Leonardo Ragetti had woken up in a foul mood that day and it was becoming fouler as the sudden arrival of the red coats started to shift the battle from an easy slaughter to an actual fair fight where the man could lose and be forced to retreat with a reduced crew.
With the way that his luck was going, it would probably be just the non-Italian members of his crew that lived.
He was an imposing figure despite his gaunt and somewhat awkward looking appearance. He wore fire red garments that were loose about him, making him stand out easily mixed with his long golden hair. He was very vain when it came to his hair and he in fact had it braided with ribbons of scarlet and orange, taking them out at night and brushing his hair methodically to keep it soft and silky.
It was this awkward need to comb his hair that made his crew worry about his ability to not only be a captain, but also a Pirate Lord.
Like now for instance; he had promised them an easy slaughter to end the day and now they were fighting for their lives against the British Navy!
Frowning, Leonardo slowly drew his saber as he headed for the leader of the red coats; his hair blowing behind him and making him look insane as his green eyes glittered with rage.
Gritting his teeth, Ragetti found himself being forced into a corner by two pirates coming at him at one time. They both swung large axes and as he took another step back, he tripped and fell onto his back, wincing as a booted foot closed down on his hand to stop him from picking up his sword.
"Arrivederci!" one of them growled, raising the axe up high.
Ragetti shut his eyes tightly and when the blow never came, he opened his eyes in surprise as Pintel barreled into both men like an animal, throwing one of them overboard before focusing on the other one.
"Son o' a bitch Italian feck!" he growled. He then paused and glanced over at Ragetti.
"No offense, Rags."
"None taken, Pint!" he laughed, but he then winced and got to his feet as the axe was swung and dealt Pintel a wound on his head.
"Pinters!" he shouted and he was about to run to help him when a saber was placed in front of him.
"Ye an' yer men ar' getting on me nerves!" Leonardo growled.
Narrowing his eyes, Ragetti remembered what his mother had said about his father's love for the color red and his golden hair and he instantly knew that this was him.
"Jus' call off yer men an' git back on yer ship!" he offered him. "We don' wan' ta take yer or yer ship!"
"I'll order me men to leave after yer dead!"
Sparks began to fly as the two blades clashed violently against each other as father and son began to fight. The two were evenly matched in style and it looked almost as if the two of them were merely dancing; a few flips used to dodge a low swing and an occasional sword exchange happened more than once.
The other battles came to a halt as the two soon danced into the middle of the deck and it was silently agreed upon that whoever won this small duel would win the entire battle.
"Come on, Rags!" Pintel shouted. "'e's go' feckin' ribbons in 'is 'air loik a girl fer God's sake!"
Curling his lip, Leonardo pressed in and locked their blades together so that the two of them were face to face now.
"Rags?" he asked.
"Et's me nickname!"
"Why? Because yer like a bunch o' rags with bones attached?" he scoffed as they broke the lock and paused for a moment, slowly circling around each other.
"Et's from me las' name!" Ragetti countered calmly, taking off his hat and letting his hair loose. The ends naturally curled up and framed his angular face, and Leonardo was shocked at the likeness to himself.
"Me name is Mackenzie Giovanni Ragetti!"
The Pirate Lord's eyes grew wide as he slowly lowered his blade.
"Do ye no' know me, fatha?" he asked.
"Eliza's boy?"
"Aye." Ragetti nodded and a smile came to Leonardo's lips as he sheathed his own blade, letting his men know that he was giving up this battle.
"How is..?"
The question was cut short as Ragetti's right eye seemed to just burst forth in an explosion of vitreous jelly and blood.
"Filthy traitor!" Chase growled, his pistol still held out and smoking. "I knew he was a bloody pirate sympathizer!"
Leonardo stared down at Ragetti's body in horror, his throat clenching and making him unable to speak as suddenly the one who had shot him ordered the soldiers to slaughter the pirates.
Murtogg and Mullroy were both forced to jump on top of Pintel, trying their best to calm the man down and stop him from killing Chase.
"Captain! What are yer orders?!" his first mate shouted. He was a young man by the name of Hector Barbossa, his beard not yet fully grown and his head only adorned with a bandanna.
"Get back to the ship!" Leonardo ordered, heading for it at once, unable to look back at the crumpled body any longer.
As the pirates retreated, Chase tried to force the rest of the soldiers to give chase and kill them, but they refused. Ragetti had been the one in charge of this mission and he had ordered them to just chase them away. Grinding his teeth in annoyance, Chase finally relented and allowed the wounded and dead to be moved back onto the Proud Tortoise.
When Pintel's rage finally subsided, he ran to Ragetti's side and he smiled a little when he saw that he was still alive.
"Come on, Rags! The doctor should…"
"Throw him overboard."
"Wot?!" Pintel shouted in disbelief, whirling around.
Chase's eyes were cold and emotionless.
"He is a traitor and a pirate sympathizer." He said. "Throw him overboard."
"Ye bloody…!"
