#pirate!mark

He also ignored the beating of his heart as he was pushed up another set of stairs, to the captain's deck. He watched as the crowd around the captain’s table dispersed, making way for the captain himself to walk forward. He couldn’t understand what he was saying, the pounding in his heart was blocking out his perception of sound. Jeno couldn’t look him in the eyes either, moving to look back down at his feet in misery. 

He heard a scowl and a deep, “Look at me when I’m talking to you, boy.” 

Jeno looked up at him with dim eyes, hair blowing in the ocean wind. He couldn’t bring himself to be angry with the captain, or even try to fight him. 

“Do you know who I am, boy?”

Jeno could only shake his head, shuffling the shackles around his hands a little more. 

The captain broke out into a mean grin, tilting his head to the side slightly to meet his eyes, “Well then, why don’t we introduce ourselves?”

Jeno watched as the captain moved away from him, his long coat trailing behind him as he moved to stand on the table, looking over the deck railing to the rest of his crew. He heard his voice ring out through the dark chilled air, a wicked smile on his face, “Who are we, men?”

The voices rang out clear in return, shouting back at him,”The Silver Hydra!”

He watched the captain turn to face him, bowing slightly in mockery as he spoke,” And I, Your Highness, am the captain Taeyong Lee, one-third of the Lee brothers.”

Jeno could feel his heart stuck in his throat. He tried to keep a solemn expression, he really did. But with Captain Taeyong’s smirk, he knew his expression had given him away. 

“So, you do know who I am, then?” He asked in a sickly sweet voice. 

Jeno didn’t answer him, fear and panic growing in his body. He had heard stories about the Lee brothers. 

---------------

The three brothers Lee, captains of the blue sea. Many know who they are, few meet them and live to tell the tale. They were all three happy loving brothers, once. Soon to be rulers of the prestigious kingdom of Apra, a small kingdom but a cheerful one nonetheless. 

One night, in the midst of a harsh winter, the three Lee brothers were awoken to the screams and cries of their people, right outside the castle. The oldest brother, Lee Taeyong, ran to fetch his younger brothers and hide them from the harsh reality of the outer walls of the castle. They ran and hid in a small storage closet, just as they heard the palace doors break down. The youngest brother, Lee Donghyuck, shook with fear as he waited for the hundreds of foot steps to pass. The middle brother, ever the adventurer, had decided he wanted to fight them off, defend his kingdom from attack. Mark had ended up getting all three of them caught and captured, being placed on their knees in front of their parents in the throne room of their palace. The king and queen, sitting in shame. 

The pirates had told their parents, “You still owe us, for the favor that has gotten you here today.” 

The King and Queen had pleaded with them to stop, to give them a chance to fully repay them. The Queen had cried, “Please stop this! What do you want from us?”

The Pirates could only laugh. You see, the king and queen already known what they had wanted, the minute they had started their pillaging through their kingdom. 

The Pirates told them, “You know what we want, Your Highnesses. Our payment, in full. Now.”

The King could only bow his head in shame as he turned to look at their three children, eyes full of guilt and sorrow. “We don’t have it.”

The Captain of the Pirate crew could only laugh again, turning towards the three princes, “You don’t? Then I guess the kingdom is ours boys! Take what you want!”

The Queen looked up at them as they started moving, shouting, “Wait!” and as everyone turned to watch, she looked at her husband before speaking again.

“Take them.”

The Pirates could only stand, waiting for confirmation from the King. 

The King looked one last time at his three children, before nodding in agreement, “Yes. Take them.”

The three princes could only watch in shock as the Captain moved towards them, a grin as wide as the sea on her face, “You hear that boys? Looks like Mommy and Daddy care more about their throne than you. Even though it is rightfully mine.” She spat, turning back to the King and Queen with a grin. “But this ought to be enough payment, don’t you think?”

The Captain turned to her crew, smiling wider if possible, before speaking in a soft manner, “Tie them up.”

And as the princes were stripped from their home and made prisoner of the Bandits of the Eternal Raid, they left behind the innocent and loving parts of themselves. The parts of themselves that made them weak, as they liked to say now. 

