Chapter Text
A girl, barely in her twenties, stood at the front of a ship as it sped over the morning seas. Brown copper hair caught in the salty wind behind her, cigar in her mouth, and cutlass at her hip. Her name was Marinn Adelaide, though she was better known as “ The Jagged Pearl ” by other crews on the Sirock Sea.
It was a shit name, she thought as she swung down off the rope she had been holding onto and stormed across the wooden deck of the ship, calling orders to the crew. A fresh round of cannonballs whistled toward her ship. They were barely knocked away by Alani, who threw up his hands, conjuring a wind scarcely strong enough to knock the balls of steel away from them and into the sea.
“How are we doin’ Karah?” She called to the girl at the back of the ship, who was trying to keep the three black ships behind them at bay with her powers.
“Not very good,” Karah replied, reaching towards the three ships behind them, and causing a wave to surge out and smash into their pursuers, “I’m barely making a dent.”
Marinn took the wheel of the ship, “I'm about to make a bad decision,” she called out, “Everyone, portside cannons! Fire when I say so!” The crew rushed to the cannons, loading them up.
She yanked the ship wheel, sharply turning their vessel and leaning them so steeply left that the masts nearly brushed the waves of the sea.
“Karah! Stabilize us!” Marinn called. The water around the boat surged forward, leveling them out and stopping the ship in its place.
The black ships rushed forward, gunning straight for them, and the explosive sound of a new volley of cannonballs cracked through the air.
Marinn called for Alani, and the metal weapons racing toward their ship were met with a wind so strong that they rebounded and nearly struck the enemy which fired them.
She watched the ships approach, coming closer. And closer, and closer, till she could see the bloodthirsty grin of Admiral Harlow Azurann. “Fire!” She called, loud enough for her voice to echo across the sea. The admiral's grin faltered.
The booming sound of fifteen cannons firing at once filled her ears as she saw the flaming steel rocket through the air. It was guided by a blanket of wind conjured by Alani, and sent straight onto the decks of the black ships. The ships’ hulls were dotted with holes and fires, and Marinn turned on her heel, sauntering down the stairs to the main deck. “Well,” she said, holding her hands up in the air elaborately, “We won.” Cheers came up from her crew. “Now, get us the fuck out of here,” she said, excusing herself up to the back of the ship.
Alani conjured up a strong gust of wind, which blew into the sails, making them snap, and the ship jolted forward.
A rum keg was brought from below decks and they stayed up late, singing and celebrating. Marinn’s night ended with her stumbling into the captain’s quarters and promptly passing out, sprawled across her bed.
The sound of fighting echoed through the garden as they danced across the lawn. The green grass was trampled as the pair dashed back and forth, striking and blocking with a practiced vigor. Finally, a younger Marinn thrust her enemy’s sword out of their hand, before pointing her own at the other girl’s chest.
“Admit defeat?” she asked, grinning confidently.
Heavily panting, the other girl threw her hands in the air, “Fine, I surrender - you win this time, Marinn.”
Marinn threw her wooden sword on the ground, before falling to it herself. They’d been sparring for the better part of the day, and the sun was scorchingly hot. Before she’d realized what was happening, the other girl had grabbed her sword and swung it against Marinn’s throat.
“You know,” she said, “My father always says to never let your guard down.”
Marinn started laughing, before grabbing the wooden sword and gently pulling the other girl down with her, “Fine, fine - you win this time. But take a break, you don’t need to push yourself so hard. We’ve been training for hours already.”
The girl sat down, dramatically sighing and falling to the side, her hair spread over Marinn’s crossed legs. “But, Marinn,” she whined, “If I don’t train, how will I learn how to defeat you? What if someday we’re bitter rivals, you’re my nemesis, and I never win, because you made me rest, hm?”
“Mm, I understand your concern, and I hate to break it to you, but you’ll never be my nemesis.”
The girl sat up again, glaring at Marinn with an exaggerated pout on her face. “Well,” she began, “now I’m gonna have to prove you wrong, aren’t I, nemesis?”
Marinn sat for a moment as if contemplating this, before suddenly lunging forward to grab the girl’s sword. Overestimating her lunge, she accidentally knocked her companion over instead, leaving them both lying on the ground. The air seemed to become even warmer as they both froze, faces nearly touching. The contact was burning, and Marinn’s pulse raced, her heartbeat echoing in her ears.
Slowly, Marinn reached over and grabbed the girl’s sword, before moving the point of it over the throat of the frozen person beneath her. “You can try,” she breathed, “nemesis.”
Before she had even registered what was happening, the girl had leaned forward, closing the gap between them and wrapping her hand behind Marinn’s neck as she kissed her. She nearly didn’t respond, out of pure shock, but then her brain began to somewhat function again, and she pushed them down into the ground.
It was electric, and such an all-consuming, new sensation, that it absorbed any remaining bits of her consciousness, melting the world away until all that was left was the girl in front of her.
“Coretta!” The deep voice boomed through the air as Admiral Harlow shouted his daughter’s name.
“Shit!” Coretta exclaimed, pushing Marinn off of her and scrambling away, running back towards her home and hastily trying to fix her now-rumpled appearance.
Marinn laid back, staring at the sky, now alone. Her head spun, and the sunlight faded away, leaving her eyes to snap open to the familiar darkness of her quarters.
She groaned as the cold air filled her lungs with the sting of sea salt. Dragging herself out of bed, and holding one hand to her aching head, she made her way to the ship’s deck. It was still dark outside, and she sat down on the wooden boards, lying back to observe the shimmering stars. A different sky, yet she was still haunted by the same memories.
Marinn stood up, wringing her hands of the dream, and leaning over the starboard side of the ship, only to hurl her insides into the sea. Clutching her stomach and making her way back to her quarters, she thought to herself, I knew that rum was a mistake.