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anonymousewrites · 4 months ago

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Pearl of the Sea Chapter Sixteen

Found Family! PoTC Cast x Teen! Reader

Platonic! Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Jack Sparrow, Tia Dalma x Reader

Chapter Sixteen: Attacking Kraken

Summary: The Black Pearl goes up against the kraken.

Jack froze, and the pirates tensed. (Y/N), Elizabeth, and Will weren’t about to freeze, though.

“To arms!” said Will.

“Load guns! Defend the mast!” said Elizabeth.

“It’ll attack the starboard,” said Will. “Run out the cannons and hold for my signal.”

(Y/N) moved with the rest of the crew to ready for battle. They had too much energy, too much fight, too much power running through their veins. They had to fight. (Y/N) ran towards the stairs to belowdecks.

They were pulled back by Jack, who held their arms tightly.

“Jack, what are you doing?” said (Y/N).

“We can escape,” said Jack. He had been about to abandon ship himself, but he couldn’t. The idea of (Y/N) dying there because of the kraken tracking him weighed too heavily, worse than any other sin he even had committed.

“You’re abandoning us?” said (Y/N), eyes narrowing.

The look of disgust, something (Y/N) had never looked at him with even when all others had, was jarring.

(Y/N) wrenched their arm from his grasp and glared. “Coward,” they said.

They turned and ran belowdecks. If Jack ran away, they refused to follow. They refused to care, even if seeing a pirate they looked up to for respecting them and their freedom leave all that they cared about being hurt them. (Y/N) had more important people to protect.

(Y/N) crouched beside Will and Elizabeth and readied the cannons. They pushed every thought of Jack out of their head as they focused. They loaded the cannons and waited as the low growls of the kraken echoed around them.

With a squelch, the tentacles of the kraken swarmed up the sides of the Pearl. The crew held their breath as they blocked out the sun from the portholes and curled around the sides of the hull. The giant suckers searched for its next victims.

“Easy, boys,” said Will, keeping everyone calm.

He gently pulled (Y/N) back towards him, but they slipped out under his arm and headed up. They grabbed a harpoon with the others and stood to face the kraken. (Y/N) would do all they could to protect their friends, their family, their goddamn bloody freedom.

“Will?” said Elizabeth, backing up.

“Steady. Steady,” said Will as the tentacles waved over the pirates’ heads.

“Will!” said Elizabeth.

“Hold. Hold,” said Will.

(Y/N) felt the mythical energy of the kraken envelop them as it loomed above, not even its full body but just its tentacles.

“Will!” snapped Elizabeth.

“Fire!” he shouted.

Boom!

All the cannons exploded, and the cannonballs rocketed into the kraken’s tentacles. Instantly, a roar reverberated through the air. The tentacles smashed into the hull as the kraken reeled from the wounds. It shrieked and shook in pain. The tentacles quivered and retreated to the sea below.

The pirates cheered, but Will shook his head.

“It’ll be back,” he said. “We have to get off the ship.”

“There’s no boats,” said Elizabeth, shaking her head.

“Bloody—” Will’s jaw clenched.

The tentacles had smashed the lifeboats to bits. (Y/N) frowned and tried to think of an option. A small barrel rolled across the deck, and they straightened.

“Get all the gunpowder onto the net in the cargo hold,” said (Y/N). “Pull the grates.”

Elizabeth looked at them. “What are you planning?”

(Y/N) gestured to the barrels of gunpowder. “The only thing left to do is to try to blow the kraken to hell. We can’t fight it with harpoons or swords.”

Elizabeth picked up a rifle. “Then I’ll shoot. I won’t miss.”

“Good,” said Will. “As soon as I’m clear.” He wouldn’t let (Y/N) get so close to the danger, even if they had come up with the idea.

(Y/N) nearly cursed but stamped down their irritation to throw their energy throwing gunpowder barrels into the hold.

“We’re short-stocked on gunpowder. Six barrels!” alerted a crew member.

Gibbs cursed and reported to (Y/N). “There’s only half a dozen kegs of powder.”

“Load the rum,” said (Y/N).

Everyone stopped and stared at them. That seemed to be a horrendous idea since rum was a necessity for pirates.

“I said, load the rum!” snapped (Y/N). “Do you want to be drunk and die or do you want to be sober and have a chance?”

The pirates jumped into action and grabbed the rum to add fuel to the fire. (Y/N)’s orders were going to be heeded.

“That coward!”

(Y/N) looked over to see Elizabeth glaring at Jack, safely tucked away in a rowboat and making his escape. He truly had abandoned them.

Thump!

The Black Pearl jerked violently. The kraken had returned, angry than ever. All the tentacles, healed and ready to fight, exploded out of the water. They struck through the portholes and grabbed at any pirate they could find. Men were pulled screamed into their watery graves below or crushed in powerful muscle without a second thought.

“Haul away!” shouted (Y/N) over the carnage.

“Heave!” cried Gibbs. The pirates turned the wheel and began to raise the net of explosives into the air. “Heave like you’re being paid for it!”

“They’re being paid with keeping their lives!” said (Y/N).

Belowdecks, people screamed as they were hauled away by tentacles, and (Y/N) winced.

“Well, those ones aren’t,” said (Y/N).

The tentacles finished with the downstairs and moved on deck. Everyone dodged as best they could and tried to hide, but it was to no avail. Crew member after crew member was grabbed and killed, whether by being dragged into the sea or being cracked like shells. But Will wasn’t ready to let the explosives go yet, so the carnage continued. Elizabeth pushed the wheel to send it higher, using all her strength while Will hung on. (Y/N) was using all their agility to dodge the tentacles and hacking through some trying to grab the crew.

(Y/N) yelped as a strong tentacle wrapped around their ankle and pulled. Their feet disappeared from under them, and they scrambled helplessly for purchase. The kraken dragged them up into the air, and (Y/N) dangled above the sea.

“(Y/N)!” shouted Elizabeth, fear clutching her heart. No, no, not her sibling. Not (Y/N).

