A fishing vessel bobbed up and down in the centre of the Aquilan Bay surrounded by a thick blue-grey fog. The deck was alive with scuttling sailors and fishermen hauling up nets from a combative sea. All the while, Captain Robb watched the bustling activity from the quarterdeck while the waters clashed with the hull of the boat.

He peered up at the sky and sniffed the air; it was going to rain soon. The captain then turned back to his crew and continued to watch them. Captain Robb watched them work diligently and scanned the busy deck until he noticed something amiss with squinting eyes.

The captain turned to his first mate. "Where's my no-good nephew?"

Captain Robb delivered a swift kick to his nephew's ribs, waking up the lanky adolescent with a yelp.

"Wake up, Eddie!" the captain yelled. "You lazy slug!"

Jolted from his sleep, Eddie fell off from his post and landed on the deck with a thud. The captain's nephew clutched his ribs and groaned in pain.

"Screw off, you old sot!" cried Eddie.

"What did you just call me?!" Captain Robb's voice rose an extra octave.

"I said you're a-Aaah!"

The captain delivered several more kicks to his nephew's body before eventually storming off. "Get up and start doing your part!" he yelled over his shoulder. While Captain Robb walked off, he could hear his nephew slowly carrying himself up.

When he returned to the quarterdeck, he thought he would had to go back and fetch his nephew. Fortunately, he saw Eddie stumble back to the rest of the fishermen with his hand still clutching his gut. By the time the captain's nephew began hauling the nets back up into the boat, Captain Robb found himself wandering the deck not too far behind Eddie.

"Today's generation," the captain started. "No respect. No discipline. Useless. You hear that! You're useless! I tell you now! I wouldn't hesitate for a second to trade you in for-"

"-for Hallen's boy," Eddie replied with rolling eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I heard you the first twenty times you said it. And it was just as annoying the first time you did."

"Don't you mouth off to me, you rascal!"

Eddie continued working over the gunwale until he looked up to the sea. Captain Robb noticed his nephew's movements gradually slowing to a stop.

"Eddie!"

The boy stood there frozen, showing no sign of having heard his uncle.

"What the hell are you doing?!" the captain shouted. "Don't make me box your ears in!"

Captain Robb's nephew still gazed out at the sea and pointed a finger to the horizon. The other crewmen also halted their work to look out into the distance.

"What is that?" Eddie asked.

It wasn't until now that the captain noticed what his nephew was pointing at.

Somewhere in the fog ahead, Captain Robb could see a silhouette of a ship steadily growing larger as it approached closer to their boat.

"Uncle?"

The captain could hear a nervous edge in his nephew's tone.

"The boat's not moving," his nephew said.

"What are you-"

Captain Robb noticed his fishing boat no longer swaying on the water. The lack of movement prompted the captain to suddenly rush to the edge of the boat and glance over the side with wide eyes.

To his shock, the sea surrounding his fishing vessel was perfectly and unnaturally still. "The waves. Where are the waves?"

"Uncle. You should come and see this."

The captain followed the sound of his nephew's voice to the ship's bow and gazed out to the sea with narrowed eyes. At first, Captain Robb still saw nothing but a ship's shadow obscured by the grey fog.

Then he saw the field of white spreading out from the incoming ship and covering the sea surface. The white field began to expand outwards towards his own vessel. The captain finally realized that the sea was freezing into ice before their eyes.

"Go," the captain ordered. However, everyone on board still stood mesmerized by the solidifying sea. "Go, go, go, go, go! Open them sails!" Captain Robb's booming voice suddenly jolted the crew back to life. "I want us out of here, now! Loose that net!" The captain turned around and headed for the helm while his crew scrambled all over each other to do their jobs.

By the time Captain Robb reached the wheel, the sails above him began to unfurl themselves as he gazed out at the bow of his ship. His face then paled at the sight of the looming ship-sized shadow sailing dangerously close to his boat.

"Captain!" one of his sailors shouted. "There's no wind!"

The captain looked up to see the sails hanging limp. "No wind? What-"

He was interrupted when he was painfully slammed into the helm after his ship suddenly buckled in the water.

