#pirate!regulus

As quickly as many found themselves rather disenfranchised by their plight on land did they find themselves disenfranchised by Captain Riddle aboard The Death Eater. 

And whilst Regulus didn’t always appreciate the crown, he appreciated men acting as God even less. Tom Riddle amassed a very large crew aboard a very large ship which ruled over a very large enterprise and hijacked very large, rather dangerous ships, and the only one who seemed to be getting any richer was the Captain himself. 

As the ship's treasurer, Regulus started to notice when riches seemed to mysteriously disappear, and he also started to notice when Captain Riddle and his first and second mate were able to spend their spoils far more freely during their trips on land than were the rest of the crew. 

Regulus wasn’t a fool; he knew that the Captain and his favourites were given heftier shares than the rest of the crew, but the disparity was growing greater and greater, and Regulus longed to expose it. 

If Captain Tom Riddle was going to make his livelihood off of the back of his men, well, it wouldn’t be Regulus’. 

No matter, should anyone find themselves disparate, the sea would open her welcoming embrace. 

And if freedom belonged to the sea, revenge belonged to Regulus. 

“So, where are we heading?” Junior asked boredly as he peered around Regulus’ ship - built and paid for with his parents' funds. Send him off to sea, will you. 

“I cannot say.” Regulus replied as he watched his most trusted allies consider his ship as well as his proposition. 

“And what are we doing?” Rosier continued, appearing out of the door to a store room, braids tinkling with every step he took. 

“I cannot say.” Regulus repeated. 

“And why are we doing it?” Junior carried on as he lowered himself into a hammock and swung playfully to and fro. 

“Enacting vindication.”

Junior and Rosier shared a look before they both turned back to Regulus. 

“Will this cause chaos?” Junior asked.

“Perhaps.”

“Will this piss off powers of authority?” Rosier continued.

“Most definitely.” 

“Is it dangerous?” Junior inquired. 

“Infinitely so.” 

“Right.” Junior sighed as he stood from the hammock. “So, where do I sign?” 

Regulus smiled, and with that he called Kreature - formerly Mr. Beecher but in his age and from his many a years spent pirating seeing him one eye, an ear lobe, one hand, and one leg short, he took on a more creature-like form and was oft referred to as such - to bring out the contracts before the three sailors and one cook planned to set sail. 

“Why are we stopped?” Regulus barked as he exited the cabin to squint out into the sun.

“No wind.” Evan Rosier offered with a flippant shrug of his shoulder, carving himself off another slice from his apple. 

“What do you mean no wind?” Regulus parroted back incredulously. “We are in the middle of the sodding ocean.”

Rosier, for his part, offered him another shrug of his shoulder and gestured upwards to the tall masts adorning sails that were, indeed, hanging slack in such said no wind. 

“How could there possibly be no wind?” He asked no one in particular. “In what world does that make sense?”

“S’prolly the sirens.” Evan mumbled around a mouthful of apple. 

“I beg your pardon?”

“He said it is probably the sirens.” Barty Crouch Junior offered rather unhelpfully, not bothering to look up from his game of solitaire. 

“Yes, I heard him.” Regulus grumbled. “What I meant to say was what in the bloody hell are you on about?” 

Evan shrugged again. “Honestly, Pandora was always going on about them. Evan, do make sure to avoid Circe’s Isles on your travels. Those islands are just teeming with sirens.” He mimicked his twin sister. 

“And you did not think to say anything?” Regulus groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. 

“I figured that you knew what you were doing, captain.” Evan offered with a wink, and something struck Regulus. 

He pulled the map he’d been following from his pocket and, sure enough, the route brought them right past Circe’s Isles. What had Riddle been thinking? Surely he would have known about the sirens too? Or were they truly just a myth?

Regulus’ thoughts were interrupted by a splash, and he looked towards the source of the sound only to see the eerily calm surface of the water rippling from a place beside a large rock. 

“Oh good,” Barty commented as he looked over the edge of the boat, “we are about to die. Do you have your affairs in order, Rosie?”

Evan snorted as he leaned against the railing of the ship. “Nope.”

Barty laughed. “Me either. What God thinks of me is genuinely none of my business.” 

Regulus hadn’t a moment to tell either of them to sod off to hell when the water broke again, and he noticed a head emerge from the sea from the chin up. 

The sun seemed to cast its light on you, leaving everything else shrouded in darkness. The rest of the world didn’t seem to mind, though; not when it got to bask in your beauty. The hair on the top of your head appeared just as dry as Regulus’ was, completely contrary with the fact that Regulus just watched you appear from the water, and your skin - or at least that which Regulus was able to see - appeared to sparkle with an iridescent quality.

Beautiful was the only way to describe you.

“Is this the treasure you have been seeking, Captain Black?” Barty asked theatrically with a wiggle of his eyebrows, earning him a harsh glare from across the deck. 

Your eyes flashed with something akin to mischief as you looked between the two men. 

“Knock it off, Junior.” Evan drawled as he kept his gaze on you, and Regulus didn’t recognise the territorial flame that licked its way up his chest for what it was as he watched Evan eye you with obvious interest.

A tinkering laugh escaped your lips - a sound that danced across the surface of the water and bounced between the various sea stacks dotting the area - that had each of the men scrupulously leaning further over the edge of the ship. 

“Are you a siren?” Regulus managed to ask, and he felt the strength of your gaze like a physical blow when your eyes met his. 

You nodded your head. 

