Siren's Song

(Nerina's P.O.V)

After John and William left the ship, we weighed anchor and hoisted the sail for the Twice Cursed Island. Just the name alone made me nervous about what we could possibly encounter there, now that we knew that witches were a thing and that Selene, the Moon Goddess, was real. I will seriously shit my pants if werewolves were real. It really makes you question what you understand, as true/real in the world, doesn't it? We've been sailing for a few hours now and, to be completely honest, we are so. Fucking. Bored.

"Can I please just light off ONE cannon?" Nikita whines.

"No! You could kill a whale or something!" Corie yells.

"I promise I won't kill Shamu!" Kita whines back to Corie.

"I swear on the Goddess that I will throw you both overboard if you don't shut up." I say through gritted teeth.

"I just want to light off a cannon Ne, please!?" Kita gives puppy dog eyes, and I'm sunk.

She's seriously a master when it comes to that face.

"Ugh, fine. Only once, Kita."

"Fuck yes!" She squeals out, making her way to the gun deck to go light off her fucking cannon.

We all sit around and wait for her to light off her cannon, which happens, scaring the shit out of all of us because the bitch didn't count down or anything. She runs back up with a massive grin on her face.

"That was so totally AWESOME! I need one at the capital for when people annoy me! I can light it off and get them to leave!" She squeals.

"Not sure if the taxpayers are willing to be saddled with the bill for that," Lizzie snorts.

"Nah, I'll just ask Baba for the money. He'll buy me one."

"Of course he will, anything for his Persian Princess," Ashe whispers out.

I can't help the giggle that escapes me, we all know that she is the princess of the group and her family. I head up to the helm and pull out my spyglass to see if I can find the island, or at least William's ship following us. While I'm looking for William's ship, I notice an eerie fog beginning to form over top of the water a few yards away from us in the direction we were headed.

Hmm, that's strange. The sky is clear and yet there is fog gathering in the distance. I think to myself.

"Hey guys, take a look at this." I call out to my friends.

They all come up to the helm and one-by-one they look through my spyglass at the fog that is getting thicker and closer to us.

"I don't understand. How is this happening?" Lizzie asks.

"I don't know dude; I'm just as confused as you guys are." I reply.

"Wait, do you guys hear that?" Anne asks, her head swiveling around to catch sight of whatever is making the sound she is hearing.

A hush falls over us as we concentrate on hearing anything, and that's when I hear multiple people singing in a language I can't understand, and I doubt the girls understand it either. As the ship continues to sail towards the fog, the singing gets louder, and we can make out that the singers are female by the sound of their voices.

"Guys, I don't like this." Kailani whispers.

"Yeah, I don't like this either. Everyone, get ready and keep a sharp eye out." I whisper back, giving everyone the instructions.

The fog has engulfed the ship at this point and the singing is coming from all around the ship now. Lizzie, Ashe, and Kita walk to the starboard side of the ship while Corie, Kai, Anne, and I walk to the port side of the ship. Looking over the railings, we can see the clear blue waters below.

"I can't see anything." Anne whispers.

"Me either." Corie agrees.

"GUYS! I saw something!" Ashe calls out, and we rush over to starboard.

"What did you see?" I ask, calmly.

"I saw a tail splash and I could have sworn I saw the body of a woman." Ashe tells us.

"Like the dead body of a woman or the tail was attached to the body of a woman?" Nikita questions.

"Tail attached to body." Ashe says quickly, straining her eyes to see if she can find it again.

The singing ends abruptly, the silence absolute.

"Who comes into our playground?" a lilting feminine voice says from below us.

We all look towards where the voice had come from, but we can't see anything or anyone.

"We are on our way to Twice Cursed Island. We are looking for the treasure of Greybeard. His grandson, William, is my grandfather." I state loudly and clearly.

A round of hissing noises raises from below.

"We know who Greybeard is, as well as his lineage. He killed many of our sisters." Welp, she was pissed.

"What do you mean? Who are you?" Nikita asks, with a note of irritation in her voice.

"We are the siren pod of this island and ocean, and we do not take kindly to intruders." Yet another different female voice says.

"We mean you no harm, we are just trying to end a curse placed upon our families by a witch named Beatrix." I state.

This statement is greeted by silence. Suddenly, a great wave rises up above the deck of the ship and without a second to blink, about 7 women—or what looked like women—were standing aboard the ship.

"I am Calypso, the head of the siren pod. These are my siren sisters: Pearl, Raine, Oceanne, Sirenity, Lakelyn, and Brooke." The siren, Calypso, states as she points to each of her pod sisters in turn.

"Wait, Calypso? Like the siren who fell in love with Odysseus and basically kept him prisoner until Zeus told her to let him go?" I ask in astonishment.

I may not be involved in the Hellenistic church anymore, but I do know my mythology and the Gods/Goddess's of my people. Calypso rolls her eyes and lets out a sigh.

"You know, I really wish people would actually stop spreading that story! Did I love Odysseus? Yes, he was gorgeous and muscular, who wouldn't fall in love with him. But damn it! I didn't kidnap him! He's so fucking dramatic." She huffs.

"Wait, what do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"Look, I may have put a barrier around the island that he couldn't escape by himself but if he would have asked to be let go, I would have. Zeus didn't HAVE to get involved but Odysseus was a fucking drama queen and made-up bullshit." Calypso says angrily.

Well, that puts a whole new spin on the mythos.