"Maps encourage boldness. They're like cryptic love letters. They make anything seem possible."
-Mark Jenkins
You let out a silent huff, hand running through your hair as the smell of the salty sea wafted through your nostrils, blue eyes closing as you relished the feeling of the sun against your face.
To an outsider, you probably looked as though you were relishing in the victory that you'd just won. You managed to get everything you wanted within a single night. No small feat.
You supposed that, to some extent, you were relishing in your victory, but, in that moment, it wasn't the most pressing issue that you had to consider.
Your mark had gotten slightly bigger over the night, becoming far more noticeable than the small speck it had once been. You still had time, but that didn't stop you from worrying about the journey that lay ahead of you.
There were so many uncertain variables to your mission...the main one being if the music box even existed. You were going on the word of a man you didn't fully trust, but he had no real reason to lie to you and, if he was lying and tried something funny, Bluebeard was there as a backup plan for you.
It was simple.
When things didn't look to be in your favor, you'd do what any smart woman would do.
You'd play the men against one another.
Use their egos to get yourself where you needed to be.
Then, there was the whole issue with Jungkook. You hadn't filled him in on anything that was going to happen and you weren't entirely sure on if you should tell him. You didn't know what his ultimate goal was...but, you didn't think he was lying.
Of course, it would be stupid to trust your intuition alone. You'd need solid facts.
"The men are almost finished resupplying."
You didn't even flinch as a new voice filled the air, Bluebeard moving to stand next to you on the grassy hill where you watched everything unfold.
"We should be able to leave no later than midday." He finished.
You nodded your head, eyes never leaving the sea.
"You seem to know quite a bit about sirens," You started, turning to face him. "Tell me, can they tell a lie?"
Bluebeard seemed a bit taken aback by your question, his eyes widening slightly before his hand moved up to stroke his braided beard in thought.
"That's a bit of a difficult question to answer, girly." He explained.
You frowned, looking at him curiously.
"What do you mean?"
He raised his gaze to the sea, hand still stroking his beard.
"If you were to ask any other sailor, they'd tell you yes," He started. "But, according to my own studies...They have never told a lie. In all siren tales that travel among the sea, sirens have always kept their word."
"Those stories could just be fiction," You sighed, feeling disappointed with his answer. "There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer anywhere."
"I wouldn't say that, lass," He chuckled, gently patting your back. "I've never been lied to by a siren, that's fairly definite."
You smiled softly, turning to look at him.
"Speak with a lot of sirens, do you?"
He laughed, shaking his head.
"Not too many," He said. "But, I'm a sailor. I've had quite a few run-ins with them...Lost some good men to the sea because of that."
You hummed, thinking on his words.
"Seems like they really are monsters."
He stared at you for a few moments before raising his brows and gripping his belt.
"People create monsters, lass," He said softly. "The only way to determine a real monster is to be brave enough to face it."
You laughed, nodding in agreement.
"None of this answers my question."
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Have ye ever been lied to by a siren?" He asked. "I think the answer to that is the answer to your question."
"But, how can that be?" You asked. "Sirens kill people, the marks they give-"
"You don't have to lie to hurt people." He interrupted. "This may just be the rambling of an old sailor, but did you ever think that maybe sirens are so feared because they're honest? We humans are lying beasts...maybe we are the ones twisting history and the sirens are victims of consequence."
You glanced back towards the sea.
"So, you're on their side?" You hummed. "I thought you'd lost a lot of good men because of them?"
"Aye, that I have," He confirmed. "But, we can't rightly say that all sirens are bad because a few of them are. I've heard many-a-tale of beautiful women saving sailors from shipwrecks or a sweet song guiding sailors away from vicious rocks...Seems to this scurvy dog that judging all sirens by the acts of few is the same as judging all humanity by the acts of one man."
You blinked in surprise at his wise words.
That was something that you certainly did not expect to hear from him.
This man looked like something straight out of a movie, his thick pirate accent making his words heavy and a bit mumbled, but you could understand him with such clarity as he spoke such words.
Had you misjudged this man?
"I-"
"Captain!"
Your head turned as an unfamiliar voice filled your ears, blue eyes landing on a young man as he trudged his way up the grassy hill, hazel eyes shining as he waved down Bluebeard.
"Thomas!" Bluebeard greeted happily, laughing as the out-of-breath boy finally made it to him. "Slow down, boy. You'll hurt yourself."
