Spirits of the Earth

@wandering_giraffe

It had already been a long day and it was only just after noon. He had been making his way through the small seaside town of the day, looking for inns and pubs that were typically open for sailors as they passed by and stopped for quick refills.

These small towns weren't your stereotypical small towns though. They were just smaller than the big ports and usually only had a few places for ships to port instead of the dozens of docks in larger areas.

Nikkolai stumped through the busy streets, bumping into passersby both on purpose and by accident, often stepping away with a bag or two of coins that he would be able to use at his next stop.

He looked for the sign with the flying frog. It was his favorite haunt here.

Ah, here it is! he thought as he rounded the corner and the bright green sign came into view. They had the best ale on this whole strip.

Because it was cheap.

"Ah, Nikky!" The man behind the bar called as he openned the door and stepped in, "you'd better be here to settle your debts, son."

"Cornelius!" Nikkolai openned his arms wide in greeting, "My favorite bar keep! Is it possible you got more handsome since I last saw you?"

Cornelius scoffed, "Fat chance ya bastard. It's only been a few hours and you still owe your tab"

"Fret not, friend," he waved a coin purse in front of the man's face before smacking it down on the bar, "I have come to replenish your coffers."

Cornelius glanced down at the intricately embroidered purse before him and raised an eyebrow.

"I see you ogling my fine tastes." Nik grinned.

"Oh aye. This is your purse just like you weren't kicked of your last crew."

"How fuckin dare you." Nik snarled, "I RETIRED from that life. Don't let any arse tell you different. They couldn't handle my taste for beauty." He gestured towards the floral purse on the table, "will you be accepting my payment or not."

Cornelius sighed and scooped up the purse. Nik knew he wouldn't turn down coin, no matter where it might have come from.

"Marvelous!" He grinned, "Now give this retired pir--I mean, privateer, a pint of your finest piss arse ale!"

Across the tavern, a certain pirate captain was secretly eyeing Nikkolai. His "I have a taste for beauty" saying grabbed her ear. Intrigued, she leaned across the table to Aikos, a centaur, and her boatswain she had brought ashore. She hit him on the shoulder, eyes sparkling with mischief. "Oi, he seems like he's got a thirst for adventure, whaddya think?" The centaur choked on the ale he had been downing. "Elara! For the love of all that is sane you know not to do that when I'm drinking!" The now annoyed centaur glared at her. "You better be thanking the stars that I'm not a vengeful one," he snarled. Now that his anger had been dissipated, he turned his eyes to where she was looking. "Aye, I agree with your assessment," he agreed, still slightly pissed at Elara. The centaur grinned. "Well, go talk to him." She rolled her eyes. "Ye're walkin' a dangerous line Aikios," but her smile said otherwise. Aikos slightly laughed, and grabbed another pint of ale. "Well thanks for the compliment cap'n."
Elara stood up and walked over to where Nikki was. "Me and my boatswain over there couldn't help but hear that ye're retired." She smiled, and plopped a bag of gold down on the bar.
"Want to come out of retirement? Temporarily, of course."

Nik was nose deep in a pint when his revalry was so rudely interrupted. He listened keenly to her words, of course, but didn't let on that he had heard her at all. Instead he slowly chugged the bottom half of his pint before slamming it on the table. His sandy blonde hair hung around his shoulders and tucked behind his ears, but that hadn't stopped a strand from migrating into his face and, naturally, into his mouth.

He sputtered and spit the stand out, "Oy! Corneloos," he slurred, "Yerale is gettin weaker!"

The bar keep eyed him up and shook his head.

"OY!" Nik called again, "That thad lady's....immean MY purseis worth more than-a singular pint"

Cornelius sighed and returned to fill his cup. Nik reached forward and patted the man's hand. "Ya know, Corny, yera good friend. Did I tells you about the siren I caught and married? Was her only true love said so herself she did." He took another gulp of his ale, purposefully avoiding even so much as a glance at the bag of coins the woman had placed down beside him, "Told me, you gotta only love me Nik, but I can't be held to one woman. She sank my ship and all my crew out of spite, but couldn't bring herself to sink me. Ahhhh but that bloody night after all her rage was enough to satisfy me for a bit."

He took another swig and then realized it was, one again, empty.

"OOOOYY! WHATCHA DOIN SKIMPING ME ON ALE! Corny!!!!" He, finally, turned his attention to the woman next to him, "can you a-lieve this guy? I sirened a siren and he can't even fill m'glass."

You could hear a very amused centaur laughing in the background. Elara rolled her eyes.
"Oi! Aikios! Shut up!"
She turned back around to Nikolai.
"You'd get along well with my boatswain, he also is drowning in ale that seems to disappear quickly." She laughed and turned to the bartender.
"Put his tab on Aikios's back there at the corner table." A protest rose up from Aikios.
"Cap'n! That's not—" Elara spun around and glared at him, her silver eyes staring into his. He trailed off, and grouchily knocked another ale back. Elara turned her attention back to the man at the bar.
"Anyways, the pay is pretty good, can't guarantee consistency, but the adventure should make up for it. Our ship, the Midnight Marauder, is leaving soon, mate. If you're interested, I'll be at that table with the obnoxious centaur." She gestured back to the shocked centaur, who chucked an empty ale glass at her.

Nik burried his face in his glass and watched his new friend saunter away half through the rim of the glass and half over the top. He stretched out his tongue to lap up some of the newly poured beer.

"Ahhh Serrenia, you will always be my favorite." He sighed into the foam.

"So that story about the Siren. Is that just a tale you like to tell or what?" Cornelius inquired.

Nik chuckled, slipping the coin purse to his left into his tunic. His slight of hand was so deftly trained, the coins didn't even rattle when they moved.

"You know what they say, my friend. If you can't sway them with your intellect, dazzle them with your bull shit." Like magic, his drunken slurs disappeared and he tilted the glass back one last time before slamming yet another empty glass onto the counter top.

"You should take the gig, Nik." The bar keep advised, "Word on the street says a blonde phantom is filtching purses. Best be respectable for a while and earn your drinks."

Nik groaned and threw his head back dramatically, "Gimme your most expensive stuff for the rest of the night if the horse is paying"

Cornelius was quick to oblige, and Nik sauntered over to his new friend's table with a crystal glass of the most expensive wine the establishment owned.

"Oy." He say down with a thump and took a swig, some of the thick red drink dribbled down his chin. He made a face, "mmm....tannins...."

Elara pulled out a chair for him.
"Ye've got good taste in wine," she complimented.
"So, what do ye want to know about the ship, the crew, the pay, the dangers?" She asked. She, cliche as it was, had a mug of rum in one hand, and was leaning back in her chair, precariously balancing.
"I will tell ye that the ship is kept in top shape, and while I enjoy having fun with the rest of my crew, I maintain discipline on my ship and expect the first mate to do the same. Our last first mate was the navigator, but he wasn't very good at it."
The centaur snickered at that, and she shot him a warning glare.
"Oi, I will take ye're ale away Aikos, ye bilgerat."
She sighed, and turned back to Nik.
"Name's Elara, by the way," she held out her hand.

Nik took her hand daintily, like a fancy lady extending her hand for some lucky lordling to kiss. "Charmed, I'm sure." He drawled in his best poshy-type voice he could muster.

"I simply must know, my lovely Elara, how one so chaaaaarming as you could possibly be needing a first mate, hmmmmm?" He slurped his wine, smacked his lips, and let out a great sigh. "Your coyness makes a lady shudder to think what mischief you have seen since.....losing.....your last friend."

He leaned over the table, eyes much sharper than his words implied. Nik was no fool. He just liked his characters. Being normal was BORING.

"So," he downed the rest of his wine and held the glass above his head to signal a refill. "How 'bouts we stop with the games and tell me what you're skirting around."

Elara, relaxed as she was, was inwardly intrigued by this character. She stopped balancing on the chair and sat straight up, her silver eyes boring into Niks.
"Aye, ye wanna know what happened to my unfortunate first mate?" She leaned forward.
"He was my close friend. 'Twas an elf, not the sharpest sword in the stack, but a good fighter; and had a sensible head." Her rum empty, she snatched the bottle of ale from Aikos and took a drink.
"Well, one rainy night, 'bout a week ago, he took a "short cut" and got us stuck in a perpetual thunderstorm. Provisions were rapidly dwindling so I started rationing—-enough for us to survive and avoid blasted scurvy; but that was it." Elara finished the bottle of ale, handing the empty bottle to Aikios.
"My first mate had been discovered stealing rations and no one knew why we had been so far off course. Well my cook, Kkärsvïg, discovered a chart he had left in the galley, our course we were supposed to be on crossed out, and the new one drawn over it." The barkeep came over and filled up Nik's glass. Elara raised her empty mug.
"More ale would be appreciated," she said. "Anyways, that's two capital offenses he did, so the next morning, I challenged him to a fight and killed him—snapped his neck." Aikios, meanwhile, was sulking, she had taken his ale and no refill seemed to be coming his way.

Nik listened intently to the tale Elara spun. It stunk of week old fish. Not that he was surprised, no one wanted to show themselves in a bad light especially when presenting a business venture. She had killed her friend, eh? Seemed more than a little suspicious.

He needed to tread careful around her.

"Sounds like you got yourself out of a fine pickle then, eh? But I have to ask....do you always treat your friends so abhorrently?" He stared her down, letting the silence marinate.

Ten breaths passed.

"For the love of the Gods, you didn't even think twice about stealing your friend's ale!" He gestured dramatically towards the horse-man. "I'm gonna have to make sure such blatant misuse if power is addressed. OY! Cornelius!" He still kept his gaze steadily on Elara, "Get this horse-man a refill! His friend is a HORRIBLE host."

Elara leaned forward, her expression unreadable, returning Nik's stare. Aikios's "sulking" dropped like magic and he began to laugh, punching Elara in the shoulder.
"Aye, Elara, he's got a good set of morals, this one does!"
Elara rubbed her shoulder.
"Aikios ye' r got the strength of an untamed bull! ye've just about shattered my bloody shoulder."
But she was grinning, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.
"Let me explain. Truth be told, I did kill my first mate. But he endangered my entire crew and threw caution to the wind, he did. My crew already can be rather rowdy, which is why unchecked rule breaking like that—-two serious offenses in one day—-could be fatal—-" Aikios interrupted her, still laughing. "Aye, she likes to test people's moral compass, she does. See how people react. I'd say you've passed with flying colors. She's rather rough around the edges, but if you can break through her shell, she's sweeter than honey.
"Aikios!" Elara protested.
"Spillin' my secrets for what, ye bastard!" She was sure her shoulder was going to bruise, hell she already felt one forming. The barkeep, by this time, had brought one bottle of ale back. Aikios took it.
"Now, if my cap'ns shenanigans haven't scared ye off, I'd like to make a toast. Ye can call me horse-man if ye like, but most people just call me Aikios." And he grinned, pouring some ale for his captain and offering some to Nik.

Nik huffed, "I like horse-man, horse-man." He buried his face in his glass. He was reaching his end and he could feel it. He would be gone before reaching the bottom of this final cup.

"I accept your job but I have one request." He wagged a finger in Elara's face, "You ain't allowed to kill me. Deal?"

He burped, loudly, and felt his faculties failing. "I'll come with ya, but ya ain't going nowhere until I wake up from a little nap that I'm gonna take Right. Here." He smacked his fist against the table to emphasize his words.

"And I'll tell ya why." He leaned even closer, his ale-stink breath coming out warm and wet towards Elara's face, "Cause ya need me. And a storm is going to hit in the next hour and last until tomorrow."

Unable to hold his head up any longer, he let darkness take him and slipped into a drunken stupor.

Elara agreed to his deal.
But before she could toast to his acceptance of the deal, he was out cold.
She could tell that Nikkolai knew what he was talking about, and so she told Aikios to relay a message back to the Midnight Marauder that they wouldn't be leaving until tomorrow. The ship was restocked and back in ship shape.
She called the barkeep over, and settled her tab and Aikios's.
She rather felt like a small nap herself, but decided to stay awake. So she leaned back in her chair and watchfully rested, waiting for Aikios to get back. Outside, the wind had picked up, and was whistling through the windows. She shook her head in wonderment. Nikkolai really knew his stuff.

Nik didn't know how long he was out, but when his eyelids eventually fluttered open, he could hear the howling wind outside proving, yet again, how accurate his little predictions were. Some called it magic, he called it sailor's luck.

A big mug slammed in front of his face followed by a plate of toasted bread and eggs, "Morning, princess." Cornelius grumbled.

"Fuh-yew" Nik yawned, pressing his palms to his eyes. "Why are you still up? Don't you sleep?"

"Oh, aye, I do. You just sleep longer. Now eat, the storm is on it's way out and you're going to have a hell of a morning."

Nik groaned, "Whadya mean, Corny?" He felt fuzzy, groggy, like his head was full of cotten and his mouth full of marbles.

"Your new job, idjit." The bar keep was gone before his words processed.

"Job? job? I'm RETI---ah shit."

The door blew open and Elara and Aikios stumbled in from outside.
"Aye it's a blustery day it is! Rained all night!" Aikios said.
Oi! Nik! You were right about the storms!" He observed.
Elara grinned and walked over to Nikki. "Ship's all ready. Unless ye think storms are goin' to be givin' us trouble. At any rate, ye can come down and meet the crew! Crew is itchin to leave, and ready to meet ye! Word travels fast. Also once we get on board, I'll show ye your quarters and show ye around."

Damn they were too loud! This whole day was too loud. The whole bloody earth was too loud for him today. Yesterday was a record for Nik in the drunk department. Knocked out cold in the mid-afternoon and straight on -till morning.

"Fuck fuck fuckity fuck me," he mumbled as he rubbed his hands over his face. He quite liked being retired. No more curfews or early rises. No more roap burn from raising and lowering sails. Just a little pilfering, a little pick pocketing, a quick nab here and there and he was golden.

He only just noticed that Cornelius had even left him a napsack and, upon further investigation, it was filled with fresh linens that would last him at least two weeks. There was even a nice blanket tucked in the side. A note slid out from beneath the folds that read, "Don't bloody mess this up. -C"

Nik smiled. Somewhere along the lines, Cornelius had taken him under his wing. He wasn't sure when or even why, but he knew that Cornelius always had his best interests at heart. It was probably why Nik always seemed to find himself back at this small little town.

"Hold your horses." He grumbled. With a grunt, he pushed back his chair and pulled his shirt off him before stumbling outside and into the wind and rain. Within a few short moments he was soaked through. The stink of stale ale and sweat washed onto the stone streets as he ran his fingers through his matted hair.

He even pulled out a bar of soap from his pocket and scrubbed his scalp and his armpits. Who needed a shower when you had rain?

After the suds rinsed away, he pulled his hair out of his face into a neat plait before reentering the pub a new man.

He was met by a handtowel to the face.

"We have baths, you bum." Cornelius spat, but Nik didn't listen as he used the towel to pat down the worst of the moisture.

"No body wants to bathe in their own shait, Corny." He reached into the pack and pulled out fresh trousers and a shirt. "Thanks for this." He added, stripping down to nothing without a moment's thought about modesty.

"Don't thank me. Em refused to let me kick you out." Nik pulled his pants over his legs and raised an eyebrow. Em was Cornelius' 18 year old daughter. "Now get your stuff and get out before her swoony, idiotic eyes see you. Ya ain't respectable enough."

With one last tug of his shirt, he turned towards his new business partners.

"M'lady," he bowed as low as his hungover head allowed, "M'horse." He bowed again. "Lead on."

By this point the rain had practically stopped and the clouds were breaking up.

When Nik came in from his shower, Elara got up from her seat and glanced outside. The rain had gone away as fast as it had arrived, and the sun was beginning to peak through the clouds. Aikios, meanwhile, had started to nod off. Elara sighed and walked up behind him, mischief glinting in her eyes.
"Oi! Hoist the mainsails!" She roared and he shot up, saluting out of habit and wildly looking around.
"Aye, aye, cap'n!" he said and then paused.
"Wait a god-forsaken second we're not on the ship!" and he glared at Elara, who was laughing.
He shook his head and grinned.
"Oh cap'n. You know what this means right? Prank is coming right back at you."
Elara grinned, hugely enjoying herself. "Aye."
"Oi Nik, we best be going!" She said. Aikios opened the door for them and they left the tavern, making their way to the ship.
"Once we get aboard, Nik, we'll do the orientation on board, you can meet the crew, you can get settled. You don't have any ship's duties today, unless you'd like to navigate. I like to give people a chance to settle in." Elara explained.
They came around a bend in the road, and there was the ship, sitting out in the harbor. Her silver sails glistened in the sun, and her cannons were already loaded and ready. The ship was dark mahogany colored wood, with a sharp iron blade extending off the bow into the water.
"Aye," Elara said, eyes shining with pride, "There she is, the Midnight Marauder."

Nik followed his new crew through the mostly deserted streets with a sack full of clothes and a head full of pain. The little wisps of sunlight that peeked through the dissipating clouds made his eyes water and the sound of drums echo in his ears.

I'm never bloody drinking again,  he lied to himself, not for the last time.  But Gods this was rough.

And for what? For some coins he could easily grab from some passersby? In a moment of pure defiance he bumped into a middle aged woman and walked away with his pockets a bit heavier.

Point made.

They made their way to the docks and there sat a large vessel. Quite large. Large and...noticeable. This wouldn't be a good get away ship. This ship was built to send a message.

"So....uh.... never really asked but, what kind of..... trade..... do ya do?" He stared at what appeared to be a large sword hanging of the front of the ship.

"She's got a nice sword..."

Elara stopped at the ramp leading up to the Midnight Marauder and looked at Nik.
"We attack other pirates to cause chaos. We don't attack innocent ships unless we're really desperate. I guess ye could say we're pirates." She studied Nick.
"Ye still got a headache? Aikios is kinda our crew doctor, he might have something for your headache."
Aikios rummaged around in his satchel and came up with a black, foul-smelling root that looked like ginger root. "Here, chew this. Its aswwillow bark, helps with hangover headaches. I will say, it doesn't taste the greatest." Aikios motioned up the ramp, where Elara had already boarded and was standing, waiting for them. 
"Cap'n is leavin us behind! She's already on board!" Aikios said. Elara was already starting to yell orders, and the ships two anchors were starting to rise from the water. One of the pirates, a huge, tough-looking werewolf, spotted Aikios and Nik, and ran down the ramp to them.
"Ahoy mate! You must be our new first mate! My name is Qijarr, happy to meet ya! The werewolf was talking a mile-a-minute. He took Nick's hand, and shook it.
"Qijarr!! Get your ass back up here! Introductions are later!"
 
The werewolf laughed."Well anyways it was so nice to meet ya! See ya later! And the werewolf was gone. Aikios shook his head, laughing.
"Aye that's our main power fighter, Qijarr. Cap'n found him nearly dead, keelhauled in the south Hi'van ocean. He's really nice, but he turns into a different guy when he's fighting. He's the most loyal crewmate we've got. Anyways, want to board the ship?"

So....they pirated...pirates? To cause chaos.

But....why? A mystery he'd need to figure out as he spent more time with the crew.

