Time Torn

by Ilse V Rensburg

  He's right. The mythology of all kinds interest me. Walking over to one of the two fridges I open one door and inspect the shelves. There are leftovers from last night’s dinner which is some sort of chicken casserole and what looks like two-minute noodles. I grab a jar of strawberry jam instead, placing it beside my four slices of bread. I’ll have to get my protein later.

  “Fine. When should I meet you?”

  Caiseal smiles. He knows he has me. “After you’ve eaten.” He sniffs making a show of pulling up his nose, despite how far away from me he stands. “And had a wash.”

  “Hey!” I exclaim dropping the knife I'd been using to spread my jam and place my hands on my hips. “I don’t complain about how you guys smell, and some of you really stink.”

  Caiseal laughs ignoring me as he manoeuvres out the kitchen. Keenan glances up at us, his unibrow crinkling in the middle before he brings the bottle of rum to his lips and chugs. Elvin continues to eat his porridge showing no signs that he has even been listening in the first place.

  I am hoping I can get away with the comment. I'd spotted a new keg in the corner of the room which means it's only a matter of time before Jamie stumbles in.

  A few nights after setting sail Jamie discovered the first keg in the corner. We'd stayed up past midnight as he attempted to finish it, after which he had stumbled out onto the forecastle deck singing pirate songs. I’d followed, sipping on mulled wine with Keenan in my shadow. Jamie pulled an awful face and ran, clutching his hands to his mouth.

  Keenan and I had laughed at him since we knew he was headed straight to the room he shared with Kevin, who would not be pleased.

  Ever since, Jamie seemed to instinctively know when a new keg was hauled up from storage and placed in the kitchen. He then spends most of the day attempting to finish it. It's a major problem for me since he ropes me in for the remainder of my day and I miss out on a few lessons.

  I finish making my sandwich and sit down opposite Keenan. After I eat, I rinse the crumbs from my plate and place it on a rag to dry. Walking down the passage towards my cabin to wash and change into something more comfortable I think back to how my life was a few months ago compared to now.

  I'd wanted a life like one of my fantasy novels and now I actually had that life. It just goes to show. All wishes come with consequences.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Caiseal prefers to teach in what the pirates now call, ‘the meeting room,’ since it is the least used space on board and the quietest. It's the same room I chose my first pirate outfit in and it has remained almost untouched in the re-decoration.

  Seated at one of the mismatched dining chairs around the wooden table extending the length of the room. Dressed in head to toe black, Caiseal leans against one of the floor to ceiling French windows, his grey-white eyes inspecting the chipped and yellowed nails of one hand.

  “Mermaids are man’s greatest enemy...” He says, his voice smoke and ash.

  It's hard for me to relax around Caiseal.

  He has a fondness for leather pants and armoured waistcoats, and then there is the cape. He wears it almost constantly, the hood always up and dipping over his brows.

  I shift in my seat looking down at the bronze buckles of his rawhide boots. My reply is soft, echoing around us in the near-empty space. “I thought that sea monsters were man’s greatest enemy?”

  Caiseal nods. “Ay. Man has many great enemies.”

  I feel like I'm being taught by Confucius. I curl my lips to the side, my nose scrunching up with the movement.

  “Okay...” I drawl. “Why are they one of the great enemies?”

  Caiseal tugs on one of the brass clips that connect his cloak to the shoulders of his vest, seemingly unperturbed by the current futility of the lesson. I’ve been promised mermaids and fantasy not some mindless babble about another rival of man.

  “Merfolk bring with them misfortune. Often, they are the creators of disaster and when they are not, they are attracted to it. There is no greater evil than that. In times before the maidens lured men of the sea to their cousins the sirens. In times since, I presume due to a falling out, the maidens prefer to pull men from their ships and drown them before ripping open their chests and devouring their hearts.”

  I grimace. This is nothing like The Little Mermaid. “Why do they do that?”

  “Why?” He hisses turning from the window with a speed that pulls his cape from his head, revealing jagged black tattoos twisting around his cheekbones.

