"Ismael!" the two girls exclaimed.
"How is this possible?" Captain Anna asked surprised.
"I am much more than you can imagine," Ismael replied while standing using a spear he had on his hands for support.
The ship gave another jolt, pulling everybody out of their surprise. "Get the cannons ready! This man has brought something with him to attack us!" Captain Anna ordered and her crew obeyed. Right before they could get in position, various giant tentacles emerged from the water and started attacking the pirates, and they tried to defend themselves using their sabres and some guns they had. In the middle of the chaos, Ismael threw his spear at the man holding Charlotte, hitting him in the chest. The girl took advantage of this and pulled herself off his hold. She immediately went with Ismael and he started to cut the ropes binding her.
"Not bad, you little scum. But you forgot your friend the siren," Anna said mockingly pointing at Marina. Ismael extended his right hand and the spear detached from the pirate's chest, and right before getting to his hand, the spear did a circular motion and cut the neck of the man holding Marina, making him release her. She ran to her friend and placed herself behind him, just as the spear came back to his owner.
"Were you saying?" Ismael said with a mocking smile that made Anna get mad, so mad that she dashed against him and tried a stab to his heart, but Ismael could block the attack using his spear.
"Charlotte, get to one of the boats and take Marina away from here," Ismael ordered keeping his block on Anna's attack. Charlotte obeyed and took Marina's hand to drag her down to the closest stairs and go to the middle of the deck where the lifeboats were located.
"Do not let them get away!" Captain Anna shouted, and two of her men blocked Charlotte and Marina's way, threatening them with their sabres. Marina got scared by the sight of those weapons, but Charlotte stood protectively in front of her, and with a mocking smile she snapped her knuckles and got into a fighting position, with her fists at chest height and legs slightly separated. The pirates tried to attack Charlotte, but she dodged one of them and punched the other in the stomach, making him fall to his knees and drop his sabre. Charlotte quickly picked it up and used it to stab the man she had dodged.
Meanwhile, Anna could pass Ismael's block and almost stabbed him in the chest, but he moved to one side and dodged the attack and tried to cut Anna, but she could block his attack. "Not bad for a creature from the sea," Captain Anna said looking at Ismael with disdain. He did not say anything and with a little push, he broke Anna's defence.
The following minutes were very agitated: Anna and Ismael were fighting against each other, throwing and blocking all of their attacks in an intense battle. Charlotte kept fighting against the two men trying to stop her, but it was hard to fight with one eye only. Marina stayed close to the mainmast, looking at all the chaos taking place around her scared.
Out of nowhere, the ship gave another jolt and everybody lost their footing. Ismael dragged himself on the floor to the gunwale and hold it to stand up and look overboard. He could see the water flowing under the ship and he immediately knew what had just happened, so he looked to the deck hoping not to find her friends, but then he saw Marina holding to the main mast and Charlotte trying to stand up. Ismael was about to shout at them to run, but Captain Anna took advantage of the situation and quickly went downstairs, just in time to jump over Charlotte and try to stab her, but the girl could block her attack. Ismael immediately ran to her to help her, but just when he was about to make it downstairs, another pirate blocked his way. Ismael jumped down the stairs and tackled the man, taking him down to the floor; then, he ran to Anna and Charlotte, kicking the captain on the stomach to make her move over.
"Are you okay?" Ismael asked Charlotte while offering her a hand to help her stand.
"I am better than ever," Charlotte replied once standing. Marina left her spot next to the mainmast and joined them. "We have to get out of here," Marina said to her friends.
"You are not going anywhere!" Captain Anna shouted once she was standing, pointing her sabre to them. The three friends looked at her with fear and rage.
"Ismael… take Marina away from here. I will take care of my old captain," Charlotte ordered Ismael while getting ready to fight.
"Charlotte, I do not think you are in conditions to fight," Ismael replied worried.
"Among us three, I am a better sword fighter than you and Marina," Charlotte said. "Besides, by what we just saw, you are very good to swim."
Ismael looked doubtlessly to Charlotte. After the current fights and the kick she had received in her eye a few minutes ago, he was not sure she could put on a fight. Still, he decided to trust her and followed her instructions. He took Marina by her wrist and started to drag her to the edge of the deck. The siren tried to resist, but a firm stare from Ismael made her give in and follow him. They jumped overboard, and once they were underneath the water surface, she could see the creature attacking the ship: a giant octopus with orange skin. She had never seen one before, so she was truly surprised.
Marina felt something pulling at her wrist and stopped looking at the octopus. She glanced to her left and she saw Ismael pulling her to him. As if seeing her male friend coming from an apparent death after jumping overboard while tied up, and seeing a giant octopus for the very first time in her life were not enough surprises, now she could see her "human" friend swimming with a tail instead of legs. He pulled her arm and they started swimming away from the sip, Ismael taking the lead.
After many minutes of swimming, they finally made it to the shore. They could swim very fast as marina retrieved her tail a couple of minutes after leaving the ship, so she could follow Ismael's speed. When they arrived at the shore, Marina noticed they were back on the beach she and Charlotte had been living on for the last weeks. Ismael left her on the sand while he kept himself in the water. "Listen, Marina. You have to stay here. Do not go anywhere no matter what," Ismael said to her in a serious tone.
"Wait. Where are you going?" Marina asked suddenly feeling scared.
"I have to come back to help Charlotte. You will be safe if you stay here. I will try to bring her here as fast as possible," replied Ismael while slowly swimming back to the ocean. Marina was about to say something, but then Ismael submerged in the water and she was left alone.
Marina did not dare to move from her spot. All the situation was too overwhelming and it made her feel so confused. Being kidnapped again, seeing her human friend being hurt badly, finding out her other human friend is not truly a human… it was too much stuff for her and she did not know what to do about it. The only thing that was certain for her was that she was safe at the beach and that Ismael would have a lot of things to explain once he came back.
After a long wait that felt like hours, a figure appeared on the water moving slowly towards the shore. Marina had retrieved her legs during her waiting, so she stood on them to look at the figure. When it was close enough to the shore, Marina could see it was Ismael swimming with Charlotte's body in his arms. He made it to land and started to drag himself out of the water, but as he did it his tail started to turn into human legs, so he stood on them. Marina walked to him and looked at her friend in his arms.
"She is okay. She does not have any serious injuries apart from the one in her eye," Ismael said noticing the siren's worriedness. "We have to take her to the shack so I can tend her wounds."
"And after that, I will explain everything to you two."