It was dark. That was all he knew as he squinted, the pain in his body noticeable through his sleepy haze as he awoke from his sleep. He felt his head sway dangerously and tried desperately to stop the motion by clutching his head. His arms had a dull ache in them and he slowly curled his fingers, feeling the blood rush back into them. His back was the worse though. Why was he in so much pain?

All of a sudden, the memories rushed back to him making him gasp. The fire, the screams, Marcelo, the flying bricks, the cannon balls, the two men! It was all coming back to him and Lovino wished they hadn't. Tears filled his eyes at the memories of the dreadful night and a soft sob escaped him.

He sat up slowly, his back and muscles protesting the action. Slowly taking in his surroundings, he noticed the hammocks, just like the one he was in, hung all around the small room, all unoccupied. Supplies, half eaten food and dirty clothes scattered the floor and Lovino scrunched up his nose at the rotten smell of... "Onions?"

"Ha! Not quite. Just Heracles' dirty clothes. That man does nothing but sleep and be annoying. Honestly he's a good for nothing little -." The man rambled on about this faceless man named Heracles, leaving a very confused Lovino to wonder, just what was happening and who was this guy?

The man had apparently stopped his ramble and walked up to Lovino. His huge figure intimidating. Lovino shied away into his hammock but the man just laughed. "What you think cause imma pirate that imma hurt you? Please, I only hurt people that need to be hurt. I'm here to make sure you don't jump overboard. The captain likes to meet all newcomers face to face. Now let's get you washed up." The man walked away to the other end of the small room to a wash bin. Lovino eyed the man curiously, noticing his muscular frame, short, choppy brown hair and the facial hair on his chin. Lovino, after a moments thought, slipped out of the hammock and shuffled to the man, the pain in his back worse and his headache growing. Small, circular windows on the walls opened up to the salty air of the vast ocean and the panic inside Lovino grew. He froze next to a window, looking out at the vastness knowing he was probably never going to see Feli ever again. He left him alone at their small hut in the outskirts of town. He was either left alone and wondering where his brother went or he was taken by pirates too.

"Oh. If ya'd woken up earlier you would'a gotten the chance to leave if you really wanted to but you were unconscious." The man said, noticing Lovino staring out of the small window. Lovino turned sharply at the other man despite the pain it caused, anger bubbling in his chest and rippling throughout his entire being. "You're saying that I missed my ONLY chance to go home because no one bothered to wake me up?! That's fucking insane! How the fuck am I supposed to get home now? If you guys would have never come into our harbor, I wouldn't be in this mess and my brother wouldn't be alone and Marcelo's mother wouldn't be dead and I wouldn't be sitting here listening to you tell me that my whole life is ruined! Taken from me just like that!" By the end of his rant, Lovino realized he was screaming at the top of his lungs making his throat scratchy. But that didn't matter. It was only one more thing to add to his growing list of problems. He didn't realize it but he had also been full out crying, the tears running down his face like waterfalls.

The man looked shocked at his outburst and even a bit guilty as he sat with his mouth forming a perfect circle and his eyebrows raised high.

"I-I just... want to go home." Lovino looked to the ground dejectedly, tears still falling freely down his face. The other man walked up to him then, placing warm hands on his shoulders and guiding him to the wash bin. Lovino robotically began to undress, his thoughts only on his little brother and not on the pirate that eyed his thin but muscular frame from behind. Lovino slipped into the warm water, dunking his head under, partly to clean his hair and partly to disappear. Under the water, sounds of the other men working on the ship vanished and even his own thoughts seemed to muffle into the background. He stayed under until his body demanded air, and he slipped out from under the serene comfort the water provided.

The job of bathing Lovino was done in silence, neither man saying a word, Lovino because of his despair and the other man because of guilt. Once Lovino's skin was washed of the grime from the day before, he stood slowly, still in a haze. He could feel the water droplets fall down his skin and it comforted him. That was until the cold of the air surprised him. Lovino hissed at the sudden chill and got dressed. A cough sounded from behind him and he turned as he worked at the buttons on his shirt. The other man was looking away and his cheeks were peppered pink.

Once Lovino was done the man straightened up. "What was your name again?" Lovino asked, wanting to talk to the stranger about something, anything to get his mind off his brother. "Oh yeah! I am called Sadik Adnan." Lovino noticed as he stated his name the foreign accent that glided off his tongue. "Where are you from?" Lovino asked.

"Here." Sadik turned and walked to a set of shaky stairs and climbed them, Lovino trailing behind. "You were born on the ship?" Lovino asked, slightly shocked.

"Everyone here has. Even you."

"No I was born-"

"Look kid. It doesn't matter where you started breathing. That doesn't matter. This ship is your new home and that means your new life begins here. You are born here and you will die here. There is no going back. We are your family."

"My brother is my family you bastard!" Lovino stopped on the stairs, his hands clutched at his sides and shaking with his overwhelming emotions. "And you took him away from me. I was born in Italy and I will find my way back home someday. I will find my brother. I will start a family and I will die. Not on this filthy boat, not with you disgusting pirates and definitely not as a captured man. You cannot keep me here. I will be free! I can promise you this!"

