Virgil glanced around the Captain's Quarters and raised an eyebrow. This place was the absolute height of luxury. The kind of room fit for a prince.

Too bad it was only inhabited by a pirate.

Roman leaned against his desk, his arms crossed. He'd shucked his coat off and thrown it on a chair by the door. Without his coat and mask, something about him looked less... regal. Like something had been stripped back.

The rapier and small daggers in his belt were on full display. As was the blood-stained cut along his sleeve. He looked vulnerable.

"What happened there?" Remus asked, though it sounded like a demand.

Roman's eyes widened as he glanced at his shoulder. "Your little chico happened," he said. "Only swing he got in. Got the jump on us."

Virgil felt himself smile. Roman glared at him. "Only swing he got in," he repeated.

"Still, for a 17-year-old..." Virgil trailed off deliberately. He could feel Logan's gaze burning into the back of his head. "Anyway, the maps."

"What makes you think we want to give them to you?" Roman asked.

"I'll let Remus kick you to death otherwise?" Virgil asked. Remus cracked his knuckles. "Believe me, he doesn't need to be asked twice."

"What if we don't have them?" It was the first Logan had spoken. Virgil turned slightly to look at him. He was stood in a corner, arms crossed, completely still. Was he even breathing?

"You do," Virgil said, shaking himself out of his thoughts. He turned and gestured to Roman. "Princey's attempt at a lie proved that. You have the maps and you want them badly, so badly you're willing to lie to me to try and keep them."

"And who are you, exactly?" Roman asked. The disdain in his voice was so clear it was almost laughable.

Virgil debated giving a sweeping bow. He decided against it. "Captain of the Captain's Chaos," he said. "You can call me Virgil." He turned to Logan. "And you can call me Captain."

Logan shook his head. The smallest twitch of his head to the side. "No."

"Alright, alright," Roman said, drawing the attention back to himself, "let's say we have the maps. What makes you think we need you to read them?"

Virgil didn't reply. For a moment, no one spoke.

"I hope I don't have to kill these people," Virgil thought. "That would waste a lot of crew members."

"We do." Logan's voice broke the silence. There was something off about his accent that Virgil just couldn't place.

Roman shot him a look that Logan either didn't get or ignored.

"We do need him," Logan repeated. "We need a cartographer."

"We've got you," Roman said, almost like a warning.

"Maps are nothing more than lines on a page to me," Logan pushed Roman's comment off. He passed by Virgil and stood by Roman. He turned around, arms behind his back. "It would be logical to make an... alliance with these men." He sounded very sceptical. "They have what we need, we have what they require."

Roman didn't say anything, just glared. He looked like he couldn't take being proved wrong. He also looked like he knew when he was beaten. He looked to Virgil.

"Why are you going to the Fountain?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Virgil said. "The King's Loyalty, the Masked Prince of Piracy, you're already immortalised. Why live forever?"

"No one remembers a legend once it dies," Roman said. He shrugged. "I'd much rather terrorise the seas for all eternity than just the rest of my life."

Remus blew a very loud raspberry. "Boring!" He declared. "Of course you're only looking out for yourself."

"It's not just me-"

"Boys!" Virgil snapped, cutting them both off. "As much as I'd love to watch yet another of your petty fights get physical, now is not the time." He glared at Roman. The stupid Prince had a few inches of height on him but apart from that, Virgil pretty much matched him.

"You have two choices, and either way I get the maps. You either leave this ship alive as part of my crew or dead."

Firefox just shut me down halfway through writing this, thank God Wattpad saves periodically.
Bye,
Blaize