Mark's eyes widened in slight surprise. He wasn't sure what he exacted to hear. He hadn't given much thought to where the Sea Crown was... He just wanted to get it. Mark slowly sat up, curiously asking Sean. "Atlantis... Do you know anything about it?" When Sean didn't answer, he turned his head to look at him. Sean was sleeping. Mark put a hand on Sean's bare shoulder to see if he might be in a light sleep. He wasn't. Sean was out cold again. Mark let his hand linger on Sean's arm, feeling how cold his skin was. He felt like ice. He hadn't felt like that before. Mark watched in silence as the cuts on Sean's body slowly healed over. Smirking to himself, he carefully climbed out of bed. Sean had a long day and clearly the medicine had kicked in. Once he was off the bed, Mark grabbed the blanket and pulled it over Sean to keep him warm. He'd give him space to recover. 

Watching Sean sleep for a second, he reached out to trace his finger over a few silver hairs in the short brown hair around his ear. He wondered to himself if all mermen had multicolored hair like him... Or if it was just him. Was the flecks of silver in his hair from age, or where they simple another beauty mark to match the glittering scales he had seen under his eyes. Brushing back Sean's long green bangs, he forced himself to move away. Grabbing the journal off his desk, he walked out of his cabin. He needed to think and Sean was a distraction. He was getting far too attached to the merman. He blamed his curse, but was that really it? Something about Sean was making him feel something and it terrified him that he wanted it. Slipping out of the cabin, Mark locked it up. He didn't want anyone going in there to mess with him. His crew was divided enough as it was.

Making his way up to the stern, Mark sat himself in the far corner of the ship. With his back against the solid wooden rail at the stern, Mark flipped through the journal to see if there was anything on Atlantis. There was a small entry that said nothing more than what Sean had told him. Bethany's dad did put in a few ideas though. He had wrote in that the curse may have wiped the incident from the fleeing clans memories. That Atlantis may be guarded by a creature to keep Merpeople from coming back. Mark closed the journal, resting his arms on his raised knees and bowing his head in thought. They were all troubling thoughts. What concerned him though was what would happen to Sean. If all the Merfolk that sought out Atlantis went missing... Was there something there targeting Merpeople? Mark thought about what Sean had said about the Sea Crown. That it could remove his curse... but only a royal could get to it. Was that what this... creature or mystical power was trying to protect?

Mark glanced at the cover of the journal. He knew he was missing something, but he couldn't figure it out. Mark was brought out of his thoughts by a man walking up the steps. It was Robin. Robin nodded to Bob at the helm, then made his way over to stand before Mark. Mark banged his head back against the wooden rail with a heavily sigh, grumbling out. "More bad news?" Robin huffed loudly with a smirk, answering innocently. "No more than usual. The crew is arguing below deck. With Tyler locked in the brig... The crew is getting riled up over this... incident." Mark shook his head, stating out sourly. "Great. No matter what I do, I'm looking at mutiny." Robin moved closer to lean on the rail, staring out at the sea as he told Mark lightly. "Seems like it. You'll have to defuse this fast. The longer you wait, the worse this is going to get." Mark climbed back up onto his feet, pacing a little as he ranted out. "I can't do anything! They've got me cornered with a double-edged sword!"

Robin shrugged, letting him rant on. "If I replace Tyler as Quartermaster for a man that doesn't know how to run things... Than Tyler will mutiny along with every jackass that didn't want Sean on this ship to begin with!" Robin sighed softly, telling Mark over his shoulder. "Sean isn't prepared to handle the duties of a Quartermaster. However, he knows how to read the sea. Make him the Navigator." Mark stopped in the middle of his pacing to state seriously. "And make Felix my enemy? No!" Robin turned around to face him, adding in just as seriously. "If you asked Felix to step down, he would. You two are closer than you think." Mark moved in closer to Robin, growling in his face. "I tell Felix to step down and Ken will have a few choice things to say to me. He'll see it as I'm punishing Felix for ill gotten services." Mark took a step back, shaking his head as he sternly bellowed out. "No! I can't do that. The men on this ship earned their positions. If I start taking them away from someone who didn't earn them... What will that say about me?"

Mark turned away to glare at Bob. Bob cleared his throat nervously, turning his eyes forward. There was no such thing as privacy on a ship. He could guess that a few crew members were ease dropping just out of sight too. Robin drew his attention back by casually slipping in. "There is one position that has never been filled. You could give it to Sean and it wouldn't hinder anyone..." Mark's eyes narrowed on Robin defensively. Robin leaned back against the rail completely relaxed as he continued on. "No one would question it. Sean would get his say on this ship, like they want. While the other crew members wouldn't have to worry about losing their jobs. You know I'm right." Mark clenched his teeth, shaking his head in refusal. Robin straightened off the rail, telling him sternly. "You give him any other job and he'll have to sleep down in the hold with the crew. He'll be up for claims. You want that?" Mark's dark composure fell at the thought of the crew fighting over possession of Sean. It made him sick to think about.

