Chapter Text
"I can hear Sirens Sirens"
— ✧Ultraviolence - By Lana Del Rey— ✧
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Liren's knuckles were white as she clutched two notebooks to her chest, her trainer-clad feet slapping against the cobbles, tears streaming down her face. Her vision blurred, the hot streaks smearing the lantern lights of the small port town. She skidded to a stop, her once beautiful dress, blue and slightly dirty at the hem. Cheers and laughter were audible from one of the bars, obviously the sounds of pirates. She slowly sat down, and tilted her head against her bruised knee, her hands gripping around her legs.
Liren continued to walk down the hill, away from the large house behind her, as she shook and began to reach the town. "Hey, are you alright, kid?" A man was looking down at her, his brows knitted.
"I'm fine thanks." She looked away from him, and wiped her face against the back of her sleeve. He paused and rummaged through his pockets.
"Here." He placed a couple of rolls of bread into her palm, and a few coins. "Look out for yourself kid." Her eyes widened as she looked at him.
"Thank you, sir."
"No problem. The name is Law." He adjusted his hat. "I must be getting back to my crew now." She watched as he walked away, towards a group of people. Liren looked down at her hands, and the two rolls laid in them. She sat down on a log with a little huff, and took a bite. They were soft, maybe a little stale on the edges, but it was good. She slowly wove her hair into a plait, and tied it with a spare scrap of battered pink silk.
She slowly brushed off her tiered skirts as she stood up. The tears had dried on her cheeks, as she wiped them again. The lights from the town illuminated more, and she caught her reflection in a shop window. A fourteen year old girl looked back at her, scared, but with her jaw set. Liren stepped towards a set of barrels in the back garden of a bar. She slid behind them, the smell of old oak dusted by rain falling over her.
She drifted into a cold sleep, still holding half a roll of bread and some coins in her hands.
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The small port island had a new ghost story.
A girl with honey-blonde wavy hair in a plait, and large brown eyes who walked around. Young children were told that she was drowned in the well in the manor house and if you didn't get home on time she would drag you to the well.
She was named the blue ghost of Clonsale. Her real name and story was debated upon, but everyone agreed on the same thing. She was beautiful, but seeing her was a sign of losing a loved one.
Liren was sitting on the roof top of a bakery, holding stale bread that had just been chucked out in her hands. Her cheeks had become more thin, and her eyes seemed wider. Yet her mouth still was tilted upwards into a half smile. She always had that brightness in her resting face since she was a child. A raven sat beside her, as she held out some of the bread. A ship could be seen on the horizon; it looked larger than ones she had seen before, but nothing out of the ordinary. It was one year since the night she met the man named Law.
One year of hiding in gutters and alleyways. One year of befriending ravens and the stray cats. One year of being a ghost story.
She slipped down from the tiles of the roof, the sharp clay edges scraping her back. Her dress had been cut shorter, and her hair through many attempts had stayed relatively healthy and untangled. Liren walked towards the doorway of the local green grocer. On the shelves outside, discarded were pomegranates. They were going to go in the bin anyways, so it would be alright if she just took one anyway. She reached one scuffed hand over to a couple of pomegranates, and picked one up. "Thief!" She turned round in surprise, her mouth falling open.
"I-I-I thought that they weren't going to be sold anyways! I'm so sorry-" She was cut off by a piercing pain to the cheek. She fell to her knees, clutching the left side of her face with one hand, and the pomegranates in the other hand. Liren tilted her head upwards, staring at the grocer. The man froze, as he caught sight of her. He slammed the door behind him, and stepped back inside.
Liren didn't waste any time. She leapt to her feet and towards her usual rooftops. With shaky hands, she ripped the pomegranate open and picked some of the seeds up and placed them in her mouth. Sweet, tart and nostalgic. She turned to the small raven beside her and passed some seeds over, before looking back at the horizon. The ship was drawing nearer, towards the docks, and she could see faint shapes and figures scurrying about on the deck.
Her head tilted downwards slightly, as she raised her arm in a slight wave. A handful looked up at her, but most continued to work on docking the ship. Her eyebrows raised in vague surprise. "How can some of them even see me from there?" she murmured, stroking a grey stray cat under the chin. Liren slowly ate a few more pomegranate seeds as she watched them disembark. She could see them more clearly now; even from high up she could tell some of them were tall. Taller than people she usually saw in Clonsale at least.
Most notably, one was laughing loudly, with a shock of red hair. She slowly stretched, yawning, before laying down against the tiles and fell into a brief slumber.
