One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

With each whip, a blood-curdling scream erupts from her throat. With each whip, her back arches in an attempt to escape the pain. With each whip, the siblings cry in pure anguish.

I look at the Captain and spit in his face. "You're sick."

"All I ask of my crew is their loyalty and obedience," he wipes his cheek and whips around, walking amongst the crew. "I plucked each one of you from squalor and gave you a place to call home-- somewhere you'd be safe." He stops in front of Bella, looking down at her with a look of disgust and pity. "And this is how you choose to repay me?"

"C-Captain, I'm so sorry, I-"

Carriedo's hand brushes through her hair before sharply pulling it back, "Plead all you want," he whispers. "You know the rules. You can live a long, happy life here as long as you obey your Captain. You don't want to end up like Maria-Claria, do you?"  With that, he nods his head for Abel to continue, and with tears streaming down his face, he obeys.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

Ten.

More and more of her skin is broken by the nine cords, and blood slowly drips down her sides. Feliciano rushes to her with a cloth and kneels beside her, beginning to wipe the blood away, "You're so strong, dolcezza. (1)" The brunette's attempt to encourage and comfort her was cut short by the Captain's swift kick to his jaw, sending him crashing to the floor.

Lovino, in turn, launches himself at Carriedo. "You've gone too far, bastardo!" The hazel eyed man throws a haymaker at the Captain, and similarly to our first interaction, the punch lands, but Carriedo doesn't move an inch. He reaches a hand up to caress the back of his attacker's neck, and for a moment, smiles at him before pulling him in for a headbutt, sending Lovino to his knees, blood spurting from his nose.

Carriedo raises his arms and looks around his crew, and asks with a gritty voice, "Anyone else?!" The silence from the crew was louder than the wild, crashing sea below. He looks to Abel once more, "Finish it." Abel raises his arm again, and shuts his eyes tightly, and Carriedo walks up behind him, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Eyes open, Cocinero," he says in a soft voice.

Abel's face drops as his arm falls to his side-- his heart, and voice, breaks once more. "Captain, please-"

"You need to see your target."

The brother looks down at the sister, who can barely manage to kneel, and he turns his face away in my direction, a pleading look in his eye. Carriedo sees the exchange, and clicks his tongue. "What, does the prisoner want to finish the job for you?"

I had barely managed to hold in my own tears being a bystander in this whole situation. "Fuck you," I growl.

He smirks and turns his gaze back to Abel, patting his chest. "A few scars is better than a watery grave, ¿no estarías de acuerdo? (2)"

"It's only three more, Abel." Battered and bloodied, Bella looks up at him with a bright smile. "I can take it."

The blonde grips the whip tightly and raises it above his head, "Ik hou van je, zus. (3)"

"Wees moedig, broeder. (4)"

Eleven.

Twelve.

Thirteen.

Abel tosses the whip away and rushes to her side, cutting the rope from her wrists and holding her tightly in his arms. The crew cheers loudly, all of them rushing forward with water, food, and bandages to clean her up. I stand back and watch them with a smile of triumph, and I notice that Carriedo is doing the same. "Wipe that smile off your face, you bastard," I hiss quietly, careful to not disturb the victory of Bella and the crew. "You have no right to rejoice in their victory."

"I rejoice in their strength," he responds calmly-- his whole demeanor seems to have changed. "Their ability to overcome is admirable." We sit in silence for a few moments watching Bella smile in thanks as Carlos cleans her wounds with cloth and water bucket. "I grew up in a country where obedience is priority-- the slightest fault against any authority  would bring about punishment."

"How would it make sense to govern your ship just as the country you ran away from governs its people?"

"It is what made that country the strongest in the world," he says, his green eyes gleaming with a slight pride for his home country. "Their loyalty to each other is unshakable." He walks away from me and enters the crowd of men around Bella, gently pushing his way to the middle. The men all fall silent, creating a pathway for him. I stand at the outside of the crowd, standing on my tiptoes to see over the crowd to see what he's up to. I watch as he kneels down in front of Bella and takes a cloth from the water bucket and starts gently wiping away at the blood that had splattered on her face. She sits there, just staring at him as he dips the cloth back into the bucket before continuing.

