"All hands on deck! Set to the longboats!" Ordered Blackbeard. With the hustle and bustle of the crew, it didn't take them long to reach the shore. "Lay 'em out flat!" Blackbeard ordered as they got the nets off the boats. "No tangles. Make 'em look pretty for our dainty guests." He then turned to the lighthouse while holding a torch. "We're gonna need light. A lot of light." As he started to head to the lighthouse with Angelica and the rest, he silently signaled the Quartermaster to take Carmella back to one of the long boats.
As soon as Jack and Faye went past him, he grabbed Carmella and started towards one of the long boats where some of the other crew were already stationed. The Quartermaster had brought his hand over Carmella's mouth so she wouldn't scream or say anything to alert her sister or Godfather. Up in the lighthouse, the rest of the group went. When they stopped at the top, one of the crew went to inspect the contraption that controls the light.
"Smell that? Whale oil. Stuff burns like a miracle from God," he said.
"Can you make it work?" Blackbeard asked with a hint of impatience.
"Made by the English," the man replied as Jack and Faye looked around. "Let's not get our hopes up," he said sarcastically as he jumped down and started to move the contraption around to where they needed it.
Jack went out to the balcony-like area with Angelica following. "The old moon in the arms of the new one. First of the summer," she said as they both looked up at the sky. "Perfect for hunting a mermaid's tear."
Inside, the crew member had made the contraption work by lighting the warmed whale oil with his torch. A beam of light shot through the fog. Faye had been looking around the lighthouse when she noticed that Carmella wasn't there with them. She made her way over to Jack and whispered the news to him and he bit his lip. Faye had looked over to where the light was shining and found where Carmella was. She poked Jack to look in the direction. Carmella was sitting by one of the zombie crewmembers in the same boat that held Phillip, the preacher, Scrum and a few other members of the crew. Faye narrowed her eyes as a slight breeze picked up.
From within the boat, the old man spoke up, "We're doomed. They be drawn to man-made light." A few of the crew members turned to face him.
"Sharks?" Asked the young boy.
"Worse than sharks, boy. There'll be mermaids upon us within the hour, you mark my words. And we're the bait." The boat swayed gently in the waves.
"I heard it said a kiss from a mermaid protects a sailor from drowning," commented one man.
"Don't be a fool! Mermaids are all female, son, and lovely as a dream of heaven. But when it comes time to churn butter, so to speak, they snatch a sailor out of a boat or off the deck of a ship, have their way, and then the sailors are pulled to bottom and drowned and eaten."
"Or, sometimes, the other way around," Scrum commented.
"Sing," Ordered the zombie crewman, named Gunner.
"What?" Asked Scrum.
"They like to hear singing," Gunner said as he pointed a gun at them. "You too," He muttered to Carmella.
Suddenly a hauntingly beautiful voice echoed around the bay. The men looked around to find where the voice was coming from, when Phillip looked at Carmella and realized it was coming from her.
"Upon one summer's morning, I carefully did stray,
Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay.
Conversing with a bouncing lass, who seemed to be in pain,
Saying William, when you go, I fear you will never return again.
My heart is pierced by Cupid,
I disdain all glittering gold.
There is nothing that can console me,
But my jolly sailor bold.
His hair it hangs in ringlets, his eyes as black as coal,
My happiness attend him where ever he may go.
From Tower Hill to Blackwall, I'll wander, weep and moan,
All for my jolly sailor, until he sails home.
My heart is pierced by Cupid,
I disdain all glittering gold.
There is nothing that can console me,
But my jolly sailor bold.
My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,
And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year.
Come all ye pretty fair maids, from whoever you may be,
Who love a jolly sailor that ploughs the raging sea.
While up aloft in storm, from me his absence mourn,
And firmly pray, arrive the day, he's never more to roam.
My heart is pierced by Cupid,
I disdain all glittering gold.
There is nothing can console me,
But my jolly sailor bold.
My heart is pierced by Cupid,
I disdain all glittering gold.
There is nothing can console me,
But my jolly sailor bold."
Her eyes were closed as she sang but when she opened them, all the men who were on that boat looked at her in shock. The rest were surprised as well, never realizing that the lass could sing. After a few minutes, with nothing happening, Gunner decided to make the men sing.
Scrum, who still had the gun pointed at his head, reluctantly began to sing in a soft tone, "My name is Maria. A merchant's daughter fair-"
"Louder," ordered Gunner.
"And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year. My heart is pierced by Cupid," Scrum said in a louder voice.
Gunner then cocked the gun to the others on the boat, motioning for them to sing as well. "I disdain all glittering gold," They all began to sing. A while later, Phillip notices something big swimming in the water. Scrum and Phillip then went to the edge of the water to try and find what he saw. Nothing was seen, until they spotted a girl hanging on the side of the boat staring at the men and Carmella.
"Lord save me," Scrum said quietly.
