Cassandra stood up straight and ran her gore-covered hand through her hair. The soldier's eyes begged for clemency, but she wasn't in the habit of sparing people who tried to kill her and her crew. She swung Haruspex around and blasted his brains across the pavement. She looked around at the carnage she had single-handedly wrought as she absentmindedly punched her jaw back in place. Bodies littered the street, most of them missing something. She flicked her hands a few times in a perfunctory effort to get viscera off her gloves, leaving with a thick coating of blood.

She glanced up as Cain landed beside her, bloody and bruised. "I should flog you for abandoning me."

Cain gave a pointed cough. "I believed you needed time alone to release your anger before we got back to Dusk Pandion ."

"I do feel better," she acknowledged. "Switch with Morgan so I can get somewhat clean. The last thing I want is Lyn seeing me like this."

He nodded understandingly and leapt away. Cassandra had barely turned the corner when she was engulfed in a torrent of water. After the deluge abated, she checked to make sure her hat's string was still around her neck and Haruspex still secure. She was looking herself over using the reflection on a knife blade as a mirror when Morgan touched down. "You know, Logias can withstand normal attacks without being horrifically mutilated," he commented as he pulled the broken end of the lance vertically jutting from her shoulder.

"Tell me about it." What she had thought was a tooth was revealed to be a piece of shrapnel as the actual tooth grew and dislodged it from her gum line, and she spat it out. "If I don't at least get to heal from Haki-enhanced wounds, I'm adding the Sea Devil to my shit list."

"Plus, their clothing stays intact."

Cassandra glanced down at her shredded shirt and pantless leg. "I wore this knowing it'd probably be trashed, and I actually don't think that ability is beyond me. I'm pretty sure that's something I can work on. Not sure how."

"I can't imagine what somebody more embarrassed by their body would do if they lost clothing like you do."

She laughed. "Most people wouldn't abuse my Fruit like I do. Considering how I feel pain during a fight just as much as anybody, how many people would continually forgo blocking to deliver hits nobody expects?"

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Here." She knocked her hand against his chest so he'd stop and scanned her surroundings for a suitable weapon. She boosted a discarded sword into her hand with her foot and tossed it over to Morgan. "Hit me. I'll deflect it the first time, then show you by letting it through the second."

She drew a dagger and raised it in a defensive position. After making sure she was ready, he lunged forward and slashed. Just as her dagger was about to block the sword, she switched it to her other hand and thrust. Although her clavicle snapped beneath his blade, he left the weapon stuck in her and staggered backwards, clutching his throat.

"See, even though you suspected I'd lie, you instinctively thought I'd actually block. Of course, I had to adjust my blow because you anticipated I'd attack. You wouldn't truly appreciate the demonstration otherwise."

He glared at her and massaged his neck. "I cannot begin to fully express my gratitude for deigning to impart your wisdom upon me. I take it this is another lesson regarding my admittedly rigid thinking during combat?"

"Not really," she said as he lifted her in viny arms and started taking extremely long steps. "What I do is a little unique. Unlike other people who don't need to block attacks, my body doesn't dissolve into sand or become diamond. I get hurt just like any regular person. Weapons get stuck in me, I stagger, I bleed. However, I can keep moving no matter how grotesque I look. That's much more psychologically damaging than me reforming gracefully via water."

Morgan contemplated this. "I understand. I would definitely feel more disturbed if you approached me looking like your bounty poster than Meason did when he absorbed Raven's attacks. That's why the Harpys were so afraid of you after your first encounter."

"Okay, I in no way wanted it to go that far. I thought I'd just be shot and slashed, not tossed into Damien's flaming vortex of fury. His fires were so much worse than any other time I fought him. I have no idea how Jumbo didn't suffer like I did. I continued to burn even when Miserie was taking me back."

"Which was a consequence of imprisoning him. It was the right decision, but trapping him with no form of relief probably amplified his rage."

She smiled. "Probably. It was definitely worth it though. Killing the Harpys was nice, but the best part is how chill Damien's been since then. It's only a matter of time before he regains his usual desire to fight the entire world at the same time, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy this period of relaxation."

Morgan's genuine laugh was always a treat. "Can't argue with that! It's nice not feeling like a bomb strapped to my chest might explode at any minute!"