I wonder what his face looks like-- what's going through his head?

I don't remember much about what else happened that night. Carriedo has allowed me to roam the ship and assist the crew in Bella's stead since she has been bedridden in the Infirmary for the last few days, waiting for a stable point in her healing process. "Scale and gut this," Abel instructs as he slams a fish down onto the table. I stare at it for a while before hesitantly picking the knife up to poke at it.

I still have not gotten used to the pirate diet.

"How long has this been sitting on the ship?" I ask, half jokingly.

"They caught it this morning," he shrugs without looking at me.

I turn my attention back to the fish, holding the tail firmly and begin scraping the knife from there to the head, watching as the scales flake off onto the floor. Abel hasn't had much to say over the course of the last few days, and I don't blame him. I've tried to avoid working him because of it, but it seems like the crew has been working hard to cover for Bella's absence, so I've only been needed in the kitchen. After finishing with the fish, I stab the knife into the table, "I'm going to go up to the deck for some fresh air. I'll be back." He nods in response, still avoiding eye contact. I open the door and close it quietly behind me, and walk towards the stairs to the deck, closing my eyes as I step into the sun. My feet bring me to the gunwale, and I lean over onto it, enjoying the pirate's view I have become used to.

The ocean never ceases to amaze me.

I see Carlos working hard at the wheel, and I climb the stairs to greet him. "Carlos."

"(Name)," he nods his head towards me.

I had come to the deck to get away from the silence, but it seems I cannot escape it. "Have you visited Bella?" I ask.

"Todavía no," he shakes his head, looking a bit ashamed he had not gone to see her yet. "The crew has been spread a little thin, so I've just been busy."

I attempt to give him a reassuring smile, "I'm sure she'd love to see you." He nods again, seemingly having cheered up a bit. I decide to lay down a few feet away from him and watch the clouds above us in the sky.

"You seem comfortable," he speaks up.

I shrug, "I'm trying to make the best out of every situation; I've had a lot of bad luck recently."

"Bella told me. Why didn't run away from the Pirate King?"

I gave him the same exact answer as I gave Bella, "I'm safest with him."

"Don't you ever wonder why he stole you in the first place?"

"I did," I sit up and bring my knees under my chin. "After a while of receiving no answers, I stopped asking. I am still curious as to why I'm here though."

"The Vargas brothers are just imbéciles." I chuckle at his comment, which gets a small smile from him in response. A few more moments go by before he asks, "How long had you been on-board The Siren?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure; I kind of lost all sense of time for a good while, I know that it's been over two months, though."

"Strange."

"Why do you say that?"

"You can get to any of the Kingdoms within that time frame," he taps his fingers along the wheel. "Can you think of any reason as to why they would prolong such a trip?"

"No," I shake my head, now realizing how weird it was that we had yet to arrive at our destination— wherever that destination might be. "Now that I think about it, we only docked once in that whole time."

"Ships can go a while without docking at a port— pirate ships, especially. I'm sure the Pirate King is very knowledgeable about such things. He is a formidable force."

I roll my eyes, "The Pirate King is ignorant and almost got us all killed. The man tried to force his way into Paz! Can you believe that?"

Carlos' eyes open wide, "You were able to dock at a Pazion port?"

"Yes...?" I raise an eyebrow at him, questioningly. "Under the guise of merchants."

"You managed to deceive Afonso?"

He knows Afonso?

"He used to be a Pirate Hunter." He looks around before looking back at me, whispering, "If he knew who your crew was, you would've been dead before you hit the shore."

A shiver runs down my spine, "Why doesn't he hunt us anymore?"

"He was the eldest of the two Princes, so he was called to rule the Nation when their father died— not that hierarchy was of any importance, in this case. Antonio had already forfeited any chance of inheriting the title."

Did he just say...

Antonio?

My mind races back to Afonso's piercing green eyes glaring down at me when Leon and I first hit the shore, then to Carriedo, seemingly staring into my soul with the same ones.

Carlos senses my realization and cocks his head to the side, "You didn't know that Antonio is the Forgotten Prince of Paz?"

"I remember a man named Arman mentioning Afonso's brother was a pirate, but no one ever mentioned his name. Afonso seemed pissed he was brought up in the first place."

