Morg: Heyo! Let's make this a habit.

Ikuto: What?

Amu: She means updating.

Morg: Wouldn't it be nice?

Ikuto: I know something that would be nice.

Amu: I know something that is nice.

Morg: What?

Ikuto: Me, too.

Amu: You don't own us.

Morg: You would go there.

Ikuto: Not at all what I was thinking about.

Amu: Pervert.

~The Eighth Sea~

At that moment, Amu knew that the legends weren't half of the truth. The sirens certainly would try to lure the sailors through their song, but the creatures were vicious. Any that heard their song would be taken to the bottom of the ocean. Even if a sailor resisted, the siren would force them into the water and into the depths of the ocean.

Catching Kukai's attention, Amu motioned to him while speaking. "Don't look at them! Don't look at them or they'll kill you!"

The first mate was startled at first but then realized that Amu was telling the truth. That realization was mostly because a siren suddenly sprang out of the water and was fighting with the pinkette in the bottom of the boat. The creature was clawing at the pinkette. While the sirens were beautiful when they sang, this one no longer had those features as it attacked.

Turning, Kukai made certain that he had everyone's attention before giving the instructions. The crew knew to completely ignore the sirens. If they didn't look at the creatures then the creatures wouldn't look at them. Amu was on her own. There wasn't much he could do for her anyhow. She was fighting a creature basically made up of seaweed and water.

Shoving up, Amu felt her fingers glide through something slick and wet. The sirens didn't have bodies like humans. Their hair, their gowns, and their skin all felt like seaweed. There was little purchase granted to her as she felt needle-like daggers pierce her flesh. It wasn't at all fair that the creature could harm her and she could barely fight back.

Struggling, Amu got the siren off of her and back into the water. The creature lashed back up at her, but Amu saw her chance. Jumping, she caught a board from one of the half-sunken ships. The siren lunged for her again, but Amu kicked it before pulling herself up onto the ship. It was better if she could get away from the rest of the crew. Hopefully, the siren would follow her. She was the one that pissed it off, after all. If she could distract these creatures then they could search for the map piece.

Once it was found and back on board their ship, Kukai would light a flare and everyone would know to return. Amu would just have to fight until she saw that signal. Taking off across the damaged deck of a ship, Amu ducked into the hull. The creature was just behind her. She could hear it screeching now instead of singing. Hopefully, none of the others were tempted, or else they'd have a fight on their hands as well.

XXX

Ikuto could feel his blood dripping down his face. There were scratches going from beneath his left eye to his chin. The siren hadn't been happy with being rejected. The captain didn't feel bad about that at all. Not even when her fingers turned into needle-like appendages and tore into his flesh.

Through the song that the siren was still singing, Ikuto could hear its intent. It was strange that he could understand. The fact that he wasn't tempted by the lovely creature made him able to think about what was happening. The sirens weren't speaking words. They weren't doing anything but singing notes, but somehow Ikuto could understand their meaning.

His thoughts were disrupted by more pain. Clearly, the siren before him didn't like being ignored. She struck him again and again on various parts of his body. Ikuto could feel her claws digging into his flesh and pulling back out. Soon enough, the air was thick with the scent of his own blood.

His plan for being tied to the mast wasn't such a good one any longer. He had told everyone that he'd done it so that if something happened then he'd be able to hear it if need be. However, Ikuto had a more selfish reason for doing what he did. In all honesty, he'd just wanted to see if he was immune to a siren's call. It was a test of his will, and it was stupid to do, but he'd done it, and now he was paying for it.

A yell came from beside him. Ikuto barely managed to turn his head to see Yoru swinging a board at the siren still attacking him. The creature was thrown backward and away from the captain. Ikuto hoped that it would go over the edge of the ship if only to give them a bit of time before it renewed its attack, but it wasn't to be.

Yoru was quick to move in front of his captain. Holding his weapon in front of himself, he stared at the siren. The creature was ugly and looked to be hissing, but Yoru couldn't hear it. "You can't have him!"

The creature screamed back in response before rearing up and darting forward again.

Though he could see the creature moving, Yoru couldn't hear it. Swinging the board again, he pushed the siren back toward the edge of the boat before knocking it over into the water. His hits hadn't done much damage since the creature didn't seem to be made out of anything more than water. He had hoped that the water would make it disappear, but it just sat at the top of the water and screamed at him again.

It didn't stay down there.

