Chapter Seven

Flaming resolution.

Andreas watched as the revolutionary youth previously holding him down, scattered about ignoring his brother's command to stay calm. Westly had just been shot and fell off the upper deck while the revolutionary youth that had shot him was hit with a cannon ball from a ship that could be seen closing in on the Golden Hind. It also seemed that every single ship around them on the most part was on fire. Andreas got up as he watched Caitlyn jump off the upper deck. He was going to follow before someone grabbed him from behind. He looked back to his brother Alex with the brown bag still at his side.

"Alex get off of me!" Andreas yelled elbowing Alex in the side of his face as Andreas fell onto his ass. Alex put his hand on the side of his face as it seemed he too noticed the dark brown ship with a black flag and on it was a mermaid who's upper torso was skeletal arriving at the Golden Hind.

Andreas got back up to look over the railing, Alex still stunned. Caitlyn had managed to get out of the lower deck with an unconscious Westly, Caitlyn swimming with him towards the cave's exit. Andreas knew it was too late to follow them as it would attract too much attention to them and they would all end up being caught. Andreas grit his teeth, as an arm was forced around his neck. At first he attempted to fight back, but after seeing Alex's look of defeat, he went limp. They were outnumbered as Alex, Andreas, and the revolutionary youth who had not jumped off the ship were taken onto the dark brown ship with the black flag. Andreas knew that this ship belonged to the band of pirates known as the Bloodless Sirens, famous for having a fleet of ships that once took on both the Marines and Revolutionary Army. They were also a crew of pirates which the Torres family had also screwed over. At this point the Andreas family being World Nobles brings more detriment to his life rather than benefit.

Numerous heads turned as Andreas and Alex boarded the ship, swords being pointed at each of their backs. The pirates faces seemed as they had all been beaten in, bruises and scars present on all of them. Andreas looked back to see a harpoon launch from the back of the Siren's ship and lodge itself into the Golden Hind. Andreas and Alex were taken below deck as Andreas watched the Golden Hind move directly behind the Siren's ship as a motor could be heard roaring below even the lower deck. The ship launched forward as Andreas nearly lost his balance, Alex fell into the lower deck's right wall.

By the time Andreas looked back up, the crew members that had brought him and the revolutionary youth to the lower deck had disappeared. For the most part the revolutionary youth had been dead silent besides the occasional whimper. The ship had also returned to a steady, slow pace. Andreas looked out a window used to fire cannons to see that the cove was behind them. "They didn't even bother to tie us up." Alex spoke softly as he sat in a corner.

"I mean they're thinking we won't do anything." Andreas responded, looking around Alex.

"They took the bag…" Andreas spoke, looking to the hatch that once came down that led to the lower deck.

"The bag wasn't really important." Alex said his eyes darting to the ceiling as he heard heavy footsteps.

"What do you mea-" Andreas was cut off as the hatch slammed down, revealing stairs that dropped to the lower deck. A pale woman with silver hair that went down to her shoulders and black eyes stepped down the stairs followed by two other males. She had a black cloth that wrapped around her chest area to cover her breasts, and baggy beige canvas pants that were tucked into black boots. A cigar was in her mouth, still billowing with smoke. A black bandana was wrapped around her forehead which signified she was a Siren by the looks of the insignia on it.

"Why would you bring a couple of stragglers on board," she spoke mid conversation as she came down the steps. A male with long brown hair was beside her, a voice with an inkling of fear escaped his mouth.

"They looked familiar I don't know." The male behind them stayed silent as they finally made it downstairs.

"Ah revolutionaries." The silver haired woman finally looked at her prisoners noticing that the majority of them were wearing uniforms.

"Kneel beside each other!" Her voice boomed through the lower deck as the revolutionary youth, Alex, and Andreas scattered to kneel next to each other. Alex and Andreas were next to each other at the far left end of the line.

