Of Magic and Rum (Beyond a Contemporary Mythos)

Epilogue

“I think it’s about time you give up, mate, before you lose your share of everything we just scored.” I’m sitting at one end of the barrel, a set of dice resting between me and Red, where I’ve rolled two doubles for the fourth time in a row.

Red’s leg bounces furiously, and he rubs his face. He stares at the dice before slamming down another gold coin. “Double or nothing, Cap. I’m feeling lucky.”

Grinning and shaking my head, I gather my winnings into a pouch hanging from my hip. “You’re done, Red. Save some of that for ale and pleasurable company once we’re in port, yeah?” I point at his wandering eyes, looking for another crew member to challenge. “Don’t let me hear about you tricking Laust again, or I’ll leave you in port.”

Red rolls his eyes and stands, stretching and rubbing his stomach. “Could probably use a jogging lap around the deck, anyway.”

Flicking my thumb against the emerald ring on my forefinger, I snort. “You? Run? Since when?”

“You’re right, Captain. I should stick with the exercise I’m best at—” Red reaches behind him and lifts a mug of grog. “—tankard lifts.” Grinning, he bends his arm to his mouth and sips.

“Carry on,” I jest, smiling and saluting him.

After smoothing out my coat sleeves, I slip my hand behind my back and parade the deck. The past months have been eerily quiet after the drama of sea monsters, witches, the Royal Navy, and the King of the Seas. At times, it’s almost been—boring. But we struck gold from a shipwreck off the coast of a small Jamaican island. Thanks to her sea nymph lungs, my beloved Anne retrieved the remaining treasure the rest of us couldn’t. What I wouldn’t have given to be able to see the gold in the broken chest still nestled in the same ship it originated.

Sighing and quickly ending this self-pity party I’ve started, I turn to Ragnar at the ship’s wheel. “The wheel suits you, brother.”

“It suits you far better, Captain. Why don’t you take over?” The skin beneath Ragnar’s eye quivers.

I’m still captain and perform all forms of captain-like duties, but more recently, I’ve handed the reins to Ragnar to spend more time—in my quarters.

Hoisting myself without the stairs, I jostle him. “But I do so appreciate you taking on this responsibility, old friend, so that I can concentrate on more productive things.”

“Despite the cotton I stick in my ears, I’ve heard your appreciation through closed doors.” Ragnar gives me an indignant expression, but I’ve known him long enough to notice the tiniest smile tugging on his lips.

Resting my hands on my hips, I inhale the brine wafting in the air, and sigh. “Tell me this spot doesn’t have one hell of a view, though.”

“You owe me three pieces of silver, by the way.” Ragnar says this so “matter-of-factly” that it takes me off guard.

“Pardon me?”

Ragnar hangs lazily from one of the pegs. “Our bet? Three pieces of silver, you’d settle down within two years?”

Bollocks.

“We’re not married. At least in the biblical sense.” I drum my fingers on the railing.

Ragnar barks a laugh. “No, you’re only eternally bonded to her. You’ve risked your mortal life for her on more than one occasion, and you can’t take your eyes off her whenever she’s around. I’d say you’re quite settled down, ven .”

I know this in my gut and have zero issues with it because Annie is my world, but my best friend, a man I consider a brother, pointing it out? It puts such a giddy smile on my face that I swear I’m drunk.

Digging into my satchel, I feel for three pieces of silver and slap them into his awaiting palm. “Don’t spend it all in one place. Or do. At the brothel.” I chuckle before noticing Mary staring at a map with—spectacles. “Read?”

She lifts her head, eyes largely distorted through the lenses of the wire-framed glasses. “Yeah, Cap?” Mary says this like seeing her with such a thing atop her nose isn’t unusual.

Upon closer inspection, I realize they aren’t just any spectacles. “Mary, are those—were they Duke’s?”