He nodded to Aikios and accepted the bark, thankful for something to help stave off the brutal headache that throbbed behind his eyes. Thankfully he wasn't feeling nauseous this time around.

Gods what an odd crew. It was weird enough to see a fucking horse-man on a ship, but now some wolf man too?? Were they all secretly animals mixed with humans? How did that even happen. Could you just....mate with an animal and boom! Animal human?

Nah, that was stupid.

He looked at the ship, feet still firmly placed on land.

move, he told himself firmly, but his feet didn't budge.

He hadn't expected to ever be back on water again. Not after....

MOVE.

A chill ran down his spine, his hands got clammy, but he clenched them into fists and stepped.

Immediately the bustle of the crew felt like home. He had live most of his life on the ocean. If he had to pretend to be part animal to fit in, it wouldn't be too difficult to convince them he was half fish.

He stood near the rail. The waves hadn't rose up to take him. He wasn't sure what would happen when he boarded, but not being swallowed whole was a good thing....right?

But not all the crew mates were half animal. A big, burly man came out from below deck to where they were standing, three pints of rum in hand.
"Rum for the three travelers!" He announced, and handed them all one.
"Now I know what you're thinking, and don't worry, no hangover will come after drinking! I've worked long and hard on a special brew, especially for pirates, because the gods know you can't drink hard liquor on a boat!" He turned to Nik.
"Welcome aboard the Midnight Marauder!" And then he turned to Elara.
"Stay out of my galley Cap'n!" And he turned around and left.
"Aye that's Kkarsvïg. Best cook this side of the ocean!" Aikios explained. "I will warn ye now, he is quite possessive over his galley and will chase ye out with a soup ladle if ye're caught in there!"
Elara had just finished consulting with Qi'jarr, who held an old map in his hand. She looked rather worried, but shook it off as she turned to Nik.
"Follow me, I'll show ye yer quarters below deck." She took him below deck, where a narrow hallway ran the length of the ship. The smell of cooked fish and grilled onions were wafting out from the eating area. She pointed.
"That's the galley and the eating area."
The wooden door opened into a small torch lit room, where a few tables and chairs were. A very small bar ran the length of the far wall. There was an old, rusty skillet hanging on the far wall with a sword thrust through it. Elara grinned. "That's Kkärsvïg's handiwork. I let him decorate the eating area." There was a small, tan cloth covering a doorway in the back left that led to the galley. Across the hallway from the eating area was the medical room. The door had a green leaf that was so beautifully painted, it looked suspended in time. Inside were various satchels hung on hooks, all had a different leaf painted on them. "This is Aikios's medical station; it's not as big as I'd like it to be but he keeps insisting it's fine." There were two beds inside the medical room, both partitioned by a brown fur skin. Along one wall was a shelf stocked with various vials of liquid. Elara continued down the hallway. "On the left, that set of stairs leads down to the majority of the crew's rooms. On the right side, that ladder and the smaller set of stairs leads to the lower cannons and the armory. Well, both sets of stairs leads to the cannons, but the crew prefers to use the right side," Elara explained. They had reached the end of the hallway now. She pointed to the left side. "That's the door that leads to my quarters, and to the right is yours." The right door opened to a nice room with a decently-sized bed, and a window on the far wall. There were a few swords hanging on the wall, and three torches around the room kept it decently lit. The flames of the torch cast a cool glow around the room. There was a small cabinet under the window, and a bear skin rug adorned the floor. The treasure chest at the end of the bed was sturdy, looking well-built and heavy.
"We can go to the armory later, if you'd like to pick out a sword. Oh! I almost forgot, damn me!" And Elara took out of her pocket a small key.
"This is for your room. I'm sure you must be tired; you're welcome to rest up and meet us in the eating area for supper! Kkärsvïg will sound the bell for supper. I can give you a better tour of the armory later." The ship suddenly shuddered, and Elara grinned.
"Aye, that means we've left port and are out on open sea! They must have gathered in the sails quickly! If ye need me, I'll be across the hall!" And Elara left, going into her quarters to muse over a particularly frustrating trade route chart.

Nik walked silently beside Elara taking in the lay of the ship. It was a beautiful vessel; large and elegant - especially for pirates. If there hadn't been a big ass blade on the bow, he might have assumed it was a transport vessel for nobles.

His entire demeanor was somber, almost as if he had entered an odd state of mourning the moment his feet left land. He knew why. He wasn't planning to share.

Ah...so horsey was the medic. That....could prove difficult if Nik continued to insult him. Never piss off the cook or the doctor. One could poison you and one could just deny you care. Wouldn't do to make enemies of those you need in a tight spot.

He took the key, but didn't enter his room. He was hung over, sure, but the bark he was chewing had helped immensely and he wanted to watch the land as it disappeared in the distance. Instead, he dropped his pack on the foot of his cot and then turned to maneuver his way back on deck.

The cool seabreeze kissed him straight on the lips like the embrace of an old lover. The kind who understood all of your quirks and could get a rise out of you with a look. He closed his eyes and breathed in the salt, the sunlight, the fresh and perfect sea air.

He made his way portside and leaned on the rail watching the land disappear.

How he had missed this.

How he would cherish each moment he had.

While it lasted.

A rousing cheer went up from the pirates as the ship left the docks and went out into the sea. Elara had left her quarters and was standing up by the ship's wheel, keeping a watchful eye out on the water. Aikios came up and took over for her, so she could go make sure the crew was doing their duties. She noticed Nik over by the edge of the ship.
She walked up beside him and leaned on the rail.
"Watchin the land disappear?" She asked.
"Supper is soon, I think. Kkärsvïg hasn't ring the bell yet. She took out a small map from her coat pocket.
"Do ye know anything about the North Isles? There's a certain pirate ship that prowls around there that I've had my eye on for a while, but the North Isles are tricky to navigate."
She unrolled the map and smoothed it on the ship railing, pointing to a very intimidating looking group of islands.
"They normally lie around there, on the south tip of the island. I was thinking about going weaving through the group of islands instead of going around to sneak attack them." She traced the route she was thinking of with her finger.
"What do you think?"

He nodded at Elara's question, "Yes. Always been a tradition for me and we all know it's bad luck to break tradition." It was also considered bad luck to have women on a ship, too, but sailors adapted over the years.

It's not like a woman sunk his last ship....or anything....

Damnit what are you doing, Nik?

Too late for that.

He looked down at the map the captain presented him, half listening to her as she pointed out a grouping of islands to the north. He recognized them immediately. After all, these waters were basically part of his blood and he could navigate them in his sleep.

"No, that'll end up in heavy losses. The current there is basically mini whirlpools." He stared out at the horizon, the sun having past the apex a few hours ago and making its daily pilgrimage towards the edge of the world. "You'll want to go here." He pointed to the largest of the islands on its southernmost coast.

Elara nodded as he was showing her, and yelled for Aikios to modify course. As the ship turned towards the new course, a ship appeared on the horizon. A yell came down from the crows nest:
"Aye, Pirate ship off the starboard bow!" The call was repeated until the crew was all on deck. Elara was getting excited; the first new raid of the journey and she didn't even plan this one! She turned to Nik.
"Well looks like adventure is happenin' sooner than I thought! She turned to the crew and started barking orders.
"Gunners, to the cannons! Boarders, take positions on starboard deck! Attackers, make ready behind them!" Her eyes glinted in excitement.
"Run up the flag!"

Well, that didn't last long. The peace, that is.

No sooner had Elara called for a change of course than another ship appeared on the horizon. The crew moved about like a dance troupe. Everyone knew their place and went there seamlessly.

Nik smiled. He liked watching them. Little lemmings prowling about.

Good little minions they were! Elara ran a tight ship.

Now, was it a loyalty thing or fear...? She was too nice. So. Probably fear.

He looked after her shouting orders and everyone just scattering. Yup. Fear for sure.

As they approached the ship, he pulled his blades from his boot, where he kept them for safety reasons, and flipped them a few times to get used to their balance again. It had been some time since he had been in a fight and he was looking forward to the excitement.

Elara climbed up one of the masts and yelled for attention. Most of the pirates stopped and looked her way.
"Ye know the rules. No needless death, if there's women or children aboard do not harm them. This is a Mercenary Collector ship, as evidenced by the flag, so expect high value loot aboard." She grinned.
"Expect a hard fight!" She drew her rapier and waved it, eliciting a cheer from the riled up crowd of pirates.
"Lastly, grab any magical artifacts aboard." They were fast approaching the ship, so Elara jumped down and landed right beside Nick. Her eyes were lit up with excitement. She noticed the blades in his hands.
"Aye, nice blades! We're almost broadside! Attack!!" And she took off running towards the other ship.

The boats connected and the swarm began. Elara's crew were indeed quite talented at destruction within reason. It was a new experience for him. His last crew just kinda....pillaged and went on their way without a care who got in the way. That wasn't to say they didn't try to keep the innocent....kinda safe.....but...yah know....pirates and stuff.

Honestly it was his least favorite part of the whole deal. He was a good fighter. Nay, he was a great fighter. Better than most! But...

He didn't like killing.

So....he stayed back from the initial surge and used those moments to get a lay of the land so to speak. Every inch of the portside deck was littered with fighter vs fighter. Blood splattered the deck, both friendly and enemy.

No good. There was no way in that way. He looked to his left. The bow of the enemy ship was a few yards off of the Midnight Marauder. Too far to jump so, naturally, it was deserted.

He looked up. An idea formulating in his brain.

No time to second guess, only time to act.

He tucked his knives in his belt and walked briskly towards a rope that dangled from the sails near the edge. With the ease of a gazelle flying on a trapeze, Nik grabbed the rope and silently swung over to the other ship.

Thankfully no one noticed. They were all too busy with their own fight.

Now he crept.

On his way he picked up a fallen hat and placed it on his head which made him even less conspicuous.

Time to find the treasure. he thought to himself as he slipped below deck into the deserted halls. He'd probably run into some non-fighters on his way.

Elara did a running start and grabbed a rope, swinging over and using her momentum to land on the other ship. She had put too much energy into the jump, and swung right into an enemy pirate. He snarled and swung at her and she parried, barely blocking it. He swung again and Elara smirked. This guy was good. Instead of parrying, she merely dodged, and swept his legs out from under him. The pirate slashed as he fell, and nicked Elara on the leg. She quickly stabbed him and stomped on his wrist, breaking it and causing the pirate to lose his grip on his sword. She grabbed it and thrust him in the chest with it, taking her own rapier back and running to join the main fight. She didn't even realize she was bleeding until she started to run, and she winced. She'd have to get Aikios to look at it later; there wasn't time right now. Across the ship, Aikios was dueling two hulking pirates at once, fighting with two broadswords and yelling occasionally just for the fun of it. Kkärsvïg came swinging onto the ship, swinging a skillet in one hand. He bowled over two pirates and landed on deck. The fight was intense. Elara noticed that a few of her crew were either struggling or wounded.
"Aikios!" Elara yelled.
"Crew on the bow needin' help!"
And she picked up her pace, trying to get there quickly. But Aikios got there first, dispatching two of the pirates, but not before one of her crew was wounded. The battle was seeming to go in her crews favor, but she wanted to end it quick. She needed to find the captain.

Nik crept down the stairs, hoping the sounds of the battle above masked the creaking each step made.

Gods, how did anyone do some solid sneaking on a ship without the aide if magic? The squeaks and screeches were deafening.

fucking ships. he thought to himself, sliding his blades down into his hands as he continued to creep forward.

After what felt like an eternity, he found himself in a long, seemingly abandoned, corridor with half a dozen doors lining the sides. A final, ornate door stood at the end, closed and most likely bolted.

Nik pulled the hat down over his eyes. It made him feel....sneakier. The master of sneaks. The sneakiest retired pirate pulled out of retirement of them all.

He needed to check the rooms first to make sure no one would try to sneak behind the sneaker. Obviously, the big ornate door was the end goal.

Quietly, he opened the door on his left and peaked in through a crack.

Empty.

Still, best check.

In he went, quietly closing the door behind him. There was a chest in the corner filled with trousers and a few shirts that needed mending, but not much else. A small writing desk held a fancy quill (which he pocketed) but even the papers in and on the desk were blank. Nothing really important in this room, so onto the next.

Across the hall was much the same, though this person was clearly a slob and clearly had never folded a shirt ever.

Nik helped with that, leaving a nicely folded pile at the end of the bed, before moving on.

Nothing in rooms 3 or 4.

He paused outside room 5. He could hear sniffling. He frowned. He didn't want to scare whoever this was any more than they already were but...he also knew that shiny things tended to be with people.

He pushed open the door and came across three women huddled with a handful of children all under the age of 8. The oldest, a young lady, stood up with a sword held out in front of her to protect her people.

"Stay back!" She stammered, "You won't have us!"

Nik remained by the door and held up his hands. His blades had already been slipped back under his sleeves and out of sight. "I'm not going to hurt you. Any of you. I'd just like to see your fancies if you please."

One woman cried harder at this, but another whispered to her and her wails quieted.

"I mean it." Nik assured them, "I only date Sirens and my captain was clear that we should treat you nicely." He reached into his pocket and held out some hard candies towards the kids, "would you like one?"

Above deck, the battle was almost over. Elara noticed Nik wasn't on the upper deck, and surmised he must be below deck. She hoped he was ok.
"Kkärsvig!" Elara yelled.
"A bit busy, Cap'n!" Kkärsvig grunted. Kkärsvïg was a sight. His apron was stained with blood, he honestly looked like he just walked out of a butcher's shop. He swung his skillet and the pirate he was fighting fell in a heap.
"Check below deck, I haven't seen Nik since the fightings started."
Kkärsvig nodded.
"Aye, Cap'n!" And he went to make sure things below deck were ok. Elara spotted a figure near the helm of the ship. She quickly ran the length of the ship, trying to stay out of the main fighting, or what was left of the main fighting. When she got to the helm, rapier in hand, she paused, frowning, looking at the "figure". It was nothing but two barrels on top of each other with a cloth and a hood thrown over it. It was eerily quiet on the helm, almost as if the sounds of the fighting weren't present. All she could hear was the ocean, and the creaks of the masts and the sails billowing in the wind. A chill ran up her spine. Something wasn't righ—the crisp sound of a sword being drawn interrupted her thoughts. She whipped around, sword in hand, only to be caught by a blade to her face. White-hot pain seared across her face. She stumbled back, clutching her face. Elara couldn't see for what felt like hours, but in reality it was a couple of seconds. She kept her rapier held in front of her, hoping to keep her attacker at bay.  She quickly wiped the blood off of her face.
"That was a good blow," she admitted. Damn, the cut on her face hurt. Her attacker was a tall princely elf. He sneered at her.
"You fell for the oldest trick in the book." They circled around each other, testing each other for openings.
"You've lost, mate. Just surrender already," Elara taunted.
He smirked.
"I don't surrender until I'm dead," he shot back.
Elara shrugged. "So be it, then," and she swung her rapier and attacked.

The children stared at Nik in shock and then at the candies in his hand. He didn't quite understand why they didn't just take it. He got hungry so he liked to carry snacks. Was it wrong to offer it by way of a peace offering?

"Go on, take it." He urged, "They're apple flavored. A nice lady named Nina makes them for me."

One of the younger children stepped out of his mother's arms and snatched a candy. The woman wailed.

"Shh. Shhh." Nik said kindly, though maybe with a hit of sarcasm, "They're not poison. I mean...unless you're allergic to apples. And sugar. Then I guess it would be poison." He popped one in his mouth to prove a point, "See? Look. They're delicious!!"

For some reason this made the woman cry even harder, but the children scooped up the rest and hurried off to hoard their treasure.

"Alright ma'am, that's enough." Nik sighed, rubbing his temple, "I already told you you're not going to be hurt. I also clearly stated my type are sirens." He crossed his arms across his chest.

"Here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the quill he had found in the other room, "This is for you. I just would like your stuff of value. It's a good trade. You'll be able to write your story down and make millions!"

He held out a pillow case he had filtched from one of the other rooms. Silently, and through tears, they placed their items in. One started removing her earrings but Nik stopped her.

"No...I think you should keep that. You'll need something to help you get on your feet again when you get to shore." He smiled handed each of the women a candy. He gave the kids another for good measure. "See? You're gonna be just fine." He tapped the wailing woman gently on her head like a cat before laying the quill at her feet. "For your trouble."

He bowed low and swept his hat across the floor.

He was a gentleman.

Then he stepped out of the room and closed it, putting the pillowcase of jewels next to it.

Footsteps boomed from behind causing him to pivot quickly, dropping his blades back into his hands and stooping to ready for the attack. He didn't know everyone on the ship seeing as he had only been on it for a few hours, so be might have assumed it was an enemy pirate had the man not held a frying pan.

"A frying pan???" Nik exclaimed, "Now why didn't I think of that???" He pointed to the pillow case, "Found some jewels, cleared all the rooms but the big one right there."

Kkärsvig looked at Nik, then the jewels he had found.
"Battles almost over on deck, Cap'n sent me to find y"—-he stopped and looked at the door.
"Well blast this ship, look at that!" And Kkärsvig whistled.
"How do ya reckon to get that door open. I bet we're going to need a key." Then Kkärsvig remembered he had a skillet with him.
"Ain't never been nary a door I could bust through," Kkärsvig boasted, and then swung at the door. The door didn't  even scratch.
"What the sirens hell is this?" Kkärsvig mused.
"I bet," Kkärsvig surmised, "there's a captain somewhere around this ship. And where we find the captain, we find the key." He was about to say something else when Aikios thundered down the hall, a panicked look on his face.
"The captain! Elara, she's in trouble! Theres something off about this ship, I can sense it," Aikios said.
"It's either cursed or enchanted, or both."
Kkärsvig nodded.
"Aye, I figured as much." He turned to Nik.
"Let's go help the captain!"

The cook guy, what was his name? Aardvark? That was a weird name....between him and Horse-man the crew maybe needed some help picking more menacing names.

Anyways. Aardvark did NOT know how to properly care for his cookware, nor did he even consider the beautiful craftsmanship he could have potentially ruined with his ill-thought-out flinging. Nik was about to reprimand him when the cry went out to help the captain and off he went.

Good little Aardvark. Loyal to everything but his craft it would seem.

Nik sighed and turned to the door. He pressed two fingers to his lips and lovingly dragged them down the center of the door. "Soon, my love. Soon."

And then he turned and followed to help the captain.

The fighting was still raging on deck, but it was clear Elara's crew had the upper hand. They were well selected, that much was apparent. The enemy shipfolk were dwindling while their people had a few down with wounds, but everyone looked very much alive. Hopefully Horse-man would be able to patch them all up without any casualties. Of course, Nik wasn't a medic so who knew, maybe people were close to death from their ship.

Not something he could worry about, though.

On the upper deck stood a very comanding looking elf - Nik could see his ears from here - and Elara. Nik's usual jovial demeanor faultered when he saw she was clearly injured and needed help.

Gods he hated fighting.

But Elara was his captain. And he was good at it....so....

