It was only early that morning that it was a bright sunny day, no clouds in the sky or indications of a big storm. But like the rest of nature, the seas are unpredictable.

“Steady men! Keep ‘er afloat!” A man called out, tugging at a rope with other men pirates. 

  Here aboard the Stayered Mary, it was a story night. Waves clashing against the sides of its ship and the crew aboard was tossed around like rag dolls. It was like any other stormy night aboard a ship older than its dear captain. It was almost a surprise the thing was still a float. The majority of its sails had holes in it and there was a small leakage in the side from where cannon fire hit and struck. It was a pure miracle the ship hadn’t sunken yet. Especially with the winds the heart of the sea through at it tonight. Waves crashed against all sides throwing the ship off course quite a few times as the men aboard attempted to keep it from tilting over despite the pull of the ocean. Up above the deck, men, some young, others with sun shaped wrinkles from mornings and evenings aboard the Stayered Mary, scrambled in every which direction pulling at ropes and sails. The main voice to be heard near the wheel, helping to keep it from spinning on its own accord, orders were being shouted out by the captain of the ship, Captain Cade Hallow. For a captain as young as he was, he sounded old. His voice called from over the sound of the rain.

  “Raise the sails!”

  “Steady the wheel, ya brainless barbarians!” 

  More insults followed from the captain’s mouth. The sound of a small crash shook the ship. A rock had scrapped against it leaving a slightly bigger mark than a simple hole in the boards. Leading to men tossing out water from a rapidly filling lower deck. Men that they didn't exactly have to spare but had to make room for, lest their ship end up in the mouth of the ocean that they were sailing straight for. A spiraling water came that looked to reach the bottom of the water yet didn't quite touch it. Between trying to keep water from flooding the ship after the side of the jagged stone that broke a hole into the ship, keeping their ship from the deep whirlpool, and making sure their captive was still alive for the trade. The bottom of the ship was worse for the lone girl in the bottom of it. There was a hole in the wall of the ship and water was up to her waist. This is not how she wanted her 18th birthday to go. See, she had always gotten everything she wanted. Her parents made sure of that seeing as thought, not only was she the heir to the throne, but their only surviving child. And often she took advantage of it. But not this time around. Not only being captured by a dirty stinky pirate crew in the middle of her grand ball, but also drowning at sea with no hope of being rescued by her naval officers, no parents for her to hold onto, nothing but her and water, and the crystal her mother gave her just moments before her capture. She was gagged on the floor of the ship trying to get her hands free from the bonds that held her on the floor. To no avail of course. She was a princess. Not an escape artist.  Her hope was fading worse than before. At this point the water couldn’t rise quick enough. 

  The door to her cell swung open revealing the pirate captain, “You girl! Get your arse up and get some of this water out this ship! Make yourself useful.” Without a moment to consider, she was hauled to her feet and dragged out the dark place with a bucket tossed in her direction. She just stared at him like he had turned blue in front of her. Clearly not interested since she couldnt exactly grab the bucket in her position and an intense amount of hatred she could almost taste through the fabric between her teeth. Was he serious? A bucket like that? For all the water in that ship? With what hands? And a tough chance. This ship was going down whether they wanted it to or not. And she was going to make sure of that, because she was going to make sure of it. If they even tried to let her go, that no good, stinking, dirty pirate would be the first person she kills without a regret of what happens to the rest of his crew when she tosses his dead body overboard. But that wouldn’t work. If she killed him, his crew would just protect him. Not that it would make much of a difference, but it's the thought that she might not be successful that made her a little more hesitant than her usual boldness kept her.  Some other crew mates came over to patch the hole with loose planks of  wood from some of the broken rum barrels they kept in the bottom of the ship simply because they drank it all.  Though that water still seeped around the cracks from the impact. 

  “Well don’t just stand there!” The crew member untied her under the captain’s orders and shoved her to get moving. Her hands were free. So she took her chance.  As soon as he did, the princess swung the crystal at him, making him have to dodge a sharp piece of quartz she charged at his head. This was truly her death, this princess was going to go down fighting to the best she could being under experienced. She swung again, this time scraping the man’s cheek

  “No! I won’t help! Are you crazy?! You kidnapped me !” In the heat of the moment, she had stabbed the sharp end of the crystal into the captain’s abdomen who had tried to dodge it initially but was unable to as quick, due to a jerk from a crashing wave. The captain’s breath leaves him at a pain he was familiar with but was a little harder to deny than his usual cuts. He lets out a gasp. The princess had successfully stabbed him in the chest with the sharp end of the crystal his crew had forgotten to remove off of her.

  “You wretched witch! What have you done?! Someone get the captain to the quarters! This Jezebel will be dealt with when he survives! And we’ll skin her if he doesn't." The crew member shoved her to the side as a few of the other members who had heard the commotion captured her pulling her away from the captain who was staggering back clutching the side of his stomach. The room around him was growing hazy. However deep she had impaled him was deep enough for blood to immediately spread from the hole in his nilla tunic soaking the area round it in his own deep red. He was bleeding and all he could do was look at the woman who stabbed him in the middle of the rocky storm. The last thing he heard was shouting. More than likely from his crew who was trying to save him. He could barely hear his own first mate’s reassurance of his health. The crystal had long been dislodged from him so he was bleeding out on the ground. Surely for a hardened heart like his, this was the end for him. Defeated off guard… by a spoiled princess and her stupid crystal. His eyes closed without his fading struggle to keep them open. Whether he liked it or not, he heard everything go silent. He was gone. 

  “Sir! Are you ok?” He heard a woman’s voice. A woman? In hell? Not nearly surprising, but he at least thought his demon would be someone cooler. Like a horned creature. Preferably that had no connection to royalty. But that was no distorted voice. That was a woman’s voice. Perhaps a succubus, though since when did demons care about some cruel pirates' wellbeing? 

  “Oh my gosh, he’s dead! Omg! I killed someone! My insurance is never going to let me drive again!” The woman’s voice sounded panicky. Worried. Though he couldn’t tell if it was for him or the status of whatever “the car” thing they were talking about was. 

  He gives a small groan. A small and feeble attempt to at least let them know he could do something. He heard a second woman.

  “Wait. He’s still alive. He’s breathing. We need to get him to the hospital. Like yesterday.” 

  This was no hell. Where was he? And who was helping him?