The song started up; most of the crew sang loudly and a bit off-key, but it was such good fun that soon Y/N herself joined in. The song went something like this:

Once upon a time down the Athenae line

Lived a princess known as Mindy

She loved to read books and gave suitors odd looks

As all of them were odd, strange, and spindly

One day the girl found a freshwater pearl

Down the stream outside the old forest

A dragon came by and away he did fly

To his cave a little out northwest

Mindy in his claws and not in his jaws

Was quite thankful to be in one piece

The dragon, however, did not seem to gather

His house guest did not feel at peace

He offered her biscuits and poured her tea

From a porcelain pot which was heating

Then he revealed he had not come to steal

A maiden for the purpose of eating

The dragon loved books, every kind of tome

He read each one with delight

The issue here was he had no one else

To read them with him at night

The princess felt hope well up in her soul

There may be a way out of this yet

“Come back with me please, to our library,

I have always wanted a pet.”

The dragon went back to the castle with haste

Mindy safe in his arms

A quite great librarian he did make

He had knowledge, wit, and charm

As far as I know, they are both still there

Reading volumes and tomes that excite

Would you come down to Athenae’s shores

With the promise of a story tonight?

The crew would have sang the entire tune, were it not for the fact that Y/N had joined in. Pretty soon the entire crew was staring at her. Y/N blinked, trailing off.

“Am I that bad?” Y/N asked quietly.

Kai came up from behind; he went to put a hand on her shoulder, then seemed to think better of it. He cleared his throat. Y/N turned to face him.

“Your voice is enchanting,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“…Thank you?” Y/N said with uncertainty.

“I mean it in a literal sense, Miss Y/N. You are a mermaid, and that comes with significant alterations, some of which, evidently, retain themselves even in your human form.”

Y/N said nothing. What alterations could he possibly be talking about?

“Siren song!” Kai said, “goodness, do you know nothing about your own species?”

“Technically it’s not my species,” Y/N mumbled.

“All the same,” Kai said, “perhaps you might refrain from singing for a bit.”

“Your voice is very lovely though, Miss Y/N!” Jodocus called.

Y/N smiled a little at that. Tarius was about to start the song up again when waves the size of small hills began to crash against the hull of the ship. They seemed to be rippling out from one location. Everyone rushed to the railing to check.

“Captain,” Adriana started slowly, “you don’t suppose it could be a- STARS ABOVE!”

The ship nearly capsized from the force of the wave that overtook it. A giant form had burst through the surface. It looked like a woman the size of a great tower, only this woman had compound eyes that caught the moonlight from every angle as they peered down at Calypso’s Wrath. Her skin was like armor, with every color of the rainbow rippling across it. Her hands held the shape of great claws, and as she continued to rise from the water, one could see that her body had no legs. Rather, everything below her waist was the exact, albeit enlarged, anatomy of a peacock mantis shrimp.

“I knew we shouldn’t have crossed this stretch of sea,” Kai muttered, then, loudly, “all hands! Prepare to defend the vessel! We’ll not go down without a fight!”

As the crew sprang into action all around her, Y/N stared up into the creature’s enormous eyes. The creature caught her gaze.  Her clawed hand curled into a fist. The mast of the ship cracked in two as she punched it with frightening speed. Someone fell out of the crow’s nest. She caught him in her palm, then held him to her mouth. Y/N looked away as his screams were cut off with a terrible crunch.

The harpoons the crew fired did nothing against her armor. The cannonballs bounced off of her and sank to the depths below. If the ship took any more damage, well, Y/N would have a chance at survival, being a mermaid and all, but the crew would almost certainly not. If they were not devoured by the monster, they would certainly drown.

Y/N’s mind blazed alight with the kindling of an idea. Without a moment’s hesitation, she tore off her boots and trousers.

“Y/N, are you mad?” Kai called, “Exposing yourself to the beast is not going to calm it!”

The wood of the ship’s railing threatened to push its splinters into the soles of Y/N’s bare feet. Thinking about this any further would surely dissuade her from going through with it, so without a moment’s pause, she jumped.

Her gills and fins greeted her the moment her head splashed under the surface. She made a bee-line for the sea monster. She was easy enough to find, even in the dark of night. The moonlight bounced off of her armored shrimp’s tail in a spectacle of underwater vibrancy.

