Brought for interigation

The mermaid was carried quickly through a narrow corridors and up stair on to the deck and into to yet another room. The The wheel house. Electrical equipment hummed around the old mermaid and the men, a mixture of sailors and uniformed men, turned to look at her. Though they seemed wary they also seemed to recognise her.

A uniformed mature man turned away from the wheel, leaving the steering to to another. His skin was well tanned and weathered creased with many wrinkles and his hair graying. Yet his features were sharp and stately. His dark eyes fixed on the the olde wizened mermaid as she was dropped to the ground.

"Agh. Uncouth cock suckers! Work those puny arms better befo´droppin' the lady." She cursed coursley.

"Finally I can hear your infamous dirty mouth good old Marinos spoke so highly of." The captain sneered. "Ready to speak with me now?"

"Be civil and I migh' think' abo' helpi'n you Asterios."

"So you finally want to help us, now?" Asterios sneered, taking a step closer to Grannymaiden. His eyes, a deep shade of brown, seemed to bore into her wrinkled skin. The old mermaid, still seated on the floor, gazed up at him her enigmatic eyes lingering on his clenched jaw, and the sweat on his brow. Her eyes glinted in the dim light of the Wheelhouse.

"You wi'sh for ma civil complience, Asterios?" Grannymaiden's voice dripped with malice, her words laced with a sailor's venom. She spat a wad of phlegm onto the floor, the sound echoing through the wheelhouse with more resonance than it should have. Causing the onlookers to glance around nervously. "You think capturin' me and tossin' me around like a sack o' limp'diks is civil? You're as slick as a Lamprey's hind legs, Asterios."

Asterios's face remained impassive, but a faint twitch in his left eye betrayed his annoyance. He took another step closer to Grannymaiden, but stoped short as she abruptly turned towards one of the older fishermen who lurked by the door.He flinched at her angry glare, her sagging boobs swung violently with the movement.

The wather had marred his skin even more deeply and his head of white hair was balding with a slight potbelly.

"I see ye wish me to emul'ate ya' ways," Grannymaiden spat, her voice dripping with malice. "To betray my kin." She crawled an inch closer. Her fishtail slapping the floor angily. "You always said to lead by example, didn't you, my love?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm, and she emphasized the word "love" with a sneer. "Or are ye gonna slowly gut that poor mermaid like a fish in front of me to get whatever useless morsel from me ya can?"

Marinos's eyes darted nervously to Asterios, who raised an eyebrow . The captain's expression was unreadable, but his eyes seemed to gleam with a mixture of curiosity and anticipation.

Grannymaiden's voice rose to a shrill crescendo, her words cutting through the air like a rusty blade the glass of the wheelhouse rattling in resonance. "I thought we were friends, Marinos, but now I see, I was just a slick hole ta' fuck!" She spat the words at his feet, her eyes blazing with a mixture of anger and hurt. "Along with all those other mermaids I let you play with!" She flung her arm out, her fishtail slapping the floor in emphasis, the sound echoing through the wheelhouse.

Marinos's face turned a deep shade of crimson, his eyes darting nervously to Asterios, who stood impassive, his expression unreadable, the other sailors, biting their lips with hidden smirks or avoiding his eyes.

Asterios's eyes darted then shyly back to the old mermaid's wrinkled face, his gaze lingering on the deep creases etched into her skin like a map of the sea. His eyes flickered to her still swinging bare sagging boobs on her heaving chest, the wrinkled skin seeming to sag even further with each laboured breath. He clenched his jaw, his teeth gritting together in a mixture of frustration and embarrassment. "This is not about us, it's about humanity, the survival of our species, my survival," he growled, his voice low and horse. The last word betrayed a quiver in his voice.

"Hmph, Ya should let an old woman complain, I cou'nt ever brin' myself to be hard on you anyway" she quipped back, her tone changing completely as she settled into a more comfortable position. She sat back, flipping her gray braid over her shoulder and sitting more upright, curling her tail around her in a similar way she used to do on the beach. The movement was almost nostalgic, and for a moment, the tension in the room seemed to dissipate. The sailors exchanged uneasy glances, their faces a mixture of fascination and discomfort as they watched the old mermaid's transformation.

"Speak, old one," Asterios said, his voice firm but controlled. "What do you know of the... affliction that has ravaged the land?" He took a step closer to Grannymaiden, his eyes boring into hers as if trying to extract the truth from her very soul.

Suddenly she sneered cruelly "Lay yer burdens on the shoulders of this old lady, why yes you do" "They don' kno'how ta ask, these days, no, they don't" she muttered. "Used to be they lay down offerin' at ma shrine. Begged on their knees an' prayed. Prayed! To hear the wisdom of the sea..." Her voice trailed off, and she gazed out the window, her eyes clouding over with a mixture of nostalgia and distant disdain. The sailors shifted uncomfortably, while the soldiers lifted there brows and mummed among themselves.

Asterios cleared his throat, his eyes fixed intently on Grannymaiden.

Grannymaiden's voice dripped with malice as she continued, her words dripping like venom from her lips. "Have it then, I tell ye this with certainty. Ya should ask yer fella' humans. Cause they caused this!" She spat the words out, her mouth twisting into a snarl as she glared at Asterios. This time the sailors started murmuring among eachother while the soldier tensed, eyeing the situation warily, their eyes darting between Grannymaiden and Asterios as the tension in the room grew thicker.

Asterios's face darkened, his eyes narrowing as his nostrills flared. Suddenly he grabbed for Grannymaiden. "Don't paly with me old woman?" he snarled.

In a moment Marinos had dashed across the floor and grabbed his frinds wrist just as he was about to squeeze down on the old mermaids throat. The two men made eye contact for a tense moment. Finally Asterios nodded and let go, taking a few steps back with a deep breath."

The balding white haired old man turned to the old mermaid and knelt by her, His voice was softer, a sligt tremmor in his voice, he reached out a trembling hand shyly towards hers which rested on her scaly tail. But he didn't dare to touch her in the end. His eyes fell from hers to their hands as somthing glistned in the corners of his eyes.

"Please... Sweathaert" the words left him like a broken whisper, "Please help us..."