He let out a quiet, prolonged groan and proceeded to climb up the door to the lower cabins to reach the upper deck without using the stairs. He clung to the railing like a monkey and took in the scene.

Elara had a nasty wound on her face that made him wince. It looked awful and he couldn't tell if it had taken her eye from here. All he could tell was there was a lot of blood.

In a crouch, he pulled himself onto the rail and reached into his pocket where he had placed a pretty locket from one of the women below. He had thought to keep it for a gift, but maybe it could be useful here.

"Oy! Pointy!" He held up the locket, "I think I found something you might be interested in!"

The elf, most likely the captain it would seem, spared him a quick glance and then froze when he spotted the locket. Ooooh, Nik thought, This is definitely important to him then.

Elara also stopped when she heard Nik yell, and it gave her time to wipe her face some. It was hard to tell how bad the cut was because of the adrenaline coursing through her body. While the elf was distracted with Nik, she quickly hit him on the head with the hilt of her rapier, hoping to just knock him out. She stooped down to pick up his sword, and held it out to Nik.
"Please, take the sword, you have won it. Aye, I have to admit, if ye didn't show up when ye did, I probably wouldn't have won," she wiped away some more blood off of her face. Pesky face wounds, they bleed so much. She noticed her vision felt off, but she just brushed it aside. There were more important things to attend to. She quickly looked Nik over.
"Are ye hurt?" It didn't seem like he was, and for that she was grateful.
Kkärsvig spoke up.
"Cap'n, Nik discovered something on the lower deck that I think ye should see."
Her eyes lit up at that.
"What is it?" she asked.
Kkärsvig turned to Nik.
"I think Nik should show ye."

Nik didn't want to take the sword. That sword had done some awful things and he was certain its evil would wipe off on him. After all, it had drank Elara's blood not but a few minutes earlier. That sword was evil.

He just...stared at it for a moment before looking at her face and changing the subject.

"Listen. I'm no medic. I don't have four legs to stand on. But wiping your face like that is just going to make it worse." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an embroidered handkerchief, "Take my lucky hanky and press it on that cheek real tight."

It had been a very lucky handkerchief. Since finding it he had located a giant bag of riches, gave some candy to nice people downstairs, and met the door. AND he hadn't been injured at all!

Damn....why was he giving it away? They had only just gotten acquainted.

Well...no help for it and no use crying. Elara needed it.

He signaled for the group to follow him.

"If we can save it, Captain, I'd love to install the door on our ship for my room. It's something special."

Elara noticed he deferred the sword rather quickly, so she merely stuck it through her belt.
"Ye sure? Ye know blood stains are next to impossible to get out." She did hesitatingly take the handkerchief and press it to her face, wincing as she did so.
"Aye, much appreciated, mate."
Kkärsvïg came up to them just then.
"So uh, I searched the elf for a key, no luck." He shook his head. As much as he wanted to see what was behind that door, he wasn't sure they could. Then he eyed the sword Elara had tucked into her belt. There was a small eclipse engraved into the hilt.
Kkärsvïg frowned. He'd seen that symbol somewhere before. Oh well. Maybe he'll remember where later.
Nik motioned for them to follow him, so they followed him back to the mysterious door. Elara's mouth dropped open in sheer amazement. The door was breathtaking.
Kkärsvïg pushed past them and looked at the door. It had symbols of an moon going through various stages. He looked at the sword Elara had, then at the door.
"Elara, I think...the sword is the key!" Kkärsvig exclaimed. Elara cautiously took the sword and held it to the door.
"Here's hoping the door stays in a good condition," Elara said to Nik. Suddenly, the sword flew out of Elara's hand and stuck to the door. The sword glowed, and the eclipse on the handle matched the moon on the door, glowing with a silver color.
"Goddamn, that's beautiful," Elara breathed. The door then opened, and Elara gestured to Nik.
"You found it, so you should go in first."

"Oooooooooo," Nik whistled while watching the magic take effect, "fancy!"

Yes. That door would be his. Hopefully it fit. Oh the adventures they would have! And hopefully it had some kind of concealment enchantments on it. That would be most convenient. Considering the captain's sword had been the key, it probably did.

The door swung open and Nik lipped Thank you, beautiful at it as they stepped inside.

It. Was.

Unassuming.

A nice large desk sat inside with a backdrop of the ocean outside of large glass panes. There were intricately carved decorations throughout the cabin and a few smaller locked chests on shelves.

One large chest was to the left next to a pair of fluffy blue and silver armchairs and this chest looked like the door's twin. Same wood, same carvings, and - if Nik had to guess - the same enchantment. Something told him the sword wouldn't open this one, though. It just wasn't good security to have one key for every lock.

So he started looking around for something that looked like the sword but....wasn't.

A dagger maybe?

A letter opener???

He pocketed an even fancier quill from the desk to replace the one he had gifted.

"Oh," he suddenly remember, "That door out there to the right has some women and children. I gave them some candy so they should be ok."

Elara had almost forgotten about the cut on her face, but as the adrenaline wore off she was starting to feel...not great. She'd been cut by swords before but this cut hurt, a lot. She removed the handkerchief from the cut and tucked it into her coat pocket. Elara frowned. Her vision still felt off.

Elara was absolutely amazed as she walked into the room. She also looked around the room for keys or anything that would open the chest, but no such luck.

"Aikios—-where is Aikios?" She looked around. She hadn't seen him come down with them. Elara shrugged. Maybe he was doing something with the enemy crew, probably putting them in their own brig.

The other, smaller chests, if they weren't too heavy, they could just take with them back to their ship. She turned to Nik.
"Do ye happen to have that locket that elf was so startled to see when ye distracted him? That might do the the trick."

Nik looked down at his hand where the locket still hung around his fingers. He frowned. It was a pretty little thing and he wasn't exactly thrilled to give it up but...he was going to give it up earlier so...what did it matter now?

"Don't know if it'll do anything. I got it off one of the ladies in the other room. Do you think Captain Elf would have given a key to one of them?"

Unless maybe it was a wife or a daughter or... who knows. Something important to him.

He handed the locket to Elara with a sigh, "Worth giving it a try, I guess."

Elara noticed his hesitancy to hand her the locket, so she smiled.
"I'll give it back."
She held up the locket to the chest...nothing. She sighed. She examined the locket more closely. Nothing. She handed it back to Nik.
"Well, it was worth a try."
Her eyes scanned the room, looking for any potential hiding places. Her eyes found the desk, and she frowned, walking over to it. One drawer was slightly bigger than the other. There must be a space above the drawer, but she didn't see any indication that there was. She knelt down and pulled the drawer open, and there wasn't any keys. There was, however, a bottle of whiskey, and she grinned and set it on the desk.
Elara idly fiddled with the knob on the desk drawer, and she heard a click.
No way that's a puzzle desk. She's had experience with a few, maybe she could figure this one out. She cautiously turned the knob, listening for another click. It clicked, and the bottom of the drawer slid open, revealing a hidden compartment, and a small cylinder engraved with various runes. She picked up the cylinder and turned back to Nik.
"I think I found it!"
She turned to Kkärsvig, who was messing with the small chests.
"Can you gather our crew and start to make your way back to our ship? We've been in one spot long enough," she said.
Kkärsvig nodded, and left.
She took the cylinder and walked over to the chest. There was a small hole where the keyhole would normally be, so she cautiously put the cylinder in it. The lid to the chest made a clicking sound, so Elara slowly opened the lid.
Red light shot out, and Elara took a quick step back, cautiously watching the chest. Nothing happened, so she continued to open it. Wisps of smoke were curling out of the chest and swirling around the room.
Elara quickly reached inside of the chest and drew out a piece of parchment.
"That's it! A map? I can't even read what this chart says. Oh well, maybe someone onboard our ship can translate it." She shrugged and turned to Nik.
"Let's head back to the ship"—-Aikios burst in the room.
"Cap'n! The elf escaped, and we can't find him!"
Elara groaned.
"Is our crew safely back on board?"
Aikios nodded.
Elara sighed, and turned to Nik.
"If you're up for it, want to help me find that elf?"

Nik watched Elara bustle about, intrigued. The locket, no surprise, didn't work on the chest and he kept his face neutral eventhough he was secretly celebrating his knowledge in his head. He was just glad to take it back and put it in his pocket. Just in case. He thought. Always just in case...he was back on the ocean after all.

That could prove dangerous.

A problem for another day!

He followed Elara a little too closely and peaked his head over her shoulder as she worked. Huh. A fake out drawer. Well that could come in handy.

Not this one. Everyone knew how this one worked now.

No. He'd need something much sneakier. Like...the sneakiest!

"Yes!!" He hissed from his position by her left ear as the drawer opened. What could he say? He was invested.

"You're a smart captain, captain." He acknowledged sagely. He probably would have given up looking for a key to that thing. Searching stuff was exhausting. Especially when it was hidden.

Or...maybe that was just when he lost things and couldn't find them.

He shrugged to himself.

The chest opened with quite the spectacular display, but no one seemed to get hurt so that was good. He liked dramatics so this was a good chest. Just like the door! Well done, objects. Well done.

Then horse-man busted down the door he had clearly claimed with some kind of drama with Pointy the Captain.

"Uh...sure." he said, curious as to what she had been so keen to find, but also reconizing that he should probably follow along since she was kinda his boss now. "Lead on."

"Actually, wait!"

He practically skipped to the door with the women and children and opened the door with a bang. The women let up terrified shrieks.

"Oy! Sorry, ladies. Just...quick question. Your elfy captain man didn't stay asleep and now we have to find him. Not to kill him," probably, "just to....chat." he reached into his pocket and pulled out some more candies, "Candies for your thoughts?"

He wasn't certain it was because of his bribe or because of the big burly pirates behind him, but he got a response.

"He would...there's a false door in the galley. Behind the knives."

Nik bowed low once more and tossed them the final bits of his apple candies before closing the door once more and beaming at Elara and company.

"Shall we?"

Elara was watching the exchange between Nik and the women with amusement. He was so casual about it! But then when the lady actually told Nik where the elf captain was, she shook her head in wonderment.
"Aikios, could you take that door aboard our ship? Nik has taken a liking to it." It didn't look damaged, praise the siren gods below. Aikios nodded and picked up the door, carrying it above deck.
Elara gestured down the lower deck of the ship. 
"Lead the way Nik!" As they made their way to the galley, Elara kept her rapier drawn. Her eyes flitted about the passageway, straining in the rather dark  passageway, trying to see ahead of them.
Suddenly Elara stopped, pulling on Nik's shirtsleeve to get him to stop. She made a "shh" motion with her hand, and gestured to the door in front of them. Presumably, that was the door to the galley, but something felt off. While the rest of the passageway was dark, that doorway was lit, the flame of the torches flickering and casting shadows about the hall.
"Something's not right," she whispered to Nik. She quietly moved in front of Nik and sheathed her rapier, and took a throwing knife out of her coat. She spotted a piece of wood on the floor, so she picked it up and cautiously crept up to the doorway. She threw the wood into the room, nothing. It was quiet. She walked into the room; the coast was clear. She motioned for Nik to come in.
"Where did she say that elf guy was? Behind the knives?" She whispered.

Hmmm...well he must be a monkey's uncle because Elara was right. Everything was open to them....inviting....too perfect.

His bravado slipped away slightly as he pulled out his daggers into a defensive position and gently touched the captain's shoulder. He signaled to let him go first.

After all, he was much more replacable than she and it would look awfully bad for him if she got stabbed and he walked away from the fight.

Nope, he needed to keep her safe to keep him safe.

He held a finger up to his lips to indicate silence and then slipped through the door as silently as he could. And that was pretty damn silent. His sneakability was probably the only reason she hadn't found him when his last ship sank. No way was he let go.

So sneak he did.

The room was well lit and had the looks of a meal half prepared before being rudely abandoned. Fish heads were still half attached to bodies, scales were half on their flesh, hell, even the stew pots were still boiling and the fires had never beem extinguished.

It was a beautiful scene of life.

It was also completely eerie.

Nik crouched behind a barrel and took in the room some more, looking for the knives that the woman had told him about. He thought it would have been easy to spot, but he didn't see it upon first sweep. Then...

But that couldn't be it could it? There were like....3 knives...not much of a knife wall?

He felt a woosh of air behind him and felt something painful press against his side.

"Hello, friend." A rather unpleasant voice rasped in his ear with hot, stinky breath, "I'll take that locket back, now."

Nik did rather like the locket, but he liked his life more, "Side pocket." He muttered back. Ugh, this guy's breath would kill faster than his blade. Did he even understand hygiene? "There's some mint leaves too if you want to take care of that breath."

The blade on his side punched into Nik's gut.

Well...damn...

And he'd given up his good candies for this, too.

Elara was about to move forward when Nik crept past her into the room. It took all within her not to yell at him, but she had to admit he was quiet.  At least the room was lit with the light from the torches. She cautiously crept into the room, crouched down, hiding by a table, throwing knife in hand. Where did Nik go? She heard a "whoosh" and that was it. Her ears strained to hear anything else. Her instincts told her to hide by the table near the knives, so she did. Then she heard the elf, yelling her name. She stiffened. If nik was missing, and the elf was this brave...she had to kill the elf. She gripped the throwing knife tighter and waited. The tall imposing form of the elf walked to the doorway, with someone—-oh gods it was Nik—-held hostage with a knife in his gut. She winced. That looked painful. She only had one shot of getting the elf. She eyed the elf's neck. As much as she hated it, it was the only option she had. She threw it with all her might and it hit its target, causing the elf to drop Nik and fall over with a thud. Elara leaped up and completely ignoring the elf, ran over to Nik.
"Ye're gonna be alright, mate, Aikios is the best healer around. Don't touch the knife ok? If ye pull it out, ye'll bleed to death in literal minutes. Savvy?" She said, her voice full of concern.
"This is gonna hurt like a bitch, but I gotta do it, mate. Sorry."
And she ripped her shirt sleeve again, making an occlusive dressing for the knife and stabilizing it. Kkärsvïg burst in just then, worry lacing his face.
"Cap'n! I heard the commotion"—his face paled as he saw Nik.
"Oh seawitches that looks terr"—-a withering glare from Elara cut him off. He coughed awkwardly. Elara cleared her throat.
"Kkärsvig, carry him to the boat. Lay off all ropes and prepare to leave as soon as ye see me runnin' along the deck. Tell Aikios to prepare a bed and some potions for Nik. Don't just stand there! Go!" And Kkärsvig took Nik and went as fast as he could.
Elara turned to the elf. She walked over to him and knelt down by him.
"Listen, mate. Ye tried to kill my friend, and I don't take kindly to that. But if ye tell me what that map leads to, I'll let ye live," her eyes were full of false assurance. She had absolutely no intention to keep that promise.
The elf, coughing up blood and hardly conscious at this point, didn't even put up a fight.
"Something called the Celestial Aegis," and the elf coughed. Elara didn't even wait for him to finish. She yanked the knife out of his neck and turned and left, running to get back to her ship.

The blade in Nik's gut sent fire through him, but he was lucky that the elf captain had decided to keep the blade in. However, he was less lucky when Pointy decided to hoist him to his feet all while holding the blade firmly in his torso.

Nik grunted painfully and he could feel the steel shift through his innards. Each bumbling shuffle expanded the wound.

Not good.

Oh so not good.

Nik did was he could to stay as still as possible but when his body started shaking involuntarily he knew he was running short on time. Blood loss would kill you quick, but shock could do it too.

Breathe, buddy, he told himself. Gods it hurt. The burning was expanding through his body like a slow spread of molasses on the floor.

He wasn't a doctor but that seemed like a bad thing? What organ had the elf pierced?

The knife tore through his side when his murderer fell. The stab wound was stretched to more of a deep slash as Nik tumbled to the floor with him.

"Ah. Shit..." he coughed, hands instinctually going to his side.

The elf laughed, "Hope...your healer's...good." he chuckled just before Elara made her way over to them. Nik turned his head to look at him and saw blood streaming from his lips. "Ya got something there...." Nik shakily pointed to the blade in his throat, but Gods moving was hard. Then he spotted the locket in his hand.

He needed it.

With a burst of adrenaline, Nik reached forward and wrapped the chain around his fingers just as darkness snuck in to claim him for a time.

His vision swirled in and out. There were short bouts of pain followed by sweet release. Voices sounded muffled. Muddled. Perhaps he was just imaginging it?

"Think..." he struggled to speak, "something on the blade."

He had been stabbed before, but something about this one just hit differently. He was injured, sure. But he had never felt himself go this fast into unconsciousness before. Damn elf. Made sense that he would have done something like poison tip his daggers.

Maybe Nik should do something like that?

"Don....donlet my blood touch the water." He tried to say, and hoped he was successful.

Then he remembered nothing.

Aikios, as soon as Kkärsvïg got there, luckily already had a bed ready.
"Lay him on the bed. Gently, ye bastard! Don't jostle the knife!" Aikios, as soon as he saw the knife, paled and grabbed two different potions. Kkärsvig stood to the side, concernedly watching.
Aikios, meanwhile, was bustling about, grabbing a small glass jar that had leeches in it. He turned to Nik, who was unconscious.
He took the lid off the jar and reached in and grabbed two leeches. Aikios was all business now, any signs of his normal joking demeanor gone. He took off the dressing Elara had put on. He put the leeches on the wound.
"They're gonna cause your blood to clot so you don't bleed out when I take the knife out."
Aikios didn't know why he was talking to an unconscious man, but he felt better doing it.
"Alright mate I don't know if you can hear me but this is going to hurt...a lot."
He took the leeches off and put them back in the jar.
Aikios quickly cut off Nik's shirt so he could see the full extent of the wound. He grabbed a small vial that had a viscous, pink liquid and poured it on the wound and around the knife.
"Syrånøchth cįhæ ęhç thå nøc," he murmured as he quickly pulled the knife from the wound.
He grabbed a second vial that had a black powder in it. He sprinkled that all around Nik, and whispered, "sleep, friend."
"Kkärsvig, can you go prepare some broth and a cup of water for when he wakes up? Bring it in here."


Above deck, Elara had just made it back and the Midnight Marauder sailed away from the other ship. She quickly made her way to Aikios's healing room.
"How is he?" She asked.
Aikios sighed.
"That blade did a number on him. I had to use a bit of dark magic to get the poison out. If he had gotten to me a minute later, he wouldn't have made it.
I put him to sleep for now, but when he feels ready, he'll wake up."
Elara sat down next to Nik's bed.
"It should have been me, Aikios."
Aikios looked up from Nik.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"He rushed in before me. I couldn't even stop him."
She angrily punched the wall.
"Goddamn it!"
She winced as she put her face in her hands. Aikios walked over to her.
"Cap'n, what did you get cut with?"
She groaned.
"Whatever that elf was using, oh shit. I think it's the same knife he cut me with." She looked up at Aikios.
"I haven't even had a chance to see how bad the cut is," Aikios mused.
He suddenly snapped in front of Elara's right eye and she didn't even flinch.
"Cap'n...I think he, or the poison on the knife, got your eye." He quickly gave her a vial to drink to stop the poison, if there was any, and she downed it, cursing.
"Can't you make good tasting stuff? God that's awful—-wait you said my eye?"
And she tested that theory herself, waving a hand in front of her right eye. She sighed.
"An eye for a life, I guess."
Aikios went and rummaged around in his desk, bringing back a leather patch.
Elara looked at it.
"No, if you think I'm going to wear that"—Aikios interrupted her.
As the ships only healer, I say you have to wear it, and that's final." She sighed and took it, putting it on. She looked over at Nik, who was still out.
"Ye sure he's going to be alright?"
Aikios sighed.
"I already told you, Cap'n, he will wake up when he's ready."