  I jolted back in my chair. Caiseal without his hood is like no man I have ever seen before.

  His skin is close to the colour of obsidian with eyes like that of a mackerel sky. He is dangerous and not just because he is mad enough to have tattooed his face.

  I grip the fine point pen I've brought with me, my elbows resting on a clipboard and paper with thin blue lines. I gulp.

  “Yes. Why? There must be a reason they do what they do. Look at Medusa, even she has a reason for why she turns men to stone. It is not as if anyone chooses to be evil for the fun of it.”

  Caiseal’s lips thin. “They are beasts. They lack humanity. That is why they do what they do...”

  I don’t agree but I am too much of a wimp to argue with him either. Curling my right hand into a fist I use it to cover a cough. With my voice unconstrained I ask, “How do you kill one?” It's a question I know Caiseal will answer without adding any nonsense.

  His response is chilling. Revealing sharp incisors in a mouth of otherwise blunt looking teeth, he smirks. “You drowned them.”

  The muscle above my left eye twitches. “Drowned? But...don’t they -”

  Cutting me off, he slams his palms down on the surface of the table and leans forward so that he is staring into my startled green eyes.

  “What happens when you take a fish out of water?”

  The harsh sound has my ears feeling like they are contracting and expanding. “Ah...” Is all I can manage in response.

  “Merfolk are not immortal. Their scales are used in potions and spells to promote the illusion of immortality – everlasting youth, but they can die. They need water like we need air. They can only live without water for up to a day.”

  I tap my pen on my clipboard. It seems like a harsh death to me, depriving a being of what it needs most to live, but then again at least I wasn’t going to rip out one of their hearts and eat it. I scribble Caiseal’s words down on a fresh line and place a star next to it.

  “Always be wary. Merfolk appear to have the upper body of a human and the tail of various fish but they have no other link to humanity. Their eyes are larger than ours, their noses shorter and their pointed ears reflect their fey lineage.”

  “Do you get any other kinds, like half human half serpent or something?”

  Caiseal pulls a chair out from the table and sits down so he is directly opposite me. “They are as depicted in your mortal picture books. You get different kinds just as you get different shades of skin, but anything other than a human-fish hybrid is not of the Merfolk.” He pauses as if contemplating my next question and then adds, “You will never find one that is reversed.”

  I stick my pen in my mouth, chewing on the tasteless yellow end and nodding.

  “Merfolk turn like that of a werewolf when on land. Their powers include communication with the water element and the ability to control it. In essence, they are the hags of the sea.”

  I write it down and drop my pen. “Do they need a specific kind of water to survive?” I ask thinking of the aquarium my parents had owned before Mia and I were born. They had needed saltwater for the fish they imported so that they wouldn’t die.

  “No. Any water will do.” He leans back, tapping his fingers on the table. “And you can not confuse them with Rusakas which appear human in calm pools of water, but have an ethereal look to them. They are tainted spirits of those who have died watery deaths.”

  I shiver. “Creepy.”

  “Do you know of Mama Wata?”

&nbs
p; I shake my head. “Is she a mermaid?”

  “No. She, like the Rusaka's, is a spirit, however, Mama Wata is an Aphasian woman with kinky black hair and the lower half of a fish, while Rusakas keep their human form. One way to ascertain that it is she is to look for the snake that coils around her neck.”

  “Aphasian?”

  Caiseal scratches his chin. “Aphasia Asu is our second continent, named after the great adventurer and guardian, Aphasia. I’ve studied the atlas you brought us. Aphasia would be a combination of Africa, Arabia and India.”

  I nod. It makes sense that their earth’s continents would be clusters of the one I know. After all the Pangea would have broken up differently. Still, I have never heard of Mama Wata before, but that could also be because I'm not as clued up on my continent’s mythology as I should be.

  Finally, I joke, “So she’s like Voldemort?”

  Caiseal’s eyes narrow. “Who?”

  I bite down on my lip. I'd momentarily forgotten that it's a bad idea to joke with Caiseal.

  “Never mind. What is it that Mama Wata does?”