"Alright I'll take care of our problem then." In one swift, quick motion the silver haired woman drew her flintlock and was inches away from the revolutionary youth that was all the way on the far right's forehead, too quick for him to react. Alex shuffled his feet to get up, but saw one of the men shoot him a crazed look that made him stay kneeling down. The silver haired woman fired at the revolutionary youth's forehead. Everyone winced as Alex began shaking. Andreas' eyes went wide as the dead youth hit the floor with the side of his face, blood spilling from his head as it seeped through the wood. The silver haired woman went down the line shooting each of the revolutionary youth in the head. There was one instance where one of the revolutionary youth dropped his head towards the woman's feet, pleading and begging for her not to shoot him. With an unchanging face the woman shot him too.

Alex snapped.

He attempted to get up, but one of the men that followed the woman were already on top of him holding him down. Andreas was frozen, he had no idea what to do. Alex was struggling even harder now forcing two men to now hold him down. After going through the whole line, killing them one by one, the room was filled with blood sloshing around the floor as the boat rocked back and forward. The woman now had her eyes trained on Alex. "You know for the short amount of time I've know you, you seem like a troublemaker." She spoke as her eyes darted towards Andreas.

"But it also seems like you care for your friends." She continued as she took a drag of her cigar. She then moved swiftly towards Andreas, the gun centimeters away from his forehead. Smoke puffed into his face.

"You two look similar too," she spoke before her eyes widened a huge smile growing on her face, her cigar between her lips.

"You two are brothers?"

Alex struggled even further.

"You two are brothers, that'll make this a little more fun, still a bit depressing that you were the only one that struggled." The woman's eyes were on Alex when she said this as they were now trained back on Andreas. With that look, fear rushed through every single part of his body.

He was going to die.

The silver haired woman bit her lip as she prepped the flintlock to be fired as Andreas closed his eye before something caught her eye around Andreas' neck.

"Open your eyes boy." She spoke lowering the flintlock in her left hand, as her right hand dove into Andreas' shirt. Her hand came out as quickly as it went in, a medallion in it. She squinted, before smirking.

"A skull headed bull," she spoke the excitement growing in her voice, the flintlock raising back to Andreas' head.

"The insignia of the Torres family, check the other one if he has the same medallion." Alex at this point had lost the stamina to struggle as hard as he was before. One of the men reached into Alex's shirt unveiling the same gold medallion.

"Same thing on him ma'am."

She prepped the flintlock again, before lowering it, the cold look back in here eyes.

"Leave them here below deck, we should join back up with the fleet."

"Ma'am that might take a while we used the last of our motors to get out of the cove." The man said slowly getting off a now tired Alex.

"No problem we'll just wait, come on you two." The silver haired lady's eyes shifted between her two men as she lodged her cigar in one of the heads she had blown off herself. She dropped her lighter as well, going up the stairs. The two men followed her up the stairs, the hatch closing. This left Alex and Andreas alone with the bodies of the revolutionary youth, blood staining the wood all around them.

Andreas fell on his back next to Alex, breathing heavily as this whole time he was holding it. Alex's breathing patterns had calmed down as he looked around.

He didn't say anything, but Andreas could tell he was burning on the inside.

"Uh we should try to find a way out." Andreas spoke between breaths trying not to mention what had happened just minutes before.

"I'd think that if they take us back to the fleet they'd either want to sell us as slaves or have their captain off us."

Alex didn't take his eyes off the first person who the woman had shot. Andreas' eyes shifted to the floor before looking around. Through the cannon window he saw the Golden Hind still behind them connected by the harpoon and rope. 'The rope was just low enough that maybe they could climb across-' Andreas thought before being cut off.

"Jacquotte." Alex finally spoke.

"What?"

"The lady with the cigars' name is Jacquotte." Alex spoke, a little distraught. This name started ringing bells in Andreas' head. Although he's only seen poor looking wanted posters of her, the description was familiar. Silver haired, black eyed, and pale individual who is seen most of the time with a cigar. All of these traits checked out. If it was Jacquotte, there's reason to be scared. She's a pirate who's famed for taking down an entire Marine G-5 Battleship by herself. To this day, no one but a select few within the Bloodless Sirens knows what she used to do it.

"Alex you want to help me get out of here," Andreas asked as Alex had broken his own silence.

"I was going to use the cannon window to climb onto the rope, but it's way too small."

