"The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit."

                                                                                  -Nelson Henderson

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF SELF HARM AND A SUPER DOPE SEAMONSTER 

The voices never seemed to stop. 

They were becoming louder by the day. Ever since the night you heard that man kill himself, more voices had started to fill your ears, even when you were conscious. Sometimes you'd heard voices of people you didn't know. Other times, it was the voices of your crew even when they weren't speaking. 

The voices said different things. You'd heard happy voices that spoke of their loved ones. You'd heard angry voices that spoke of betrayals. Some voices had even spoken of heartbreaks. You'd listened for another mention of the box--waited for a voice like the one you'd dreamed about--but it never came. 

These voices were too much for you to take. You'd shut yourself away in your quarters, claiming you were planning for the island. In all reality, you'd simply grown exhausted of the constant noise in your head. Being away from people was the only way to quiet the voices. 

Your blue eyes scanned over the documents in front of you, your left hand mindlessly scratching over the patch of blue scales that now decorated your chest. Every day that you grew closer to the blasted island, you lost a bit more of your humanity. 

Part of you wanted to seek out Jungkook. He knew more about sirens than anyone else on this ship. However, he'd developed feelings for you. You saw it in the way he looked at you and the way he spoke to you. You'd been avoiding him since that night he'd tried confessing to you on the deck. Seeking him out now would only encourage him, not to mention make you extremely uncomfortable. 

You let out a heavy sigh, moving your gaze to the untouched plate of bread on your work table. You still haven't eaten. You didn't have an appetite anymore. 

You'd been working on carving out the fake music box to fool Bluebeard. Once you got to the island, you'd be on your own and you'd need the fake box to be accurate enough to make Bluebeard believe you'd actually gone through with the plan. When, in all reality, once the mark was off, you'd give the real box to Jimin. 

The plan was perfect. By the time Bluebeard figured out his box was a fake, you and your crew would be so far gone, he'd have no way of catching you. After you left this world, Jimin and his men would be left to deal with the pirate king's wrath. With music box in Jimin's possession, it would be easy. It wouldn't be your problem. 

You'd move onto the next world and start the cycle all over again. 

"Sorry, old man," You muttered to yourself, glancing towards the half-finished music box, "Looks like you came all this way for nothing."

Before the words had even left your mouth fully, your body was launched into the air and thrown across the room and into the full-length mirror. You grunted at the impact, wincing slightly as you tried to rise from the floor. Shards of the reflective glass had dug into your palms, leaving numerous open wounds. 

On the deck above you, men were screaming and yelling out orders. You could heard terror in their voices. Something was attacking the ship. 

You quickly rose from the floor, your blue eyes wide. Another hard thud came, but you were prepared and managed to stay on your feet, stumbling towards the door. By the time you'd made it to the deck, hell had broken loose. 

Large tentacles wrapped around several of your crew, hoisting them in the air. The men screamed loudly, kicking their feet and shoving blades into the slimy flesh that held them. "Kraken!" Someone yelled just as one of the tentacles disappeared beneath the water, taking one of your crew with it. 

The voices in your head were louder than the screaming of your crew. The same voices you'd been hearing for days were flooding your mind now. Some of them said the same things they'd always said, while others who once spoke of revenge and hatred now screamed for second chances.  

You knew you should have been moving, but you couldn't. Everything was so loud. The ship shook again and another man was pulled beneath the waves. 

"Y/n!" 

You covered your ears, hoping to shut out the voices--the screaming, the crying, even the laughing--but it only seemed to make the voices louder. Someone grabbed your arm, hoisting you upwards right as a giant tentacle slammed down on the piece of deck, you'd been occupying. 

Taehyung grabbed you, hauling you across the deck towards the rest of the crew. "Get it together!" He yelled, "We're fighting a monster out here!" He was right, but "getting it together" was much harder when hundreds of different voices were screaming from inside your skull. 

You shook your head, trying to focus on the task at hand; getting away from the kraken and living to see another day. Men were being plucked from all over the ship. Bluebeard's ship sailed a ways behind yours. The Kraken didn't seem to be interested in it. Probably because you weren't on it. 

The others were huddled beneath one of the staircases on the main deck. When Taehyung arrived, pulling me with him, their eyes fell onto me. Yoongi was the first to speak. 

"That thing is too big to take down with pistols and swords," He stated, "We have to use the cannons."

"The cannons are below deck and across the ship. I'm no expert on Kraken anatomy, but I'm almost certain that it would snatch us up and eat us before we made it." Taehyung chimed, crossing his arms. 

"Well, if we don't do something, the ship is going down and we're going with it." Jin countered. 

"And if we do something stupid, we're going to get eaten!"

"And if we--"

"That's enough." Jimin's voice broke through the bickering, silencing his crewmates. "Yoongi is right. Pistols and swords won't kill it, but we also can't outrun those tentacles." The rest of the group seemed to turn to you, searching for some kind of answer that you certainly didn't have. 

