Relics of Atlantis

Xenon started spinning the chain of his anchor again, looking for a new target now that the mast had toppled. Seeing Altan tangling with a mermaid, he threw it at the mermaid, hoping to hit her in the back.

Altan smirked at the mermaid's ineffectiveness. Seeing Xenon throw his anchor (an odd choice of weapon, the part of her that stayed removed from the battle thought), she aimed to punch the mermaid into the anchor, partly because it provided a convenient way to remove her from combat and also maybe get those gloves to sell, and partly because it seemed awesome at the time.

Toby winced slightly inside the mask; the mermaid was pretty much screaming right into his ear after all. Nevertheless, he braced himself, tipping swiftswimmer back down a bit but keeping it angled up overall; the throttle was still on, though of course that would make no difference until it was back in contact with water.

Toby's intention was that as soon as they went back down into the water, they wouldn't go far before returning to the surface again. Only this time, he'd keep on the surface and just go fast. If the mermaid was going to insist on both holding onto him and trying to fight him at the same time, Toby figured he'd have a better chance if he forced that fight to be above water instead of under it.

As Toby and the mermaid rocketed back towards the surface of the water, the impact caused the mermaid to lose her grip and fall back into the water. Swimming around, she regained her bearings quickly and then made a dash for the snake-man with the spears.

Meanwhile, the mermaid who was fighting Altan was so distracted by her, that she didn't even notice Xenon readying his anchor. As she was knocked back by a solid punch from Altan, she ran right into the anchor and tumbled onto the deck, dazed.

Neri ran up to the mermaid and attempted to knock her out completely with the butt of her knife. She then looked around to see if there was any spare rope. Spotting some, she grabbed it and made ready to bind the mermaid with it.

edited 19th Jun '15 9:10:48 AM by Daydre

Altan went up to the mermaid and attempted to remove her gloves. If she was successful, she would follow it up with a solid punt back into the water.

Seeing her first opponent coming back to the water, Alaryn dashed, swimming as fast as she can to lunge at her with her trident.

With things looking mostly good for the rest of his crew, Xenon turned around and headed belowdecks, looking for the captain's quarters on the enemy ship. None of the mermaids they had killed so far had caused the mind control of the crew to slip, so there had to be a bigger fish somewhere.

As Xenon headed below deck, he saw... no one. Not even a human deckhand. The captain's quarters were mysteriously empty. The captain's desk looked rather disheveled, and it seemed as though there was some sort of struggle.

The mermaid on the deck winced and was hit with the butt of the knife, but was not knocked out. She struggled as the rope was tied around her arms, but her tail lashed out at those who were attempting to approach her.

edited 21st Jun '15 6:53:25 PM by AllHailThrall

"Hoh? You're still awake? Well then, better question you now. We know someone's controlling those sailors, so who is it?" She held her knife, still butt end out, in preparation.

Xenon glanced around the captain's quarters, trying to look for any indication of what happened there. So far it didn't seem like there was anything useful, but if the mermaids were using an artifact to control those men, it was important to find it.

Then he smashed the captain's desk with his anchor, mostly out of frustration but also in case it had anything hidden inside.

The mermaid in the water, noticing Alaryn heading towards her as she headed to attack Snake, turned around and gasped, trying to dodge out of the way, but she wasn't fast enough. Instead, she was pierced by Alaryn's trident and she let out a shout, before falling limp and motionless.

Snake was slaying whatever mermaids he could, part of him was disappointed they weren't much of a threat right now but if all of them were like this, the journey would be a lot safer.

Of course, these feelings quickly disappeared when he was caught off-guard when a mermaid rushed towards him but thankfully Alaryn took care of that. "Thanks, I owe you one!"

Alaryn merely nodded her head at Snake, pulling her trident back... grim faced as she saw the body of the other mermaid start to sink to the depths... still she looked up towards the surface, looking for either more enemies or to climb onto the enemy ship if not.

The mermaid on the deck looked over at Neri with a sneer. "It is obvious who is 'controlling' your human sailors. The great will of Tethys," she spat. "And it is only control from your point of view. We simply opened their minds to the will of Tethys."

In the water, the mermaids had stopped coming, and it was safe for Alaryn to come back up to the surface.

The desk inside the captain's quarters fell to pieces with a loud crack, empty of everything but some loose gold and a couple of personal documents. A terrified squeak sounded from one of the wardrobes in the room.

After prying the mermaid's gloves off of her hands and stowing them in a pocket, Altan kicked the mermaid back into the water, ideally aiming for another mermaid, should there be any in the water.

