Waste Away . . .

The words from Eran warmed Lyceum's heart making him about his own dreams and how maybe he wasn't the curse he always thought he was. But regardless, he would still always think that something was coming for him for all of his misdeeds. in his long life he'd made mistakes, but this one was starting to feel like one he was happy he made. Keeping his eyes on the prize of the blue around them he pulled on the sail a little tighter increasing the speed of the boat which sliced through the water picking up the pace. Hearing Eran question what it was that Wynter was doing as the breeze blasted through his hair Lyceum looked to him for the answer.

A little surprised by the sudden question he shut the book and slid it into his breast pocket again.

"Just adding Eran's dream to my book. This Skypiea place sounds really cool, so I'd really like going there too."

Smiling awkwardly Wynter turned away from them to look out across the blue once more. In doing so Lyceum smirked realising that despite his childish behaviour he had a heart. Looking out towards the same direction as Wynter the silhouette in the distance was suddenly becoming much clearer and both of them realised it was what remained of a ship.

"You guys see that?" Wynter asked as he spotted a single person on the remains of the ship waving in their direction.

"Yea, I see it. We should be cautious."

Turning to Eran to see what she made of it Lyceum heard the sound of splashing. His eyes widening he turned to see the source of the sound only to see Wynter missing from the boat and already in the water and on his way swimming towards the shipwreck.

"What're you doing?" Lyceum called after Wynter.

Eran's eye widened hearing that he actually had wanted to go there too now, never before had someone actually believed that such a place could be real let alone actually wanting to go there. She was pulled from her thoughts of confusion and awe when he pointed out the figure on a shipwreck. At Lyceum's advising, they should be cautious she nodded "Could be a trap..shipwercks are a common trap to put merchant ships in."

At the sound of splashing and Lyceum's shouting, she turned seeing the shape swimming towards the wreck, too much wreckage on the way to follow "We need to find another more clear path!"

Already in the water and swimming on his way towards the shipwreck, Wynter heard the voices of Eran & Lyceum behind him, but not fully what they were saying. Just noise. The water had already begun to make his clothes feel heavy, but he wasn't about to back down and swim back. The shipwreck wasn't far and he was too excited to see if he could help. Closing in the distance the waving figure grew larger and larger until Wynter was almost certain this figure either wasn't human or had been in a horrible accident. Although they did seem to have been involved in a shipwreck.

As the ship wreck grew closer so did something to Wynter and it wasn't the ship. A tight grip was felt around his calf which Wynter quickly kicked free from before another grip was felt on the other calf. Grunting as he felt something tight Wynter tried kicking it off till he felt both calfs in a vice like grip.

What the hell?! he thought as his swimming no longer seemed like that of a breast stroke but a doggy paddle which soon turned to drowning. Within a matter of minutes Wynter was fully submerged and felt a sense of frustration radiate through his body. Uncertain of what was happening he'd been able to take a deep breath before being dragged under. He tried desperately to turn and get a better look at what was happening, but couldn't quite see all too well due to the constant stream of bubbles rising up into his face.




As the boat soared closer to the shipwreck, Lyceum kept his eyes out for Wynter of whom seemed to have vanished. Either he'd been stupid enough to let himself drown or he'd already beat them to the shipwreck. But if this was so then where the hell was he? Looking to Eran for assistance Lyceum seemed a little panicked. He hadn't know the guy long, but he had already started taking a liking to him.

Even more so after the incident on Hedge Drop he had a weird kind of respect for the guy. As his duty as a doctor he saw it as his job to make sure he remained safe too. But that was extended to Eran as well. And maybe one day he'd even be able to land a peek on that body of hers if he played his cards right.

"Eran, can you see Wynter anywhere? I knew that kid would do something like this."

Lowering the sails to slow the boat down to have a better look as well as avoiding speeding into the remains of the shipwreck, Lyceum continued searching around themselves.

"How kind of you folk to stop on by to help little ole me out." a voice called out that was unfamiliar.

Raising his head Lyceum caught sight of a creature unlike any he'd seen before in person, but he knew full well what they were.

Standing before them on the wrecked ship was a woman with pink skin, a large set of pointed teeth each more terrifying than the last and webbed fingers. Gulping Lyceum quickly was able to put two and two together. This was a shipwreck alright.

But these weren't the survivors, they were the ones to hit the ship!

Standing before the two was a mermaid.