“Yeah,” she says, removing them and turning them in her hands with a remembering grin. “I’m still trying to teach myself to read these bloody maps and thought if I put them on, it might channel him somehow. It’s stupid, I know.”

I cross my ankles and smile warmly while leaning on a barrel. “Not stupid. I miss him, too. Did it work?”

Mary rolls her big blue eyes with exaggerated mock annoyance. “No. But—” She lifts the map and holds it in front of her with stiff arms. “I’ve been wondering why I have to hold parchment out like this to make sense of it.” After she slips the spectacles on, she rests the map on the barrel. “Turns out I need glasses . Can you believe that?”

Imagining Mary slashing her sword and swashbuckling with spectacles pulls a chuckle from my throat. “Are you certain you don’t want to find a different pair in Nassau?”

“Why?” Mary frowns and peers at me with those fish-eyed lenses again, perplexed. “What’s wrong with these?”

I haven’t the heart to say anything further and shake my head. “You know what? Not a thing, Mary.” Passing by, I kiss the top of her head. “You’re perfect just the way you are.”

“Damn straight,” Mary mumbles, flashing teeth at me when I toss a glare.

The flag hangs from the crow’s nest, displaying our emboldened colors of a black and white skull and cross swords, and flutters in the breeze above me, strong and true. The sails pick up the wind, which hasn’t died down for days. Thank God for it, too, because it’s getting us to land faster.

“Captain, there you are. I’ve been looking for you,” Glog rushes toward me with a wooden spoon, his other hand cupped underneath it as if he doesn’t wish to get this already filthy deck dirty. “Try this.”

I open my mouth to the approaching spoon without fear because if he wishes to poison me at this point, I figure he’d have already done it. It’s a surprisingly spicy, warm broth. Beverage? “What is this? Tastes like wine but mixed with something else.”

Glog does a quick jig, sloshing some red liquid onto my boots. I arch a brow at him. “Sorry. But yes, the wine in storage was close to going bitter, so I thought I’d try something with it. It’s some random spices we had left, fermented fruits, and wine warmed by fire.”

I lick what remains from my top lip. “It’s delicious. What do you call it?”

“I’m thinking of naming it after myself.” Glog clicks his heels together, closes his eyes, and proudly stands straighter.

“Someone is certainly full of themselves,” I jest, strolling past him.

Glog’s eyes frantically blink open, and he stutters. “But I—” He catches my smile and points at me with the ladle, splashing the rest of the contents onto the deck. “—you’re taking the piss out of me, aren’t you?”

Still grinning, I don’t answer and keep moving. Something drips on the top of my head, and I pause, peering at the clear blue skies without a cloud in sight. Huh. As I walk further, two more drops fall, one on my head, another on my shoulder. Wiping some from my shirt and rubbing it between two fingers, I sniff it. Rum?

Looking up again, squinting against the blazing sun, the crow’s nest in the foreground, I see Squid’s dangling legs swaying with more zeal than usual. I shield my eyes and scoff at the shit-eating grin he’s giving, holding up his rum bottle, gesturing at it, and then his head and laughing. He’s become quite the little prankster as of late. I point at him and make a walking gesture with my fingers to insinuate that he is walking the plank. Squid laughs again, shakes his head, flicks his wrist at me, and continues drinking.

There’s splashing from the rope ladder hanging over the railing, and my heart races. Anne went for a swim hours ago, and I’ve been impatiently waiting for her to return. I prop against a barrel, sporting my best swagger, and when I see long black hair instead of red, I deflate.

“Aranck. Not the long-haired beauty I was expecting.” I dust my trousers off for no other reason than to not peer at Aranck half-naked.

Aranck wrings out his dark tresses and uses a rag to dry his face. “You think I’m beautiful, Captain?”

My neck stiffens. “I wouldn’t say beautiful per se, but you’re certainly not ugly?”

“That woman can swim,” Aranck says, graciously changing the subject and catching his breath.

The woman is Anne.

“She is part fish,” I add, the skin on my fingertips tingling, remembering how her scales felt against them.