“(Y/N)!” Will’s voice appeared at the same moment as Elizabeth’s. His own instincts demanded he somehow help them, but there was nothing he could do.

The couple loved (Y/N); they were their family, Elizabeth’s and Will’s sibling in their hearts, almost their own child as well. They cared, and to see (Y/N) hanging above death destroyed them.

Jack could see in terrifying detail the tight grip the kraken had on (Y/N). In but a moment, they’d be dragged into the deep sea and devoured by the creature. And Jack could do nothing. He was sitting in a lifeboat to save his own skin, abandoning (Y/N) and everyone else on board the Pearl.

The compass stirred, and the needle spun. Jack looked down at it. Finally, after months of uncertainty and a spinning dial without focus, the needle focused. It froze, pointing at a single place. Jack raised his gaze.

The Black Pearl. The crew. (Y/N).

They were what his heart wanted. Jack wanted that ship and his crew and his kid—his Pearl, a treasure of the sea—safe with him—free to be themself, free to be a pirate, free. He swallowed and grabbed the oars of the boat. He pulled, and the lifeboat lurched back towards the Black Pearl. Jack couldn’t deny it any longer. A piece of him was on that ship and with that kid—the one with a heart of the sea he adored more than anything in the world, the same sea and heart and freedom he pursued and would protect.

For their part, (Y/N) was twisted and trying to escape from the kraken. They knew that they were seconds away from their death. It infuriated them. (Y/N) couldn’t—wouldn’t—die in the sea that they loved, not with everyone else they loved in danger, certainly not without having lived with the freedom they desired.

The itch under their skin thrummed with the rise and fall of the waves. The energy exploded through their limbs, and they refused to stay still. (Y/N) thrashed with vengeance, pulling their arms up. A wave surged upwards. It rushed into the air, defying physics but obeying (Y/N)’s will, the call of their heart. The wall of water smashed into the kraken’s tentacle, and it was forced to let go of (Y/N). They fell into the wave, but as the water encapsulated them, fear did not do the same. The water surrounded them as a comfort, blocking out cries from the world around them. The wave continued its motion and smashed across the deck of the Pearl. It broke its formation and flooded across the wood and back into the sea. (Y/N) was released, landing on their hands and knees on the deck. They were alive.

“(Y/N)!” Elizabeth rushed to their side and pulled them into a tight hug. “Oh, thank god.”

(Y/N) squeezed their eyes shut and hugged her back tightly. They allowed themself to bask in the security of her arms.

Elizabeth didn’t mention what she had just witnessed. She didn’t say anything about her astonishment or shock. She just held (Y/N) for the moments they could spare. They were alive and back in her arms.

Thunck!

The moment was over as quickly as it began. (Y/N)’s attack on a single tentacle had saved them, but countless others were still fighting undeterred. Above them, Will swung around on the net of explosives. Crew members were running, screaming, and stabbing at whatever they could to avoid death. The battle was still raging.

“We need to finish this,” said (Y/N), pushing to their feet.

Elizabeth eyed them worriedly. She expected their leg to be injured from the strength of the kraken, but there was no trace of wound or exhaustion. If anything, (Y/N) seemed more determined and stronger than they had at the beginning of the fight. Once more, the word ‘magic’ flitted across her mind.

“Over here!” shouted Will, getting the tentacles to grab at the net. “Come on!” His leg got caught in the net, and he fell over backwards.

Elizabeth gasped and held the rifle tightly. She couldn’t ignite the gunpowder without hurting him.

“Shoot, Elizabeth, shoot!”

Will wasn’t afraid of dying. No, he was only afraid of the woman he loved and the kid he helped raise dying. After seeing both nearly killed so many times over now, he refused to stand by and watch. He had seen (Y/N) nearly die twice in the past few hours alone, and now was his chance to give them a chance to live. Yes, he would never marry Elizabeth, but she would live on. That was enough.

A tentacle grabbed Elizabeth’s ankle and pulled. She dropped the rifle and cried out. (Y/N) grabbed a sword and swung down. They cut the tentacle’s thinnest end off, and Elizabeth scrambled back.

“The rifle!” said (Y/N).

Elizabeth nodded and ran for the rifle. (Y/N) scrambled for the dagger Will had dropped.

“Will!” they shouted, throwing it.

Will caught it, but a tentacle lashed at him. He jerked and cried out as it strangled his arm.

(Y/N)’s heart thumped, and the itch of restless energy swirling beneath (Y/N)’s skin swarmed outwards. As tentacles grabbed at all the remaining crew—barely a handful now—(Y/N) stumbled back. They kicked a tentacle back, desperate to push the kraken back.

Water exploded up around the Pearl. It smashed into the tentacles of the kraken, forcing them back. The force of the waves through the Black Pearl to the side. Elizabeth went sliding away from the rifle, and Will swung back and forth. He sliced through the rope and fell to the deck. The tentacles pushed through the water as relief washed over (Y/N) at seeing Will safe from the explosives. The tentacles swarmed the net as they had been.

Bang!

A single shot hit the net of explosives. The gunpowder ignited.

Boom!

The net exploded into a chain reaction of fire and destruction. The kraken wailed as its tentacles were shredded and set on fire. Elizabeth and Will ducked as the debris hit the deck. (Y/N) stumbled back to the stairs and covered their face from the heat. Gibbs froze as he watched the tentacles retreat into the protective balm of the watery depths of the sea. (Y/N) panted and wiped soot from their face, hesitant to move for fear of the kraken returning.

“What do you think of that shot, laddie?”

(Y/N)’s head snapped up. Above them on the stairs, rifle in hand, stood Jack.