Reaching a height of 5ft 9 this mermaid was resting on her long pink tail wearing a white belt around her waist of which a large weapon seemed to be hanging from horizontally towards the back. Her torso was on display with the exception of her breasts on her athletic build. She wore a brown crop top to keep them covered up and in place with a tight white shirt with the sleeves rolled open and only one button done up over her torso. Atop her head of short wavy blonde hair she wore a set of aviator sun glasses with purples lenses whilst the right side of her hair seemed slightly longer and to be hanging down a little over her face.

In her hand pointed directly at Lyceum & Eran was what looked to be a make shift double barrelled sawn off shotgun.

Reaching for his scalpels to try and find a way of subtly attacking her and getting the gun from her hand Lyceum heard another splash which sounded as if something was resurfacing behind him.

Damnit!

Eran scanned the horizon as best she could, looking for the dumb ass she now knew was Josh Wynter. At Lyceum's question, she shook her head "No but you do cover twice the horizon I can" She says looking back at him and taps the golden rose on her eye patch with a smirk before she turned back.

Once having heard the unfamiliar voice she turned and blinked at the stranger "Huh...A mermaid? In East Blue...cool. Why so far from Fishman Island hmm?" She asks before leaning back, scanning the wreckage all around them before landing back on the mermaid. "Or in this case should I call you a Siren?"

Before Wynter knew what was going on he suddenly found himself pulled out of the weightlessness of the water and into the sudden weighty surroundings of what appeared to be a cave. hitting the ground hard and feeling how heavy his clothes had suddenly become Wynter inhaled deeply picking himself up slowly.

He had to admit when he approached the shipwreck, this was the last thing he'd been expecting. Getting to his feet and brushing hair aside which had fallen over his face Wynter was met with a green webbed fist to the face which sent him backwards falling on to his arse. Grunting at he hit the ground Wynter looked at his opponent to see a large green fish man. Unsure of what he was, Wynter raised an eyebrow and waited to see the man's next move.

He'd never seen a fish man before, but he already knew he wasn't keen on them, or at least not this one. Not the way he was behaving.

"What the hell is your problem?" Wynter shouted wanting answers.




Surprised at the confidence in the silver haired girl, the mermaid felt a little anger surge through her before she responded. "none of your business! Get out of the boat before we make you!"

"We?"

The boat the two of them were in shook a little as what appeared to be another merfolk boarded the boat. Not so tall but still pretty hefty looking a merfolk with octopus tentacles for legs. Purple in colour this merfolk was seen to have a set of dreadlocks tied into a ponytail hanging from his head a silver chain around his neck and a torso covered by an open short sleeve red shirt.

"Af da boat!" he shouted at Eran & Lyceum.

Looking at the mermaid & then the octopus man Lyceum agreed to the terms. Stepping from the boat and leaping aboard the remains of the shipwreck, he landed beside the mermaid and was pushed away from the edge.

"Good boy, get over by the mast! Tonto, you keep the girl on the boat. Can't be having you ganging up on us now can we."

Doing as he was told Lyceum made his way to the mast. He'd managed to slide a scalpel up his sleeve and as he made his way over to the mast he made sure to keep it hidden up there as long as he could. If he were to be tied up at least then he'd have a way out.

Motioning towards Lyceum the mermaid reached into a small chest whilst keeping the flintlock trained on Lyceum.

As for Tonto he pushed the boat from the shipwreck. He didn't have any weapons on him, but in all honesty he didn't need them with his skills. Turning to face Eran he grinned in a sinister manor.

"We've got a friend whose going to just love you little girly girl!" beginning to chuckle to himself Tonto reached for a whistle from the breast pocket on his shirt.

"Ready when you are mama"

When the Fish-man turned back to the angelic face that was Eran Masters he would see the single icy blue eye staring at him, her eye held a look as if he was looking into the pit of hell itself. Eran wasn't happy, not at all. These bastards dared to think they've won? Think they had the upper hand? Eran knew she'd have no chance of fighting a Fish-man in water...it be suicide. Shed have to bide her time for now. "Lovely.." She says gritting her teeth. When Lyceum had been getting off the boat and the two merfolk had their eyes trained on him she had slipped a few of her blades from her wing hiding them in the sleeve of her jacket, one in each glove, the waistband of her jeans and even in her cleavage. Eran might have been rusty in a fight but years of hiding tools for lock picks made it so as long as something was small enough she always had a place to hide things. It was a dirty trick but with the trick of a shipwreck as bait, these two had pulled? She saw it only as fair.