Fevered dreams haunted Nikkolai the moment the darkness took him. It trapped him beneath layers of memories and stacks of regrets.

"Hush now, love." A soothing voice lilted through his thoughts, "Hush now and sleep. Let the waves take you far from these cursed lands and fall into the waves..."

Her words were like a song which he instinctually followed. No, not followed, drifted. Control had been left behind and all that remained was the darkness; a deep all consuming black that ate light until only nothing remained. And what a nothing it was. Serene. Silent.

Then pain.

He tried to scream, but he was rooted to the spot and his body refused to listen. He was becoming nothing. He was nothing. He had always been nothing. He deserved to be nothing.

More pain. Not in his body, but in his mind. Her face floated before him. She was still perfect with skin the color of midnight and eyes like the moon. Her hair swayed around her like a crown that was reflecting the stars. And her smile...Gods her smile...

Which ripped along the seams revealing a row of sharp teeth. The tear kept going until her entire head tipped back and split in two with a screech that would make eara bleed. Nik ran to her. Reached for her. He had to save her!

But he was falling....tipped over the edge of the world and falling...

Falling....

And his eyes jolted open with a gasp.

Elara had fallen asleep on the chair beside his bed, and when he woke up, she abruptly woke up.
"Oi, you're awake, mate! Ye had us worried! I'll go get Aikios!" And she got up to go get Aikios and he walked in, glaring at her and making a "shh" gesture.
"He just woke up mate, give him some time."
Aikios had a hot bowl of broth and a mug of water.
"Whenever you're ready to eat, you need to eat this," and he gestured to the soup.
He walked over to Nik's bed and set down the broth and the water.
"How ya feelin? I assume you're in pain? Is the pain at least lessened?"

Nik's eyes were blurry and his head spun as consciousness struggled to take hold. He was still half in and half out of his dreams and struggled to differentiate between waking and sleeping.

"Thaleia?" He gasped, reaching a shaky hand towarda the captain, eyes transfixed, "Thal, you're...you're here....?"

Fire engulfed his eyes as panic set in, "Captain! Captain we have to go! It isn't safe!" He tried to sit up, to run to arms, to find some kind of weapon to protect his crew. This couldn't be happening. Not this quickly. Not this soon.

His body crumpled the instant he tried to move and a groan escaped his lips just as his head fell back onto the pillow. The images were slowly fading from his mind and the pain of his injuries lended him a sharpness needed to fully come to.

"Wha...A...Aikios....? Captain?"

Elara didn't know what to do.
Aikios, on the other hand, laid a comforting hand on Nik's shoulder.
"It's alright mate. You're safe. You're back on the Midnight Marauder. You had gotten stabbed," he explained, "with a poisoned blade."
Elara held up a locket.
"Ye dropped this as ye passed out, I grabbed it for ye."
She gently gave it to him.
"That map we found, if the scoundrel was telling the truth, leads to an artifact that could be life changing for us," she smiled, a strange sadness haunting her one unharmed eye.
"It wouldn't have been worth it if ye had died, mate."
Aikios had been looking on the shelf for a certain vial, and found it, turning around to Nik.
"If ye are still in any pain, drink this."

Nik looked down at his hand where the locket was placed. It was just as pretty as it had been the first time he saw it. It was even carved with a T, which is what drew his attention in the first place.

It might be of help....

He closed his fingers around it and leaned back on the pillows taking in slow, deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself and take account of his wounds.

Each breath was a struggle. His chest was tight and his right side was on fire, but he was alive. That had to count for something, right?

A quick peek at his side revealed slivers of black lines inching out from behind the bandages. The poison, it would seem. He poked it and winced. Ok. It hurt. So that was something.

"I'll take that drought." He concluded through clenched teeth, and immediately downed the concoction Aikios presented to him. Nik immediately felt a cooling affect in his veins and sighed heavily from the relief. Oh beautiful beautiful instant relief.

"What kind of artifact?" He asked, eyes closed, "and is pointy still walking about?"

When Nik took the vial and drank it, Aikios inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He definitely was doing better.
"Those black lines should go away in a few weeks," Aikios explained.
"In a few hours I'll change the bandage, and give you more of that vial if you need it." Aikios gestured to the broth.
"There is food here if you feel like you can eat it."
Elara answered Nik's inquiry about the artifact quite willingly. He was her first mate after all, he deserved to know.
"I'll tell you everything I know, which isn't much. There was this artifact, created with celestial magic, which was rumored to right the 'massive misdeed committed in times of old'. What that misdeed is, historians argue about. But some say that it is the aftermath of the civil war in Connlaoth, others argue it is something that hasn't happened yet. Problem is, no one is quite for sure where it went. The stories of it first emerged during the civil war in Connlaoth." She sighed. "I do know that there is a huge risk involved with finding this artifact, as the risk for corruption is quite high."
The second question Nik had she answered, albeit rather hesitantly.
"As for the elf, he is dead."

Nik nodded, closing his eyes, "Good. Damn elf cost me my last apple candies."

He considered the story about the artifact and contemplated the facts which...in all honesty....weren't much more than a child's story from what he gathered.

"What makes you think this is even real?" He asked, eyes still closed, "Sounds like a fairy tale. Or some kind of horror story you tell kids who won't behave. And Connlaoth? How the hell are those backwards folk tied to some kind of ancient magic....thingy."

Elara took out the map and unrolled it, walking over to Nik.
"I haven't had much time to look at it, so maybe you would like to. Connlaoth for some reason is slightly highlighted. And, I mean, myths have been wrong before. It didn't originate in Connlaoth from what I understand, but people started hearing of it and there were rumors beginning to spread during that time," Elara explained. She seemed quite reluctant to hand the map over, but she did. There was a rough outline of Le'raana, but if you looked closer, the continent seemed to be slowly shifting and moving. The sea on the chart almost looked too real. Elara was rather entranced by the map, but kept that to herself.

Nik reluctantly took the map.

Bah. Maps. They were the tools of people with no sense of direction. Why not just use the stars? Or just....you know...pick a direction and go see what you can find. Lots of treasure worth finding can be found when you don't realize you want to find anything.

Sometimes things just needed to stay lost.

"Oy what's wrong with this map?" He blinked and looked away from it, "It's like....little worms...."

He looked over at Elara, "You sure this kind of map is from Connlaoth? Or about it?"

Elara shook her head.
"Nay I don't think it's about Connlaoth at all, but it was glowing just a second ago..." she trailed off as she looked at the map Nik was holding.
"What the hell."
The map had changed. A lot. There was no sign of Connlaoth on it now. She blinked. She was losing her mind.
"Well it's either cursed or enchanted, it's hard to tell."
"I need to go lie down for a minute. I'll be back." And Elara got up and left, closing the door behind her.

Nik practically threw the map back at Elara when she realized the entire map had altered.

"Nope. No. Nope." He sputtered as the pages left his hands. "That's got some kind of bad attached to it and I don't need more bad attached to me." He kissed his finger tips and held his hand up in the sky to ward off bad spirits.

And just like that, Elara was off looking....shaken.

As she should be. She had found a fucking cursed map.

"She ok, you think?" He asked the doctor.

Aikios watched Elara leave. He sighed, measuring out some medicine, and pouring it in two different vials. "It's hard to tell." He turned to Nik, shaking one of the vials and then handing it to him. "How are you feeling? Are you still in pain?"
Elara, meanwhile, had to stop and lean against a wall, trying to control her breathing before she started to hyperventilate.
"It's just a map," she told herself. "A cursed map but a map nonetheless."
Suddenly she felt a "whoosh" of frigid air. The torches lighting up the hallway went out. Elara looked down the hallway, chills going down her spine.  A brooding figure stood in the middle of the hallway, mist swirling around him, and an eerie glow emanating from behind him. With a leering grin, he lifted up his hand and looked at Elara.
"The map. Where is the map? Give me the map." He wasn't asking. He was commanding.
"I...I don't have the map," and that's all she said before she lost consciousness.

Nik nodded to Aikios and pushed himself to sit on the edge of the bed to prove it. He held up a hand to dissuade the horse-man from stopping him and promptly stood up with a good amount of cursing and effort.

"See?" He smiled through gritted teeth,  "Right as rain."

He took a few steps and used the wall as a crutch. Damn pointy had really done him in, huh. But the poultice and droughts were doing their job well and he felt like he could at least walk around to figure out if the captain was ok or not.

"I'll be back, Horse-man." He promised, "Won't do anything but talk, ok? The captain needs some strong words against evil is all."

And out he went, right into a cold, dark corridor. What? He shuffled forward and his feet bumped flesh.

"Eh?" He slowly stooped down and realized,  "Elara?? What are you on the ground for???"

That was when he saw the ghost.

"Fuckin fuck..." he breathed,  "whole place is filled with demons. Oy!" He shouted,"Crew's full. Ain't got no more space for you!"

The ghost sneered at Nik.
"The map will lead you through terrors beyond your deepest imaginings. I was only meaning to warn her," the ghost lied, inching closer to Nik.
His eyes glowed silver.
"Give me the map," multiple whispered voices were saying, all discordant and even though the voices were quiet, they seemed to be everywhere.

Elara groaned, slowly regaining consciousness. She weakly pushed at whatever was behind her.
"No, get away," she muttered. Then she realized that was Nik. She turned her attention to the ghost in front of her.
She slowly stood up and drew her rapier.
"Get. Off. My. Ship." Her eyes glowed in fury. She wasn't about to let some ghost take the map she almost lost her first mate over.
The ghost screeched and rushed at her, its form changing and evolving so fast it looked like a billow of smoke.
"Anch'tcharį yęæ hyœs!" She yelled with as much strength as she could muster. The ghost seemingly passed through her, and disappeared. Elara felt a rush of frigid air as the ghost went through her. It definitely didn't feel pleasant. She turned and looked at Nik, attempting to smile.
"Like you said, crew's full," she said, and then leaned against a wall, breathing heavily.

Nik nearly empties his bowels when the fucking ghost came at them. This was exactly the reason you did not mess with cursed things. But he knew this wouldn't be the end. Nooooo. Because people were stupid and 'Only good treasure is guarded by evil ghosts!'

Disgusting.

Whatever Elara did, though, worked and they were both unharmed. He fell back on his bum and let his hands fall to the floor. If he wasn't hurting so much from his injuries, he probably would have curled up and sucked his thumb.

"So....you can talk to ghosts then?" He asked her, "and....you're gonna do the smart thing and burn that map, right?"

Elara just leaned back on the wall for a second.
"I didn't know I could talk to ghosts either. Did that actually happen? I'm going insane. I talked to a ghost. I talked to a ghost. I talked to a fucking ghost!" It was hard to tell who she was talking to. She sheathed her rapier and extended a hand to Nik.
"Are you ok?"
"Burn the map are you out of your mind? That map, I've never seen anything like it! I'm not burning it."
She took a deep breath. The cold she felt when the ghost rushed through her was not leaving. In fact, the cold was slowly spreading. She had never interacted with a ghost like that before. Maybe the map was both cursed and charmed, a double edged sword.

She looked back towards Aikios's healer room.
"I might need to go back there, I'm not sure," and she swayed alittle.

Nik sighed. Of course she wasn't going to get rid of it. That would be the sensible thing to do. And....well...he apparently was the only one with sense on this whole damn boat.

"Sure. Sure. I'm the crazy one." He muttered playing with some dust on the ground, "let's just follow some cursed map. Nothing could go wrong. Nope. We're all going to be fine."

She definitely didn't look good, but he was in no condition to help her get anywhere.

"Oy!" He shouted, "Aikios! Gonna need two tickets to the infirmary. The captain talked to a ghost and is now infected with ghosty stuff."

Aikios came out of the infirmary fast. What happened—-he saw Nik sitting on the ground and Elara leaning against the wall.
"You look like you just saw a ghost"—-Elara managed to shoot him a withering glare and he trailed off. He coughed, and cleared his throat. He rushed over to Elara and she weakly waved him off.
"Get Nik in first. Don't argue! Just get him in the infirmary!" Aikios knew better than to argue, but he pointed a finger at Elara.
"If you so much as move from that spot I'll kill you myself."
And then he went over to Nik, gently picking him up and going to the infirmary. He set him down on one of the beds.
"If you can hold on just a bit, I'm going to do an incantation once I get Elara in here." He picked up a torch and went back out into the hallway, lighting one of the torches that had gone out. He picked up a protesting Elara and put her on the other bed.
"Neither of you are allowed to get up for at least 24 hours. You understand?" He muttered something to himself and picked up the map that had fallen on the ground, setting it on a shelf.
Aikios rubbed his hands together.
"I haven't done a proper healing incantation in ages."
He went over to his desk, grabbing a white candle, a bud of lavender, a quartz crystal, and a small bowl of salt. 
"Now, if you please, both of you don't talk until I'm finished."
He took a match and lit the white candle, sprinkling a small circle of salt on the floor and setting the candle inside of it. He grabbed the quartz crystal and held it in his left hand, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. He took the bud of lavender and held it over the candle until it caught fire, inhaling the smoke from it and then throwing the lavender in the air; the lavender disappearing in a burst of purple smoke.
"By the power of light and stone so clear,
I banish pain and sorrow,
Draw healing near.
With this crystal's healing
So pure and bright,
Restore what's ailing;
Make it right."
A veil of silence fell over the room as Aikios concentrated on his spell, letting the purple smoke spread across the room until everything was tinged in purple hues. He blew out the candle and set the quartz on top of the candle, a pleasant, faint flowery smell emitting from it. He took the candle and set it on the shelf, leaving the circle of salt on the floor.
He then grabbed two small glasses from the shelf, quickly catching some of the purple smoke and covering the glasses so the smoke can't escape. He grabbed some dragon ash and sprinkled it over the glasses, handing them to Elara and Nik.
"Inhale this, and the healing spell will be complete."
He studied Elara.
"Well, maybe not for you. You got cursed by a ghost of some sort."

Nik looked at the concoction out of the side of his eye and made a face. "Uh...horse-man...this uh...thing....do I actually need it? I was just a ghost spectator so I'm not cursed." because I'm the only sane person on this whole damned ship. he thought bitterly to himself.

Aikios sternly looked his way.
"That is just for your previous wounds. I haven't started on Elara's cure yet. That is going to take some time. Now drink it," he turned back to his desk and picked up an ancient, weathered book, and began turning through it, searching for the cure he needed.
"This one's going to require some darker magic, and it's not going to be pleasant."
Elara groaned.
"It can't be worse than the hell I've already been through."
She drank the concoction Aikios handed her, wrinkling her nose.
"That is fucking disgusting."
She was visibly shivering, wrapped up in the blanket that was on the bed.
"Do you have any more blankets? It's freezing in here."
Aikios sighed.
"I do, but you can't have another one. It will cause the curse to spread faster."
He stopped turning through the book, finally finding the spell he was looking for. He mumbled as he read through it, figuring out the ingredients he needed.
"I've got to go to the galley. I'll be back. Elara if I find out you so much as moved out of that bed..."
And he was gone, gently closing the door behind him.
Elara scoffed.
"Don't move out of the bed. Who does he think he is?" She swung her legs over the side of the bed.
"Gods it is absolutely frigid in here," and she wrapped the blanket around her tighter.

Nik half listened to Aikios after being told that he did, indeed, need to drink the weird concoction he had been handed. His nose wrinkled as he smelled it and he turned his head away with a dramatic cough to voice his displeasure. Like a child. But shit it smelled gross. It smelled...like....like....well shit.

He swirled the contents around the cup a few times, dawdling. Then he dipped his finger into the contents and slowly brought the tiniest of drops up to his lip in the slowest, most dramatic fashion he could muster.

"Bleeeech..." he groaned, smacking his tongue about his mouth. "I think this will kill me before my wounds do. Won't do it. I'm fine. Don't need it." He went to put the cup down, but Aikios gave him a quick, withering stare that made the former ex-pirate rethink his stance.

"Ok ok ok...sheesh..hold your horses. Oh...er...hold...yourself?" He threw back his head and drank the lot in one big, awful swig. He sputtered and hacked and cursed, but it was done. "Ugh....your killing me. I'm gonna die." His head dropped to his chest, but he couldn't ball himself up anymore without pulling at the gash in his side.

Then Aikios left with dire warnings that Elara blatantly ignored.

"Oy! No! No no no. NO!" Nik was on his feet, ignoring the pain that shot through his side. Probably ripped some stitches, but if he survived that drought, he'd survive this.

He stood in front of Elara and put both hands on his shoulders, "You keep your captainy butt right there before the ghost takes your soul and takes your ship. I'm not taking orders from a ghost."

"Hey!" Elara protested.
"I jus need a blanket," she slurred.
"You can get me one, right? Ok maybe I was goin' to get a drink. I need some rum."
The cold was spreading to her limbs, and making it really hard to coordinate movements.  Maybe she should just stay in bed. She had lied to Nik. She really wanted the map. It was beckoning to her. But she didn't see where it went. She assumed Aikios had put it somewhere.
Her eyes kept searching around the room, but she couldn't find it. Frustrated, she sighed. Maybe when everyone is asleep she could find it.
"Gotta get the map," she muttered to herself.

Nik held her firmly. Well, as firmly as he could in his current condition. Holding someone still took a surprisingly large amount of core strength and his was severely lacking at the moment.

"No. No." He scolded her like a teacher to a little school girl, "I know what you want and absolutely not. That piece of paper is cursed and it's gonna try and finish you off. Ghosts need to eat people and this one is coming for you now that it's got a taste."

Gods standing hurt. But...Elara couldn't be trusted. That ghost was in her brain eating her common sense.

"No. No. You stay right where you are. I'll make sure of it." and without hesitation, he used his whole body weight to push her down onto the bed and wrapped a leg around her waist and an arm around her shoulders.

Gods she was cold.

Fuckin ghosts.

Ice...everything was enveloped in ice...or was she hallucinating. The line between reality and the hallucinations was beginning to fade.
"No no, you don't understand. I need the map."
She pushed weakly against him, but his grip was firm.
Elara felt like she was getting weaker and weaker by the second. And when he pushed her down onto the bed, she didn't resist at all. Her eyes were locked onto the shelf were the map was. It was almost as if the map was linked to her mind.
"You don't understand! I'll die if I don't get the map!"
But she couldn't move, Nik was able to keep her held down.
Elara's eyes were dilated, full of desperation for the map and desperation for her own life. Except the entity in her head was lying to her. Aikios was right for the most part. She had gotten cursed by the ghost.  The ghost fed off of the user of the map. And if she held it one more time she'd die, the ghost draining her soul and then waiting for the next unfortunate person to come along. 
Aikios rushed in just then, holding a satchel with ingredients he needed for the spell.
"Nik what are you doing out of bed?"
His face paled when he saw the current situation.
"Did she touch the map?" He quietly asked. Aikios quickly set the satchel down and muttered a brief incantation, touching his hand to Nik's wound.
"The spell won't last for long but it will give you temporary relief from your pain, and temporary strength as well.The curse is progressing faster than I expected. Do you think you can hold her down while I try to extract this ghost out of her? Because of how severe the curse has taken ahold of her I don't even know if it will be successful. She has a 70% chance of surviving the curse. The worst case scenario is I extract the ghost, but the ordeal will kill her. But I can't wait any longer. Once the ghost gets tired of her he will latch onto other people. This whole ship will be cursed in five days if we don't do something," he soberly explained.

