The ship swayed back and forth as the sun began to sink in the sky. Three of them sat in silence watching the minutes tick by agonizingly slow. Not even the shouts from the docks made them flinch nor the rumble of thunder in the distance. A storm was approaching but not one that came from the sky. Oh, no, the storm within the Captain’s Quarters on The Anastasia was brewing a hurricane that couldn’t compete with anything Caspien or Venus has seen at sea.

Leaning back and kicking up his feet, Caspien sighed and waited for Venus to ask him about the earring that was laying on the table between them but she just sat in silence. He thought to himself behind his calm, languid mask, ‘this girl has to be the mermaid from my childhood! She’s just as mysterious, cunning, and well, lovely as I remember. But she doesn’t look the same. I want to say that their voices are the same but I couldn’t remember what she sounded like even if I tried! All I remember is…’ Looking into her eyes he sat there thinking of whether or not he should be the one to embarrass her further with blurting out the truth or wait it out to see if she owns up to it.

Meanwhile, Venus was trying to decipher the meaning behind him trying to find her all day, ‘I’m sure I would’ve remembered him if he lived in Baia. He looks so familiar yet so out of place in my memories. If I truly do know him, then could he have been one of the people guarding me back then?’ She opened her mouth and asked, “Τι χρονιά πιάσατε;” She waited with a lump in her throat trying her best to remember all of the sirens that guarded her before the city was wiped out leaving her alone.

Caspien just stared back at her with a tilted head in confusion. “I swear I thought you spoke Arlanian,” he mumbled in a bamboozled state of mind.

Venus stood up and began to pace the room, thinking of who she was with right now because obviously, she was just as confused as the captain in front of her trying to decipher what she has said in her mother language. Thoughts swarmed her head trying to remember if or when they could’ve met last, ‘I’ve only ever been in contact with other sirens most of my life! The only humans I’ve seen have either tried to kill me or died trying. The problem with all of this that trumps the rest is that we age differently, so we could’ve met when he was a child, teenager, or even last week. Yet,’ her eyes flicked to the earring she saw earlier and tried her best to hold in a sigh. ‘I have no idea when I picked up the match but I know it wasn’t last week nor the one before that or even the year before.’

Scratching the back of her neck, Venus’ appearance began to melt. Her skin shined bright then dulled into clear porcelain while her dark hair faded to a lighter brown. Blinking a few times before facing Caspien, her hazel eyes dripped back to her original violet to match the wooden siren perched at the front of The Anastasia.

Caspien stood up in awe, “I was right. It’s you, you’re the mermaid from my childhood,” he exclaimed.

Venus scrunched her nose, “why do you keep calling-”

At the sound of men yelling and wood clanking against the ground, the two of them dashed towards the door and swung it open to see soldiers dressed in red and white running around the ship fighting off the crew of the ship. Some carried swords and daggers while only a few carried pistols, ready to shoot any man that stood in their way. Those that brandished swords called out, “Captain! Are you here?”

Caspien slowly closed the door and turned to Venus asking, “what did you do?”

Venus looked back and just rolled her eyes.

They both walked back over to the dazed Captain James. His eyes were still blank as a sheet while he sat stock straight without turning at the calls from his own men.

Rubbing his temples, Caspien turned back to Venus and curtly ordered her, “send him back before they destroy my ship!”

She trudged over to her little pet and rolled her eyes to the back of her head whispering in his ear, “when people ask you what happened to you, tell them you made a mistake and escorted me back to my village then had some business with the Captain. When you leave this boat, you will be free from this spell.” When her eyes circled back to see him nodding obediently, she ruffled his hair and gushed, “you’re the best puppy I’ve ever found!” Without a word of discouragement, James stood up and left the room as he was told. The ruckus stopped for a moment causing Venus and Caspien to peer from the wooden door to see James talking to his men as if it were a casual day of raiding another man’s ship.

