He didn't feel anything now. His body was all numb from everything; the cold ocean breeze did nothing but made him shiver ever more as tears found their way out of his eyes. What did he get into right now? He didn't know. He didn't care anymore. It was better that he died right now.

The only thing that covered him was the hellishly ripped shirt, a small blanket and different cuts done by the rough lashes from Witlock's whip. He continued to shake, despite being already used to the dungeon's cold floor. His eyes were staring into nothing as he continued to silently cry, his hand clutching the cloth on his chest to get more warmth and comfort.

On his mind, the scenes flashed before him. Right after Arthur had given him the permission to escape, he just stood there watching the pirate walk into his deck with his cousin. He had no idea what he had or what Arthur just said. All he felt was guilt building up in his chest and gut that he wanted to puke. Shouldn't Arthur get mad at him for shouting and disrespecting his authority? Why did he let him escape?

He then ignored it; it was his chance to escape. He joined the rest of the crew in dinner until they all fell asleep and so did the one on watch. Sneaking into the longboat and lowering it down on his own (despite some difficulties), he rowed the boat away from the ship.

And he half expected to see Arthur watching him escape. But he wasn't there.

He swallowed and continued rowing the boat, trying to find an island or anything that could help him. The night grew darker and clouds suddenly covered the only source of light he had which was the moon now that he was far away from the Sonnet. Add the wounds he just suffered a night ago, his chores as part of the crew and the conversation he had with Arthur, he was feeling very tired and weary. He looked around and saw nothing then decided that maybe a few minutes of rest could be rewarding.

His eyes closed for a moment and before he knew it, he fell asleep.

..

..

..

A light immediately woke him up, and he turned his head around. A ship was right in front of him and a rope was tossed from the deck.

Large masts were rolled up, and no one was up the nets or the poles. It was nearly as large as Arthur's ship, but it looked more... dangerous and simpler than the Sonnet. His eyes narrowed to see more details yet found the ship less appealing than what he knew that pirate ships look like. He still couldn't be sure.

Heartbeat going fast with desperation and doubt, the prince sat there looking at the rope, not knowing what he should do. Should he climb up the rope? But what would happen to him? The rope hung there patiently and he thought if those were pirates, they would have attacked him right? He didn't have any other chances left.

He grabbed it and he was pulled up immediately with his eyes wide. Once he reached the top, he climbed aboard, losing balance as he jumped in. His body was still shaking from the pain and he had to force himself up to stand straight when a cold metal touched delicately his neck, making him tilt his head up.

His breath hitched in his throat as he was surrounded by pirates and one of them holding the sword to his throat. This was bad.

"Raven black bobbed hair, brown eyes and an Asian." An unfamiliar voice stated.

As he turned his eyes only to see who said that, the weapon was suddenly withdrawn away from him and he was pushed down to the ground. How many times does he have to be thrown like this? His face crunched up as it received the usual pain he experienced frequently ever since he had been captured by pirates.

"Tell me, Asian," the voice spoke up again, "From what ship are you from?"

Kiku looked up and saw Witlock loading his gun, aiming it at him loosely in his hand.

"Answer me boy. If you do, I won't kill you. We just want to know if you're a spy of the government or not."

A spy of the government? They must be wanted in the place they came from. If that was their only business with him, then he must not fret. He was friendlier than Arthur when they first met anyway. He can tell him the truth and they can spare him.

"I-I am a captive of Captain A-Arthur." He rasped out, surprised at how rough his voice was. It was probably from exhaustion and lack of water.

The crew members started mumbling but silenced when their captain motioned a hand and smirked, "Is that so?"

"I-if you could b-be a b-bit kind, ah, y-you'll s-spare me right?"

"Of course."

Ah finally. At least someone could help-

"He's the one the mermaids were talking about. Lock him up and get to work. We'll be paying that kid a visit." Witlock walked away and disappeared from his sight.

"N-nani?" he watched in horror as a man carrying a brick walked up to him, smirking. The prince's head then felt a heavy thump and in a split second, he fell unconscious on the floor.

