"To those with the faith to believe, there's chance for great reward in finding three gold coins that bear the mark of the eagle. If good conscience be with you, you'd return them to their owner who waits on the island that carries the church's light. There I'll be waiting and only answer to the one who shows me three golden eagles."
Being a curious little mermaid, Melissa had found a slip of paper pinned to a random wall of a random tavern. How had she seen it? Fate? DESTINY. She was honestly just in the right place at the right time. Or she had just some of the worst luck. Honestly she didn't know why she had to do this, she just felt as though following this clue would lead her to her next destination. She had felt...so lost, so broken since recent events. Melissa had lost her family, her friends and her entire life in the space of a month. Marines took everything from her, for what she would recently find out would be a vendetta that was nought but false love. Now she had wandered around aimlessly trying to figure out just what she could do. She had no idea who had set this quest. Maybe it was a wild goose chase and maybe it was something. Only one way to find out.
So she had made her way to Utek Island. A marine heavy island but she would take care, she had too take care. Most marines didn't really take note of her, only those under Arabella seemed to have it out for her due to her Captain. Whatever clues she had managed to find, which really wasn't much had somehow led her here. On a beach she was just, well...she was scouring the sands, turning over every rock that she could find. There was well.....how do you say there was little to be found. She found a coin YAY....though not the coin that she was looking for, it was rusted and bent, she found an old shoe. A rubber boot and a couple of crabs which she would take to the ocean and let the waves wash them away. She pondered whether the coins were heavy enough to sink to the ocean and perhaps they may have been thrown in there. Though she quickly put those thoughts away, surely someone wouldn't have tossed it into the ocean? Then again she knew nothing about the people who had done this? Maybe, just maybe they may have done something like this.
Well it would seem that she had sadly come up empty handed, she had only been searching for an hour or two at the most, that was far longer than her attention span generally allowed her to care about things. "Bored now" she muttered as she sat upon the docks. Her scaly seperated tail dancing along the edge of the water. She stood and stretched, her body glistening in the sun light. She couldn't understand how hard it was just to put the locations of these coins in an easy place. "THIS IS TOO HARRRRD" she complained into the ocean. "I DON'T LIKE THIS, NOT ONE BIT" she sighed as she looked out in to the water. "FUCK IT" she exclaimed as she stook a few steps back. The thudding of her weight against the wooden docks echoed into the silent sky, she dove from the platform, feeling the wind tussle her tentacles. The salt water caressed her, embraced her broken form and made her whole once more. She always felt more calmer, more relaxed when she was wrapped in the arms of the ocean. It helped clear her mind, helped to restore her body and helped to make her feel more like her.
As she twirled into the ocean, she manouvred with grace and beauty. She shifted the ocean through her own unique abilities and would find herself just casually dusting off the sand beds. She wasn't even looking for a coin at this point she had lost interest in finding one of those golden medalion thingies that might point her towards her destiny, or it might not, she might not even give a rats ass about destiny anymore. "FUUUCK" she exclaimed as she tossed a golden rusted urn from her grasp. It wasn't what she was looking for despite it looking like it could have been worth a pretty penny. Having no luck Melissa would return to the surface, breaching the surf and swimming back to the beach. She wasn't even sure if this thing was real. "I bet there isn't even a coin, I bet this whole thing is faker than.....I can't think of anything thats fake right now but I bet its like super fake" she complained as she walked off the beach. As she walked the glint of something caught her eye, could it be a coin? Could this glinting object half obscured by rubbish be the item that she was currently looking for? She dove ready to grasp
WHY CRUEL WORLD HAD YOU FORSAKEN ME LIKE THIS. Melissa thought to herself. The mermaid would find a coin, a shiny beautiful coin. Yet it did not hold any code, any clue. Instead it read out "Oooh soo close, better luck next time LOL" Who had done this? Why had they done this? Why did the fates decree that this mermaid would who looked for a better future would find this jokester coin. Hell it might not have any relevence to the events that were currently transpiring at all. Yet she could not NO SHE WOULD NOT GIVE UP. She would find these coins, she would find who set this mission and she would slap them so frigging hard, who cared aboutt he recoil to her own hands. Thats how pissed off she was. "I WON'T GIVE UP"
"AND SO I GAVE UP" she said lauging at a tavern with a group of people. She had hidden her true self, disguised her hair with her bandanna, hidden her normally on show body with a dress and had even applied makeup to grant her a more humanoid skin. She feigned a semi blindness for the people to cover for her milky like eyes. The group that she had found made up of two women and a man would laugh at her story. "So these coins, they lead tae some trusure?" the man queeried. "Honestly, the funny thing is, I have no idea what they lead too. I just found this note and that was it. No frigging clue actually" she said showing the group the note. "Maybe someone will find out what it means and then they can let me know cuz I did my best. I searched for like an hour and couldn't find anything and thats like....three hours in my time. I get so bored of things like this sooo easily Laz" she said sighing. She gave the man a wink, in which he blushed.
