Birds of a Feather
The Curse of the Black Pearl
Chapter Eleven
Different from the Rest
Philip's head pounded as his eyes fluttered open. Philip wondered where he was as he blearily took in his surroundings. Wooden walls, the smell of the sea, and a creaking sound accompanied a faint splashing. Throughout his adventure Philip had felt lost upon waking up, not used to being on a ship. He had eventually gotten accustomed to the queasy motions of sailing and the harsh surroundings, but he still was dazed each morning.
Philip struggled to remember what had happened. Had they already rescued Elizabeth? If not, were they close by? And why was he thinking about the strange tailed girl again?
The answers hit him soon enough. As Philip pondered why he was lying on the floor of a cabin and not in his hammock, he stretched his arms. His wrists jolted to a sudden stop as they felt resistance and something metallic squeezed them tight.
He was shackled to the wall and surrounding him were hundreds of other chains.
Panicking, Philip jerked on his own chains, trying desperately to pull them from the wall. He had an unusual excess of freedom to move. His shackles allowed him to put his hands directly out in front of him and gave him another foot to move. They were secured on an iron hook and no matter how hard he tried he could not yank free.
Having nothing on him to pick the locks – his sword belt was hung on the opposite side of the room – Philip went to his last resort. He desperately scratched at the wood surrounding the iron hook.
"It's no use," a soft voice said. "Nothing can break those chains. You won't escape, so you might as well stop hurting yourself."
Philip whipped around and found himself staring at a mermaid watching him in a large glass tank. His memories came rushing back instantly as he recognized The Mermaid.
She was watching him as she had Elizabeth: bobbing gently in her tank, arms folded resting on the glass edge, and her head cocked innocently as she observed him with a curious expression.
"Who are you?" Philip demanded.
"You do not remember me?" The Mermaid questioned. She sounded almost sad at the thought, "I suppose it has been too long."
"What are you talking about?"
"Eight years ago, did you not see a girl in the water?"
Philip's face softened, "It really is you. The tailed girl who saved Turner."
The Mermaid nodded.
"What do you want with me?" Philip asked.
"Do not worry, Philip," The Mermaid said gently. "I will not hurt you this time. Just as I did not harm Elizabeth."
"You dealt with Elizabeth?"
"She tried to escape too many times, so they had me guard her like they are having me guard you. I am the 'stupid monster' she spoke of. Though not as stupid as her who would insult a creature who consumes human flesh."
Philip frowned, "You're telling me that you kept Elizabeth chained to the wall of a cabin for who knows how many days, terrified her enough that she feared you attacking us at Isla de Muerta, and now, what? Threatened to eat her? And yet you insist that you didn't harm her?"
"Mermaids do not harm women," The Mermaid simply answered. "I do not know why she fears me. I have done nothing to her."
"You did just threatened to eat her."
"No, I said it was stupid to insult a creature who would eat her. I generally abstain from the consumption of human flesh, which she knows and thus she should not be afraid of me."
"You also chained her to a wall."
"Barbossa chained her to the wall," The Mermaid corrected. "I immediately unchained her, and kept it a secret throughout the voyage. Yes, I did hold her in this room, but that was only to keep her away from the others. There are men on this ship that would have done terrible things to her had she continued to get in the way."
Philip felt himself recalling the two men he tricked back in the Fort. He shuddered to think what men like them could have done to Elizabeth.
"If you didn't harm Elizabeth, will you still harm me? Or eat me?"
"No," The Mermaid shook her head. "She told me things of you. You do not appear to deserve to be harmed."
"Then help me," Philip urged. "Free me like you did Elizabeth."
"I cannot. They chained her ankle so it was easy to hide, but I cannot hide your wrists, nor reshackle them in time. Someone will be around shortly to interrogate you for Turner's name."
"Will they harm me?"
The Mermaid hesitated, "They might. Unless…"
"Unless what?" Philip asked.
The Mermaid smiled and dove below the water. She swam to the very end of the right arm of her tank where Philip stood and resurfaced. As she bobbed in the water, Philip noticed she was flourishing her body in a suggestive manner, clearly trying to capture his attention.
He almost laughed at the thought... even if she was considerably attractive.
She tilted her head to the side and with seductive smile whispered, "Tell me Turner's name now and Barbossa will spare you."
"Never," Philip forced himself to look away from The Mermaid. He knew the stories of mermaids and how they used the supernatural arts to lure men to their embrace. Philip had never believed God could allow such a thing to happen, but as he fought against what felt like some strange magic gently pulling him to The Mermaid, Philip was beginning to wonder if maybe the Bible had left a few things out.
