own.

All of us Merpeople stayed in cells similar to the one I had been in. None of them wanted to stay there until they were convinced that the doors wouldn't be locked and they could move about freely. Of course, Ren and I got to be the lucky ambassadors between Arthur and the Merpeople. I promised them that we would all get proper treatment on our way home. For the most part, we remained in mated pairs, but having the cells separated kept the dominant mates from attacking each other. A table was set up in the largest cell for us to eat and gather at.

Lovino hardly left my side after the battle, only leaving when my sister wanted to talk to me. She told me she had mated with Ludwig, an old instructor of mine and one of the princes of the Merpeople kingdom. Everything was fine until I apologized for isolating her after she took a job. At that, we both broke down in tears and spent the next few hours reminiscing about our childhoods. She spoke of things that happened years before I was born, as well as when she was young and our mother was alive. Katyusha smiled fondly while speaking about our mother, emphasizing that she would be proud of me if she had lived to see me grow up. Thinking back, I suppose that's what bittersweet really is.

Once we were all clean and relatively healthy again, I was finally able to meet the pink-haired merman and his mate. I was surprised and ashamed that I didn't recognize the princes sooner. The pink one was Oliver, mated to Prince Gilbert, the older sibling of Ludwig. Oliver had been common like me until Gilbert chose him as a mate. Oliver seemed just as surprised to find out that I was the sibling of Katyusha. He insisted that we didn't fuss over him and Gilbert, especially not me and Lovino as we were technically family. In fact, Oliver seemed humbled and almost embarrassed by the fact he was seen as royalty.

With the exception of Oliver's insistence to be treated as any other merperson would be, we all got along swimmingly. Some would even say that many of us became fast friends. Other than myself, no one else really went to top deck, while Peter and Ren were the only ones to come down to our cells. Gradually, some pairs had me request a stop where they would jump off into the ocean, eventually resurfacing and thanking us.

About halfway through our return trip, we had to stop at a port to restock for the extra mouths. By now, there were only three pairs left, including me and Lovino. I spent the afternoon on top deck until Kirkland invited me to his cabin for a short while. It was then that Arthur cornered me for a talk.

"So," he hesitated, "How is everyone doing down there? Is it comfortable enough?" The interaction was obviously awkward as his jerky pauses between words betrayed his calm. His emotions were a mess, with all the symptoms of being nervous. I became so used to the now warm figure in my head, I almost didn't notice any of the changes in his emotions. The familiarity was so ingrained, we may as well have been actual mates. Regret sank into my stomach as I remembered exactly why I knew Kirkland's emotions.

Running on automatic, I easily replied to his queries with, "We're all fine. The others are starting to open up more and more to the others, so there hasn't been any fighting." He nodded, allowing the plush Captain's cabin to be enveloped in silence. After an uncomfortable amount of time, Kirkland sighed, slumping his proud shoulders. This was the first time he really let his guard down around me.

"Natasha, there's something that I have to admit," he started. Immediately, my stomach bunched into a knot. "I haven't been fair to you," he continued, "This entire time I've treated you like an annoyance. However, you've managed to grow on me, as well as my crew. I know that your journey will be over soon, and you are planning on returning to the ocean with the others. However, I was wondering.." He drifted off for a moment, but I already knew in my pitted stomach what he was going to say.

"Would you like to stay with me here on the Silent Siren?"