"We'll Ah do say, a fink you should keepa lookin" Doris, the ugly bint uttered, her hand placed gently but affirmitively upon her husbands shoulder. "Well Doris, I think I'v done my best don't you? What else could I do, I searched high and low for this one coin but theres only like three of them or something and this place is fucking enormous, kinda like that forehead of yours" Melissa said before laughing. Laz stifled his laugh though Doris caught on. The barman would return with Melissa's change at this point.
Eying through her change, she hoped to find it. Alas this was not the case. "It does seem to me, Miss Melissa, that your heart is stillith inith the hunteth" "Well Doris, it seems to me ye can go fuck yerself with that bloody fake accent" Melissa said irritated. This time both Laz and Rebecca chocked on their drinks. "Well I doeth sayeth. Im leaving, Lazarus my darling come" "Nah hen, I fink im gonnae stay, shes a funny yin" Laz said wiping the coughed and spluttered alcohol from his mouth. Rebecca composed herself. "Well Doris, she does have a point hun, you keep putting the word ITH and ETH in places they don't really belong" Doris's face was a picture. She stormed off IThing and Ething all over the place. "My gosh, I think we shall pay for that tomorrow" "Ach well, she seemed like a bit of a stuck up cow to be honest" "I think she's intimidated, a funny young woman, pretty looking just comes in with tales of adventure, she probably thinks Laz is going to leave her for you, shes a jealous oddball" Rebecca said smiling. "She's honestly very sweet" she said sipping her drink. Laz nodded. "Shes generally a bit nicer than that honestly, I fink shes jist jealous fer sure. Though a love her wi all ma heart."
"Thats sweet" Melissa said with a smile. "Any mare stories hen" Las asked, the intrigue and want in his eyes filled Melissa, she began to tell tales of when she was on the ship, Of her songs and her many triumphs....she exaggerated a bit of course, she didn't really have many triumphs to talk about, hell she COULD'NT EVEN FIND A SINGLE FUCKING COIN. She felt like some god or some otherworldly Administration had it out for her, like she had to roll a one to a twenty out of a hundred and some guy was coming in and just messing with her yet she did not say this theory to her new friends, she did not wish to come off as crazy after all. So she simply regailed them with tall tales and talks of her adventures on the seas. Of how they rescued people and saved them, of how they stole from the rich to give to the poor, though again she left out that they were the "Poor" and the money went on booze and clothing that they didn't really need. Eventually Laz smiled. "So ye sing, if yer any gid, maybe ye should gie us a song" he gruffed, nodding towards the cobwebbed piano that just HAPPENED to be sat by the wall.
Melissa would laugh as she looked to the piano. Her mind whirled with song ideas. [color-pink]"Fine, but If i sing I get to pick the song"[/color] she said, a devilish smile passing her lips. Thet wo new friends who barely knew her grinned. "I think I see where this is going already Lady Melissa" Rebecca said trying to hold back her smirk. "Ah feck, get to it then girly" Laz said. Thus she did. She moved to the piano and dusted it off. She touched the keys gently, it had been some time since she played. Quickly running up and down the scales of the piano she found most if not all to be still in tune. Looking to her friends she smirked as she began to sing.
