It's Monday! We've got a little bit of a filler chapter this week - sort of a pause before we get back into the action. Of course, the movie handles this next part the same way, so it's probably not too big a surprise... more details after the chapter.

BTW, this is our first look at Gray's PoV!

- K. Chandler

"That's not possible," said Lucy, her eyes growing adorably round. "You can't be Silver. You've only been gone for three years. Silver's been around for much longer than that. He's the one that sank the Juliet. That couldn't have been you."

Gray couldn't help but grin. "See, that's the thing," he said.

"What's the thing?"

"The Juliet did encounter the Absolute Zero. And after he had taken us onboard, Silver did sink the Juliet. So, you got that part right."

"Took you onboard? How is that possible? Silver takes no survivors," interrupted Lucy.

"And how do you know that?" asked Gray.

"Everybody knows that," said Lucy. "That's what all the stories say, at least."

"That's all they are. Stories," said Gray, waving for emphasis.

"And they're pretty clear. Silver takes no survivors."

"And who's been telling these stories?" asked Gray. "Surely not the people he's killed!"

Lucy frowned. She hadn't thought about that.

"What happened after he took you aboard?" she asked.

"What I told you earlier, about me telling him about you? That part was true," admitted Gray with a lopsided grin. "Since I said I'd do anything, he said he needed a cabin boy. 'It's worth a try, though I probably won't like it. I'll probably kill you tomorrow,' was what he said. During the day, I'd scrub the decks, and mend sails, and help out in the kitchen. Then at night, he'd say, 'Good work, Gray. I'll probably kill you tomorrow.' Just like that."

"Pleasant man," said Lucy, wrinkling her nose.

"It freaked me out pretty good the first time he did it," admitted Gray. "I kept my head down, worked hard, and tried not to draw too much attention to myself. I was happy just to have survived. But after a while, I got used to it. 'Good work, Gray. I'll probably kill you tomorrow.' Every single day. Pretty great, huh?"

"You get excited over the weirdest things," said Lucy, shaking her head.

"But it was exciting," said Gray. "I got to learn all sorts of cool stuff. Sailing and sword fighting. Navigating. How to fire a canon! Silver started taking me under his wing."

"I don't know he's the sort of person I'd want as a mentor," commented Lucy.

"Nah, he's not so bad. A little gruff, but a good guy."

Even now, he wasn't sure why Silver had taken him in and started his magic education. Maybe he'd felt sorry for Gray. Maybe he'd seen a little of himself in him.

"Remember I said I was looking for a new medium?" said Gray. "Well, I found it. Let me see that locket of yours."

Lucy held out the wooden pendant. "Don't break it," she warned him. "I've kept it safe this whole time."

"I won't, I won't." Gray pressed his hands together, his fingers flying like lightning. "There." He gave a satisfied nod. "The key to my heart," he said, grinning.

"That's…" Lucy's eyes lit up as she saw the little key-shaped charm he had added next to the wooden heart. She tapped it with a finger, expression morphing into one of awe when she realized how cold it was.

"Ice," said Gray with a nod. He tried not to show how proud he felt.

"Will it melt?" asked Lucy.

"If you really tried, I'm sure it would," shrugged Gray. "But it's enchanted, so under normal circumstances, it shouldn't."

"That's incredible," said Lucy.

"Silver taught me that. Every morning would start with Silver molding something out of ice. He'd be really obvious about it, see? He wouldn't tell me to watch or anything, he would just do it. Then every night, before bed, he'd say 'Now show me that spell again.' I'd mold the same thing he had that morning. And he'd say, 'Hmph! That's passable.'"

"Every day?" asked Lucy.

"Without fail," said Gray, grinning fondly.

"I swear, this guy sounds like a nutjob," complained Lucy.

"Nah, he wasn't that bad! I actually started looking forward to our challenges. We started with small stuff, like cups and silverware. Eventually, I could even do working canons and the infamous ice sails of the Absolute Zero."

"Can you make anything out of ice?" asked Lucy.

"Just about," said Gray. "I prefer tools and weapons, just because they're useful. But if you want, I could even make you an entire ice castle, Milady."

"You could?" she asked. Then her face fell, her expression growing somber. "I mean, let's hold off on castles for now. That doesn't explain how you got to be Silver," said Lucy.

"Simple," said Gray. "The last guy retired."

"Retired?"

"So, one day, Silver calls me to his cabin. This was completely out of the blue, so I was terrified. I wondered if he was really going to kill me this time. But instead, he dropped it on me," said Gray, letting the sentence hang in the air.