"No, she didn't touch the damn map!" He shouted at Aikios through clenched teeth, "You think I'd let her crazy ass get even more cursed than she already is?"

Whatever Aikios had done to him definitely made Nik feel almost invincible and he  found he was able to hold onto Elara with more conviction as she tried to get the cursed thing.

"Just get this thing out of her, ok!? Fuck me."

Aikios hurriedly grabbed a jar of snake's blood out of the satchel, drawing two different sigils on the floor next to her bed. He threw the remaining blood onto the wall above Elara's bed. Aikios went to his desk and grabbed a cane leaning on the wall by his desk, swirling in the air and invoking shadows, casting them in a circle around Elara. He walked over to her bedside and touched her forehead with the stick and whispered, "Sleep."
She stopped fighting, her body now limp. The shadows thickened around her, and Aikios told Nik to step back.
He grabbed a shimmering, spectral dagger and held it ready in one hand, the blade glowing with a strange transparent red hue. He began lowly whispering incantations, the cane beginning to glow.
Voices began coming out of the shadows surrounding Elara, broken, sad voices. The language even Aikios didn't recognize, but he gripped the cane tighter. He continued whispering incantations, ignoring the voices as best he could. The sigils on the ground began to glow. A wisp of smoke seeped from the shadows to Aikios. Aikios gripped the knife in an offensive grip, and, once enough shadows had latched onto the cane, sliced at the cane with the dagger, causing the circle of shadows to break around Elara.
The ghost screeched as the sigils began to suck it out of Elara and into the ground. The screeching was so loud it shattered a glass vial that was on Aikios's shelf. When Aikios saw that the ghost was out of Elara, he lunged for it, stabbing it square in the chest with the spectral dagger. The shadows seemed to explode in the room, dissipating with a bright flash of light and one last swirl of fog.

Aikios, breathing hard, ran over to Elara's bed to check if she was still alive. She was breathing, which was honestly more than he was expecting. He breathed in a sigh of relief, and turned to check on Nik.
"Are you alright? How is your side holding up?"

Nik stumbled back, thankful for whatever spell horse-man had cast on him. He was tired, he could feel it pulling at him, but there was like....a wall put up around the exhaustion...

And he watched, eyes wide as Aikios cast some kind of magic that he had never seen before. It was...raw...and the energy crackled in the air making the hair on his arms stand straight up while goose pimples rippled across his skin.

He wanted to look away, to leave the room, it just felt wrong. But...he was enthralled. Captivated. Enticed. It was wrong but it....called to him. The spirits were recalled and trapped and then...BAM. The explosion was less physical than it was mental. Nik didn't feel himself be pushed back, but he stumbled and slumped against the wall.

Almost instantly the strength was sucked out of him and he slid down the wall, breathless. He felt hot and cold all at the same time and sweat bloomed on his brow.

"I'll live...probably," he waved Aikios off with one hand but kept the other protectively on his wounded side. "How's the captain?"

Aikios was checking on Elara when Nik asked.
"She'll be alright," he finally answered, covering her with a blanket.
"She might be in alot of pain when she wakes up, it's really hard to tell."
He stood up, gesturing to the back where a doorway was.
"I'm going to try to design some defensive charms in case that map has any more curses attached to it. I'll be in the back if you need me."
He paused.
"Are you sure you're alright? You don't look alright. Did the spell hit you?"
He walked over to Nik and helped him up, walking him to the unoccupied bed; and helping him sit down.
"If you're sure you're alright, I'll be in the back." And he walked through the doorway, the curtain swirling closed behind him.

Elara stirred awake, breathing hard and quite disoriented. Where was she? What is this place? She tried to remember. The ghost, the coldness, being placed here, and Nik. Where was Nik? She couldn't remember if she hurt him in her cursed state. She couldn't remember much of anything really. She felt rather blank. Something felt wrong.
She cautiously pushed herself up into a sitting position. That was a big mistake. The pain hit her like a stone wall, practically knocking the breath out of her. She gasped. It was difficult to form words, but she managed a small phrase, "Nik, help."

Nik was thankful for the help Aikios gave to get him back to his bed. He was exhausted and the pain in his side was returning with a vengeance. It made breathing hard, made any movement in general difficult.

Aikios was a talented healer, that much was clear, but time would still be needed for true comfort to return.

He propped himself up with some hard pillows and leaned back with a groan. Within seconds, sleep claimed him.

His was a dreamless sleep until the very end. A voice reached him jolting him awake. How long had he been out? A day? A minute?

What was the voice???

His eyes roamed around the room until he saw Elara. She was awake but....seemed panicked. Her eyes were filled with pain.

But Gods he was so tired....but....she needed something...

If only he had a candy for her.

Instead, conscious to keep his torso as still as possible, he reached his hand across the aisle and gripped her fingers firmly.

"I'm right here." He said softly.

The touch grounded her some, the pain still intense but the familiarity of at least someone's touch helping.
She took deep breaths, trying to think of anything but the intense pain.
"Thank you," she said, her voice tinged with...regret? Or was it sadness?
"The map," she faintly said.
"Destroy it, please."
Aikios came in just then, holding two necklaces.
"Glad to see you're awake. You can't destroy the map. At least not with fire, I've tried. The parchment seems to be fire-resistant. So I've made you and Nik protective necklaces to ward off any more hostile effects when near the map. I've done as much as I can for both of you healing wise, the rest is just going to have to go away on it's own."
He handed one necklace to Elara and one to Nik. Both of the necklaces were silver chains, and the charms were made of this strange blue and black stone.
Aikios walked over to his desk and began writing in an old notebook.
"I am sorry that you both seem to be in pain. There's nothing else I can do." He sighed.
"I have my limits as well. I do have some good news, if it can be even considered that. I did some digging, and those particular runes that's on the map are, I believe, specific to an old werewolf clan that does not exist anymore...well, except for one. It's a rather long journey by ship but we could go there," Aikios said thoughtfully.

Elara, meanwhile, was rather angry that there wasn't anything else Aikios could do.
"Then just kill me," she said, her eyes tearing up from the pain.
"I can't take it anymore."

Nik dropped Elara's hand when Aikios came back in and sunk deeper into his pillows. He just needed sleep at this point, and for whatever magics the doc had used to keep doing their work in tandum with his body's natural healing process.

He knew it wouldn't be instant, he understood that he had almost died and it would take weeks before the pain actually went away and he had full motion again.

Sure, Elara was clearly in pain, but...

"Shut it." He snarled towards the captain. Gods he just wanted to sleep, "You're the captain for Gods sakes. And you want to just give up because you got hurt? You were cursed by a fuckin ghost because of a fuckin haunted map that I told you to get rid of but noooooooo. So stop your crying, put on your big boy pants and be a leader."

Something Nik said struck a chord inside her. It was the exact same thing her parents said to her before they died.
"Be a leader." The words seemed to echo all around the room, amplifying in her head and settling in her heart.
And he was right. He told her to get rid of the damn thing. Actions have consequences.
Aikios meanwhile, was awestruck that Nik said that and then that Elara didn't snap back at him. Miraculous.
She pushed up out of her bed, her body screaming in pain. Ok too soon. She saw the bottle of half drunken rum on Aikios's desk. She just needed some fire in her bones.
"I'll do it...in a second. I need rum," she muttered. Elara gritted her teeth and stood up, swaying alittle.
Aikios looked her way. "Oh no you don't you're in no condition to drink alcohol."
And he put it up on the shelf with the other bottles.
Elara sat down on the bed, the mere exertion of getting up had both pained and exhausted her.
"I'm going to go grab both of you some food from Kkärsvig, I'll be back." And Aikios left, carefully shutting the door. As soon as the door closed Elara dropped her 'exhausted' act and stood up, grunting painfully, and eyeing the rum. She slowly walked over to the shelf and grabbed the bottle, drinking some.
"What he won't know won't hurt him. Do you want some? There's enough for both of us." And she smirked and held out the bottle.

Nik shook hus head and thumped back against his stack of pillows, "No." He replied, exhaustion evident in his voice, "And Aikios is right, you shouldn't either."

He cracked his eyes open slightly and sighed, "Sometimes being a leader is taking time to heal, right?"

Something was tickling the back of his brain like a tiny whisper he couldn't quite discern. He was forgetting something, but....what....?

ATTENTION: [TW for allusions and/or hints to self harm and suicide.]

Elara sighed.
"You're right. I really should sleep. And you should get some sleep too."
Aikios opened the door, walking in with two hot, steaming plates of food.
"I've got some food—-Elara get back in bed this instant!" And he set the tray of food on the desk and folded his arms, giving Elara a very threatening glare. Elara desperately tried to hide the bottle behind her back.
"I think you're old and imagining things," she scoffed, but under his glare she quickly put down the bottle of ale and got back in bed, muttering the whole way.
"You'd think I'd have authority on my own ship, the audacity."
Aikios laughed.
"I can hear you, captain," adding as much sarcasm as he could to the word captain. Aikios shook his head, laughing the whole time. He picked up the tray of food and gave a plate to Nik, and then to Elara.
"Eat," he said.
"The food will do you two some good. Kkärsvig prepared the fish especially for you two."
Aikios sat down at his desk, writing something in his notebook.
Elara, though she hated to admit it, was starving, and dug into the food, hardly coming up for air.
Then a melody wafted through the air, hauntingly melodic and beautiful.
Elara glanced up from her food, eyes narrowing.
"Does anyone else hear that?" She asked quietly, disturbed but intrigued by the song.
Aikios, as soon as he heard the melody,  shot out of his chair.
"I'll go prepare the crew!" And he was gone.
"Prepare for what—oh."
Sirens. It was hard to tell from the song the sirens were singing how many there were.
Elara, entranced by the song, stood up, picking up her rapier from the table. It would be so easy, just to quickly slit her throat and all the pain would be gone. The thought was so tempting, so alluring. She looked at the rapier in her hand. A small voice at the back of her mind was still fighting, struggling to be heard, telling her this thought wasn't her, it wasn't worth it. 
Then she heard the voice of her mom.
"Elara." A small, distorted, feminine voice.
"Do it. Join me in peace. You don't have to feel pain anymore."
Tears filled Elara's eyes. It had been so long since she had heard that voice.
"Mother," she said, her voice sounding so heartbroken. She brought the rapier closer, both her inner voice and the sirens song screaming at her.

Nik would know that sound anywhere. It had lulled him to sleep quite a few times in an age long past.

The ring on his finger also kept him from being swayed by it.

He jolted out of bed and grabbed Elara by the shoulders, "Did my blood touch the water?" He asked her with a semi-violent shake to try and break her from the siren's song, "Elara!!!"

Elara was so close to being able to be "free", and so entranced by the sirens song, she didn't even notice Nik grabbing her by the shoulders and asking her about the blood and the water. She didn't notice anything, really, she just felt something grab her.
"Let go of me," she snarled, blindly swinging a fist in Nik's general direction.

Nik snarled and grabbed the ring off his finger and shoved it onto Elara. The protection would linger for a few more seconds, but after that the song would ensare him too if he wasn't constantly battling it.

Elara, however? In her weakened state he wasn't sure she'd be able to break free on her own while he had quite a bit of practice.

His grip tightened on her shoulders again and he ignored the seering pain that shot through his side as stitches began tearing from his wound.

"FUCKING LOOK AT ME." he commanded.

Something slipped on Elara's finger and the illusion and the deception her mind had sunk into was gone. The sirens alluring voice changed into Nik's.
"Fucking look at me!"
Her eyes focused on Nik, her hand dropping the rapier she had been holding.
"I heard mother's voice," she said sadly.
She steadied herself. It was just a siren. She'd dealt with them before, but this siren was fast acting and powerful. Elara took a deep breath.
"Thank you. I should go check on the rest of the crew."
She opened the door and Aikios was standing there, holding a jar of crystals. He held them out to her.
"You and Nik need to throw these on the ground. They will give you temporary immunity from the sirens song until we pass it. I've already done stuff for the rest of the crew. Well, except for one. He had already jumped off the ship before I could get up there."
Elara's eyes grew sad.
"...right. Well I will take these crystals from you, thank you."
Aikios looked around Elara.
"Is Nik alright?"

The Siren's song was swirling in his mind, making it foggy but he was able to supress anything worse. He understood what could happen to them....what clearly had happened to some of the crew already.

He was focusing so intently on remaining in control, he only focused enough on Elara to make sure the ring had worked for her. After that, he turned his attention to the problem at hand. His problem.

He would recognize the voice anywhere. It was a part of him, or at least it felt like it now. The silver scars on his back seemed to burn as the song continued. It was getting louder which meant more and more would succumb to the depths.

Move. he ordered himself. Now was no time for games, no time for hesitation.

Without even hearing Aikios, Nik had already grabbed the locket off of his bed and pushed his way through the open door. His shirt had a blossom of blood steadily growing from where his wound was ripping open, but none of that mattered. It didn't matter that he was on the path towards killing himself either by bloodloss, infection, or by Siren.

What matter was getting to her.

Nik stumbled onto the deck where the song was loudest and chaos reigned. It was eerily silent except for the song that encircled and ensared them.

The rail. He had to make it to the rail. But once he left the hallway he would have nothing to lean on to help him on his way. So he took a deep, shaky breath, pressed his hand to his bleeding side, and shuffled forward.

It felt like a lifetime before his hands gripped the side of the boat. His right hand left a full bloody handprint where he landed and he held the locket tightly in his left.

"Enough!" He bellowed, "You want me? Here I am!"

Elara didn't even sense Nik make his way out the door until he was already gone, Aikios pointing out that Nik had left.
"Elara, Nik is going topside!" Aikios said, snapping his fingers in front of her face. She still felt alittle dazed.
"What do you think he's doing?" Elara asked, shoving a crystal in her coat pocket and throwing the rest as hard as she could onto the wooden floor. Her face paled as she realized what he was up to.
"No...I've got to go stop him," and she grabbed her rapier from the floor and ran as fast as she could in her weakened state out of the door. Aikios yelled after her.
"I'm coming with you!"
"No!" Elara yelled back.
"Check on Kkärsvig and the galley crew, make sure they're safe. Then meet me up on deck!" Aikios obeyed.

Up on deck was absolute chaos. The sirens song was deafening, but while the crew was rather scared, they were safe, for now. Aikios's protections, while powerful, were only temporary. She needed to move fast. Which was proving difficult.
"Why can't Aikios just instantly heal," she grumbled to herself.
She was still in a lot of pain, but the pain had died down significantly compared to the level it was at before.
Her eyes desperately searched the deck for Nik. She couldn't see him anywhere. A trail of blood caught her eye on the deck, and it led over to a railing. She could see him, clutching the railing with one hand and yelling out into the ocean.
Elara pushed through the pain and quickened her pace, grabbing onto Nik and wrestling him away from the railing.
"What the fuck are you doing?" She yelled. She quickly grabbed the crystal from her coat pocket and threw it onto the ground, the crystal shattering.
She turned and looked into the ocean, her eyes straining to see anything that wasn't water.
"Whoever you are, you're messing with the wrong ship!" She roared, her eyes ablaze with anger. Nobody messed with her crew. The fact that this siren had already killed at least one, probably more, had her enraged. She drew her rapier.
"You want my crew—my friends? You'll have to go through me."

Maybe if he had been expecting it, he would have been able to shake Elara off. But also, maybe not. His wound was actively bleeding again and so much of his focus was remaining aware of himself. When the captain's voice broke his concentration, it was over.

For a moment before the jar shattered on the ground, the world froze. Before his eyes the seas calmed and a figure sat on the rail where he had just been standing. Her black hair flowed in tendrils around her head like she was still underwater.

"Thaleia." He knew she was only in his head, but that didn't make her any less dangerous.

You're a fool, Nikkolai. Her words echoed in his head as a slow smile spread across her face, Or perhaps you have finally given into your fate. You are marked. You are mine.

Before he could reply, the image shattered and his eyes adjusted to the world around him. It was chaos. The winds gripped and grabbed at anyone in its path and the waves crashed dangerously high along the sides of the ship.

Elara stood at the side shouting into the mists.

"No!" Nik lunged to his feet, "Elara no."

The wind seemed to....form into an arm....into a hand....and it's long, finger-like tendrils wrapped firmly around Elara's wrist.

The winds howled around the ship, the seas a strange murky black. Elara, internally, was scared to death. She'd seen a lot of strange stuff during her years on the seas, but nothing to top this.

As soon as the tendrils touched her wrist, flashes of white hit her eyes. She was transported back to a calmer time...

8 years ago:

Elara and her parents had finally made it to the travel point. It was a foggy day, the tips of the mountains peeking through the fog.
"Are you sure I can do this? I've never done this long of a teleportation before," Elara stood next to a small river, nervously gauging the amount of water she would need.
Elara's mom gave her a reassuring smile.
"Yes, you're ready. Just think, in a few minutes we'll be on top of Mount Yascha, possibly making history."
Elara's dad butted in.
"We'll be known throughout Le'raana!" He looked up at the sky.
"It's time Elara. You're going to do great! Just concentrate, and we will be on the mountain before you know it."
Elara joined them next to the river, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the water, feeling the harmony that emitted from the river. She raised a hand towards the river, a faint glow emitting from her hand. Water rose up out of the river, forming a small portal. Just big enough for her and her parents to walk through. The portal looked like a blue, undulating, hollow rectangle. The water flowed up the sides and connected at the top, looking as if  the laws of physics didn't exist.
"Amazing," Elara's dad whispered. Else's mom shushed him, giving him a glare.
"Ok," Elara said quietly, her voice strained and her body tense with concentration.
Her parents start to walk through the portal, and the water implodes, crashing inward and swallowing them both, then the water exploding outward and disintegrating.
"No!" Elara yelled in anguish, collapsing to the ground and yelling in agony.

present day
The flashback ended as abruptly as it started, the flashes of white disappearing and Elara crying out, reaching for the empty air.

Nik watched in horror as the tendrils gripped Elara's hand. They were more than just mist, they were corporeal and he could see it pulling the captain closer and closer to the sea.

He leapt forward with a dagger and tried desperately to slash it away, but it just went right through it and the mist reformed. It continued to pull.

"Thaleia, enough!" He cried, "You're here for me, so take me!"

He pulled himself on the rail and held onto one of the pullies to steady himself. If she could see him better, perhaps it would be enough.