She gets on with life as a debutante, She's an ugly kinda gal. She likes watching on Sundays, She likes waiting in the week. She likes to contemplate wine. But when she starts to daydream, Her mind turns straight to champaigne.
Oh oh oh!
Does she love champaigne more than wine? Does she love champaigne more than wine?
She likes to use words like 'ething,' She likes to use words like 'ithing.' She likes to use words about wine. But when she stops her talking, Her mind turns straight to champaigne.
Oh oh oh!
Does she love champaigne more than wine? Does she love champaigne more than wine?
She likes to hang out with Rebecca, She likes to kick back with Laz, But when left alone, Her mind turns straight to champaigne.
Oh oh oh!
Does she love champaigne more than wine? Does she love champaigne more than wine?
She's not too fond of spiders, She really hates Melissa, But she just thinks back to champaigne, And she's happy once again.
Oh oh oh!
Upon completion, her voice still as pretty as ever, even while singing a song that was much different than the ballads and emotional numbers that she was used to performing. The bar erupted, she hadn't realised that there had been silence. This wasn't even a song that she felt in her bones. It was just one that she randomly created on the spot. Yet the cheering and the whistling was outstanding...maybe she didn't need to do anything other than sing....maybe once her revenge had been completed...because she was going to murder those involved in the death of her crew, that was for sure. Maybe if she survived....she would go back to becoming a singer, just to enjoy her life and allow others to enjoy her voice .
After a few more drinks and a few more songs, the tavern began to clear out. Melissa in her hysteria could not for the life of her put aside the thought of those coins. She couldn't. They had some hold over her, she felt somewhere, someone had potentially found one... perhaps they had all been found and she had been to late, the letter had no date, how long had it been there? What if she had just wasted her life? What if she had watsed her time for no reason what so ever....what if she never found out what they correlated too and instead she was forced to think about this for the rest of her life...was this the curse of the coins. She thought about this as she walked finding herself back on the beach. "FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOU" she shouted to the sky. "I AM DONE, THIS IS IT. NO MORE COINS, NO MORE FUCKING GAMES. I'V LOOKED FOR AGES. I...." she stopped. "WELL, I LOOKED FOR AN HOUR AND THEN HAD DRINKS WITH SOME PEOPLE BUT STILL THAT FUCKING COUNTS YOU WANKERS" she shouted. Flipping the sky a double bird she turned back towards the beach. In her frustration she kicked up sand, yet she was unable to find any form of coin. "Kill me, for I am done" she uttered lying down, just sprawled there like some kind of beached whale. "Maybe i could just shrivel up and die here. At this stage what have I got to live for, nothing thats what. My familes gone, my crews gone, Anabella's won, I bet you....OH MY GOD" she shouted as she sprung up.
"Hahaha I'm too smart, I won't fall for this any more. This was Arabella, I don't know how, I don't know when but she did this. This is her ploy to catch me, she's mad after all, I'm a red scarf pirate and I'm still alive and she knows.......oh she knows I won't be able to resist a hunt...or does she know this. I dunno what information she has or if the information she has has come from Captain or someone else or even if they just guessed, I mean I'm a musician so of course I'm weak but they knew about the hideout and they knew about my water bending abilities though they didn't know I'm further on in my training but still.....I just...OH GOD I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE" she shouted as she walked, not realising in her hysteria that there was a large log that had washed up on the beach, her foot hit it and the mermaid went a tumbling.
Sprawled over the ground, the woman hit the sand, taking in a mouthful of the grains, her mouth immediatly dried up, writing herself she spluttered the sand from her maw, only for a small golden item to leave alongside it. She looked to it. "No...fucking...way" she pulled the coin from the ground and turned it over. "My brother lies where minds are scultped" a slip of paper from the coin said. Well it didn't say it but it had the words on it. "WELL DUH THATS OBVIOUSLY A SCHOOL. HAHAHAHAHA ARABELLA YOU FUCKING IDIOT. I KNEW I WOULD WIN" Melissa said. Tucking the golden eagled coin away. Obviously she still wasn't really out of that delarious mindset but hey, she had her first coin, which gave her the knowledge that they had not been taken. But what if the other one had been found? What if this was the ploy, to get her to find one just as she was about to seriously walk away for the fifteenth time today and then have her hunt down a school. She didnt wanna look like some nonce for sure.
