"Mingi, I deserve an explanation," Hongjoong said, his gaze falling upon the beautiful girl in the corner.

She stared back at him with bright violet eyes. Her lips trembled as she swallowed the lump in her throat. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She shook her head and turned away, unable to face him.

"No no, it's okay." Hongjoong walked over closer to the girl, signalling for the others to back up. "I'm Captain Kim Hongjoong, and you are?"

The girl looked up at him, her eyes wide with fear. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She nodded slowly, her face still pale.

"Let me try," Cersei interjected.

Hongjoong backed up, allowing Cersei to get closer to the girl. She carefully examined the girl, her eyes slowly scanning her body, looking for any signs of injury. The girl seemed to be in shock, her face expressionless. Cersei gently took her hand and asked her softly, "What happened?"

The girl pointed at Mingi, who scoffed in disbelief. Cersei narrowed her eyes at the tall male before turning back to the girl in front of her and reaching out slowly to see if the girl would grab her hand.

"Can you talk?"

The girl nodded.

Cersei smiled and let her hand touch the skin of the girl's hand. Instantly the girl scratched Cersei's hand. Cersei quickly pulled her hand away and frowned. The girl looked down, ashamed, her dark hair falling in front of her eyes.

Hongjoong's hand reached for his cutlass but Cersei put her hand up, and shook her head 'no'. Cersei looked at the girl for a few moments, her face softening. She then knelt down and embraced the girl, a tear running down her cheek. Hongjoong put a hand on Cersei's shoulder, and she looked up at him, a faint smile on her lips.

Pulling away, Cersei straightened and smoothed the wrinkles of her skirt. She bid the girl farewell for the time being and turned but before she could get very far, the girl spoke.

"My name is Persephone." She said, her voice trembling. Cersei looked over her shoulder and smiled, a faint twinkle in her eye. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Persephone."

Persephone smiled softly, her bright eyes meeting Hongjoong's. Hongjoong smiled back, his gaze lingering on Persephone for a few moments before he tore his eyes away. He was about to say something when Cersei cleared her throat, breaking the moment. Hongjoong quickly composed himself and said, "It's nice to meet you, Persephone."

Persephone nodded before attempting to stand, a piece of linen falling from her and exposing her naked body. Quickly, Cersei ran to the girl, covered her and helped her to walk away, giving all the boys a glare.

The boys were left with their mouths open, not daring to say a word. Cersei's stern gaze lingered on them before she finally left with Persephone. Her silence seemed to say more than any words ever could.

Hongjoong watched as she left, waiting until the two were completely out of earshot before speaking.

"Alright, now tell me what's going on." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Mingi looked at the ground, lightly kicking at a strip of rope in front of him. Seonghwa cleared his throat and raised a brow at Mingi who elbowed Yunho. The two stared back at Hongjoong, not daring to utter a response.

"She was swimming beside the ship", Wooyoung interrupted. Hongjoong nodded and Wooyoung continued, "We have been looking for this forever, and now we have it." He exchanged glances with Mingi before straightening, "You know what she is, right?"

Of course, Hongjoong knew what she was.

The older male sighed before looking in the direction in which Cersei and Persephone walked away, running his fingers through his hair. " He shook his head and muttered to himself, "She saved our life." Heaving a deep sigh, he slowly walked in the opposite direction. "Now we owe her ours."

Wooyoung cocked a brow at Hongjoong, most of his weight leaning on one hip as he crossed his arms across his chest defensively. Mingi nodded in agreement, understanding the implications of the debt they owed Persephone. He could tell that Wooyoung was still a bit uneasy, but he gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as the group all turned and started walking away.

Wooyoung sighed and followed after them, shaking his head. He knew there was no other way out of this situation. They would have to pay back Persephone, no matter how much it cost them.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

"How far from home are you?" Cersei asked gently as she wiped alcohol over Persephone's scratches, cleaning the scrapes and small cuts caused by the wreckage.

As Persephone blinked at Cersei, the cool alcohol stinging on her arms caused her to wince in pain, and she looked back down at the scrapes on her arms. Cersei quickly blew on the scrapes, helping to ease some of the pain as Persephone clenched her fists tightly. Persephone felt a wave of warmth and relief wash over her as the auburn-haired girl wrapped a small bandage around her arms. She looked up at Cersei with grateful eyes and a weak smile. Cersei smiled back and placed a comforting hand on Persephone's shoulder.

Cersei was never one to force anyone to talk to her; whether they wanted to talk was their decision, rude or not. She was content with the silence, and found it more comforting than the sound of words that could be twisted or misunderstood. She knew that sometimes it was better to not say anything at all.

"That man." Persephone suddenly said, looking up at Cersei. "Who is he?"

Cersei smiled softly, "He's captain; he told you earlier, remember?" Persephone looked back at her a little embarrassed but continued what she was going to say.

"Is he loved?"

Cersei felt a warm flash of anger come over her but she quickly shook it off and cocked her head sideways, asking the creature what she meant.

Persephone smiled awkwardly, "You know..."

"I really don't know."

Persephone furrowed her brows, trying to think of the words to say before finally deciding. "Does he have a lover?"

Cersei was taken aback by her question. She tried to force a smile but she just couldn't. Instead, she just stared back at Persephone in confusion. Persephone shyly covered her face with her hair, avoiding eye contact as she apologized for possibly saying something offensive.

"No no, it's fine." Cersei cleared her throat feeling herself become cold. "But you don't even know him-"

"I asked if he had a lover." Persephone's tone was different from earlier and Cersei could see the white of her eyes darken to a murky blue colour before turning back into the sweet, innocent creature she was before. Batting her eyelashes in a futile attempt to convince Cersei that she hadn't seen what she just saw.

Cersei chewed on the inside of her cheek before answering. Her eyes focused on a random corner of the room, trying not to look at Persephone; knowing well that if she looked at her, she'd be shooting daggers with her eyes.

"No." Cersei cleared her throat. "He has no one."