A melodic, dark chuckle came from the sea and the mist gave Elara one more massive yank.

Elara was about to cut through whatever was gripping her wrist when Nik got to it first, slicing through it with his dagger, but then it just reformed, it's grip stronger than before. Elara cut through it with her rapier, but her rapier did nothing to it. She heard Nik yell at it—-Nik knew it's name?!
She swore as it yanked her overboard, her hitting the water hard enough to break ribs.

"NO!" Nik watched helplessly as Elara was flung over the side and into the raging sea below.

Without a moment to consider his own wounds, Nik double checked that a thin silver ring was around his thumb and then he jumped over the side just as Aikios was returning to the deck. His distressed cries reached Nik's ears just as his feet left the rail.

He plunged into the water and felt his wounds blaze with pain as the salt entered. It left his breathless and he hissed in pain.

The ring on his thumb glowed and a silvery aura encircled him. Webs of silver threads wove between his digits and along his throat.

"Thaleia! Release her!"

After she recovered from the shock of hitting the water, she looked around, trying to gauge where the siren was. She took deep breaths, an intense piercing pain in her chest startling her.
Elara tried to fight off the tendril, trying to stay above water. The tendril wrapped around her other wrist, binding her wrists together, rendering her practically helpless in the water. She desperately kicked her legs in the water. She heard Nik yelling, and she desperately twisted around in the water, trying to see where he was. Oh gods he was in the water too.
"Nik if we survive this I'm going to kill you!" Elara yelled.

A quiet chuckle echoed across the mist-riddled waves, So this is she? a voice echoed, well, then.

Elara disappeared into the depths.

"No!" He cried out again before diving into the ocean to chase after the quickly disappearing Captain. What had he done? What had he done?

Elara barely had time to take another breath before she got pulled under, yelling for Nik with a terrified cry.

The bit of  deep seated fear that had been sitting at the back of Elara's mind exploded into full fledged terror. Underwater was dark, and Elara couldn't see hardly anything. With her wrists bound, she felt helpless under the water. She concentrated on trying to conserve the oxygen she had left. Her lungs were screaming for air, and there were black spots in her vision.
If you take me will my crew be safe she desperately thought, unsure how to try to communicate with this siren.

Nik swam as fast as he could, but his wounds made him slower than he needed to be and he was just getting slower. The knife to his side had done serious damage and he was ignoring it to chase after demons. He didn't even have time to notice the trail of blood that followed him.

"Thaleia, stop! Please!" He pleaded, "She has done nothing. You're here for me."

Nothing? her words echoed through the water, I see how she looks at you. How she wants to [iikeep you[/i].

"She's the captain, Thaleia. She wants to protect the whole crew." He insisted.

ahhh so that explains her inane pleas about the people on that ship. Nik could hear pleasure enter into her voice, what will you offer me for their safety?

Nik didn't even hesitate. Thaleia had slowed Elara's descent into the depths and he was able to catch up. He grabbed Elara's hand and stared deeply into her eyes, "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." He told her.

Then he placed the ring that was on his finger onto hers.

"You can have me." He replied before the magic wore off and the water began treating him like the human he truly was.

Accepted.

The tendrils released Elara, and Nik plunged into the darkness.

Elara could breathe again, but how? She noticed a silver ring on her finger, and webbing on her hands.
"Wait!" She yelled desperately into the depths.
"He's part of my crew, he's my first mate, and you said you wouldn't harm my crew! Can't you see his bleeding? He needs healing. He's no good to you dead is he?" Elara hadn't been this riled up in a long time. And now that her thoughts had slowed down, she didn't feel as panicked.
"Listen to me you sorry excuse for a mermaid, surely there's something you'd accept instead. An artifact? A whale? I don't even know what you sirens eat. But I'm gonna need Nik back." Her voice was firm and resolute, even though inside she was terrified.

The ocean swirled around Elara until it formed into a large face made of bubbles and nearby fish. It was the face of a woman with large strands of seaweed for hair. A morbid smile spread across "her" features.

"Oh you poor, poor human. Whatever he told you was a lie. His soul belongs to me. He belongs to me. If you want him, come and take him."

And then the face dispersed and the waves died down. But Nik was nowhere to be seen.

"You've said that already," Elara shot back.
"I never said his soul didn't belong to you, did I? Technically don't you still own him? I'm just borrowing him."
"Ya know, I'm sensing a lot of jealousy here. She swam closer to the ocean floor, eyes straining for any sign of Nik.
"I'm sure you love a bargain as much as the next...siren? What would it take?" Elara was worried Nik was dead, or severely injured. How would he still be alive? That story he told back at the tavern was true then. So this siren was the one he was talking about.

Nothing you could afford. the disembodied voice echoed in her head for the last time. Then, there was silence.

If Elara looked closely, she would see a tiny trail of bubbles that sped through the water but was quickly disappearing....

Elara looked around, seeing nothing but the occasional sea sponge and a forest of kelp in the distance—-there was a trail of bubbles leading throughout the water. Elara desperately followed it. The trail led through the kelp forest, and Elara hesitated for just a second, not wanting to swim through it. But there was no other way around it. Her hesitation nearly lost the trail, so she quickly swam through the kelp forest. It was dark, bunches of kelp swaying in the current, giving the effect of wind. Elara's progress was slowed down by the kelp, but through the kelp, she could see something. It almost looked like a mountain underwater. Elara finally broke through the kelp.
She cautiously swam up to it.
"Open sesame, I guess," she muttered, and swam through a small opening in the rock.

When she entered the cave, Elara would be met with near darkness. But, as her eyes adjust and with the powers embued to her by the ring, she would see the faintest trail of bioluminescent markers along the walls all going in a singular direction.

The caves lead deep under the water and into the abyss before opening into a large  cave that held a large pocket of air and an above water area filled with trinkets like a dragon's hoard.

A trail of fresh blood mix with water lead further in.

If the current circumstances weren't happening, Elara would have thought the cave was beautiful.

The trail of bubbles faded away, and Elara paused to catch her breath. She needed to be smart about this. There were multiple tunnels, but one was marked with some bioluminescent algae or something similar. She had managed to keep her rapier with her through the chaos, so she drew it  and proceeded cautiously into the bioluminescent tunnel. She cautiously surfaced once the tunnel opened up, and looked around, keeping her body under the water, only her eyes peeking above the water. The tunnel opened up into a large, dim cave, a large pile of trinkets off to one side, and more tunnels on the far wall. Elara was lucky she wasn't lost yet.
She searched around for anything indicating a struggle. Once the coast looked clear, she raised her head out of the water. She took a breath, but there wasn't any air. Or was it the ring? She went below water again and was able to breathe. So she surfaced again, and slowly took the ring off. Interesting. So the ring let you breathe underwater but not above water. She spotted a dark red smatter of blood, diluted with water, leading into another one of the tunnels. She tried to mentally mark which one she was going in, and, knife in hand, went into the tunnel.
The blood trail was getting bigger, which immensely worried Elara. She crouched down and followed it, eyes glancing up every once and a while to make sure nothing hostile was waiting for her. Then the trail disappeared. Where did it go? She backtracked a bit to make sure it didn't go somewhere else. It just stopped. Her eyes had to readjust to the darkness again after she took off the ring.

She shivered. It was freezing down here. The tunnel was starting to widen again, and the only sounds Elara could hear was the occasional drop of water, the sound echoing in an eerie fashion. Still, it was too quiet. And where did the blood trail go? Something felt wrong. It could have just been the fact that she was in the ocean, yet in a cave with breathable air.
She took another knife out of her belt.
"Show yourself, siren," she muttered. Half to herself, and half to keep her sane.

Right where the trail ended, the rocks began to glimmer and shift as an illusion was dropped. The trail continues into this new cavern which glittered with irridescent stones that lit it up like stars.

Stairs lead up to, what appeared to be, a bedrooms kind of set up with a small bed, a desk, an armchair even and....

Draped across the steps was the unconscious figure of Nik. He was soaking wet and surrounded by red.

Elara immediately went to one side of the tunnel when the rocks shifted, expecting an ambush. But there was nothing of the sort. She could see Nik lying on the steps. He did not look good. Her eyes strained to see if there was anything else in the room—a siren, anything. It felt too open. What if the siren was lying there instead? But there was blood everywhere. It would have to be a pretty elaborate illusion. Elara decided to just go for it. If it really was Nik, he could probably already be dead from blood loss, and who knows what else.
She crept into the room, eyes alert, scanning for threats, knives in hand.
When she got to Nik, she dropped her weapons, kneeling beside him and immediately putting pressure on his side, trying to stop the bleeding, and checking his pulse with the other hand. He still had a pulse, and was breathing. She cut off his shirt, checking if he was hurt anywhere else. The wound on his side was bigger than she was expecting. Oh gods he had lost so much blood. She quickly used his shirt to make a compression bandage, wrapping it around his torso; not hindering his breathing but hopefully using enough pressure to stop the bleeding. She shook him by the shoulder.
"Nik, please, can you hear me?" desperation lacing her voice.
"Siren!" She yelled. Thaleaia, was it?
"Thaleaia! Nik is dying! He needs blood! Please, save him! Use mine, please! He won't survive much longer." She had no idea what the extent of a sirens power was, but she was desperate. She shook Nik by the shoulder again.
"Nik please, don't die on me. Not like this," her voice broke.

Nik did not respond, but Elara's efforts did prolong the time he had left. His heart beat shallowly and his breath was so quiet it almost felt nonexistent.

"Oh, he won't die just yet and I have no interest in making a deal with you, girl." A voice came from the side of the cave. A lantern sparked to life revealing a very naked woman with fish-like scales covering the sides of her legs and up her torso. Long nails, claws really, accented each of her fingers which were drapped delicately over the side of the chair where she sat.

"But let's chat, you and I. You need to know exactly who you're attempting to save and....the truth might change your mind."

Elara looked up upon hearing a voice, but she didn't move from where she was kneeling by Nik.
"How can I trust a single word of what you say?" Elara scoffed.
"You tried to kill me. And I didn't ask for a deal with you of all things. What would I have gotten in exchange for my blood? A slow death, and nothing else." She stood up then, holding her rapier and walking towards Thaleia.
"So tell me who I'm trying to save then. I'm a pirate, I've recruited all kinds of people. Murderers, traffickers, and worse." She wasn't very far from Thaleia now.
"You said if I wanted him to come and find him. Well, I've found him." Elara stood her ground, glaring straight at Thaleia.

The siren raised one clawed finger to her lips in thought, "You were in the way." She explained, eyes hard, eyes cold, "I will try again if you do it again."

She gestured to the armchair next to the bed, "Please, take a seat child. And tell me how you both became...acquainted."

Elara sat in the armchair, body tense, her hand still gripping her rapier.
"We both happened to be in the same tavern. I needed a new first mate. So I offered him the position, he accepted it."
Elara leaned forward, eyes intense.
"So why don't you tell me about Nik, then, if you're so concerned about who he is—-or was."

Thaleia hmmed quietly as she listened to the very brief summary. Curious. This woman was curious indeed.

"Ahh, see, that's where you forget your place. You are in no position to ask questions or favors of me, little snack. You are here to entertain me."

She leaned forward and her blue and green scales glimmered in the light. Sharp teeth flashed as she spoke.

"What did he offer you? What tale did he spin that made him so desirable for your crew? Did you spread your legs for him, little snack? Did he charm you with his body?"

"What did he offer me?" Elara thought about that.
"Nik didn't exactly jump at the chance when I offered it to him. My former first mate died, and I was in need of a good one. He was staggeringly drunk when I first met him. Kept rambling on about 'sirening a siren' or something. And no I didn't get in his pants, either." Elara shifted nervously in the chair, keeping the knife pointed in Thaleia's general direction.
"Well, since I'm in no position to ask 'questions' or 'favors', I guess I can just leave, and I'm taking Nik with me. Thanks for the chat, mermaid." And Elara started to get out of the chair, wary eyes trained on Thaleia.

"No."

A flick of her finger sent strong gust of wind in Elara's direction to force her back into her seat.

"Sit."

The siren stood up and walked over to where Nik lay on the stairs and pressed her toe against his newly bandaged side. Elara had done a good job bandaging him up and the blood had yet to start seeping through. Nik grunted softly, but otherwise didn't move.

"So. Not dead yet." She turned back to Elara with disgust, "How you live every waking moment of your lives in this..." she motioned to her human form, "is disgusting. Even more disgusting than you trusting a drunkard, a liar, a cheat to be your second in command. You should be stronger than that. Let me guide you. Purge your crew of the vermain and teach you to be strong."

Elara fell back down into the seat, and scoffed.
"Everybody has a checkered past, and it's not my business to delve into my crew mates personal lives. And the first mate I had before Nik I killed, my own parents were slaughtered by my own hand; so if you think I'm even an inkling better than Nik you're dead fucking wrong."
Elara's eyes were blazing with anger, and the strange, unexplained sense of injustice that was creeping up on her was making her even angrier.
"Me and my crew are all just a bunch of ragtag people from places that the universe rejected. And I'll be damned if I just turn my back on my first mate the second some fucking siren offers me a shady deal!" Elara's voice was raised, her eyes looking ready to kill.

Thaleia's features softened significantly and she stepped over Nik's prone body and towards Elara. When she reached the chair she knelt down slowly and took one finger to tenderly trace the woman's jawline.

"Oh my dear. My sweet, sweet child." Her fingers gently swept over her shoulder and down her arm, "You have seen so much. So many have failed you. You've had to do your best with what the world has given you. But him...he isn't worth your time. He is...." she took in a shuddering breath and took Elara's hand and turned it over to trace her palm, "an abomination."

She tensed up as Thaleia walked towards her. Elara felt ready to snap.
"I didn't ask for your pity," she shot back, her eyes avoiding Thaleia's.
"Nik's not the abomination here, you are," Elara hissed.
She raised her hand holding the rapier and put it against Thaleia's throat.
"I could just slit your throat right now. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," Elara seethed.

The siren's song began softly and then grew, reaching for Elara's mind. Coaxing her to put down the blade and then...

Thaleia leaned forward and kissed her.

One moment Elara was enraged, literally seconds away from killing the siren, the next her mind was engulfed in a calming haze. The reasons for even wanting to kill Thaleia were rapidly dissipating, and Elara lowered her rapier, in a state of calm. And when Thaleia leaned in for a kiss, Elara met her halfway, melting in to the kiss, dropping her rapier on the cavern floor.

Consciousness faded in and out as Nik laid on the cold stones. His feet were completely numb, but his head felt like it was on fire. It felt so hot it might as well melt off of his bones and give him some peace.

But no. There was no peace. When his ears worked he caught half bits of conversation but nothing made sense and they were filled with mud. Not real mud, of course, but the dumb, dull sensation that accompanied a precarious perch between life and darkness.

Faces swam across his eyelids as he continued to slip in and out. Faces and lullabies that he could taste but couldn't remember. A feeling. A lifetime ago.

And then there was pain and a rough grunt that shook him to his core and brought his mind more into focus.

Gods he was tired. He just wanted to sleep, to close his eyes forever and let this drama just go.

I could just slit your throat right now.... then why didn't she? Why didn't she just end it and let him rest?

Nik's eyes creaked open and tiny slivers of light were allowed to peek through. It was dimly lit, but it was enough to send waves of nausea coursing through him. Where were his knees? Why couldn't he feel them?

A clatter against the stones drew his attention and the scene began to reveal itself to him. Elara. On the chair. And...Thaleia practically on top of her in the heat of an intense kiss. One hand gripped Elara's hair and began pulling her head to one side and Nik saw the Siren's tongue trace the captain's lips in hunger.

Gods.

Where was the ring he had given her? The one that kept the song from sneaking in?

With a grunt, Nik pulled himself forward towards the rapier that had fallen from Elara's hand. A cough ripped through him and the bandages on his side began to turn  pink. But he couldn't stop.

Numb fingers gripped cold steel as he mustered up as much strength as he could and punched the long blade into Thaleia's side just as she was opening her mouth to take a bite.

Her song was replaced by a blood curdling scream.

The scream shook her out of the siren's trance. What happened? She forced herself to move, her mind still rather dazed. She roughly pushed the siren down, drawing her knife and running to Nik.
"Fuck, Nik, are you ok? Shit, you're bleeding again. I'm sorry, but I have to do this," and she placed both of her hands on the bandage that was covering his wound, pressing hard to try to stop the bleeding again.
She hastily cut a strip of her shirt and wrapped it over the old bandage.
"I'll be right back," she told Nik, and turned around to deal with the siren, if it was still alive.

Thaleia was nowhere to be seen by the time Elara had finished bandaging Nik. There was a trail of silvery blood that lead through the caves and disappeared into the water, but otherwise she was just....gone.

Nik had collapsed onto the stones after the effort it took to stop Thaleia from biting Elara's head off. Everything felt muted. He was tired. So tired.

He open and closed his hands a few times to remind himself they were still there.

"Elara." He croaked. Had his heart always been this loud? It was as if it had been transplanted right into his ears, "Elara she's gone."

Elara just stood there, gaze transfixed on the water. Her head hurt, a lot for some reason. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to it. She walked over to Nik, and sat down by him.
"Are you hurt anywhere else?" She asked. She knew they needed to get out of there, but she honestly wasn't sure how. She only had the one ring, and Nik was in no condition to attempt the swim back to the ship.
"I could help you get on the bed, maybe you could get some rest. I'll keep watch  so you could sleep. And," she took Nik's hand, "Thank you, for saving my life. I almost got us both killed." 
Honestly she was alittle worried about if there were any more hostile creatures anywhere else. She got up and walked over to the desk, looking through it. She wasn't sure what she would find, if anything.

Nik just nodded absently, a hand held against his side but he didn't attempt to move or stand. Instead he focused on keeping his breathing steady and his eyes opened.

"There's some....seaweed....green, silver streaks. Good for," he paused to breathe, "Good for wounds."

He paused again, and although a few minutes seemed to have passed, it felt like mere seconds to him. "I'm....glad she" he breathed deeply again, "Didn't eat you."

Elara went over to the water and pulled out the ring Nik had given her.
She paused. "Me too. I'm glad she didn't hurt you any." She smiled alittle. She rubbed her head. Pesky headache. She studied the water. It was murky, she couldn't even see into it. 
"I'm going underwater for a second. I'm gonna go try to find some."
She waded into the water, put the ring on, and disappeared, going under the water. It agonizingly felt like hours when in reality Elara was only gone for a couple of minutes.
She surfaced a few minutes later, quickly taking off the ring and holding up some seaweed like Nik described.
She got out of the water, shivering alittle.
When she got back to Nik, she held out the seaweed.
"Is this the right one? It was the only kind in the water."
She knelt down beside him.
"Can you stand? If you can't I don't mind carrying you over to the bed. Also, when you're feeling better, I have a few questions I'd like answers to."

Nik nodded, out of breath,"Yeah...that's the stuff. A...friend....showed them to me. They'll help with...infection."

He closed his eyes for what felt like a tiny amount of time, but couldn't really tell how much time had passed. Maybe it was an hour.

How much blood had he lost?

"I'll need help." He admitted, "Just....support if I need t....to move."