It took her about five minutes, five minutes to hunt someone down and ask them the location of the school, they were all to happy to help but like why? Random stranger, covered in sand asking to visit the school and you help them? This town had too much faith in the World Government and the Marines. To think that she could probably now just maybe go pick up a kid for ransom and that woman who gave her the direction would be to blame for telling her exactly where to go, she even gave her the directions and how to get to the main office. Of course she wasn't going to go to the main office, first she would inspect the playgrounds. cuz your mind may be sculpted and shit in a classroom but the playground is where you learn the smarts of the world. Where you either get bitched slapped down or bigged up. The classroom taught you how to be book smart the playground sculpted you from start to finish
It was also probably the first area she came too and given how obvious it was that she quits so easily and becomes hysterical so quickly she didn't want to mess around in front of the children, in case they got scared and the marines came and they figured out who she was and it became a thing where she had to kill the marines and run away and then not find the rest of the coins. "That...that can't happen...best behaviour" she mused to herself.
Searching high and low for the coins. Melissa was completely unsure on where it could be. It wasn't until she inspected the flag pole did she see it. A small indent had been made, and there within was a single coin. The eagle upon it. "No...it can't be that easy" she muttered to herself. It popped out and sat behind the coin was a folded sheet of paper. "Sisters come and sisters go but Sherry will never leave me" the slip said. "What....the fuck does that mean" she wondered. Quickly she left the school cuz she did NOT wanna be branded a nonce. She was excited now, one more to go right thats what it said. ONE MORE TO GO AND SHE COULD FIND WHEREVER IT WAS SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO GO. She would have to find away to get in touch with Mo to let him know. She wouldn't go alone. If Mo was willing to come with her. They had discussed that they would meet up again soon. Thats why she had stayed close by. He was trustworthy and honestly he had saved her life, anything he needed off her, anything he wanted from her he could have. He had been there. He had saved her from not only the marines but herself.
Once more she found herself back at the tavern, it had cleared out a bit due to the mid afternoon sun, many people had now began to flock to the beach, thank god she had found the first coin before anyone else had. She was musing over this clue and couldn't think what it could mean. "Sisters come and Sisters go, but Sherry will never leave me...what does this mean. A nunery perhaps? Sisters come and sisters go? Maybe theres a nun called Sherry" She looked to the barman. "Hey, is there some kind of nunnery or church with sisters on this island?" she asked him. "Nah sweetheart, we ain't got none of that" he said as he finished washing a few glasses.
Well that was that idea out the window, hmmm perhaps....perhaps maybe it had something to do with a family, a family who had....oh maybe a cemetary, maybe someone had sisters who died and they were married to Sherry and now she's all he has? Perhaps he was given the coin until somoene asked for it? Honestly she wasn't too sure on were or what this final clue was all about? Maybe it had nothing to do with a person after all. but Sherry....what did Sherry mean.