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ofallingstar · 14 days ago

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List of books I read in 2024

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Grave of Light: New and Selected Poems, 1970-2005 by Alice Notley

El diario de Tita by Laura Esquivel

Accident by Danielle Steel

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Collected Poems by Lynda Hull

Felicity by Mary Oliver

The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

Ionbhá: The Empathy Book for Ireland, edited by Cillian Murphy, Pat Dolan, Gillian Browne & Mark Brennan

Broken Harbor by Tana French

The Gospel According to Blindboy by Blindboy Boatclub

Beowulf by Unknown, translated by Seamus Heaney

Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel

Amrita by Banana Yoshimoto

Daisy Miller by Henry James

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy

A Literary Tea Party: Blends and Treats for Alice, Bilbo, Dorothy, Jo, and Book Lovers Everywhere by Alison Walsh

Cassandra by Christa Wolf

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems by Mahmoud Darwish

Absolute Solitude: Selected Poems by Dulce María Loynaz

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston

When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll

DIS MEM BER and Other Stories of Mystery and Suspense by Joyce Carol Oates

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

The Collected Poetry, 1968-1998 by Nikki Giovanni

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

The Moomins and the Great Flood by Tove Jansson

Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson

The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton

Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother, Anne Sexton by Linda Gray Sexton

Disclosure by Michael Crichton

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson

The Exploits of Moominpappa, Described by Himself by Tove Jansson

The September House by Carissa Orlando

A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll

Uzumaki by Junji Ito

Insomnia by Stephen King

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? by Henry Farrell

From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough

Del amor y otros demonios by Gabriel García Márquez

Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

You can follow/add me as a friend on Goodreads.

#about brenda #books #booksblr #goodreads

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inbabylontheywept · 2 years ago

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That isn't a ship, it's a cannon with FTL

Aggral Thrawn’s gut was a grotesque thing to behold: Soft and distended, covered with a coarse layering of fur, a fat purple worm of a scar crossing over it’s almost spherical circumference. So vicious was the scar that even gazing upon it brought unwanted imagery of the fat ape-like creature screaming in pain, both arms working as a dam to keep the tidal wave of bloody guts from spilling out of its three-fingered fists

Yet, for all its grotesque horror, he trusted it. That same gut that had almost gotten him killed so many years before had worked hard to save him again and again after. It was what had brought him from mere gangpress, to quartermaster, all the way to the captain of his own pirate vessel.

And right now, it was telling him to call off the attack. The readings he was getting from the craft ahead made no sense. The crew space was too small, the energy readings were off the charts, and there was something almost military about it. Yet, as he looked over the hull, he couldn’t spot a single weapon. Nothing about it made sense.

The crew had enough in the larders to pass on a ship this sturdy. Even as ships on either side of him pulled forward, eager to be the first to raid the craft, he aborted the ram sequence to watch from a distance.

The crew was disappointed. It’d been too long since they’d had a good, solid fight, but they knew better than to second guess Aggral’s gut. It had earned its place as the ship’s oracle by rite of blood, and was to be respected accordingly.

---

There were only four crew aboard the USSN PMAC: Dalton Dial, in charge of weapon systems, Elizabeth Harris, in charge of navigation, and the Pratchett siblings, who worked together to keep the fifth generation fusion reactor that powered the whole abomination within some semblance of working order.

The Pratchett siblings’ love of the reactor (which they had affectionately named “Sun-Son”) was rivaled only by their hatred of the rest of the craft. Elizabeth and Dalton had more mixed feelings on the matter. Elizabeth considered the ship “Perhaps a little ridiculous on paper, but a work of military genius,” while Dalton lauded the idea as “Literally the coming of the Messiah, the only thing I prayed for my whole adulthood, and the answer to that prayer manifest, just for me, to bring me back to the flock.”

Their mixed feelings could be explained away just by describing the craft concept:

The PMAC was not a ship. It was the largest possible gun that could still be attached to an Alcubierre drive, with just enough manpower to steer, aim, and maintain the thing for long term patrols.

The prototype MAC that the life-support, thrusters, and reactor had been constructed around hadn’t even been built with space in mind. It was originally designed as a ground-to-orbit defense weapon. If it wasn’t for the capacitor bank the ship would’ve needed almost a minute between each shot to get enough power, even with the fifth generation reactor. Luckily, it could start out each battle with enough charge to fire off a salvo of four before needing to begin recharging for its next launch.

It had just such a salvo prepared for the pirate ambush that their military grade scanners had picked up minutes earlier.

Dalton was not taking the delay very well.

“With all due respect mam, I’ve had a lock on all three for almost a minute now. I could just fire and claim that I sneezed. The Pratchetts would back me up on this. Right guys?”

Emily Pratchett snorted.

“Why is it that when the weaponsmaster says ‘with all due respect’ he always means ‘fuck you for giving my stupidly giant gun blue balls?”

Thom Pratchett shrugged.

“Maybe he’d say it less if you weren’t so eager to translate it to the navigator for him.”

Elizabeth was slightly amused by the conversation. It was hard to keep things particularly formal while on a crew this small. Still, she was waiting for something. She’d gotten permission from the brass to take a new approach to fighting with the ship.

They’d proven it could win battles. Now, it was time to establish shock and awe. And as it currently stood, dead men told no tales.

Thus, they needed more living ones. And as she watched two pirate ships pull forward, with one hanging back, she knew just who’d live to pass on this particular legend. ---

Aggral watched the ships advance on his HUD, the blips crossing the thousands of kilometers between them and the strange ship in seconds. For a moment he felt regret. Was he making a mistake? Was this going to be what led to some upstart in the crew thinking they could do things better than him?

Then, the world went mad.

The power readings on the strange ship spiked. Hard. He’d thought that the baseline levels were outrageous, but they must’ve had some sort of absurd capacitor bank to expel that much energy that fast. The twin prongs that made up most of the length of the ship gave off some sort of EMP that fried the electronics of the Viscera, his sister ship, cutting off their radio traffic. His crew scrambled to find some way to regain contact when Gods of the Dead, forgive me my sins, and and forget me my debts, the actual weapon went off. The EMP hadn’t even been the attack, it had just been a side effect.