Upon Nik's confirmation that the seaweed was the correct kind, she carefully took off the old bandage and pressed the seaweed against the wound, tying a new bandage around it to keep it on the wound. She got up and grabbed a pillow and a blanket from the bed, bringing them back to Nik.
"I figured it would be easier for me to just bring you a pillow and a blanket. I'd rather not mess up your wound anymore." She sat down on the steps, eyes alert.
"You can sleep now. I'll watch for the night. I promise I won't let anything happen. They needed to discuss how to get out of the cave, but that could happen after Nik got some rest. She was worried about him. She'd grown to care for him. More than she'd like to admit.

"Thank you." He murmured after she finished wrapping him up. The seaweed was cool and felt great against his wound. It was almost like he could already feel himself healing as it touched his skin. The feeling brought him back to moments in his life before he decided to ruin it by joining a crew.

What was he thinking? Thaleia always found him and it always ended poorly. But what could he do about it?

Honestly, he still wasn't certain why she hated him so much...it couldn't all just be because he had decided to leave, could it? And all Sirens weren't that crazy....

"She keeps treasures." He told Elara as he let his injuries take him to the abyss, "Might be some...thing...." his eyes closed and he entered into an exhausted sleep.

While Nik was sleeping, she formed a plan. What if they, like Nik said in his story, "sirened the siren". If Nik wanted to kill it anyways. She looked over at Nik. He looked...almost peaceful. Too peaceful. She checked his pulse to make sure he was still alive. She sighed, leaning against an outcropping of rock. Ugh her head. It hadn't stopped hurting. Maybe she could use some of that seaweed. She scanned the cave every so often. Elara yawned. She needed some sleep too. But not yet.
Hopefully Nik would wake up feeling better.

Nik had no way of knowing just how long he slept, but it was a long time. His body had been on the brink of death and only Elara's quick thinking had saved him. Between the compression bandage and the seaweed, his skin was already knitting together by the time his eyes fluttered open.

Perhaps too quickly.

But he was a fast healer, always had been.

Eventually, finally, he was awake and looked around to see where Elara had gone.

Nik slept for a long time. Elara lost track after 5 days. She never left Nik's side, occasionally checking on him and making sure he was still breathing.
Elara went over to check on him again and saw he was awake.
"Nik! You're awake!," she said, giving him a hug. Elara realized what she was doing and stopped.
"I'm sorry, I'm just glad to know you're alright," she said.
"How are you feeling?" Elara asked.
"I know this is a lot but I'm trying to tell you it before I collapse. While you were sleeping I came up with a plan. You know how you told me how you sirened a siren? Well what if we tried to do that again. Now that there's two of us it might just work," Elara explained.

Nik blinked at her with confusion.

"Good morning to you, too." He rubbed his eyes. "What are you talking about siren siren... I'm not a siren....I mean, I can make a siren noise I guess." He whirred his voice up and down softly.

Elara facepalmed...mock falling to the ground and looking at the roof of the cavern.
"Oh woe is me. Nik's lost it. I don't think five days of sleep was enough for him."
"Oh my heart can't take it."
She rolled onto her side and clutched her heart, looking at Nik, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"Actually I was serious about the whole siren thing. We need to get back to the ship somehow, and find Thaleia. If you can't even go out on water without her coming after you then she needs to be stopped." Elara paused, thinking.
"Is that why you went into retirement? To avoid Thaleia?"

He blinked at her a few times as his brain caught up with his ears.

"I'm sorry. Did you say five days?" Shit." Well he couldn't say it wasn't expected, but it certainly was a surprise. Just how badly had he been hurt? Badly enough you were out for five days, fucker. he thought to himself. He wasn't wrong.

"Well, shit, Elara, didn't exactly plan on being stabbed half to death by a fuckin pointy eared demon captain with a fuckin poisoned blade. Not to mention being completely unable to sleep it off because someone decided to become obsessed with a fuckin cursed map, and then my killer ex-siren....friend....decided now would be a good time to show up. More than half of that was definitely not my fuckin fault."

He stared at her pointedly, in silence, for a few moments that was just long enough for his stomach to give the biggest rumble in the world.

"We're not going to kill her, Elara, not if she's still alive. She won't come back here for awhile, I promise you that." He looked around, "We can probably find something useful here...did you look around while I was out? Probably some other bits of magic artifacts...but....we'll have to just kinda guess and hope we don't die."

Elara just let him talk. Honestly, she deserved it.
She felt terrible actually. She was a captain, she was supposed to protect her crew, and at least one crewmate had died in the sirens attack, not to mention Nik had come very close to dying. She had been pretty successful throughout her life, captaining a ship, finding lost treasure with her crew. And now, a feeling that she had failed her crew, failed Nik was creeping up in her mind.

"You're right. Hardly any of it was your fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I failed you." She sighed. There was that frustrating feeling of something being caught in her throat. She couldn't cry. Not here. Not now. Not in front of Nik.

She rubbed her eyes, wiping away the solitary tear and forcing a smile.
"I looked around some, but I promised you to keep watch while you slept and I did." She rummaged around in her pockets.
"Here," she brought out a handful of silver rings and handed them to Nik.
"I did find these."
 Now that the adrenaline of everything that had transpired had worn off, Elara was feeling tired. Both physically and emotionally.

"Nice." Nik took the handful of rings from her and started absently pushing through them. "Thaleia always did love shiney stuff, glad to see that hasn't changed."

He sighed and looked sideways at his new captain, "I guess that wasn't entirely fair of me....getting attacked by a siren is probably worse than everything else...." he paused and shot her a look, "Except that fuckin cursed map. That's a big nope. I hope you learned something."

There was a lengthy pause as Nik contemplated the question she had asked about Thaleia. Did he want to go there? Did he want to tell her that story? Definitely not the whole thing, that was certain, but she was entitled to at least a bit of it at this point...

"Yeah....when things....went sour, she told me she'd always be able to to find me. That the ocean was her domain and she'd take care of me." He shrugged, "I don't know if that strictly means kill or what, but the last time I was on the water she showed up and now this...."

Elara ruefully smiled.
"I learned something alright. Get a charm before I touch a map."
"Do you think any of those rings I found have magic properties like the ones that you gave me? I still have the one that enables me to breathe underwater. You can have it back if you like."
She glanced at the water.
"I guess we should try to find food."

Across the water was a large shelf in the cave's wall.  Elara told herself to go check on that later.
Elara looked around the cavern. Besides the alcove where the bed, the armchair, and the desk were, there wasn't much else. She sighed, and got up to look under the bed. She hadn't checked there yet. She cautiously checked under the bed, and found a rusty old sword and a gray, leather pouch full of a weird, shiny red seaweed.
She walked back over to Nik and tossed him the pouch.
"I have no idea if that seaweed is even useful. I've never seen that kind before."
She looked at the sword.
"This thing looks ancient."
Elara walked over to the water to wash the blade off. But as soon as she touched the water with it, a shockwave of energy exploded out of the blade, knocking her backwards, slamming into an outcropping of rock.

"Woah! Hey! Hey hey hey!" Nik hobbled to his feet and half walked, half slithered over to where Elara had fallen. What the hell was with this lady and picking up magic things that wanted to kill her????

"Elara! Are you ok?"

As soon as the sword touched the water, Elara knew something was wrong. The hilt vibrated in her hand and then a blast of energy threw her back, her slamming into the rocks. She didn't black out, but pain exploded into every nerve in her body.

Elara seemed quite fine, her back was just extremely sore. She had to lay there and get her breath back, for the wind had been knocked out of her. She groaned.
"That was...kinda cool actually. I think I'm fine. She tried to get up and then just fell back down.
"I...I think I just need a minute." She stretched out her arm and grabbed the sword to look at it. The blade wasn't rusty anymore, but wasn't anything special either.
"What was that? Did that come from the sword?" She shifted uncomfortably. Moving hurt. A lot.

He wasn't much help since he himself was still recovering, but Nik did his best to help support her.

"Just....stop touching things. Thaleia is a fucking sea witch siren and everything here could be magic more dangerous than your map. Let me see your head, are you bleeding?"

Elara shook her head no, but then winced. Doing that sent a shock of pain up her head. She groaned, and instinctively brought a hand to the back of her head. Her hand came away dark red.
"Ok, maybe I'm not fine."
Everything hurt. Maybe she should just close her eyes.
She tried to focus on Nik.
"You...look like two people. Or are you two people?" Damn it her eyes would not focus.
"At least I'm not cursed this time?"

Fuck. Shit. Fuck.

He was moving too slowly for this kind of emergency and he was not a healer. What should he do? She could have a concussion. She could have a brain bleed. She could have a fucking head that was completely split in half and he wouldn't know what to do!

He shuffled towards the bed and pulled the blanket down. It was damp, but it would have to do. His daggers made quick work of it and he soon had strips of cloth he could use before hobbling back to Elara.

"Sit up. Don't you dare close your eyes on me. Tell me about your life. What is your favorite food? Do you have any siblings? Boyfriend? Wife?" He pressed a larger piece of cloth onto her wound and began winding the longer pieces tightly around her head.

Elara blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to get them to focus on Nik. Her vision kept moving. There were black spots in her vision. Sleep sounded so good right now. She felt like there was a gentle haze, just inviting her to sleep. She was about to sink into sleep when something cut through the haze. A voice. It sounded like Nik's voice. It was telling her to sit up. She used her arms to push herself up, slowly.
Nik...where had she heard that name before. He's her fist mate, isn't he? The memory of Nik felt like it was rapidly vanishing.
No...he was her first mate. Who was her first mate? Didn't she kill him? Everything was spiraling together. It didn't make sense.
"Do I have a boyfriend...or a wife?" The words felt rather thick coming off her tongue.
"No. Just me. No partner for me. They wouldn't want to be on the seas." She paused. Why was he asking anyways?
Don't fall asleep, she told herself.
Suddenly, White hot pain as she felt something press onto her head.
"Fuck, are you trying to kill me? It's cus I killed my first mate isn't it." She paused, trying to keep her vision clear.
"Who are you?"
 

"Yes." He responded sardonically, "It's obvious I'm trying to kill you because I'm working to keep your brain inside your head. That tracks. Now stay still." He wound the cloth as tightly as he dared and then helped to lean her up against the wall.

"Keep your eyes on me, ok? You said they wouldn't want to be on the sea. Does that mean there's someone on shore you're sweet on?" Gods was he an 80 year old man?

Her eyes wouldn't focus on anything. She couldn't remember...the pain in her head was intensifying. She didn't know if she could take much more. But somehow, the pain made her thoughts clearer. She made herself focus on...was that Nik talking to her?
"I don't have anyone..." she said through gritted teeth. "My ex left me after she found out what I was...said I was..." it seemed she almost choked on the word. "A liability."
Elara hit the ground beside her in frustration.
"Fuck...that's all I am it seems."
Her breathing had slowed down some, and she seemed more stable now.

Nik used his fingers to gentle open her eyes and stare and them in turn. He shook his head.

"Dammit, I don't know what that even does but...did that help? I could try again?" He breathed heavily. She didn't look good at all, "You're not a liability, Elara, you're just fucking nuts. Like all of us."

What Nik did kindof helped.
She did wince alittle, as the wound the elf captain had slashed across her eye wasn't fully heated yet.
Finally her breathing had slowed down some. It was making it easier to close her eyes when her lungs and head were cooperating. She shakily took a breath, groaning in pain.
Elara weakly gestured to Nik's side.
"How...how is your side?"
Damn her arm felt heavy.
She could feel herself slipping. Fight it, she told herself. Or maybe don't fight it.
"There's a mirror...of...some sort...on her desk...Could be important," Elara quietly said, before her eyes became too heavy for her to keep open.

"What, you want me to throw that in the water, too? Hope we can both get thrown around and die from head injuries? I don't know what the hell any of this stuff is or what it does. I never lived here, Elara. We just hung out and hooked up a bunch. I wasn't going to grill her about all of her stuff."

He grunted himself over to the pile of rings he had left behind and brought them back with him. "My side fucking sucks, by the way, but right now I'm the least one in fear of dying so it doesn't really matter does it."

Two fingers reached into the pile of rings and pulled one out,  "Now if you're OK with it, I'm going to pull a "stupid captain" and try on some magic rings that may help or may kill us. Hopefully one of them will heal you."

The first ring slipped on his finger and he held his breath.....

Nothing.

Into the next.

Elara mustered up as much of a smile as she could.
"Glad...to see I'm rubbing off on you."
She slid down into a half sitting, half lying position.
The pain was intensifying again and she let out a gasping sob. The pain seemed to come in waves, making her head feel like it was going to explode.

Another ring, another dud.

The pile of non-magic rings was growing steadily, but at least he wasn't dead.

And then....

His throat started to close and he felt it difficult to breathe. He recognized this feeling, but looked down at his hands to verify. Sure enough, silver threads were winding around to create webbing between his fingers.

Quickly, so he could breathe, he snatched the ring off his finger and put it in his pocket.

"Oy, Elara, I got another one of those swim rings." He didn't want to try on more random rings. One of them would definitely kill him, he could feel it.

Elara was shaken out of her pain induced haze by Nik saying he had found another ring.
"Good. That's good," she muttered.
"Let's go," she pushed herself up and shakily sat there, the room feeling like it was spinning around her.
"On second thought maybe I just need to sleep for a little bit." She groaned and clutched her head. She just needed the pain to stop for two seconds. No. If she slept she might not wake up again.
Elara grabbed the outcropping of rock and slowly pulled herself up to a standing position, her hand gripping the outcropping in a death grip. Just push down the pain, she told herself. She had a whole crew out there on a ship somewhere on the ocean.
"Ok..." she said, taking deep breaths.
"I'm ready." She wasn't ready, but if she just laid there she'd probably never get up.

Nik held her down, refusing to let her stand up.

"Oh no. No no no." He told her gently, "I'm no healer and we're both in rough shape. I might only barely be able to swim myself to the surface let alone pull you along." He rubbed his hands over his face. This was bad. This was so so bad. They were both on the edge of death, Elara moreso than him now, and they were stuck in a cave that very probably had limited air....they had already been there for five days....

He grabbed one of the five remaining rings and slammed it onto Elara's finger, "Please tell me this one is magically the one that's going to heal you or give you super strength or something."

As soon as Nik shoved the ring on her finger, she felt a familiar surge of energy rush through her. The same kind that she felt when she used to practice her elemental magic. Before she swore she would never use it again. How the fuck did Thaleia get one of these?!? The ring shimmered, before seemingly to fuse onto her hand, tendrils of water coming out from the ring and enveloping her hand.
"Nik," she said, still breathing slowly.
"I know this sounds stupid but get me to the waters edge. Please. I promise it won't hurt me...at least not any more than I already am."

Nik stared at the weird water that bubbled from the ring and around Elara's hands. Gods dammit he had killed her. It was going to encompass her and drown her and all because he was tired of risking his life trying on rings that he decided to just put it on her this time.

He was a horrible person. The worst kind. Why couldn't he just be selfless like those heros in story books? Why'd he always have to worry about himself? So many people would have been spared if he just put others first.

And then she spoke. The fuck....was she saying?

"The fuck are you saying?" He demanded, but made no move to take her closer to the water.

Elara tried to stand up again.
"Get me...to the water's edge."
"This ring...will heal...but I need to be near the water."
Gods she was probably going to give Nik a heart attack.
She hadn't practiced her magic in so long she even wondered if she could do it.
Her eyes were focused on the water.
"Just get me over there...Trust me," she said weakly.

Nik sighed heavily and looped his arm around her shoulders.

"If you fucking die it is not my fault." He muttered under his breath. Moving her was hard. His side was on the mend, yes, but he was still very much in pain and had weeks ahead of him before he could do any real living stuff. A grunt escaped him as he took on her weight, but he helped her move closer to the water.

There he collapsed, breathing heavily, hopefully they were close enough for whatever suicide mission she was on.

"Thank you," she quietly said.
Elara lay there for a second, and then pushed herself over to the waters edge.

Elara tried to remember how she connected with the water before. She slowed her breathing to match the ripples in the water. The water slowly enveloped her form, and she closed her eyes, letting the magic do it's work. Five minutes later, the water disappeared, and Elara took a deep breath.
She cautiously looked at Nik.
"I...could try to heal you too. I'm sure you have questions."

Nik watched the water encompass her, his mouth agape in shock. He knew that damn thing was going to take her over and kill her. He knew it and yet he still he was stupid enough to actually listen to her and bring her to the water and what the actual hell now he was going to be responsible for her death despite saying specifically it wasn't going to be his fault and he needed to stop panicking!

But the water didn't kill her. It eventually dissipated and....there she was, completely fine. No, better than fine. And she was...healed?

"No." He responded almost immediately like a reflex, "No no, absolutely not no. I don't want to mess around with any of that." He swirled his hands around in the air gesturing to where the water had just covered her.

Elara sat down, alittle shocked that she could still do it after all that time. And she was quite exhausted. It was rather hard for her to use her magic to heal. She cautiously touched the back of her head, and winced. It was still sore, but it didn't seem to be bleeding anymore.
She turned to Nik.
"So I may not have told you everything..."

He shrugged and nodded, unsurprised, "Well, damn, Elara I hadn't expected you to. We've known each other for a few days of absolutely blood fuckin chaos. If you had told me everything I would be more scared of you."

There was a pause and he fiddled with the bandages on his side to peak at his own wounds. The black streaks from the poison had disappeared, but the silvery blue-green scales that matched the slashes on his back had started showing up around the edges of the injury. He sighed.

"I hope you didn't expect to know everything about me, too, because you're not the only one with history and I'm not the one to ask questions. You tell me when you're ready or when it's relevant."

Elara listened intently to him. When he finished, she nodded.
"It's not my business to know the personal lives of all my crew."
She noticed the scales showing up around his wound.
"Did...did she curse you?"

Nik tried to quickly cover up his side when he realized Elara was snooping, but he wasn't fast enough and she had spotted the scales that were growing in what skin had been before. He considered lying, telling her that this was all part of Thaleia's grander scheme, but what goes would any of that do? He still wasn't really sure what it all meant, but he was certain that he didn't want to know. But yet at least.

Maybe one day, but not yet. Even though it would probably answer a lot of questions.

"No. Not with this at least." He decided on honesty, "Maybe with other things, but not with this." He pulled up his right pant leg to reveal a series of thin scaley scars that wound up his leg and then turned to show the finger-like slash marks that stretched from his neck to his waist that were also healed with the same scales. "Something about my nature fighting with my knowledge of myself or some witchy bitch bull shit."

"Wait...so you're...a siren? Elara was quite puzzled. It was the probably the head injury. She sighed, putting her head in her hands. Nothing made sense.
Well now it was Elara's turn to add to the insanity.
"So I was born with the ability to...I don't know how to explain it...control water. My parents trained me to better control my ability, and when they were confident that I was ready, they pushed me to use my power. But I wasn't ready. It went all wrong, and my parents died."
Elara laughed bitterly.
"And you said I wasn't a liability. My own parents died because of misplaced trust in my 'abilities'".

