The Pirate Prince and the Sea Witch

Life in Blue Coast City is mostly peaceful. Everyone minds their own business: fishing, crafting useful tools, selling food, or simply scamming people. There's a silly belief surrounding the city, regarding myths and legends I've heard about my whole life, and although I'd like to think they might be real, I'm 22 years old, and I've never seen anything out of the ordinary. My grandmother raised me almost entirely on her own until she passed away three years ago. Since then, everything has been monotonous. Until today. It was late at night when I heard cannon fire. Explosions could be heard in the distance, and the ground shook around me. I left my house to see that in the distance, off the coast, there were many ships—large, imposing ships. Truly terrifying. I heard another explosion near my house and rushed inside. I grabbed a bag and crammed in a lot of things. I went into my grandmother's room to take a picture of her, but while I was moving things, a heavy book fell to the floor. I stopped for a second and looked at it. I'd never seen it before. It was completely leather and had gems embedded in the cover. I heard another gunshot followed by a scream, and I quickly picked up the book from the floor before running out of the house. There wasn't much to do in the streets. There were many people with guns, looting houses and attacking others. Luckily, they would be too distracted stealing things to attack me. I ran to find a way out of the city. It would be difficult, but I could make it. That's what I thought, until two men appeared on my right. They were two big, burly men with scars on their faces and guns slung over their shoulders. They wore clothes I'd never seen before, but from what I'd heard, I knew exactly what they were. They were pirates. I ran as fast as I could to the other side, dodging the other pirates fighting with my neighbors. I wanted to get somewhere safe; a friend of mine lived on the outskirts of town, and we could escape together. The men chasing me finally caught up. One of them threw something sharp at my leg, which made me fall. While I was on the ground, one of the men approached me. But when he was close enough, I grabbed a dagger I had in my boot and cut his hand. I got up and tried to run, but the other man grabbed me by the neck. He knocked me unconscious. I woke up frantic but noticed my hands were chained. I looked around and realized I was in a dungeon, alone. A red-haired man with a scar on his face came to my cell with my grandmother's book in his hand. "Do you know what this is?" he asked sarcastically. "An old book," I replied hostilely. He looked at the cover as if it were the Holy Grail and smirked at me. That was a year ago. A year ago, these pirates kidn*pped me and held me hostage. They feed me once a day, sometimes, when they remember I'm here. The only reason they kept me alive was because of my grandmother's book. It was a grimoire, which they couldn't open, and I could barely read it, but I had learned a few things. My grandmother was a sea witch. It's not exactly intelligent or spectacular; they were women who had power over the sea. They could communicate with sea creatures, which I've now discovered exist: mermaids, krakens, ghosts, and monsters. They could talk to them and ask them for directions. They could also identify sailors' illnesses and warn of storms and other things. In a year, I can barely tell if it's going to rain. I heard Brooke, the captain of this ship, talking recently. They're going to get rid of me. I'm useless. I was sitting in the dungeon when I heard gunshots upstairs. "Probably they're fighting another pirate ship," I thought. I made a mark on the wall; I had 38 in total. 38 fights with other pirates where, miraculously, the bastards on this ship hadn't lost. I thought it would be the same, until the ship shook and I heard a shout from above—it was Preciado, one of the pirates on this crew. I tried to peek through the planks above my head, but I couldn't see anything; I could only hear movement. I looked at the chains on my hands. I learned a spell from my grandmother's grimoire precisely for a moment like this. I closed my eyes to concentrate when the boat lurched violently, knocking me off my feet. As I tried to get up, I noticed the floor was wet and slowly filling up. I didn't have time to attempt complex spells. I placed my feet on the bench where I'd been sitting and began to pull upwards. The chains had worn down over the years. I pulled with all my might, but they wouldn't break until finally, I gave up and threw myself forcefully towards the grate. The chain finally snapped, but I couldn't remove the metal shackles that bound my hands. With my hands trapped, I stared at the bars that held me captive and focused, preparing to kick them. The kick loosened them. I looked down and saw the water slowly rising. I lunged at the bars and kicked them repeatedly, but another jolt to the ship caused it to sink deeper and deeper. The water rose faster, and I just kept throwing myself against the door with all my might until it finally broke. I ran down the corridor where the other cells were empty, with a few corpses sitting in them. I ran upstairs, where I'd been so many times before, because the dungeons led directly to Brooke's office. Office, room, whatever the hell that thing is. Before moving on, I managed to see my bag with the things I'd initially taken with me like a trophy, including my book. I grabbed it as best I could and hurriedly put it on. Next to my bag was a sword, which seemed to whisper to me. My hands were chained, but I managed to grab it and take it with me. I run straight to the deck, where everyone was fighting with swords and attacking each other with an unknown pirate ship. I dodged them as best I could, just like a year ago. I fought for my life, but there wasn't much I could do in the middle of the sea. I stood on the edge of the ship, breathing heavily and knowing what I had to do. I turned around, my throat burning and immense pain in my chest, arms, and feet. I frowned and breathed even more heavily and intensely, and I jumped into the water. I couldn't swim. I couldn't do anything. I just sank little by little, but that was better. The water flooded my lungs, making me feel a pain I had never imagined. I heard a song in the distance, a siren, maybe. Everything went black.