Work Text:
Me Jolly Sailor Bold
Bernard "Boogey" Rackham was the proud owner of a fine ship.
It was called "Boogey's Bay".
That alone told people who encountered him what they were dealing with.
Boogey came from wealth, his family, the Fortunes, being an influential force in the French courts. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, literally as his family could afford the real material to do such a thing. He grew up with the most finest clothes, the most intellectual tutors, and the most indulgent food that no man with rough hands would ever have access to.
Yet, he gave it all up.
Everyone in the Fortune family knew of Boogey's love of the sea. But as the years passed and he grew from a young lad to a proud courtier, they, especially his parents, realized that it was more than love: it was an obsession. It was as if something was calling him to the sea, as if the sea was his true home.
It didn't come as a shock to Count and Countess Fortune that their son one day left, taking his necessities, money, a ship, a couple of servents to be his pirate crew. It was a social hit, to be sure. But the family would manage as this wasn't the first time disgrace came towards the family. Besides, the Count and Countess were young and able; they could just make another child, one that wouldn't be such a disappointment to the Fortune name.
It also didn't bother Boogey that no one came searching for him. He got what he wanted for years: to be sailing across the seas, her beauty just as intoxicating as it was when he was a child. Fortunately for him, he knew how to move such a beast of a ship. Unfortunately for him (and his new crew), he knew nothing about piracy and how to be a captain.
Still-
There was always a first for everything.
Very soon, Boogey's name travelled across the seven seas, striking fear in the hearts of poor sailors and expert privateers. He earned the nickname "Boogey" for one good reason: he was the Boogeyman of the waters. People sang shanties of his cruelty, scared others with tall tales of him around the fire, envied his riches, his successes, his power to seemingly having the most well-to-do families on his payrol, like they were nothing but puppets on strings to him.
But no man was invincible.
Sooner or later, Boogey would have to meet his match and adapt quickly-
Or else he too would meet a fate in the watery graves like many pirates before him.
The blonde pirate captain turned his head the moment his ears caught a noise. It was a dark and foggy night, and it was starting to get difficult to steer his dear ship. All of his crew were on watch, on guard for whatever could hit them.
However, it wasn't something natural like a storm or a huge rock in the sea that was about to hit them.
It was something more supernatural.
Something more... seductive.
Upon one summer's morning, I carefully did stray—
Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay.
Deep, mellow, hypnotic~
These words described the voice that echoed through out the area. Boogey's crew frantically looked around the source, but to no look. That was, until the fog started to clear in the front. Here on top of a group of rocks sat a handsome man. The heavenly moonlight shined upon his dark skin, and when he opened his eyes, the most brightest of green were revealed, like two priceless emeralds. His fish tail flopped against the rock lazily as he continued.
Conversing with a young lad who seem'd to be pain—
Saying, "William, when ya go, I fear you'll n'er return again.
Boogey's violet eyes met the mysterious man's. His pale hands suddenly let go off the wheel as his legs carried him, unable to stop, even if he wanted to.
My heart is pierced by Cupid—
I disdain all glittering gold.
There is noting can console me—
But me Jolly Sailor Bold.
Boogey felt pairs of arms from his crew wrapping around him, dragging him away from the dark beauty.
"Captain, don't!" Boogey could hear his the frantic cries of his second in command, Caleb "Creeper" Houston. "It's a bloody siren! Don't be fool by him!"
The blonde captain shook his head, desperately trying to snap out of it.
His hair it hangs in ringlets—
his eyes as black as coal.
Me happiness attend him—
wherever he may go.
From Tower Hill to Blackwall—
I'll wander, weep and moan.
All for me jolly sailor—
until he sails home.
It was too late, though—
The siren had him in his clutches.
Now, he was the puppet.
And the siren knew it, his smile splitting from ear to ear, his eyes a hint of playfullness.
My heart is pierced by Cupid—
I disdain all glittering gold.
There is noting can console me—
But me Jolly Sailor Bold.
With an agile flip, he entered the cold waters. Yet, the song was still as clear as day.
My father is a merchant —
The truth I now will tell.
And in great London City—
In opulence doth dwell.
Suddenly, the water sprang up, the waves raising the siren higher than the pirates and their ship. His mermaid tail disappeared, morphing into a pair of legs. He was now wearing a loose chiton dress in all black while the chlamys cloak worn above his elbows was bright red. In his left hand clutched a scythe, its curve sharp and handle dark as his attire.
His fortune doth exceed—
300,000 coins of gold.
And he frowns upon his son—
Cause he loves a sailor bold.
My heart is pierced by Cupid—
I disdain all glittering gold.
There is noting can console me—
But me Jolly Sailor Bold.
The siren allowed the waters to sank down a couple of inches, just enough to reach out to Boogey, his right hand cupping a side of his face. The fearless captain flinched at touch, his warm body constrasting with the coldness. The beauty's long, black hair, styled in dreadlocks, covered his face, yet his eyes still shone bright as ever.
My name, it is Grim—
a merchant's son fair.
And I have left me parents—
And three thousand pounds a year.
While up aloft in storm—
From me his absence mourn.
And firmly pray da day—
he safely will return.
His grip became tighter, his sharp nails digging into Boogey's skin, causing blood to drain down. Yet, the pirate captain couldn't care one but. He was far too gone — entranced by Grim's song that even pain didn't faze him.
He needed to hear this song.
He must.
Grim leaned above Boogey's face, his eyes watery as tears fell upon the captain. Yet his voice stayed strong.
Come all ya pretty fair maids—
whoever you may be.
Who love a jolly sailor bold—
that ploughs the raging sea.
Then, silence.
The crew brandished their weapons, guns, knives, whatever deadly, waiting for the moment to attack the monster.
But the moment never came.
Vanishing his great scythe, the siren let go off of their captain, which earned a soft whimper as Boogey's hands tried to grab Grim. He needed him close, to feel his body, to feel the cold yet oddly comforting body of his new obsession.
But, Grim kept distancing himself. The water brought him down until only his shoulders and face was visible. His green eyes gazed at Boogey's violet, a somber look overtaking the mischief light that had earlier. With another dive, Grim sank into the ocean, his legs now back to fish tail, swimming away as his song faded into nothingness.
My heart was pierced by Cupid—
I disdain all glittering gold.
There is noting can console me—
But me Jolly Sailor Bold.