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The crow's nest only lasted a day before the broken wood completely fell apart.
Marnie tried to take the flag with her but once it was wet the weight became too much to keep a grip on for more than a few hours.
Her body ached as she struggled to keep herself afloat each time a wave washed over her.
She went days without eating, she felt weak, she felt hopeless. All that struggle to survive and now she was going to slowly dry up and starve, in the middle of the ocean.
The sun beat down on her paper white skin as she stared up at the sky, any part of her body that wasn't underwater was hot and dry. She barely had the energy to think, any thoughts that could make it into her head were unwanted.
She didn't want to think about what she'd have to do if she actually did survive this, she didn't want to think about how she ended up here, she had one thing to focus on and that was surviving.
Another day passed and another night passed, any sleep she had was brief, she'd always wake up thrashing in the water, nightmares, being dragged even deeper than before, the water crushing skull, her waterlogged lungs rotting her from the inside, her crew with a sword to her throat, her with a dagger to Alyssa's heart. Each time she woke up to the stars she couldn't stop herself from crying. When the sun came back up, it was easier to focus on what was around her, even if it was just the horizon and sparse clouds.
There was a splashing in the distance. She turned, falling below the surface for a moment as she lost her balance. Someone might have happened to sail near enough to spot her. She could make it, she could survive.
It was a school of fish, small, blue and white fins breaking the surface and diving below again.
She couldn't even reach them. She was desperate for anything to keep her alive, but even if she tried there was no way she had the skill or the energy to catch a fish with her bare hands.
But something ached within her, burned, like the pain when her lungs burned for air beneath the sea. She had to do something. She had to survive.
She heard it again. Ten thousand voices, inside and out. So loud it felt like she would never hear her own thoughts again. She would survive. She had no other choice.
She had a clear focus despite the whirlpool of voices.
She reached for the fish that were so far from her reach. All the pain in her body faded. A crackling, twisting black tendril shot out from her shoulder, down her arm, and in an instant pierced a fish, leaving it motionless on the surface.
The voices went silent. Her stomach dropped, she was sure she was about to puke, her lungs burned, the pain returned, she just now noticed how burnt her skin was, how tired her joints and muscles were, but she had to survive, and now she had food.
She swam for the fish. Grabbed it desperately, she needed anything to keep her alive. She stopped. Her heart skipped a beat. It's eyes were blackened, beyond lifeless, like they were absorbing the light around them. She felt dizzy looking at them.
She couldn't eat this, this was crazy, she shouldn't have taken the deal, she should've let herself drown. She can't do this to a person, take the light from their eyes.
The voices returned, her head spun, her vision blurred and began to fade. If she made it to shore, that was her only way forward, or else whatever let her live would drag her back to the depths.
She made her choice at the bottom of the ocean. She did what she had to, to survive.
She tore into the fish, its blood was black as it smeared against her face and hands, it felt like fire as it slid down her throat, like poison when it reached her stomach, but it was keeping her alive. She needed more.
The rest of the school of fish swam downward after the first was killed. She had a direction.
She ducked under water and kicked downward as quick as she could. Her eyes stung from the salt, it didn't matter, all she had to do was kill them, they'd float to surface by themselves, she wouldn't be down here long.
She called on that energy that shot out of her a moment ago and reached out to take another fish's life. The tendril went right through it and it began to float upwards. She didn't feel any pain this time. She had something more important to focus on.
She kept kicking downwards, the water around her meant nothing, it was just the obstacle between her and food, between her and surviving. The black energy struck another as the first floated past her, lightless. She hesitated
Another bolt of crackling energy shot through her, it stung like a jellyfish had just wrapped itself around her entire arm. She gasped, and suddenly her mind was clear from the need to eat, to survive, and filled with panic was water once again began to fill her lungs.
She tried to swim up, her chest was heavy and felt like it was in fire from the inside, her ascent was painfully slow, the pressure of the water around her was suddenly a lot clearer too, her eyes were bulging, her heart was racing. How deep had she swam?
She finally broke the surface alongside the third fish, which had a gash cutting it in half, blackened blood pouring into the water around her like ink.
She coughed up the water, her lungs still stung, she still felt like she was drowning, she could barely keep her eyes open.
She really didn't want to have to eat these corpses right now.
But they would keep her alive a little longer, and waiting to eat them later could attract sharks, or worse monsters lurking in the depths.
She choked down the remains, begging to no-one that it would be enough to get her to shore.