The first day in Jack's house had been nice and relaxing, but the second day was completely different. He woke in a foul mood that only grew worse as the day proceeded. He snapped angrily at whatever she said or did, and as they went fishing, he nearly broke his fishing rod in halves when he did not catch anything fast enough.

Rose took a walk along the beach, hoping he would have calmed down when she returned. She walked barefoot, feeling the warm sand under her soles and enjoying being in such a paradise. Every now and then she bent to pick up a pretty seashell or a smooth stone.

After about a mile, she discovered a small pond that had formed when the tide fell, with a cute little sea turtle swimming in circles.

"Hello, you," she cooed. "Are you stuck?" She picked it up, admiring its reddish shell and marbled skin pattern and stroking its smooth head.

"Perfect," came Jack's voice from behind as he caught up with her. "Since my luck has abandoned me today, we'll have that for lunch."

"We're not eating it." Rose clutched the animal protectively.

"Don't be stupid. Give it to me." He reached for the turtle but Rose backed away. "Oh for Heaven's sake! You'd rather we starve then? Bloody softhearted woman!"

"Go away." She scowled at him.

"Just give me the damn creature."

"No!"

"Fine! I'm not making you anything else, if that's what you thought." He spat and stomped away in the direction they had come.

Rose frowned at his retreating back. Why was he so horrible today? Yesterday he had been almost... sweet, for lack of a better word. Human.

When Jack had gone, she went down to the beach and carefully put the turtle into the water, smiling as it eagerly paddled away, free at last.

Then to her surprise it suddenly began to grow and expand, and right in front of her eyes it changed form. When the metamorphosis was complete, a young girl of around ten or eleven stood before her, wearing a rusty red dress in the same marble pattern as the turtle's skin had been. Her hair was rusty red too, a bit like Rose's own, and her skin was brown.

Rose stared at the girl, too shocked to utter a sound. This must be a hallucination, brought by the heat. This was not real.

"Thank you," said the girl. "You saved my life."

"It was nothing," mumbled Rose weakly. Of all the strange things she had experienced since she died, this waking dream was by far the weirdest. It was so real, so vivid.

"No, it was everything! That horrible pirate would have eaten me!" The girl shuddered, and then smiled cutely. "I'm Otohime. Who are you?"

"I'm Rose," she answered automatically.

"Nice to meet you. Will you be my friend? I'm very lonely."

"Oh. Well, sure..."

"Great!" Otohime took her hand. "Come, I'll show you where I live."

Rose numbly followed the girl out into the water, but when it reached her chest she temporarily woke up from her trance-like state.

"Wait! You live under the surface?"

"Of course. I'm the daughter of the Ruler of the Sea." The girl pulled harder on her hand, and Rose found herself following against her better judgment. To her surprise she could breathe the water like air, and together they walked on the ocean floor between seaweed and corals with a multitude of fish of all colors and forms.

Further out it got deeper and darker, but Otohime wore a white seashell in a chain around her neck and it spread light enough for them to see by.

"I'm dreaming, right?" said Rose conversationally.

"No, your eyes are open. When I sleep I always have my eyes closed, and Mom too."

"Right. So then I'm hallucinating?"

"Hallu-what?"

Rose was about to explain when she caught sight of a dazzling vision ahead. Down in a valley on the seafloor was a grand castle, lit by thousands of shells like the one Otohime wore. Merfolk swam in and out of its many windows, playing tag in the surrounding garden, and a small red crab passed by, riding in a wagon pulled by seahorses.

As they came closer, Rose saw the garden was designed in a specific pattern. On one side of the castle grew freshly green sea lettuce, on the next side was a meadow of multicolored sea pens in seagrass, then came red sea cucumbers and starfish among brown, leafy kelp, and lastly, a mass of white brittle stars fenced in by a row of icicles.

"It's the four seasons," she realized.

"Yes! Not many notice it." Otohime beamed at her. "The garden gets like that because no time passes here. So you can't stay too long, or you will find everybody has grown old and you haven't. That accidentally happened last time I brought someone here." She giggled.

"Right. I will remember that."

The area was well lit, and now Rose saw it came from the very walls themselves, which emitted a bluish, fluorescent light.

They were almost there now, walking on a white road made of a thick layer of white seashells that lead to the palace gates. They were huge and pompous, covered with millions of pink pearls, probably worth a fortune. Rose was reminded of her pearl earrings that she had given to Jack for his help with the quest. If she could get just a handful of the ones decorating the gates she could maybe buy them back.

On either side of the entrance a muscular merman stood guard. Their naked chests were green-tinted, much like fish skin, glittering in the light from the castle. Their torsos seamlessly faded into large tail fins and their fingers were webbed.

"Bringing land stuff again, Otohime?" said one contemptuously.

"That's not an item. It's a woman," said the other one, a hungry glint awakening in his lifeless eyes. And then he changed, right before her eyes, losing much of his fish appearance and turning into a handsome young man around her own age. Only the fishtail remained. When she looked at the other merman he had changed too, and now Rose could not quite recall what they had looked like before.

"Do you come here often?" said the first one, giving her a lopsided, boyish grin, coquettishly stroking back a lock of his hair. His eyes twinkled and Rose could not hold back a smile of her own.

"No," she said.

"What are you doing?" Otohime stamped her feet. "Stop that, you two! She's mine."

"So, have you ever wondered what a merman looks under his tail?" asked the other one, ignoring the girl. He had swam up to her, coming so close she could see his impressive six-packs and bulging arm muscles.