Looking at the large fishman who stood before him Wynter couldn't have told you what fish this man was but all he knew was it looked creepy as sin with a part poking from his head hanging down just before his face like a lantern with brown skin a set of large rounded eyes and a large jaw full of teeth which looked like needles. He could feel chills sent down his spine, but not from his appearance, more so the chilliness of this under water cavern.

"You'll make good, you'll make good!" the fishman repeated as Wynter got to his feet a little pained from the punch.

"Good for what?" he asked questioning just what the hell this guy was on about.

"Make good for Marmalade"

"Marmalade? I wouldn't make a good marmalade" Wynter retorted whilst suddenly thinking if he actually were turned into marmalade what he'd taste like.

Shaking his head the fishman grinned eerily allowing all of his teeth to be seen.

"Not as marmalade! For marmalade!"

"And who is that?"

Giggling girlishly like a shy girl the fishman rubbed his hands together before cracking his knuckles.

"You'll see soon enough, but first things first."

Turning back to Wynter the fishman had pulled on a set of knuckle dusters

"She likes it when it's like paste!"

Confused and a little dumbfounded by just what this nut case was talking about Wynter could figure one thing out by the knuckle dusters and raised his own fists. Something strange was going on here and he just hoped Lyceum & Eran were having a better time of this as it was something that to him was making little to no sense as of the moment and he increasingly becoming slightly worried.

"You're going to regret having brought me down here"



Removing a set of large bulky chains from the chest the mermaid sauntered towards Lyceum making him curse under his breath. The scalpel would've been ideal for ropes. But chains! Bitch! Standing behind him and restraining Lyceum's hands the mermaid seemed to have a constant grin over her face.

"Don't worry sweet cheeks, you won't be left here long to starve. I'll make sure you meet a nice quick end. We have a friend whose just dying to meet you after all."

"As much as I'd love to meet this queen bitch, I'd sooner slice my carotid artery."

Motioning closer towards Lyceum's face the mermaid shot him a rather intense glare which seemed to scream shut your mouth.

"That can be arranged! We needn't have you alive for when she arrives!"

"You couldn't even find it if you tried" Lyceum replied and he wasn't wrong. Turning from him and marching towards the edge of the wrecked ship the mermaid looked across to Tonto and reached into her trousers and removed a small whistle which she placed between her lips.

"I'm calling her now! It's time she saw what we can grant her with!"

Still uncertain what these morons were talking about Lyceum quickly started getting to work on trying to pick the padlock the mermaid had used to fasten the chains shut. It wasn't the perfect plan, but it was something. He could see that the blue was empty for miles around so no one could even see the three of them or even find a source of a distress signal.

Grunting a little as he worked on the padlocks Lyceum just hoped Eran could stall for time.



Noticing Eran with her hand down her cleavage, Tonto blushed a little, as much as he wanted to retrieve whatever she might've been placing down there he was at the same time a little too shy to reach or ask about it. At this point is when he heard the words from Mama about calling Marmalade and he grinned.

"Praise be Marmalade. May god only know her insatiable hunger!"

Turning to face Eran once more Tonto reached for her jacket to remove it.

"Marmalade doesn't like clothing little girly! She just enjoys the meaty sensation of bodies sliding down her silky smooth throat!"

As the whistle was blown by Mama the water around the group suddenly vibrated uncontrollably as a grin begun to appear over the faces of Mama & Tonto. Something was coming. Something big!

Ships would quiver in it's wake, men would cry and women faint. Something was on it's way and it would be the end of all if it's hunger was ignored. The creature that stood by the name Marmalade was coming and not just for dinner, but for three scoundrels with dreams that no one else cared about.

"Don't even think about it you pervert!" She shouted a dark blush on her cheeks before something was sent flying at his hand. One moment Tonto was reaching for the girl's jacket the next Tonto would find one of the trowing knives she had hidden sticking out of his had "Don't even think about it you pervert!" She shouted a dark blush on her cheeks before she moved forwards jumping towards him, the sole of her boot connected with his face suddenly as she used him as a stepping stone to jump onto the ship wreckage and drew her sword that until now had been hidden by her coat. She had grabbed onto the blade lodged in Tonto's hand and with the momentum of her jump had torn it free sending a splatter of blood into the water.

