"T-The ship-"

My cousin grasps the sleeve of my shirt and gives it a sharp tug. "Arthur, we have to get out of here! We're going to get killed!"

I try to move, but my body is frozen and my eyes stare into the flames roaring into the night sky. "Everyone's dead."

"Think of your mother, Arthur!" I turn to look at him, tears streaming from my eyes, and he attempts to give me a reassuring smile. "Let's get you home." His hand clutches onto mine, pulling me away from the dock and back into the town. The townspeople were still crowded around the square, my father's bloody, lifeless body lying in the middle of them.

That image is forever burned into my memory

It took us a few weeks to finally walk through the gates of our hometown, and the Kirkland residence was entirely abandoned. A majority of the help had resigned from serving our family once my father had been exiled for crimes committed against the Kingdom, but it seemed as though the people who had stayed to help my mother had also left.

My poor, sweet mother...

I found her body— pale, cold, and rigid, slumped over our dining hall table. Her once bright blue eyes glossed over, and her hands tightly clutched a photo of our family.

Not a single soul knew she had died— either that, or no one cared enough to give her a proper burial, as she was the wife of a Pirate.

The rage I felt that day towards my father and the world is nothing I'd ever experienced before, and haven't experienced since; it is exactly what made me into the successor he always wanted me to be. I trained harder than ever before, and as I got stronger, I was finally able to master the sword. In just a few months, I had the strongest crew behind me and a ship of my own. The Kingdoms were going to pay for what they did to my family, as I was the man to continue my father's legacy.

I pillaged towns, killed without a second thought, and destroyed countless lives in mere seconds— all things my father pushed me to do, and I knew I was making him proud.

But, if she knew what I had become...

What would she think of me?

Would she hate this man I've become? Would she understand that the suffering I went through hardened my heart and made me hate this world?

Would she even remember me like I was before?

"Arthur, are you alright?"

I blink my eyes and I'm back on my ship, laying into Toby's chest as he gently pets my head. "Y-Yes, I'm alright." I push myself off of him and stand, dusting my pants off with my hands while Toby rises to his feet, as well.  I look up and make eye contact with him and he reaches up to fix the collar of my shirt. "Thank you."

"I'm worried about you, Arthur."

"I'll be fine," I pause, pinching the bridge of my nose as I exhale. "We just need to get to Tealin."

My cousin's pale green eyes slowly drop, and he places a hand on my shoulder. "When we get there, will you actually be able to just hand her over?"

(Name's) POV

Quite a bit of time has past since that night in Paz; we've been on the sea for about five weeks now. I've continued learning positions on the ship, from navigating the ocean from Jack, to, reluctantly, learning the responsibilities of the Quarter Master.

I've learned a lot throughout my time on the Siren, and I've actually come to enjoy my time here.

Currently, my days are spent manning the ship with the crew, and by evening, I'm holed up in the Infirmary. "(Name), are you ready for your studies?"

From my spot on the gunwale of the ship, I look up from my medicine book to see Toby smiling brightly, his hand extended out to me. "Sure," I nod, gratefully accepting his hand. It took the crew a while, but they're finally calling me by my name. As we walk down into the ship, conversing along the way, we pass by the Captain in the staircase.

"Continuing her doctoral studies?" He asks, avoiding eye contact. Kirkland has been keeping his distance from me since that night— although he's still the ruthless Captain, he's been quite detached from his crew as a whole.

Toby glances at me with a curt nod, urging me to answer him. I clear my throat, my hands gripping the hem of my blouse. "Yes."

The corners of his lips curl, just slightly, as he turns his gaze to the Doctor. "That's good. How is she progressing, Toby?"

"Faster than I anticipated," he chuckles in response. "It'll be nice having another set of hands in the Infirmary."

"Indeed," he breathes a heavy sigh.

Toby's brows crease as he gazes into the Captain's face. "You should enjoy the little sunlight we have left today, Arthur. You've been holed up in your room for days— that's not healthy." Just looking at him, anyone could tell he'd been neglecting himself physically: his once short, well-kept hair was now tied up in a lazy ponytail draped slightly over his shoulder— he even had the start of a beard coming in. The Captain has appeared to be getting weaker in mind and body for the last few weeks, though no one will acknowledge it other than Toby. Kirkland, once again, averts his gaze, and the doctor shakes his head, leaving my side as he wraps his arm around Kirkland's shoulders. "Go ahead to the infirmary, (Name). I'll meet you there when I'm done tending to our Captain." I nod and continue the short walk to the Infirmary, shutting the door behind me before sitting on the bed and opening my book back up, resuming my studies.