"There's no reason to fear," The Mermaid tried to assure him. "If I vouch for you, the Captain will listen. We have a… special bond."
"I will never betray my friend," Philip snapped. "And if he was so important to you, why did you save Turner that day eight years ago?"
The Mermaid looked down in shame, "I… did not know it was him. At the time I was not allied with the pirates, and in fact was trying to escape."
"Escape?"
"They held me prisoner for three years before Barbossa granted me freedom. They only kept me to get the blood, and I later decided to return help them get it so that we could all be free. Please, tell me the name and no one has to get hurt. Just a prick of Turner's finger, a drop of his blood, and it will all be over."
"As sympathetic as your plea is," Philip said, "I do wonder one thing."
"What is that?"
"If you had known the boy you rescued was Turner, would you have brought him to Barbossa instead of me?"
The Mermaid thought hard. She hadn't considered what he was asking.
"Only if I knew Barbossa wouldn't kill him," The Mermaid finally answered.
Philip considered her words for a long time.
"So... a mermaid who is against violence," Philip spoke.
The Mermaid grinned, "I'm not sure I would go that far, but I am against pointless death."
"You said that mermaids eat people."
"Sustenance is not pointless."
Philip felt guilty when he gave a loud laugh.
"So," The Mermaid said. "Will you tell me Turner's name?"
Philip sighed, "No. He's like a brother to me and I can't be certain they wouldn't kill him. Besides, Turner knows about the curse… or will know, because let's be honest, Elizabeth is not going to keep any of this secret for very long. It's his decision alone whether or not to turn himself in, and I must respect that. Even if it means I'll die to protect him."
The Mermaid watched Philip with a smile for a long time. Philip couldn't help but return the expression. Though he no longer felt the magic forcing him, Philip still couldn't pull his eyes away from the strange girl. They didn't linger on her body but stared deeply into those hazel eyes he could never forget.
"What is your name?" Philip asked.
"I do not have one," The Mermaid answered.
"Why not?"
"I was stolen before my naming ceremony and have yet to be granted one."
"Can't you name yourself?"
The Mermaid shook her head, "It is forbidden."
Philip wished he could call her by some name. A name was the symbol that something was more than just a creature. The Mermaid deserved to be more than an 'it'.
Or a stupid monster. He really had to have some words with Elizabeth about that later.
"Philip?" The Mermaid's voice was soft.
"Yes?"
"Let me see you."
Philip didn't understand until The Mermaid reached out and grasped his shackled hands. Her brow furrowed as she examined his hands; they had been injured from scratching the wall. His nails were bloody, and trapped underneath were small shards of wood.
"You're hurt," The Mermaid said.
Philip gave a small shrug, "In body only. The love I have for the Lord, as well as my family and friends keep my mind at peace."
It was a sentiment Philip had expressed many times in his life, and yet as The Mermaid's gaze held his, Philip found a strange storm in his mind. The Mermaid was the very essence of a contradiction. Gentle, yet violent. Honest, yet secretive. Jailer, yet caretaker. Beauty, yet deadly.
"Philip," The Mermaid leaned forward so that her forehead was almost resting against his.
Philip found he had no inclination to push her away.
"I can heal you," The Mermaid offered. "You need only ask."
"You can heal me?" Philip blinked. "How?"
"Ask."
"...Heal me."
The Mermaid smiled and rested his hand on the table laid out with candles that stood next them. She cupped her hands and drew water from the tank. The Mermaid poured the water over his hands and gently enclosed them in hers. She massaged the water into his wounds and he felt something passing over them.
Philip struggled to focus on his injuries. He was shocked at how much he enjoyed her touching him. Philip had held women's hands before - there had been a few times Uncle Weatherby attempted to play matchmaker for his nephew - but there was an intimacy Philip had never experienced as The Mermaid's soft, silky skin rubbed against his own.
Slowly, Philip intertwined his fingers with her own. He could see that his hands were healed, but his mind was focused elsewhere.
The Mermaid looked up at him, eyes wide and questioning. His eyes met hers, but no words were exchanged. They stayed there, hands and eyes interlocked with intimate heat rising ever steadily.
Suddenly, The Mermaid jerked back, releasing Philip's hand and breaking the moment.
"Did the magic work?" The Mermaid asked. What was she doing, sharing such a physical moment with Barbossa's prisoner?
"Yes," Philip looked at his healed hands. "I appreciate it, but warn me next time you are going to use magic. Thankfully the Bible does not frown upon healing magic. Divination, fortune telling, astrology, necromancy, mediums, elemental magic, idolatry, yes, but healing magic actually comes from God himself."