"Uh-huh. Now all you need is to join the rest of us in treating him like a touchy human being who, unless pushed past his limit by outside forces, won't really hurt any of us instead of an entity with the sole purpose of very suddenly and without warning destroying everything around it, and you won't ever feel that anxious again!"

"'A touchy human being'? You all act as if he were a force of nature unable to be changed. You practically roll a red carpet out in front of him as he walks and cater to his every whim!"

She thumped his chest. "It's not catering to him. He's my nakama. I make him happy because that makes me happy, and that includes accommodating him when necessary. Why are you still on this? I know you've gotten closer since we killed the Harpys."

"Enjoying a temporary respite from his usual behavior does not mean we are suddenly close friends. It was all his fault that we got into the situation with the Harpys in the first place. He nearly killed you, and since I have actually accepted you as my captain, I would really rather not have that happen."

"Okay, first, thank you for finally acknowledging how awesome I am. Second, as much as I like to irritate Alexander by saying it was all Damien's fault, he was just as guilty of instigating that whole deal. Hells, if it weren't for Damien, Alexander might have gotten himself killed attacking them on his own. He gets as dumb as Damien when the Warlords are involved and is not much smarter when it comes to the Marines or World Government. You don't know how many times I've had to convince him to put aside his stubbornness and pride to avoid walking directly into unfavorable situations." She laughed. "It's actually pretty annoying since he's so sensible otherwise."

"Which isn't a problem because you derive much of your entertainment from the hardships that people you love put you through."

"Now you've got it."

When they caught up to Cain, Morgan formed a metal elemental that wrapped its limbs around Cain's neck and waist and its hands around his head. After everyone confirmed they were secure, Cain began running directly towards Doell Bay, smashing through everything in his path. He continued to accelerate, his movement completely unimpeded as Morgan's makeshift helmet protected his face. Having only been quickly transported by Cain's long jumps, Cassandra admitted that this method was much more comfortable. She appreciated the lack of unsettling rapid changing of directions as he landed and jumped, and she barely felt the shocks from whatever he bulled straight through.

She smelled the battlefield before Cain slowed to a walk. Motioning for Alexander and Lyn to stay still, she wormed her way out from underneath Morgan's elemental and peered around. Damien's handiwork was unmistakable, though the almost complete absence of blood indicated he had only found some degree of amusement by restricting his own movements. She knocked on the metal body, and Morgan dismissed his elemental so the other pirates could look about.

"Well, that sucks," Alexander said, immediately noticing the same thing Cassandra had.

"What does?" Lyn chirped.

"Hothead's fight was boring. Obviously. They deliberately stationed tougher fighters elsewhere. I just hope this was enough to keep him from seeking a more interesting fight."

Cassandra pointed at him in agreement. "What he said. Worse comes to worst, we'll have to fight him again. I hope it won't come to that, but mentally prepare yourselves for the possibility. If you say anything, Morgan, you're fighting him alone."

They soon left the battlefield behind and found an entirely new situation. A quick scan revealed Theo's unmistakable bullet spray, but they had to walk farther to find the actual scene of the fight. Hoofprints indicated she had fought a horseman, but the horse's body was nowhere to be seen. The headless soldier was most likely her opponent, and she was glad to see Theo had made sure her opponent was dead. A few compacted balls of rubble indicated she had field tested her new weapon. The partially-destroyed military vehicle that lay on its side, however, puzzled her. Its skid marks were all over the place, but Theo hadn't shot it once.

Just as Cain set one foot on the pier, she frowned and leaned forward. "Stop."

"What is it?" Lyn asked.

"There are other people aboard," she said slowly. "People that Raven and Damien haven't killed. Miserie's not singing, and Theo's not in a suit. Raven, what's going on?"

"There are children aboard."

They all gaped at Chief in disbelief. "Children," Cassandra echoed.

"Theo's friends from her temporary school unexpectedly arrived and broke the stalemate between Theo and the Fursanthian horseman."

They continued to gape at Chief in disbelief. "Repeat that?" Cassandra managed.

"It would be easier if you saw for yourself. The children pose no threat."