Aranck loops the rag over his neck. “She used her legs. Swore not to use her powers.”

“Aw, Aranck. And you believed her?”

We agreed not to deceive each other, but this most certainly applied to no one else.

Another splash from the ropes, and there she is, my gorgeous sea nymph emerging from her domain. If Aranck has walked away, I don’t notice because I’m fixated on her—the shimmering scales, the fins on her arms morphing away, and the electric smile she gives when she spots me.

“Captain,” she coos, sauntering toward me.

Grabbing her hand, I pull her to my chest and run the back of my hand down her cheek. “Nymph. How was your swim?”

Anne lets out a relaxing sigh that rivals the sensation of warm water after being chilled to the bone. “Invigorating. I could’ve stayed in longer, but—” She curls her arms around my neck. “—I missed you.”

Involuntarily, I make a tsking sound because I’ve grown increasingly envious of her ability to swim underwater indefinitely and sprout a tail and fins as she pleases. I’ve also become jealous of the seas themselves, knowing I can’t truly be with her there.

“Jack?” Anne peels back, squishing my face in her hands. “What is it?”

There’s no getting anything past her—damn bond.

Focusing on her skin, I trail the tip of my finger over the scales still visible. “It must be a euphoric feeling, freeing even, swimming like that without the need to come up for air and with your limbs tiring from the strain so quickly.”

Anne licks her lips, hesitating to say something. “There is a way you can have that too, Jack.”

My heart stops beating, and I’ve forgotten how to breathe or think.

Anne grabs my hand and leads me to the cabin, quietly shutting the door behind us. She has to sit me in my chair because I’m useless. “Because of your bond with me, you can become one of us. And—” She lifts my chin, begging me to look at her. “—immortal.”

I paw the armrests and stare at her. “One of you? What would I be?”

“A shifter.” She says this with such simplicity as if we’re talking about the weather. “You’d be able to shift at will for land or sea like my brother Triton. And it’s possible because of Poseidon’s power.”

Shooting to my feet, I pace the room and rub my chin. “And I could have a tail?”

“Yes.” Anne’s grinning now, patiently seated on my desk.

I stop and snap my fingers. “But I’d keep my legs?”

“Yes, Jack. You can shift as you see fit.”

“I’d be an absolute fool to turn this down. It’s a seaman’s dream. A pirate’s dream.” An uneasy feeling gnaws in my gut. “What’s the catch? There’s always a catch.”

Anne sighs and moves in front of me. “Immortality itself is the catch. You and I will live on forever, but the crew? Truffles? They will all meet their mortal ends.”

Truffles meows from his pillow, stretching and smacking his tiny cat mouth together. Laust flops on top of him, his mouth wide open and snoring, his ass perched in the air. His hand loses grip on an empty grog bottle, which clatters to the floor.

“Laust, however, will be with us through it all because he, too, is a supernatural.” Anne brightens at the sight of the little imp.

It pains me to think of losing Truffles, of losing any of them, but I lost my parents long before immortality. I lost Duke. Eventually, I’d lose them all, no matter what, or they’d lose me . Choosing to be with Anne would mean an eternity with her. It means adventures with her forever, swimming the seas, and whatever the hell else a sea deity does.

“I want it, Annie.” I press my hands to her back and pull her against me. “I want you and everything that comes with it.”

Anne’s eyes fill with tears. “Are you sure?”

“Wait—” Holding a finger up, I eye her speculatively “—I can still be a pirate? Plunder, pillage, and murder upon necessity?”

Anne laughs, one tear escaping and rolling down her cheek. “I certainly hope so because I still wish for those things too. It’s why I chose to stay here.”

“Then, love—” I press a chaste kiss to her forehead “—give me a tail.”

“It’s not me who does it,” Anne whispers.

A sea spray goes off behind us, and I clutch Anne as if I don’t know who it could be.