Sadik looked over his shoulder with something unreadable in his eyes and without a word continued up the steps. Lovino stood there thinking over what he just said. Every word was a secret promise to not only Sadik but to himself. He needed to get off of the boat. If not for himself, then for Feli.

Lovino emerged out from the stairs and into the harsh, blinding sunlight above. The main deck was cluttered with carts of supplies and sleeping men. One fat man lay on the floor to Lovino's right with a bottle of whiskey cradled in his arm, drool dripping out of his rotten mouth. Lovino scrunched up his nose in disgust and moved away from the smelly man, only to run into the back of Sadik. "Oof! What're you stopping fo-" Lovino stopped mid sentence when he took in Sadik's stiff form and the silence of the boat in general. When they were in the supplies and storage room below, Lovino heard the laugh of men and the sound of boots and supplies banging above. Now there was nothing but the sound of breathing.

Lovino slowly poked his head around Sadik's large wall of a body. He noticed that the Pirates that were awake were stood similarly to Sadik, stiff and staring straight ahead to a set of elegant stairs that winded upwards to a higher deck. Walking down this set of stairs were two familiar men. One was the blond from the other night and the other was Gilbert. Lovino froze. Fear and anger swelled again within him. There was no sense in being mad at Sadik for what these two men did to him. And who knows what happened to Marcelo. These men were why his life changed. They caused it!

They walked casually and stopped at the bottom of the stairs, each stepping away from the other to stand leisurely on either side of the steps, much like guards would to a king. From the top of the staircase, another man, this one not familiar, stood. He had a large brimmed hat with a giant red feather protruding from the top and a billowing cape hanging from his shoulder cuffs. He walked down, his aura giving off a sense of power and control over the others. When he got to the bottom, Lovino noticed his sun kissed skin that gleamed in the sunlight and his dark, chocolate hair that fell in loose waves around his face. "Today we say goodbye to a valued family member." He said loud and clear, standing tall with his eyes seemingly void of all emotions. "Marcus was introduced into this world as a fighter. Eventually, he grew to love his family and his family grew to love him. Being with us for more than twenty years, he became someone we all look up to and confide in. However now we must let him go. We must lay him down in the endless grave of the sea and pray that she looks after our Marcus. We must pray that she takes care of him and makes him happy." Through the crowd, a body covered in blankets was carried. The body was handed to Lovino but he couldn't bring himself to do it. 'What is going on?' Lovino thought to himself. Sadik reached over him and took the body, handing it to the next person and so on. The body was thrown over the side of the boat and the crowd bowed their heads. "May he be happy where he lay and may he guide us on our journey." The man with the large hat said. And with that the crowd dispersed, everyone going back to work and the chatter picking back up. Sadik grabbed hold of Lovino's shoulder and dragged him forward.

"Hey what're you-!"

"Captain. He's awake. Meet uh..." Sadik said stopping in front of the curly haired man who was apparently captain of the whole ship. Sadik hastily glanced at Lovino and he was tempted to let the man suffer in embarrassment. However, he wouldn't want to make a bad impression on the captain. Maybe he could convince him to take him home?

"I'm Lovino. Lovino Vargas." The man took off his huge hat and set it aside, turning to Lovino. The man couldn't be any older than himself and his eyes were a bright green orb with a certain light to them that Lovino couldn't place. With a big smile, the captain said, "Nice to meet you Lovino! Welcome aboard the famous Elizabeta!" Weren't captains supposed to be mean and scary? This captain seems nice and young and too cheery.

"You're the captain?" Lovino said, accidentally thinking aloud. The man laughed heartily, his smile blinding.

"Sorry I mean- uh..."

"It's fine Lovi! I actually get that a lot. You see my father recently passed and so I inherited the position of captain. However before you go thinking I'm new at this, I've been captaining this ship for two years now and we're more successful then ever before."

"Don't go and pat yourself on the back or anything." Lovino mumbled to himself. The other hearing him loud and clear.

"I don't mean to applaud myself or anything, I just want you to know that you're in good hands."

"Right because taking me from my home and my family and everyone I ever knew was a brilliant decision Captain. I feel completely safe in your care." Sarcasm dripped off of his words and burned the atmosphere like acid, causing a few pirates to look bewildered at him as he talked to the Captain in such a way. He honestly hadn't meant to say this and certainly not so harshly to a captain!

But he just laughed loudly, his eyes crinkling up in the corners. "At least I got to you before the other ships did, right? And I treat my crew members right and fair, unlike others." Lovino knew that the Captain was talking about some rival pirate ships but didn't really care.

"Besides we don't make you stay."

"Lovino looked up hopefully into the man's eyes.

"You mean... I can go home?"

"Well this is your home now but after a year of sailing around the world, visiting other countries, and meeting new people if you still want to go, we won't stop you."

Lovino was filled with unspeakable joy. Just a year with these men and it will all be over. Just one year and he'll come back to Feli. Happy tears filled his eyes and he looked away. He struggled with the emotions swirling through him and couldn't form a proper thank you for the man.

A small smile adorned his face anyways and with a slight bow, the captain walked away, trailed by the other two officers.

He could spend a whole year with these people right?

Right?