"Mermaids only have healing magic," The Mermaid said. "We use it to make ourselves more attractive to our prey."
"It seems you have used it well," Philip's eyes roamed over her body as he struggled to withhold sinful thoughts from his mind. "Such beauty. Surely you are one of God's own creations and not a descendant of those dark creatures who found no refuge on the Ark."
The Mermaid smiled. She enjoyed the worshipful way he looked over her; it was so unlike the lustful glances the crew always gave her. Philip appreciated her form, yet wasn't a drop of Turner's blood away from ravishing her.
But glancing at his chains, Philip suddenly remembered how he had gotten there in the first place.
"Such beauty." Philip repeated. "Yet deadly."
The Mermaid's face fell, "Deadly. No."
"You attacked me."
"No... You are different."
"Different?" Philip echoed.
"Are you not?" The Mermaid tried to keep the desperation from her voice. "You protect."
It finally hit Philip, "You tried to pull me into the water to hide me."
The Mermaid nodded.
Philip couldn't believe it, everything she had done to him was to save him from the pirates. Not only had she tried to hide him, she had lied about the circumstances of the attack and even stopped Barbossa from shooting him. Telling Barbossa about Will hadn't been to break the curse: it had been to save Philip's life.
He had been wrong: The Mermaid wasn't deadly. The Mermaid was different.
"I-"
The door slammed open.
"Well, what do we have here?" Twigg chuckled as Philip and The Mermaid scrambled away from each other. "It seems our prisoner has a very familiar face."
"Oh no," Philip said as he recognized the two men he had tricked back at Fort Charles.
"The armory's just that way," Koehler mocked as the duo stormed toward Philip, who had begun jerking desperately on his shackles to escape. "Bet you thought you wouldn't see us again, did you?"
"Honestly? No. Never crossed my mind."
"What are you two doing here?" The Mermaid demanded. Though she had backed away from the edge of her tank, her eyes had darkened and she had assumed an offensive position. One wrong move and she would attack. "Barbossa will be furious when he finds out you came in here!"
"The Captain's far too occupied with Sparrow to notice where we are," Twigg chuckled. "But don't worry, we can have some fun after dealing with the rich boy."
"Touch either of us, and I will tear out your throat," The Mermaid growled.
Philip looked horrified at her words, "And you said you weren't deadly."
"I'm not, but I can be," The Mermaid didn't care. If their safety meant Philip feared her, then so be it.
"How's this?" Twigg said to Philip, "You tell us Turner's name, and we only rough you up a little?"
"Never," Philip declared.
"That is quite the poor offering," The Mermaid agreed.
"If that's what you want." Koehler punched Philip in the stomach.
Philip yelled, bending forward from the blow. Koehler grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him face forward onto the floor. Philip screamed as the action harshly tried to force the shackles further than they could go and threatened to rip his hands from his arms. There was a sickening crunch from his nose as blood poured out fiercely.
"No!" The Mermaid yelled as Twigg stomped on Philip's back.
Her eyes darkened further and fangs extended as she grabbed Twigg by the throat and wrenched him back against the tank. True to her threats, The Mermaid sunk her fangs into the back of his neck. Twigg cried out and smashed his elbow into her face. The Mermaid hissed and reeled back.
Twigg took advantage of the moment to race over to help Koehler, who was unshackling Philip. Philip was only free for a second, but he made use of his time. Philip hooked his leg around Twigg's and yanked him down onto the floor.
Suddenly, Koehler wrapped another chain around Philip's throat. Philip fought ineffectively against the pirate, scratching at the chain and trying desperately to get free as the oxygen sapped from his body.
"NO!" The Mermaid screeched at a volume that legitimately hurt the men's ears.
The Mermaid's eyes were now so black that it was impossible to tell what part was iris and what part was pupil. Scales littered her torso, her teeth and nails sharpened, and her animal side had taken over completely.
She had gone Full Siren.
While The Mermaid was correct that mermaids did not have further magic, they did have one further weapon. They could shoot strands of seaweed from their hands in a makeshift lasso to forcibly draw their victims to them.
"Let's hope Sparrow tells us Turner's name," Koehler chuckled as he held the chain around the purple-faced Philip's throat. "Because you won't be saying anything ever again."
The Mermaid shot her seaweed lasso and hit Koehler perfectly. She yanked hard and sent him clattering to the floor and drew him back towards her.