"He was a disgrace to the family name and to entirety of the Pazion Nation— they had to send Ambassadors to reside in the Tealin Empire permanently to make up for the trouble he caused."

"Permanent Ambassadors? I've never heard the term before."

"They are well treated hostages, essentially."

"I see," I say as I get to my feet. "I should get back to the kitchen before Abel serves my head for dinner."

"Buena suerte (5)," he salutes me.

I give him a nod and begin walking down the stairs, a mischievous smile across my face.

Everyone on this ship is an open book-- I can use that to my advantage.

As I make my way back to the kitchen, I take a quick moment to check on Bella. Gently knocking on the Infirmary door, I hear shuffling by the door before it creaks open. I look up and see those hazel eyes that so much reminded me of the QuarterMaster. "Lovino," I say flatly.

"Poveretta," he responds with a look of detest.

In an attempt to avoid looking at the pieces of balled up cloth coming out of his nose, I cross my arms in front of me and ask, "How is Bella?"

"Sleeping."

"Alright," I nod, sucking my teeth. "I'll be by to visit later with her dinner." He abruptly shuts the door in my face, and it takes everything in me to not punch a hole through the door.

I can't cause any trouble now— I don't want to get thrown back in that cell.

Deciding to be the bigger person, I continue my trek down the hallway and end up passing by the open door of the Captain's Quarters. I let my curiosity get the best of me and I take a quick look around to make sure no one was in the are before poking my head in. Carriedo's room is nowhere near as extravagant as Kirkland's; in place of the countless paintings and treasure that were strewn about the Pirate King's room, Carriedo seems to have a thing for collecting little trinkets and rocks. A few jewels were thrown in the mix, but they were the small, broken pieces any other pirate would overlook. I lean in the room a bit more to look behind the door and see a giant flag hung on the wall next to his bed, which I recognize instantly as the Flag of Paz.

Although he was banished from his home Nation, he is still very proud of his heritage.

Just as I was about to exit the room, something sitting on his desk catches my eye-- a familiar little grey horn, gently propped up against a stack of books stares back at me.

There's no way...

I take another quick glance around as I step into the room and make my way over to the desk, taking the little horn into my hands. Suddenly, I'm 16 years old again, examining it's small, intricate designs in front of Mo's shop the day the Vikings left me. I feel my heart jump into my throat and my hand covers my mouth as I try my best to hold back my cries.

How could I ever lose something so important to me...?

I wipe my eyes and make my way out of the room as I hold the horn tightly to my chest. It had been so long since I thought about my life before the Siren.

Mo.

The Vikings.

Klaus and my precious mother.

Luca...

My feet carry my slowly down the hallway, and with every step, the clanging and sizzling from the kitchen rings louder in my ears. I walk through the doorway and Abel looks up at me, then back down to the fish he was scaling. "You went into the Captain's dorm?"

"What do you mean?" I quickly stuff the horn into the pocket of my trousers.

"That horn," he nods towards me. "It was on his desk."

"Well, it's mine."

"Oh, yeah? Don't tell Feliciano that. He presented that to the Captain after our raid on the Siren-- it came from the Pirate King's room, so he thought it was important. He'd be disappointed to know it was just a common girl's trinket."

"It is important," I hiss back.

"Not as important as your Captain's golden necklace he also stole, I'm sure."

My heart stops.

I walk up to him and firmly grab his shoulder, spinning him around to face me. "Golden necklace?"

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Was that your's too?"

"Did it have a green gem?" I ask. His widening eyes in surprise are the only answer I need. "Where is it?"

"Last I saw, around my Captain's neck."

"Shit!" I sharply turn away and start biting at my thumb nail.

Mathias entrusted me with two things, and I managed to lose them both.

... When did they even fall out of my possession?

I immediately start coming up with a plan to get it back. "What's with that look?" I look up at Abel and see his green eyes gazing down at me gently, a small smile on his face-- a complete 180 of how he's been acting over the last few days.

I immediately back up and put space between us, changing the subject, "Do we have any more fish to scale?"

He seems a little taken aback, but nods. "Yes, thank you."

