Cursed Seas Pt. 02: The Witch-Eye

"She was loyal. Unlike you."

A whip snapped into Shella's view, and she jerked up and saw Captain Lash, taller than her by head and shoulder, sword in one hand, whip binding the other, and a very familiar dagger shoved into a loop made of her straps. Captain Lash caught Shella's eye at the dagger and cocked her head. "Interesting little gift. Led us right to you. Our master made it for you. It knows where you are," Captain Lash said.

"Guess that explains you findin' us. Kinda thought it'd take ya years," Shella said, raising her sword to parry whatever Lash sent at her. "'Side, Cap'n, doncha wanna be out o' his service?"

"I've thought of it. But I'm getting my vengeance. Already killed the witch that did this to me. You know her. Name of Jezebel," Lash said.

Shella stomach sickened. "Ya didn't. She weren't hurtin' no-one!" Shella shot back.

"To you, yes. You didn't know what she did," Lash said. Her whip writhed, hungry like a snake. With an erratic jump, it flew at Shella and Shella barely put her blade between her and it. The whip bounced off and slithered at Lash's feet.

"You are so, so innocent, Shella," Lash said. The whip jumped up again at Shella.

"Yeah? 'N tha's why?" Shella asked, deflecting the whip with her sword.

"A wish to get your Lily back. A stone to let you see souls. Get them back, so you say. You live in a children's tale." Lash took a step forward, her whip lashing out again.

Once more, Shella's blade acted as a shield, bouncing the blade elsewhere. "Pretty naughty fer a kid's tale," she said, stepping back.

"You have everything you could ever want," Lash said, her whip spinning around her. "Everything goes well for you. You stole from us and were rewarded for it. I will steal from you. You will feel pain again. You won't escape from it."

"Oh, 'n whatcha gonna do? Hit me wi' a metal stick? Y'know tha' don' work on me."

"Lily is unlike you, is she not? You brought her back from death; she can be sent back."

Shella's blood froze. What was written on her face made Lash smile, the straps binding her mouth crinkling. Lash's whip came out of nowhere and slammed into Shella's throat, winding around it like a noose, and tightening. Her throat closed up, tightening like the fear in her chest. She scrabbled at the whip, dropping her sword and gurgling. Words couldn't come out.

"I'll make you watch. It will be payment for stealing our hope." Captain Lash jerked on the whip hard. Amidst hazy visions, gurgling, and the pain at her throat, Shella tumbled to the ground.

Captain Lash dragged her to the town square, whip biting into her skin and gills and rocks digging into her skin. The whip came undone, giving Shella enough room to breathe as the cursed and damned surrounded her. "Tie her up."

Shella's arms were pulled behind her and tied tightly to a street-post with rope, cutting into her wrists. In front of her was the mob. Everyone she addressed was there, including the four-armed woman, dirty and irritated, the mob of women from the tavern, looking very woozy, and Jenny Ivory, indignation burning in her eye sockets. Shella flashed a nervous half-smile. "Uh, hey," she said.

"What should we do with her?" asked one of the women.

"I say we cut her to bits," Jenny hissed, brandishing her axe.

"We are not done. We need Lily," Lash said, her whip trailing behind her. "Find her. She must be nearby."

"Before we do that, can we test one thing?" Gwen asked from the back, hidden in the mass of weird women.

Captain Lash sighed and rolled her eye. "What is it?" she said.

Gwen pushed her way to the front of the mob. In her hand was the witch-eye. "I want to see if what Shella said is true," she said.

"The wish-stone wasn't proof of her character?" Captain Lash said.

"She didn't make up Lily," Gwen said, and looked at Shella through the witch eye. Her brow furrowed. She flipped the Witch-Eye around and looked through it, and her brow didn't let up.

Shella sighed and hung her head. She knew that this would bite her.

"I - I don't get it," Gwen said. "It's not doing anything. It's just a stone! Somebody else try?"

A snap echoed through the air, causing everyone to stiffen. "I don't care," Captain Lash said.

"But, can you give her a chance?" Gwen pleaded.

Captain Lash's eye twitched for a moment. In the next, a crack through the air, then Gwen had fallen on the ground, her face torn open and bleeding. One eye remained wide. She hadn't seen the whip coming.

"Anyone else?" Captain Lash asked. Nobody else volunteered.

"Good. Now, Shella, you won't tell us where Lily is, will you?" Captain Lash asked.

"Nah," Shella said, smiling just to spite Captain Lash.

