Chapter 88: THIRD POV.

"Hehehe, yes, I’m afraid the person you’re looking for isn’t here, ma’am’s... So if it’s not too much, could you let us go—" he said, his voice cracking slightly.

He tried to bow his head respectfully, hoping that a little bit of politeness would save their lives.

But his heart dropped into his stomach when he saw the expressions on both their faces turn from boredom to pure displeasure.

The air suddenly felt ten degrees colder, and the water around the giant shark seemed to grow still and heavy.

"Who are you calling ma’am!" they both yelled at him at the exact same time.

Douglas felt as if his soul had literally left his body. Facing their unified aggression was like standing in front of a tidal wave.

He stumbled back, nearly tripping over the fat man’s legs, his hands shaking hard.

’ The nerve of these humans... How can Jacob be from the same race as these revolting lot...’ Persephone thought inwardly.

"You better keep quiet if you know what’s good for you," she said coldly.

She didn’t move a muscle, but the pink-haired mermaid looked like she was ready to snap her fingers and turn the boat into splinters.

Her eyes were fixed on Douglas like he was a bug she was about to squash under her boot.

"Understood! Crystal clear! Not another word!" Douglas said in a total panic.

This was his first time seeing mermaids before, and it was nothing like the stories told in the taverns.

In those stories, mermaids were beautiful girls who sang songs to lure and drown sailors.

But the reality was terrifying, the both of them gave him the feeling as if he was standing in the presence of extremely powerful individuals.

He now realised that perhaps the rumours were true, this race were the true rulers of the Blueberry Sea.

He had no intentions of getting on the bad sides of these two, especially since they were currently standing on a shark that was the size of a house.

"Please forgive my sister, she tends to be a bit aggressive at times."

When Artria spoke to him in a kind, soft tone, Douglas felt a tiny spark of hope. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Her blue hair moved gently in the breeze, and her face looked much more approachable than the pink-haired one’s.

He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. ’Maybe this one is the reasonable one,’ he thought to himself.

Perhaps if he talked with this blue-haired mermaid, things wouldn’t be so bad.

Maybe he could even convince them to give him a little gold or a push toward the nearest land.

How delusional one could get was quite incredulous, or perhaps he was the only one with such a mental issue?

"Please, if there’s anything you need from us! Just tell us! We’re just simple sailors, happy to help!" Douglas said, putting on his best honest man face.

"Mghhfnhfhh! (Yes, please tell us!)" both skinny and fatty said in muffled voices.

Douglas was still holding their mouths shut, but they were nodding their heads so hard they were likely to give themselves whiplash.

"Oh my, how kind of you," Artria giggled.

"Alright, how about telling us why you have the scent of his blood on you three..." Artria asked yet all of a sudden, her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

She leaned in just a little closer to the boat. "It’s faint, but there’s no doubt it’s his blood..."

Douglas’s hopes were dashed in an instant.

To have the so-called "kind" mermaid’s voice take such an unexpected cold turn, sounding even more frigid and dangerous than the pink-haired one’s. He didn’t know what to say.

Moreover, the pink-haired one’s eyes also turned just as cold. Persephone swam forward, the water around the area begining to churn.

Out from below the surface, Douglas saw the dark, sharp top fins of several more sharks emerge.

All swimming in perfect unison, circling around the larger shark that was keeping their boat stuck in place.

There must have been dozens of them, their cold, black eyes watching the lifeboat with hungry interest.

Seeing all this, Douglas couldn’t help looking at the innocent sea cow with deep regret. The animal was still floating nearby, looking at the scene with its big, innocent eyes.

’If only I hadn’t chosen to try and kill this cursed thing, none of this would’ve happened,’ he thought miserably.

He had been so focused on his stomach that he hadn’t noticed he was rowing right into a trap.

The clues were there from the beginning , with how loud and fast they’d been rowing to approach it, it was strange the creature hadn’t left even then.

Moreover, Douglas wasn’t stupid enough not to know that the one they must’ve been talking about was the lad who’d stollem his ships.

’ So that bastard was a mermaid to? No wonder he was so tuff... But compared to these two...’ He thought grimly, his thoughts trailing off.

"I-I can explain!" Douglas stammered, his mind racing to find a story that wouldn’t get him eaten. "The boy! We found him! We were... we were taking care of him! Yes! We rescued him from the waves!"

Persephone scoffed, a sound of pure disbelief. "Rescued him? Just one look at you was I needed to know just how filthy and greedy of a man you are."

" Since you dared to touch him, I’ll make sure your death takes a very, very long time."

Artria stayed silent, but her blue eyes were staring coldly at Douglas, this time around, she didn’t seem to be against her sister.

The pressure was becoming unbearable. Douglas felt like he was about to faint from the sheer terror of it all.

*******

Meanwhile, sometime later, on the stolen battleship.

"Uwahhh..." Jacob let out a long, loud yawn as he slowly came awake.

The morning sun was streaming through the small porthole of his cabin, hitting him right in the face.

He felt surprisingly good. His body didn’t ache as much as it had the night before, and the bed was much softer than the floor of a jail cell.

He stretched his arms out wide, hearing his joints pop, and sat up straight in the bed.

Jacob felt refreshed and ready to tackle the day.

But the moment his eyes opened, he froze. He blinked once, then twice, and then he began to rub his eyes strongly as if he’d seen something unbelievable.

He thought he might still be dreaming or that the ale from last night was playing tricks on his brain.

"What are you doing in my room!" he yelled, his voice echoing off the wooden walls.

Priscilla was sitting in a chair not too far away from his bed, slumped down, her long legs crossed over one another.

Her large pirate hat was tipped forward, completely covering her face. She looked like she had been there for hours.

"Oh, you’re finally awake. I thought you’d never wake up. You sleep like a rock," she said. Her voice was muffled by the hat, and she sounded just as groggy as he felt.

Priscilla used one hand to lift the hat off her face.

She reached up and scratched behind one of her furry white ears, blinking her golden eyes at him.

She had a bit of a messy look about her, her white fur sticking up in odd directions, and she didn’t look nearly as intimidating as she did the day before.