It is unclear how they themselves became leaders of their own pirate crews and gained their own ships. Some say they killed the captain of the Eternal Raid and took over her ship, others say they escaped and stole the ships themselves.

One thing is clear; they will never be the princes they once were. And you were lucky to even be alive more than a day once captured on their ship. So while not many have lived to tell the tale of the Lee brothers, everyone knows who they are.

---------------

Jeno knew who they were, what they were capable of. He knew he was in trouble, just by being here. And that caused him to start panicking. He knew Captain Taeyong could see it on his face, too. He decided he should at least make a run for it, maybe he could grab someone's gun to defend himself.

That thought quickly diminished however, when he saw him. His lover, the man he was set to marry. The one person he had loved and cared for more than anything in this world. 

Jeno hadn’t seen him in days. He had been trapped in the cell below the ship for four days, little food and water being given to him. Jaemin looked worse. He looked as if he had no food at all for days on end, only having enough to barely keep him alive. He was tied to the post of the back sail of the ship, back pressed against it as he teetered close to the railing. He sucked in a breath as their eyes met, and Jeno watched the tears well up in his eyes as he saw him.

Jeno was brought back to reality by a harsh slap across his cheek. He winced slightly and could hear Jaemin’s soft whimper across the deck, turning to look back at the Captain again as he spoke, “You answer someone when they ask you a question, boy. Or are you distracted with our new pet?” 

He could feel his anger rising as the words rang through his ears, having to will his mouth to speak before being cut off, “I see. He means something to you.” Jeno watched as Captain Taeyong moved to stand on the table once more, turning towards the post and leaning down to grip onto Jaemin’s chin, forcing him to turn and look at Jeno before he turned his head himself. 

He shouted out to his crew, keeping eye contact with Jeno as he did so, “Look at what we have here, mates! A pair of starcrossed lovers! Your love, written across the stars, hm?”

Jeno’s hand was itching to grab a sword or a gun, just something to try and get them free, to get them to safety. 

He watches Taeyong squeeze Jaemin’s jaw just a bit harder and he can hear the crew around him laughing and he can’t help the rage flowing throughout his body as he yells at him, “Get your filthy hands off of him!” 

He can feel the silence settle across the crowd as the Captain stands, jumping off the table and making his way over to him with a dark glare, sure to make anyone's insides twist up in knots. He stands directly in front of him, his face too close for Jeno’s liking. 

With a darkly quiet voice, he speaks directly to Jeno, “What did you say to me, boy?”

Jeno can only swallow his nerves, using the close proximity to his advantage as he reaches for the Captain’s sword while replying, “I said, get your hands off of him.” 

As he unsheathes the sword, he stands there with it drawn, ready to use the surprise to his advantage and push it through the Captain's chest. But Taeyong is faster, grabbing one of his men from the side and pulling him in front of him as Jeno pushes the sword through his chest. 

Captain Taeyong can only smirk at him, before drawing the sword from the dead crew member and pointing it forward as he drops the man to the side. He moves forward to try and slice Jeno’s side, but he reacts just quick enough to counter him. 

Jeno jumps back slightly as more of the crew along with their captain start coming at him, attempting to slice and stab at him. He silently praises his parents for forcing him to take those fencing and sword fighting lessons. 

He can feel more and more people start to surround him and he desperately tries to fight for his and his lover's freedom, stabbing and slicing through crew members of the ship. He can see the younger members of the pirate crew cower away, moving to hide behind barrels and things they could find, as not to be forced to join the fight. Jeno’s heart yearns to take them to safety, get them out of the dangerous ocean waters and back to his palace with Jaemin by his side. 

He hears a scream from in front of him, and that causes him to snap back to reality, just in time to feel the cool metal of a dirty blade slicing through his side. He knew that scream, that voice. He felt it in his chest, fear and panic settling in as he frantically fought against the crowd coming towards him, trying to get to the table from before, the post with which his lover was tied. 

He finally broke through the crowd and for a split second his defense broke, his hand dropping to his side. He watched in horror, all fighting energy leaving his body for mere seconds as Taeyong held his sword in front of Jaemin, both of them standing on the railing of the ship. Taeyong held onto Jaemin by his shirt only, his whole body leaning over the edge with his hands and feet still bound. 