He hadn’t seen a weapon because he’d been looking for one on the hull, some kind of guardian laser, or a missile pod. He hadn’t even conceived that the whole goddamn vehicle could be the weapon. But what kind of weapon would charge up like that? A laser would just fire over a sustained period. What would need a burst like-

He stopped midthought as it hit him: A railgun.

He stopped again as it hit them: The kinetic charge would have to have been moving at almost 0.8c for it to just ignore the evasive maneuvers like that. The ferroslug itself wasn’t detected by any of their defense measures aboard, but the thermal readings of the Viscera made every infared sensor aboard scream in horror. Contact with whatever slug had hit it must’ve reduced the whole thing to plasma. It was almost inconceivable.

He was already screaming out the full retreat call when the ship fired twice in rapid succession at the Rictus, which was still recovering from what had just happened to its partner. The first shot was dead through the center. The second hit some target a few dozen meters off to the side.

A direct hit on an escape pod. Apparently, the captain had tried to save himself. Even in the mortal terror that he felt at that moment, Aggral could take a grim satisfaction at that second shot. To leave all the men that followed you to their deaths was a cowardice that he could not bear to consider. He would rather die.

And now, he was going to. Jump was fifteen seconds away, and the console was telling him that the ship was pinged. They knew where he was, they had him in their crosshairs, and they were going to pull the trigger.

He traced a finger over the purple scar absentmindedly. This was it. He’d been living on borrowed time since that first wound, and now he was to meet his ancestors.

He was ready.

---

Dalton was wincing, even as he maintained his ping on the ship. He knew that Elizabeth was just doing her job, but even by his admittedly bloodthirsty standards, there was something fucked up about keeping a ship in ping like this. It was like forcing someone to look you in the eyes before you slit their throat. Way too personal for his tastes.

Elizabeth was keeping an eye on the craft, making sure that no escape pods were jettisoning. Part of her was hoping that some would, but whatever other faults these pirates had, they were loyal to each other at least. As the ultraviolet scanners gave the telltale flair of redshift, she told Dalton to turn off the ping.

To say he was relieved was an understatement. In the middle of a firefight, he couldn’t question Elizabeth’s orders, but for the first time in a long time, he’d been afraid to pull the trigger. Now he didn’t have to.

He almost slid out of his chair as he asked the question that had been on his mind since the engagement began.

“Mam, what the hell was that?”

Elizabeth smiled warmly at her very surprised crew even as her words came out, cold as ice.

“A message.”

---

Thanks for reading this far! I'm moving my previous works from reddit to here. If you follow me, more will come. If you're impatient, you can skip to the source and read things at https://www.reddit.com/user/InBabylonTheyWept/

#humanity fuck yeah #hfy #humans are space orcs #scifi #humans are space oddities #this was the first story I wrote for the HFY subreddit #I am terrible at writing names so I just steal them #space pirates #bfg #Big Fucking Gun #science fiction #Babylon-HFY #Babylon-TopPick

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st-whalefall · 4 months ago

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#hydrilla #martin gonzalez #elizabeth hull #suspiro #music #hydrilla is a water plant otherwise known as water thyme

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bethhull · 1 year ago

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SEARCHING FOR PEACEMAKERS

Elizabeth Hull

Acrylic on Canvas, 36x24", 2023

In the Collection of the Artist

#abstract #figures

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your-resident-boat-person · 3 months ago

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ever play ultrakill? there's an ocean liner on stage 5-2. do you think it was based on any known ocean liner? if it's nothing obvious, what do you think a close comparison could be?

Howdy! Unfortunately, no, I haven't played ultrakill.

This is the ship you're referring to, yes?

The ultrakill wiki refers to it both as a cruise ship and a ferry. I'm not sure if there's another source that says it's an ocean liner, but for the sake of this post, let's assume it is. It's difficult to get a sense of scale from the photo or gameplay footage, so it's difficult to discern how big it is. Zooming in on the photo, it looks like the hull is made from wood? The largest wooden sailing ship ever built was the Wyoming, a 6-masted schooner measuring 450 feet long, and she sank because the wood she was made from, combined with her size, made her prone to sagging and hogging, which likely made her snap in the middle. Ships of that size just can't be made from wood. It's not strong enough (*cough* *cough*, Noah's ark... I'll get to you another day...) in terms of funnels, it has 2 which are very close together, and they appear to be red, with a black top (likely to mask the stains from the smoke and dust). The funnels look to most closely resemble the French line? I think? It's difficult to tell... in terms of a wooden hulled 2 funnel liner? My closest match is the SS Adriatic of 1856, belonging to the Colins line.

But as you can see, there isn't much of a resemblance... especially considering she has a friggin paddlewheel and rigging for sails

The ship looks considerably more modern. If it were real, judging by the superstructure, I'd be shocked if it predated the 1960s. But those round cylindrical funnels were WELL out of date by then, with may companies beginning to get creative:

The funnels are also pretty far back. On most Ocean Liners, the boilers, engines, and other heavy machinery were kept towards the middle of the ship, to ensure it would remain stable. We only started putting engines on the back of ships of this size relatively recently. For example, the SS America had 2 funnels, but only one was functional. It rests in almost the exact middle of the ship

And judging by the ultrakill ship, the funnels are pretty far back. They're REALLY close together, not unlike the SS Brittanic and Germanic of 1874

The bow also features a VERY prominent rake backwards. One of the earlier examples of this was the RMS Queen Elizabeth of 1938, but the rake wasn't very prominent.

The SS United States of 1952 featured a MUCH more prominent rake akin to that of the ultrakill ship

So in short... I dunno! It's kinda a mishmash of a lot of things! Thank you so much for the question, and if you need clarifications for anything I'm referring to or any of the vocabulary I use, feel free to ask! I can kinda forget sometimes that most people don't know a lot of these Nautical terms, and I love talking about this, so I don't mind explaining! :3

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kaihuntrr · 1 year ago

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The Sea Prince; Hide & Seek

I don’t think you should look behind you, Lizzie.