Cain moved almost as fast as he had while returning to Doell Bay, skidding to a halt just short of Dusk Pandion . They scrambled into the galley, where six unfamiliar children were sitting on the counter and stairs while staring at the familiar child sitting on Cain's footrest. Theo's eye lit up like a spotlight as the newly-returned pirates piled into the room. "Oh, hi guys! These are my friends!"

Cassandra identified them all at a glance. "Abcde White, minor in possession and public intoxication. Jabulani Masondo, joyriding. Gianna, inducing panic. Karan Rasheed, graffiti artist known as So1o. Magra, graffiti artist known as SpWai. Katie Leary, arson, specifically pyromania. Hotoke Jirocho, mob heiress."

"Theodora Hypatia Anousheh Fatima Alram-Mah IX, inventor and user of weapons of mass destruction," Theo snapped. "Not to mention third-most wanted member of the Black Glove Pirates. So what?"

"I wasn't saying those things in a negative way," Cassandra said, an eyebrow raised. "The desire to commit petty crimes isn't a character flaw to me. What I'm confused by was where the idea of fighting Fursanthian's military came from considering the severity of the crimes they committed before today."

The kids all turned to Hotoke, who was staring at Cassandra with the distressingly familiar look of hero worship. That said, there was another identifiable element she had rarely seen before.

"Okay, I get it. All I'm saying is this was by far the most idiotic thing you all have ever done. You all are phenomenally lucky that we aren't the type to abuse or capture children for nefarious deeds, but I acknowledge your moxie. Doctor, keep a lookout. Damien, please don't go wandering about. The rest of you, play nice. Kids, if you start anything, and I mean anything , I'm kicking you all out. I'm dead serious, Gianna."

She made eye contact with Hotoke and jabbed her head towards the door. The girl followed her to the men's quarters and fairly vibrated on her feet with excitement as Cassandra sat at the desk. "Honestly answer my question. I'll know if you're lying. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"The bosth," Hotoke blurted out, her face filling with embarrassment at her slip-up.

Cassandra gave a tiny smile. "I thought so. The only reason I'm doing this is because I know you've been poking around about 'Anou' and her 'parents', and you did a decent job for a kid your age. If you're doing that well now, I think you'll be a fine boss." Hotoke grinned shyly. "I'm not going to be your mentor or anything. I have other things to do and not a lot of time to do them. I'm stuck here today, however, so I can give you some tips and show you a couple things. I'll only go over things I've said if I run out of things to say. Am I clear?"

Hotoke nodded dazedly, unable to believe Cassandra was actually doing this for her.

"Good. Doc, get me some unimportant unfinished documents." She laughed at Hotoke's gasp of surprise when a pile of paper appeared on the desk. She snapped her fingers before Raven could leave and sharply signed to cancel the plans about sharing their ZMM research with the islanders. She focused back on Hotoke when Raven nodded and vanished. "It's time to show you some things about being a criminal leader and teach you how to keep yourself alive until you become one."

\\'/.\\'/.\\'/.\\'/.\\

"Hey, gorgeous!" Lyn flounced over as Cee left the men's quarters and firmly kissed her cheek. "Done hiding?"

"I was teaching ," she emphasized, pushing Hotoke towards the other children. .

Lyn nuzzled her neck and giggled. "Sure you were. You know you're only fooling yourself."

Cee rested her hand on Lyn's head. "Just because I'm not comfortable with kids that didn't grow up like me doesn't mean I was hiding. I was just delegating."

"What on earth do you know about delegating? You work yourself to the bone trying to know everything about everything, you don't take breaks unless we force you to, and you're always where the fight's most dangerous even though you know our crew doesn't exist without you."

Cee hid their faces behind her hat and captured Lyn's lips with her own. While Lyn considered this an extremely unfair counterargument, it was impossible to maintain a coherent train of thought when Cee initiated kisses that fierce. Cee pecked her lips as they drew apart and smirked in satisfaction as she put her hat back on her head. "Did you have fun with So1o and SpWai?"

"Mmhmm!" Lyn hummed as she gathered her wits. "They even taught me a couple things! Dusky looks prettier now!"

"I'm sure she does." Cee looked over the people gathered in the main hall. Damien was exercising as usual and ignoring Katie's attempts to set him on fire. Alexander continued to regale whoever would listen with stories, and Jabu hadn't budged since he sat down in front of him. Gianna had not raised her voice above a normal speaking volume. What saddened Lyn was the drunken kid in the galley, where Morgan was doing his best to sober her up.

