Chapter 12 (Frozen Storm)
Orion sighed, turning his back to M’eudail, slipping his sword into its holster, attaching it to his belt, pulling out a flintlock pistol and a dagger, pausing to stroke his thumb gently against the red gem in the handle, before pushing them both into his belt and turning back to M’eudail, his eyes shadowed from the rising of the blue moon. He pulled his coat onto his shoulders, tensing when M'eudail touched his arm with a soft expression in his eyes, filled with pity and pain. "Orion... I'm sorry." Orion looked at him, kneeling down and cupping his face in his hands gently, fingers drifting over the smooth, cold scales of the mer's cheeks, before hugging him, shaking his head. "You have nothing to be sorry about M'eudail... Come on, we're going to save your husband." The captain scooped M'eudail up, shivering as the mer's cold tentacles flailed and gripped around his waist for support, carrying him out onto the deck where the cool night air hit them both. The crew milled around, teeming with anticipation at the thought of a good bit of violence, and Orion looked up when his shoulder was tapped, eyes softening at the sight of his first mate. "Captain, I'll take care of the crew whilst you're gone... take care, please." He nodded, calling out his goodbyes to the crew, fully aware he may not make it out alive, before his eyes met familiar black ones. "Sunny Bashra." He shook her hand firmly, and the two shared unspoken words, before the captain lowered M'eudail into the water as the three set off, the mer drifting silently through the water, the human walking in the side-streets and alleys, and Orion, high above, walking across the roof, as they moved to the procession.
Helio was at the head, beside a stranger Orion didn't recognise, from the hood covering his face, and some of the crew, the ones that still supported the corrupted captain, carrying Skygg in a water tank, who lay curled up at the bottom, silent except for the occasional, mournful and tragic wail to the sky, and Orion noticed the way in which M'eudail tensed at the sound, looking ready to spring at the man harming his lover. The three continued to follow silently, as the oil lamps were turned on, as the festival began, and the captain hesitated. Could he really go back here? To the place which had only held suffering for him, to the place where his life had ended? But then again, he thought to himself, this was also the place where he became who he really was... A pirate, through and through. He shook his thoughts away, realising he had almost lost the trail in his pondering, skipping across a few roofs to catch up again. Confused crowds parted in the streets to let the group through, gawking curiously at Skygg as he hid his face behind his tail, and the stranger and Helio made their way to the main stage, right in the town square. The stranger said something to Helio that none of the group could quite catch, although it quickly became clear when Helio shoed the mayor off the stage, staring blankly into the shocked crowds, swaying on his feet slightly. Orion's eyes flicked towards M'eudail, where he had dove into a barrel to watch, shaking with anger, and then to Sunny, who had concealed herself in an alleyway, slowly drawing her sword. The stranger tapped the microphone, chuckling. "Is this thing on? Very good.. Now, everyone, you see this man before you! Once a proud, loyal pirate, turned corrupted by this merman's song! This alone, shows the danger magic has upon our society." The crowd muttered to each other, though Orion noticed with dismay some nods in agreement. He went to step forward, but paused himself, not wanting to ruin the plan now that they had come so far.
"However, my people, I know the cure to this man's ailment! The blood of this mer will cure him, and blood I shall give him, with this knife!" The stranger drew the blade, the ruby in the hull glinting in the moonlight, as a shadow passed over the rising moon. As he laughed, there were... cheers from the crowd, but not only that, but booing too, some having noticed the clouds slowly covering the moon, taking it as a warning from the goddess they were supposed to be celebrating. The stranger drew his pistol, shooting those who voiced their displeasure the loudest, pocketing it once again, as the cheers rose from the increasing fear. He grinned, and Helio silently reached into the tank, lifting Skygg by the tail and holding him up as he struggled to breath without the water's comfort around him. Then Orion gave the signal, lunging down from the roof and yelling a battle cry. M'eudail grabbed the nearest men, throwing them into the surrounding ocean, while Sunny kicked and slashed at anyone who tried to hold her down, and the captain made his way to the stage. He drew his gun silently, pointing it at the stranger, then at Helio, before he stopped. Helio's eyes, despite being tinted with a greenish sheen, still had that sad, desperate look to them, looking so familiar to the man who Orion used to- no- continued to love, and he began to lower his gun, sharing a silent look with the terrified merman at the front. "Kill him." He froze at the sound of the order from the stranger, and didn't have time to move before Helio jumped on him, holding him down and pressing his thumb deep into the still healing wound on his throat, as Orion struggled to push him off. He hit him with the back of the gun, and the two men stayed locked in the other's embrace, lips barely inches apart, before Orion let out a sob, his resistance faltering from the pain in his neck. Helio grinned, lifting the knife, and the captain realised that it was his anniversary gift, kept despite the pain the two had caused each other. As the corrupted captain stared down at his former husband, ready to drive the killing blow, he stopped, a tear slipping down his cheek and onto Orion's, mingling their tears together.
He shook his head, dropping the knife, before he was shoved aside by the stranger, kicking him in the chest and going to stab Orion in the heart, and Orion realised his hood had fallen. Thomas Stormturner stared at Orion with disgust, malice, and pure joy, and the two brothers could only stare at each other for a moment, one fearful, the other prepared to kill. Orion finally got an answer to his question, the answer he never got from his mother. His brother hated him, and now he was going to kill him. He squeezed his eyes shut, gasping in pain as his brother forced them open again, hissing lowly. "Eyes open, dearest brother," He spat, "I want to see the full fear on your face when I kill you, and I want to see the light drain from those pretty eyes of yours.." He was torn away from Orion, as Helio grabbed Thomas, holding him down by the shoulders as he struggled and kicked. Skygg was laying on the stage, trying to crawl back into the tank. His throat has been cut slightly, in the confusion, and Orion noticed the blade driving into Helio's heart. He barely noticed the ragged scream of grief escaping his throat, as he could only watch in horror as Helio slumped, being pushed onto his back as his heart was cut out, ruby red and still pumping, lifted high by Thomas while he fled with Helio's heart in his hand, and Orion continued, to scream, not having noticed the blood slowly gushing from his leg where he had been slashed.
Orion Stormturner fell unconscious, leaving the battered, confused, but relieved to see that Skygg was now safe, three to carry him back to his ship in a hurry, leaving Helio's empty body behind to be collected after.
Thomas retreated onto his own ship, holding the burning hot heart in his hands, feeling how it continued to pump without its body, before he pushed it into a jar, chuckling, as he sailed away. He was victorious, and had gained a power far stronger than anything a mer's death could have given him.
After all, the heart of a god was not something to be trifled with.