And after that was the attack on Arthur's ship. Kiku felt a pang in his chest, his tears coming out more and more as his body slowly succumbed into numbness. The guilt was eating him up. He was the reason why Arthur was injured and his boat was heavily damaged. It was his fault that he was now crying in this dungeon, with only imaginary hope in his mind that he could still escape with the very little dignity he had. But his body was heavily injured and it was painful to move. The only thing he could do was lie down, recover a little and hope.

Hope that he'll get out alive.

Hope that Arthur will go back and rescue him.

...

"Blady hell Artie, if ya really wan' that wound tae heal, then ya gotta stap movin' 'round the fuckin' room!" Alasdair sighed, sitting on one of the chairs and resting his head on his fist, "It's gonna open again an' it ain't easy to patch it up once mo'!" the redhead complained, his green eyes following his injured cousin walk back and forth rather violently in the room.

"I swear I'm going to bloody massacre that Witlock." He hissed, finishing a bottle of rum with his right hand. His upper body had nothing but bandages with his left arm supported by a white cloth wrapped around his neck. After drinking the contents of the bottle, he threw it to the ground and it smashed into countless pieces. "I will make him pay for everything. For the ship. For Kiku."

Alasdair looked at him in confusion, taking a gulp of his own rum, "Wot is with ye an' that laddie? Othe' than bein' a princey an' a fortune-makin' hostage, 'e seems tae be mo' than that tae ya."

Arthur turned his head and glared at Alasdair, walking to him slowly, "Kiku is my treasure. Mine alone. I won't let anyone and by bloody hell, anyone to have him as their hostage or prisoner. I won't let anyone get a hold of what's mine even if I would kill everyone to get him back." He muttered gravely.

"Jus' askin'." The redhead leaned back as Arthur got nearer then drank again, "An' how do ya plan on gettin' him back?"

The captain walked to a table where a large map was and leaned his right hand on it, "We'll get to Dragon's Lair Island before they do."

"Ye had gone mad, Artie. Half of the crew is dead an' the ship ain't in good condition."

Arthur's teeth gritted together and he growled, his patience running out by the second, "I don't fucking care. Get the remaining men work and get us to the island as fast as possible. NOW!" he got another bottle of rum and drank, then dropped on one of the couches and continued drinking in

Without a word, Alasdair replied by standing up and nodding. It was useless to talk him out right now. Arthur wasn't praised as one of the fiercest pirates if he wasn't like that. But it was still annoying. He placed down his bottle on a table and walked out of the room.

Now Arthur wasn't like that to the other hostages and prisoners he had. He was usually brutal and merciless to them, but since Kiku arrived, his cousin had been softer than usual. What was with that Asian lad that made him change his behaviour? Arthur used to act like what he was acting earlier whenever he wanted to accomplish something that isn't saving a prisoner. So what if he's a prince? He had captured other royalties but didn't give them the same treatment and now he's babbling that Kiku's his treasure and shit-

Oh.

Ohh.

Of course.

His cousin liked Kiku. And it's more than the interested type of liking.

Alasdair couldn't help but chuckle under his breath as he walked up to the deck. Now that made everything clearer. Of course, he should have known that earlier. Arthur was bisexual anyway. In public and sometimes privately he had courted women and even made love with them but he sometimes couldn't hide his interest in men. Alasdair found that out when Francis started teasing his cousin and almost kissed him (and Alasdair interfered and threatened Francis after he noticed Arthur wasn't responding violently). Right after that Arthur kept on denying until he made him drunk and he admitted everything.

Now the question is: does Kiku like his captor? Going through the past events, Kiku showed some hatred and fear on Arthur, but then at times blushed.

A smirk graced his lips as he placed a cigarette in his mouth.

Now he gets everything.

He lit the cigarette and breathed out a puff of smoke. Now that he understands, he knows that Arthur isn't going to be feeling any better until they do what he wants.

He walked down the stairs and looked at crew members who were shaking and treating themselves, "All ye scums get back tae work! We're headed off tae Dragon's Lai' an' I bettah not hea' any complain, aye!" he watched as all of them scrambled to their stations and did their work.

Arthur wouldn't be coming out until he had calmed down. He wasn't the type to show his temper in public, and he needed time to think things over.

