Fathomless Fortunes [slash]

Chapter 8 - Falling

Nicolas hadn't realized he had been holding his breath. He was hidden in a bush right outside one of the guest hut's little windows, following the conversation that was taking place inside. The name Dan Harrison didn't ring a bell, so he was fairly sure they had never met. His own cover would have been blown immediately otherwise. Yet there was something strangely familiar in the man's voice that Nicolas couldn't quite place.

The story about Admiral Morton and Admiral Heron being old friends was new to him as well, but it wasn't impossible. Since he couldn't see what was going on inside, he could only guess at Captain Blake's reaction to the mentioning of a tideheart being needed. This was another yarn every sailor had heard at least once in his life: the Sea Goddess' daughters, the mermaids, sometimes visited the human world and fell in love with a mortal man. The poor fellow didn't know this, of course, because the mermaids could change their shapes to look like normal, albeit irresistibly beautiful women. All the children they had together were normal humans, safe for their first-born who was neither a true mermaid nor a human, but a tideheart. They inherited the incredible powers the Sea Goddess had bestowed upon her mermaid daughters, but every time they used it, it would take up part of their human soul, which was, as everyone knew, a gift of the Fire God. When their human soul was completely gone, their body would transform into that of a mermaid, and they would go into the sea to join their mothers. Nicolas had heard this tale often enough and had always, since he didn't believe in mermaids, seen it as a warning of too much power corrupting a person irrevocably and eventually being their doom.

But what if those legendary tidehearts really existed? Nicolas was immediately reminded of the Siren's Call moving through the fog without any wind. What if someone aboard, maybe the mysterious M'Bato, was a real tideheart, commanding the wind and waves?

His heart raced. This sounded just wrong. Sailors could tell stories of mermaids, sea monsters, and ship's kobolds all they wanted, but there had never been any prove anywhere that supernatural powers truly existed in this world. It was all charlatanry and superstition in the end.

"So you're saying you know where the chart is, Captain Blake?" Dan Harrison was just saying.
Nicolas took a deep breath and focussed on listening.

"Yes. I'll give it to my first mate and she'll determine the locations of the other six pieces, if they are really written down on it. When Captain Shian Fu arrives, we split up." He didn't add that Heron's piece of the chart was staying with him and that he wouldn't even dream of showing it to the others, but his tone was clear.

Captain Lavertine had noticed this as well. "So once we have all the pieces, we'll meet up again, put them together and start this expedition toward the unknown world together. We'll split everything we find fairly, as the pirate code dictates."

"Of course," Captain Blake replied. "Any true pirate will adhere to it."

Nicolas just knew that Captain Blake was looking at Harrison now, trying to find out what his real intentions were. The suspicion of him being another spy for Albia was just too strong after this very unrealistic tale of eavesdropping on Admiral Morton. Nicolas' own story had been far better. Although it had been a clever gambit to tell the pirate captains that there were secret agents out to infiltrate them. Nicolas would be even more careful from now on.

"Then it's settled." It was Captain Lavertine again. "We'll wait for Shian Fu. If you need us, cher Capitaine Blake, you know where to find us. My invitation still stands." Nicolas heard a hint of an undertone there and guessed that this was not about a cup of wine. The postscriptum in the secret letter had also hinted at a more intimate relationship. Nicolas realized that it was bothering him far more than it should have.

The rustling of clothing told him that the men were standing up, ready to leave the hut. Nicolas ducked deeper into the bushes, slowly moving away from the hut into the jungle. When he was sure it would be safe, he straightened himself and looked for the path through the jungle to go back into the beach.