"Dropped what?" asked Lucy.

"This is the best part," said Gray. "He said, 'Gray, I'm thinking of retiring.' And that was when he shared the secret with me: 'I'm not the real Silver.'"

"Then who was he?"

"His real name was Shiruba. He used to be a demon slayer, but he took to the seas after losing his wife and son."

"What happened to them?" asked Lucy.

"They died when their village was attacked by a demon. He had been on a demon hunt somewhere else, so he wasn't around to protect them. Blamed himself. I don't think he ever really got over it, poor guy."

"That's so sad," said Lucy.

"Turns out, the sea's a good place to deal with grief," said Gray. "Actually, he told me that I reminded him a little bit of his son. Kid would have been my age if he had lived. Weird, huh?"

"Do you think that's why he started teaching you?" asked Lucy.

"Maybe," said Gray. "I mean, it makes sense, right? Between losing his true love himself and having a son that would have looked like me. I'd imagine he'd be sympathetic. Anyways, he said, 'I'm not the real Silver.'"

"Then who was he?"

"I'm getting there. I was pretty confused too. Until he said: 'I became Silver when the last Silver retired. He gave the Absolute Zero to me, just like I'm about to give it to you.'"

"The last Silver?" asked Lucy. "But I thought you said Shiruba was the last Silver."

"Nope. Shiruba wasn't the real Silver either," said Gray. "He was Silver before me, but he inherited it from some guy called Velveno when he quit pirating. Don't know why he retired. Shiruba wasn't really sure. He thinks Velveno retired to spend time with some girl. Aceto, or something."

"Countess Aceto? As in the late Count Balsamico's daughter?"

"I don't know. Maybe," said Gray.

"It's not a common name," said Lucy. "It has to be the same person. They said she eloped with a thief."

"Thief. Pirate. Same difference," shrugged Gray.

"So, who was the first Silver?" asked Lucy. "I mean the original one."

"No one knows," said Gray. "Some people say that he was actually a she. I mean, Eve is a girl's name, after all. But, again, not really sure if he/she/it was actually the first Silver or if they inherited the name from somebody else."

"That's… really confusing," said Lucy.

"Definitely," said Gray. "But you get it right? See, it's not about the person doing the pirating. It's the name that everyone's afraid of. Nobody in their right mind would surrender to Captain Gray. I mean, what is Gray? That's a color. But Captain Silver, I mean that's a real pirate name."

"Silver's a color too, you know," Lucy pointed out.

"Yeah, but Silver sounds pirate-y and intimidating, y'know?" said Gray. "Anyways, we made port and dismissed the entire crew. Then we hired a brand-new crew. Shiruba stayed on as my first mate, helping me keep the illusion that I was the real Silver. First, original, un-dead from the dawn of time. And after everyone was bought in, and they believed this, and I had everything under control, I killed him."

"You what?!" squeaked Lucy.

"No, no, I didn't really kill him," explained Gray. "I let him retire. But he couldn't just disappear in the night. Not without an explanation. First mate's a pretty visible position, see? Faking his death was the most plausible option. So, I 'executed' him. Captain Silver remained the most fearsome and bloodthirsty pirate to sail the seas. Take no prisoners and all that, except for when we did, of course. And the rest is history."

Lucy gave a polite nod, looking slightly confused. But it didn't matter. That was then, and this was now. Now, they had the future to think of. And Gray wasn't sure that future involved piracy as the fearsome Captain Silver.

So, here's a little behind the scenes for you guys. My original plan was to do a flashback and show Gray aboard the Absolute Zero. I love pirates! But I really wanted to have more Gray and Lucy interactions (gotta make up for lost time), so I ended up doing it as a conversation.

Other fun fact, the last Captain Silver's name, 'Shiruba' is actually the romanization of Gray's father's name (without the diacritical vowel-stress markings), as given by the FT wiki. My head canon is that the previous Captain Silver is actually Gray's dad and neither really knows.

We're just over a third of the way through this fic, and we're going to start to see me take a few more liberties and put my own spin on the Princess Bride's plot, starting next week.

Next time, in As You Wish, Gray and Lucy's resolve is tested in the Changeling Swamp: "Yeah, but… Okay, if you're so smart. Why do you think it happened? How did this place get to be called the Changeling Swamp?" she challenged.

Stop back next Monday for the next installment, or just follow me, Karine of R011ingThunder.