Captain's Log #3: An Undersea Carriage Ride [Part 2]

Job Information:

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With his back pushed against the soft fabric of the carriage seat, Cap’n Erik continued sitting as he rode with his mermaid companion to the Merloran Palace where her father and the rest of her family were eagerly awaiting their arrival. The pirate captain looked out of the transparent window of the vehicle - examining the underwater kingdom he had found himself. Mermaids and mermen of varying species such as eels, manta rays, and octopi were moving around along the streets. They were floating around because of those odd and mystical bubbles located around their waists.

Individuals would either bow or salute as the carriage passed by - knowing the individual riding in it must be a member of the royal family. This wasn’t the only reason they would have known a member of the royal family was in the carriage. Arcelia had stuck her head out of the window and waved her hand to greet the people. “Ah, yes. It is I, Princess Arcelia. I have returned to you, my people.” She said with an elated smile plastered on her face. It appeared she lived for the admiration of her people and adored it when they gave her the attention.

Then, Erik saw there were several stores along the light red coral road. One appeared to be a run-of-the-mill clothing store as he saw several men and women come out with boxes that had a few dresses, pants, shirts, or other unmentionables poking out of it. An intoxicating aroma drifted into the carriage through the window Arcelia was poking her head and part of her upper body through it. There was an octopus merman standing behind a stall that had a small kitchen behind it. Erik was unsure what the merman was cooking, but he knew it smelled delicious. He read the word on the stall sign which said, ‘Takoyaki’.

“Ahh…” Arcelia said while she brought her head back into the carriage and sat back down next to the pirate captain. Her people had satisfied her need for attention. “It was not the parade I had wanted, but it is nice being adored and respected by the wonderful common folk - unlike a certain land-walker who is nothing but horrible and rude.” Her eyes darted over to Erik, who was ignoring her belittling him at this point and more focused on the surrounding area. “Oh? Speechless? Have you learned the error of your ways or…” She continued on her tirade about Erik’s manners.

An annoyed and low groan slipped from the auburn-haired pirate’s lips. “All right, lass, it seems you did not hear me the first time, so I will say it once more for you to understand. I am a pirate captain so I care less about your status as a princess as a goldfish cares about where it craps. The few good things about you I like is the fact you have a nice rack and you have treasure. That is it.” He said to her in a blunt and uncaring tone. “You have not earned a single thing so why should I respect it? Because you were born a princess? Because being born a princess forces your people to love you? Don’t give me that shit. Since I have gotten here, all I have heard is how great your father is. What accomplishments do you have? Hmm?”

Her eyes flashed with an intense anger at hearing this pirate, this land-walker, speak to her in such a fashion in her own kingdom. He did not care about her noble lineage, but what she accomplished. In this world, the circumstance of your birth truly mattered. So why was he willingly ignorant of this? “Who in the bloody nine hells do you think you are?! Speaking to royalty in such a manner?! Speaking to me like that?!” Arcelia said - her perfect dialect and her royal mannerisms starting to slip while they were in the back carriage.

With no further warning, the blue-haired mermaid reached over toward the auburn-haired human male sitting next to her. Her hands grabbed his head before she slammed it into the window of the carriage. A loud thud echoed from the impact, followed by a bellow of pain. Then there was another loud thud, followed by another bellow of pain. The glass on the window had cracked from the shock of the second slam.

Disorientated from the sudden impact of his head hitting the window twice, Erik attempted to get his bearings and recollect himself. On the back of his head, rivers of blood flowed downward and landed on the cracked window. The pirate captain felt his head throb with pain as the world turned red before his eyes. His head was heading toward the window once more. His hands reached around the ones that were pushing his head toward the carriage window. He gripped them tightly, stopping them from slamming his head into the window. The pirate captain squeezed them hard - hard enough to fracture bone.

A feminine scream echoed through the carriage. “Let go of my hands, you bloody idiot,” Arcelia shouted at Erik while she tried to wrestle her hands away from the pirate’s strong grip. Erik released them, causing the mermaid princess to fly back a bit in the carriage and land against the wall of the vehicle. A thud went through the air. The carriage shook a bit from the motion of the fighting happening in the back of it.

The auburn-haired pirate captain had recollected himself physically, but he was still furious at the sudden attack. His hands balled into a fist before he punched forward - landing a blow against the mermaid princess in the carriage. The punch landed against her face. The impact of the punch had rattled her, stunning her in place. Her pale skin now had a bruise on it. Outside of her father, mother, and her sisters, no one had ever put their hands on her. Now, there was this commoner, this land-walker, who had disrespected and now had punched her.

More of the mermaid princess’ rage slipped out as she attempted to punch him back. Her hand balled into a fist and she struck the pirate captain back in the face - landing a blow against his nose. The impact of the punch echoed through the area. A grunt left the auburn-haired man’s lips while he felt blood starting to trickle out of his nose. Erik’s eyes focused down on the foe in front of him. It did not matter what their standing was, nor their gender. If they struck him with this amount of force where blood was being drawn, he would respond in tandem.

Erik adjusted himself in this limited area before he rapidly threw blow after blow toward the opposite body in the carriage. The mermaid princess had elected to use the same tactic as the pirate captain. She threw blow after blow toward Cap’n Erik. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. A barrage of low thuds resonated through the air, mixed with the sound were grunts from the impacts. Splashes of blood landed against the fabric which lined the interior of the carriage.
“I will beat your ass, you bitch.”

“Screw you! I will bash your head in!”

“I will teach you the place scum likes you belong in.”

“Ha, that will teach you, bitch.”

Still squabbling in the carriage's backseat, they shouted these childish insults toward each other while they continued to trade blow after blow with each other. Their shouting was so loud any passerby could hear it from the outside. However, no one said anything electing to leave the matters of royalty to the nobility. The driver was of the same mindset since the princess had not called for guards to deal with this situation - there was no need for him to intervene so he continued to drive the carriage. “I am sure they will work this out for themselves. No need for me to get involved and possibly injured. Besides that man…” The driver remembered Erik’s size and shook his head. The man was sure the princess could handle herself. He motioned to the reins attached to the large seahorses. The movement of the straps caused the creatures to move faster toward the palace.

Around ten minutes passed since they had first started their fight. Erik and Arcelia continued their idiotic fight in the carriage's backseat - trading blow after blow with each other. Their bodies became bruised from the impacts of their respective fists against each other. Their breathing slowly became ragged while the pain and the fatigue set in their bodies. “Screw you.” Princess Arcelia wheezed out. “No… you.” Cap’n Erik told her back.

Their hands pressed against each other - their fingers interlaced - as they pushed each other back and forth. Their fight going from a brutal head on fist-fight to something dumb. They knew it was dumb at this point. Their bodies were way too tired to continue. But their respective stubbornness made them refuse to admit this. Eventually, they found themselves wrestling in the back seat.

In time, the carriage came to a stop, and the driver came around to let the duo out of it. What he saw shocked him. There were small pools and specks of blood splashed across the inside of his carriage. In the middle of this scene, the mermaid princess was on top of the pirate captain. Their bodies were not moving from their exhaustion. “Oh…. I guess some couples are like this…” The driver elected to keep quiet about this and let them rest up before waking them up.

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"I want money! Women! Status! And power! I want everything this world’s selling and eternity is topping the list! Understand?"