-10 years later-

“Heyy, Captain Taeyong!”

A rowdy Ten walked in, the long lids of his expensive vest flapping everywhere, the red belt that should have been tying them, tied straight to his waist.

“About time you got here, Lord.”, Captain Taeyong complained, while he tried to put away the white strands of hair that covered his forehead, trait he shared with his now deceased father.

“Aish, I can’t understand a word you say, when are you going to learn to talk like a pirate?”, Ten shoot back without real bite. He sat with open legs in front of the Captain’s desk, and leaned on his elbows with the small smile that never left his lips.

“I’m sorry my mother taught me some modals…”, Taeyong muttered mindlessly, as he eyed the map here and there.  

Ten turned his head a little, trying to read his eyes, “Well, you are a pirate now, you know? You can forget all those royal manners now.”

Taeyong had been brought to the crew four years ago, when Ten was sixteen. He had been assigned to take care of him, as he was going to be the new cabin boy in the ship. Ten still remembered how different the crew treated the white-headed, as opposed as how they had treated him when he first came. Maybe it was because of how old he was, maybe it was because of the eloquent words he used, and the refined ways in which he moved, but the boy always seemed to be the target of the crew’s pranks. He still remembered the one time he had to save the boy from falling from the bowsprit, as they had sent him to wash it with a small brush in the middle of an almost storm.

You can imagine everyone’s surprise (and dread) when they were told in the ex-Captain’s dying breath that Taeyong had been brought in because he was his lost and only son, as his hand was held by said boy. He had had an affair with a beautiful woman from a royal family, and Taeyong had been brought up by them… Until, on his seventeenth birthday, his mother told him and everyone in the party the real origins of the boy, and they went berserk.

So, either he left, or she had to die.

And as his duty as the official heir, he had to take over the ship, and crew, in the way naming Ten, his only friend and helper all along, his second in hand.

He knew every pirate in the ship had been afraid of his rule, as they had been nothing but mean and appalling to him, but unsurprisingly, Taeyong was a benevolent ruler. Even too much sometimes, Ten knew his father wouldn’t approve.

“Are you going to help me figure out this map, or not?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m sorry Captain.”

Ten ran to the other side of the desk, looking over his shoulder.

“We need to go to Costa Bendita.”        

Ten moved his eyes and finger further away from where he had been looking, wonder just how far Taeyong wanted to go. The name seemed of a place in America, maybe close to Tortuga?

“No, no, its closer to us, they say its hidden really close to Korea!”

Ten, skeptical, went back to where he had been searching before and… ah, yes. There it was. Well hidden, but there.

“Hm, weird. With that name?”

“Taken over by the Spaniards first.”

Ten nodded, as he took a feather, and dripped it in ink, writing the directions to take on a paper nearby. They had learnt by experience that taking such fragile maps as this one to the rudder’s deck wasn’t a good idea. It was really old and nearly going to pieces, and as soon as Ten was over, Taeyong wrapped it up and put it inside his special locker.

 “So, why we going here, Captain?”, Ten sat on the edge of the desk, crossing his arms with a smirk, smirk that vanished as soon as the older opened his mouth.

“Do you believe in mermaids, Ten?”

Ten felt the air leaving his lungs. Flashbacks of his past ran in a millisecond through his mind; the voice of the boy, the bright orange, the teal on his tail. That beautiful shade, that for years never left his dreams, all braided with the guilt he felt for lying to his former captain for the first time.

“W-why?”

“There’s a cave right in the middle of Bendita, hidden between the jungle and the monkeys. They say there lays the biggest colony of mermaids in the world.”, the dark eyes of Taeyong sparkled even in that dim lit room. He talked with wonder.

Ten gulped.

“Are we… hunting… them?”

“Hunting? No, not hunting.”, Taeyong seemed disgusted by the idea, as he shook his head. “The scales, that’s what we are looking for.”

“Huh?”