Nik couldn't help but laugh loudly at her question, but immediately regretted it as pain shot through his side. Quickly that same laugh turned into a cough, a groan, a gasp as he tried to control himself while gripping his side.

"A siren?" He laugh-gasped again and focused on taking slow breaths to figure himself out before he was back in the whole 'out for five days' scenario that he had landed in just a few moments before. No, he needed to just breathe and stop laughing. "Gods no. I don't have a tail, Elara. Shit what a funny image! Ahhhhh....I need to stop laughing. Hoooooooo.....breathe Nikolai.....breatheeee....."

And then she confided in him about her past and he could sense the pain that brought her. The pain that clearly simmered below the surface and she worked so damn hard to keep from bubbling over. And no wonder. That was some very heavy shit....

"Elara..." he gently reached forward and placed an arm on her shoulder, "I meant it when I said you aren't a liability. Magic is useful but it's kinda like playing with fire, yeah? And it sounds like your parents knew that and still wanted you to learn it."

He chewed on his lip for a moment trying to decide if it was appropriate to ask the question that was forming. It was a very personal question and making jokes was way easier than these deep conversations. But...she was also upset and he was out of candy....

"Did you feel like you were ready?"

Elara shook her head.
"No, that was the worst part. I knew I wasn't ready, but they reassured me every thing would be fine...and then it wasn't fine. Next thing I knew, they were gone. And I vowed to never, ever use my abilities again...until today."
She took a small, shaky breath. She wanted to try to heal Nik's wound, but what if she hurt him worse?
"Your wound isn't getting any better. I could at least try to heal it." She idly fiddled with her pocket, and frowned as she felt something in it.
She dug the thing (which ended up being multiple things) out of her pocket.
"Are...are these those candies you were always eating?"
They probably weren't in the best condition, but they were better than nothing.

"Listen, I'm no saint. I've done some shitty things in my life, but I can say with absolute certainty that what happened was not your fault. I don't know much about your family and all, but people you trusted encouraged you when you weren't ready and it backfired. To me, that's a them problem, not a reflection on you. Ya got me?"

He eyed her hand warily when she offered to heal him, "Ah....no.... I'm ok." He responded slowly, "I uh....like to heal the old fashioned way. Might take longer, but it hasn't failed me yet!"

And then there were candies...

"Yes...." they were definitely damp and definitely no longer held their usual perfect oval shape, but..."You should have them" he reached over and closed her hand around them gently, "They're especially good for helping with feelings."

"I'd prefer rum...or any alcohol actually." Elara sighed and dropped the candies onto Nik.
"You have them."
She sunk into deep thought. How were they supposed to get out? They could try to swim out, using the rings Nik had. Or...that was the only option it seemed. She sighed.
"When we get out of here I'm going to drink so much rum."
"I guess, whenever we feel ready, we can try to swim out. Seems like the only option we have."

Nik nodded in agreement, "yeah...seems so....Dammit this is gonna sting like a mother f-" he stopped suddenly and looked closely at her, "you sure you're ok? You got hit real bad against those rocks....and it's not going to be an easy swim."

By this point he had placed the ruined candies down on the stone floor and wiped a sticky hand on his pants. Saltwater ruined an otherwise perfect confection and he wanted none of that half-drowned nonsense. Thaleia could have them when she inevitably returned...

Elara took out the ring Nik had lent her, idly messing with it as she contemplated how best to go about this. She honestly had no idea if her ship was still anywhere close to where they were. She turned to Nik.
"I feel ok. We don't really have a choice, do we?"
Elara carefully stood up, trying to remember how she had swam in here. The cave system was like a maze, honestly.
"I can try to get us out of here but no guarantees. It all still feels alittle hazy."
She inspected the ring.
"This doesn't have like a limit on it, does it? Like I'm not going to run out of air or something?"

Nik nodded abd fiddled with his own ring.

"Can't say I know for sure. About the limits I mean.... I've worn this thing for ages and never had an issue but that doesn't exactly mean it won't run out eventually. And I know the way well enough to get us out. Basically just follow the glowing seaweed stuff if you get real turned around. After that, look for light." Assuming it wasn't night time.

He stared at the water like a person looked at an ex-lover they were none too thrilled to see, "I'm...probably going to need some help." He admitted, "and we should find some fish to eat....have you even had anything since being here?"

Elara thought about that.
"You know, I don't think I have had anything...I was too worried about you."
Elara knew that wasn't an excuse.
"But you haven't eaten either. Have you?" Elara also wasn't very excited about having to go into the water. But they didn't have a choice.

He nodded, rolling the extra ring around in his fingers.

"Well, can't say you're going to like it, but the rings will make it digestible at least." He slipped his legs into the water and continued to lower himself until it was up to his neck. A hiss of pain escaped him as the saltwater covered his wound with curling angry tendrils.

"C'mon, then." He said through gritted teeth before slipping the ring onto his finger and disappearing below the surface.

Elara stepped into the water beforehand, then slipped on the ring. She ducked under the water quickly, her eyes adjusting to the darkness under water. Now that she wasn't under a ton of stress and injured, being under water was a whole new experience. She stopped and just looked. The few slivers of light that were present underwater seemed to glow, looking like strands of silver.
"Wow," she breathed.
"It's beautiful under here. I can see the appeal..."

Her stomach growled, reminding her of the task at hand.
"So how do we go about catching fish?"

"uh....." Nik said hesitantly, "Well...I guess....we...chase them down?" the last time he'd actually gone and eaten a fish with the ring on had been back when he and Thaleia were an item. And she had caught it. He just kinda flopped around in the ocean and did his best, but even the smallest fish was always too fast for him. Now that he was thinking about it, how would they actually go about getting a fish? But they couldn't give up, they were certainly going to need it considering they probably had quite the journey to get back to her ship....or to a port....or whatever came first.

"Let's just...get to the open ocean and then figure it out, yeah?" Moving hurt. A lot. But he couldn't just do nothing or he'd die in this cavern and if he died he'd never eat another candy ever again and that was just unacceptable.

Elara cautiously swam under the water, one arm around Nik to make sure he wouldn't tire out. She followed the glowing lights, managing to make it out of the cave without much trouble.
"You feeling ok, Nik?" She scanned the waters for fish, but couldn't see any...so far.

Off in the distance, masked by the less than clear water and behind the kelp forest, something was watching them. Gauging them, seeing how much of a threat they were. It would wait. Once they got past the kelp forest, it would strike. They would be no match for it.

Nik shook his head, "No. Really really not." He admitted. The salt made every little scratch scream let alone the gash that was still very much open and in desperate need of a doctor's care.

He could barely kick his feet and felt like he was just a giant weight pulling Elara down. "Real sorry, Captain." He winced.

The water made it easier to pull Nik along.
"Don't be sorry, Nik."
They got to the kelp forest again, and Elara nervously surveyed it, trying to find the best path to go through it.
"We should probably rest for a second, because once we start going through it, we can't stop until we're on the other side."
The kelp swayed aimlessly in the water, almost giving the illusion of wind blowing through the tree tops.
But on the other side...something was watching...waiting...it wouldn't be long now.

Nik shook his head, "I don't think rest is gonna do much for us anymore. We're hurt and hungry and speed seems like the best option."

Well, whatever speed they could manage. The saltwater was oddly soothing against his wound, now that they were fully submerged, and he was starting to feel that tickle of adrenaline beginning to rise. They needed to get to the surface, to land, to the ship before they both withered away.

"After you," he joked, like he would be able to move aside and maneuver his way without her help.

⚠️TW for graphic imagery, attempted suicide, and disturbing events⚠️

After a short rest, Elara managed to get both of them through the kelp forest without much trouble. But on the other side...she stopped, even though Nik had said they needed speed. But it wasn't because she disagreed with him...there was a figure in front of them. It looked half decayed, flesh seeming to have melted off the bone and then just have frozen halfway off. Its face was frozen in a perpetual leering , psychotic grin, eyes seeming too big for its face and glowing solid white. It had silver fins that looked torn and bitten, and long, razor sharp claws on each hand.
Elara's face paled. It was a myklar, the stuff of a pirates nightmare. She had only heard of it in legends but knew that it always required something of its "prey" to pass...most of the time it was part of its prey's soul. But this one...this one looked like it wanted death. Nik was in no condition to fight it.
Elara protectively moved Nik behind her and drew her own sword.
The myklar raised its clawed hand threateningly and Elara raised a placating hand, gesturing to it to wait.
"This is going to probably scare you Nik...but I promise I know what I'm doing." That last part Elara said mainly to try to convince herself she knew what she was doing. She knew myklars needed their prey to be alive, and so if she stabbed herself, the myklar would be forced to heal her after it took some of her soul, otherwise, the myklar would die.
God she hoped this worked.
She steeled herself for the expected pain and thrust her rapier into her own torso, purposefully missing any vital organs.
The pain was immediate, white-hot pain rushing over her entire body. The myklar rushed forward, completely ignoring Nik and latching onto Elara with its claws, acting fast, extremely fast for something that's trying to take part of your soul. The myklar disappeared, and they were left alone again. There was just one problem. The myklar didn't heal Elara all the way.
"Ah, shit..."
Elara muttered, tears in her eyes from the pain.
"I really thought that would...fuck...agh...I'm sorry..."
Elara took as deep a breath as she could manage.
"Fuck...the ship is close...I almost made it back..."

"Fuck. Fuck. What the fuck did you do!?" Nik cries while grabbing onto Elara to make sure she didn't fall deeper into the ocean.

He looped one arm around her waist and hissed at the effort it took. Gods he was in no condition for any of this. They just needed to get back to the surface...just needed to get some food and water and proper healing and then they'd be grand. But nooooo, that would be too easy.

So now he had to try and swim them both back up to the surface with his own torso ripped to shreds from Thaleia and the elf captain.

"Ya gotta stop trying to get yourself killed, idiot. If we get back to the ship in one piece you owe me a raise, got it?" And he muttered curses to himself as he kicked his feet to bring them through the kelp and out of the caves so they could finally start going up.

It took a long time. Gods, it took so fucking long, but they eventually broke the surface and Nik scrambled to pull the rings off of both of their fingers so they could breathe real air again. Then, with both arms looped under her armpits, he turned himself over and floated on his back with Elara resting on his chest.

"Oi!!" He shouted, not even trying to turn around to look for the ship. She had said it was close, so he just hoped it was close enough they'd hear him or see them.

"Oiiiii! Horseman! Fish-face!"

By the time they broke the surface of the water Elara was pretty much just dead weight. She hadn't moved on her own accord in a long time.

There were excited shouts in the distance and a rowboat with a silhouette of a centaur could be seen. Nik's cries had drawn the attention of the people on the boat. In the distance you could see the Midnight Marauder. The rowboat was fast approaching.

"Oi! We thought the both of you had died"—-Aikios trailed off when he saw Elara, his elation evolving into grave concern.
"Is——is Elara alive?" 
Elara's skin had turned a sickening
grey hue.
"Let's get you both back to the ship."
And Aikios hoisted them, one by one, out of water and into the rowboat, motioning for the two pirates that were with him  to start rowing. He wrapped them in blankets and concernedly looked at both of them.
"What happened?"

Nik grunted in pain as he was hoisted into the boat and his wounded side pulled and tore. It had already healed a lot more than it conceivably should have, but it had done some serious damage and that would take time.

"Siren. Fighting. Swords and shit." He croaked, unable to form full sentences after the strain getting to the surface had caused, "Creepy fish thing...El stabbed herself and it went away."

And he collapsed backwards, closing his eyes and pressing a hand protectively to his wounded side and just...breathed. Breathed real air, not some stale cave air, real fucking blue air.

"Is she alive?"

Aikios checked Elara over.
"I...I don't know!"
"What kind of creature was it?!"
He immediately pressed his hand to Elara's wound and muttered something, his hand slightly glowing and then the glow transferring onto Elara's torso, where it stayed for a second and then faded.
Elara's chest was barely moving, Aikios had laid her down in the bottom of the rowboat so she could lie flat.
Aikios extended a hand towards Nik.
"I can try to heal your wound...what happened to you?"

Eventually the rowboat reached the Midnight Marauder.
"Can you stand up, Nik? Just to get to the medbay?"
Aikios grabbed Elara and they got on the Midnight Marauder.

 

"I don't know." He snapped back to Aikios' question, but it lacked energy and any real bite, "She just told me to trust her and then fucking stabbed herself, then seemed all regretful like she expected to not die when becoming a human skewer."

Nik shook his head and closed his eyes, "the thing left right after and I had to get us both up here and hope y'all would be close." Thank Gods they were.

He waved Aikios off, breathing heavily, "I'm healing up just fine. Mix of siren trying to kill me and that wound from the dead pointy-ear captain guy."

"She stabbed herself?" He incredulously asked Nik as he practically jogged to the medbay, laying her down in one of the beds.
He pointed to the other one.
"Go on, get in. You're not allowed to get up until your side is completely healed. Savvy?"
He quickly grabbed a thick, leather bound book off of the shelf and flipped through it.
"Can you describe the creature? Do you remember it at all?"

"She fucking well did." Nik panted with the exertion it took to keep up as Aikios, for good reason, raced across the deck with Elara in his hands, "After touching a magic sword and getting thrown across a cave. Hit her head real good."

They reached his domain and Nik sat on the edge of the bed Aikios pointed to with a groan. His head and his entire torso was hurting, but that was minor compared to how dead Elara looked.

"I don't know. Ugly. Toothy. Creepy. Never seen something like it before!"

Aikios was anxiously flipping through his book.
"It wasn't a siren?"
He stopped flipping through the book and read down a page, eyes scanning over the worn script.
"Was it, by any chance, this one?"
And Aikios turned the book, showing Nik a Myklar.

He shook his head, "No Siren. We took care of her together. This was..." he paused and then stared at the page the horseman produced under his nose.

"That thing. Definitely that thing."

"How the hell did she manage to run across a Myklar of all things...it's that fucking map, isn't it? She's got to get rid of it. I don't care what it leads to."
Aikios anxiously threw the book on his desk and rummaged through his desk drawer, getting more stressed by the second.
"Elara, if you die this time..."
He angrily turned away and muttered under his breath.
"She deserves a mutiny at this point."
He grabbed a glass bottle and an old, faded, falling apart leather book, setting them on Elara's chest.
"Myklar fin Myklar fin," he mused, checking a top shelf.
He found one and smiled, carefully grabbing the nail that had it nailed to the wall. The fin was dried and shriveled up, almost being translucent to where you could see the bone.
He grabbed a packet of matches, and walked over to Elara.
"Oh my god...she's dead..."
She was, in fact not dead. But Aikios didn't know that.
Carefully, he struck the match on his hoof, and then put the lit match to the bottom of the bottle, heating it up. He then dropped some pages from the old leather book into the glass bottle. Aikios took the fin and cracked it, taking the bone out of it and then dropping the rest of it into the bottle. He shook the bottle, causing the paper and the fin to burst into flames. After raising Elara's shirt, he pressed the glowing hot end of the bottle to the sword wound. He waited five minutes, and then removed the bottle, stabbing the bone into the sword wound. But instead of causing the wound to bleed, color slowly began to return to Elara's skin.
Aikios seemed more angry and stressed at Elara than normal, declaring to Nik she'll be 'fine', and ran out of the room, saying he needed a drink.

Nik squeezed his eyes closed when Aikios said Elara was dead and slumped back onto the wall behind the head of his bed. Of course she was dead. What else would have happened once Thaleia decided to sink her claws into his life again? If it hadn't been for his stupid ass self, they never would have been in that cave in the first place and she would have been fine.

Well...mostly fine. That damn haunted map put a wrench in things, but that wasn't his fault it was hers! The Mickey, mickleer, mayklee, mackle thing would never have been able to touch them if they were still on a boat.

"Fucking Captain." Nik rubbed his hand across his eyes to keep the tears that threatened at bay. Nothing he could do about it now. What was done was done. He'd have to get off this boat at the next port and disappear again, just like the last time.

"Wait, what?" His eyes shot open just in time to see Aikios bustle out of the room after declaring she'd be fine, "But you said she was dead!?" He called after him before turning his gaze onto Elara in disbelief.

Was she actually alive?

'Alive' was a bit of a strong word...but Elara was not dead.
She, in fact, woke up  gasping and clutching her chest. She had gotten her color back, well at least compared to the deathly grey she was.

"Nik?" She faintly asked, her breathing fast, her eyes darting around the room.
Where was she?
What had happened?
Where was Nik?
Oh...
The Myklar...
"Did I win?" She asked, before somehow managing to throw the covers back and trying to sit up.

Nik breathed a sigh of relief as Elara spoke and found himself chuckle painfully while letting himself slide down the bed frame and into a heap on his own bed. She was alive. Thank Gods.

Now he could kill her himself.

Tomorrow.

Maybe the next day.

Whenever he was feeling better.

"You bloody well didn't win, El." He used a nickname for her for the first time and knew that it would stick. El was just more familiar. Also took less effort. It made them friends.

"Now lay your ass down and rest. K? I can't go chasing after you right now and we both need sleep."

Elara sighed.
"You're right."
She painfully settled back down and looked at the ceiling.
"The myklar didn't get you?"

"Listen...I'm sorry. For everything. For endangering you, endangering my crew—-" she inhaled sharply as a pain went up her side.
"I owe you big time. When we land to grab more supplies, whatever you want, it's yours."
She weakly extended a hand to him, groaning with the effort.
"You're the only friend I have right now. Well, besides Aikios."

"Then maybe you'll actually listen and destroy that map, eh?" He responded groggily. He slipped down onto the bed even further and felt his eyes droop. "And I just want some candy. Might be a lot of candy...have to make sure I get the good stuff. You can help taste test."

He reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before letting himself drift further into sleep.

"Sleep." He commanded, though it was more of a whisper as he was already on his way out.

"The map? I wish I could. Really, Nik, you've got to believe me! Aikios claimed it's impossible."
She sighed, feeling her heart start to race.
"I'll get you all the candy you want. I'll pay for it myself."
Then Nik squeezed her hand, and told her to sleep.
It was almost as if it was magically said, because as soon as he said that, she was out, sleeping the most peaceful she'd done in a while.

———————————————————-

Aikios had snuck into Elara's cabin, and was looking for something. That something being the map. Problem is, Elara still had it.
He searched through her desk. Nothing.
He even looked under her bed, in the bed, in the pillowcases. Nothing there.
"Elara must have it with her," he mused. It was a real shame. He had actually grown to like the eccentric captain.
He made his way back to the med bay, and  snuck in, furtively sneaking a glance at Nik. Aikios snuck over to Elara's bed and quietly took off the covers. Wasn't with her. But then he saw a sliver of black paper peeking out from under the pillow. He quietly got the map out, and turned it over, checking the bottom for something. Sure enough, it had what he was looking for. He put it back under her pillow, and turned around, only to find Nik staring right at him.
"Shhh," Aikios whispered, muttering an incantation under his breath, and going over and placing a hand on Nik's forehead.
"Forget..."
With that done, he slipped out, closing the door behind him.
"It's a real shame. A real shame I'm going to have to kill both," Aikios whispered to himself, walking down to the tavern to grab a drink.