Serious: The Clockwork Pirates Chapter 4: The Eastern Line Trading Company

The midnight air was cool, his hair was slicked back his eyes were brown his suit beautiful and black, tie straight fedora titled for that authentic Mafia feel and his lips holding a cigarette softly between them. The smartly dressed man in the suit was the man partly in charge of the incident in the papers being distributed by the newskus. A rugged looking man with long straggly dirty blonde hair sat before him on the ground shaking, his skin was pale and filthy, his eyes bloodshot his muscles weak and aching. Tears formed in the man's eyes as he looked up at the smartly dressed man who exhaled.

"P-p-p-please, let my family go! Please let my family go, I understand what I did was wrong but, I did it for them, if you let them go I will stay here and work twice as hard." The man's tears dribbled down his face and splattered into the ground his cries fell upon deaf ears.

The smartly dressed man turned around on his heel to reveal a devious looking face, with the cigarette placed softly back in between his lips.
"You are a slave, you don't get freedom so why you thought it was ok to freely steal the keys unlock the cages and try to break out is beyond me. Now from what I hear your telling me is you want me to free your family and keep you here so you can work for me, is that right?"

The slave with filthy blonde hair and tears dribbling down his face nodded as he muttered, "Y-y-yes."

"Well well well you see this is where I find myself in a bit of an awkward position you see because for all the help I've been for the lovely savages at the Eastern Trading Line Company, they allowed me to have you as my own personal slave to do whatever I wish with. Now I have given you nice clothes, expensive ones in fact. I have fed you well and given you a lovely place to stay. Chained up to avoid you escaping and sleeping in the guest bedroom which is nearly as nice as the master bedroom. But they allowed me to have you as my own personal slave in return for me helping them out with a little business transaction." The smartly dressed man inhaled then exhaled and held the cigarette in his hand. "I promised to keep hold and help them gather slaves together whilst they are finding homes for their other ones. By doing this though I will be getting a few slaves as well as half of the profit they collect for selling on the slaves. So you see if I were to simply let you set the slaves free including your family that would mean we would lose out on some money. Some money we all have worked very hard for, and I can't be held responsible for such things to happen, especially when its in my own home."

The slave just sat there in his raggedy grey suit, he had stopped crying and his breathing had gotten heavier, he knew what was coming next and knew there was no escape for him. "I'm sorry" he muttered quietly.

The smartly dressed man walked back into the shadows and inhaled again blowing out more smoke, then looked at the slave and shook his head smiling, he had an evil smile which stretched from cheek to cheek. "Angelo" spoke the smartly dressed man.

From the shadows opposite the smartly dressed man appeared another man smartly dressed in a black suit white shirt thin black tie and pinstripe waistcoat. Tall thin, muscular and with filthy blonde slicked back hair and goatee his sun glasses glinted as a light shone upon them. Atop of the battlements of the Noelle families mansion was a dangerous place to be and any slaves brought here knew what their punishment was going to be.

The slave quietly began crying tears streaming down his face and landing on the ground as his last thoughts were of his family before feathery white wings sprouted from Angelo's back.

The smartly dressed man inhaled then exhaled again and said in a raised voice, "Do it!"

At lightning quick speed Angelo lunged at the slave man and dragged him over the edge of the battlements, once over the edge of the battlements he let go and remained flapping his wings gently to keep himself in position.

The Slave fell downwards over the edge of the mansion, he screamed a blood curdling scream which could be heard all over the island until his body was stopped in mid air by the noose Angelo had placed around his neck when he lunged at him. The slave's neck was broken and his body was left dangling a little bit lower than normal.

Angelo lowered himself down on to the battlements beside the smarty dressed man and brought his wings in. The smartly dressed man hadn't flinched during any of Angelo's actions and said to him, "cut his body down in the morning and put him in the blender, then feed him to the other slaves for breakfast." Angelo nodded and turned away.

[Meanwhile at sea with the Clockwork Pirates]

One day had passed since the events at Lunakirk and Wilfred was still steering the ship as he had been doing so all night, he was glad to see the sun was shinning and a glorious day seemed to be unfolding. The sun shone through his body and the air rushing past his body was chilling. The ship was still in the sky and Wilfred had been informed by Kyren to drop Trake off. Wilfred lowered the ship back down towards the sea as the Time Goes lowered towards the sea. Wilfred felt the ship rock from side to side a little as it balanced itself upon the water once again. Wilfred opened up the sails and let the breeze push forth to propel the ship, as the ship began to drift along the sea, Wilfred returned to the helm and began steering the beautiful Time Goes once again.

