The broken vessel was no longer even a speck on the endless horizon. The Harrowed Maiden and her crew were alone; surrounded by nothing but the rolling great blue waves, the soft whistling of the wind, and the creaks of her old frame. The captain finally called the crew to drop the anchor and give the sweeps a rest. Brigit left the wheel, her rage had pittered out hours ago, but she still wore its smouldering expression like a mask. The gold setting sun caught her eyes and caused her to squint, only making the facade look more authentic. The crew crumpled and sealed their lips as she walked past them, as if her aura alone could hurt them.
"Santiago," she spoke firmly as she approached the man who was still alongside the doctor.
The two men had been talking about the injured crew member's care in Carlos' native Spanish. The young doctor seemed more startled by Brigit than Santiago did— oddly enough since he would have been facing her. The doctor's nose was far too buried in his notes. Notes that may as well have been a ledger of human lives and their resource costs.
"Sir," Santiago acknowledged as he turned in his seat to face her. His expression seemed all too knowing. Though physically he was looking up at her, everything about his body language made it abundantly clear he looked down on her in every other sense. His back was straight and his expression was judgmental and stern— like a parent about to lecture their child. Even how he looked up at her over his spectacles made it clear he didn't think she needed to be seen clearly. The light did not reach his eyes, making his usual dark brown irises appear as a black void.
"Sure ya heard from all the gum flapping." She gestured vaguely in the direction of the now evacuated sweeps. She met his unblinking stare with one of her own, though hers seemed far more forced.
"The sea demon. Might I say, captain, bringing that beast aboard was incredibly foolish. You erred by giving it any time of day," Santiago said frankly as his gaze finally broke away from her. He brushed off his gloved hands and adjusted his jacket sleeves. The fabric of both articles of clothes were far higher brow than the rest of the crew— including the legitimate doctor he sat alongside— wore. The lining and cuffs of his jacket were made of an imported silk and dyed Scheele's Green. Surely the rest of the matching outfit was made of equally expensive products. "Did you make a deal with it?"
Carlos was quiet, but his golden brown eyes were wide with thinly veiled intrigue as soon as 'sea demons' were mentioned. He tilted his head downwards in an attempt to let his hair drape in front of his face, forgetting most of his overgrown bob was tied back. The few strands that did move hid nothing. His cheeks twitched as he bit back any change in his face. He flipped a few pages ahead in his book and readied his pen so it hovered just barely above the parchment with a waver that portrayed his eagerness.
"How daft do you think me?! Of course I ain't made no deals!" Brigit said.
Santiago let out a long, unconvinced hum. He drummed his fingers against his thigh. "Then run it through with a sword as it sleeps and rid us of it."
"It seems willing to aid in the whole great serpent business, ain't ask me to make no deals. Just implied he'd go willingly if I let the carnies go."
"Sounds like you made a deal, captain. Best check your body in case it had its grubby little tentacles on you."
Brigit's face scrunched up and reddened. She inhaled sharply to ask the man what he was accusing her of, even planting her hands firmly on her hips defiantly, but luckily Carlos had failed to hold himself back and hopped into the conversation. "You're talking about a witch's mark— or a devil's kiss."
"Correct." Santiago nodded. Carlos beamed at the conformation and jotted something down in his native tongue. Brigit's face was still twisted in a mix of repulsion and confusion, so Santiago continued, "When deals are struck you'll receive a physical reminder. That is to say, sir, best keep an eye out for any skin pigment changes. I'd be in the vague shape of an octopus."
Brigit stared between the two men for a moment, her eyes strained not to flick to her bare hands or the V of her shirt that exposed part of her chest. She closed her eyes to try and prevent herself from acting too worried. "I didn't even touch him—" she tutted at herself and started over, "I didn't even touch it. 'Gardless, this ain't why I'm here! Santiago, I need you to assist me in… interviewin' the thing."
"I'd advise against it, sir," Santiago said.
"Hear me, I know you are an expert in sea monster studies and what not… But we got the opportunity to have some real insider knowledge. I think its input could be mighty valuable. I just ain't got the slightest clue how to talk to the thing."
"And what's stopping it from lying? What about turning on you in the last moments and aiding the great sea serpent when we find it? What's stopping it from sinking our ship in the night? Say you're right about having not made a deal with it: you have no protections from it slaying you," Santiago lectured, "As much as I know about their kin, I'm human. Fallible. Trying to keep it around and trusting I never falter in detecting its lies and schemes is risky. It's also trusting that no one in the crew will let their curiosity get the best of them and sell their soul to that God forsaken thing."
Brigit's lips pressed into a thin line. She felt her blood go cold in her veins. She started to think about the whole situation, in part blaming Nia and her gentle heart for humouring the idea of keeping a demon on board as long as she had. However, a voice with a heavy Spanish accent shattered her train of thought.
"I thought mermaids were extremely territorial? The great serpent would likely try to get rid of him before even looking at us, right?" Carlos asked, "And I thought they weren't exactly known for lying— just twisting things. Worst I'd think based on what captain said is that he'd give us the most basic, useless information now that his troupe is safe. Vanish in the middle of the night or some such trickery."
Santiago shot Carlos a glare, one Brigit caught. Suddenly, the scholar's points were made clear. Whatever meekness had leaked into her body language vanished and she stood strong with her new assumption. She clicked her tongue. "Oi! Your job is safe, ain't replacin' ya with a fish or nothin'. Stop fussin', Santiago. I need ya to mediate so I can be sure no accidental deals happen. Hop to it." She flicked her wrist and turned before any more could be said. Her long coat fluttered dramatically behind her, on purpose no less.