"I'm not thrilled about that either," Cee said with her usual amazing mind-reading ability, "but there's not much we can do at this point. We all drank underage too."

"Yeah, but we weren't alcoholics that young."

Cee wiggled her hand back and forth. "Ehhhhh, we do drink more than normal people."

"Be serious. She's going to drink herself in an early grave."

"While that's not a good thing, you know that's not our problem. It's not like she's hiding it from everybody. She is in a special class, after all. She has all the resources she needs, and it's up to her to take advantage of them."

Lyn sighed. "But still-"

"But nothing, Lyn. We're not their parents. They shouldn't even be here. I'm not responsible for kids that are almost suicidally unaware of the situations they put themselves in." She leaned on Lyn's shoulder. "A bit like you before we met."

That was impossible to deny. While Lyn's crimes had never been as serious as those of Theo's friends, she had still blindly followed Cee without truly appreciating what that would entail. There had been times when only her faith in Cee and her nakama had kept her from running away. "Then they just need to fall for amazing people with huge hearts and terrifying depths like I did. Hopefully ones that aren't prideful and stubborn enough to admit their feelings before they die of old age."

She laughed when Cee jabbed her side and said, "I was also protecting you."

"We've gone over that pathetic excuse for an excuse. I'm not asking you to protect Abcde from everything in the world, but can you at least do something? As captain, you lead all of us, and the kids know that. They look up to you specifically as an outlaw that allows Theo to do whatever criminal thing she wants. Put your acting skills to work and be a responsible adult."

She smacked Cee's ass as the captain headed towards the galley, waving her fingers when Cee glared over her shoulder. She had scarcely drawn a breath when Gianna popped up beside her. "Why does she need to pretend?"

"She's been a criminal literally since she could walk, and she doesn't think other kids should be like her. She thinks you all are too far gone and doesn't see the point in doing anything. She also doesn't really like children in general."

"So why do you love her?"

"Look at her; she's a total knockout! She's always at least as hot as she is now, but she's so unbearably sexy when she's in full captain mode. I'm surprised she doesn't have people falling for her all the time!" Gianna waited. "Okay, I guess she's also the most caring person if she lets you into her heart and will do literally anything for you. She loves me for who I am and doesn't want me to be anyone but myself."

Gianna pretended to barf, and Lyn laughed and hugged her. "Hey, you can't ask me about the person I love the most without me gushing a little. She is stunning though, right?"

"A little," Gianna admitted.

"Oh? What about me?"

"You're pretty too."

Lyn cocked her head in thought, and the grin that slowly grew across her face caused Gianna to look away. "Okay, that's totally fair. You're lucky she didn't feel like completely hiding right now. Her fear of being looked at can be so severe that she won't even let us see her. She looks like living jewelry though, doesn't she? Dark gold eyes, silver hair, gold-rimmed red scales…"

Gianna could only nod.

"Of course, her life was absolutely horrible because of that, but she's safe now. You ever look at girls your age? It's fine if you don't."

"Only a little. They're not as…"

Lyn smiled understandingly. "For the record, kids' experiences are more or less the same. A lot of straight kids your age feel the same way you do. Obviously not everything is the same, but you've got more in common with het kids than queer adults. We tend to forget what it was really like to be kids as we get older, not that I'm old. I bet if you told some of these idiots, you'd be surprised how accepting they'd be."

"What makes you think I haven't told them?"

"You're over here talking to me about it." Gianna crossed her arms and huffed. "Which means you know that talking to queer adults is also extremely important. That's good. Now, I'm not saying you need to talk to everybody, but I can tell you don't have to worry about them. Trust me; I'm better than Cee is at knowing what kind of people people really are. Not to mention that you're all closer than a lot of classmates are based on why you're in the class you're in. You all wouldn't be here if you didn't trust each other to watch your backs."

Gianna tilted her head back and forth. "I'll think about it."

"That's all I'm asking you to do. Still, you can talk to them any time, but you probably won't get this opportunity again, so you best take advantage of it! Hey, Miserie! Heads up!"