“Do you know how much a mermaid’s scale is worth, Ten? Thousands, if they are big and pretty enough, even millions of wons! And in that cave they are everywhere. They change them all the time, like we do with hair. But only in the bright light of a full moon’s night you can see them. ”

Ten was speechless. For some reason, he felt a sharp dread pinning on his chest, telling him not to go.

But on the other side, his curiosity grew more and more with every word Taeyong said.

“Taeyong, come on, clean business? Us, pirates? Isn’t that against our vow or something?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Can’t we hijack a merchant ship or something?”, Ten knew his voice was a near whine, but couldn’t help it.

“No.”

“And what abo-“

“Listen, I am the Captain in this ship.”, Taeyong stood up, standing tall and proud, with his chest out. He looked annoyed, but Ten couldn’t help but to think of how much he looked like his father in that moment. “And I make the rules. You can either like them or leave the crew.”

Ten sighed, and bowed in defeat.

“Yes, my Captain.”

“We sail at dawn.”

The sun should have been burning Ten’s skin, blinding his eyes and drying the wooden floor on the deck that kept being splashed by the crashing waves. Instead, a thick mass of clouds hid it, making the sea take a greyer shade.

Captain Taeyong was staring at the sky, eyes squinted in worry.

“Seems like it’s gonna storm, isn’t it, Captain?”

“We need to move fast to safer waters. If the storm catches us here…”, he left the sentence hanging in the salty air, as his eyes moved to the quartermaster. “How much longer do you think we’ll take until the Old Man’s rest?”

The Old Man’s rest was a sand bank, where most traveling ships would moor to safety.

“Well… By noon? If everything goes alright.”, Ten replied, as he maneuvered with the rudder.

“I hope everything goes alright.”

“How long does it take you idiots to reef a sail?! Faster!”, Taeyong ran from one side to the other of the deck, avoiding the thick ropes that whipped with the wind. “Faster, bastards!”

Ten winced, as he tried to put more strength to his grip on the helm, trying his hardest not to let it turn on its own. But the sea was being ruthless, and the waves kept crashing on him, so high and savage that the water kept hitting his face. The drizzle that covered everything wasn’t helping either, as the floor was getting more and more wet, and he kept slipping every time he tried to help himself steady the boat.

It was a disaster. The storm had hit them at night, yet about midway to the bank, leaving them to fight against the merciless weather on their own.

“How long?! And don’t lie or I’ll throw you from the rail!”, Taeyong’s voice yelled behind him.

“An hour! Just an hour, you can see it from here!”

“I can’t see no damn thing, idiot!”

Ten laughed, as he heard the boots running away, and the ship felt steadier. With a quick glance over his shoulders, he saw how the sails were all tied and safe around their masts. Their crew, even though old and disgusting, was one of the most experienced, and Ten had almost a complete trust on them.

“In three days, my men!”, Taeyong’s boot stomped hard on the wooden table, “Justin three days we will be the richest pirates of the eastern coast.”

Cheers came from every crew member, metal cups filled up to the brim clashing against each other. Sitting next to him there was Mark, the crew’s newest cabin boy, whose startled black eyes now looked at the Captain with both amusement and admiration.

Ten drank down his own cup as he tried not to think about their destination.

“But why scales, Quartermaster?”, he suddenly heard the boy whispering at him. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, as he tried to focus on his roundish eyes, “Why are they so special?”

“Well my friend,” Ten answered, with a mysterious smirk, ”they are said to be magical.”

“Huh?”

”Some people say they can cure illnesses, some say they can help with beauty... There are even tales of people achieving immortality thanks to a cup of mermaid scale tea every day.”

”Oh...” Mark’s lips formed a circle shape, as his eyebrows rose in surprise. ”Are any of those tales true?”

“Well, only one way to find out, right?”, Ten winked at him, as his cup was filled again with more dark wine.

The stars shone bright after the storm, and the waters were deathly calm. In the morning, when they sailed again they were going to have a tranquil trip, maybe even a too long one. However,  a ball of anxiety bounced up and down in Ten’s stomach, making him bite his lip as he stared towards the line where the black ocean met the dark night. It was only a few hours until the sun rose again, but he was still on the deck, wandering around, waiting for sleep to take him in their loving arms.