The sea was dangerous.

It was no place for a human.

Sheer cold winds howled as the waves crashed against each other. The sky was pitch black, only illuminated by the bright crash of lightning overhead. The torrential rain pelted the ocean around her, driving the waves higher and making it harder to see. Warring sounds of nature were the only thing the survivor could hear as she kept as still as possible, clinging to floating pieces of driftwood and debris to hide her frail body from the terrors of the deep.

The survivor was drenched in water, barely breathing as she pressed her body down against the wooden planks as she tried to make herself smaller than she already was. She shivered, the freezing air surrounded her. Thunder rumbled overhead, and her blue eyes narrowed as she adjusted her blurry vision from the chaos around her. She shouldn’t be here. She should be on the island with her friends. She should be safe. She was supposed to be safe. The survivor took in deep breaths, her hands covering her head as she tried her best not to scream in fear.

Don’t let them find you.

A blinding flash of lightning struck the sinking, burning vessel in front of her. What was once the ship that she and her parents had boarded was now nothing more than a wooden plaything for those monsters. She strained her ears, listening for any screeches or roars that bellowed from the deep, but there were none. Only then did she dare to move.

She couldn’t believe this was happening. Her eyes were glued to the destroyed ship, the only thing left that provided her a sick sense of relief. It was a reminder of how lonely she was. She hated being alone. She moved the messy pink hair away from her face as tears began to form. Her fingers ran pulled at her hair as her breathing quickened and her vision blurred.

She could feel her heart pounding out of her chest and her stomach twisted in pain as her head hit the wood below her. She had to be strong. Her parents told her to be strong. She had to be. She was the unshakable Elizabeth Shadow, inheritor of the Shadow Pearl corporation, nothing should scare her. Nothing should scare her. She was a big girl. Big girls shouldn’t panic. This should all be over soon.

How did this all happen? Just a few hours ago all she saw was the clear, sunny sky and peaceful waves. Lizzie closed her eyes as she took in another deep breath, casting her mind back to the once-calm waves and breezy chill that danced across the ships. She needed to calm down.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

—————

The skies overhead were a beautiful baby blue, lazily hung with small specks of clouds and filled with the songs of migratory birds that passed by. How these birds flew across these long patches of ocean was baffling to her. Lizzie stood on the upper deck of a grand cruise ship, watching the birds fly in the distance. Her hands against the railing as the salty sea air blew through her hair as she cherished the view of the ocean. The ship was a fine white vessel used for transportation and leisure. It had several polished wooden floors with different levels to accommodate all the people on board. The ship rumbled with the vibrations of big engines propelling forward. The ship’s hull was lined in the typical metal plating meant to defend the ship from the sea monsters infesting the ocean.

It was hard to believe this place was as scary as all the stories her friends had told her. She heard lots of stories of dangerous sea monsters, and while she did fear them as any kid did, the sea didn’t look like what she pictured in her mind. It was just a big pond filled with fish enough to feed the entire human race, all animalkind even! Ponds aren’t scary.

There was no storm. There were no tall sharp rocks to destroy ships. There was not even a hint of mist! Most importantly, there aren’t any vicious monsters coming for their ship. She didn’t think there would be any monster coming close to her ship. With their ship being a transportation boat, they were protected by several hunting ships that formed a circle around the big boat. No monsters would attack them, they’d be fine.

Hunters, Lizzie knew of the profession through Grian. His parents were hunters; trained and ready to kill any sea monster that comes their way. Grian described their ships as being covered in big weaponry and parts of the monsters they killed as trophies. Lizzie stared at the metal walls covered in spikes and harder material, showing some dents and bitemarks as they stuck to the passenger ship’s side. The hunter ships all had huge sails to carry them across the waters and an engine for a speedy getaway, all for the safety of fellow humans.

Lizzie stared at the hunters’ ships as Grian’s words echoed through her mind. His parents were no longer in this world, but Grian was still excited about becoming a hunter.

Lizzie could see the passion in Grian’s eyes as he spoke about hunting, full of wonder and amazement as he recollected what his birth parents had told him. Her friends all had different thoughts about hunters. She asked Martyn what being a hunter was like, given he was already training to be one, and he gave her a huge grin as he answered her: It was awesome.

She remembered the look on Grian’s face as Martyn recounted all the cool tricks his parents had taught him, the sour expression on his face was priceless. He’d said, “How come you get to do all of that? Why can’t I?”

Lizzie visualized Martyn’s cocky smirk as he rustled with Grian’s hair, “That’s because my parents are actual hunters! Yours are smarty-pants hunters, you don’t do these sorts of stuff!”

When she asked Jimmy if he wanted to be a hunter too, his eyes had gotten big and he’d shook his head, “No way! That’s too much for me. I’d rather do what Mum and Dad do, it’s more my speed.”

Lizzie could practically hear the loud laugh Joel made when Jimmy had said that, causing a light chuckle to slip out of her. Joel had wrapped an arm around his taller brother, rolling his eyes, “He’s way too scared to do it. He thinks a monster is gonna come up to eat him or something. We’ll save him though!”

The memory of their shared laughter warmed her heart. She was excited to see them again.

Lizzie and her parents were on their way to meet with her friends and their parents, the adults planning on talking about some sort of deal she didn’t fully grasp yet. Eh, that was adult talk, she didn’t care for it. She wanted to be there to see her friends.

Lizzie walked along the upper deck, one hand tracing the railing as she stared outward, passing small waves at hunters when they looked her way, smiling and laughing. She heard two voices up ahead, discussing something. There was nothing for her to do there other than to watch the ships go by, so Lizzie abruptly stopped walking to listen in. Two people were leaning by the wall, and to not look like she was eavesdropping Lizzie walked past them and ducked behind the wall. They wouldn’t notice her.

The two people were in a hushed conversation, one figure leaning towards the other as they spoke. It didn't seem to register to either stranger how loud they were being with their whispers. One of the voices was more frantic in their speech, stuttering, “What if they find us?”