Santiago shook his head. He pulled his glasses off his face and wiped them on his jacket's bright green collar as he muttered something about this being Brigit's own folly. He stood as he placed the spectacles back on his face. His fingers lingered pressed on his temples for a moment before he took a deep breath in, regained his unbothered composure, unknitted his brows, and followed after the captain.
Carlos eyed him as he left. He waited a good long while before he too rose from his seat and stalked after the pair, his notebook and quill clenched tight in his hands.
Brigit was already standing in front of the sea demon by the time Santiago climbed down to meet her. She was in the middle of grumbling about how Eddie had said the thing was locked up— though she did kind of expect the scene she had climbed down into. The merperson sat there, in the heep of his churning tendrils, his hands folded politely in his lap— just as he was when she first saw him aboard the other ship. All the cuffs and chains laid uselessly around him, clamped onto empty space. The creature was staring up at Brigit, utterly unbothered by her grumbles, at least until Santiago entered the room. Its golden eyes snapped to him, the corners of its lips twitched. Amused. A subtle change only Santiago caught.
"So what exactly have you dragged me down here for?" Santiago asked, hanging back a few feet from the creature. His lip curled in disgust as he watched its extra limbs twist and turn in and around themselves.
"Pick its brain. I needa know its magic, its actual goals here… Whatever we might need to know."
Santiago looked the being up and down. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, his eyes rolled towards the ceiling as he thought. "Mm. An octopus, but not the same family as the great Kraken. Nor is it of the family of the death dealing blue rings of the south. Could be of the shape shifting family, but why would it disguise itself as a different octopus and not something even lesser and inoffensive as, say, a jellyfish? Or something powerful enough to aid in the serpent hunt— like the aforementioned Kraken's bloodline? All this meaning: it isn't notable. Just do as I suggested before."
"That ain't actually telling me its magic," Brigit said, also crossing her arms.
"A weak magic," the octopus said plainly, "I reckon your merfolk 'scholar' is less invested in knowledge and more in execution."
Santiago scrunched his nose. His eyes shot daggers at the octopus. "You're trying to bait me."
"Did it work?"
A long silence followed, but eventually Santiago exhaled loudly. He rolled his wrist and prompted, "What water were you plucked from?"
"Mediterranean Sea."
"Most your kin don't have answers like that," Santiago paused as a confused look washed over the captain's face. He restrained another annoyed sigh, instead just drumming his fingers against his bicep with tense frustration. For her benefit alone he continued, "The names of seas and oceans are uniquely human. Most of their ilk have no respect for our labels given the water is their domain. Yet," he turned his attention back to the octopus, "you did not hesitate. You've been out of the water a while— and given you are not speaking in a Greek, Italian, Arabic or some such accent… You were captured and sold young, weren't you?"
"It appears so."
"Do you even have a domain?"
The creature did not answer. It didn't look like it had anything to hide. It tilted its head to the side and raised its eyebrows just a bit. The look said it all: what do you think?
"Whatever magic it has it doesn't matter. It's worthless," Santiago concluded, "Without a domain a sea demon is worthless. Their territories store leftover magic that leaks off their vile little bodies, all it has is itself to host magic. I've seen very few of their kind have a vast magic pool within just their beings. That and it takes fifty years for these things to reach maturity— if I were to guess this one's about seventy or eighty. It hasn't had to fend for itself for just as many years. It's only here for its own protection, if you scuttled the ship it was on it would have been picked off by the first sea demon it stumbled across." Santiago pushed off the wall and turned towards the door. "Run it through, it has nothing we can use." He got two steps away. Brigit had begun to protest, however that was not what made the man tense. No. It was the merman's quiet, calm voice. The lack of emotion felt like a threat.
"What deal did you make?"
Santiago glared over his shoulder. "What are you on about?"
Again, it did not answer. It blinked slowly, still awaiting a reply.
"For being around humans so long, I would have expected you to be a better manipulator. Pay it no mind, Brigit."
And with that Santiago was gone. Brigit frowned as she watched him vanish back topside.
"What a charmer. And he didn't even get you the answers you wanted. Shame."
"Enough of the sauce, fiend," Brigit said, "So batter down the hatches unless you want to fess up your magic."
"So you know what to expect when you come to kill me? Tempting."
The captain let out an annoyed growl. The octopus seemed entirely too adept at getting on people's nerves. She swatted aggressively at the air as if to dismiss the merperson, but it was not as if it was headed anywhere. They locked eyes. His face was blank, even despite his prior mocking tone. Just as Santiago had taken his calmness as a threat, so did Brigit.
Run it through.
The words echoed in her mind. She rested her palm on the hilt of her sword. The blood that coursed through her ears sounded eerily like Nia's voice. Could she really blame the octopus for not sharing this fact about him? Was she even interpreting the intent behind his lack of cadence and expressions correctly? What would Nia say if she were in the room?
Brigit ground her teeth. Her hand shook and dropped from the hilt, forming a fist at her side instead. She followed Santiago out after letting out a huff. She could feel the creature's eyes follow her all the way out. Before she left she spoke aloud, "Ain't ya start any trouble, ya hear? I'll be sleeping on your fate."