The whip whistled through the air and slapped across Shella's face, snapping her head to one side with enough force to kill anyone mortal. Pain blazoned across her face in a straight line, her pink blood leaking from the blow until her body healed it. Shella spat out a gob of blood and began snickering.

Captain Lash regarded her coldly, then snapped her whip across Shella's face again. Despite the bone-breaking force, skin ripping underneath the leathery whip, the pain, Shella couldn't really help but laugh.

"You ain't gonna get me t' say shite like that," Shella said, coughing out a loose tooth. She probed her bloody gum and felt, beneath the slick blood, a new hard tooth emerge.

Captain Lash hissed and swung her whip back and forth, the cracking tip slashing across Shella's flesh again and again. Bruises, welts, cuts, even the odd broken bone or two. Every blow hurt like the first, but strangely, it had finally occurred to Shella that it wasn't going to do a thing. As long as she didn't tell them where Lily was hiding, they couldn't hurt Lily. If they couldn't hurt Lily, they couldn't truly hurt her.

Shella coughed out another gob of blood and said, "Ya know this is pointless. I ain't ever gonna talk."

Lash's whip snapped across Shella's head once more for good measure, sending her mind spinning. However, Lash was smart. She knew that Lily couldn't have made this village without using herself like a candle. She turned around to her crew, her wrath almost palpable, and said, "Split up. Find Lily. Bring her here."

The crew hurriedly ran off, splitting off into different groups to search the island. Shella snarled and struggled against her bonds. The rope rubbed her skin raw and remained tight. The only women remaining in front of her were Captain Lash, Gwen, and Jenny Ivory.

Captain Lash turned back to Shella. "It will only take time. Your little savior will be brought here soon," she said.

"You think any o' them can take her?" Shella said.

Lash pulled the bone-handled dagger from its loop on her body and turned it in her hand. Shella kept her eye on it, watching its wavering blade and dull jewel. She knew what it did to people; she had used it far too many times herself. Bodies withered from its cut, even a single scrap guaranteed to be fatal by its horrific magics. "I know none of them can take her," Captain Lash said, "But she has one weakness; you. What do you think will happen if my crew finds her?"

Shella swallowed, seeing it all too easily. Lily would come for Shella and Captain Lash would be waiting there for her, that damned dagger in hand. Suddenly, she needed to get out of those bonds. She needed to find Lily first.

Captain Lash read Shella like a book and chuckled, a hoarse, raspy unpleasant noise like she was getting choked. "Finally you see it," Captain Lash said.

"Lily's a smart girl, she ain't gonna come here," Shella said, telling herself as much as she was telling the others.

Suddenly, a harsh shriek echoed across the island, then nothing. Everyone perked up, trying to tell where it came from. Shella paled; it came from the direction of a cave that she had found, and where Lily was hiding.

Captain Lash's whip frisked back to and fro, twitching like the tail of a cat. Gwen began to chew her fingernails, pacing back and forth, look at Shella, then at the direction of the shrieks. Jenny Ivory's teeth seemed more and more to become a spiteful grin, glaring at Shella with eyes drowned in mirthful hate.

Minutes crawled by in anxiety as Shella wished that Lily wouldn't come here. But, despite her best wishes, a figure appeared at the edge of town. Pale, skinny, with the wind tugging at her dress and long hair, Lily had come back fo Shella.

Lily slowly walked into town, her movements loose but stuttered like a puppet in the hands of an inexperienced master and her head tilted to one side. In each hand she held a long, rusty sword. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, focused on Captain Lash.

Captain Lash rolled her shoulders and neck, flexing her knuckles on the dagger's handle. Her whip snaked back and forth, reaching for Lily. She was ready for Lily.

Lily drew closer and closer, ever closer to the dagger that Davy Jones had once given Shella with the promise of bringing Lily back for her. The dagger that Shella had killed far too many with. The dagger that would kill Lily. Shella couldn't take it any more. "Turn back!" Shella shouted, "Get outta here! Run!"

Lily's attention snapped to Shella. For a faint moment, Shella actually thought Lily would run away. Then Jenny Ivory's bony fist slammed into Shella's mouth. Shella tasted iron and lost her words. "Shaddup," Jenny said with a snicker.

Shella's words proved useless. Lily began running towards her, long hair flying back and swords held loosely. A thunder-crack snapped through the air as Captain Lash stood between Lily and Shella.

Lily skidded to a stop and regarded Captain Lash with a cold inhumanity that Shella didn't recognize. Lily sharpened her blades against one another as Captain Lash's whip wound its tip around the handle of the dagger and Lash pulled her sword out.