"Uh. You might want to see this, captain," said one of his sailors.

Several of the sailors and fishermen were bunched up on the edges of the ship, looking out over the side. Captain Robb groaned in pain and slowly made his way to the crowd of his subordinates. A mist of breath hovered in front of the captain's own face. "Don't tell me..."

Sure enough, the captain glanced over the bow of his ship to see the sea beneath and around his vessel frozen and coloured in white. Behind him, Captain Robb heard his crew shuffling about on deck and he looked over his shoulder to see them moving along the boat's railing. The captain approached his subordinates to peer out over the gunwale as well.

The water on the port side of the ship was still liquid but was freezing rapidly, placing the crew under the increasing threat of being stranded out at sea. Captain Robb walked the length of the boat and followed the progression of creeping white until he reached the stern. By that time, the fishing vessel was entirely swamped in ice, rendering them unable to sail anywhere.

How were they supposed to go back home? Were they supposed to walk back on the ice? Could they walk back home that way? Questions that flitted through the captain's mind as his crew looked out over the frozen waters.

"W-what are those?" several sailors asked.

The captain followed his men's gaze over the edge of the boat to see a pod of man-shaped silhouettes speeding past the fishing vessel under the ice. It was as he feared.

"Merfolk."

"What?" came Eddie's voice. "Merfolk? W-what are they doing here?"

The captain shook his head. "I don't-"

The surrounding light suddenly dimmed beneath a looming shadow. Captain Robb and his crew turned around to see a monstrous ship gliding past their small insignificant fishing boat. The first thing the captain noticed was the icicles and frost coating the exterior of the ship. He also noticed the sails flying and flowing in a non-existent wind like an ethereal wave of water.

Captain Robb then frowned to himself. How was the ship able to move like it did? A question he answered himself as he peered over the starboard rail. To the captain's surprise, he witnessed the frosted ship glide through the hard ice as effortlessly as if it were moving through liquid water.

The captain then shifted his attention to the sailors moving around on the deck of the ice-crusted ship. Most of the sailors were wearing hooded coats which made it difficult for Captain Robb to discern any of their features. However, one of the figures was dressed noticeably different from the rest. He could see a female physique wearing a wide brimmed hat nestled inside a large woolly hood. When the female sailor turned towards the fishing vessel, the captain was able to better glimpse the person who he was confident was the captain of this frozen monster of a ship. The captain was only half-surprised to discover the woman's sharp-tipped ears and bright blue slitted eyes. If he were any closer, Captain Robb was certain that he would see gills lining the sides of her neck.

He was studying her so intensely that he didn't realize her cold eyes staring back at him. The captain locked gazes with the mermaid, refusing to avert his eyes. However, the imagined contest didn't last long before the mermaid turned away from the captain and his crew, as if they were beneath her regard.

Captain Robb didn't know whether to count himself lucky or not. Either way, he and his crew were struck silent while the icy ship sailed past their stranded fishing boat. With the frozen vessel gradually shrinking in the distance, the captain had no choice but to watch the mermaid and her crew sail towards the direction of his home port town.

Captain Talei shrugged off the familiar cold as her frost-coated ship sailed through the ice field and into the harbour.

With the path ahead obscured by a blanket of fog, she could only see the outline of a cliff that rose up to the grey clouded sky. A whispering breeze parted the fog curtain, making it clear for the Mar captain to see a town that expanded to both sides of the bay. The clustered buildings were cushioned between high cliff walls and a shore front that edged the boundary of a bay that was now freezing over.

When the frozen ship was close enough, Talei glimpsed movement in the town with residents crowding in front of their businesses and homes and near the bay shore. Even from where she stood, Captain Talei could see the town folk watching the frost-coated vessel sailing through the solid ice. She sensed the palpable anxiety permeating the town as the residents slowly backed away from the shore with wide eyed caution. Those nerves were only exacerbated when snowflakes began to drift down from the sky; a peculiar occurrence that coincided with the arrival of the icy ship.