“Are you not meant to be…you know…singing?” Evan continued, and a breath escaped Regulus when your eyes left his, though he found he much preferred the breathlessness that came with having your attention all to himself. 

You seemed to have an air of humour about you - though Regulus did wonder for a moment if a non-human entity could produce such human emotions - as you considered your next words. “I can sing for you, if that is what you would like. But you may find that not to be in your best interest.” 

Your voice was melodic, as if you were designed specifically to sing and your lips refused to do anything but; your vowels stretched and your consonants were breathy, making each of your sentences sound as though they ought to be accompanied by a harmony. 

Somewhere, somehow, Regulus knew he was supposed to ignore your song, but it pulls him in all the same. Somewhere, somehow, Regulus knew he was supposed to keep moving, but he felt his anchor sink anyway.

“What are we supposed to do here, Rosier?” Regulus murmured, watching as you kicked your feet up and floated on your back, observing the three men with uninhibited interest. 

“I…am not sure. Pandora always spoke of their lethal song, and…manners?” 

Your eyebrows raised at that. “This Pandora sounds very wise.”

“You would like something.” Regulus deduced. 

“It seems only fair.” You agreed. “I have to admit, not many of us take too kindly to men trespassing where they do not belong.” 

“But men trespass often.” Regulus continued, and he pretended like he didn’t notice even Barty and Evan’s head tilting curiously in his direction. 

“Not without consequences.” 

“What would be our consequence, treasure?” Barty inquired salaciously, and Regulus watched at your pupils stretched thinly, making your eyes appear to be mostly iris in the most cat-like manner; a reminder that you weren’t simply a beautiful woman, but rather a sea creature prone to malevolence, and that he ought to tread carefully.

“You speak as though you seek death, sailor.” You responded, voice taking on a thicker, throatier sound. “You forget yourself.”

“He is sorry.” Regulus sputtered quickly, the hairs on the back of his neck standing as he regained your attention. “We are only looking for something; we have reason to believe someone has hidden what does not belong to him here. We only search for it, we mean no harm.” 

You considered Regulus for a few moments before disappearing beneath the surface, leaving Regulus disturbingly and embarrassingly melancholic. 

And then you reappeared right below him, beads of salty water trailing down your face and collarbone as you peered up at him. Regulus thought he might not mind jumping in after you. 

“What you seek for is not where he left it.”

“You know what we are looking for?” Barty asked excitedly, quickly moving to stand next to Regulus. “Can you tell us, because he will not.” 

“Where has it gone?” Regulus asked instead. 

“What is that information worth to you?” You countered, eyes flitting across Regulus’ face - sizing him up, considering him, or committing him to memory, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t think he minded either way. 

“Anything you would like.” Regulus offered earnestly; a desperate sound leaving Barty’s lips as Evan moved to join them.

“Within reason.” Evan amended, much to Barty’s relief and Regulus’ chagrin. 

“Clever.” You said of Evan before moving your gaze back to Regulus. “You would do well to learn from him.”

“Would you do well should I learn from him?” He retorted. 

You smiled at that, and Regulus swore all three men’s knees buckled at the sight. 

“Why don’t we make a trade, hm? A treasure for a treasure.” 

“How do we know you actually have said treasure?” Evan posited, and with that, you vanished beneath the surface again.

“Way to go, Rosie.” Barty scoffed. “You scared her off.” 

“She is playing with her food, Junior. Besides, it is the Captain who is enabling this little game of hers.”

“Does this mean anything to you?” You sing-songed, materializing on the other side of the ship; one arm thrown over the ship's railing and the other raised, a chain hanging off a delicate finger with a large, gaudy looking locket hanging from the end of it.

“Bloody hell…” Barty murmured as he took a few, cautious steps in your direction. “This is from the S.S. Salazar, I plundered that. Riddle told me it was thrown into the ocean by one of the prisoners!”

“He has been stealing from us.” Evan surmised with an exhale, staring at the find in your hand. 

You made a tsking sound. “Unlawful and treacherous men acting unlawfully and treacherously. Is there truly anything worse?” 

“What do I need to do to get the rest of that plunder back?” Regulus nearly begged. 

“Well that depends.” You giggled in your bubbly, lilting way. “What is it worth to you?” 

“Anything.”

“Well, see, this is why I think someone else ought to be in charge of the negotiations.” Evan declared rather unhelpfully. 

“What about you then, Junior.” You crooned. “What would you trade me for?” 

“Anything.”

With this, Evan threw his hands up in the air. “I am very close to feeding both of you to her myself at this point.”

“That won’t be necessary.” You interjected, though you were staring at Regulus as you said it. “I have made a decision.” 

“What would you like?” Regulus asked.

“You.” 

“Him?” Barty and Evan chorused, but Regulus couldn’t find it in him to be offended when you were smiling at him so sweetly. 

“Done.” He agreed. 

“Great. See? This is why I said within reason; now we have lost the Captain.” Evan grumbled. 

“I am a reasonable siren, Evan.” You purred, causing all three men to shiver both from the tone and the fact that you seemed to know their names without them ever offering them to you. “Let me come with you.”

“On the ship? A siren?” Evan confirmed incredulously, looking around as if to say are you hearing this? 

“You keep your Captain and get your treasure, and I get the little king.” You explained, pupils flashing at him that triggered some sort of fight or flight response in his heart, though his body remained stationed dutifully at your beck and call. “I promise to take very good care of what is mine.” 

“Regulus Black.” Evan scolded as Barty began to cackle. “You are not blushing right now.”