“I’m going to take one wild guess as to why I’m here, daughter?” Poseidon asks, scratching his head, his blonde hair now pulled into a knot at the base of his skull. But no trident this time.

Reluctantly, I let her go and she blinks emerald eyes that match her father’s. “Daddy, Jack wants to be with me. Forever .”

Once Ragnar hears about this, I will never hear the end of it.

Poseidon turns his gaze on me and raises a thick eyebrow. “You understand the implications?”

I feel the urge to stand tall, to puff my chest and lift my chin. “I do, sir.”

“Very well. I’m honestly surprised it took this long.” Poseidon holds out his palm, and a glowing orange mass appears. He holds it out to me, I reach for it, but he snaps his hand shut. “Just so we’re clear . Once you both stop aging enough for it to be noticeable, you must become a footnote in history and start over elsewhere. Understood?”

We nod in unison.

Poseidon offers me the strange glowing substance again. “This will make you immortal.”

“Do I lick it? Say a prayer to it?” I take it, holding it dumbly between two fingers.

Anne laughs, her face bright and full of life. Poseidon smiles at this. “You eat it, Jack. It’s ambrosia.”

The food of the gods. This is happening.

An electric zip surges from my toes to my brain as I consume it. It borders on painful but never fully gets there, settling in my skin like raindrops. My chest tightens, making me breathless, and then—it’s over. I feel my head and chest.

“That’s it? Why don’t I feel much different?” I look between Anne and Poseidon.

Poseidon closes the distance between us. “You will. Give it time.” He curls a hand over my shoulder. “Especially after this last part. But remember what I said about my trident, boy. Immortal or not.”

“I won’t forget for as long as I inhumanly live.” My cheek twitches. “Sir.”

A flicker of blue light courses down Poseidon’s arm and into me.

Rhode hugs her father’s side and whispers, “I love you, Daddy.”

“And I love you.” Poseidon kisses the top of her head. “Now go show him how to use his new tail.”

I’m in my cabin one moment, and the next, I’m underwater. My eyes blaze open, and at first, I’m gasping for air, clinging to my throat like I’m drowning.

Anne appears before me and presses a calming palm against my cheek. “Breathe, Jack. You can now.”

To test this, I take a slow breath through my nose, and it’s the same as breathing on land. I can also hear Anne in much the same way.

“This is incredible.” My voice is crystal clear to me despite being fathoms underwater.

Anne points below my waist. “Look.”

A dark green tail swooshes from left to right, sending the oddest tingling sensation up my spine. It’s my tail. I’m moving it. Gasping, I momentarily panic because I do not see something else below my waist.

“Annie? Where is?—”

Anne laughs and takes my hand. “Still very much there, Jack. It’s just hidden for now. Come on, I want to show you something.”

With our hands intertwined, I let her guide me through the water, showing me the proper uses of my tail, barrel rolling over each other, and stealing kisses every other moment. A pod of dolphins swim with us for several moments, and I’ve never felt more connected to something in my entire life.

Anne leads us to what appears to be more open water, but she pauses and presses her hand to a particular spot. The sea parts, revealing an expansive city I’ve only ever imagined in fairy tales—gold and silver shimmering castles and towers. All forms of aquatic life swim within its confines, and at the center is a spire towering over it all.

“Welcome to Atlantis. Your second home.” Anne squeezes my hand, assuring me this is my reality now. She points at the spire, the beacon. And there, glowing in vibrant blue glory is the jewel that started it all and brought Anne and me together.

Anne curls her tail with mine, sending a shiver down my spine. With our hair floating in bubbling wisps around us, she kisses me—a deep, claiming kiss that I pour everything into to say to her, yes, I am yours. When we peel away, we rest our heads against each other’s and stare at the beacon. I’ve spent most of my pirate life coveting and safeguarding coins and jewels. Now, I understand Atlantis’s purpose in choosing me. Not only to protect Atlantis and its jewel but also the treasure in my arms.

THE END