"You've walked into your grave," Captain Lash said to Lily, "This won't be like back on the Harpy." The whip became a black blur whizzing through the air, shrieking as it cut across the sky. With an echoing snap, it arced towards Lily.

Lily clearly meant to dodge the blow, but she'd burned herself low making the fake village and the whip crashed into her side. Lily stumbled to the ground, her skin cracked like paint. She put her swords to the earth and stood up wobbling on her feet.

Captain Lash's whip coiled and snapped like a serpent, striking Lily in the chest and sending her flying back, ripping her dress open. Somehow, the dagger didn't cut Lily, but it was only a matter of time.

"The dagger!" Shella yelled, "Don' get cut, it'll kill ya!" That was all she could say before Jenny Ivory shoved her fist into Shella's mouth again.

Lily cocked an eyebrow before Lash's whip came swinging in a fierce horizontal arc. Like a boneless marionette, she bent over backwards, moving like water as the whip passed over her. Lily straightened and shambled towards Captain Lash, raising both blades in a strange pattern.

Captain Lash hopped back, but Lily was regaining her footing. Her movements were more fluid, working with her supernatural looseness instead of beholden to them. Lily thrust one blade, missing Captain Lash's stomach by mere inches, then spun around to push herself closer to Captain Lash, swinging a blade down on Captain Lash's head.

Steel rung against steel as Captain Lash brought her blade up and interrupted Lily's sword. Lily cocked her head, her lips so thin it was as if her mouth wasn't there. With a swift flick, she thrust her other blade through Captain Lash's stomach.

Captain Lash staggered back. Her grip on her sword loosened and it fell to the ground, clanging on the thin soil. She looked at the blade sticking out of her, her only eye showing irritation instead of pain or disbelief. She grabbed the hilt and pulled it out, accompanied by a wet shlucking sound and drops of dull red blood watering the earth beneath her feet. Captain Lash turned the sword around in her hand as if her blood on the blade didn't matter. Around her stomach, the straps and belts tightened, sealing the wound. "You'll have to do better than that," Captain Lash snarled.

Lily barely had time to react as Captain Lash lunged at her. Blades rang together, blood flicking off of Captain Lash's acquired weapon. The edges scraped against each other, sparks spitting from the conflict. Lily leapt back and leveled her sword at Captain Lash.

Captain Lash's whip jerked, snapping behind her then thrusting forward. Lily stumbled to one side, barely avoiding the dagger as it buried its blade into the earth. Captain Lash quickly stepped forward and thrusted, and her sword sunk into Lily's chest with a hearty thunk.

Shella's heart momentarily leapt into her throat before she remembered what world they walked in. Any mortal being would be dead by now, but none of them were were mortal, not like humans were. Lily looked at the sword as if it was a stone in her path. When Captain Lash pulled it out, the wound was like a cut into wood and Shella did not fall nor falter.

Captain Lash snarled and swung with her sword, chopping downwards onto Lily's head. Lily's hand was a blur as her blade intercepted Lash's chop. The blades slide against each other until their pommels collided, and with a messy and powerful twist from Lily's arm, Captain Lash's blade was sent flying away.

Lily pointed her blade at Captain Lash's throat. Lash eyed it warily, then slowly took and knee and held her hand up, surrendering. Satisfied, Lily turned and began walking towards Shella.

A snap echoed through the air. Lily twisted around, her sword a iron-colored blur, and Captain Lash screeched a pained scream. Her whip, aiming to plant the dagger in Lily's back, lay lifeless on the ground, cut short. Lash held her arm in her other hand as if it hurt her far more than any stomach wound. In Lily's off-hand was the limp end of Captain Lash's whip, dagger still bound in its blackened cord. Lily tossed the whip's end to the ground and turned back to Shella.

Captain Lash scrabbled for the dagger and grabbed it. For a moment, Shella thought Lash would sink it into Lily's back. It was all the impetus she needed for her to yell, "Look out!"

Lily whirled around, but it didn't stop Lash's aim. Lash threw the dagger and whip-end over Lily. Lily dropped her sword and flailed to catch it, but it flew over her head. The dagger landed near Jenny Ivory.

"Get her!" Captain Lash screeched.

Jenny Ivory snatched the dagger up with a cackle. Behind her, Lily turned around, eyes widened in surprise. Jenny took one look at Lily, looked at Shella, and said, "Yeah, but I hate you more."

Jenny Ivory drove the dagger into Shella's chest, knocking the breath out of her. She was left gasping for air as a wedge of pain burned close to her heart. Her world felt like it'd close in on itself because she knew what the dagger would do to her. It'd kill her. It'd wither her like a dried-out apple and leave Lily alone. All she could do was wait for it to happen.