"Man, look. Look there," Phillip said as he got the others who had fallen asleep to look in that direction. A few of them gasped. The old man quickly got up and took out his knife, prepared to attack when Scrum got up to stop him.
"You'll scare her off!" He muttered.
"Aye! And good riddance!" Commented the old man as the girl moved away from the boat. She kept moving her eyes in Carmella's direction, like she was curious as to why she was there.
"Can you talk?" Asked Scrum as he leaned closer.
"Yes," she said in a gentle voice as she made her way over to him. Her arms crossed as she laid on the boat once more.
"You're beautiful," Scrum complimented.
"Are you the one who sings?" The mermaid asked.
"Aye, but the first one who started the singing is over there," Scrum said as he pointed to Carmella who was sitting on the bottom of the boat by Gunner.
"Are you my jolly sailor bold?" She asked with a smile while ignoring the girl onboard.
Scrum chuckles, "Aye, that I be."
"Scrum! Comport yourself!" The old man said as the rest of the group pulled him back. Carmella was in a precarious situation. She couldn't interfere without putting her Godfather in danger, but she also didn't want the innocent men to die.
"Boys! There ain't much been given to me in my brief, miserable life, there's the truth in it. But, by God, I"ll have it said that Scrum had himself a kiss from a proper mermaid!" He grunted as he got himself free.
"My heart is pierced by Cupid," The mermaid began to sing. "I disdain all glittering gold. There is nothing that can console me, but my jolly sailor bold." As she continued her singing, other mermaids swam to the boat. Each is attracted by not only the light, but their 'sister's' singing. One by one they started to pop up from the water and started to pull themselves closer. Carmella went to the middle of the boat so she would be ready to pull the men back whenever needed. Scrum had his head in the water when he let out a shriek after seeing the fangs on the mermaid. Carmella immediately pulled him away as the old man hit her with an oar. The action caused chaos as the other mermaids started to swarm around the boat. One by one, the mermaids started to grab members and pulled them under.
On shore, Blackbear was commanding the rest of the crew. "Out upon it! It has begun!" Faye and Jack were following behind him with worried looks. They were watching as Carmella was struggling to help out. She couldn't use the water without accidentally tipping the boat.
It wasn't long till the mermaids pulled the boat apart. While the crew below was struggling, Carmella was standing on the surface of the water with her powers. The mermaids seeming to ignore her. She dove in to help Phillip as he was beginning to get dragged down by one of the mermaids. The others were handling themselves better than he was.
Other boats soon appeared closer to the light as they encouraged their fellow crew members. "Muster your courage! Drive 'em to shore!" The men were throwing bombs into the water to make the mermaids head to shore and the nets.
"Nets into the water! Quickly!" Angelica ordered as the shrieking continued. Carmella, meanwhile, was able to get Phillip towards the shore and away from danger. The other mermaids then started to go after the other boats when they noticed they were there, causing even more chaos and panic. When one man was grabbed, he dropped his bomb and it landed in the boat. When the boat capsized, it exploded sending it into the air.
Blackbeard commanded his boat to spit fire at the mermaids, to drive them to the shore. By the shore, men were holding onto the nets, ready for when they came, but still nervous. One by one, the men were pulled into the water by the mermaids.
"Retreat, all, to land! For your lives!" Ordered Jack.
"Retreat, he said!" Said Faye as she followed her godfather.
"Cowards! Back in the water!" Ordered Blackbeard as he headed to where they were trying to escape to. "There be no refuge on land! On my word!" Faye was trying to protect a few as Blackbeard began shooting at the water to make them go back. The mermaids began to wreak havoc on the docs as one tried to pull Angelica in.
Jack went to cut the seaweed-like whip that was wrapped around her ankle. It took him and Faye to pull her out of danger. Jack and Faye then headed towards the lighthouse to end this once and for all, dodging the creatures as they did. One grabbed onto Jack, but he managed to kick her off as Faye was pushing the rest back with her wind powers. Otherwise, they left her alone as well.
Up the stairs they went, as Carmella helped Phillip steady himself. On the top of the lighthouse, Jack pulled off a rod from the wall and began to hit the container that held the oil. OIl started to leak from the container and in a matter of seconds, Faye had grabbed Jack and jumped. The two had missed the giant fireball as they had dove into the water.
Meanwhile, down below, where Carmella and Phillip were standing. They saw the fireball and before some can land on Phillip, one mermaid pulled him out of the way but ended up getting stuck herself. Carmella was able to duck and shield herself with a wall of water.
Down in the water, Faye and Jack saw the mermaids beginning to retreat to deeper water. Not even noticing that the two were there.
"We got one!" A man said as they began to pull the net towards the sand. Blackbeard went to check in anticipation, but what they caught was Scrum.
"I"m in love!" He said happily.
Blackbeard, who was visibly upset, ordered to check the wounded. "See if you can find one mermaid still alive!" It was then that Scrum fell over as he fainted.