Abel's POV

After the meal is cooked, I see (Name) begin to make a plate. She notices my gaze and lifts the plate, referring to it as she says, "For Bella."

With my arms by my side, I tap my fingers on my thighs. "You mind if I bring it to her? I haven't seen her in a bit."

She looks from me to the plate, a look of slight disappointment across her face before she nods. "Sure, go ahead. Tell her I am thinking of her."

I walk over and take the plate from her with a smile, our fingers slightly brushing against each other in the process. "Thank you." Her face turns a slight shade of pink as she nods and turns back to the fish. I walk out of the kitchen and round the corner, walking down the hall until I make it to the Infirmary. I knock on the door softly, and Feliciano opens the door. "I have food for Bella."

"Abel!" I hear her voice cheerfully call my name from inside.

Her voice breaks my heart.

"Si accomodi," the brunette opens the door, welcoming me in.

As soon as my eyes land on my sister, I feel a lump form in my throat. She smiles ear to ear and pats the bed, asking me to join her. "It's about time you visited!"

"Y-Yeah," I stutter, coughing to clear my throat. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," she groans quietly as begins to sit up.

Feliciano runs over to assist her, grabbing her by the arm and under her shoulder, "You need to be careful-- you don't want to open the wounds again."

"I know, I know," she brushes him off playfully.

Feliciano takes a step back and retreats to his desk, and I sit down at the foot of the bed, handing Bella the plate. "(Name) has been helping a lot in the kitchen in your absence. She wanted me to tell you that you are always in her thoughts."

"I hope the crew isn't struggling too much without me," she whimpers as she takes a bite of the fish.

"Yeah," I prolong my reply, finding it strange as she risked her life for that girl, yet won't even acknowledge my comment about her. "Is the food good?"

"It's my favorite," she winks.

I chuckle softly, "You say that every time."

"Well," Feliciano stands from his chair and stretches his arms above his head. "I'm going to step out for a bit. Mind keeping an eye on her?"

"Of course not, take your time."

He nods in thanks as he walks to the door, closing it behind him. Bella continues to eat from her plate and I lay down to rest for the first time today, my head at the foot of the bed. After a few minutes pass, I feel a tug on the end of my trousers and I raise my head to see Bella staring at me intently. "What is it?"

She places a finger firmly to her lips, gesturing for me to come closer. I sit up and crawl closer to her and she looks at the door for a moment before whispering, "You need to get (Name) out of here."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been hearing them talk. They've been communicating with the leaders of Avis and have promised them the delivery of the Pirate King's Wife."

"I'm sure the people of Avis will treat her well," Carriedo had said. "Let's just hope they spare her punishment for the Pirate King's crimes; as I recall, they had not been too kind to his father."

Bella shakes my shoulders, "Abel, are you listening to me? You have to help her escape! Avis will execute her!"

"Absolutely not," I answer bluntly.

"What?"

I avert my gaze from her confused look. "You will die if we try sailing out of here, Bella. I am not trading your life for her's."

"Abel-"

"My answer is no."

She shakes her head slowly, cupping my cheek. "I said you have to save her, not we. You're going to go without me."

"After everything I have done to keep us together, you expect me to throw it all away and abandon you for some girl?!" I stand up and begin pacing the room in an attempt to calm my anger.

Bella turns away from me, tightly clasping her hands together. "I will be ok," she says quietly. "But (Name) will not." She gets to her feet and turns away from me, lifting the back of her shirt enough for those ghastly wounds to peek out. "All of this, brother, would be for nothing if she dies." I can't hold back my tears anymore, and I sink to my knees, covering my mouth to muffle my sobs. Her footsteps draw closer and I feel her hands cup my cheeks, lifting my eyes to her's. "Promise me, Abel."

"Bella, I don't think I can do it."

"I know you will come back to me," her thumbs gently graze across my face. "So promise me that you will protect her."

Unable to speak a word through my sobs, I nod and wrap my arms around her.

I promise.

Translations:

1. "Sweetie" or "Sweetness" in Italian.
2. "Wouldn't you agree?" in Spanish.
3. "I love you, sister." in Dutch.
4. "Be brave, brother." in Dutch.
5. "Good luck." in Spanish.