"Why not try to make the hole bigger with the actual cannon?" Alex inquired simply, getting up as he picked up the lighter Jacquotte had dropped.

"We could do that but we'd have to get onto the Golden Hind fast as hell, the cannon's going to make a lot of noise." Andreas responded.

Alex was already rolling the cannon into place, "No problem." Alex aimed the cannon straight towards the right edge of the window.

"Lil bro could you help me with this?" Alex was surprisingly calm even compared to his usual self.

"Check to see if I'm aiming this correctly." Andreas made some distance between himself and the back of the cannon.

"You're good." Andreas said reassuringly.

"Great." Alex spoke as he lit the cannon even before Andreas could have second thoughts about it. The cannonball blew threw the side of the window, barely missing the Golden Hind. This in turn made the hole bigger, but the firing of the cannon shook the boat and made a loud enough noise that birds began avoiding the air above the ship.

"You first." Alex spoke grabbing Andreas by his neck and shoving him through the hole. Andreas barely grabbed onto the rope as he began shuffling his hands on it as fast as he could to approach the Golden Hind. It seems none of the pirates had noticed him on the rope as they were occupied with getting below deck.

"Alex come on!" Andreas yelled as he had made his way onto the boat. Alex smiled as he reached into his green revolutionary army uniform. Out came the fruit Andreas had thought the Pirates took with them when they took the brown bag.

"Alex come on stop playing around!"

Alex smiled as he spoke, "I'm sorry for the hell I put you through when we were kids." The hatch in the lower deck behind Alex sprung open.

"Alex!" Andreas yelled out again.

"Be safe little brother!" Alex shouted out as he ate the fruit whole.

It was a suicide mission, Alex wanted revenge. It explained why he was so calm.

Pirates tackled him as Andreas shouted his brother's name over and over again. Alex gagged as more bodies collapsed onto him. Guns were now trained on Andreas, but before Andreas could react the Bloodless Siren's boat exploded into flames. The rope between the two ships burned up. The pressure from the explosion forced Andreas and the Golden Hind backwards towards Apple Island. By the time Andreas got back to his feet and was out of the daze the explosion put him in, Alex and the boat was nowhere to be seen. If the boat had gone completely up into flames Alex wouldn't be able to swim. In the worst case scenario, his brother was dead. Andreas sat on the Golden Hind's main deck as it drifted around the sea for a while, the current still pushing him towards Apple Island. Night time had passed, as the sun was rising. He thought of going back for his brother, but realized it was already too late.

He focused on Apple Island.

Francisco Town was appearing in the distance. Andreas climbed up onto the ship's crow's nest as the sun almost blinded him. Andreas used his right hand to shield his eyes from the sun and took out a pocket-sized telescope to survey the island. Most of it had been burned down and if it hadn't burned down, it was still burning. Now Andreas was sure the Bloodless Sirens had attacked and left Francisco Town. They had most likely rounded up everyone who they had left alive to be traded as slaves, which included his family as well as his friends. Andreas swallowed, he was sick to his stomach now. He hoped he could find anyone he knew. Andreas continued to look about with his small telescope as something caught his eye. Smoke was billowing into the sky, and not just any smoke, fresh smoke. Andreas steered the boat into what was left of the dock, jumping off the ship with an old cutlass he found on it. He ran across the edge of the island trying to trace the smoke. He finally made it to the origin of it as he saw a campfire of sorts surrounded by tiny rocks, two bodies lying next to each other. The bodies chests were rising and falling, which meant they weren't dead. Andreas slowly walked forward as the bodies were covered in ash before he stopped in his tracks.

A dog started barking viciously, standing between the two bodies.

"W-who's there?" A familiar voice came from the body on the left of the dog.

The body began to sit up, running its fingers through the dog's hair.

The body sweeped its hair back as it's eyes met Andreas' eyes.

The dog walking towards a shirtless body bandaged with cloth at the shoulder all the way down to its stomach. The dog licked the ash away from the body's face revealing him to be Westly and behind that curtain of hair was Caitlyn.

[Editor's Note: What do you think happened here? Speculate in the review section.]