Well, she came at last year I was busy searching for my Sherry For a plan of hers Searching for a new thing
Are you looking for coins Searching for answers to open doors, yea
And my heart has been searching for an eagle That could make this all clear to me And it all but seems a damn good lie Searching for you that perfect Sherry
You were searching for Sherry When you came up empty Your heart needed repair You were looking for faith
Dawn breaks in the morning light Searching for faces in the crowd
And my heart has been searching for a member That could make this all clear to me And it all but seems a damn good lie Searching for you that perfect girl
Searching for Sherry for me Here for all time
And my heart has been searching for a member That could make this all clear to me And it all but seems a damn good lie Searching for you that perfect girl
Like the musician she was, Melissa ventured out, singing a song, even her mucking around vocals were better than most. People stopped to listen but she continued on. The only idea she had, it was the cemetary, perhaps she would find someone there waiting? Maybe Sherry was a dog at the cemetary like those cute little puppy stories you hear in the news coo that just breaks her heart. Either way this was the only thing she had in her mind. So when she got to the cemetary and realised there was no one there, her heart did indeed sink. She would look around, checking the stones though being careful not to disturb the dead. If she had to tear open a grave well thats where her journey would end. She would not desacrate the dead like that. A pirate may she be but she was respectful of those who had passed. As she searched she continued to perform her song of SEARCHING: Sherry and the coin. Eventually after an hour and a half of searching she came up with nothing. "I dunno what to do" she frowned as she made her way back in to the hustle and bustle of town. There was only one thing for it. Looking around she would try to find the highest point, currently being like a statue of a man holding a rifle or something. Standing there she would clear her throat "HELLO THERE. I'M LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO LOST THERE SISTERS AND NOW ALL THEY HAVE LEFT IS SHERRY CUZ SHE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU. IV GOT TWO EAGLE COINS AND I JUST NEED THE THIRD ONE PLEASE AND THANK YOU"
Nobody, not a single soul came to her. They looked at her with confusion and annoyance. "Well you don't have to fucking snobby about it" Melissa said as she stood down from the statue. She would make her way back to the tavern once again, it was really the only place she could go to. Humming her song from before, the mermaid would sigh as she studied the notes and the coins from her table. Two eagles, what did that mean? Where did she need to go? Had Mo searched for these? had he found them already, I bet he had. He had super luck, I mean he saved her life. That warrior, that absoloute babe. She wondered if he would return for her? If they would ever see each other again. She had told him she would travel with him for a bit if he wanted. "I just don't like being alone" she said to herself. She felt the lump form in her throat. She had been alone for some time now, it felt like forever, and she hated it. Her mind flashed back to the times where she and the crew would dance and laugh, drink and laugh. Sing and laugh. There was a lot of laughing. She remembered with Aria would sit and talk boys with her, how they cried when they got too drunk together. Playing tricks on the boys.
It was indeed a happy time and now, they were all gone. And......one of them...someone had betrayed them. A member of the crew. She didn't no....she did believe it. Toruta knew too much, there had been far too much information given to him, he couldn't just piece it all together. "But....who....who was it" she wondered out loud. "Hey girl, you want a drink?" the barman said. "What ya got stud" "Ale, whiskey, ale, sake, Sherry, ale, and more ale, oh and wine" "I'll take a wine......and uhm....milk if you have any" she said sighing. She twisted the coins between her elongated fingers. The sun was shimmering, blasting off the coins. What was so special about them and what was she missing. How could she not find this third one. Her brain told her she had been gifted the answer...she just could not fathom it. "Think Melissa, you are not as stupid as you think you are. You can figure this out. Its just you now, you gotta work through this." she took a deep breath and began to think. Trying to block all other thoughts and just thinking of this clue. There had been a reason for it right? the other one had come true so surely the answer was in plain sight.
Her head snapped upwards. Wait that was it. "BARMAN. Did you say Sherry?" she asked. "Aye hen. We have a bottle, some guy brought it ower but naebody wants it" "I'll take it, the whole bottle" she said. The barman nodded confused but sure, he brought it over and Melissa would smile. There in the liquid....was a shape. She couldnt believe it. Sherry wasn't common here. How did it take this long, I mean its disgusting but this was it. She opened the bottle and poured.....until the coin sprang out. She studied the coin and then the bottle. There wasn't any more clues. So she put the coins together. It was a puzzle and man this was one thing she was good at. "I got it....they.....its a map" she said with a smile. Taking her coins she would slap her money onto the table. She had a job to do. First she would head back to where she first met Mo, she would wait two days, if he did not return to her there, she would follow the map. She would find out what her destiny was going to be. This was not the end of the tale and Melissa Devaroux was not about to pack it in now.
She had an advantage on most who needed to find a ship, she could swim faster than most of them anyway, the water was her home and her body a vessel. She could avoid most dangers due to her nimble form and her octopus semi heritage, there was no way she was going to lose when it came to swimming. The last any one would see of her for now upon this island, was the beautiful tail of a mermaid flowing back to where it came from. The water enveloping her, welcoming her home.