Jeno looked up into Jaemin’s eyes, his own full of fear as Jaemin looked back in desperation. He felt his heart beating faster than before as he came back to the reality of the situation, raising his sword to defend his lover once more. He saw the glint of mischief in the captain's eye, and it only fueled his anger and fear. 

He swung his sword with fervor, ignoring his shackled hands and trying his hardest to get past all of the pirates to reach his lover. He heard Captain Taeyong’s voice from in front of him, moving his sword around as he spoke.

“You know, boy, I was planning on sparing you both, maybe having you work with my crew or my brothers. I think I might have to change plans now though, to teach you a lesson about respect.”

Jeno’s heartbeat sped up as he tried his hardest to break past the crowd once more, his desperation showing as he fought and fought. 

He cried out a sharp, “No!” as he swung his sword more, stabbing through people and pushing to try and get them out of his way. 

When he finally pushed past the crowd of men and made his way to the table, it was too late. He was too late. He watched as Taeyong sliced the side of Jaemin’s arm, and as Jeno jumped over the table to reach him, Taeyong let him go. 

Jeno screamed, “Jaemin!” as he reached the railing and watched him fall, his hand reaching out for him. He heard and felt the desperation in his voice as Jaemin screamed, reaching out for Jeno with bound hands. 

He watched Jaemin hit the water with a splash, before gripping onto the railing, tears welling in his eyes. He felt his heart pounding, knowing that Jaemin was under the water, struggling to get free and swim to the surface. He knew he was struggling to breathe, to stay alive. And it killed him. He kept thinking of ways to get down in the water, to look for him, to save him. But it was no use. 

Jeno turned toward the Captain in an angry, pained daze, raising his sword as tears fell from his eyes. He walked towards him, his face hardening as he swung at him, trying to slice and stab him as hard as he could. He screamed with each swing he made, each step he took, “Save him! Save him! Save him now!”

Captain Taeyong kept his devilish smirk on his face as he dodged all the attacks made towards him. Jeno only tried harder, tears starting to cloud his vision as they fell. 

Because of his blurred vision, he ended up stabbing a post, but Jeno couldn’t bring himself to care. He fell to his knees in front of Taeyong, tears streaming down his face as he screamed. He screamed for as long as his lungs would allow him to. He didn’t care about the hundreds of crew members watching him or the seemingly never fading smirk on the Captain's face. None of it mattered to him. 

It was his fault. He started fighting. Maybe they would’ve survived if he hadn’t said anything. Maybe it could’ve been the other way around. 

He could feel the pain in his heart, knowing Jaemin had struggled and died a slow and painful death. All he could feel was pain and grief. He kept his head down as he whispered a small sentence, “Why did you do it?”

Jeno heard the Captain shuffle forward and grab his chin, forcing him to look up at him as he spoke quietly and harshly, “I already told you, Your Highness,” he spoke his title with annoyance, “to teach you about respect. You, of all people, should know about that.”

He walked away to collect his sword out of the post Jeno had stabbed it through, looking at the blade and wiping away a little blood as he kept talking, louder this time, “I’ll offer you this chance one more time. Join my crew or one of my brothers. Seeing your skill now, you could make a great addition.”

Jeno couldn’t wrap his head around what he was saying. Was he seriously asking him to join him, after he just drowned the love of his life? After he took them captive from their kingdom, their lives? He didn’t understand.

He only now remembered the wound in his side, moving to put his hand over the open slice and looking at it, watching the blood flow. He could feel a few presences behind him, forcing him to stand. He looked up at the Captain, a dark, sorrowful look in his eyes as he spoke, “Bring him back.”

Taeyong could only hum in response, egging Jeno on further.

With a scream this time, “Bring him back!”

Taeyong gave him a pointed look, before growling and sheathing his sword. 

“You wanna see him again? Fine.” Taeyong turned towards his men, “Boys! Send out a rescue boat!”

He turned to face Jeno again, before yelling, “Bring back the body.”

Jeno didn’t like the way that sentence made him feel. Those words stung. Jeno could feel it in his heart. Body. Jaemin’s body. He had been reduced to just a body rather than a person, a person with a soul, a mind, a spirit, a heart. 