You tilted your head as you managed to get a better look at the boy, eyes widening lightly at the sight of a crutch resting underneath the boy's arm's, helping to keep him upright.
Quite odd for a person of such a condition to be a pirate.
You were impressed.
"I was sent to tell you that we are ready to heave off, sir." The boy--Thomas--stated, smiling widely up at the man with adoration.
Bluebeard smiled widely, lightly patting the boy on the back.
"Alright, boy," He hummed. "Captain Y/n and I will be there momentarily, go back and begin double checking things."
The shaggy-haired boy nodded his head, giving you a glance.
"This is the woman who took down Smith?" He asked, smiling widely.
"Aye."
He outstretched his hand towards you excitedly.
"Thank you," He smiled. "I believed those two needed to be taken down a peg or two. They're bullies both of 'em."
You nodded slowly, not too used to receiving praise for hurting another person.
Your eyes moved towards his crutches momentarily, curiosity eating away at you.
"You're curious, aren't you?"
Your eyes snapped up at Thomas' voice, suddenly feeling ashamed for staring, but your face remained neutral, not doing anything to give you away.
"Yes."
Bluebeard chuckled at your deadpanned response, lightly smacking you on the back.
"That's our captain!" He laughed. "Always saying what's on her mind!"
Thomas chuckled.
"I have a bone disease." He stated. "I was born with it, you see...I need these crutches to walk--obviously. But, I'm not useless! I can do anything as well as any of those other bilge rats!"
You hummed in acknowledgement, watching as the boy smiled, moving closer towards you.
"Do you think you could teach me how to fight like you?" He asked.
Bluebeard tsk'd at the boy's words.
"Now, Thomas," He scolded. "You know I admire ye initiative, but ye bones are frail. You'd never be able to survive such training. Best to be safe, aye?"
Thomas sighed sadly, his shoulders slumping.
"Aye, captain." He huffed. "I'll be heading back now."
Bluebeard nodded, watching as the young man hobbled his way down to the dock.
"Fine boy, that one."
Your eyes snapped over to the bearded captain, his eyes still locked on the younger boy.
You crossed your arms.
"Where are his parents?"
Bluebeard sighed out.
"Don't rightly know." He hummed, "They were selling the boy in a pub five years ago. They were only asking five pieces...I bought him and he's been with my ever since then."
"Doesn't seem like he misses them." You observed aloud.
"That I don't know." He acknowledged. "The boy doesn't speak much...least of all 'bout his crooked parents."
"Why'd you take him in?"
Bluebeard paused for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.
"Felt sorry for the lad," He hummed. "And I needed someone to shine me shoes every once in a while."
Your face remained stoic as he et out a hearty laugh, apparently finding himself extremely funny in the moment.
"I'll be taking me leave now, Captain." He hummed out, calming down. "Think on what've I've said. The rambling of an old sailor may do you good to hear."
You watched as he began walking down the grassy hill, hands clasping his buckle as he continued to mumbled to himself, laughing aloud at something he'd said, Jimin sending him an odd look as he passed him while walking towards you.
"Y/n."
You moved your eyes upward at the sound of Jimin's voice, the blue-haired captain appearing before you, hand grasping at a large rolled-up piece of parchment.
"The map?" You asked, grabbing the paper.
Jimin nodded his head.
"I drew this based solely on my studies." He admitted. "It may not be too accurate, but it marks out any land surrounding the hell that we're sailing into."
You tilted your chin as you unrolled the paper, eyes scanning over the map.
"I'm still uncertain as to why you asked for this." He continued. "What good is a map going to do? I thought you needed Blue beard to take us to the Isle?"
"It will give us an advantage over Bluebeard if we ever need to escape." You said. "We'll know which way land is while Bluebeard will be sailing around blind. At the very least, it gives us a head start."
Jimin stared at you for a moment before chuckling lightly, running a hand through his blue hair.
"Right." He chuckled. "I keep forgetting how cunning you truly are."
You rolled up the map, handing it back over to the blue-haired sailor.
"I'm not cunning...
I just don't trust anyone."
A/N,
Heyo!
I'm sorry that this chapter is a bit boring and even a bit of a filler, but I also don't really care, if you've made it to this point, I already got the views.
I'm currently working on a separate project with @hopeful_writingsand I hope you will all go show her some love and support. this project will not be BTS related, but it will be the first thing that I've published with original characters, so I'd appreciate it if you went and read it even if it isn't great. <3
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this boring chapter. :)
I love you.
I adore you.
I purple you.
I'm out.
-Max