“Mermaids?” Jihoon repeated, incredulity coating his voice. “You mean like Mer-creatures? As in the myth?”

The other rolled his eyes in annoyance, a bit ticked off at the sudden bombardment of questions and the lack of belief from the pirate. Wasn’t Jihoon a pirate? To be honest, Taeil was expecting the polar opposite of his reaction. Being a man that favoured trekking around the dark forests as compared to roaming the wide seas, he could never get on the same wavelengths as them. “No, Mermaids like the servants Luther from down the road hires to wash his bathrooms,” he retorted dryly, slightly pleased when Jihoon squirmed at the harsh reply. “Of course I meant Mer-creatures. Did you sign up to join Jiho’s crew completely drunk?”

“Well, I joined Jiho’s crew because it was better than staying at home,” he replied honestly, his eyes sparkling with trust and faith. It weirded Taeil out but he had to admit it was a bit refreshing. Minealine was not a good country by any means. Being one of the smallest countries around the North-Western Oceans, they were constantly being attacked by corrupt leaders from every corner. Food was scarce, hygiene was almost non-existent and the red-light districts took up more than half the land. The scarce modern buildings that dotted across the island mostly belonged to the Lanthosian government that currently ruled Minealine. Life was tough around here and Taeil had gotten too used to dark eyes that spoke of many levels of pain and worry. Although, he had to admit, this new guy must be a new brand of ‘idiot’ altogether.

“Because at home-“

“Save it, kid.”

“Okay,” Jihoon said meekly, shrinking even further into the rickety chair.

Pleased that the pirate was surprisingly obedient for his occupation, Taeil cleared his throat and continued, sitting down on a nearby chair. “Moving on, the tale of the Mer-Creatures is certainly not a myth. Many other pirate crews have found the underwater city of Neptune before.”

Jihoon’s mouth swung on its hinges as he fought to gather everything in. Mer-creatures were real? What the hell? “’Others’ as in who in particular?”

Taeil shot him a look. “Only the top few, of course. Those who have made their mark in the World like Shinhwa.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You mean the most notorious crew ‘Shinhwa’?”

“You got to stop repeating after me, brat. You know full well on who I’m talking about. They certainly didn’t gain their reputation from fighting little ponies and capturing butterflies. Finding Neptune is the biggest achievement any pirate can ever hope to get, which is probably why Jiho is looking for it.”

Jihoon could only feel his eyes growing larger by the second at the large flow of information he had never dreamt of hearing before. Jiho was planning on finding Mer-creatures? Things sounded so incredible, he could not decide on whether the shopkeeper was lying or not. The small eyes hidden behind rimmed glasses looked at him earnestly but the words coming out was ridiculously outlandish. “A-and how does the Amerthire stone help Jiho-hyung to find Neptune?”

“Asmeralda. It’s an Asmeralda stone,” at the mention of the name, Taeil abruptly stood up and resumed his search for something, probably the stone in question. For a relatively tiny shop, there really was a lot of junk to search under. “Remember it, boy, because this stone can either bring you to fame or drag you straight down to Davy Jones’ locker. Of course, the stone itself isn’t all that spectacular. If all you needed was this stone, Neptune would be an underwater tourist resort.”

With a soft ‘a-ha’, Taeil pulled something out from behind a pile of teetering books that was wrapped neatly in a red velvet cloth. His gentle hands gingerly unfolded the cloth to reveal a sea green stone that glowed mystically on the velvet. One look at it and Jihoon knew it was the Rock of the Sea. A faintest whiff of the stone brought about the familiar salty air of the Ocean. Upon touch, the stone brought about a sense of calm and coolness that the Ocean could only bring. Even the colour was that of the never-ending depths of the very waters he roamed.

“Just deliver this to Jiho, he knows what to do with it.” His tiny hands quickly wrapped the stone back in the cloth and pushed it into Jihoon’s awaiting ones. “Make sure though… The Marine influence is very strong in this country. If they find out that I gave this to you, it would be on my neck. Make sure that no one catches you.”

