Jeremy’s mouth dropped as Jonah jumped into the sea. He stood there dumbfounded for a second, before running towards the captain, uttering curses towards the gods and at Jonah.

He almost slipped and crashed into the captain, who stood watching the affair from a distance, smoking his final cigar.

“That crazy fucker!” Jeremy blurted.

“What the hell is the boy doin’!” Gregory asked, puffing out the smoke casually.

“Ask fucking Athena. I need to grab a rope before he kills himself.”

“If he kills himself, we’d be following him into the…”

Jeremy didn’t hear the man finish his sentence as he ran towards the cabin. If Jonah died by drowning, Jeremy would kill him again in the afterlife, that he was certain.

He arrived at the door and yanked it open, startling the few members of the crew who stood nearby.

Jeremy ignored them, using his broad shoulders to barge his way in and barrel down the stairs. “Move out the way!” he screamed.

They probably awaited news from the captain, but only Athena knew what they expected the old man to say to them.

“Where’s Jonah?” Delia cried, as Jeremy passed through a corridor.

She ran up to him, distraught clear in her eyes and voice. “Is he okay?”

Jeremy cursed his fate running into her. Instead of slowing himself to answer questions, he continued to walk at a brisk pace. Probably even faster than before not that he would've admitted.

“Answer me, Jeremy, is he okay?” She trailed behind him and started tugging at his sleeves.

“There’s a fucking Kraken out there — are any of us okay?”

He entered the storeroom and grabbed all the pieces of rope he could lay his eyes on. The chances of him throwing one to the idiot successfully, with the blowing wind, violent currents and the beast swinging its tentacles… it was slim.

“What are the ropes for?” Delia pressed on. “Has Jonah – ”

“Jonah’s fucking jumped the ship,” Jeremy snapped. “Is that what you wanted to hear?” He didn’t wait for her answer, but ran back towards the deck like Hermes on a mission with the ropes in hand.

Delia didn’t deserve that, but – no. There was no excusing that. He would make apologies afterwards. When Jonah was safe. He would also need to punch the shitbag. There was no way he would be apologising to Delia on Jonah’s behalf too.

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He ran back out, shoving his way through onlookers who gathered to get glimpses of news.

The deck was like ice, the rain and cold making the timber deck a skating rink, and the constant jerking of the ship didn't help. It was as if Gaia was cradling the twice damned ship like a baby. And as lazy as Jeremy was - or so the captain complained - he was not ready for a permanent nap.

When he reached the helm of the ship, he found Gregory standing there with his shoulders slumped, cigar absent.

That wasn’t good.

Haunting thoughts crept into Jeremy's mind as he joined the captain. He half expected to see the floating corpse of his friend; perhaps twisted and torn given the captain's crestfallen stature.

Instead, he and the captain solemnly stood, watching the water slowly turn a deep shade of red.

“Fuck.”

This sight wasn't any better.

He searched for the body but didn’t expect to find it anymore. Considering the red hue of the sea, it must have been all the blood within Jonah’s body expelled into the water.

A gruesome thought of the Kraken wringing Jonah’s body like a cloth filled Jeremy's vision and he bit his tongue, hopeful that the discomfort would distract him.

Then a crying shriek erupted, deafening him, and violently rocking the ship. It felt like it came from two different directions and Jeremy's head snapped to the closest only to find Delia slumped to her knees; her eyes were wide with horror.

He was surprised he hadn’t noticed her following him all the way up, not that there was much chance of hearing anything from the chaos around them.

He also felt guilt and shame. Guilt for not keeping his words, even if they were to himself. And shame at allowing her to see the bloody scene; to hear the mocking cry of the monster; to smell the pungent putrid scent of rusted metal. The smell was so thick, that he could taste it.

Jeremy opened his mouth to comfort her but the captain cut him off.

“The boy’s not dead. I doubt that was your screamin’ shakin’ the ship. Blood in the water and a cry like that, the boy’s killin’ it.”

Jeremy didn’t argue back. He had seen predators howl with victory before and watched as Jonah’s strongest strike didn’t so much as scratch it. He was sure Gregory had too. It was better to tell the truth than to lie to the poor girl, but they would all meet in Hades’ underworld soon.

A tentacle erupted from the sea, smashing into a mast and gushing water onto the deck.

It appeared that the scripts had finally given in too - the mast had snapped like a tree branch and the top third dangled down precariously.

“JONAH!” Delia shouted, suddenly standing up.

Jeremy followed her gaze upward, seeing his limp body stained in red, clutched in the air by the Kraken.

If that wasn’t all his blood in the sea, then at least he had hurt it. The thought made Jeremy smile, pride joining the host of other emotions whirling in his mind and gut.

“JONAH!” Delia started running towards him and, fearing she would jump in, Jeremy grabbed her by the waist, yanking her backwards. In the grand scheme of things, he knew it was futile, but even if the outcome were the same, he’d prefer not to see another suicide.

Seeing one friend die was enough for him; perhaps that was why the Captain lied.

“I fuckin’ told ya.”

Jeremy turned to the man in confusion, before looking back at the body – the no longer limp body.

It was bloody and mangled, but alive. Jonah was alive.

Jeremy watched in astonishment.

Jonah's silver blade seemed to shine emerald as it cut through the limb like tearing through paper.

"How in Hercules is he cutting it..."

And then the body dropped.