As she dragged Koehler across the floor, Philip gasped to gather as much air into his lungs as they could hold. But when Twigg lurched forward to go after The Mermaid, Philip tackled him. Twigg easily threw back Philip and lunged at him. Philip kicked him in the face.
Koehler had managed to stand, and pulled back on the seaweed as hard as possible. He was trying to break the line and free himself. As Koehler put all of his strength into it, The Mermaid smirked and released. Koehler went stumbling backwards and slammed into the door.
Philip and The Mermaid did their best to collect themselves in that low moment before Twigg and Koehler attacked again. Suddenly, the ship lurched sideways as they made a hard turn. The Mermaid grabbed the edge of her tank and Philip the chain hanging from the iron ring that had imprisoned him minutes ago. The actions kept them from sliding sideways as Twigg and Koehler stumbled and hit the wall.
When the ship leveled, all four took a moment to collect themselves before they would resume their fight. Just as Twigg and Koehler were about to attack, the door slammed open.
"You two!" Bo'sun boomed at the pirates. He apparently didn't care that all the group was covered in blood and bruises. "To the guns!"
For a moment, The Mermaid feared for Philip, but when she looked at him she found the way he had been gripping the chains made it look like he was still shackled.
Twigg and Koehler hesitated, but it was clear there was no good in refusing to go with Bo'sun. For some reason they doubted Barbossa would accept the excuse "but we want to kill the prisoner and the mermaid."
"We'll be back," Twigg growled as he followed out Bo'sun.
"And you better shackle the prisoner," Koehler warned The Mermaid in a low voice when Bo'sun was out of earshot.
When the door slammed shut, The Mermaid swam as fast as she could to Philip.
"Philip!" The Mermaid surfaced, messily splashing water everywhere.
"Are you alright?" Philip had stumbled across the cabin and was gripping the edge of the glass. It was the only thing holding him up as he surveyed her wounds. Her bare body easily showed the marks the pirates had left on her. Philip was only too happy her long hair still shielded her breasts from his sight or having just survived a pirate attack or not, Philip might have had some sinful thoughts.
"I'll be fine," The Mermaid fibbed. "Are you okay?"
"Don't lie to me. I'll be fine," Philip wasn't aware that he had grabbed her arms and were tenderly rubbing the sides.
The Mermaid winced as his hand ran over a bleeding wound. She involuntarily jerked back, but did not pull out of his embrace.
"Alright," The Mermaid admitted, "I am in pain, but there's just enough water in my tank to heal it."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"As much as I don't want you to, you'll have to let me go."
"Oh," Philip's face reddened as he finally realised their position. He released her and stepped back."
"That's alright," The Mermaid laughed. "Why don't you grab your belt from the wall? You should be armed if they come back."
"I thought they couldn't die."
"That doesn't mean they can't be maimed."
Philip laughed as he put on his sword belt. He was slightly surprised that they had left his weapon in the room with him, but after seeing what The Mermaid was capable of, Philip understood why Barbossa might not have found an armed Philip a threat.
The Mermaid readied herself, pushing her body as far out of the water she could without gaining legs. Healing mermaids was different than humans; they had to dive in the water and immerse themselves with their magic. The deeper she submerged herself with the initial dive, the more powerful was the magic.
"Alright," The Mermaid announced. "Here, I go."
A cannon shot fired through the wall and the ammunition hit The Mermaid straight on. Since she was too far out of the water when it slammed into The Mermaid, she flipped over the tank and smashed onto the floor.
"No!" Philip yelled, racing to her.
Another shot slammed into the ship and Philip crashed against the wall. His head snapped back and his cranium took most of the blow.
Groaning, he slid onto the floor. Disoriented, Philip could only focus on his pain as the room spun. Trying to collect his bearings, Philip looked around. His vision was fuzzy and for the life of him, Philip could not remember what he had been doing before.
Then his eyes set on her: The Mermaid.
"Lord, please no!" Philip scrambled, crawling towards the unmoving mermaid. He shook her, focusing on her beautiful face. Though she was lying face down, her head was propped to the side. "Please don't do this, My Lord. Do not take her like this."
"Philip?" The Mermaid groaned, blinking rapidly as her eyes cracked open. She too struggled to collect her bearings.
"It's alright," Philip slowly turned her over. "I'm here. I'm-"
He stopped dead. His mind had finally registered what The Mermaid looked like out of water. Her hair was lying in a fan around her head on the floor, and her limbs were splayed out awkwardly to the sides. Philip modestly averted his eyes from the sight but couldn't believe his surprise.
The Mermaid was completely naked.
And even more shocking was that she had legs.