‘”Anxious, eh?”, Ten turned around, startled by the voice, only to find his Captain staring far away, walking up to him.” Don’t worry, I’m the same.” Ten thought to himself that their reasons were probably very, very different. “I can’t wait to get my hands on those beauties.”

A calm quiet came between them, where only the small waves crashing against the cask would be heard.

“Do you think my father would be proud of this?”

Ten’s head whipped to his friend surprised with the question, but his mind ran towards the memories of that past afternoon, of how the white headed had taken full control of everything, of how his command was absolute and unquestionable, of how every men responded to his words. His voice had rumbled louder than the angry seas and strong winds.

”Ah, forget about it. What am I even saying...?”, his voice went shyer all of sudden, and without wasting a second, the topic changed, “Are we going to be there before noon?”

“By midday we should be there. Maybe a bit later, depending on the wind.”

The captain nodded.

“Well,” he said, after a few more seconds of silence, “I’ll go back to bed. You should do the same.”

‘”Yeah, yeah...” was Ten’s lazy response, as he followed his leaving shape. ‘”And, Taeyong?”

The other turned around, surprised at the use of his own name. “Yes?”

‘”He would be very proud.”, his lips formed a reassuring smile, as he stared fondly at his friend. The other just replied with another smile, bidding him goodbye, and entered his place.

Just as Ten had dreadfully predicted, the sun was already reaching the middle of the sky and there had been no sign of the land yet. Bad mood and bad smell was starting to take over the pirates. Ten had had to leave his position to break three fights already, all while reassuring everyone that land was soon to be seen.

But the truth was that for over five hours they had only been surrounded by water and skies. He felt completely bewildered though, he had never gotten lost in all of his years of living between waves, and he refused to believe this was going to be his first time. He had learnt to read maps before learning to read words. He couldn’t possibly be wrong now, not in such an easy route.

“When?”, was the captains only word when he climbed up the stairs to the quarterdeck, where Ten was manoeuvring the helm… or more like laying on it, waiting for something to pop out of the horizon line. His eyes said nothing but exhaustion, the same exhaustion he felt himself.

”Soon.”, was his only answer, with a small smile.

“Ten...”, Taeyong’s voice trailed off with impatience, “ Are you sure we are not...?”

“Taeyong.”, he interrupted him, “Have I ever misread a map?”

The other just stared back at his arrogant, assured smile for a few seconds, and gave a sharp nod. Ten decided to trust his gut instinct, even if that meant lying as if everything was okay.

“Ya know what’s weird, though?”

Ten’s ears perked up, as he overheard the conversation going on downstairs, on the main deck. About two more hours had gone by, and still nothing in sight. Not even a gull, not even a strong wind. An alarm threatened to go off in his mind constantly, but a bigger part of himself insisted that he was going on the right direction.

“What?”, other man answered in a rough accent.

“I’ve sailed for days… even weeks before! But somehow this, this trip is feeling like the longest I’ve ever been in. Ain’t ya the same?”

The other one scratched his whitening beard, crooking an eyebrow. “Yeah...!”

But everything was interrupted as a loud thunk made the ship stop on its place, everyone tripping forward due the bounce the hit made.

“Wha…?”

Ten’s eyes opened like coins when he looked up.

Smoke (Smoke? Why was there smoke in the middle of the sea?) began to dissipate, only for a beautiful sight to be seen. An island, with the whitest sand and palm trees with the richest green he had seen in his life. The water that surrounded it seemed brighter, almost shining like millions of diamonds. It was so full of life, it looked inviting.

Ten’s heart began pounding fast like drums. This was it. Loud cheers from everyone in the crew filled the air.

“We are here, everyone! Let the boats go down!”

Hello!!! Thanks to everyone who subscribed this story, i never thought it would have this repercussion, haha!! Anyway, not much happens this chapter, im sorry... but next one....

Well, you'll have to wait.

Please keep supporting this story!! See you, hope you enjoy!