Chapter Text
Water is the most common substance in the world and one of the primary sources of life. The ocean is one of the rawest forms of water. It’s an unrestrainable, uncontrollable, unstoppable force of water. It can be calm and serene in one moment and then turn angry and vicious in the next. Its nature is constantly changing and continually transforming.
For some, it’s livelihood; for some, a commodity; for some, a resource they try and fail to control. It gives freedom; it takes lives. It is constantly moving, never stopping, never the same.
It’s the home of many life forms. Some have squishy bodies, and some are covered in protective plates. Some have sharp teeth, and some have no teeth at all. Some are furry; most are covered in scales.
Besides the many types of plants, fungi, corals and animals thriving in the blue depths of this place, there are some that fight against the natural order of living. Everything that is born must one day die. Respawning isn’t common to everyone, but it is natural to others. But even then, everything must come to an end once your lives are all used up. Once that happens, you will meet your end for the final time and finally let your soul rest.
…and yet some unfortunate souls aren’t as lucky to die and be welcomed by the kind arms of the Goddess of Death.
Some are forced to be mindless rotting bodies carried by the current, inhabiting abandoned caves and building or hunting deep dark forests. Some are forced to stay put at the place of their deaths, protecting worthless treasures that nobody wants or searches for. Some might still remember who they are, they might still recall who they were…yet such cases are so far between that not many have seen nor heard of it happening.
It is unfortunate that there is one soul like that. A soul cursed to fight their new urges and being betrayed by their own rotting body. A soul forced to walk on the edge between the land of living and dead, and yet not genuinely welcomed by either side.
They are forced to travel alone often, trying to seek a place where they could belong…but the chance of finding it is as rare as finding another of kin.
Undead with their mind intact are considered nothing more than myths, legends, and fairy tales to scare young rowdy children.
And yet, there is one lost soul like that.
One lost soul is still fighting to stay in its original rotting body.
One lost soul is still determined not to let go of the past.
One lost soul is trapped at the bottom of the vast blue ocean.
But how did someone like that get here?
In the middle of the ocean, where there are no islands weeks in sight?
How come someone like this is trapped in chains?
Why was this pirate bounded by chains against their will?
Why are their legs tied to an old heavy anchor?
Why was she thrown into the deepest parts of the ocean?
Why is she here?
What happened to their to deserve such a fate?
And why cannot she die?
…
She was trapped for eternity and forced to be bait for starving fish. She was paying for the sins that she had committed. This soul, this pirate…she felt like Prometheus.
Prometheus…she knew his story from old books that were filled with legends and stories of some weird place called Greece. In that story, he was the one who created humans after Zeus, the leader of the Gods, ordered him to do so. Then he forced him to teach humans how to serve and worship them…and he made a fool of them. He tricked Zeus into choosing the offerings that humans would provide them – worthless bones and tasteless fat.
Gods then stole the fire from humans…and Prometheus decided to get it back. He stole from Gods; he stole their sacred fire for his humans as he cared for them more than he cared for some stupid, entitled Gods.
For making a fool of the Gods and for stealing the sacred fire, he was forced to be tied to a cliff that no mere mortal could scale. He was trapped there for eternity as he, as well, couldn’t die. He was in pain as the eagles came by every day to feast on him. And after every night, he was healed again, prime and ready to be feasted upon once more the next day.
Prometheus. He sacrificed himself for what was right in his eyes. He paid the price of his actions every single day until the end of eternity.
She, on the other hand? What did she do to deserve a similar fate? She didn’t steal from some idiots who called themselves “gods”. She didn’t deny their rule. She didn’t…she didn’t do anything but exist.
…that was their crime, wasn't it…
Just existing.
She was a Zombie. She was a Zombie with their mind still intact and their wits unscrewed. She was smart, she was feisty, she didn’t bow to the men that screamed at them to do so.
Maybe that’s another crime she committed – not bowing to those who did not deserve it.
…
She was once Captain, and she did not bow to anybody, especially not to some idiot pretending to be a captain. He did not deserve their loyalty, their wits, their devotion. No, Pirate Joe did not deserve any of those things before and certainly didn’t now after what he did to her.
Why was she even on his ship if she wasn’t going to follow him to hell and back? To put it simply, it was because of money. When she left their home server, when she left Hermitcraft behind, she had nothing to their name but clothes, their sword and their wits. The only reason she was even on this stupid ship commanded by its stupid captain was the promise of gold.
Gold meant she would be able to buy herself a ship and not spend months building it from scratch. Gold meant a possible crew member and not just armour stands with pumpkin heads for company. A ship and a crew then meant more gold. And more gold meant a better ship and a bigger crew. And so on and so forth until their name was known across the seas as the most powerful captain there ever was!