Before terror could fully cross Gianna's face, Lyn picked her up and tossed her over to the mermaid partially hidden behind the galley's doorframe, then nearly fell over laughing when Gianna sent her a scathing death glare. Seeing that no child seemed immediately interested in getting her attention, she hopped over to Katie and helped extract her from Damien's grip.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the general consensus was that the children should go home. They all said their goodbyes, then Cain gathered the kids and left, Morgan and Raven accompanying for additional security. Lyn gently stroked the desolate girl in her arms. "You'll see them again; I promise. When Cee becomes Pirate Queen, we'll be revisiting places all over the world."

"Not to mention we might see them sooner than that based on their career trajectories," Cee commented. "In the future, I'd like to be asked permission before letting children aboard my ship, but I'm glad we got to meet your friends. This is what I meant when I said you should spend time with kids your age. Well, not too much older than you. It was hard enough finding somewhere you could be without restricting it to nine- and ten-year-olds. We lucked out in finding that school."

"At least we're more prepared on how to find similar ones in the future," Alexander said, "though I've known kids who had a hard time constantly making friends they had to leave because they didn't stay in one place for long. I will say that the most bonding those kids I knew had is maybe dating someone they'd have to leave, not fighting a nation's military together."

"Didn't Alexander fight the gulls with Damien? They are the world's military, and Miserie knows that is way worse than a nation's military."

Alexander smiled. "We knew each other way before then, and the hostilities came to us instead of the other way around. Speaking of which, what are we gonna do for the next two days? They've evacuated all civilians, so they won't need to hold back any more."

"Yes, but we're all here too," Cassandra said. "Considering that I turned down their offer of becoming a Warlord and we wiped out the Harpys one island later, we can now be viewed on par with an island's entire military force. While that's not entirely accurate, we'd only win by sacrificing Damien and possibly a few others, and we'd all rather avoid that. That said, I think we'll be okay. Our Pose sets the day after tomorrow, so they most likely won't make any moves before then."

"And we'll loot what we need since nobody's coming near us. Since the area's still intact, it won't even be difficult."

Damien howled with laughter as he spun on his head. "Tha's right, Songbird! No diggin' fer scraps 'neath rubble 'n' bodies!"

"Feeling better?" Lyn murmured, putting the conversation from her mind.

Theo nodded once, then shook her head. "I hate this. I knew it'd happen, but it still feels awful. Is it gonna be like this every time?"

"Probably. That's part of Cee going down the Line. Just a reminder: you can choose to stay on an island if you want, including this one. I'm not saying-" Lyn raised her voice to be heard over Theo's protests, "-that you have to, and nobody will make you. We are a crew, but there is always the option of leaving if someone feels living here is no longer what they need. Our lifestyle has its drawbacks, and one of them is not being able to spend the time you need with people outside our crew."

To both of their surprise, Miserie wrapped her tail around them and hugged Lyn from behind. "It is like the Scarabians, except Theo got closer to her classmates than them. Leaving is sad, but it is okay to be sad. Theo will probably have the chance to communicate with them at some point. She is lucky that she can remember her time with them whenever she wants."

Lyn pressed her cheek against Miserie's. "Be careful, though, because you can also hurt yourself that way because you miss them so much. Just know that we're all here for you. We've all been in your shoes. Even Raven acknowledged she had a negative emotion when she said bye to Yin and Jay on Dewpon. And she's Raven! That's how-" She ducked and pushed Theo's head down when Cee flew over their heads and crashed into the wall, Damien chasing right behind her, then checked to see if Cee and Damien were actually fighting. Alexander barely holding in his laughter was enough for her. "That's how universal this experience is."

"Lyn makes lots of friends whenever she goes out, and Theo knows Lyn really cares about the people she meets or spends time with, so she knows really well."

The little girl mulled this over. "I know all that, but it still sucks."

"Of course. I never said it didn't. That's why it's so important that we stressed how important it was to make sure you feel safe with us. At the end of the day, the nine of us only have each other. And whoever else we'll pick up on the way."

Theo wriggled about until she could hug them both at once. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Miserie hugged back, and Lyn kissed Theo's hair. "Of course. We love you." She frowned. "Wait, I forgot you were sentenced to stay on this crew until Cee says otherwise. Guess you can't leave after all."

The three of them started giggling uncontrollably.