I must've fallen asleep waiting on Toby because the next thing I knew, I was shaken awake by a violent rumble of the ship and opened my eyes to darkness. Sunlight was no longer peaking in through the small window at the top of the wall— just faint moonlight illuminated the room. My hands tightly grip the sheets beneath me as I sit in silence, waiting for any sort of noise to indicate what my next move should be. Screams and battle cries erupt above me on the deck; clanging swords and gunshots echo all around, slightly muffled by the wood separating me from the outside. I slowly grab the knife from underneath my pillow and start tiptoeing to the door, when all of a sudden, I hear someone mess with the doorknob. I quietly take a few steps back, staring underneath the door at the faint shadow coming to a halt in front of the door. I take a defensive stance as the doorknob turns and the door slowly creaks open. "Toby?" I whisper, tightening the grip on my knife as my back hits the wall.

The door opens completely, exposing a silhouette in the darkness. I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up as I stare at him— the man standing before me was broad, but he was not as tall as our doctor.

That's not Toby!

My body moves on it's own, entering fight mode as I rush towards the man, my knife aimed straight for his chest. The man swiftly dodges my attack, revealing a second shadow with piercing, hazel eyes staring menacingly down at me. I quickly throw a punch with my free hand and swing it wide, hitting him in the jaw.

He doesn't move an inch.

The man grabs me by the throat, lifting me off of my feet. "Who are you?!" I manage to get out as his grip tightens.

"Make another sound and I'll slit your throat," he growls deeply. I drop my weapon and claw at his arm in an attempt to get him to release me, to no avail. His unique, hazel eyes don't break hold of my gaze as he continues to dangle me in midair, a sadistic look on his face; he enjoyed watching me struggle. Just as my vision clouds over and my eyes begin to roll into the back of my head, he releases me, and I crumple to the floor. "Search the room," he orders the first man as he picks my knife up off of the floor, twirling it in his fingers.

"Aye, aye," the other man responds. He doesn't care to be quiet as he opens and slams shut every drawer in the Infirmary, going through all of the jars of medicine. "The writing on these is terrible. I can't even read this one."

With a click of his tongue, the man who had been standing over me stomps to stand beside the other, stabbing my knife into the desk and snatching the jar from the other man's hand. "Dumbass, give me that." As they bicker amongst themselves, I take the chance to get to my feet and place myself close to the wall, careful to stay within the shadows as I inch closer to them. As I reach the hazel eyed man's side, time seems to move in slow motion. His head begins to turn towards me, and I jump into action. I stretch my arm across his body, reaching up to shove my upper arm into his neck and grab his shoulder as I throw him to the ground. As soon as his back hits the floor, his partner pulls me off of him and throws me back into the wall. I'm gasping for air, still recovering from my throat being crushed, as he reaches a hand out to his partner.

"Stae bene, Lovino?" (1)

"Shut up, Feliciano," Lovino mutters. "I'm fine."

They are way stronger than I am; I need to be technical and clever if I'm to get out of this alive.

I manage to pull myself to my feet, and before Feliciano is able to get Lovino up, I set my left foot out in front in front of me at an angle, and throw a right haymaker; just as I'd hoped, Feliciano takes notice, abruptly releasing Lovino's hand and turning towards me, lifting his left arm up to block the punch, winding up his own counter attack with his right.

Perfect.

As he goes to throw a punch at me with his right fist, I use the momentum from the haymaker to turn to my left, sending my right foot in a sidekick, carrying all of my weight and momentum into the side of his knee. As he tries to regain his balance, I throw my right elbow into the side of his face, and he goes crashing to the ground in a daze. "You bitch!" Lovino growls at me and bodies my left leg, rolling to his right, causing me to fall to my back. With the brunette still hooked onto my leg, I look at Feliciano to see he's coming to, and realize I only have a split second to react. I turn back towards to Lovino and I grab his head, shoving my thumbs into his eyes— not enough to blind him, but enough for it to hurt like hell. The man screeches and releases my leg before reaching out to grab my arms, and I take the opportunity to swing my left leg over him and push myself to my feet.

"Stay down!" I demand as I give him kick to the side to allow myself time to escape. Just as I turn to make my way towards the door, Feliciano's arms wrap themselves around my neck.

He's got me in a chokehold!

"I thought he told you to shut up," he growls, tightening his grip until it feels like my eyes are going to pop out of my head. Gasping for air, I scratch at his arms until my knees give out and I crumple to the floor.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I'm not sure how long it has been since I passed out, but as I slowly regain consciousness, I hear my attackers whispering. "Are you sure your eyes are ok?" Judging by the question, Feliciano is the one asking.

"I'm fine!" Lovino shouts back. I try my best to remain motionless, listening as one of them rises to their feet.

"In that case," his footsteps walk passed me and to the door, which slowly creaks open. "I'm going to take a quick look around; I'll meet you back at the ship."

"Non lasciare che ti prendano, goffo bastardo. (2)"

"Yes, sir!" The other man responds, cheekily. I peek my eye open, just enough to watch him disappear into the shadows of the hallway.