But their plan for an easy job for some easy gold – be a simple crewmember for the next heist for the ship that was recruiting into its ranks and then stealing a lot of their gold – went very, very wrong. Even if the heist itself was successful and she couldn’t wait to get their hands on their portion (and possibly the portion of some clueless pirate), their true nature was discovered by accident.
One idiot was all it took for their secret to come out. It only took one idiot not correctly securing their simple pistol. It took one moment for the pistol to shoot its shot straight into them as she was counting the golden coins and nuggets.
Bang
She, being long dead, didn’t notice it at first…but the idiot did.
“H-hey…” he started, trembling, his eyes watching the new hole in his crewmember’s clothes.
“What?” she grumbled, still not noticing anything wrong, “Everyone got their portion; I’m not sharing.”
“B-but…I just…” his eyes grew wider as there was still no blood coming out nor any pain visible on the crewmember’s face.
“What?” she turned to him, annoyed. Then she saw the gun in his hand, smoke slowly disappearing from its head.
“I just shot you!” the idiot yelled out in fear, “How come you aren’t bleeding?!”
“What is going on over here?” came the annoying voice of the captain of the ship.
“Ah…shit…” Cleo silently cursed, quickly pocketing the gold.
“Captain!” the idiot quickly saluted with his hand still clenching his gun as he pointed with his free hand at the still not-dying, not-in-pain crewmember, “She isn’t bleeding!”
“What? What is this nonsense?” Captain Joe asked, getting even closer, “everyone on my ship bleeds!”
“Well, she doesn’t!” the idiot yelled, his gun pointed at them again, this time aiming for the head, “And I will prove it to you!”
Before the captain could react, before any of the crew jumped at him, before Cleo could even think of an escape, that idiot had already pressed the trigger.
Bang!
The shot echoed across the deck. It luckily didn’t hit them in their head, but it went straight into their undead heart. She stepped back from the shock; she could feel everyone’s eyes on her.
“See!” the idiot yelled like a maniac, “See! She is still standing! She didn’t die!”
She couldn’t help herself but growl in annoyance. It was an inhuman growl, a growl that all members of the ship knew from their time on land.
“A Zombie!” yelled Captain Joe, pulling out his sword, “A Zombie on my ship?! Get her! Seize her!”
“What?” she asked as she was grabbed by the men around her.
She didn’t even get the chance to fight back, to pull out their own sword. She was alone, and even if she was undead, she didn’t stand a chance against the whole crew.
“Tie them up!” Captain Joe yelled the dreadful command, “Get the anchor and tie them up!”
His crew listened to him. She tried to push back; she wanted to get them off her, but it was no use. As some held them in place, some brought out the old anchor that was left rotting in the darkest corner under the deck. She saw it the first time she walked around the ship, and she remembered themself questioning why they had something like this on board.
Now she knew.
“Tie that traitorous monster tightly!” Captain Joe yelled, “Make sure it cannot escape!”
The morons followed their captain's every word. They tied their arms and legs. They were dumb enough not to take their sword but not dumb enough not to overtight the chains on their every limb.
“Let me go!” she roared and even tried to bite them if their hands got too close to their mouth.
As they were finished, they slowly dragged them towards the wooden rail of the ship. She didn’t stop fighting back; she didn’t know what would happen to them if she was thrown overboard like this.
“Wait!” Captain Joe called; his face was no longer filled with fear but a wicked grin.
His crew stopped; she was leaning against the rail.
“Maybe…” Captain Joe walked closer, hiding his sword back into its sheath, “Maybe if she begs for mercy, I might find myself letting them go.”
“What?” his crew mumbled, surprised by the sudden change of heart.
“I’m not a monster like Skeletron,” Pirate Joe continued, “and I might find a beast like you useful…”
“He would do that?” “Captain is so merciful…” “I’m not sure if it’s a good idea…” “It’s a Zombie after all…”
The murmurs grew louder. They were almost as confused as she was about this.
“Just beg me for your life. Just plead like a good little monster for me to let you go. Just pray to your captain to show you mercy,” Pirate Joe grinned, and in her eyes, he looked even more like a monster than she ever felt like, “Beg not to be thrown to the sharks and instead stay here as my slave… Your body might be of a corpse, but it still might prove to be more useful than a hole in the wood.”
She didn’t say anything.
She didn’t beg.
She didn’t plead.
She didn’t do anything this asshole of a pirate wanted of them.
She took a deep breath…and spat right into his face.
“I would rather die than bow to the likes of you…” she said, green eyes filled with disgust and hatred.
“Ew ew ew,” Captain Joe said as he swiftly cleaned her spit, “you little bitch, you will pay for that!”
She only laughed, laughed with their whole soul at this poor fool.
Captain Joe then looked at his crew, some of whom were trying to hide their own smiles.
“What are you standing there for?! Throw them off the ship!”
