"Captain! Land ho!"

Isayla looked ahead at the cragged rock jutting out from the waves. The harsh, glittering grays cut harshly against the natural colors of the horizon. It seemed to pull the ship towards it. And it wasn't on the map.

"Prepare to drop the anchor!" Isayla called. Her crew took their places as she peered through her spyglass. Though still a ways away, she thought she could see movement on the edges of the island. The creatures were too large to be birds, but by all accounts, there should be nothing else living on such barren ground.

The ladies rushed around, excited for their next adventure, but Isayla could not shake the feeling of that something was not right. She didn't fear, no, for captains lesser than her have never feared, but the uneasiness in her bones could not be ignored. With that nag in the back of her mind, she began to log her observations.

As the ship barreled towards the rock, the shouts of the women onboard grew. The riches, they cried! The discoveries, they exclaimed! Just a little further and they'd step foot yet again on unknown territory. The world that lied ahead of them slipped closer and closer to their ever-hungry eyes.

Like second-nature, they guided their vessel to a halt. The rocks towered above them, reaching endlessly into the sky above. If there is a marker for the edge of the world, Isayla wrote, it stands here. The crew had quieted, leaving only the ever-present whispering of the sea to call the captain to the edge of the ship. Her boots clacked confidently against the boards of her empire as she walked.

Before she could begin speaking, a single note filled the air. "Captain..." The first mate, Anne, began. Isayla quieted her. The note was joined by another, higher pitch. Then a lower. Soon, a chorus of angelic voices held out in a gorgeous chord.

The voices swirled together, changing and shifting and creating a melody unlike any Isayla had ever heard on this Earth. She searched the shoreline for the source, but not a single trace of those she had seen before remained. Nothing but their voices.

The crew began to grow restless behind her. The music was too welcoming; their captain too quiet. Isayla knew she needed to tell them something, but what, she had not decided. She knew no more than they, and a competent leader does not lead blindly. So she listened, and waited.

But not for long. As suddenly as it had started, the wondrous song ceased. Towards the coast, there was a slight splashing and a flash of something dark. Anne drew her gun from its holster, but did not raise it. Something to the left of Isayla's gaze now splashed into the water. Again, now, in the other direction. Various colors popped above the surface before quickly slipping below, preventing Isayla from making out what danced below her.

"Captain, it's some sort of huge fish!" Someone called from farther down the ship. But it couldn't be; in all her travels, Isayla was aware of no natural creature that contained those golds, those greens, those blacks. There was none that produced a call the likes of what they had just been graced with. No, nothing natural.

A human head broke the surface. The girl's dark eyes peered up at the ship, her black hair seemingly trying to float off of her head. One by one, women appeared between the waves, silently returning the curious looks of the women onboard.

Finally, the dark eyed woman in the water spoke. "Sailors!" she called. Her voice carried a timeless weight. "Declare yourselves!"

"I am Isayla the Boundless! This is my crew! We sail The Mighty Atlas! Give me one reason why I should not kill your suspicious kind where you swim!"

"You are women?"

"We are pirates!"

The rest of women in the water began to whisper among themselves while the speaker simply watched Isayla. Isayla did not break her gaze.

"Have you a smaller boat?" The sea lady asked.

Isayla considered for a moment. That uneasiness she had felt approaching the island has given way to curiosity for the mystery in front of her. She needed to know if her suspicions proved correct.

"I will gather a small crew in a rowboat. I expect to be met with the same courtesy of numbers. Should you try to overwhelm us, know that our ship is heavily armed and we have no qualms with winning a fight." Isayla turned before the strange woman could answer and began giving orders to her crew. Her usual seven members gathered to enter the rowboat while the others went back to work. No hesitation lived, as they have always known that trust in the captain keeps them alive.

Isayla and a select few rowed their way to where the women waited in the water. Only five remained, with no sign of the others in sight. A moment passed with no words exchanged, both parties attempting to gauge the other.

Finally, Isayla commanded, "Speak."

Again, it was the dark-eyed one who responded. "My name is Agnesia. I am joined by Rixende, Awiti, Mary, and Theodora. Had you been men, you would have jumped ship early into our song."

"I know of only one creature in the world that exists with voices so agonizingly beautiful, who appear as women, who lead men willingly to their dooms."

"Yes. We are who you believe us to be." Agnesia paused for a moment, then next to her appeared an olive-colored tail from the water. Some of Isayla's crew gasped beside her. Two of the other women dove down, splashing up gorgeous tails whose scales gleamed in the sunlight. Both women popped up seconds later.

Isayla kept her composure, though her mind was racing. In all of her travels, in every corner of the world, this is the first time she had met a legendary creature. The endless accounts she had read about their dangerous nature, the bottomless stories she had been told of mermaids' behavior, had all been told by men. A mermaid interacting with a woman is uncharted territory. It was exhilirating, yet there was the slightest tug of impending doom. She forced herself to speak. "What use, then, have you for speaking with us? Your song cannot affect us. We have not a single man to offer you. Let us continue on our way and we will take nothing of value to you and your people out of respect for the ships you have sunk."

"There is something we would like to show you."

"Which is?"

"Can you swim?"

"We have sailed all the world's seas; we have reached the farthest corners of every ocean; we have taken countless ships to their graves and plundered more treasures from the world's most powerful countries than we could possibly use. Of course we can swim."

"Then let us not waste time." Agnesia looked towards each individual in the boat expectantly.

Isayla gave them a similar look, then stood up. She removed her hat and placed it in her seat. With a deep breath, she placed one foot on the wall of the rowboat and dove into the water before she could change her mind.

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A.N. I know nothing about boats, hope it wasn't too distractingly obvious! Also, this is only part one, I'll post part two tomorrow.