The other voice chuckled, soft thuds indicated they were patting their friend’s shoulder as they sighed, “They won’t. They’re not real.”

What wasn’t real?

The first voice spoke up again, their tone unchanging, “B-But they are! If not them, then–”

The second voice sighed loudly, raising their voice and cutting the other off, “Then nothing, my friend. If monsters try to approach we’ll be protected.”

The first voice spoke up again, much more quietly and less frantic. It didn’t seem like they were arguing anymore, “It’s not them I’m worried about, it’s–” If they weren’t arguing, Lizzie wanted to know why the first one was so scared.

The second one spoke up again, their tone in a low hiss, “The sea princes don’t exist, mate. They’re fairytales.”

Sea princes? Weren’t those the stories Grian and Martyn used to tell her? Her thoughts were interrupted as a low growl of thunder rumbled above, dark clouds began to form. Uh oh. Best to go downstairs with her parents. She didn’t want to get hit by the rain. Rain was scary.

Her mind wandered back to the sea princes as she walked to her parents’ room, getting as far from the rain as possible. It was a popular story. As far as she knew, the sea princes were these big and ugly creatures who towered over all of the sea monsters. Mermaids fought them, which made Lizzie interested in the myths.

Lizzie walked down the staircase leading her down to her room. Which one was it? The third floor. It should be there.

She shook her head, coming back to her thoughts. Mermaids, right.

Mermaids were a beautiful mix of human and fish, guarding humanity from the evil sea princes as their sworn enemy. People sometimes caught sight of them as they stood on the edge of port towns or sailed on big ships. Lizzie gasped in realization. Big ships just like this one! Maybe she’d get to see a mermaid! Stories said seeing one was a blessing. It would be a magical moment for her to meet one on her very first ship ride!

The other thing was the treasures. The way Martyn described them made them sound so cool. There were ancient totems that could defy death, apples made of pure gold, even tomes and texts that could turn people into gods. Supposedly all those treasures existed somewhere in the ocean, surely giving anyone thoughts of what powers they could have with it. People could live forever, talk to fishes, make plants grow, anything was possible!

Lizzie visualized finding one of the treasures, a great and shiny orb that turned her into an axolotl mermaid queen that could fight off all sorts of danger to protect her friends. To her, it didn’t sound outlandish at all, it sounded cool. A lot of people wanted to find sea prince treasures, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to find it too. All sorts of cool things could be under the ocean, they just needed to look.

Lizzie peered through a big wall of glass looking in on one of the lower floors. She saw plenty of people sitting on couches and talking. Some of them were noticeably hunters, looking out towards the open sea with weapons hung on their belts and scars marked on their bodies.

They were fine, they were safe. That one person from earlier was wrong, they were protected from whatever danger came their way.

She turned away, continuing down the stairs and into the hallways, pulling out a key with a tag of her room number. Three-four-one. It was somewhere down the corridor. She looked at each of the plates by the doors before stopping at one. Three-four-one, that was it! Lizzie inserted the key into the keyhole and unlocked the door. She greeted her parents with a smile, “I’m back!”

Lizzie’s father turned and grinned, crouching as his daughter ran up to give him a hug, “How was your little exploration? Find anything cool?” She looked at him with her big eyes, shaking her head.

The room was spacious, but maybe it was because she was still so small, her parents looked big in the room. They didn’t seem to fit on the bed together, as Lizzie remembered her father offering to sleep on the couch. At the end of the room was a window overlooking the sea, a big bed, and a couch beside it. There was a small sitting area with a couple of bookshelves and complimentary snacks left with a desk. The door to the bathroom was next to the entrance of the room, with a closet off to the side.

Lizzie sat on the couch, swinging her feet, “Nothing much! I did hear two big kids talk about the sea princes though.”

Her mother looked up from the bed, closing the book she was reading as her husband sat beside her. The couple shared an amused glance, smiling at each other before looking at their child. Her mother tilted her head, “And you don’t look scared at all! What a big girl you are, Lizzie.” Lizzie giggled, her feet kicking faster.

Her father sighed loudly, striking a dramatic pose, “Honey, she’s getting so old! We’re getting old!”

Her mother laughed, rolling her eyes, “Ay, that we are. She’s brave enough to be out on her own, exploring the ship and reporting her findings. I remember how scared you were when we first told you about them,” she sighed, glancing to the side as she chuckled, “You’re growing up so fast.”

Lizzie stuck her tongue out, furrowing her eyebrows, “But I don’t wanna be old yet! I still–”

Loud, piercing bells began to ring in the distance as the ship made a loud creaking noise and nearly went sideways with a sudden push, sending them sprawling. Lizzie gripped the bed as her parents reoriented themselves. Lizzie’s father approached the window and stuck his head out as her mother motioned for her to come to her. Lizzie shifted on the bed. She didn’t want to move, she just got there! The bed felt comfortable.

Lizzie could hear a low trilling sound from the open window, echoing as glass windows began to crack. The noise vibrated the ship. The bells continued to ring as voices of the hunters rang through the air. There were loads of hunters around the ship. She should be fine. They all should be fine.

Her father shut the window, turning to his wife and child. His eyes were wide, but he tried to stabilize his breathing, “We have to leave. Now.”

Her mother nodded as she shot out of bed and hastily gathered her things. Lizzie sat on the bed, shifting around as her parents paced around the room in haste. “Why do we need to leave?” she questioned, “The hunters should be able to stop the monsters!” That was their job, wasn’t it? There were four hunting ships in the area, they should be enough.

It didn’t stop her father from continuing, “I know they will, but we also need to be protected. We have to stay safe.”

The waves continued to jostle the ship, the gentle swaying became harsher as some kind of noise escaped from the ocean. Lizzie could hear the muffled sounds of the hunters firing their weapons, but there was no sound of a creature getting hurt. Lizzie’s eyebrows furrowed, “But the hunters–”

Her mother was the one to cut in this time, carrying bags with some of their clothes hanging loosely out of the top, “Lizzie, no buts. You’re a big girl, but even big girls get scared when the threat is very real.”