Breathing in more of the tobacco-filled smoke, he ran a hand through his hair and leaned against the wood. Just early this morning they got attacked and now they were racing against time to rescue Arthur's crush. This was getting stressful by the minute. One of the masts was severely damaged and it was going to be a problem.

"Sir Alasdair!" Daniel shouted from the crow's nest. The red head looked up and saw the young man point at something at the distance. He followed the gaze and took out his telescope and looked through it.

Another ship was approaching them; fortunately it didn't look like a pirate ship. He watched as the other ship stop beside them, and then heard footsteps climbed down the staircase beside him. Arthur had his coat over his shoulders, looking at the ship as well.

It looked like a merchant ship. What do they want from pirates?

"Who the bloody hell?" Arthur stood beside Alasdair and both heard a loud thump from the floor below before Alasdair could comment.

A familiar long-haired blonde stormed up and pushed Arthur to the wall, "Fucking pirate!" green eyes glared into Arthur's own pair and the smaller blonde took out a pistol and pushed the barrel below his chin.

"Vash?" Alasdair approached the two, but was ignored. Vash was a weapon merchant, forger and distributer from Switzerland. The last time they saw the Swiss was when the German-speaking blonde chased them with heavy artillery when they stole some gun powder. He was one of the few people Arthur refused to cause trouble with.

"Where is she?" Vash hissed at Arthur who in turn looked at him calmly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Vash."

The smaller man pushed him more, pressing on his injured arm and making him gasp in pain, "I know you pirates got my sister."

"Look we have no idea what you're talking abo- agh!" his wound was starting to bleed again and Alasdair fortunately pulled the trigger-happy man away from his cousin.

"'e's tellin' the truth, Vash. Look ovah our ship, ye won't be findin' any damsel. They're bad luck anyway fo' men at sea." The red head defended the rose his hands up when the gun was aimed at him.

"My sister was suddenly kidnapped earlier. You're the second nearest pirate ship we could find. So you better show her or I'll shoot!"

"Am tellin' ya o'ready, we ain't got any damsel on board!"

"It was Witlock." Arthur rasped out, pressing his palm on his wound and lessening the bleeding, "If someone is kidnapped, it's his doing."

Vash narrowed his eyes but lowered his gun, "What makes you say that?"

Before Arthur could answer, his cousin wrapped an arm around him to support his balance, "Let's talk inside, yeah?" he offered, knowing that he needed to treat Arthur's wound again.

The three went into a room that had a fairly high ceiling with different tables and a large window at the right. Vash looked around and stopped his gaze on a painting of the queen of England; then he watched as Arthur took a seat and Alasdair sat in front of him and started to take off the blood-stained bandages off the wound.

"Your ship is a bit too regal to be a pirate ship, isn't it?" Vash commented.

Alasdair shrugged, ignoring a hiss from Arthur when he cleaned the bleeding wound, "A royal navy ship, used tae be used by the good ol' king of Eng-"

"It's not important. You're here to get your sister back?" the captain managed to compose his voice even with the stinging pain on his shoulders.

The Swiss showed his signature frown and stopped by a table, "How'd you know it's that Witlock bitch?"

"I've defeated Witlock before, made him run away with a ship that was already sinking to the bottom of the sea." Arthur started, again wincing as Alasdair tightened the bandage a little on his shoulder.

"So he came for revenge?" Vash raised an eyebrow.

"I still don't know how he fixed the ship when he was on the verge of losing it, but I do know that he's going to use prisoners as a way of recovering it."

"How'd ya know that, Artie?" Alasdair patted his back softly and stood up to grab a bottle of rum and drank it.

"Otherwise he would have killed Kiku. I don't think he knows that he's a prince; if he wasn't of any use Witlock should have killed him. As for Vash's sister..." Arthur trailed off in thought.

"Witlock su' knows that Vash is a weapon dealer. The damsel must be used fo' ransom right?"

"Kidnap for ransom?" Vash gritted his teeth, "I'm going to fucking kill that Witlock bitch."

The room was suddenly silent, each having their thoughts of how to get the enemy pirate at hand. Vash spoke up first, "I'm going to kill him." He turned around and headed for the door dismissively.

"Ain't ya goin' tae fight wid us?" Alasdair stood up, disappointment clouding his words.