Her head popped up above the water, right in front of the creature. Y/N wasn’t really sure how to go about this, so she just sang the first words that came into her head.

“Please leave,” she sang in a single crisp high note, “please leave us alone~”

It wasn’t the best melody, but it did get the creature’s attention.

“Yes, I’m talking to you~” Y/N sang, louder now, “please go back to wherever you came from~”

The creature fell still and silent, as did the whole ship.

She noticed the crew member from the crow’s nest hanging limply from the monster woman’s mouth.

“And also release the human you tried to eat~”

The creature spat him out.

“Ah!” she almost lost concentration, “I mean, please put him back onto the ship, nicely~”

The woman picked him up with an unnatural gentleness and deposited him on the deck.

“No go away please please please please please~”

The woman turned and dived down underwater, her tail splashing behind her and leaving a great wake. Y/N yelped and swam diagonally in hopes of evading the armored shrimp tail. She felt a flash of pain as the tip made contact with her scales, but she was more worried about getting back onboard Calypso’s Wrath.

“Hey!” she called, waving her arms, “a little help!?”

Adriana blinked rapidly; Nalani, the boatswain, shook her head a few times. Both women threw down a rope ladder.

“Guys, you can’t expect me to climb that,” Y/N said, lifting her fins out of the water.

“Sit on the rungs, and we’ll pull you up!” Nalani called.

Now that was a better plan. Y/N perched herself on the closest rung as Adriana and Nalani hauled her up onto the deck. As they pulled, Y/N felt a slight dizziness come over her.

Once safely onboard, Kai knelt by her side.

“Y/N-” he said, urgency evident in his tone.

“Don’t mention it,” Y/N said, “I would’ve done it for anyone, really.”

“Lay down,” he said, taking a dagger from his belt.

A flash of fear pierced Y/N’s heart. Was he about to kill her over the siren song thing!?

“Captain Nelson, I didn’t mean any harm-” Y/N tried, blinking slowly.

“You’re hurt,” Kai said as he dragged the blade across his shirt.

“What?”

Y/N followed his gaze. A great gash in her tail was spilling red in pulsating intervals. It stained the deck below them and filled the air with a metallic scent.

“But…”

It was getting difficult to think. A fog had settled over her mind, and it refused to budge. She lost the ability to hold herself up, and she braced for impact. Someone caught her from behind and lowered her the rest of the way down to the deck, slowly and carefully.

“Get Silas!” Kai barked.

“But the man in the crow’s nest…he’s the hurt one…” Y/N mumbled.

“He’s been seen to,” Kai said, “he will live. Quickly, won’t you tell me how you came up with your song?”

“My song?” she slurred.

“Yes.” Kai bound her tail with torn strips of white fabric, “I want every detail.”

“I…I was…thinking…”

Y/N blinked.

A slap tore across her face.

“Owwww,” she whined.

“You mustn’t sleep now,” Kai went on, “you were telling me of the melody.”

“…I made it up…”

“Did a particular melody inspire you? Y/N? Y/N!”

…

Y/N was out cold on the deck, and Kai’s torn shirt was pink against her tail. Silas skidded to a halt beside him, medical bag in hand.

“Bring her inside the cabin,” Silas said.

Kai swept Y/N up into his arms, one hand under her tail and the other against her back. He rushed her inside his quarters, the medic right behind him.

Silas opened his bag and produced a bottle of clear liquid and a clean cloth.

“Hold her still should she wake,” Silas said.

As soon as the wetted cloth made contact with the gash, Y/N’s body seized up. Kai held her securely against the chaise cushions, despite her whimpers and hoarse screams. She thrashed in place, her tail trying to kick up and out of Silas’ reach.

“How much longer?” Kai demanded.

“I am going as swiftly as I dare,” Silas said, “I promise, I am only trying to help her.”

Y/N’s eyes fluttered as her body fell still. It twitched in response to every stitch Silas pulled through the gash, with little cries escaping her until the wound had been closed.

“What will this mean for her human form?” Kai asked.

“Do not let her transform back!” Silas said quickly, “I do not know how much worse the damage will be to her legs than it already is to her tail. Keep her damp by any means necessary, but do not soak the wound.”

Silas washed his hands in a nearby basin, then closed his medical bag.

“Will she be all right?” Kai asked quietly.

A long pause stretched between them. Mango let out a few shrill chirps.

“…I cannot say for sure,” Silas said.

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