Silent Cries

"Long before the Sea of Mourning earned its name, when its waves still carried songs of promise instead of grief, a tale was born upon its waters… the tale of a woman named Megara."

She was the daughter of a mute dancer, a woman who scraped out a living performing in roadside halls.

From the moment Megara's voice broke into song, it was called a miracle. The troupe her mother belonged to whispered it was a gift of the Gods, passed down to the child to make up for the silence of the mother. Her voice shone like sunlight through storm clouds—clear, radiant, undeniable.

But her mother feared it. She pressed her daughter not to sing. She wanted another life for her child, far from stages and drunken halls. Every coin she earned she tucked away, saving for the day Megara might study magic at school instead, where she could learn letters and spells rather than songs that lured men's eyes.

But fire ended that dream.

One night, a band of drunk men set the hall ablaze. The dancers and players fled through smoke and flame—everyone but Megara's mother. She had been pinned beneath a fallen beam, her screams swallowed before they could form. She called for help, but no one heard her. She had no voice to cry out.

From that night, grief curdled into resolve. If the world answered her mother's silence with cruelty, then Megara would wield the one thing the world could not ignore—her voice. She swore she would sing until the king himself, bent to her will, until her words could command armies, until her words would be law, and her song unbreakable.

But fate had other plans.

"Curse the queen. Curse the men. Curse the bay. Curse the Gods who watch and do nothing… curse you all."

Megara's voice rasped through blood-covered mouth.

Her darkened fingers clutched the railing, slick with gore. Her once-pristine gown hung in tatters, soaked scarlet. Around her, the deck burned. Flames chewed at the timbers. The ship stank of smoke and death—strewn with severed parts, broken bodies, fragments of what once had been her sisters.

"For three weeks, we had waited. No sails came. No rescue. Only silence and hunger."

A flaming beam crashed down, striking her shoulder. She screamed, pain raking her voice raw. Gasping, she clutched the wound.

"They're laughing at me. Every one of them. Laughing at how pride became my ruin…"

Her thoughts spiraled.

"Every man of this kingdom was in the palm of my hand. They adjusted to whatever tune I asked and they danced to whatever melody I sang. And now—abandoned. Forgotten. "

A slow clap echoed through the smoke. Followed by laughter.

Her head snapped up. "Who's there?" she growled.

From the fire's haze, a shape emerged—half woman, half serpent, scales glinting wetly in the flame. Her eyes gleamed like coals.

"Just a spectator, my dear Megara," the stranger purred.

Megara's teeth bared. "How do you know my name?"

"Every man I ever devoured spoke of Lady Megara," the serpent-woman smiled. "The voice of a goddess, they said. When I heard you sing over the waves, I knew it must be you. That voice could belong to no other."

Serika slithered closer, her coils hissing against scorched wood. Megara snatched a shard of timber and swung, but the serpent only laughed.

"Calm yourself. I only came to thank you—for the show you and your crew put on these past weeks. Never have I been so… entertained."

Megara's voice cracked with fury. "Entertained? You call this entertainment? Our suffering amuses you, savage beast?"

"Savage beast? Me? " Serika tilted her head, feigning innocence. "It's funny how you call me, savage. I always knew humans were the most savage of all. Believe me—I've seen their work firsthand. But you and your precious crew have surpassed what would define savage. Who would have thought you'd eat each other when the food ran out?

Tell me Megara my dear, didn't years of luring men of all kinds teach you how to lure in a fish or two, so you wouldn't starve?" She laughed maniacally.

Megara's stomach twisted. "Curse those useless crew… curse you."

"Now, now. Such a filthy mouth, from such a beautiful voice," Serika teased. "This is not how you would talk to someone who came with an offer."

Water surged over the deck as the ship sank lower.

"Two choices," Serika said softly. "The first—die here, and I end your pain quickly. The second—a second chance at life. Vengeance. Against every man, every god, every fool who wronged you. At the cost of your humanity, of course. Refuse…" her smile widened, "and you'll add drowning to the list of what you went through."

Megara's eyes burned with hate. "Can you guarantee they'll suffer?"

"Oh yes," Serika whispered. "If there is one certainty in this world… it is suffering. Today yours. Tomorrow, theirs."

Megara's voice broke into curses once more, spitting her hate to the burning sky. Serika slashed her palm, blood darker than night itself. She pressed it to Megara's lips.

"Drink."

The blood burned down her throat. She screamed, her voice warping from human to monstrous as her silhouette on the wooden walls writhed and twisted. Her shadow swelled against the burning walls, no longer that of a woman but a beast with many fused unnatural limbs.

Serika clasped her hands beneath her chin, eyes gleaming with glee. "Ah, my child. You have to eat so that you can grow bigger and stronger, what mother would deny her daughter that?"

Her gaze flicked to the ship's blackened hull, where the ship's name still gleamed through the fire-charred planks. She laughed—a wild, delighted laugh that rose over the flames.

The vision of Megara's curse dissolved into storm. A storm that raged in present.

Kazuki staggered, breath shuddering, blood spilling from his lips. A harpoon jutted clean through his chest, inches above the relic.

"Ka—Kazuki!" Zephyr's scream tore through the thunder. She caught him as his knees gave way, cradling him, her hands trembling.

"Look at me! Look at me, Kazuki—please, don't close your eyes!"

Boots thundered across the deck as the others rushed over. Ardent's face hardened in fury, Maeryn gasped, tears stinging her eyes, while the twins cried out in unison—

"Big brother Kazuki!"

Another harpoon whistled through the rain. Gorran snatched it from the air, his massive hand gripping the shaft with shaking rage. He looked at where the harpoon was shot. His teeth bared, his voice thundered:

"You'll pay for this, snake!"

Serika's laughter slithered over the storm, echoing above the roaring waves.

"Bring him here—by the helm!" Blacktide shouted. His hands were on the wheel, the ship groaning under the storm's fury. "I've water affinity—healing water! But I won't let go of the helm!"

Without hesitation, Ardent, Gorran, and the twins lifted Kazuki's weakening body, rushing him to the captain. Zephyr never released his hand, her arm still wrapped protectively around him, whispering his name like a prayer.

Blacktide pressed one hand to Kazuki's wound. Water shimmered, swirling into a sphere, glowing faintly as it seeped into torn flesh. The storm crashed against them, but the captain did not falter. His voice roared above it all:

"Man the cannons! Load every shot! Ready the guns! Prepare for battle!"

The crew scattered. Cannons creaked, powder was dragged, ropes tightened.

At the center, Alvis straightened, his face grim but steady. His voice cut sharp and commanding:

"Twins—you can fly. Distract the beast and strike from above.

Ardent—you take the snake-demon. Keep her from striking again.

Maeryn—long-range fire, burn through the fog.

Gorran—reinforce the cannon shots with your magic, and help carry rounds faster.

I'll fortify the ship and support with ranged spells."

The storm howled around them.

Ardent turned sharply to Blacktide. "Can you save him? Will he live?"

The captain's jaw clenched, water glowing fiercely beneath his hand. "I'm doing everything I can!"

They looked at Kazuki, pale and gasping, Zephyr's tears falling onto his skin. Then, one by one, their voices rose together.

"For Kazuki!"

Thunder cracked overhead. Cannons rolled into place. The serpent's laughter mingled with the monster's roars.

And the battle had begun.