I hear Lovino shuffle closer to me before his hands wrap around the back of my head, lifting it up to rest on his legs. He gently pries my mouth open and pushes a piece of fabric into it, rolling my head to the side to tie a knot at the back. He lifts my head once again and places it gently on the floor as he rises to his feet and grabs my wrists, threading some rope between them; it takes everything in me to not jump away. Lovino hoists me onto his shoulder and walks out into the hallway, turning left to go towards the deck. Just as I did when I was first abducted by the Siren crew, I remain motionless and am able to conceal my consciousness quite easily— Lovino is, surprisingly, not as intuitive as Matthew. As he begins his ascent up the stairs, the sounds of clashing swords and war cries erupt around us. Lovino slips behind some barrels and watches the fighting in silence, waiting for a chance to escape.

With my wrists bound, there is not much I can do— I have to wait for the perfect moment.

"Where is your Captain?!" A crazed voice screams. I follow the sound with my eyes to see a man with a colorful feather dangling from his hat hanging from the rope ladder leading to the crows nest, waving his sword maniacally. "Where is the man they call the Pirate King?!"

Is Kirkland not fighting?

My mind flickers back to our interaction on the staircase; the man couldn't even look me in the eye.

Could he handle an enemy attack in that state?

I watch in horror as the men of the Siren continue to lose ground against our enemy— they had caught us completely by surprise.

"Carriedo!" I hear a familiar, deep voice challenge.

The man with the feather snaps his head in the direction of the voice and he smiles darkly. "I was wondering when you would show your face." He grabs ahold of a stray rope and gracefully swings down onto the deck. "It's unlike you to slink about in the shadows, tu serpiente." (3)

"Where is the girl?" Kirkland growls.

"What girl?" Carriedo playfully shrugs in response. The blonde rushes at the opposing Captain, sparks flying as their swords collide, and the Siren's crew erupts into cheers, having regained confidence now that their Captain was fighting alongside them. The brunette uses brute force to push him back; Kirkland uses that momentum to spin and swipe at his opponent, who parries. Carriedo jabs his sword at Kirkland's chest, and as he jumps back to avoid the swing, the rivaling Captain swings his sword upwards, cutting the blonde's cheek. "What happened to you, viejo amigo? (4) You are not as sharp as you used to be."

"Tell me where she is, goddammit!" His voice cracks as his sword cuts through the air.

What is that twinge in his voice?

Anger? Exhaustion?

... Desperation?

With the crews preoccupied with their own battles and the captains going at it, Lovino sees an opening and stands, beginning to make his way to the edge of the ship.

Seems like this is now or never!

I begin working at the rope binding my wrists, my eyes never breaking from the Captain as men, friend and foe alike, drop like flies around him. Just as my captor's foot hits the piece of wood connecting our ships, I finally manage to free my hands and rip the gag from my mouth. "ARTHUR!"

That blood curdling scream caught his attention and my heart skips a beat as his head whips around to look at me. The second he lays his eye on me, he smiles in relief, which swiftly melts to an expression that I can only describe as terror. "(NAME)!" He throws his sword to the floor of the ship and begins running towards me.

"Lift the plank!" Carriedo orders as he begins climbing to the crows nest once again.

As soon as the plank is raised, the ship begins to sail way from the Siren. I raise my leg behind me and jab my knee into Lovino's stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. Rolling off his shoulder, I scramble to my feet and rush back to the edge, my nails digging into the wood. He steps onto the edge of the ship and, without a second thought, he jumps.

Time seems to slow down as he flies through the air over the water, a determined look adorning his face. I reach my hand for him and just as our fingertips brush against each other, his body goes flying to my right, crashing down into the sea.

Carriedo had grabbed onto the stray rope and swung to us, kicking Kirkland away before landing aboard his ship. "Until next time, mi amigos!" He yells across the water, removing his hat with a theatrical bow. His hearty laugh of victory echoes amongst the crashing waves as he watches the Siren crew rush to the edge of their ship, throwing a rope ladder overboard in search of their captain.

I whip my head around and glare at Carriedo, who watches them scramble in amusement. "You bastard!" I screech, running towards him to attack. Lovino jumps from his spot on his knees and grabs my arm, redirecting my momentum to send my face crashing into the ground. He straddles me and pulls my arm roughly behind me, digging his elbow into my spine.

"What is that, Lovino?" The Captain's black boots waltz up to us.

"A girl," the man scoffs. "At least, I think it is." I jolt my head backwards and hit him square in the nose. He lets out an annoyed grunt and grabs the back of my head, slamming my cheek back down onto the wood.

"It's a girl, alright," with a wag of the Captain's finger, Lovino forces me to my knees to face him, pulling both of my arms behind my back. "You must be who Kirkland was looking for." Now that he was closer, I was able to take in his features: Carriedo had beautiful tan skin, brown hair, and soul-piercing green eyes.

Where have I seen those eyes before?

He leans down and traces my jaw with his finger, a smirk on his face. "Lock her up in the dungeon. We'll sell her at the next port."

His henchman turns me around and hoists me up over his shoulder and begins walking to the stairs to go below the deck, where we disappear into the darkness.

Translations:

1. "Are you alright, Lovino?" In Italian
2. "Don't let them catch (get) you, you clumsy bastard," in Italian
3. "You snake" in Spanish
4. "Old friend," in Spanish