Xenon shoved the personal documents into his pockets, in case they were important, then took a few steps over to the wardrobe, and tried to open the door.

"Mmhmm..." Neri grabs the mermaid by the hair. "Now, why don't I believe you..." She hesitates, before holding her knife edge out near the mermaid's face. ".. Come on, just tell me before I do what I'm about to."

With all the mermaids gone, the only thing left was to climb back on the ship. But first, Alaryn.

"You want a hand getting on the ship. With you saving me and all I'd be willing to even if you don't need help."

The first mermaid fell into the water with a loud splash, glaring before swimming off in a huff. The second one, with a knife at her face and being pulled by the air, winced in pain and glared back at Neri. "Are all humans hard of hearing?" the mermaid spat. "Hard of hearing, or short of intelligence. I speak what I mean. The will of Tethys commands those people. But I think I know what you mean to ask." She grinned. "You mean to ask which of us mermaids channels the power of Tethys to control these men? It is one of us, but it is not me, I assure you. So go ahead, cut me. It would simply be a wasted effort."

When Xenon flung open the doors of the wardrobe, inside was a young mermaid, with light green hair and wide, lavender eyes, holding a black pearl roughly the size of a baseball. Upon opening the doors, she dropped the pearl, which rolled onto the floor, and she squeaked in terror. "Please do not hurt me, strong human," she whimpered. "I am simply the messenger, I wish no harm upon your people...."

When the pearl was dropped, the human soldiers fighting Captain Sandersson's crew stopped fighting, blinking and coming to their senses. The mermaid with Neri looked over at the other ship. "That damned priestess.... I knew she would be unreliable." In the confusion caused by the sailors regaining their senses, the mermaid lashed her tail at Neri with a sudden whip-like motion.

Not expecting this, Neri is smacked backwards by the tail. As she tried to block with her arms, the mermaid's tail might get injured by her knife- since the blade was still held outwards when she attacked.

"-Tsk."

With one mermaid knocked back in the water, Snake cancelled his plans to go back on the ship and tried to grapple the panicked fishgirl.

Toby kept moving forward for a few moments even after the mermaid fell off, but eventually slowed and circled around, dipping down to just beneath the surface. When he got closer, he stopped, watching in somewhat stunned silence as Snake and Alaryn fought with the mermaids underwater. Though he knew it was necessary, the sight of the violence and water running red with blood still unnerved Toby greatly.

After taking a while to snap out of it, Toby looked around, again concerned about any other humans in the water. Even if they were bad guys, (Toby was unaware of the mind control happening.) Toby didn't think that they deserved to drown to death. If there were any figures that looked unable to swim on their own, Toby would rush to their aid.

Xenon gave the girl a hard stare.

"Okay," he said, bending down to pick up the black pearl.

The mermaid in the wardrobe gasped as soon as Xenon reached down to pick up the pearl. "Stop, human, you know not what you do!" she suddenly exclaimed. As soon as Xenon's hands grasped the pearl, it flashed a brilliant silvery light and let out a pulse of energy that pushed Xenon back, causing things to fall over from the force of the impact.

After she composed herself, the mermaid rushed over and picked up the pearl, cradling it delicately. "This is a dangerous artifact, human. It needs to be stored somewhere safe. I was a priestess of Tethys, but when I was forced to wield this pearl, I saw first-hand its awesome power, and how it dominated the minds of men. It was horrific." She scratched the back of her head nervously. "I apologize for... what just happened. It only stays inert in the hands of a mermaid. Any human that touches it is attacked with the force of Tethys." She reached over and put the pearl into a sack around her waist, then knelt on the floor. "Your men are free now, and as the one who enslaved them, I am now your prisoner. My name is Tusa. Do with me what you must, but know that I did this not willingly, but by the hand of the cruel merman general Karthos. He would kill me if I did not cooperate!"

The mermaid on the deck hissed in pain as the knife sliced her tail, but held her composure and "stood" on the tail, letting them form back into a pair of legs. She then pulled a knife of her own and advanced upon Neri dangerously. "If that priestess cannot do her job, I will do it for her!" she exclaimed.

The mermaid in the water frantically squirmed as Snake grappled her. "Let me go!" she exclaimed. "I will not be held back by a land-dweller in mer trappings! I refuse to be humiliated like that!" Nonetheless, she proceeded to be humiliated as she could not escape from Snake's grapple.

The men in the water, confused as to how they got there, floundered, most of them unable to swim.

edited 29th Jun '15 9:41:22 PM by AllHailThrall