Robin moved in closer, putting a hand on Mark's shoulder as he leaned in to whisper. "You're afraid of getting close to him, but I don't think you can resist him. That's my advise to you, Captain." Robin patted his shoulder, then started to walk away. Mark turned to watch him go in silence. Robin made it to the stairs, before he turned to announce aloud to Mark with a warm smile.  "Make him your First Mate, Captain." Without another word, Robin descended the steps and walked out of sight. Mark turned to look out at the sunrise. Now that he saw the solution, he couldn't stop thinking about it. If he made Sean his first mate, that gave him his protection and allowed him to speak out against him publicly. It would even give him time to teach Sean about the ship. The only downside to this... Being his first mate meant that Mark was declaring their relationship out into the open. If he did this, than everyone would assume they were together.

He had avoided appointing a first mate for so long, but it seemed that his curse was really taking ahold now. Mark banged his hand on the rail with defeat. If it kept his crew from fighting, than he would take the bullet. He just hoped that Sean would take this well. Walking to the stairs, he called out to anyone listening. "ALL HANDS ON DECK! WADE! Release Tyler from the brig!" The crew quickly made their way up onto the deck and Mark straightened up proudly. He'd tell the crew about his decision, then he'd worry about finding the nearest port for additional repairs. In the cabin, Sean awoke and stretched to the sounds of seagulls and men barking orders in a language he didn't understand. Rolling onto all fours, Sean pulled the small curtain away from the small window by the bed. Outside he saw that the ship was floating just off shore of an island. He could see some of the crew chatting and carting supplies to and from the ship. He had never seen so many humans in his life.

Slipping out of bed, he quickly dressed himself. He tried the door, but it was locked. So, he moved back to the window. The island looked beautiful with white stone that appeared to be homes and everything was so lush with green. The door unlocked a short time later and Mark stepped in. When Mark noticed him by the window, he jumped in surprise. Sean pointed toward the island, asking him excitedly. "Where are we?" Mark cleared his throat, answering nervously. "Greece. I wanted to finish putting pitch on the ship and we needed a new spare mast. Among other things. Since someone decided to turn our rum into snow." Sean winced with guilt. Mark gestured for him to follow, saying nervously. "I was coming to get you. They can't careen the ship if we're on it." Sean strolled over to Mark quickly. He just wanted to see the island better. Mark escorted him to a small boat that took them a short ways to shore.

Sean admired the shore the moment he stepped off the boat. The sand was pure white! He had never seen sand like this. Dropping to his knees in the sand, Sean began to play with it. It even felt softer than the yellow sand on the Gam's island. The crew chuckled around him. This wasn't such a big thing for them, but to him it was fascinating! Mark turned to talk to a man that the others called a 'Translator', leaving him to explore the beach. He didn't go far. Just enough to take in how clear the water was. He had a strong urge to swim in it. He wanted to see just what kind of sea life lived here in such beautiful water. Every so often, Mark would snap his fingers at him, yelling out. "HEY! Sean, don't go wondering off." Sean would nod, then wait for Mark to look away before moving again. Removing his boots, he stepped into the cool water and moaned a little. The water was warm and the sand felt amazing. He wanted to feel it on his scales.

Glancing at the men from the island, he frowned. He needed a place to go where no one would see him. Closing his eyes, he searched with his aquatic senses. There was a spot in the woods. A small cove with a waterfall. Grinning, he dashed off toward it. The moment he saw it, he looked over his shoulder. He didn't sense anyone. Undressing himself, he stepped to the edge of the large pool of water. Stepping in to his waist, he took a deep breath and removed his amulet. Setting it with his clothes, he sank beneath the warm water. The pool was deep and the white sand coated the bottom.  Swimming back up, he slowly breached the glassy surface, scanning with his eyes for anyone. The tips of his long fin ears peeking out of the water. When he didn't see anyone, he climbed up on the large rock under the waterfall. Leaning forward, he let the waterfall fall against his shoulders to loosen them up. After feeling those disgusting Harpies on his skin, this helped him feel clean. It even calmed him.

Swirling the water with his long red tail, he hummed to himself. He couldn't remember the last time he had been able to bathe alone. His da or some other elder Gam member had always kept an eye on him. His soft humming echoed off the walls of the cave behind the waterfall, but it was still so soft in volume. Sean sat up to brush his wet bangs off his face, when he heard the soft 'Thud' on the ground nearby. Dropping his arms, his fin like ears shot up to listen to every little sound as his eyes scanned around the pool. The bushes rustled and Sean jerked his hand up to cloak himself. Once he was invisible, he slipped off the back of the rock to hide. He didn't need the waterfall giving his position away. Huddling behind the rock behind the waterfall, Sean stayed still and quiet. Over the loud rush of the waterfall, a familiar voice called out to him. "Sean? It's me. Get your scaly ass out here." Sean blushed a little at his own cleverness. Slipping away from Mark had been fun while it had lasted. To Be Continued...