Trake fell off his bunk as the ship hit the water. He groggily crawled to his feet-holding his head, but all thoughts of seeing his cousin swept all hurt aside. They had been like brothers, though the black haired cousin was a year older and had taken geology over living at sea. The last Trake had heard of his cousin was a letter from this Island saying that he was starting to find old stone in some of the disused quarries carried by the tiny Island. Trake stumbled over to the door, hopping as he pulled a shoe on and was shortly on the deck. He pulled on his shirt and started up to Wilfred.

"Come now, boss. You had Angelo perform the last few executions. Leave a few for me, would'ya? I feel like my skills aren't as sharp as they used to be."

The voice belonged to a woman. Even more so, she was a woman who had an uncanny skill for hiding. It may have been the top of the battlements but she was nowhere in sight. Not in the shadows, not hiding behind a merlon. Instead, the voice came from the wall of the battlements. Whoever she was she was clinging onto the wall out of sight. From her position, she could clearly see the hanging.

A shadow suddenly rushed past the smartly dressed man like a red breeze. In front of the man, a cut-up gray suit lay on the ground. From the looks of it, the suit had belonged to that slave.

"How about it, boss? Promise me you will give me the next one...?"

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On the Clockwork Ship:

Just after the sun came up, a thud could be heard every so often coming from the crow's nest. If you were to stand up there you would see that it was Uta doing some strange maneuvers that consisted of jumping in the air and spinning several times. He was obviously training... for something or another...

Mina yawned and stretched, hauling herself out of bed and grinning to herself. There was something both exciting and lovely about waking up onboard a ship. The ivory-haired cook had also slept well...and that was a major bonus on many levels as far as she was concerned.
She got up and tugged a sundress, thigh-highs, sandals and most importantly- her garter holster- on before stumbling down to the kitchen to start up something for breakfast.
"Won't Mama and Papa be proud of me?" she thought, reflecting on the possible reactions of Rick and Emily Layton- former pirates themselves- upon finding out that their daughter had joined a pirate crew and assisted in a breakout after only three weeks at sea.
Mina eventually rooted out several eggs and a burlap sack of flour and got started on some pancakes for her crewmates.

She whipped her head around, noticing one of her crewmates passing by the door. "Huh...oh, good morning, Delphi. How are you?"
Mina had got to know the half-mermaid doctor while she was being treated for her prison break injuries. The small, brown haired girl seemed fairly sweet and timid if a little bit quiet for Mina's liking.
Apparently, she had had some kind of long term relationship with a young man who had vanished and left her alone.

Personally, Mina wished that she could sympathise.
But the most she'd ever had in terms of romance was a few flings with pirates and sailors who came into her parents' tavern...and they were far from long-term.
So try as she might, she couldn't really understand the emptiness in Delphi's soft green stare.

The young doctor headed up on to the main deck, taking a deep breath and enjoying the feel of the cool wind. She blinked at the sounds from the crows nest and headed over to investigate, looking over to the helm and greeting Wilfred quietly. "Good morning."
She shivered a little, looking up at the crow's nest. "Uta? Are you alright up there?"

Uta looked over the crow's nest to find out who was calling out to him. Looking down, he caught sight of Delphi.

"Oh, Delphi. How are you today? I was just um... training. I hope I haven't disturbed anyone."

Uta figured his morning work-out was over for the moment. He grabbed his violin case and climbed down the mast to socialize. Standing on the deck, Uta looked up at Wilfred and then at Delphi again.

"Smells wonderful this morning. Is Mina up already?"

Trake idled up to Wilfred but halfway up the stairs. So far he'd only really introduced himself to Kyren, but these people seemed like a family-something he couldn't just interupt. He slid up the last couple of stairs, searching the deck for the white haired girl that had caught his eye earlier. He gave up such a long distance search and returned to his primal instincts. Food is a essential item for any human, but for a 16 year old boy missing one meal could be the difference between life and death. Clomping down the stairs he he started off at a sprint for the galley.

In a darkened room within the Time Goes, Molly sat, watching her brother sleep. She had not left this room since the day before except to use the bathroom or grab something to drink. Otherwise, she had gone without food and sleep.

Molly's anger had slipped away over the course of the last day. She knew that Kyren had only been trying to help her, but she was still frustrated that she hadn't been able to take Night Light down after everything he had done. He deserved to die for what he had done and been planning to do. And all she was left with now was her brother, who was hurt all because she hadn't been able to protect him properly.

Molly blinked, surprised to find that she had tears in her eyes. She sniffed and wiped them away. She felt foolish for allowing her emotions to take control of her. She hadn't cried in years and she had no intention of starting now.

Molly pulled her legs up in front of her on the chair as she was sitting on. She wrapped her arms around her legs and hugged them to her chest, looking down Victor's body. His shirts had been removed and there were now bandages over his wounds. She had never noticed it before, but when she looked past his pale skin and thin figure, Molly realized that Victor looked almost ripped.