But it wasn't happening. Shella didn't feel weaker. She didn't feel her consciousness or life fading from her body. Her skin wasn't turning leathery. The pain was even beginning to die down and Shella could feel her body writhe at the wound, trying to push the dagger out. Shouldn't she be dying?

Then it hit her. It was because she had no soul. The dagger sucked souls out, and if she didn't have a soul, then the dagger was useless. Guess there was a silver lining to being soulless. That gave Shella a weak chuckle.

Jenny Ivory, however, held her jaw open. "I've seen this thing work dozens of times," she said, jiggling the dagger's hilt and causing sparks of pain in Shella's chest, "Why isn't it working now?"

Before Shella could spit into Jenny's eye socket, Lily grabbed Jenny's shoulder and shoved her out of the way, sending bones to clatter against the earth. Lily looked concerned and pulled the dagger out of Shella's body, only relaxing as Shella's wound began to heal. Lily took the dagger to the rope binding Shella's hands and then threw the dagger away.

Shella rubbed her wrists for a moment, then grabbed Lily for a kiss. Lily's surprise gave way to comfortable acceptance as she put a hand on Shella's hip. Her lips were as soft as ever, in spite of the bitter duel she was just in. Shella broke the kiss to say, "Ye really shouldn'tve come. They can't do a thing t' me, but they coulda killed ya. You gave me the scare of me life."

Lily's smile was lovelier than any flower and sweeter than any fruit. Lily was safe, and that was all that Shella needed.

Suddenly, Lily was shoved up against Shella, her eyes wide in shock and confusion. She grew limp against Shella, her arms falling to her side and her skin began to take on an ashen grey tone.

"Lily?" Shella asked.

Lily's lips fluttered meaninglessly. Her body felt as if it was growing heavier and heavier.

"Lily? What's wrong? Lily? Lily!?" That was when Shella saw the dagger in Lily's back; the dagger used against her, the dagger she used against countless sailors. Its jewel was pulsating brighter and brighter as Lily began to shrivel up.

"No!" Shella screamed. She ripped the dagger out of Lily's back and sent it spinning away. Lowering Lily to the ground, Shella gripped her hand that more and more felt like a tree branch.

"Come on, lassie, stay wi' me, stay wi' me," Shella said, hot tears rolling down her face. Lily's eyes sunk in and rolled, her cheeks becoming gaunt and her hair thin and fragile. Her ashen skin dried up slowly, her lips cracking as she tried to say something. Her hand lost its flesh, fingers becoming twigs in a rough, dry palm on a stick-thin arm. What little flesh remained became as tough and as rough as tree bark. Strength fled from the once-beautiful woman, falling limp in Shella's arms. Within a minute, Shella was holding on to a corpse.

Tears like rain fell upon Lily's pale dress. It was over, wasn't it? Lily was gone, just like that, and Shella had only just gotten her back. It was as if everything Shella had done was for naught.

Then, something began to smolder inside Shella's chest. She wanted revenge. She wanted to kill whoever had done this. Shella looked up and saw Gwen, paralyzed with shock, hand still poised from when she had pushed the dagger into Lily's back.

"I wanted it to be you and me, like old times," Gwen murmured.

Shella let Lily's body fall to the floor and straightened up. Her head was swimming in the currents of rage and she let it overtake her. Her hands reached out for Gwen, her flesh writhing as she did so. As her conscious mind faded into a burning red haze, she felt herself disconnect from something and reconnect to something else.

* * *

The pain the second time around for Veradine was no better; it still felt like she had been kicked in her womanhood. This time around, at least she expected it to happen. Unfortunately, she wanted Jenny Ivory to stab Lily with the dagger and not Shella.

Regardless, Lily had been stabbed and now Veradine was regretting it. Shella was changing into some thing that Captain Lash could see but couldn't quite understand. Shella was growing larger, snarling like a mad beast at Gwen, who had fallen back and was silent in terror. Her limbs were bubbling likes worms were beneath her skin and she was growing larger, her body twisting into inhumanity.

The last thing that Veradine heard out of Gwen was, "Shella?" Then, the thing that Shella was becoming slammed a fist through Gwen's head.

"Fuck," Veradine cursed out loud. She scrambled to her feet.

An ear like a many-spoked fin flicked and the Shella-thing swung its neck to face Veradine. Shella's face had become a distorted monstrosity. Her former beauty was a joke. She hissed, a sound boring into Veradine's ear that instantly hooked into her brain but sounded like nothing she had ever heard.