Jaemin had meant the world to Jeno. They were planning to marry, to unite their kingdoms as one and rule over their people with a kind heart. Everything had been in place too. They had the wedding planned, rings made for them, crowns ready for the coronation ceremony afterwards. 

It was all gone. All a fever dream, an idea, a memory. The love of his life, dead before his eyes. 

He hadn’t even registered that he’d been tied to the same post as his lover, kept under the watchful eye of the Captain, as one of the younger sailors tended to his wound. He could only keep his head down, more tears falling as he stood there. He would occasionally look over his shoulder, out to sea to watch the rescue boat. 

Jeno isn’t sure how long he stood there and watched them search, but he couldn’t hold back his heavy sobs when he heard a whistle, watching as they pulled something from the ocean depths and rowed back to the ship. 

Jeno knew it was Jaemin’s body. He knew what he was going to see. It’s not something he was prepared for. 

He watched as the boat was pulled back up, the sailors and the body being pulled out. Taeyong stood at the ledge overlooking the ship, watching as the men carried his lover's body up the deck and laid him on the floor. 

Taeyong looked down at Jaemin with a tsk, nudging lightly at his foot before walking over to Jeno. He unsheathed his sword, cutting off the rope that held Jeno against the post as he spoke,”You got what you wanted, kid. Now go look at what you asked for.”

Jeno fell to the ground with a soft thud, before scrambling over to Jaemin’s dead, wet body. He sobbed quietly as he pulled Jaemin’s body in his lap, rocking back and forth in hysteria.

He looked down at him, softly brushing his wet hair away from his face as his tears dripped onto him. He cupped his cheeks gently, caressing them softly as he whispered sweet and broken promises to him, recounting moments shared between them and the lost moments they could’ve had. 

Jeno stays like that, crying with Jaemin’s body in his hands until his own body falls still, sleep and exhaustion overtaking him.

---------------

He wakes up the next day, back in the cell he was once in, his shackles removed and replaced with rope. He couldn’t bring himself to care about that fact however, as he looked in the cell across from his own.

Staring back at him, was the dead body of his lover. He didn’t feel the tears well up in his eyes again, instead feelings of guilt and pain washing over him. He could only stare at him, not looking away, even as he hears the door open and footsteps walk down the stairs.

It feels like deja vu to him, those footsteps resounding in his ear. Oh, how he wishes he could do it all over again. 

He finds the Captain and two sailors standing in front of him, sharing that same wicked smile from before. He watches as they open the cell door, prepared for a fight but Jeno doesn’t give one, opting to just walk out and follow Taeyong instead. He can hear the door to the other cell opening, but he keeps walking, not wanting to look back at Jaemin any longer. 

When he arrived on deck, he looked out into the sea, finding two other pirate ships following closely behind The Silver Hydra's ship. At first, Jeno thought they were under attack, but looking around at the calmness of the other sailors, he relaxed. 

Taeyong brought him back up to the Captain’s Deck, taking his place at the wheel as Jeno stood behind him. He could feel two other presences at the table behind him, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care about figuring out who it was. It wasn’t until one of them spoke, their voice deep and soft, that he turned around.

“Who is this beauty, Yongie? You snagged a real find, didn’t you?”

Taeyong turned back to face him, resting against the wheel, “Even better, he can fight. I wanted to see if either of you wanted him on your crew. He clearly doesn’t wanna work under my command. Not after yesterday.”

He heard the second man hum in response, standing to come circle around Jeno, taking him in. 

The Lee Brothers. Jeno figured that must be who they are, who he could be forced to work under. He just looked down under their gazes, not daring to look at the body of his lover leaning against the railing a couple feet away. 

The smaller of the two, who he assumed must be Donghyuck, grabbed his chin and forced him to look up, smiling widely at him, with a strange mischief and curiosity in his eyes. 

“So you say he’s a good fighter? Let’s see it then.” He spoke, turning back to Taeyong. 

Jeno watched as a crew member unsheathed their sword under Taeyong directions, untying his rope bound hands and handing it to him. His limbs felt heavy at the weight of the sword, not having it in him to pick it up and care about fighting for his life. 

