I finished this chapter hoping I could get someone to beta read for me. But I was foolish to think that I could have someone beta read when my chapters are so close together. Eventually I decided to suck it up and just finish this chapter by myself. It was difficult finding the right words to put in this chapter but I managed. I hope KingSpike is reading this chapter because I want him to know I need his help. We worked on characters together, it's only fitting he reads this story and sees their appearance. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this almost two thousand long chapter.

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Liana finished telling Christopher and Fletcher how Gold Finger was taking over the town. Her story was so sad Christopher gave her a customary moment of silence. Fletcher was looking at a mirror and blinking to himself. Poor Liana didn't have any friends or any loved ones. She was alone in this big house while a tyrannical leader poisoned this town with his influence.

After a moment, a grin spreads on Fletcher's face and he laughs to himself. He pumped his fist in the air and held his elbow with his other hand. " Wait until I find that Gold Finger guy. I'm going to beat his nose."

Fletcher was an oddball in Christopher's mind, but now he knew Fletcher was also crazy. What made him think he stood a chance against this Gold Finger? Christopher wasn't going to help him. He made up his mind listening to Liana's story that Gold Finger was harder to beat than an island of marines.

" You can't stop Lord Gold Finger," Liana said fiddling with her fingers. " He's stolen all our weapons and gave them to his guards that used to be pirates. They were once free men before they came here, now their only idiots who drink beer and make everyone else's lives miserable because it's fun to them."

Christopher had consumed thoughts. The only sensual thing to do would be to leave this island and never come back. It wasn't Christopher's fault this island turned out like this. Why should an assassin and an eccentric captain deal with an entire army of dangerous men.

" What's fun about letting innocent people die?" Christopher asked. He needed to know all the facts before he made a final decision. " How many innocent people has he killed?"

Liana got up and moved to the window. Christopher felt she was being inconsiderate of his question. She pulled a chair to the window and stared at the sun about to set.

" Not very many. He does try to keep us alive; he looks at us as if we're his property." At that very moment Liana let out a cough. Christopher remembered his coughs when he had chickenpox. That cough was nothing to the cough Liana had.

" Are you okay?" Christopher asked. She raised her hand to hold Christopher until she could give him an answer. Christopher saw something red in her hand she used to block her cough.

" I'm fine, it's just a cold." She said as the sound of her nostrils build up. Christopher's concern dissolved the moment she said that. Christopher who wasn't a fool, goes to her and squeezes her shoulders.

" Just a cold my ass! You were coughing blood!"

Liana coughed again. Blood came out entirely from her mouth over her hand. Besides her chair Fletcher was fidgeting with a mantel hanging on Liana's wall. Christopher rushed into the kitchen and poured water from the tap into a glass. He then rushed over to Liana and handed her the water. She refused.

" This island with Gold Finger as the mayor has just started getting to me."

Liana coughed in her throat this time. Christopher wanted to find a way to reassure her everything was going to be alright. His smiles couldn't reassure her. He didn't have the temperance to not yell at her. He wasn't a doctor. Suddenly, like a tongue slap to the face, an idea came to Christopher's mind.

" Can't you tell Gold Finger to give you medicine?" Liana sweated out the cold and looked at Christopher. His smile was reassuring. "I'm sure he'll give you medicine if you just ask."

" He does give medicine." Liana smiled; a small tiny smile, " To the young people." Liana stopped smiling and looked at the window. " They deny me of food and water. What I have is all I will have left." Three crumbs dropped out of Liana's sleeves. They were just tiny dots on her skin and she held them out for Christopher. "There's hardly enough in here to feed a mouse!"

Christopher did not respond at first. He was standing still and looking at Liana. He was holding those three tiny crumbs in his hand. He crushed the crumbs and threw the pieces away. He ran to the kitchen to look at the cupboards. He opened cupboards on the top and cupboards in the bottom. All he found was dust and cobwebs. The refrigerator, as he looked inside, was empty of any piece of food.

Christopher ran out of the kitchen and over to Liana. His mind paused to come up with the right answer. Why was there no more food in this house? Where did those meatballs come from? And where were the spices?

" But you looked like you had so much food. Where did that come from?" Liana looked unpleasant and sad. Christopher was worried about how she was going to live if there wasn't any food and she had no money. Suddenly, he realized why there was no food in this house. " You gave the last of your good food to me? Why…Why would you do that? Don't you know we're pirates?"