“I made a mistake with taking that young lass so I escorted her back to the village then came her to settle some business I had with Captain Caspien of Arla. A vein in his forehead looked as if it were going to burst as he fought against Venus’ spell to tell his men to seize her right then and there. Instead, he turned on his heel and lead his men off of Caspien’s ship and back to the other end of the docks.

Plopping herself down in a nearby chair, Venus’ eyes languidly lurked around the room and the peach hairs on her neck stand at attention. After surveying the little trinkets rusting away on the wooden shelf next to her, her eyes drifted towards the shutter doors that haunted her memory from the early morning.

Jumping in her seat she went to sprint down to the docks but found a hand clasped tightly around her shoulder holding her down. Looking up, lavender clashed with hazel eyes fighting for freedom as fish did when caught in a sailor’s net. But this man was no ordinary sailor and she was no ordinary fish.

Looking back at the door one more time, Venus tried to think of an escape plan but stopped at his words, “its latched shut. I’m sure you couldn’t figure out how to open it quickly enough.” He let go of her shoulder and circled behind to his desk to sit across from her. “Now,” he brushed his ragged hair back and continued, “I’ve always searched for you hoping you were real but never really imagined you would be.” He chuckled at his own incompetents and swirled what little rum he had left from earlier around in his cup.

Venus, on the other hand, searched her mind for any trace of escape she could think of, ‘I could attack him before he tries to attack me. But he seems overpowering, I wouldn’t get too far even if I laid him out. I’d be too exhausted. I could melt them lock then run, but I don’t even know if--’ The answer Venus had been searching for had been in front of her the whole time. She honestly felt foolish for not thinking of it as soon as she heard the latch clink.

Digging through her mind, she searched for the spells she’d need for her great escape then waited for the foolish man to let down his guard. She watched him smile and talk about nonsense with jewelry and his mother until there came a point where he was chuckling with all his might.

“Let him not see what I am to thee,” she mumbled softly. Before Caspien’s teary eyes, Venus’ figure drifted away in the salty air.

“What the-!” He jumped out of his swooned state and waited for something, anything. Then, through the crashing of the waves against the boat and the wind whipping past his ears, Caspien heard it. The soft creak of wood from across the room, making it clear to him that she was only invisible to the eye.

The latch on the door fell in a goopy puddle making Caspien run towards the door while it swung open in front of him.

Adjusting to the dusk light, Venus came face to face with the rest of Caspien’s crew staring her down. Some dropped the barrels they carried while others just stood wide-eyed at the mysterious women running out of their Captain’s quarters dressed in elegant silks from faraway lands. Before she could stop herself, she ran into a younger lad carrying papers. She looked up to see him blushing back exclaiming, “I told you I wasn’t seeing things captain! She’s right here with us!” He pardoned himself for running into her as she held back laughter from seeing his flushed cheeks. His slicked-back black hair contrasted his pale skin making his red cheeks burst out more than it would for any other man.

Caspien ran out behind her only to see nothing but his crew, “well, Scotty? Where is she?”

Scotty tilted his head and pointed next to him to the now jittery Venus, “right here?” The rest of the crew pointed as well making it obvious to anyone on the boat that their captain was either going half-blind or Venus was more than meets the eye.

“Grab here!” Scotty anxiously reached out but was too late. For she had already jumped overboard. The men ran to the side, including Caspien, just in time to see a blue and gold tail splashing through the water.

With a loud thud, Scotty hit the floor after witnessing the marvelous sight of the young girl bumping into him just before jumping into the water to change into a siren. While the men around him help scrape him up, the crew on the ship beside The Anastasia gaped at the sight as well.

Among them stood Captain James Euline of Murilia smirking at the thought of Caspien finally finding the girl or even fish from his dreams. Turning to his men he hailed, “prepare to sail! Pack the munitions needed for a two-month trip and be ready for the morning!” The men ran about trying to prepare their Captain’s orders as James just peered off deeper and deeper into the ocean trying to decipher if what he was searching for was the girl or just a school swimming below the surface.