"Now, Master Pintel."
A soft whimper from Ragetti made him look down and he saw him looking up with his one good eye, fear plainly seen.
"Pint…"
"Don' worry." He assured him gently, kneeling down and picking him up carefully, cradling him in his arms. "I aint throwin' ye o'er the soide!" he swore.
"We're all waiting!" Chase snapped from behind.
"Rags, is tha' man really yer da'?"
"Aye…"
"Good!"
Turning around, Pintel suddenly charged for the side of the ship and with a sudden burst of speed, he leapt over the side and miraculously landed on the pirate's ship just as it began to turn away.
"Tol' ye I wasn' gittin' ta fat!" he smiled down at Ragetti as the two were faced with weapons drawn and ready for blood.
"Lower yer weapons!" Barbossa snapped, coming out of Leonardo's cabin. "Ye daft bastards! Were none of you listening to what the captain and that one were talking about?! Get those two to the doctor!"
Once they were inside and being tended to, Barbossa waited a few minutes before entering the cabin once more and found Leonardo with his ribbons out of his hair, a large bottle of rum in one hand.
"What?" he snapped.
"We have two guests, captain."
"Leave me alone…"
"One of them is missing an eye."
Leonardo turned to look at him in disbelief.
"His fat friend apparently isn't as out of shape as you would think by looking at him."
"Where is mio figlio now?" Leonardo asked, getting up at once.
"He's with the doctor but…"
Leonardo was out of the cabin at once, heading for the doctor's room.
He found the doctor washing off some blood from his hands outside and he pulled him close at once.
"How is he?"
"'e'll live, bu' 'e'll also 'ave a 'ole in 'is face." The doctor warned. "I 'ad ta git rid o' everyfing inside the eye socket ta preven' infection."
"An eye is nothing. Calix only had the one eye and used a wooden one for the hole in his own head." He said and the doctor nodded in understanding.
"There's somethin' else." He added softly.
"What?"
"'is mind migh' be…a liddle slow fer a while." He warned. "Trauma loik tha' kin mess up a man's mind an' all."
"Can I see him?"
"If 'is frien' let's yer." The doctor shrugged.
Opening the door, Leonardo saw that Ragetti was sleeping, a bandage tightly wrapped around his eyes with blood on the one side. Pintel was sitting next to him and holding his hand, talking to him softly.
Pintel turned around when the captain cleared his throat, expecting to be given his death sentence.
"Welcome aboard, matey." Leonardo said.
…
"Me 'ead…I was a liddle off afta tha' fer years." Ragetti continued with a shrug. "Bu' me da' didn' le' any o' the crew make fun o' me fer et either!"
"I'm…amazed that you can even remember what happened to you!" Norrington said.
"I didn' really rememba much until we go' ta Por' Royal the firs' toime an' took Poppet wi' us." Ragetti admitted. "Afta tha'…I started ta rememba a bit more abou' meself an' me pas' ye see. The larges' chunk came while we was in jail waitin' ta 'ang." He added.
"I recalled 'ow when me da' stepped down from bein' Pirate Lord, 'e gave the title ta Barbossa because I was still…odd. Bu' e'en then, Barbossa wasn' tha' bad ta me. 'e made me the Bearer o' the Piece o' Eigh' in 'onor o' me bloodline…"
"Beckett told me about the ceremony that went on with nine pieces of eight." Norrington said with a soft snort. "The man must think I'm like him or something…"
"Ye did say tha' ye were goin' ta 'ang us all an' 'ave our 'eads on pikes." Ragetti reminded him gently.
"That…That was before I learned more about people." Ragetti shrugged and just smiled.
"Jus' so."
"One more question?"
"I aint goin' anywheres."
"Why did you flick blood in his face like that?"
Ragetti looked down at his scarred fingertips, thinking quietly.
"I am the las' o' the line o' Calix 'Un Eye." He said finally. "'e were no' only 'un o' those who 'elped seal Calypso in 'er 'uman form, bu' 'e is also the reason why she angered Davy Jones. 'e 'ad laid down wi' 'er the day she were supposed ta be wi' Davy, an' tha' is why 'e refuses ta do wot 'e was supposed ta!
"Beckett is messin' wi' fings 'e shouldn' be an' in the end 'e is goin' ta pay fer et by me own 'ands fer wot 'e 'as done. Ou' o' all the Pirate Lords…Mistress Ching is the only 'un who is still a direct descendant from an original Lord."
"Mistress…Ching?"
"She rules the Pacific Ocean." He answered with a small smile.
He opened his mouth to explain further but he was interrupted when Murtogg and Mullroy suddenly came in.
"Lord Beckett is leaving Port Royal." Murtogg said. "He's taking all of his things with him as well and…"
"And I'm afraid that that includes you, Master Ragetti." Mullroy finished.
Smiling at the two of them, Ragetti shrugged.
"Et's all righ'." He assured them, giving a wink. "'e's goin' on the ocean…An' tha's pirate territory."