"We..." You paused, trying to think of what to say. They all looked at me like I was crazy. "Maybe if...I think..."

The voices were getting too loud. The Kraken screeched as its large tentacle slammed into the ship, splitting the wooden deck in half. You all went flying from the impact. Your body landed straight on top of Jimin. 

The blue-haired captain grunted as you slammed into his chest, his arms moving instinctively to wrap around your middle. 

"Look at me."

Jimin's voice rang in your head, louder than before. You slowly lifted your gaze to meet his, his eyes scanning you for any kind of injury. "Are you alright?" He asked. You only nodded in response before raising to your feet. 

Something didn't feel right about this. Beyond the deafening symphony of voices in your head and the shards of glass stuck in your palms, something else felt off. You felt strange. You felt like a piece of you was missing. You were anxious, unbelievably worried about something. 

Your palms had begun to sweat and your eyes fill with tears. Your stomach twisted in knots. Something was wrong. It wasn't until the mark on your hand began to burn painfully that you realized the feelings weren't yours. They were Jungkook's. 

You glanced down at the mark, watching as it grew further up your arm, darker. You hadn't noticed the blood dripping from your cheek until it fell onto the white material of your shirt. Your fingers danced over the cut, bringing the blood into view. 

The wound wasn't yours. It was Jungkook's. He'd managed to get an impressive wound on his face. Judging from the sudden pain in your side, he'd broken a rib as well. You needed to find Jungkook before he got the both of you killed. 

Wiping the blood from your cheek and the tears from your eyes, you turned to Jimin. "Get as many men as you can to the rowboats. The ship isn't going to make it. Go to Bluebeard's ship and use his cannons to take this thing down. He's got the power to do it."

Jimin stared at you incredulously for a few moments. "The beast will just follow us to Bluebeard's ship! What good would that do any of us?!"

"It's here for me, Jimin," You started, "I'll stay on the ship and distract it long enough for you to make it to Bluebeard and tell him the plan."

"Are you crazy?! This thing will kill you, Y/n!"

Your blue eyes narrow on him. You were getting sick and tired of the whole "damsel in distress" trope that these men always seemed to be pushing on you. "Get to the boats." You deadpanned. "Kill the Kraken."

Before he had the chance to argue, you were running on the broken deck, narrowly dodging the large tentacles of the beast that lurked below. 

"Look at me."

Jimin's voice rang in your head again, louder. You didn't turn to face him, too driven by the burning in your palm. 

"Jungkook!" You yelled, clutching your side from the pain of your newly-broken rib, "Jungkook!"

No response came from the siren, but your yelling seemed to rile up the Kraken. It screeched loudly from beneath you, shattering the windows on the ship. You winced, covering your ears. Taking advantage of your weakened state, the monster's tentacles wrapped around your waist, lifting you into the air. 

Your blue eyes were wide as another loud screech came from the monster, its grip on you tightening. You were quick to retrieve the pearl-handled knife from your boot, shoving it into the beast repeatedly. Dark blood splattered on your face, but the monster did not seem phased in the slightest by your actions. From the high position, you could see Jimin and his men lowering the life boat into the water. 

Taehyung was the first to notice your position. He shouted something, pointing at you. The rest of the men followed his gaze and their eyes widened at the sight of you. Hoseok had to hold Jimin on the boat. 

Within a second you were under the water, yanked downwards into the dark depths. You could make out the shadows of your sinking ship as it descended beneath the waves. The cannons rolled down towards the huge canyon of wood in the middle, sinking down until darkness swallowed them. You couldn't help but feel like you were about to join them in the darkness. You weren't afraid, though. You were relieved. No more fake heroism. No more pretending to be something you're not. No more saving worlds and watching people die. You were finally finished. 

You did what you were asked. You went as far as you could go. You were never a hero. You were only a girl from the modern world whose biggest trouble should have been burying her mother, not saving countless worlds. 

You wondered if your mother was still alive. If not, did she die knowing you loved her? Will you get to see her when the monsters take the last air from your lungs? 

"Success," she'd told you while wiping your eyes after you'd fallen while climbing a tree, "Isn't necessarily based on what you've done, but rather what you've endured."

"What does that mean, mama?" 

"You'll learn when you're older, my love."

You'd really wanted to get to the top of that tree. Your brother had been able to do it since he was seven. You were nine when you finally gathered the courage to try. You'd fallen on the fifth branch. You believed her then. You thought that you really would be able to understand her one day. Yet, you don't. You've endured more than most and you still have no idea what she meant. Perhaps she thought that hard times make a person stronger--better. You didn't feel stronger. If anything, what you've endured has made you weaker. All you ever seem to do is wander around fighting the battles of others while losing the war within yourself. 

Even though you weren't a little girl anymore, you still can't reach that top branch. The only thing you can do--the only thing you've ever done--is fall.

Hi!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, loves. 

I love you. 

I adore you. 

I purple you. 

I'm out. :)

-Max