Ed was curled up tightly in the corner of the bed, clutching his silver sword close to his chest, and he flinched as another tentacle crashed against the window of the captain's cabin. It should have been a beautiful night, with the waves glistening almost magically under the bright light of the full moon.
But the full moon brought other things with it, too.
Ed knew the silver sword Stede had given him would protect him from the worst of the beasts that roamed the sea—and from the creature he dreaded encountering most of all, the creature he knew would be coming for him again tonight.
This was how he would die, Ed thought. One day, the beast would find him alone and unarmed, wrap one of its enormous tentacles around his neck, and drag him with it into the depths of the ocean. Sometimes, he wondered if the creature longed for it as much as he did.
"Not today," Ed whispered to himself. He just had to hold on a bit longer, then the thing would finally be gone and leave him alone until the next full moon.
In his mind, Ed could still hear the screams of the poor, unsuspecting sailors as the beast crushed them in its vast, dark tentacles. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the way it ripped their ships apart in its desperation to get to him.
He wouldn't stand a chance against the creature if it weren't for the silver sword Stede had given him, Ed knew that much. Just the smell of the metal was enough to keep it from tearing the Revenge apart piece by piece and devouring him before the sun came up.
Sometimes, Ed wished it would. Sometimes, in the darkest hours of the night, he wanted nothing more than the throw the damn sword into the ocean, smash the windows of their cabin, and let the creature drag him into the depths below—anything to end this waking nightmare.
The storm was still raging outside, and Ed could hear the creature's tentacles beating relentlessly against the walls, trying to find a way to get inside the cabin. The sound of the wet, heavy tentacles dragging slowly across the wood was enough to make him want to scream and jump off the ship.
"Just a little longer," Ed told himself. Soon, the sun would rise, and then the beast would stop teasing and tormenting him like this.
At sunrise, he could finally go out on deck and bring his boyfriend back inside. Then he would begin his monthly ritual of cleaning the blood from Stede's skin, drying him off with their softest towels as his body slowly returned to its human form. He would wrap Stede in the soft teal robe he loved so much and hold him close as he trembled in Ed's arms.
Ed had heard stories about the Kraken, of course, wild tales of monsters and battles and bloodshed. But until he met Stede, he had never believed any of them.
Every month on the night of the full moon, Stede's skin would begin to bruise and darken, his limbs stretching to form enormous, greyish-purple tentacles, his eyes glowing like embers in the darkness of their cabin. By the time Stede's body had fully transformed, the only thing keeping Ed safe from him—from the terrible creature he had become—was the silver sword Ed always kept close. There wouldn't be anything left of Stede until the morning. The Kraken saw Ed as nothing more than raw meat.
The thunder was roaring outside, and Ed whimpered quietly. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in Stede’s arms, huddling under the blankets with him as Stede told him silly stories to drown out the sounds of the storm.
But Stede wasn't here now, not really. And like one night every month, Ed had to go through his worst nightmare alone. He couldn’t talk to anyone about what occurred underneath the full moon, about the fear and the pain of losing Stede to the creature that lurked inside him, unable to do anything but wait for the sun to rise again.
The rest of the crew had left the Revenge months ago. After the first time it had happened… Ed shuddered at the memory. Some of the crew hadn't made it. The others had fled the ship as soon as they made landfall the next day. Ed couldn't blame them. Facing the Kraken, watching helplessly as it almost tore you and your ship apart… It changed you. Ed knew that.
The sun was starting to creep in through the windows, and Ed could hear the creature screeching and howling outside. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, the sounds became more human, turning from screams to quiet sobs, and Ed knew that Stede would be waiting on deck, confused and in pain as he settled back into his human body.
Thankfully, the memories of the night would leave Stede as soon as the sun had fully risen, leaving nothing but scars and hazy nightmares behind.
Ed wished he could forget these nights so easily. Sometimes, he could barely look at Stede without being reminded of the pain and the fear and the screams. On the worst days, he couldn't even hold Stede's hand without worrying it would turn back into an enormous tentacle and crush him.
Stede knew that something was wrong, of course. He had always been more perceptive than people gave him credit for, and even though he tried to hide it, Ed could see the hurt in his eyes every time he instinctively flinched away from him after waking up screaming and gasping from a nightmare.
Ed wanted nothing more than to forget the dread that crept over him as Stede returned to him at the end of these long and lonely nights. He so badly wanted to feel Stede's arms around him, holding him safe and close as they faced the horrors of the sea together.
As the last groans died away, Ed set aside his sword and headed out on deck. It was time to face the morning.