Our campaign continued on and the crew members were more than happy with our progress. With each successive Eastern Empire navy ship we found, we gained more shipping routes and maps, which I stuck to the wall in the captain's cabin. We also cleared out and stole any ship's cargo we wanted, thanks to the Eastern Empire having records of their manifests for supply purposes.

Knowing what bases were going to get what, definitely helped me make a huge dent in the Eastern Empire's supply train. They also had no clue that we were stripping their resources from right under their noses.

My crew and I were also become insanely rich.

I tried to refuse them declaring me the captain and accepting my shares of the loot, only for everyone to pretty much ignore my wishes and called me captain anyway. I now had my own chest of gold stashed behind the captain's bed. My bed.

Each new set of slaves would have a troublemaker or two, which I didn't have to deal with. As soon as someone started to question my decisions too adamantly, they were told to shut up or to get off the ship, because they weren't slaves anymore and could leave whenever they wanted.

The stupid ones chose to be dropped off and the crew agreed... immediately. The water beasts that seemed to be following us, were well fed. I started naming them as a joke and the crew would occasionally toss some of the fish from obtained cargoes over the side of the ship to feed their favorite ones. No one wanted to eat fish anymore and no one had to.

We also found several cooks among the new slaves and they took to our version of meals as if they had never cooked before and were dying to learn how. The quality and amount of food we produced was staggering, if we didn't have twice the normal ship's compliment. Everyone was still busy, though. The ship was huge, thanks to the modifications, and everyone loved that we were more warship than anything else.

The navy ships gave us more cannons than we knew what to do with, so we would occasionally stop somewhere and let one or two slaves spread the rumors that we had a salvaged cannon for sale. The crew stifled laughs as our ship was discreetly visited by no less than ten different cargo ship crew members that wanted the extra protection for their cargoes.

Of course we agreed, and we even installed the new cannons for them under their main decks. The ships with cargoes we wanted, we would still secure them properly and wouldn't install little flaws in the cannon barrels so that the cannonballs wouldn't fit properly. We didn't want the cargoes stolen by anyone else but us. Most of them never fired a shot when we approached them on the open waters and liberated their cargo and slaves.

Farra took to magic like Molly did and she loved being able to cast spells. She couldn't enchant worth a damn, though. She had no aptitude for the tools at all, just like Gella and Hanna. The older man was too old to handle the tools and he was too weak for casting spells, so he relegated himself to powering enchantments when necessary and brewing potions.

He had his gland up to making one pot of number ten potion every day, which was a significant improvement. After showing him how to manually milk the thing every hour, he had enough at the end of the day for his own batch of potion. He laughed almost maniacally as he infused the thing himself.

_______________

Montage mode engaged. Skipping miscellaneous details. Speeding up time. Done.

_______________

Time seemed to pass like water as we worked, raided, ate, fixed and improved the ship, stopped for rests, and eventually we made our pirate ship the best ship on the open seas. A month went by before we knew it and everyone was dressed in expensive clothing, even the former slaves.

One of the women had been a maid for a very rich person and she had the brilliant suggestion to use something called 'concealer' to cover up the women's bright white skin. It couldn't do anything for the eyes or hair; but, with liberal application, their faces and hands could be changed to a more natural skin color. They all jumped at the chance and bought out every bit of the substance from any marketplace we visited. They also bought out any other make-up, just because they could.

Needless to say, by the time the next month ended, every woman on the ship had a man to escort her. Some came to me for official permission and became couples like Jensen and Molly while others simply enjoyed each other's company. I had no idea that commoners had different social standards than higher class people, so I spent several weeks in lessons with several of the people I was teaching magic to and listened to them explain the differences.

I was shocked. Completely and utterly shocked. I didn't know that being a couple didn't always mean a permanent commitment. I had always been told that you had to be loyal to who you were with and had no clue that I could have left any relationship at any time. It would have been a mind-blowing revelation if I hadn't had that one experience with Diane. She had tossed me aside for not taking care of her son and freed me to go with Helena.