"I thought that I would be the one protecting you," Molly whispered. "Even though you're older than me, it's always been that way. Whenever you were picked on, I fought for you. I thought you were so weak...but then yesterday...you really surprised me. When did you get so strong? And how did I...how could I...miss it?" She let out a watery laugh and reached down to brush Victor's hair away from his eyes. "I've acted like a total idiot and now look at me. I'm supposed to be the strong one, but here I am. For some reason I'm crying like a two year old and half wishing you were awake so that I could just hug you and forget about every..." Molly's voice drifted off into silence.

Victor's eyes were open for the first time since he had been knocked out. And he had laid his hand on hers. He reached up and wrapped his other arm around Molly and pulled her down to him and held her. They stayed that way for several minutes, neither wanting to be the first one to pull away.

deer had not been at rest for a while now, he was working on yet another map. if his calculations were correct they were going to enter the grandline. and at the speed and dderection of there ship... they would enter only a few islands short of... quickly taking his mind off the subject he turned to his maps again. there was little need for thinking of that subject at the moment. 'but still' he thought to himself taking out a new map schetch he etched in it some directions and placed it away. grabbing a map he walked out of his room and onto the deck. staring out at sea he continued to advance the map.

ken was sleeping little as well. ever since he had escaped the prison he was training at double rate. he as angry at himself for being captured, and he promised himself he wouldnt be again. his weighted blades cut through the air with ease, each slash a bit faster than the last. eventually he was out of energy and plopped down, brething hard. cracking his neck he began to walk to the galley.

Delphi smiled faintly to Uta as she spoke, pushing her long brown hair back behind her ears, ( the high, skyward winds were making it rather unruly, this morning, she noted). 
"I'm fine, Uta, thank you. Ah, I hope your training is going well. You're always so focused and commited to bettering yourself. Captain Kyren doubtlessly feels proud to have such a fighter aboard..."
She shrugged her satchel up on to her shoulder. "Mina?" Delphi had become aquainted with the mouthy but pretty, white-haired cook whilst patching up her bullet wounds. The two of them, despite their differences in demeanor, got on quite well. 
"Yes. She's awake. Down in the galley making breakfast if I'm not mistaken," Delphi added with a slight smile. "Perhaps you should head down there before the others do. I think whatever she's preparing smells like pancakes and they'll go pretty fast..."
She bowed her head to Uta. "I'll be inside, later."
Delphi continued to walk, heading to the bow of the ship. The air up high was thinner than the air below and thus, cooler. 
It wasn't freezing, Delphi noted, so there was no need to change out of her  denim shorts and thin white blouse...but a fresh spray of goosebumps still lined her faintly tanned skin. 
Though the shivering might have had something to do with what was on her mind. 
Delphi looked out at the bright azure horizon, where the calm, lighted sky seemed to caress the dark, lapping, boisterous sea below and felt a wave of sorrow was over her again. 
Mismatched lovers...
"No," the brunette told herself, leaning against the railing and shutting her eyes tight. "No, no, no...I'm not going to let him get the better of me. It's time to forget Annachie and move on..." She gripped the railing a little more. "Even if I'm not sure how..."

Mina put the finishing touches on an omlette in the pan, dashing it with some of the spice that she carried in her strap bag. 
Kyren's ship had a galley stocked with the basics for nutrition- but it lacked in herbs and flavourings, the headstrong cook was quick to notice. 
"Good thing that I always carry a few canisters of paprika and coriander," she mused aloud. 
Mina was just starting to whisk another bowl of egg yolks and chopped vegetables to go with the pancakes for breakfast, (sweet was always best complimented by savouries- and plus, life on a ship could be a tough bitch but there was no reason why it couldn't be a deliciously diverse tough bitch), when she noticed two of her crew-mates enter. 

"Hey. Good morning," she greeted with a smirk, recognising the two from the jailbreak. "Trake and Ken, isn't it? I doubt you've forgotten but just in case you did- I'm Mina." She nodded towards the pancakes. "Help yourselves to breakfast. How to you fellas like your eggs? Fancy an omlette?" 

Uta returned the bow and watched as Delphi moved on further down the ship. There was a slight air of aloofness about her but Uta was not one to interfere with one's personal troubles. He decided to take Delphi's advice and head to the galley but before he did, Uta looked up at the sky again. The sun shone beautifully in the sky and the cool wind blew through his face. Despite being about to head inside, Uta pulled his mask up from his neck to cover his nose and mouth. There did not seem to be a particular reason for having that mask except to make him seem more mysterious. The respirator built in to the mask seemed useless due to the fact that Uta could not swim due to his devil fruit and that the chance of a gas attack happening any time in the near future was slim to none.

With Delphi's back turned to him, Uta performed a silent salute to her and also waved at Wilfred who was at the helm. Uta headed to the galley to try and find Mina.