It was a few hours later when she woke up. The sun had moved past its peak at mid day, and most of the people from the ship had gone inside the bars - she could hear them. They were certainly not the quiet brooding pirate types. She slid down from the roof top, and towards the beaches. She liked swimming, but she knew that you had to be careful without something to help dry you off. She learnt that when she got pneumonia eight months ago.
She pulled off her dress, leaving her in a vest shirt and a pair of light pink shorts. Liren clambered on grey rocks and looked at the ocean. Clonsale was known for its remarkably clear water, its warm summers and bitingly cold winters. She leaped off of the rock into the water, and a bright, bubbly laugh escaped her. The water was warm, but still with a chill that cooled her off. Her hair sat in damp waves around her shoulders, as she dived under the light ripples and through the water. She resurfaced again, and looked at the fish paddling past her. "Are you the kid who was on the rooftop?"
She spun round, her eyes slightly wide. A man with blonde hair sat on a rock, a bottle of alcohol in hand. "Um... Yes?" She cocked her head to one side. "Are you from the crew?"
The man nodded. "Yeah. The name's Limejuice." He looked towards her and back at the sea.
"My name is Liren." She paused. "Pleasure to meet you." She went back to swimming and glanced over at him occasionally, but he was seemingly minding his own business. A raven flew down towards her. "Hey Sooty. Do you want some more pomegranates?" The raven looked at her, before dropping a small piece of green sea glass into her hands. Her face broke into a smile, as she waded towards the pomegranates sitting next to her clothes. She pulled out some seeds and held it out for the raven to take. Liren glanced over at Limejuice. "Would you like some?"
He turned to her, masking the surprise in his face. "Oh. Sure." She poured a small pile into his hand, before sitting, eating some while drying off on a rock in the sun.
"I wonder if there will still be some pomegranates out," she murmured, seemingly talking to the raven. Limejuice tilted his head slightly, glancing over at her. A silent forlorn calm was in her eyes, as she slowly pulled on the dress.
"How old are you?" he asked, a casual tone to his voice, as he finished the pomegranate seeds she had handed him. She turned to him, brushing off her skirts slightly.
"I turned fifteen a month ago." She looked at him. "Is the crew you're part of a pirate crew?"
"I am a member of the Red Hair Pirates."
She frowned, racking her mind for some form of recognition. "Is your captain named Hanks- No. That's not it. Chanks?"
"Shanks." He bit back a smile. "His nickname is 'Red Hair' Shanks, though."
Her mouth went into a small 'o'. "Oh! I saw him when I was on the rooftop!" She pushed her wavy damp hair into a plait. "I haven't met a lot of pirates. Well, apart from a year ago. I met this man in a fuzzy hat. I think his name was something like Law." She softened slightly. "He was nice." She picked up her pomegranates and held out an arm for her raven. "It was nice talking to you."
Limejuice watched as she walked away, up a small rocky path towards the town.
Liren walked along the streets, eating more pomegranate seeds, her hands stained slightly purplish-red. "Hey! It's the ghost girl!" She froze. A group of teenage boys stood, watching her. "Are you going to say something?" She knew this group of boys. Troublemakers - they broke shop windows and harassed girls. She looked at them. There were six in front of her.
The one at the front, with messy brown hair and a grin on his face walked towards her. "I was asking you a question." Her eyes darted to them and the streets behind them. No one was throwing a look in their direction or at her.
"She's actually pretty for a ghost," one said, a hand wrapping around her plait.
"Can you please get off," she murmured, trying to push him off of her.
"She speaks!" One of them leaned in closer. "Where's your well? I thought you were supposed to drag us there!" A couple of brash chuckles escaped them.
"Can you please just let me pass!" She slapped one of their hands away from her. A blonde haired boy looked at the pomegranate in her hand.
"You took that from old man D'Moro, didn't you? We saw him hit you." He snatched the fruit from his hand and chucked it into the ocean. "Are you slow or something? Ghosts aren't meant to eat real food." She watched as it splashed into the water, a tick forming in her forehead. Her fists clenched slightly, as tears beaded in her eyes.
"I am not a ghost!" She yanked her hair away from the boy holding her plait with a glare.
"Sure." The eldest boy paused. "You know. If you do something for us, we'll let you pass." He leaned in closer to her, a hand brushing against her side. Her fist flew into his face, connecting with a crack. Liren spun on her heels, and bolted, hearing their footsteps following behind her. She sprinted up a wooden gangway onto an empty ship and hid behind a few barrels. The footsteps no longer followed her, falling into silence and the sea rushing in its waves.
Her eyes slowly drifted shut, as she slept on the upper deck of the Red Force, unaware of what ship she had just ran onto.