It never occurred to me that I wasn't tied to Diane at all. We didn't even have a verbal agreement to stay together. Once she had acquired all of the stock for her store from me, I was no longer needed, except for sex. I could see that now, thanks to my experience as a pirate and all of the cargoes we had gained during these long months at sea. If we had left the ships alone after robbing them, their usefulness would have been reduced to nothing.

“Master? Are you okay?” Hanna asked in a normal voice as she entered the captain's cabin. She had gradually stopped whispering and I missed her quiet voice. I would never tell her that, though.

“I'm fine.” I said and stared at my wall of coastline maps that I had painstakingly stitched together. “I'm missing one piece of information.”

Hanna walked over to the wall and pointed. “This one.”

I nodded at the empty space where it should have shown where the land mass ended and would let us pass through to the right area to get back to the Gulf Kingdom. No one in the area had been anywhere near there and it was bothering me that one last piece of information kept evading me. Either that, or it didn't exist on a ship.

“That's it!” I almost shouted and walked over to the map myself. I traced my finger down the various paths the Eastern Empire's ships travelled and stopped at the very first port on the improvised map. “Here. We need to go here if I want to get home.”

“Why there?” Hanna asked.

“It's the only place that there could be an enemy base that will have land maps for where I want to go.” I said and my finger was about an inch away from hers on the map.

“It will take at least two weeks to get there.” Hanna said.

“I know.” I said and walked back to the bed and sat down. “I'll need to call an all crew meeting.”

Hanna laughed softly and walked over to me. “Master, just tell them we are going and we will go.”

I shook my head. “That's not how this ship works.”

Hanna's hand touched my head and she ran her fingers through my long white hair. “It does. You just won't admit it to yourself.”

I shook my head again. “I won't take their choices away, just because I completed my word to them.”

Hanna put her other hand into my hair and looked into my eyes. “Master... My Lord... you are too good of a man to give up the treasure that this ship has become.”

“You're wrong.” I said and stood, which dragged her fingers out of my hair and down my chest. “It's the people on the ship that are willing to work together that's the treasure. The ship is just a tool for them to use.”

Hanna looked up into my eyes and smiled. “I will tell them so as I call them together.”

“There's too many for the dining room now, so we have to go up on the deck.” I said.

“Wait for ten minutes and ascend to the rear deck and the steering wheel.” Hanna said and left.

I counted in my head and then left my cabin to go down the hallway. It seemed eerily silent as I walked through the empty ship and went up onto the main deck. There was a shuffling of feet and everyone there saluted me in the pirate's version. A rude finger gesture pressed to the side of their forehead. They held it until I went up the short stairs to the rear deck.

I returned the salute with a flourish and they all laughed. “I called you here for a reason...”

“WE'RE WITH YOU, SIR!” They all responded.

I shook my head. “I completed my word. This is the best and most feared pirate ship in these waters. Even warships try to avoid it...”

“THEY ALWAYS FAIL BECAUSE OF YOU, SIR!”

I gave them all a glare. “It's deep into the Eastern Empire's territory and...”

“WE'LL KICK THEIR ASSES!”

“At least let me finish speaking!” I shouted back, and they all laughed. “I was going to ask you help me build my own assault craft and...”

“YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY FROM US THAT EASILY, SIR!”

“Goddammit! I'm trying to give you all a choice!”

“WE CHOOSE YOU, SIR!”

I stopped talking and tried to not sigh. I glanced to my right and saw Hanna standing there with a smile on her face. Beside her, Gella stood with a smile on her face, too. “Gella! I know you want to stay here and...”

“You've allowed me to revenge my father by letting me take down over a dozen Eastern Empire ships and burning them to the keels.” Gella said and pulled a sword from the scabbard on her hip. She lit it up and held it out proudly. Her arm no longer shook from the weight of the full sword, thanks to the borrowed forge at one of the port stops. “I've personally killed tens more than I ever thought possible. For that, and for my father's eternal gratitude, I swore this sword to you, My Lord.”

I looked around and saw similar looks on everyone's faces. “It's going to be extremely dangerous!”

“THEN FIX THAT!” They yelled back.

I turned my head to look at the older man and Farra, only to see that they had big smiles on their faces.

“Yes, my lord. We told them.” The older man admitted.

