"Ah! Tis a fine day for sailing indeed!" Captain Maggot declared as she stood on the bow of her mighty pirate ship, overlooking the vast and endless ocean and seeing nothing but pure indigo in all directions for as far as the spyglass could see. There was nothing she loved more than days like this: warm and sunny, with her and the people she loved out on a pirate ship, sailing all the seven seas, nothing but indigo all around.
"Oh, Maggots, do be careful!" a voice from the poop deck fretted as the tiny, orange-haired pirate continued to balance on the ship's narrow edge. It was Contessa, Maggots' wife. Ok, so maybe there was one thing she loved more than the sea and her ship. But to have them all together meant that Maggots was in paradise, surrounded by three of her favorite women: her ship, the sea and her wife.
"Don't ye worry, Tessie, dear!" Maggots cried bravely, throwing out her chest as she continued to balance on the ship's bow. "I'm a pirate captain, remember? I got this all under control and ain't nothing gonna stop me!"
"Are you so sure about that?" a new voice interrupted, low and thick with amusement. It was Captain Jolie Rogue. The surprise at being addressed gave Maggots such a shock that she yelped in surprise, tumbling backward back into the ship.
"Shiver me timbers!" she yelped as she fell backward.
"Oh, Lord!" Contessa bolted forward to catch Maggots, grabbing her tightly and pulling her further back into the ship.
"Let go of me, woman! I said I'd be fine!" Maggots protested as Contessa dragged her away from any of the ship's sides.
"Well, you are now," the deep voice continued to tease the orange-haired pirate. "Now that you've got someone sensible looking after you, you'll be fine," she continued to jibe, throwing a respectful and fond look at Contessa, who was still fretting over the tumble her wife nearly took.
"Ah, batten down yer hatches, Jolie," the orange-haired pirate grumbled good-naturedly as Contessa helped her back to her feet.
"Avast ye, First Mate Maggots, but I don't believe that that is any proper way to address your captain," Jolie Rogue pretended to give Maggots a warning look. It was only halfhearted at best, not even remotely intimidating, but it did the trick and Maggots was instantly standing straight up, stiff as a board as she saluted her true captain in perfect obedience.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" she cried nervously, leaving the other two women to only laugh at her.
In the Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, a slew of clubs, groups and organizations had been formed. The biggest and most official was known as the Striped Stocking Society (so named because every girl in it received a striped stocking as an ID badge of sorts), but among others, there was a little pirate crew. Technically, Jolie Rogue was the captain, both leader and creator, but Maggots was such a devoted and lively, charismatic follower that she led the crew whenever Jolie didn't feel like it. In short, if Jolie was the head of the operation, Maggots was the mouth.
Everyone who knew Maggots liked her to some degree. Even though her weirdness and overzealous nature could annoy some, it really was refreshing to see in such a dark and dismal place as the asylum. And even those who found Maggots' liveliness to be over the top could at least drag up some respect that she had somehow managed to keep her spirit while locked away in the literal hellhole they used to call a home before they managed to take and change it into the safe haven it was always supposed to have been.
As such, even though the entire asylum respected, revered and fear Jolie Rogue as their true captain, because she often preferred to be alone or work from the shadows or to just not interact with people unless it was absolutely necessary, Maggots became everyone's go-to pirate. She was much more open and approachable than the stoic and fearsome Jolie. So Maggots was the unofficial (but unanimously-agreed upon) first mate of the pirate crew, though she did like to indulge in the title of "captain" every once in a while, and Jolie let her, not one to get unhealthily fixated upon proper names and titles for all of her crew. As far as she was concerned, they were all her girls, wives and sisters both. She was their captain only because she was one of the oldest girls in the asylum (both in terms of age and duration of incarceration) and not because she was somehow better than them. It was why she allowed Maggots to use the title "captain", though ever once in a while, a flash of playfulness would take over Jolie and she would demand her title back. Maggots always gave it to her immediately, shaking in awe and fear whenever the true captain was near.
"That's better," Jolie continued to smirk while Maggots remained at attention. Jolie shook her head with a smile before waving a hand.
"Why don't you go scout the crow's nest?" the captain suggested, bidding Maggots to be at ease. "Keep an eye out for booty..." she winked at Contessa as she said this, but while Contessa gave her a sheepish grin, Maggots looked delighted at the idea, the innuendo flying over her head.
"Aye, aye!" Maggots repeated, saluting again, then she turned to Contessa and before the woman even had time to blink, Maggots had grabbed her hand and started to drag her towards the ship's mighty mast. Contessa made a small noise of surprise but Maggots continued to drag her along like an overly-excited child. Captain Jolie Rogue watched them go with a gentle smile.
Once up in the crow's nest, Maggots had gone hushed with excitement and wonder again.
"Look at that, Contessa! Isn't it all just so beautiful!?" she sighed as she peered out at the vast and endless indigo. The salty sea air blew all around them. It was Maggots' favorite smell (alongside tea, rum, and her wife... especially after they managed to find some good booty).
"I've never seen anything lovelier," the older, taller woman agreed with her feisty, fiery little wife. She wrapped her arms around the first mate's waist and rested her chin upon flaming locks of orange as they continued to sail along.
"There ain't nothing I love more than a high sea and an even higher sail!" the first mate continued to grin proudly as their ship's large flag billowed in the breeze behind them. It was a large black and white striped cloth with a crude drawing of a rat, a teacup and a pair of striped stockings on it. Every girl wore that banner with pride. And the term "flag" was especially meaningful to them all since it had also since become an acronym for them (Fight Like A Girl).
"We could just stay up here forever, couldn't we? Just you, me, and the indigo sea..." Contessa agreed dreamily as she began to sway to the beat of the indigo waves, gently rocking Maggots back and forth in her arms.
"As long as it was with you, lass, I'd stay anywhere!" Maggots replied with a grin as she hugged Contessa's arms.
"Even Davy Jones' locker?" Contessa teased, but Maggots gave her a very firm nod.
"A pirate's loyalty to her crew is a very fearsome thing, Contessa," she said and Contessa kissed her hair.
"I know, love," she said. "I know..." and she did.
Contessa and Captain/First Mate Maggots ended up unintentionally keeping their promise, both of them managing to somehow fall asleep in the crow's nest as the sky went from turquoise to indigo. And right at that time, as the stars began to shine and the sun began to fall, a soft and haunting voice from down below began to sing, lulling them deeper and deeper into the indigo depths of the sea, the sky and their dreams.
Lift the anchor, raise the sail. Draw your sword and do not fail. Sight be sharp and aim be true, Captain's blade knows what to do...
Through the salty sea air that blows, up she rises, down she goes. Sailing to some place that nobody knows, singing up she'll rise till the morning...
And even though Maggots and Contessa were asleep (only Jolie awake now, keeping watch below), they were soaring high and fast over the endless indigo sea, together, to some place that only they knew.
AN: For any Asylum fans, you know that Jolie, and Maggots and Contessa, exist in different canons, but in this story, they're all part of the same world. And this is sort of an AU sequel to the books, this sailing trip happening after the Asylum has been won.