His lips were suddenly dry and he repeatedly at them to wet it. “Yes, yes, most definitely. Yukwon anchored Nillili Mambo at the South where the dense forest lies and no country lies within sight. I won’t be caught, don’t worry.”

For a moment, worry and panic flashed across Taeil’s eyes and the grip on his larger hands tightened momentarily. It was fleeting, however, as the very next second, he was immediately frowning, pushing the younger male towards the door.

“If you get it, then leave. Oh, and tell Jiho that the next time he lands here and sends one of his crew to see me, I’m going to personally find Nillili Mambo and shoot him.” With one last heave, Jihoon was thrown back onto the porch and into the unbearable heat. “Good day.”

He only let himself catch a breath when he was deep enough into the forest, following a trail of black scratches on the trunk of the trees that Minhyuk-hyung made when he first set off. The forest was unexplored territory. The King of Minealine was too haunted by the myths of werewolves and witches gathering around their next human meal to send a fleet of his army into the forest. It sounded stupid but two hours ago, Jihoon used to think mermaids were ridiculous stories made up by the minds of pirates too drunk on rum and scorched by the sun to tell the East from the West. He would not be surprised if a group of green-skinned old cackling women dropped from the sky to capture him for their nearing dinner. Nonetheless, it was to their advantage. The Forest of Minuthor, or so this forest was called, was a perfect cover to hide their ship.

Caressing the gentle package hidden in his coat pocket, he continued on his walk back, eyes and ears wide open for a lookout of other more sensible-sounding creatures, like a snake.

It took him another good half an hour before the forest cleared up and gave way to the blue ocean. The sky that greeted him was that of dusk and he was beyond relief that he had managed to find his way back before darkness settled in. Nillili Mambo was anchored behind a protruding outcrop that conveniently masked the ship from any passing ship that made its way around the country. The grinning face of the Jolly Roger was more than enough to give Jihoon the sign that he was home.

Nillili Mambo, ironically enough, was a caravel ship¹, equipped with three masts with lateen sails. That and its narrow structure gave Nillili Mambo the necessary speed and manoeuvrability every pirate required. The only drawback, however, was its lack of space, which the Blockbuster crew found no trouble in, seeing how they were merely a crew of six. Flying high above was their Jolly Roger, a grinning skull, criss-crossed by crossing swords and their characteristic letter ‘B’².

Unlike many pirates out there, Blockbuster was a relatively easy-going crew. After all, there was not much a crew of six could do other than scare a passing child. This did contribute to their lack of notoriety in the seas, unfortunately, but that suited with Jihoon well enough. To be frank, no one on ship really had any taste for violence and death, which was one of the reasons why their ship did not carry a red Jolly Roger flag³.

A few years back, when Jiho had extended his hand to him, he had promised a world of adventure and fun and his captain had kept to his promise.

“Oi, maknae! Did you get what I sent you for?” A shrill cry came from the ship and it was only with his perfect eye sight that he could make out the small figure of his first mate waving at him.

Well, that was surprising. When Kyung drank as much as he did yesterday, it would take him more than a day to become even remotely human and not a hibernating piece of drunken algae on board deck. Seeing the enthusiasm that Park Kyung literally oozed out brought Jihoon to a trot and he gracefully hopped from rock to rock before trudging up the plank.

1 It is ironic because Caravel ships were mostly trading ships that were targetted by pirates themselves. Most pirates perfer the Brigantine. 

2 

3 The red Jolly Roger was a sign that the pirate crew was going to fight without mercy, or, to be specific, without quarters. Bascially it meant that no quarters would be given to the prisoners captured and that everyone would be killed. Contrary to popular belief, pirates do not fly the black Jolly Roger all the time, sometimes prefering to fly false colours or hang no flag at all.

Hope that this chapter was enough for you. All the pirate terminology and facts were found through research but it is close to 2am in the morning so it might be untrue and I might not be thinking straight. Please do correct me if I'm mistaken. And feel free to correct me on my grammar!