  Caiseal shrugs. “She abducts swimmers and takes them to her realm of paradise. If she decides to let you return you do so wealthier and better looking with a new spiritual understanding. You will find that those who have returned from her realm are much more tolerant than other mortals.”

  “So, she’s not evil? I won’t have to kill her if she tries anything like I would a mermaid?”

  Caiseal stands pushing back his chair with a grating noise. “That is debatable. I am finished with this discussion for today, but I leave you with this. Mermaids are hypnotically beautiful and they use it to their advantage. They are cunning and hard to catch off guard. To get one away from the water you will need to use their vanity against them.”

  I make a note of what he says and place my pen on the table beside my pad of paper. It rolls across the smooth surface and off the side of the table bouncing and ringing against the wooden floor. I jump up, running after it. Light streams around me as I bend to pick it up.

  Caiseal is striding to the door, his hood pulled forward to cover his face.

  “Wait! I’ve only been here for ten minutes.”

  He stops in the doorway. “I taught you about Mermaids.”

  Sticking my pen in the back pocket of my jeans I step towards him. “Well yeah, but it’s not much to go on. I mean I know what they look like and what they do and how to kill them, but I’d like to know more. You know... understand them.”

  He turns slowly. All I can see is his mouth moving. Even his hands are now covered with what looks like light gauntlets. “Why attempt to understand a beast. It will only kill you in the end.”

  I pull my arms to my chest. “They have brains and that means they have feelings too. You can’t just kill something because you don’t understand it, and maybe if you took the time to do that you wouldn’t want to kill it in the first place.”

  Caiseal remains motionless. His mouth stoic beneath the shadow of his hood. I sigh. There is no way he is considering my words. He is clearly only tolerating my opinion.

  “How about magic? How could I use it against a mermaid?”

  “You can’t.”

  “There’s no way?”

  “No, I mean that you specifically cannot. I have many potions and spells that will deflect a mermaid.”

  Heat rises to the back of my neck. “You haven’t even tried teaching me! You just assume I can’t do it.”

  His voice remains shallow as he replies, “I don’t assume. I know. Just as I knew when I came to this world that magic has been forgotten. It runs beneath us, savage and unpredictable. You couldn’t possibly have the skills necessary to tame it.”

  In two strides I am picking up my paper and clipboard. My hands shake as I press the smooth hot pink plastic to my chest. “You know what? Screw this. I can learn more from books than I can from you.”

  He steps from my path as I exit the room. What use is an instructor who won’t even let you try?

  My eyes are veiled with rage as I speed-walk down the hallway. Calloused hands grab hold of my shoulders, forcing me to a halt.

  “Watch where you’re walking pet.”

  I lick my lips. They taste of coconut lip balm. From our close proximity, Riley has grabbed hold of me, probably because I'd been on the verge of smashing into him.

  “What’s got you all riled up?”

  I shake myself loose from his grip and step back. “How do you know I’m riled up?”

  He chuckles. “I know your riled-up face. It’s the same look you get whenever you see Kevin or Jerome.”

  He places his two middle fingers between my brows. “You get a little crinkle just here.”

  Moving my clipboard to my other hand I push his fingers from my forehead and scratch the place they had been resting.

  “You mean I frown?”

  Biting down on his lower lip he shakes his head. “Nope. When you frown your whole forehead puckers and your eyes turn down at the corners. Your mouth also turns menacing and I don’t mean that just figuratively.”

  The corners of his own mouth lift. “Nope, this is just a crinkle. Hardly noticeable.”

  My stomach jolts as I reply, my voice gruff. “What?” I cough, “If it’s hardly noticeable then why did you notice it?” I can’t shake the feeling I get in my chest as I ask the question. I'm kind of grossed out with myself for anxiously waiting for his reply too. What is wrong with me?

  He turns to glance behind him, his reply swift. “We share a room. You can ask Kevin about Jamie’s little quirks if you like? Though I know you won’t.”