"GAAAAAAH!" Wolfgang yelled as he emerged from his bed, angry. "Ever since that godamn fight, my bed feels all wacky. I hate hate hate lumpy beds!" The cowboy in training shouted before he finally sighed, and moved over to his desk, pulling out the drawers that contained his clothes for the day.

Hawaiian shirt, black pants and black boots, Wolfgang grinned at his new attire before he placed on his holster set, checking the ammo count of each gun while he prepared for the day.

Next up on the daily menu, stretches. As he stretched and then began a light jog around his small room, he finally finished the last of his morning exercises. "This ship feels a lot smaller now." He muttered, as he thought on the new crewmembers that had began to traverse the halls of the 'Time Goes'.

Nonetheless, with his routine complete, Wolfgang left his room and began to head topside.

---

Books upon books upon books. A man, with a quite grizzly appearance, even his attire which consists of a torn grey vest which exposes a scar and a pair of torn jeans, show this fact. Still, the man sits at a desk, reading book upon book with a small notepad beside him.

He licks his fingers before turning each page, adjusting his reading glasses while he analyses each individual word.

"Sir?"

The man looks up, no sign of annoyance on his face. "Yes?"

"Did you find the discrepancy I pointed out earlier?"

"Not yet dear boy, but calm yourself. I did not hire you for your bookkeeping abilities so the fact that you even made this much progress is a surprise in itself."

The man's subordinate nods and leaves his boss be, as the man goes back to reading each book with a calm and calculating demeanour.

Trake grinned.
"I fancy four omelets if you can manage it!"
He pulled the back of his hand across his mouth to get rid of the saliva running out of his mouth. The smells that surrounded the galley filled his nostrils and he turned to noisily pull a chair from its place and sit on it. He looked around but the smell was so good he had to hit his head on the table a few times, only accomplishing a hurt head and an increasing in his appetite.

Victor

Victor was up and about. His sister had told him that he should probably stay in bed, but he had something he needed to do. It was something he always did after he had been rendered a service like this (admittedly it was something that had happened only once before in his life) and was one of the few times he ever willingly approached someone he did not know.

Victor was dressed once more in his clothes from the day before with the hood up over his face. To be honest, he wouldn't have worn these clothes again, had he been able to avoid it, since the light had burned holes in them, (thankfully none of the holes had been placed close to any private places) but Molly had not gotten their things off of the ship before leaving. All they had was her briefcase of tools. So Victor would have to make do with what he had until they reached the next island.

Victor caught sight of the person he was looking for and he walked in that person's direction. Although Molly had pretty much cut herself off from the world during the last day while she waited for her brother to wake up, she had still managed to catch the name of the person who had bandaged his wounds. That person was Delphi.

Victor had been afraid that finding her might be more difficult, but Molly had told him that she was the only woman with brown hair that she had seen on the ship. Not to mention, she was very quiet and shy, not that this had bothered Molly who would have probably threatened to tear out Delphi's tongue had she tried speaking to her during the last twenty-four hours.

Victor stopped behind Delphi, standing a good five feet away. He automatically kept his head down, hiding his face, even though she would have already seen it when she was bandaging up his wounds. Delphi looked like she had a lot on her mind, so Victor cleared his throat loudly in an attempt to not startle her too much, assuming she hadn't heard him already.

"Hello," Victor said. "I heard that you were the one who helped me. I just wanted to say...thank you for your assistance. I am in your debt."

Now satisfied that all had been accomplished, Victor turned from Delphi and started to walk away. His stomach grumbled and he decided that he should go find something to eat.

Molly

Molly wasn't trying to find her way into the galley. She really wasn't. In fact she had been trying to locate Kyren when her nose went, "Whoa! Are those pancakes?" Suddenly the captain became a moot point on Molly's agenda.

Molly poked her head around the corner and looked into the galley. There was Mina, cooking again. And there were two others in the room. At first she wondered what their names were, but she quickly forgot about that at the sight of the pancakes. Barely a second later she was dropping into a seat across from Trake and had already grabbed up a pancake and started to eat it plain. She let out a gasp of surprise and whipped around to grin broadly at Mina.

"This...is...heavenly!" Molly said. "Now, let's see here..."

She spotted a bottle of syrup nearby, snatched that up as well, and started pouring it across her pancake. She held her pancake flat and, somehow not spilling a drop, proceeded to eat it using only her hands.

Trake sat banging his head on the table until Molly seated herself across from him. Suddenly he shot up dead straight.
"They're...Done." He let words sink in to his head for a second or two, but the saliva sliding down the side of his mouth reminded him to actualy go get one first. He jumped up, knocking the chair to the floor. He bounced over another table and slammed into the solid kitchen table that held five omelets on a tray. He grabbed the tray and shouted his thanks to Mina before bounding over the table again, causing cutlery and wooden tankards to fall over his feet them.