But then he looked at Jaemin’s body. His beautiful Jaemin, the love of his life, the only person he cared about. And his body was once again filled with rage.

He tensed up, and ignored Captain Donghyuck as he unsheathed his sword, lifting his head and turning to run towards Captain Taeyong instead, finally catching him off guard. 

He landed a slice on his arm before Taeyong had unsheathed his sword, giving his brothers a pointed look and telling them to back off. He stood in a fighting stance as Jeno charged at him again, anger filling every fiber of his body as he fought, not caring about the amount of damage that was inflicted upon his body. 

He fought back tears as he kept stabbing at Taeyong, finally listening to the words spewing out of his mouth as his anger died down a little.

“You’re mad at me for teaching you a lesson, boy? For killing your lover? You were probably planning on marrying him, weren’t you?”

Jeno only seethed more, fighting harder and ignoring the pain from his previous wounds.

“Newsflash, Little Prince! Not everything works out as planned! Not all love stories have happy endings! And you know what? You and him could’ve been okay if you would’ve stayed put. You killed that boy, not me!”

Jeno yelled at that, using his body strength to pin Taeyong to the short railing of the deck before speaking softly, “At least when I kill you, I’ll have no regrets.”

And Jeno pushed. Taeyong fell over the railing and Jeno watched as tears finally welled up in his eyes, letting the Captain's words settle in his head. 

He thought it was over. He really did. But he watched as another Lee, presumably Captain Mark, grabbed onto his brother's hand, hoisting him up and over the railing once more. He then felt hands grab him from behind, and a dark voice spoke in his ear. 

“It’s not that easy to kill a Lee, Your Highness.”

He listened as all three of the Lee’s cackled, tears rolling down his face. He turned to look at Jaemin once again, trying to break free of the grip on his body to go to him. 

Taeyong hummed lightly beside him, walking over to inspect Jaemin’s body. He kicked at it lightly, before turning around to scowl and glare darkly at Jeno. 

“You wanna be with him that badly, don’t you? Fine then.”

He watched as Taeyong motioned for two of his sailors to grab Jaemin’s body and force him into Jeno’s arm. Jeno’s tears cascaded down his cheeks as he felt Jaemin’s head slump against his shoulder, his once warm arms making no motion to hug him again. He felt a rope wrap around him and Jaemin’s body, forcing them together as he was pushed forward and down the stairs by the two sailors, the Lee’s watching from their deck.

Jeno felt the sailors force him onto the plank of wood jutting out from the ship, their swords pointed at him, not allowing him to turn around and walk back.

He gripped onto Jaemin’s body with his life, his heart pained and racing. He didn’t have a choice. He could still see the desperation on Jaemin’s face as he was let go, falling off the side of the ship. He could see the look of fear as he reached out for Jeno, a sharp cry escaping his lips.

He turned to face Taeyong as he spoke, tears still streaming down his face. He made no motion to stop them from falling either. 

“Listen here, sailors! Look at how our star-crossed lovers ended up! I know some of you here are hopeful to find yourselves a pretty little thing to call yours, but heed this warning. You are pirates! And pirates don't need love. We just need each other. So I won’t stop you if you look for love! But just remember, you will turn out just like these two. Their love was written in the stars, right?”

Taeyong turned to look at Jeno as he spoke, a dark, evil, and somewhat hurt expression on his face as he spoke. 

“Now look at them. Their so-called ‘love’, drowned at sea.”

Jeno sniffled and cried more as Taeyong spoke to him, looked at him. A part of him wasn’t ready to die. A part of him wanted to live, to avenge Jaemin’s death, to go back to their kingdoms to honor him and live on.

But another part of him wanted this. Another part of him felt he deserved it. He had been the one to kill Jaemin. So maybe, he could see him again. They could celebrate their love, both drowned at sea and in the stars. 

He heard a few more words spoken and then, Jeno was falling. He looked down at Jaemin’s face one last time, taking in his features and kissing his forehead as he fell, the pain in his heart swelling before he hit the water. He struggled for a while, trying to breathe and break away towards the surface before he gave up, clinging to Jaemin as they both faded into the depths of the ocean.