With that order, she was pushed off the ship.
…
How many days, weeks or even months ago did that happen? How long was she tied up, trapped and forgotten about? With the water filling their undead lungs and body, with their body tied to the anchor being so deep…she didn’t know. She barely recognised the differences between the Sun and the Moon, between a day and a night. She was too deep to know for sure; she was too deep to find out on her own.
Even as she was travelling through the water, gravity and water pushing them wherever they wanted, she still tried to get out. She tried to break the chain, tried to escape their bounds…but it was no use. She wasn’t strong enough to escape or do anything. Water, the pressure, gravity itself…those were more powerful than those puny chains, and she wasn’t strong enough to even defy those.
She may not know how long she was trapped here, stuck in one place, but she knew that if she didn’t figure out how to get out of their bonds…she would stay there for eternity…
She isn’t dying. Even if she is forced to stay in place, she is not dying. She is undead; she is a Zombie…and she cannot die. Even if their arm was slowly eaten away by a nearby fish, even if they stole their own eye from them…she wasn’t dying. She might not feel pain, but the loss of their eye and most of their hand wasn’t good either.
Maybe this was their fate, just like it was for Prometheus. He was eaten alive by birds; she was eaten dead by fish and predators. But unlike Prometheus, she knew she wouldn’t heal up. She doubts that even if she got out of here, out of these bonds and endless blue ocean, she could ever get their hand back…or even their eye.
She doubts that even with a fresh batch of potions, even with an eye or hand expert…she knew she wouldn’t get them back. She will forever be without one eye and possibly with only one arm.
She cursed the stupid Captain Joe who had thrown them here.
She cursed the idiot who blew their cover.
She cursed at themselves for being so stupid.
She shouldn’t have boarded that ship.
She shouldn’t have joined that crew for that job.
She shouldn’t have been so careless.
…
How long was she underwater?
How many more Moons had passed?
How long until it will be over?
How long until she finally dies?
She didn’t have any answers to those questions.
She didn’t even see any fish swimming around anymore. No fish, no sharks, no rays…nothing. There was just a blue endless ocean, just sand, just emptiness, just them and their loud mind.
From the bottom of the ocean, she looked to the surface. She looked towards the sky hidden behind the blue, dark ocean. A long time. It must have been a long time since she was trapped here. And…she was about to do it. She was about to pray, to beg, to plead for anyone to find them.
She was about to start to pray to the Gods. Not those from the old books, not those that punished Prometheus as she knew they wouldn’t have helped them. No. She won’t pray to those assholes from those stories…
There was someone else, though. Someone she could pray to. Even with their mouth and throat filled with the salty water, she could still beg someone for help…or better yet, the Queen.
Everyone knew of her. Every sailor, every fisherman, everyone living anywhere near any bodies of water…all of them heard about the legend of The Blue Axolotl. She knew of her as well…even if she can’t recall where she heard fo her or what was her whole story. The only thing she recalls is that she was known as The Ocean Queen. The ruler over all oceans, lakes, rivers and springs. With how long she lived and ruled her empire, she gained godhood in everyone’s eyes.
Was it true? Or was it just a fairy tale? The trapped Zombie did not know. It was wishful thinking; it was a pitiful plead…but what else could she do?
She was too weak to tear off the chains.
She had nobody who would be looking for them.
She was all alone at the bottom of the ocean.
All she could do was either wish for death to come…or for a miracle to happen. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t wish to meet the Goddess of Death…she only had one option left.
She could only pray to the Goddess of Oceans, the Ocean Queen herself.
She could only beg an old legend for help.
“Please… Ocean Queen… Help me…”
There was no sound coming out of their rotting mouth. There were only three bubbles carrying the sound towards the surface. Nobody would hear them until they popped and let the prayer carry into the wind.
Maybe someone will listen to the wind; perhaps someone will hear them.
But even if they did…what chance there is that they will know where to look for them?
The ocean is vast, deep and dark. She didn’t know of anyone who would be able to see from the deck of a ship to the seafloor. She didn’t know if anybody would even bother to ride the waves to these parts when there were no fish or shipwrecks to discover.
It was worthless.
It was useless.
It was pointless.
Nobody would hear them.
Nobody would come for them.
Nobody would even care that she disappeared.
She was too weak to escape on their own.
She was too tired to care anymore.
She could only let out those three bubbles again and again.
Bubbles that nobody would see.
Bubbles that nobody would hear.
Bubbles that nobody would notice.
The lost soul had finally closed their only eye.
The lost soul had finally accepted their fate.
The lost soul had finally given up.
She stayed still for the first time in months.
She lost all faith.
She lost all hope.
Hope to see the surface again.
Hope to walk the land again.
Hope to be free again.
She was once known as Captain Cleo, and she was trapped at the bottom of the ocean.