He thumped into the floor, catching on of the omelets that dared to fall off the tray. He dropped the tray onto the table, quickly searched for the chair behind him with his left hand, not turning around. He realised it was on the floor, pulled it upright quickly and proceeded to the five omelets in a record speed before leaning back against the chair; mouth still watering as he stared to where the omelets had just been.

Mina grinned widely, going about chopping a few more onions for a few more omelettes. "Four?! Wow, I sure love folks who love to eat!"
She laughed heartily, placing the first two finished omelettes on a plate and on to the table. "And don't worry. I can manage. I'm used to dealing with buccaneers with huge appetites."
Mina cracked a new egg into the pan, delicately creating the perfect sunny-side up.
She beamed at Molly's reaction to her pancakes and winked in the spunky woman's direction. "You bet! Pancakes are one of my specialities...I'm glad you like them, Mol, honey. Want an omlette too?"
She couldn't help but laugh at Trake tripping over himself to horse down the meals that she'd prepared.

As she stared down at the water, Delphi felt her stomach tighten, suddenly feeling that it was probably rather rude of her to walk away from Uta so quickly. But then again, she didn't want to appear overly emotional in front of him either.
Delphi stared down at the water, far below, her mermaid genes silently tempting her to dive down there and her human genes rationally reminding her that there wouldn't really be any feasable way for her to get back up to the Time Goes once more.
She suddenly looked up, hearing someone speaking to her. Turning around, she saw that it was Victor.
They hadn't met personally before- his rather abrasive sister had made certain that she didn't spend too much extra time in his bedroom after treating his wounds- but like any doctor, she remembered him by his wounds...and his skin.
Delphi had read about albino complexions before and knew how rare they were. But while Victor's made him stand out, she certainly didn't find his extreme pallor "freakish" or odd.
If anything, she thought, in comparison to her own coarse, tea-coloured skin, it was rather unique. Part of her couldn't understand why he seemed so ashamed of it.
He was standing so far away from her too.
Delphi smiled faintly, trying to show him that she meant no harm and she took a step towards him. "That's fine and you're welcome...Victor." She shrugged. "Your sister told me your name whilst I treated you." She smiled. "I don't know if your sister told you but my own name is Beatrice Delfino...though, I prefer just "Delphi" if that's alright." Silently cursing herself for making such a pointless statement, she added. "I just like it when my patients know who's treating them. And you needn't feel so indebted to me. I was just doing my job. I'm glad I could help you though. You fought bravely, by the looks of it."
She bowed her head a little to him.

Molly

Molly was staring at Trake, her expression neutral. She had been watching him ever since he had wolfed down all of those omelets. Her eyes started narrow and she opened her mouth to speak, but then Mina spoke to her and she was distracted. She nodded at Mina's words and said, "Make it six omelets." She was putting as much emphasis on that number as she could.

While she was waiting for Mina to cook those, Molly started into the pancakes, eating three of them in such a rapid succession that she barely had time to add on the syrup. The whole time she was watching Trake, her eyes narrowing again.

Victor

Victor came to a halt as Delphi spoke. He didn't turn right away, but slowly his head came back around halfway. He wasn't looking straight at her, but seemed to be staring out of the ocean to his left. He was silent again, which wasn't unusual, of course. However, strangely enough, this time he actually wanted to say something and it was taking every fiber of his being not to just walk away like always. In fact, his heart was beating at about five hundred miles per hour right then.

"I..." Victor knew what he wanted to say, but it was still a struggle to force the words out. "...I guess I was just doing my job too. Bravery has nothing to do with it. My own life means noth..." He broke off and went silent again.

Victor wasn't sure what made him say what he had. Perhaps it was the fact that Delphi seemed a lot like him. She was hiding herself away in a corner of the ship instead of socializing with the crew. Or maybe it was because she had helped him out like she did. Talk was cheap and Victor had heard plenty of words in his life, but he had met very few people who tried to back them up. And even fewer did not bother with words. They just did what they thought was right. They were the special ones, like his sister and his mother. And now Delphi. Victor had a lot of respect for those kinds of people.

Yes, Victor decided, that was the reason he felt a little more comfortable speaking to her. But only a little.

A delicious scent reached Victor's nose and he breathed it in deeply. For the briefest moment a smile appeared on his face before he banished it.

"Breakfast," was all he had left to say to Delphi. For now. Then he walked away, following the smell.

Uta walked into the galley to find some of the crew already there. He took a seat next to Molly and took a look around.

"Good morning everyone; Trake, Molly, Mina."

He didn't like being awkward but could not find any words to begin a conversation with. Everyone was hungry and wanted to be fed.

Content with what was on the table already, Uta grabbed a few pancakes and placed them on his plate. Finding a fork and knife, he proceeded to eat them without syrup.

"Mina, I must complement you on this food. It tastes wonderful. Kyren has a good eye for people."