No. Big kids don’t get scared. She won’t be scared. Stories about sea monsters used to frighten her, but not anymore. She’d be brave.

Lizzie hit her fist against the cushiony bed. Her voice rose as she firmly declared, “I’m not scared!” The light from the window had cut off before either of her parents could say anything in return, tossing the family into the pitch black darkness.

Lizzie saw her parents walking backwards in fear, staring at the window. Their faces were pale and their eyes widened as they took shaky steps. She watched her parents’ breathing quicken as they sank to their knees. Lizzie cocked her head, raising an eyebrow with a frown, “What’s wrong?”

Her parents didn’t look at her, staring at the window instead, but her mother spoke, “Lizzie. Walk to us, slowly.” Lizzie had the gut feeling to turn back. She shifted her body, starting to turn, but her mother caught on. “Don’t look behind you. Look at us. Me.” Why not look behind her? What could possibly– another monstrous trill resonated in the air, shaking the ground.

Something was blocking the window.

Now her mother was staring right at Lizzie, her eyes wide as her breathing became loud and uneven. Lizzie got off the bed, slowly taking small steps before her mother took one second to glance back at the window.

Lizzie looked behind her.

An eye. A huge one. The white of the eye was a pitch black abyss with a piercing orange and blue iris staring directly at them. The creature’s pupil was large and ice white. A sound emitted from its throat as it rumbled through the structure of the ship. Lizzie could feel it shake the floor beneath her feet, her body shook along with it.

Time seemed to stop around them as they were locked in a staring match with a monster that could so easily tear them apart. Lizzie’s body shook, her heart was pounding out of her chest as she shakily took a step backwards, away from the eye. The eye moved along with her, as if following Lizzie’s every movement.

The eye moved in closer as the ship began to tilt. Lizzie and her parents lost their footing, sliding across the floor and hitting the door as the creature made another low trill before a sudden shriek, distant from the ship, broke the air of silence. The white pupil suddenly narrowed into a slit as the massive monster produced an unholy roar that shattered the window.

The creaking wood of the ship crumbled and cracked, metal bending and twisting before snapping open as water rushed in. Horrified screams and gasps came from the other rooms and were drowned out as the echoing trill resounded through the deep. Lizzie’s parents grabbed her and swam out through the shattered window. The beast was no longer in sight.

Lizzie learned an important thing that day; she didn’t know how to swim.

Don’t panic. Panicking will make things worse.

Lizzie could feel her mother’s arm wrap around her, hurriedly placed on a wooden door. Lizzie’s heart pounded out of her chest. Her parents were there, close to her. They weren’t on the door like she was.

Everything became a blur after.

Rain started to pour. Hunters screamed in fear, “What is that thing?!” before their ships snapped open and bodies fell into the salty sea water below.

There were people in the water. So many people were in the water.

Thunder and lightning raged in the sky as the creature’s long tail pierced out of the water from time to time, slowly but surely circling around them. Lizzie didn’t know where the ship was; she’d lost her parents. They’d become separated as chunks of different ships had begun to scatter and crash into the water as two different beasts roared and shrieked.

Lizzie could hear her parents call out to her. She flailed her arms, “Mom?! Dad?! Where are you?!” She looked around her surroundings in hopes of finding them. Please. She needed to see them again. She looked at the direction she had heard her parents. Where were–

The monster let out a bellowing roar, rattling the water as a gigantic red fin shot up from the depths swiftly knocked Lizzie into the water as it swam past. She was disoriented– where were her parents? She called out to them again. She needed to find them.

“Mom?! Dad?!”

She couldn’t hear their voices anymore.

Lizzie didn’t know where to go. She flailed her arms aimlessly while the cold waters tried to consume her, eventually finding something to desperately latch onto as she struggled to remain afloat. She remembered she had grabbed a wooden wall and stuck to it for dear life. More and more voices were drowned out by the rain. The only thing she could hear over the sound of the burning ships and the angry weather were the monsters. She prayed to whatever god was out there to spare her. She didn’t want to die.

The monsters disappeared, but not for long. They were coming back for her, weren’t they?

Lizzie had been able to wedge herself between two pieces of debris to hide. The monsters didn’t seem to have noticed her. The waves that used to crash against her only pushed her slightly. Lizzie looked up to see the long finned tail of the creatures sink below.

Why had it been staring at her? Her parents? Was it some kind of sick game? She did not want to play.

She was alone.

Everything had been fine until now. Maybe if she never boarded the ship, her parents would be okay. She wanted them here with her. Maybe it was better if her friends visited her instead of the other way around.

The waves rocked her shelter, as if trying to calm her down. It wasn’t working.

Lizzie looked up from the piece of wooden wall beneath her, her vision blurry with tears, and saw a lot of the floating debris moving in the same direction. Lizzie wiped the tears away from her eyes as she tried to focus. The… the debris weren’t moving because of the waves. They were moving because the creature was circling them! Lizzie covered her mouth from screaming as a small vortex was created, her head becoming light as she heard the beast roar.

Stay calm. Inhale. Exhale.

The spinning got faster, making Lizzie want to puke, but the motions came to an abrupt stop as she was gathered with the other floating debris. Her eyes widened as she heard other people crying out in fear. She wasn’t the only one! There were others who were still alive!

The rain made it hard to see the looming figure rising out of the water before her. She saw faint hints of blue, its chest had stripes of other colors glowed faintly in the darkness. Lizzie heard shouts over the ocean, but the storm and the crashing waves swallowed the noise. She heard a rumble in the water before a second figure appeared, something blurry white and red bursting up. The other beast. There was another one.

What if they were looking for her?