I actually sighed this time. “I don't know if we can power it enough to work.”

“We can.” Farra said and put a hand over her heart. “We've felt your control, My Lord.”

“We will do it!” Gella, Hanna, and Molly said together.

I gave each of them a pointed look, then closed my eyes. “Meet me in the work room.”

“YES!” The crew yelled and started hooting and hollering as I and the other magic users went below deck to make the six-part compound enchantment that I had discovered inside the King's jail cell and then fixed. Adding in the concealment and protective enchantments wouldn't be hard at all. Powering it all and the movement enchantments at the same time was going to be difficult, though.

Three hours later, we were done and installed the enchantments in the exact spots on the outside of the ship to get them to work. After a warning that it might not work, even with me controlling it, we all took our assigned positions. I was at the head and Molly was at the back, the anchors of the enchantment, and the other four were on the sides, two each. The old man and Gella on one side and Hanna and Farra on the other, their powers split evenly with one weak and one strong.

“Is everyone ready?” I asked and they responded with yes. “Charge them up!”

I poured my magic into the enchantment hanging on the bow spirit's chest and I felt connections form between mine and Molly's first, then smaller connections to the other four. I concentrated on those connections and pulled as much as I could to make them as strong as mine and Molly's. Four gasps came from behind me and I could feel their magic desperately trying to merge the enchantments together to join their magic with mine.

There was a small popping sound, as if something broke, and I felt an immense pressure inside my chest.

“GAH!” I gasped and dropped to my knees. I felt the magic surge through whatever the thing attached to my heart was and my whole body tingled. I looked down and blood started to soak my white shirt. I ignored the pain and kept concentrating. The magic swirled inside of me, as if begging to be used, so I did so. I shoved it back into the enchantment that was a single one in six parts.

There was a crack like lightning and several screams came from behind me... then the entire ship started to shimmer as a slightly blue bubble formed around the ship. The screams stopped as everything started to slowly fade, the people included. After several long moments, all that could be seen was the depression in the water. A moment later, that shimmered as well and an illusion of water filled the spot.

“By the Son's Light.” Several voices said at the same time.

“I think... it worked.” I said, my voice laboured.

“My lord? What's wrong?” Hanna's concerned voice asked. “I feel... what is that?”

“I think... I broke... something.” I said and put a hand to my heart. I pulled open my shirt and there was a gold coin sized hole there.

_______________

You have a critical choice to make. Will it be the right one?

A) Do nothing. B) Yell. C) Scream in pain. D) Cast a spell. E) Do something stupid. F) Choose two.

I see the same option again. I thought with a chuckle. You know I can't resist it when it appears, right?

No one answered me this time and I laughed.

All right, I'll choose two. I'll do C first and then I'll do E.

_______________

I let out a loud scream of pain that I had been holding in since the enchantment made the final connection, then the enchantment stopped working. The magic didn't leave me, however. I had five other magic users and their magic flowing through my veins. It gave me the monumentally stupid idea to do something about the magic blocker on my now damaged heart.

“NOOO!” Farra yelled as she felt my resolve.

“I have to!” I shouted back and hooked two fingers into the hole, and pulled. I tore part of my pectoral muscle apart and exposed the missing rib that was supposed to cover and protect my heart. I reached in and felt around as my blood gushed out of the wound.

“STOP! STOOOOOOOP!” Farra yelled as the rest of the crew started to realize something was very wrong.

“It's... our only... chance!” I said and gripped the metallic thing, then pulled with all my strength. I felt my heart start to come out with it and used my other hand to grab it and held it steady. The sound of squelching flesh and blood was loud on the deck of the ship. No one tried to come near me, though.

I pulled as hard as I could and after several seconds, something gave. A sucking sound later, the device separated from my damaged heart muscle and more blood than I thought I had in me flowed out onto the deck.

“H-h-help me.” I whispered and let the device go to clatter to the deck, then I fell backwards onto the deck, too. Above me were many faces I had come to know. They were all crying heavily. “Potion in heart.” I whispered and looked at the older man. “...put fixed heart back... potions to...”

I took one more breath before everything went black.