"I don't fight with allies. They're too bothersome. I'd like to stay neutral." The smaller blonde took out his gun again and aimed it at the redhead, "You got a problem with that?"

"You're in a merchant ship. One of the very easy targets for pirates to capture even if it's filled with weaponry." Arthur stated simply but it was enough to stop Vash from opening the door. When the other one halted, he took it as a cue to continue, "In merchant ships, it's filled with men that aren't soldiers and fighters. I know that you are a skilled gunslinger but it'll be useless if you try to fight them without the enough number of men. It'll be hard to beat Witlock now, seeing as he recovered immediately after our fight, he must have help with him."

Vash, who walked unconsciously away from the door to listen more to Arthur, looked at him with a hard expression and a small grimace, "Fine, but I'm only doing this for my sister. You'll be using some of my weapons and I'll be needing your me-"

"AND WHY ARE YOU GONNA HAVE AN AWESOME BATTLE AND THE AWESOME ME AIN'T HERE?" the door suddenly burst open and the same albino man leaped in with a grin.

"Mon cher, it's very rude to barge into the office while there is planning." Francis stepped in and walked towards Arthur, "Mon petit lapin¸ what happened to y-"

A gun was placed on the Frenchman's neck; and blue eyes turned to see Vash glaring at him, "What are you bastards doing here?"

Francis simply pushed away the gun and shrugged care freely, "We're offering our help."

It was Arthur's turn to frown, "What in bloody hell makes you think we're accepting your help?"

"Because half of your men are injured, our men aren't and I can help you in supplying the swords while Vash here helps with the guns." Francis run a hand through his hair and flipped it with a sheepish look on his face.

Alasdair sighed as the two smaller blondes glared at Francis but shrugged and leaned on the table, "'E's got a point the', Artie. An' if ya want tae reach the islan' fast, yar gonna need their ship." With that, Francis shrugged in victory while the other two looked away in defeat.

"HEY FRANCEY. ANTONIO WON'T GET IN!" the albino's rough voice made all of them look at the door where Gilbert was trying to pull a certain sun-kissed brunette into the room.

Arthur's eyebrows furrowed and he turned to Alasdair, "There's no bloody way I'll be fighting with that Spanish wanker!"

"Who're you calling a wanker, bastardo!" Antonio hissed and drew out his sword where Arthur in turn stood up and got his sword as well. The two started the charge at each other, and then crossed swords when a large bang and a bullet sped through the two blades and silenced all of them.

"Violent pirates." Vash stood while holding the gun in hand.

"Se calmer, mon cheri." Francis and Alasdair pulled them away from each other.

Antonio pulled himself away from the Frenchman while glaring at Arthur, "Go do what you want. But I swear I won't be fighting with Arturo." He hissed and marched out of the room.

"Antonio's being so unawesome and a kill joy." Gilbert folded his arms and pouted, "He used to be the life of the party!"

"It's just with Arthur, Gilbert." Francis sighed and turned to the other three men, "So what do you say mon cheri? We haven't been in battle for quite a while so we want to join you. Is that alright?"

The first mate looked at Arthur who was now sitting again and looking away to some random things in the room while Vash was leaning on a pillar with his arms folded. A sigh escaped from Alasdair and he cleared his throat loud enough to snap the two's minds for answering.

"I'm doing this to get Kiku and kill Witlock." Arthur muttered, still looking away.

"I don't do well with other, but I'm doing this for my schwester." Vash did the same.

"That's a yes, then." Alasdair shrugged and took another gulp.

...

"Easy with her. Don't damn drag her for Davy Jones' sake!" a rough voice complained.

"What's with this girl anyway? Why'd the captain want to kidnap her?" another one came in reply, making Kiku stir in his dream.

Was he dreaming? He didn't know. Right now he was too tired to even think. His body has gone completely limp and numb from pain that he wasn't sure if he was still in the dungeon. His eyes were still closed; he liked it that way, it was more relaxing and it gave him something good that he could only afford for now: sleep.

But the creaking of metal bars kept on bothering him and a small thump near him made him wince. He had no idea what was happening but he heard a small "Oh!" from the object that fell on the floor.

"I said go easy with her!" the voice came back again.

"Why?"