Lizzie could hear the beasts ‘speak’, grunts and guttural echoes boomed above, she wished she could shut her eyes but they were fixed on the monsters. She didn’t even have a clear look at either one, just knowing one of them was red and the other was blue. She heard something rise from the water as the terrified shrieks of the other people filled the air between rolls of thunder, “P-Please! Spare us! We have families– children to come home to!”

Lizzie heard a loud crash of water, likely the monster was angry at their response. Did they even understand human speech? She didn’t need to worry about that.

The air hung silent as thunder echoed. One of the humans began to speak, “Y-Your eye… we apologize for–” The red beast growled. Its sounds were different from the blue one, a rumbling echo instead of a rattling thrill, yet carried the same booming volume. Its tail swished, jostling Lizzie’s hiding spot, unknowingly giving her a better view of the creatures.

One of the beasts was covered in shiny, golden spikes. Its tail was armored, red with a blue-green tail fin. The other beast’s tail was blue with colorful splotches, its fins were a red sunset-like hue with patterns of flickering stars. She couldn’t see the end of its tail, likely underwater.

Something that stuck out to her weren’t the colors or the shape of their tails though.

She could be seeing things, but they looked human.

The blue one’s colorful stripes almost looked like tattoos along its back, Lizzie could see red fins coming from its head and she swore it had long teal hair. The red one had pearlescent white hair with brown streaks coming from it, unable to see much else other than that.

Why did they look human?

The men’s screams were tossed upward, the beasts thrashing and moving the debris, along with Lizzie, around. She swore the beasts were laughing, their bellowing unholy roars boomed as Lizzie braced for something. Anything. She was expecting the monsters to end it, to just kill them and leave.

Yet…

“HUNTERS…”

Lizzie shut her eyes. There was no way this was real. She had to be dreaming. This was just one bad dream, right?

“...DON’T BELONG HERE.”

It spoke.

Those were human words.

No ordinary beast can just talk, right?

This was all a bad dream. Lizzie just needed to wake up. She covered her ears, blocking out the dozens of screams as they were silenced by the sound of jaws snapping. Her heart began pounding and with one final crash of lightning, she shut her eyes for a long, long time.

—————

“Lizzie?”

Where was she?

“Lizzie, wake up.”

Was she dead?

“Are you okay?”

Are her parents alive?

“Lizzie, are you there?”

Was she back home?

“Please. Wake up, Lizzie.”

…Those were her friends calling her, weren’t they?

Lizzie shot up, breathing heavily as she grasped her chest. This wasn’t the ocean. It was bright and sunny. She could hear birdsong outside and the gentle brush of leaves against the wind. Sunlight filtered through the window behind her, looking around, she could see the expressions her friends were giving her.

Joel was right beside Lizzie, clenching his fists with hunched shoulders, his eyes glued on her. Jimmy was on the other side, one of his hands held onto his head, gripping his blonde hair as he leaned over. Grian was beside Jimmy, his wide eyes stared at her as his eyebrows furrowed, biting his lip.

They were here. She was here with them. Her parents.

Lizzie took in a deep breath, “Where are my parents?”

The three brothers shared a glance, exchanging mini expressions until Joel nodded, placing his hand on the bed as an offering. Lizzie placed her hand on top of his. Joel glanced at the floor as he sighed, “They’re… they’re.. How do I phrase this?” Joel’s eyes couldn’t meet hers. They were what? What happened?

Lizzie glanced at Grian and Jimmy, who kept their heads low. Why was everyone acting so weird? Lizzie’s grip on Joel tightened as an air of silence washed over them.

“Everyone was-.”

His voice trailed off. Silence. If it weren’t for the birdsong outside, the silence would have been deafening. He didn’t finish his sentence. That only meant one thing, right? They were gone. Dead. Not in this world anymore. The last thing she did was be a disobedient child. She was the worst. Lizzie felt tears begin to well up in her eyes, her hands covered her face as she screamed. She screamed so loudly the brothers flinched, Lizzie’s chest heaving as she sobbed.

She wanted her parents.

She needed her parents.

This wasn’t fair.

Lizzie’s hands slumped on her sides as she laid on the bed. This can’t be real. She felt Joel hold her hand as he looked at her.

Joel rubbed his thumb over Lizzie’s hand as she gripped it tight. “But you survived. It’s… a lot to take in, but I promise, we’ll be there for you.” Joel looked back at her with a smile, tilting his head.

Grian stood up from his chair, slamming his hands on the sheets, “We’ll find out what beast did it, and tear its heart out!” Grian’s enthusiasm for being a hunter was strong, surprising her now with how intense his gaze was, affirming his resolve. Maybe it was because his birth parents died, he felt something new towards Lizzie. She decided not to think about it.

Jimmy placed a hand on her shoulder, “You need time to calm down, Liz. However long it takes, we’ll be there.” Jimmy was always the butt of the joke, always made dumb little quips, but he was an amazing friend. She was glad she met all of them. They were her best friends. She couldn’t imagine facing life without them. All of them.

Lizzie smiled, looking at all three as tears formed in her eyes, not of sadness, but relief, “...Thank you.”

—————

She never did find out what beasts took her parents that day, but she would learn it eventually. Lizzie breathed the fresh salty air, it was just as she remembered. The waves rippled past the ship, birds called in the open air. All she needed now was time. Time to recover, time to heal. Time to figure out the rest of her life. She held the steering wheel firmly as she exhaled, closing her eyes. She felt a tap on her shoulder, and opened her eyes to see Joel with his hand on her shoulder, their engagement ring glistening in the sunlight.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow, “Any attacks before we charter home?” She could see a glint in Joel’s eyes as he smirked.

Joel took his hand off of Lizzie’s shoulder and shoved it into his pocket, “Maybe. Let’s have one last hurrah before we head home, sounds good?” The mischievousness in his eyes faded as he tilted his head. Lizzie adored how much he cared about her. She’d be fine. She felt reassured with everyone on board supporting her recovery. She gave Joel a small kiss on the lips.

“Aye, captain. Love you.”

But maybe, maybe it was better to leave some mysteries unsolved.

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