Charging head on towards the man in the blue waistcoat the fishman angler fish launched himself into a barrel roll. Not fully expecting this Wynter found himself diving sideways out of harm's way allowing the fishman to crashed through the wall behind him. He seemed to be of the brutish variety who hadn't more muscles than brains, so he was a perfect match for Wynter. Getting back to his feet to see the hole he'd crated from his body alone, Wynter begun to feel that he may be in a little over his head as the cavern shook uncontrollably with bits falling from the ceiling above.

"C'mon out and face me!" he shouted hoping to gode the fishman into the open.

Nothing seemed to happen until a larger piece of debris came shooting in his general direction. Shocked and a little worried he might cause the cavern to collapse Wynter realised he had two choices. Risk swimming back up or beat this guy down here. Behind the debris a large was the fishman brute.

Rolling to the right allowing the debris to shoot past his shoulder and into the water he'd arrived in Wynter landed on his feet barely holding his position and opened wide.

Life Return: Methane Breath: Blaze

Opening his mouth and unleashing a torrent of flames towards the brute Wynter watched as the brute recoiled in pain as the flames bombarded his torso.



A loud whistle shot into the air and seconds later when the water begun to shake Lyceum's eyes caught hold of just what this creature known as Marmalade was. In the distance something could be seen leaping up and down in the water. Simply a head bobbing up and down.

Gulping a little he watched as it grew in size the closer it got. He had started to feel a little frightened, but wouldn't let it show on his face as he tirelessly worked on freeing his hands from the chains the bitch mermaid had placed around him.

"You're gonna need a bigger fish to eat me than something as puny as that!" he shouted to which the mermaid turned unleashing a bullet from her flintlock into the mask directly next to Lyceum's head. The shot was professionally aimed and even sent shivers down Lyceum's spine.



It wasn't often Tonto was told no, but this time he was a sense of anger radiated through his body. The pride and glory of Marmalade was on her way and this little bitch in the jacket was seen to be brandishing some hidden blades. Taking one to the hand he squealed recoiling in pain.

"WHY? You must be out sacrifice to the lord and might Marmalade!" he called out at Eran as her feet found him to be a good stepping stool whilst the blade went missing from his hand and blood replaced everything as it shot into his eyes.

Lyceum watched all of this with shock. He smirked safe in the thought that Eran had some great plan in mind as his scalpel suddenly found its way into the lock and has got stuck with the final piece. Lyceum was almost out, it would just take one final push.

Watching as Eran performed this act she placed out her free hand as Eran was in mid air leaping towards the platform and attempted to grab Eran by the neck whilst with her other hand she flipped the flintlock making it of good use for a weapon to bludgeon someone with.

"Going somewhere?"

As for Marmalade the creature was closing in and could smell the blood. The eagerness to enjoy something sliding down it's throat made the creature pick up the pace. The head bobbing vanished and suddenly so did Marmalade all together.

Seconds passed and all that could see was Tonto wailing in pain in the boat over his bloodied hand as he pointed at Eran screaming curse words for a sudden act of pure nightmares to appear. The boat was engulfed in one mouth full snapping and cracking into pieces whilst the fihsman Tonto had never even seen or thought such a thing could ever happen to himself. The mouth of Marmalade was snapped shut as the beast raised itself from the water head first.

Swallowing not just the little boat, but fishman in one Marmalade presented herself to her keeper and new members for the feast.



Marmalade stood raised before his keepers & two newly acquired for her feast with blood dripping from her lower jaw between her teeth and the look of death held deep within her eyes as she identified keeper from food.

As Eran was grabbed in the powerful grip, one might expect fear in her eyes, terror at being caught with such towering death behind her. After all only a madman would not be scared in such a scenario? Eran seemed sane...if it wasn't for the grin plastered from ear to ear across her face.At the mermaid's question, she actually started to snicker although with the tight grip on her windpipe made it difficult "No~....But you are".

Shimmering Skies: Sky High Stars

Suddenly her sword rushing towards the merfolk's face the sharpened point gleaming in the sunlight. Then at the last second, her hand shifted the blade and instead, the hard flat part of her blade slammed into the woman's jaw, chattering her teeth and holding enough force behind it to til her head back skywards.

With this newfound opening, she revealed one of the other blades she had hidden, this one in her right glove and quickly attempted to slash the now exposed throat. Behind her, she felt the hot breath of the creature and her eyes hardened, the grip now loosened due to the hit for the time being daring to glance behind at the Sea...queen? There was no way she was going to go like this after just getting free of Hell! Her single eye stared down the beast as cold as its icy color.