Liana turned around on her chair and glanced at Christopher. Liana tried to smile for Christopher but Christopher didn't feel like a smile from a woman who was poor and dying. It was too heartbreaking for him. Liana turned around looking at the window.

" I can tell just from how your teenagers and from the look of it you're not brothers. What would two young boys be doing sailing here? That's easy. Their looking for adventure." Christopher saw Liana squeeze her right hand. It seemed to be some way of suppressing all the anger built up inside of her. Unhappiness and guilt, she was feeling it in her soul. " You two are not like the pirates who work diligently for the devil. You two are here by accident I'm sure. Which one of you is the captain?"

Fletcher stopped looking at a reflection of him in the mirror and jumped up beside Christopher. " I am." Christopher jumped in surprise at how close Fletcher was to him. He scared the life out of him, so he punched Fletcher in his arm. Liana giggled.

" It's funny. You remind me so much of Malen." Fletcher only heard a muffle sound from Liana's chair. Her voice was getting weaker. Fletcher leaned up to her chair and listened to her speak. "You would have loved to meet him. Can you promise me something?"

" No," Fletcher said bluntly. That idiot, Christopher thought. " I'm very bad at keeping promises. The only promises I want to keep is finding Gol D. Roger's treasure and fighting my rival."

" Listen to what Christopher has to tell you first, dumbass!" Christopher's head got bigger when he shouted. Fletcher replied laughing and rubbing his messy brown hair.

" Thank you young man," Liana said to Christopher. Fletcher stopped laughing. Liana stroked her chair speaking more about her past than the present. "When you two leave this island I want you to find more crewmates so you can come back and finish Lord Gold Finger." Christopher was going ask Liana to come with them. This island should be her playground by now, but Liana continued saying more as if reading Christopher's mind. " I will be dead by the time you get enough new nakama to stop him, but I want the children now and children coming to be happy knowing this village will return to what it used to be."

Liana hastily raised her bony finger to a closet beside a picture of her younger self being sandwiched together by two pirates. One of them was young but had smooth gray hair, a brown jacket with a white shirt, blue pants, and chains on his pants. His eyes were closed so Christopher couldn't tell what color his eyes were. The other one next to Liana was a green haired pirate and he looked exactly like Christopher. It was like Christopher was staring at a long lost twin brother.

Christopher looks at the closet. He paused briefly than walked to the closet. He opened the closet. It was dark inside the closet, much like Christopher's head at solving what was in there. He pulled on a chain for the light bald. This shadowy closet was shown in the fluorescent light to be a storage of all the treasures Liana had.

The closet was neatly arranged with all the things she had. There were eyepatches, pistols, and hats. She had a big red flag with a skull holding a bone in its mouth and a phoenix painted on the bottom right corner of the flag. There were all these cool treasure, but the one that caught Christopher's eyes was a black sheath of a black flower-guard katana. A chain was attached to the katana's end. Christopher could carry it around on his shoulder.

" Don't let his numbers scare you." Liana said. Christopher walked out of the closet holding her katana. The blade was still sharp even though it looked very old. "Do what you can to win not for me but for Badrat. He's sucking the life out of my Beautiful Badrat. Don't let Badrat die."

Christopher sheathed Liana's katana and put it around his right arm. Christopher had training with a blade but he never carried one before. Holding it made Liana happy. Christopher approached Liana and kneeled to her. In his assassin training this was a sign of respect and diligence.

" Where does this Gold Finger guy live?" Christopher asked.

" On the other side of the island. If you leave my house and turn around…."

Liana and Christopher heard the door shut behind them. Christopher unsheathed, holding his katana with both hands thinking it was Gold Finger's men who found them. It was to Christopher's surprise that no one was in this house.

Christopher realized something when he unsheathed. Where was Fletcher? He didn't suspect Fletcher was roaming anywhere in this house. It came to Christopher's mind that Fletcher left the house. The question was did he go to Gold Finger's castle. Christopher was angry that Fletcher left him to fight Gold Finger all alone.

" He's not really thinking about GOING to Gold Finger's CASTLE fighting him and his entire army right NOW?!" Christopher kicked the wall. Christopher lost control of his anger. He stared at Liana who was surprised. Christopher changed his violence into a joke. " What can I say but my captain is kind of an idiot."