The last statement was spoken normally. Unbeknownst to Uta, Molly had been holding a bit of a grudge against the captain.

Trake ignored the man not from impoliteness but because he saw competition and sat forward, narrowing his eyes to match Molly.
"You should probably know that I could out-eat anyone at St. Columbus's and believe me, all of us had huge appetites."
He finished and sat back, putting an arm over the back of his chair.
"I bet I could finish another 6 of those omelets," he licked his lips and grinned evilly to Molly."When you start blowing chunks, take it outside will you?"
He put up is hand and called for another 6 omelets.

Wilfred saw Delphi arrive and said good morning to him he nodded to her and replied, "Good Morning Delphi I hope things are ok with you, seeing that you came back alone without Annachie I'm assuming things weren't patched up. I'm sorry for your loss."

He noticed Uta in the crows nest and saw him wave Wilfred waved back then looked back out towards the sea to see that now that the ship was no longer flying among the clouds and once again on the sea he could see that there was an island.

As far as he knew it was the island which Trake had requested to dropped off on and he turned the Time Goes slightly to the left heading for the island.
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[On the battlements of the Noelle family mansion]

The smartly dressed man listened to what the woman had to say and exhaled then stood up and turned to see Angelo disappear through the door leading to the stairwell. Angelo had more important things to be catering to and made his way down the stairs.

"Elizabeth, we've been through this many times, you know why I don't let you perform executions. I know your perfectly capable of doing so, but I much more prefer this form of execution, its quick enjoyable to watch and invokes one of the natural born fears into the hearts of the soon to be deceased." The man inhaled then exhaled again and continued. "You see people are born with 2 natural fears, loud noises, and falling. Every other fear a person has is learned and this one makes me feel. Human. Seeing my enemies burnt, slashed up, beaten to death suffocated and such is always nice, but." The man once again inhaled and exhaled then flicked the butt over the edge of the mansion. "Seeing my enemies fall to their death and hearing their screams frightens me. It makes me realise how, weak we all really are. I mean sure some of us are strong, in our abilities but this reminds me how, fragile the human form can be." The man looked Elizabeth in the eyes then continued.

"If you really wish to then yes you can perform the next execution, but who knows when we'll find someone else we need to dispose of." The man then walked the same route Angelo had and headed down the stairs to his office to work on some plans.

As he headed down stairs along corridors and finally arriving at his office he pushed the doors open to see his personal body guard and guard of his office was still here. the man smiled and said, "Its good to see your still here Serena. I knew hiring you as my own personal body guard and guardian of my office was the right choice. As the doors shut behind him the man placed a key in the door and locked them.
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[Aboard the Time Goes]

Knowing he was his own worst patient after his serious injuries he'd sustained and after being professionally patched up by Delphi the crews pacifistic doctor.

Delphi had bandaged up the wounds and told the captain of the Clockwork pirates exactly what he already knew that he wasn't to do anything to strenuous while his wounds healed. But he felt he needed to get stronger, couldn't let what happened at Lunakirk prison happen again. Memories from the prison played out in his head. He thought about meeting Mina, Molly and Victor then braving the prison, he remembered angering Molly and still felt worried about confronting her.
The pains in his shoulder ached as he remembered the events on level 3 and his encounter with Lieutenant Gin. Remembering how he beat him Warden Percy and Night Light he asked himself if it was all worth it?
Of course it was.

Leaving his room Kyren could smell Mina was already in the kitchen cooking, and see the next day had already begun. The sun shone down over his torso and warmed him right up. Unsure of how well his shoulder had healed up Kyren ran his hand over it feeling through the bandages, he couldn't feel much and knew it was best to leave it as it was for now.

When he had gotten back he had told Delphi to patch everyone else up first and him last as his crew's health were more important to him. Kyren had also wanted to do some exercise before Delphi patched him up. She must've had a late and tiring night and felt sorry for her. Whilst Kyren had been waiting to be patched up by Delphi he had been increasing his strength training himself to get stronger. Once he was patched up instead of sleeping he began reading through some of his old medical books he had bought before he formed the crew and looked through the ones he hadn't had the chance to.

Now it as early morning and his crew were all up but it seemed Cid wasn't back from his courier job yet, but he could look after himself. Kyren thought about his crew and remembered his list pinned to his medical closet, he had added Mina and Trake's goals to the list of his crew's goals and decided to head upstairs to the kitchen. On deck and now in view of Wilfred he smiled at Wilfred and waved at him.