  My heart drops and I try not to show it. Looking down at the toes of my black converse I nod. “It’s Caiseal. I told him not to bother teaching me anymore.”

  Riley chortles leaning against the wall. His arms are crossed and the sole of his left boot presses to the newly varnished wood. I reward him with an irritated expression, my cheeks burning with humiliation.

  “What are you laughing at?”

  “Caiseal. He’s a jerk. Just ignore him.”

  This time I feel the space between my brows pucker. “And that warrants laughing at me?”

  Riley’s pushes himself from the wall so that he stands in front of me, his arms at his side and his usual smile tumbling from his face.

  “Cris, I’m not laughing at you. Caiseal’s not a teacher that’s all...”

  “Sure...” I move past him, my face contorting as his elbow jams into my side.

  “Sorry... ah, Cris, just wait!”

  I ignore him, keeping my pace brisk as I round the corner. Our room is three doors down. I need to get there and lock the door before he catches up. I jump as I hear a thump behind me, my walk turning into a jog as I reach the door and stumble inside the room.

  Riley is right Caiseal is a jerk and so is Riley. I need to vent my irritation and I know exactly how to do it. Throwing the clipboard on to my neatly made up bed I tuck my hand beneath the mattress and pull out a bundle of deep purple velvet. Sitting, I unroll the soft material to reveal the vintage pistol Gus had given me. It will do the trick.

  The melancholic swishing of a broom leads me to Gus who is shirtless and has a chocolate brown sash tied through the loops of his beige pants. The weather has only gotten worse since I have been inside, and by worse, I mean the sun has gotten hotter and brighter. I can hardly see as I make my way towards him. Beads of sweat already coalescing at my roots.

  “Ready to do some shooting?” I inquire from behind him.

  His shoulders muscles tighten and he jumps, yelping and dropping the plain wooden garden broom at his feet. A laugh gurgles from my throat as the jump transforms into a jig.

  “Ay, lass. I canneh say no to me guns.” He flexes his muscles and makes a show of kissing one of his biceps with some startling duck lips I hadn’t known he had in him.

  His enthusiasm has the butterflies in my stomach fluttering. “To the usual spot?” I ask alre
ady strolling in the direction of the poop where we have set up hanging target cards.

  I'd been worried the bullets would rebound at first, but with time I had become accustomed to watching the bullets disappear into the waves of the ocean. Now my only worry is that a sea creature might get hurt in the process. When we'd made the plan, I'd asked if we could look into eco-friendly bullets. It was just an idea but apparently, it's a thing. So, we stockpiled about a ton of the blanks.

  “You’re eager today lass.” Gus states.

  I pull my arms out in front of me and stretch. “Let’s just say this is my only form of therapy.”

  “Ye shouldn’t shoot when you’re angry lass.”

  I shrug. “I’m not that angry.”

  “Still...”

  I look down at him and frown. “Are you saying I can’t shoot?”

  He shakes his head in response. “Of course not. I’m just saying it’s not a good idea to handle any weapon when yer mad. That’s how people get killed.”

  We'd reached the targets which are located behind the Captain’s cabin. It is nice and private. I hold my gun up in front of me admiring how it glints in the sunlight.

  “I promise I won’t hurt anyone.

  Gus doesn’t look convinced but he nods anyway. “Now remember the stance I taught ye. Make sure yer arms are straight and yer heels are firm on the ground. Ye don’t want the kickback ta knock ye over, especially if it messes up yer aim.”

  Lifting my arms up straight before me with the gun perched between my palms, I dig my heels into the ground aimed at the target in front of me.

  The faint chemical smell of gunpowder wafts back at me as I imagine the red circle in the middle is Riley’s laughing face. Tightening my pointing finger, I hear the click of the trigger one millisecond before the crushing bang leaves my ears ringing.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  I feel guilty as soon I squeeze back on the trigger of my gun.

  No matter how mad any of them make me, imagining shooting them is wrong... Okay, well, shooting them in the face - that is wrong, but maybe I could get away with just nicking Kevin? No. It's wrong. All of it is wrong. Me being on board is a mistake.