After deciding that she had had enough of the human looks of awe and fear, Talei eventually tore her gaze away from the town and focused on the path ahead. The ship cruised forward, unperturbed by the surrounding ice until it reached a narrow corridor bracketed by two cliff walls. The head of the Simote River.

Just when Captain Talei noticed the chain mesh spanning the width of the river, the ship suddenly halted in its place in the ice. Talei followed the length of the chain to find it attached to a stone tower on the western end of the river mouth. She then glanced at the opposite cliff wall to see a matching tower holding up the other end of the chain.

"U-umm..."

Talei gazed up at the western tower to see a guard peering down at her from a high window.

"Y-you have to pay t-to pass through here," the guard stuttered. "So..."

The Mar captain stared up at him with a blank expression.

Her first mate, Merge, glared up at the guard and moved to offer a retort. However, Talei halted him with a hand to his chest, prompting him to bow and take a step back. She didn't have time for this. Captain Talei turned back up to face the guard's worrying eyes.

Then she saw darkness as her eyelids closed.

Talei disappeared and Arc opened her glowing azure eyes in her place.

The moment she did, the chain mesh instantly froze in a snap chill. Suddenly, a swarm of icicles began forming across the river barricade like sharp white thorns. Arc watched the freezing of metal travel all the way up to the towers, eliciting a panicked yelp from the watchmen from up high.

At the same time, Merge started barking orders to the crew, spurring them to race around the deck while the ship moved forward. The bright-eyed captain felt rather than saw the ice-encrusted vessel push up against the frozen chains. But the resistance only lasted for half a second before the chains shattered like glass beneath the ship's weight. With the barricade no longer impeding the vessel's advance, Arc witnessed her ship sailing forward, leaving the towers behind.

"W-wait, wait, wait!" one of the guards shouted, desperately. "We'll let you go through! We'll let you go!"

The captain ignored the guards' pleas as the ice continued to creep up the towers.

"No!" the guards continued to cry out. "Please!"

She continued to gaze ahead when their screams of agony echoed across the cold air.

"That's enough."

Arc jerked up when a webbed hand suddenly gripped her wrist.

She turned to see a taller and thinner Mar coloured in blue-green scales with sharp-tipped ears, bristly white spines decorating his scalp and a pattern of gills raking through the skin of his throat.

He smiled down at her with several rows of sharp, jagged teeth.

The newcomer squeezed the captain's wrist more tightly which prompted the ice to stop spreading up the towers. With a rumbling snarl, Arc tore her wrist away from the intruder and glared at him with glowing blue eyes.

"Didn't think you'd actually come, Posran. Or whatever you call yourself now, " said Arc, coolly, with her droning voice layered over Talei's.

Posran backed away from her with hands raised. "And miss a chance to see your dazzling smile."

Arc responded with a raised brow on a flat expression.

"I have something for you," he said with a savage grin.

The tall Mar revealed a large chest gripped in one of his webbed hands before placing it onto the deck with a heavy thud, announcing its weight and the impressive strength of the creature holding it.

"Well, it's not for you," Posran confessed. "But I need you to deliver it for me."

"What is it?" the captain asked.

"It's a chest."

"Obviously. What's in it?"

Before he could answer, Merge, the human first mate, suddenly appeared by the captain's side with his hand gripping his sword. "You again."

Posran looked down at the tattooed human with an amused sneer. "Stay out of this, guppy. Go do something useful and play with your spyglass."

Merge stepped up to Posran and moved to draw his sword. However, he was halted by a hand on his shoulder.

"No. Leave us," Arc ordered. "I will speak with him alone."

"Are you sure?" Merge asked.

The captain of the icy ship answered her subordinate with a cold, scathing glare. Merge bowed before her glowing eyes and obediently backed away from the captain. Arc watched her first mate turn and offer a last glance over his shoulder before joining the rest of the crew.

Posran smiled at the human. "Every now and then, I wonder why I saved them."

Arc turned back to the intruder. "What's in the chest? Who would I be delivering it to? Where would I be delivering it? And why would I do any of this in the first place?"

"You have a lot of questions."

"Answer them or I'll turn around."

