Artemis' POV

"Whitebeard… he's…. dead…" I croaked out, still unable to believe what I just said.

The boy in front of me seemed taken aback by what I said. Of course he was, if someone told me the same thing, I would have punched that person in the face… Now that I think about it… I did… Anyway, he seemed so surprised by the news, that he stumbled backwards, almost tripping on his own feet.

"What? That can't be true!" He cried, "I received this letter from him! Look!" He brought the letter out of his pocket to show me, but I pushed it away, knowing the full truth behind that letter.

"Yes, and no." I said. When he gave me a puzzled look, I explained, "Whitebeard wrote it, but I sent it." He didn't say anything and I realized that he wanted me to continue. I took a deep breath before I said "When I learned about the old man's… death." I gulped, "Marco gave me a letter that the old man wrote to me."

"What… did it say?" I could tell he didn't want to know the answer.

"That if anything were to happen to him, then find someone named Fafnir, send him the letter that was inside the envelope, and tell you about his death."

"That was it?" He asked.

I shrugged "Aside from some personal stuff that was meant for me… But there was something else that was meant for both of us…"

"What did else did he say?" Fafnir demanded.

I looked him right in the eyes before I said "I'm sorry."

"So that's it. I knew he was going into war with the marines, but I was certain that he would come back alive." His hair covered his eyes as he said this.

I couldn't tell exactly what he was feeling at that moment, but my best guess would have been acceptance. Accepting the fact that Whitebeard had died, the hardest thing that anyone from his crew could do.

"So, what now?" He asked, lifting his head up to look me in the eye.

"What now?" I was surprised by his question.

"What happens to the crew? What's everyone going to do now?"

"Well… I doubt that the crew will disband just like that…" I chose my words carefully, not giving a thought about what would happen until now. "We're all like a family, so we have to take care of each other." I knew how ironic those words seemed coming from me, since I just left the crew, but I continued anyways "The Whitebeard Pirates will go on, but with a different… Captain…"

The words sounded foreign on my tongue. A new Captain? Who was I kidding? I can never accept anyone else but Whitebeard as my Captain!

Fafnir seemed to be thinking the same thing because he said "How could anyone even think that? No one will ever be able to replace Whitebeard." He sighed before he asked me "What about you?"

"Me? I left the crew." I answered, feeling extremely guilty but not regretting what I did.

He stared at me curiously before asking "Why?"

I was a little surprised by this question. I mean, why does it matter to him? I didn't even know him, but I had a very vague memory of seeing him maybe one or two times for the briefest of moments. Still, he was practically a stranger, a stranger that was once part of the Whitebeard Pirates… So when I think about it, he was sort of like a distant cousin in a way…

I snap out of my thoughts that were getting off topic. I look at Fafnir who was waiting patiently for my answer, so I say "Whitebeard was very important to me, in more ways than you think. Staying in the Whitebeard Pirates would have been too painful for me, so I left. There's no one in the world that I would accept as my Captain other than Whitebeard."

I could see Fafnir thinking over my words, then slowly, he nodded his head, satisfied with my answer. "I'm glad that you think that way, so what are you going to do now?" He asked.

"I'm actually not sure." I admitted truthfully, "It's not like I'll be able to live a peaceful life, I'm a pirate with a bounty after all." I slump my shoulders. I should have thought this through, I can't just do whatever I'm going to do, all by myself. Don't get me wrong though, I'm far from weak. If marines came after me, I could beat them up easily. The problem was that I needed a way to get money, food, and shelter. Basically, all the things I needed to actually survive. But I'm not desperate enough to start acting like those scum pirates who kill and steal from innocent people.

"Well, if you have nothing better to do, how about you come with me?" Fafnir asked calmly, like how you would ask what the weather was like.

Of course, I say the first thing that comes to my mind "What?"

"I asked you if you wanted to come with me." He repeated.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"In some ways, we think alike. I admired Whitebeard. He was like a father figure to me. There's no way that I could follow anyone other than him. So after hearing you explain why you left, I've made up my mind. I usually like to work alone, but I'll make an exception this time. So how would you like to come with me?" He asked again.

"Like a pirate crew?" I asked suspiciously. If he said yes, I would have answered no right away. A pirate crew meant you had to have a Captain.

Luckily, he didn't say that. He answered "No, nothing like that. Think of it like… a partnership. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. So what do you say?"

He holds out his hand for me to shake. I think about it for a moment before a smile appears on my face. I shake his hand and say "You sir, have yourself a deal. The name's Artemis."

"Fafnir." He says, with a grin on his face.

Well, that's the end of this chapter, hope you enjoyed!, Possibility-Maker

And, by the way, that, was a wonderful chapter! Everyone give a hand to our talented co-writer! -Fenrir