"Don't you know Vash Zwingli? That violent, merciless gun-maker from Switzerland?"

"No, not really."

"Well then, that's his sister. She's just a hostage, not a prisoner. If he sees on small bruise on her when he gets her, we're all dead!" the voices seemed to move away now. The more silence the better for Kiku.

"He's that scary?"

"Yeah, there was that one time that he killed a-" the voices faded away and a small ocean breeze managed to get in and made Kiku shiver even more.

"O-oh my!" a young feminine voice replaced the other two. Kiku slowly opened his eyes and saw pink. He opened them more and realized it was a dress and saw the small blonde girl wearing it, "M-mister? You're heavily injured!" she wrapped her arms around the poor man lying on the floor and helped him sit up.

His vision stirred and he could vaguely look at her for a moment, then realized she had green eyes. Just like Arthur. He mentally scoffed, thinking why he would be reminded of Arthur right now. He was the sole reason why he was here, suffering and dying. Dehydration clouding his mind and vision, he couldn't clearly hear what the girl was saying but when he felt a small container touch his lips, he automatically opened his mouth a bit and drank the water that flowed in a heavenly manner into his mouth and throat.

He took more sips and the container was pulled away from him, leaving him a bit disappointed but nevertheless thankful for the water. He blinked more and looked at the young girl sitting in front of him, looking worried.

"A-a-arig-gato." He rasped and felt a soft warm hand grab his own and another on his forehead. It felt relaxing that he wanted to close his eyelids again.

"You have a fever. And your wounds are still bleeding a bit." She muttered and he watched her open her small brown leather bag and took out a small bottle and opened it, "this could sting, but it'll help your wounds heal."

Kiku's hand twitched as his wound was touched and a fiery sting radiated all over his body. But he was too weak to show any other reaction that he just winced and groaned when his wounds were covered by an unknown gel.

The girl continued to treat him at his back and then got the blanket that was on the floor and placed it on him. Kiku's heart relaxed as he felt the girl's kindness covered him and nodded, "T-t-thank you... very m-much." He smiled weakly and rested his head on the wall.

"I-it's not much but you're welcome." She nodded, then smiled a bit, "At least you're better. M-may I know your name?"

"Kiku... Honda Kiku." He smiled wider yet a small sting radiated in his head and made him groan.

"My name is Lily Zwingli." She moved beside him and pulled his head on her lap, "Just sleep, Herr Kiku. My brother will come and save us."

I hope so.

...

"Witlock~" a cheery voice sang the pirate's name and made him stand up from his seat in the top deck.

A tall man with platinum blonde hair and bubby violet eyes in a coat and scarf waved at him from below. How'd he get here so fast? Witlock climbed down the stairs and bowed down a bit, "Sir Ivan Braginski."

"I came to follow-up your payment!" Ivan grinned cheerfully, clasping his hands together, "I hope it looks presentable when you show it to me!" he chuckled like a child then looked at Witlock with dark auras in his eyes, "You have it, don't you?"

"Y-yes! I do! In fact, h-he's someone in y-your type!" Witlock smiled a bit, his heart thumping at the man who was unconsciously death-threatening him.

"Really? What's he like, кролик?"

"A-Asian. And a really feisty one. B-but he's a bit tired so you'll have him later!"

Ivan nodded and skipped to the edge of the ship and grabbed a rope, "I better be impressed or else~!" he waved and chuckled then jumped off the ship and into the long boat where a young green-eyed brunette sat.

"M-mister Ivan, the b-boat almost broke when you jumped..."

"Nonsense, Toris! I like jumping and the boat is strong!" Ivan sat down again and looked at up Witlock when Toris started rowing.

"If I don't get him by tomorrow, I'll be taking something else from you, alright? Good day!"

BK123: I hope this covers for the short chappy last time. Anyways, I'm sorry if there are some errors, I'm too lazy to read it all over again. I tried my best to update it really soon and trust me, there will be more events after this.

So now you have Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the Bad Touch Trio and Russia with Toris in this chappy~ oh yeah Russia will be a neutral character that means he's not bad nor good nor is he in any sides.

With Switzerland and the BTT teaming up with Arthur, what will happen?

Trololololol, reviews anyone?