"You won't turn around. Not with what's at stake."

"How do I know you'll keep your word?"

The captain never had the chance to move or even flinch before the tall Mar's face appeared beside her own, seething with a venomous snarl, almost salivating over Arc's bright blue eyes.

"You of all people should know," Posran whispered, "that when I give my word, I will most certainly keep it."

Arc paled beneath his gaze. How many centuries had it been since she felt this close to death? This close to his murderous temper. Her body froze in place, as though moving would call more attention to herself than she needed. She averted her gaze from the tall Mar's face which continued to hover in her personal space.

Eventually, he pulled away from her, taking his looming shadow with him.

"I can't tell you what's in the chest," said Posran. "All I can tell you is that it will help undo what's been done to you and your siblings."

The captain perked up from the words and quickly glanced at the chest sitting on her deck.

The tall Mar noticed the look. "Don't bother trying to open it. It's sealed with boundary magic."

Arc's eyes widened. "Boundary magic?"

Posran nodded.

To go as far as to use boundary magic......Clearly, he was more serious about this than she thought.

"Dare I ask, where this excessively locked chest is to be delivered? And to whom?" asked the blue-eyed captain. "Or is that a secret too?"

The tall Mar grinned before gesturing towards the river head flowing through the rocky corridor. "In a few days your sister will be sailing up that same river from the opposite end. So-"

"My sister?"

"Yes."

Arc frowned at the revelation. "Which one?"

Posran offered another razor sharp grin as he answered. "The Depth of Wrath herself."

The captain's shining blue eyes widened. "Wrath? Why would you pick her for this? And how did you convince her?"

"Well, she is in the......same boat......as you are, so to speak," Posran snickered at his own joke.

Arc ignored him. "She's been missing for centuries. Where has she been? Where did you find her?"

"I wasn't the one that found her. If you want more details, you're welcome to discuss it with her when you meet her on the river. She'll have a companion with her. Several in fact."

The captain arched a brow at that information. She never knew the Depth of Wrath to be a sociable creature. In all her memories of her, Wrath had always preferred to be alone and was visibly irritable and vicious in other people's company. Especially with her siblings. Arc had rarely been the target of her tantrums but had more than witnessed the chaotic consequences of her temper. Which was why she felt conflicted and unsure whether or not this was good news or bad.

Posran continued. "And if my friend is correct, which she almost always is, your sister and her companions will need your help for their journey."

"What kind of help?"

The tall Mar shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that they'll need it."

Arc's brows furrowed above her glowing blue eyes. "Friend? Since when did you have friends?"

In that moment, an unfamiliar expression flashed across his face, similar to a wince. Was he offended?

"You're right," said Posran with a smile. "Friend is a strong word. Shall I say ally, then?"

The Posran standing in front of Arc suddenly seemed like a stranger to her. Not as foreboding. His smile not as predatory. His eyes not as cold or sadistic. Where was the cruel savage she just saw a moment ago?

"I've been meaning to ask," said the captain, "Why are you doing all this? What's changed?"

Arc was unexpectedly pleased by the surprised look on Posran's face. Then she was confused. Surely this monster wasn't actually feeling remorse for what he had done?

At first, it seemed as though he wouldn't answer. Then he looked up at the grey-white sky and replied to the captain.

"My......allies and I have decided it's time to play a little game."

A game? In Arc's experience, Posran's idea of a game had always been...unpleasant. A thought she kept to herself as the tall Mar continued to speak.

"Unfortunately, it means that a lot of people are going to die. And it will be unavoidable."

For a moment, she thought she heard a hint of regret in his words. However, that notion was quickly put to rest when the tall Mar glanced back at Arc with a savage grin.

"Ooh, but it will be the most fun this world has seen in a long while." The captain could hear the genuine glee in his voice as Posran made his way towards the ship's railing. A part of her felt relieved by the familiar callousness. Another part felt disappointed.

The tall Mar then jumped up onto the edge of the ship and spoke over his shoulder.

"I'll be leaving now. After you do this for me and hand that chest over to your sister, you're free to do as you wish. Your sister will handle the rest."