Prince Emmet has longed to see the world and have an adventure since he was little, but with an arranged marriage looming over his head, it's looking like he'll never get that chance. When pirates raid his home city of Bricksport, he might get that...
Rex caught Emmet's arm as the prince made his way toward the cabin, intent on seeing the captains and sharing his victory with them. "Hold up," the guard captain said, and Emmet looked askance at him. "They had an accident-"
Emmet froze. "Are they going to die?!"
"What- no, they're not dying, they'll be fine. But they took some pretty serious damage to their wings, and I know how you are about blood. Just thought you'd appreciate the warning before you barged in there and were faced with that mess."
"Oh... Well in that case, thank you." Emmet clasped his hands behind his back and grinned at Rex. "So?"
"...So what?"
"Did I do good or what?"
Rex sighed, dragging his hands over his face. "Yeah, kid, you did good. You nearly gave me a heart attack though, taking off without warning like that. I knew you were up to something!"
"But it worked out for the best, right?" Emmet bounced, then wilted. "I just wish we could have managed it sooner, maybe then they wouldn't be hurt..."
"Emmet." The prince glanced up at Rex's unusually serious tone. "You couldn't have predicted that they would get hurt so badly, and really, I doubt getting the princess to call off the battle any sooner would have helped regardless. Guy like Thomas would have just ignored orders. And it could have been worse."
"How?"
"If Cary hadn't intervened, Benny would be dead." Emmet paled. "But Benny's safe, and May says she thinks she'll be able to help them recover their wings."
The prince slumped in relief. "Oh, thank goodness."
Rex grinned and nudged his shoulder. "C'mon now, you should be celebrating your success! You gotta tell me what happened! How'd you get them to call it off?"
Emmet grinned back, his excitement returning at having an eager audience. "Well..."
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The story had circulated the Diligente at least three times, and had spread to the other Octan ships, by the time the captains were ready to face anyone again. Shifting back to their human guise proved futile; the effort caused even more pain than getting their wings shot off in the first place had, so Mayhem had settled for wrapping their wings and binding them against their back as comfortably as she could manage. It was unsettling to set foot outside of the cabin still in their true form.
"How are you feeling, Captain?" Francis asked, glancing up at them.
"Everything aches," Alastar admitted. "But we're alive, that's got to count for something." Emmet was quick to give them a cautious hug, and didn't relax until Alastar hugged him back. "We're alright, Emmet," the siren soothed. "And we're so, so proud of you."
"I was so scared at first, when Rex said you got hurt... How bad is it?"
"We haven't seen them ourselves, we've... we've been too afraid to look," Alastar admitted. "May says that cannonball took out the lower half of both of them." Emmet paled at the mental image his words produced. "Oh, Emmet," Alastar crooned as tears welled up in the prince's eyes, and pulled him close. "We'll be okay. They'll grow back. Cary's fighting me on it, but I'm thinking of asking for leave until we've recovered."
Emmet nodded and wiped his eyes. "I think that's a good idea. And I'm sure Father will think so too."
Alastar chuckled softly. "I'm sure he will."
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"So now that this mess with Scala be over, what should we be doin' about the ransom?" Metalbeard and Benny had had a long discussion about it over breakfast that morning, and had decided they should put it to vote. The crew deserved to have a say in the matter, after being promised such a large sum for so long.
The crew glanced at each other, silent and hesitant. "We've been thinking," Skeeter started when it became evident that no one else was going to speak up. "We're not so sure we want to go through with it anymore."
That surprised captain and first mate. "Aye?"
"Aye, it just... It doesn't feel right, now that we've gotten to know him."
"We been talkin', Cap'n, and we thought- well, maybe joinin' Octan ain't so bad a deal." A murmur of agreement went up through the rest of the crew. Benny grinned at Metalbeard.
"Well I guess that settles that, then."
"Aye," Metalbeard chuckled. "I'll be speakin' with Captain Callaghan when we reach Bricksport."