"Good Morning Captain" called out Wilfred in a cheerful voice before he noticed something he felt he should inform Kyren of before he encountered Delphi.
"Morning Wilfred"
"Captain." Wilfred began pointing towards his own arm pit and Kyren looked at his bandages, he looked and saw under his arm pit there was much blood on it and closed his armpit tightly trying to hide it from Delphi. She had stopped the bleeding when she patched him up so if he was bleeding now it would be because he had torn open the wound again.
"Thanks Wilfred"

Seeing Victor and Delphi speaking he figured this would probably be a good time to head into the kitchen and get some breakfast which to him smelt fantastic, but he never expected anything less from the beautiful cook who had found him on the shore of Lunakirk. As Kyren entered the kitchen to see many of his crew sitting there he smiled, until he saw Molly.
He gulped not wanting her to attack or shout at him.

Hexi was sitting in the deck of the Time Goes with his guitar. The guitar's back was open and Hexi was manipulating the mechanism. Hexi turned it to record mode and pressed buttons to decide the sequence of dials that would be activated. After that Hexi closed the back and played a short song, opened the guitar again and pressed a button to mark the end of the song that activates a combination of dials.

he did these two times more, having added three new techniques to his weather controlling abilities with the power of music, thanks god his father had taught him how to do this stuff. His new techniques were a mist wall and two techniques that involved producing rainbows, he decided to start playing a song for everyone to enjoy.

Hexi stood up with his guitar and started to play a catchy tune for everyone. Also started doing something that he didnt do often: sing.

Mina grinned, delighted that an eating fight had broken out.
She always relished a challenge and this would certainly be just as much of a challenge for her- to get the food on the table in time to satisfy her crewmates' hearty appetites.
She started up on the next twelve servings of omelettes and she smiled over her shoulder to Uta, winking. "I know, right? Thanks though, Uta. I'm happy to be here, to be honest. A cook is nothing without people to serve."
She brought the next tray of omelettes to the table and looked to him. "Fancy one of these omelettes, yourself? They seem to be going fast. I'll have to buy more eggs when we get to shore...and some other basic ingredients...like wholesome meat. Maybe some bacon."

Mina lifted her hairband a little, to keep her hair back from her face, eyes and most importantly, the food, as she turned back to the stove.
She smirked to Kyren as he walked into the kitchen. "Good morning, Captain. What would you like for breakfast? I've got pancakes and omelettes already prepared but if you'd prefer something else, I could take a crack at that too..."
Somewhere on the ship, Mina heard the sound of music wafting through the walls of the ship and smiled softly.
---------------

"I'll see you later then," the half-mermaid responded quietly, though she wasn't sure whether she was being presumptuous in thinking that he'd even want to speak to her again.
Delphi watched as Victor retreated inside once more. A kind of sadness blossomed inside of her when he commented that his life meant nothing. As far as she was concerned, no one's life was completely worthless. Every single person, every single day made small choices that affected the lives of countless other people in the world...no one's life was worthless.
The was a curious, gentle stillness about the pale-skinned man that Delphi liked. Perhaps they could be friends? He certainly seemed much less abrasive than his sister.

Delphi looked to Wilfred over her shoulder when he greeted her, shaking her head with a small smile. "Thank you for your sympathy, Wilfred...but it's not really such a tragic story. I just woke up from being unconcious for a few hours, after healing him...I wanted to find the crew again, Annachie didn't want to return. He complained, I explained, we fought...and he left..."
She shrugged. "I keep telling myself that it was for the better."
Wilfred may have been a machine but he was easy to talk with and sometimes, she felt that he had more empathy than most humans.

Delphi gathered her hair back over her shoulder, feeling her stomach growl a little. "No," she told herself. "Training first. Breakfast later."
If she was truly to move on from depending on Annachie, she would need to learn how to defend herself in battle. The problem was, that despite having a dagger and pistol in her satchel, she barely had a clue how to effectively use either of them.
Venturing out to the the centre bow area, she started to do some stretches, knotting her blouse up beneath her bust and rolling up the sleeves to give herself some more room for movement.
Delphi greeted Hexi, hearing a skillfully sung melody. "Good morning, Hexi." Deciding that interupting his song would be rude, she decided not to pursue a conversation.

She smiled, listening to Hexi's music- it gave her something to rhythmise her stretching too and soon it became almost like a little dance, flexing and rolling her shoulder muscles, bending and straightening her legs.
Dancing.
Delphi smiled and closed her eyes. She remembered dancing with her old crewmate Marina, at various island festivals. Marina would always joke that for a half-mermaid, Delphi knew how to work her legs and that maybe all that time in the water had given her the grace of the waves.
Delphi disagreed. She just liked to dance.

It was only when she heard Wolfgang venture out topside that she realised that her eyes had been closed as she was stretching. Delphi straightened, mid lunge and looked over her shoulder to the gunslinger, flicking her hair out of her eyes. "Good morning, Wolfgang. Have you slept well?"

Wolfgang had just arrived top-side. He saw Hexi, a man who hadn't had a word with yet playing guita-

"Good morning, Wolfgang, have you slept well?" A voice that he couldn't quite connect to a face spoke to him.