"No," she said again, reaching out to touch his swelling bicep just to see if it was real. It felt rough and scaly under her fingertip which confused her a little, but then the merman flashed his even, white teeth in a gorgeous smile and she forgot what she had been thinking.

"Get off her! Go away! I order you!" screamed Otohime.

"But I like them," said Rose dreamily. "They are pretty."

"No they are ugly fishmen who just want to eat you. Don't let them mess with your brain."

"They can eat me if they like. I don't mind."

"You're impossible. All of you." Otohime pushed Rose inside the palace and slammed the gate in the mermen's faces. An angry screech came through but Otohime ignored it.

"They are horrible," she muttered and took Rose's hand again. "I wish Mom would fire them and hire mermaids as guards instead."

They walked a while through long, empty corridors.

"Are you going to eat me too?" asked Rose. The absurdity of the situation made her giggle. But she must be dreaming, so it probably did not matter.

"Of course not! You're my friend. And you saved my life."

They had come to Otohime's room now, which was large and had a lovely view over the summer garden. The walls were decorated in various hues of pink and covered in shelves with a huge collection of what to Rose looked like junk; broken bottles, crooked cutlery, a painting, a bent chandelier, a pair of mismatched boots.

"I collect things from the surface," she explained. "I wish I could go there, but Mom says I can't until I'm grown up." She pouted. "That's why I changed into a sea turtle... but that didn't turn out at all like I had planned."

"Where's your mother now?"

"Oh, busy working as usual. She's away a lot, but since time doesn't pass down here I don't notice it anyway, so that's okay, I guess."

"But if time doesn't pass, how can you grow up?"

"Oh!" The girl stared at her. "I hadn't thought of that." She sat on her fluffy, pink bed, absentmindedly toying with an ancient looking wooden horse. "Mom probably doesn't want me to become an adult. Well, I'm going to, so there! I'm moving out." She jumped up and began to hurriedly pack a bag, cramming down clothes, collectables and toys in an unorganized mess. "I'm going to stay with the mermaids at Isla Serena. Want me to take you back to the shore first?"

"Yes, please."

This time Otohime turned into a silvery dolphin, and let Rose ride her. They left through the window to avoid the hungry mermen, and the journey back was much speedier than when they had come the other way.

When they were back at the beach again she changed into her girl form and took off her necklace, giving it to Rose.

"Whisper my name into the seashell if you need help sometime. I owe you for saving my life."

"I will. Thank you."

"Goodbye, Rose, it was great fun meeting you!"

"Goodbye, Otohime."

The girl dived into the waves, turning back into a dolphin the moment she touched the water.

Rose looked long after the disappearing creature, not knowing what to think of her strange afternoon. Had all this been real?

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Rose remained at the beach for a long time, bemusedly trying to organize her chaotic thoughts. She stroked the white seashell around her neck. It felt real. Had this insane adventure been real too? Had she actually met a turtle-girl and followed her to an undersea castle with merfolk?

If she had, was it any stranger than being dragged back in time by the Heart of the Ocean, or the fact that the Flying Dutchman existed, or that they were about to summon a sea goddess?

Still feeling numb and confused, Rose walked back along the beach and up the path to Jack's house. The sun was almost setting. She must have been gone longer than she had thought.

When she walked inside, Jack sprang from the bed, staring at her wildly. "Where have you been?"

"Um... out?" She did not feel like explaining her unusual afternoon.

"Out? Where? I looked all over the place! How could you be so thoughtless?" He grabbed her arms and all but shook her. "After the first night I thought..." He let her go, breathing heavily.

"First night?" Rose felt a growing suspicion. You can't stay too long, or you will find everybody has grown old and you haven't. "How long was I gone?"

"Don't you even know? Where were you?"

"Just answer the question!" Now it was Rose's turn to grab his arms.

"Three days. You were gone for three days."

"My goodness... where I was, no time passed. It felt like less than an hour!" Then she told him the whole story, showing him the seashell necklace as proof.

When she had finished, he still looked angry. "I can't believe you followed an unknown girl into the ocean like that. What if she had trapped you there? You could have been stuck much longer than three days."

"I know, I didn't think straight. I was in shock."

"Stupid. Reckless," he muttered, turning his back. He was trembling heavily, Rose noticed, and his shirt was soaked with sweat.

"Are you alright?"

"No I'm not," he growled, stomping back to the bed and throwing himself on it, still with his back turned.

Rose sat beside him, touching his forehead. It was burning hot, and clammy with perspiration. "What happened to you? Are you ill?"

"It's nothing."

"It's something. You look terrible."

"Why, thank you," he said sardonically. "Trust me, it's nothing to worry about. It will pass. In another day or so I'll be fine."

Rose was confused. Thinking back, she realized Jack's malady had started the day after they came here, when he had been so irritated for seemingly no reason. What was causing it, and how could he be so sure it would pass? Unless...

"This happened to you before?"

"Aye."

"And you seem to know why. Is it a curse?"

"I guess you could call it a curse." He laughed mirthlessly.

The truth hit her. "It's the drink. Your body needs it."

His silence was answer enough. So, he was trying to get sober, and that was why he would stay a week here before his appointment. Apparently he did not want whomever he was meeting to see his normal, drunk self. That would also explain his heavy drinking afterwards that Gibbs had mentioned. But why? Why put himself through something like that voluntarily? It was clear the abstaining made him feel terrible.

Again, Rose knew she would have to be patient. She would find out eventually, if not her curiosity had killed her first.

Darn pirates and their secrets!

A/N:

Why does Jack need to get sober? And what do you make of Rose's strange adventure? I always love to hear your thoughts. :)

Votes and comments make my day. ♡

Image Credits:

Public domain turtle picture.