Yoru was fast enough to get away from the edge before he was pulled overboard. The last thing he saw was the vile thing clawing its way back up the wooden side of the ship. Yoru made a mental note to have Amu look at the area later to make sure there was no damage done. Making his way back to Ikuto, Yoru glanced over his shoulder to see it coming after him. He was saving his captain, but he wasn't going to allow himself to get killed in the process. Ikuto would not like it if he did.

Dodging and moving around the deck, Yoru used his small size and agility to keep the siren distracted and away from his captain. If the creature was intent on him then it wouldn't hurt Ikuto. Out of the two of them, Ikuto was definitely a better fighter than Yoru, but then again, Yoru wasn't currently tied to the mast. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the look of anger on Ikuto's face. The young male decided to ignore it while he continued his fight. Whether or not Ikuto was shouting at him to stop and leave, Yoru didn't know. He couldn't hear him.

XXX

Kukai was quick to understand that they were in a very dangerous situation. He motioned for the crew to start going aboard the wreckages and search for the map piece. He also reminded them to frequently check the sky to look for the signal so that they could get out of there as quickly as possible. Also, they needed to make certain to ignore the sirens in every way possible. There was no way that they'd come out of this alive if a fight between the entire crew and creatures that didn't seem to have a way to die.

Sticking close to the sailing mistress, Kukai boarded a rather beaten up ship. The clue hadn't said where in the wreckage that the piece of the map would be hidden. They were going to have to fan out and search. As much as he didn't want to, Kukai knew that he was going to have to leave Utau's side. Granted, they wouldn't exactly be far away from each other. Still, it was more than he wanted.

Ignoring the male practically hovering over her, Utau moved about the damaged ship. She was looking at everything and through anything she could find. The others were around her. It was weird not being able to hear them, but she caught glimpses of them here and there and it reassured her that she wasn't alone. That and Kukai wasn't exactly moving more than five feet from her. It was cute and annoying.

Hopefully, the map piece would be easy to locate. Mostly because Utau really didn't feel like finding a wrong board instead. Dropping through an already partially sunken ship was not her idea of a good time. Things were already dangerous enough. Each small give of the floor beneath her feet had her heart racing. She was really glad that she couldn't hear the sounds of the wood creaking and groaning.

Kukai knew that he wasn't doing his part. The best way to help everyone would be to let Utau search on her own while he did the same. It was just really difficult to do so. Then everything happened too quickly.

Utau found it! The piece of the map was inside something that was most definitely rotten. Maybe it was a chest once upon a time. It wasn't anymore. She grabbed the map piece and turned to see Kukai's horror-struck face. There was no chance for her to react before slimy fingers were wrapped around her ankle and she was being pulled down.

XXX

Amu had no idea why she suddenly had three sirens chasing her instead of just the one that she'd ignored before. Maybe they just liked to hunt in packs when their prey was being difficult. There wasn't exactly time for her to stop and think about it. Not with needle-like claws missing her with each duck she made. She quickly moved to another spot among the wreckage. All the work she'd done in the shipyards over the years had definitely helped prepare her for this day. Without the knowledge of being able to see how the boards were rotten, Amu knew that she would have fallen long ago.

The sound of a scream caught her attention. It wasn't coming from Ikuto. The sound came from the wrong direction. However, it definitely came from a male. And it wasn't a scream of fear or pain. It was more of a bellow of rage.

Whatever or whoever had made the call, Amu changed her route so that she could head in that direction. Maybe Ikuto had a point when he said it was good for at least one of them not to block their ears. The others probably weren't aware of the angry cry that had sounded. If she could do anything to help then she would. The pinkette just had to manage to get there without being taken down by a siren. Hopefully, she'd be there in time to help.

XXX

So being tied to the mast was definitely the dumbest decision that Ikuto had ever made. No one would untie him. Not until they were far enough away from the cove. Which made everything so much more frustrating when he could hear someone screaming from the cove. It sounded like Kukai. And if Kukai was letting out a sound like that then something terrible happened.

Most likely it had happened to Utau. Not many knew it, but Utau was his half-sister. Ikuto would rather die than let anything happen to her. But here he was, tied to the mast and unable to do a thing. The rest of the crew members better bring her back safely. Map piece or no map piece. Ikuto just wanted his family back. All of them.

.

Morg: So much happening in this chapter.

Ikuto: But not enough because we still don't know what's happening.

Amu: Everyone dies. The end.

Morg: That is a horrible ending.

Ikuto: It works.

Amu: Yep.

Morg: Not happening!