"Oh, I'm doing fi-" He stopped, and turned, noticing it was in fact the Clockwork Mermaid who was addressing him. He frowned instantly, before falling on his knee with a loud thump, swinging his head back and slamming it down straight onto the wooden deck to complete his action, an extreme yet apologetic bow. "Ms. Delphi, last time...before we parted I said things that unfitting of a gentleman towards yourself. Now if you'd please find it in your heart to do it, forgive me and please don't hold this against me."

His hands clenched onto the floor and he didn't dare look up, he could only await her response.

Delphi's eyes widened and her lips parted a little, speechless.
She hadn't quite expected a reaction as...extreme as that to her rather casual morning greeting.
He was apologising to her?
Delphi coukd vaguely remember a rather harsh exchange of words ( and furniture) between he and Annachie before they were thrown from the ship and truth be told, she wasn't even sure what he had said to her that would merit an apology at all. Furthermore, since Annachie was no longer here and they were no longer a couple, she didn't consider herself responsible for seeking about apologies for those who had wronged him on his behalf.

Deciding to be tactful, however, Delphi let a delicate smile curve into her stunned pink lips and walked towards Wolfgang, beckoning for him to stand. "Please, Mr Wolfgang, that's not necessary," she informed him, gently. "You've done nothing to seriously offend me and anything that may weigh on your conscience is forgiven. I think it very gentlemanly of you to actually apologise to me, though. Thank you." She smiled a little wider and then raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"Ah, but is your forehead hurt after that slam to the deck? Would you like me to take a look at it?"

Molly smiled evilly at Trake. "St. Columbus's?" she repeated. "Never heard of it. I come from Water 7, a town famous for its shipwrights, and they have appetites there that would shock even a seaking. Some of those guys I worked with were as big as mountains, literally. Now, I would never dare to claim that I was the biggest eater there at Water 7, but while I was there, I would eat more than guys three times my size in height and weight. So bring it on, kid."

As soon as Mina set more omelets on the table, Molly began snatching them up and loading her plate. However, she froze a moment later when Mina said good morning to the captain, who had apparently just entered the room without Molly noticing.

The young shipwright looked back over her shoulder. Yep, that was the captain alright. She pushed her chair back and stood up, turning to face him. She looked serious. Very serious.

"Captain," said Molly. "I would like to speak to you for a moment in private." She waved her hand in the direction of the door that Kyren had just entered through.

Seeing his crew happily eating aboard the ship and hearing a nice tune Kyren tried to figure who it was and listened closely to the voice, he may not have spoken with Hexi much but he knew enough to figure out it was his voice. He was a talented musician thought Kyren, perhaps him and Uta could make a crew theme song. he pushed the thoughts aside as Mina said morning to him.

"M-morning everybody" Kyren called out as he now knew his appearance would now be acknowledged by everyone.

Kyren froze noticing Molly look up towards him he felt shivers don his spine and remembered what happened last time he tried to convince someone to join his crew. He had been punched in the face and it had been a hard punch too. He didn't want to get hit again but knew that one was most likely coming his way. As Molly said she would like to speak privately Kyren gulped and nodded, then coughed trying to put on a brave face even though he was terrified or Molly right now due to seeing her break her hammer by just simply crushing it.

"Of course M-M-Molly, we can talk in my office if you want." Kyren walked back out the door and saw Dlephi talking to Wolfgang he also noticed Victor walking into the kitchen and nodded to him.
"Morning" he then turned to look at Wolfgang who was kneeling before Delphi he didn't understand what he was doing but smiled at them, "Morning Delphi, Morning Wolfgang."

As Kyren knew what could be coming his way was an angry woman's fist he was trying to stall for time, no one liked getting hit and if he was going to get hit he would try and put it off as long as he could manage, but if it was something he knew he probably deserved then he would take it like a man no matter how much it would hurt him.

Wilfred could see Kyren looked worried and thought it must be something awful to get him so worried, as he watched him say good morning to Wolfgang and Delphi he started to realise it looked like he was trying to put something off, but what?

He didn't know and wasn't too bothered to find out until he really needed to do so, happy with things as they were until things got worse Wilfred continued steering towards the closely approaching island which Trake had asked to be dropped off on. Wilfred saw Wolfgang apologising to Delphi and shook his head.
The silly fool, Wilfred found it funny observing humans not that he was no longer one he had always tried to be the perfect person but failed but now that he was a cyborg and had most of his humanly needs removed he found it much easier to be the person everyone got on with. He wasn't perverted or out spoken, simply a gentleman with knowledge of clockwork mechanisms.

Wilfred reached into his satchel which hung from his body and removed a golden fob watch he'd had back when he was human and observed the time. He watched as the hands slowly moved then closed the watch up and remembering his days when he was once a human.