After the pirates surrendered, they had their weapons taken away and were escorted to Justice. There, a big funeral was held for the fallen soldiers, while the dead pirates were only mourned by the fish.

As the pirates had voluntarily surrendered, the remaining vice-admirals chose to only execute the ones who were twenty years old or above. The remainder were sentenced to forceful recruitment. There were plenty of children in the pirates, but not enough that they would be a threat.

Of those sentenced to death, one-third were randomly spared. This was common practice in the White House, as well as the other Houses, as it encouraged criminals to surrender without fighting.

Pier received grace for his help, perhaps due to the assistance of Vreil’s group. Of course, he had to surrender his ship to the White House, for research purposes, but he chose not to remain there.

Edward Teach, the former leader of the pirates, was to be secretly transported to Waterslide where a martial court would be held by the revolutionaries to judge him for his crimes. He would be definitely executed but, for political reasons, they had to put him through a trial first. To the general public, he had been put in a secret prison on a faraway island. The Sword of the Devil, along with all the elven ships besides Pier's, had vanished as soon as the pirates had chosen to surrender. Patrols had been sent to nearby islands but no one expected them to be caught.

The Black Beard pirates had been terrorizing the waters for far too long; it was exactly because of that, perhaps, that exterminating them cost the White House so many souls. One-fourth of their ships and one-fifth of their men were lost. The captured ships and men of the pirates made up for this loss numerically, but converting those numbers to actual, loyal men and sturdy vassals would take time.

Of the ten vice-admirals, only three had survived the battle; Akai, Kiza, and Aoki. It would be up to them to rebuild the White House fleet.

Of course, Jiovanni was absolutely furious he had been left behind, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. When he received a written apology from Akai, he had to let it slide.

🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️

Vreil arrived at a dark, empty pier. Or rather, it would be empty, save for the three people there. Milos, Nigel, and Arthur were waiting.

They had agreed to have a talk about the recent events. However, in all honesty, now was not a good time. Vreil’s mind was confused, filled with mist and dark, swirling shapes. He had maimed a man in cold blood. He had faced the one responsible for his family’s death, for taking everything from Vreil, and emerged victorious. He had tried to avenge his parents, partly succeeded and, in the process, lost himself.

He had abandoned those who helped him. Fred, who had died during the battle; perhaps he could have been saved. The sailors, who taught him and the others so many things; they deserved to live, and he could have helped. Not that his wasn’t a good tactical decision but, if not for his revenge, he would never have gone to the pirate base.

The other three young men could have helped too, but he had taken advantage of their fear and dragged them along. He needed them because he knew that, by himself, he wasn’t strong enough. Not yet. But his revenge needed to be had now.

Vreil wasn’t proud of his actions; he was deeply ashamed. He barely even recognized himself. Was this the son his father had raised? Was this what his last name, Light, stood for?

No, Vreil was in a dark place and he knew it. He didn’t regret his actions - he would have done the same all over again - but he recognized their depravity. He was currently estranged from himself, and this was something that Vreil had to first deal with himself before he could open up to others.

And yet, his friends had insisted to speak tonight. He had to show up, he owed it to them. But he didn’t want to, not even one bit.

I know how wrong my actions were. They might be right, but why do they want to rub it in? Why throw salt on the wound? They cannot tell me anything I do not know.

For a while, they just stared at each other. Nigel stepped forward first; he seemed to be the spokesperson for the three of them. He approached Vreil before, abruptly, he began to talk.

"Vreil," he started, "you are the single most selfish, self-important-"

"Yes, I get it. Now can you tell me just what-" Vreil interrupted him and tried to speak himself but a fist landed square on his face before he could even finish his sentence, throwing him on his back.

"NO YOU FUCKING DON'T, YOU ASSHOLE!" Nigel shouted, having punched Vreil as hard as he could.

Vreil touched his nose and then looked at his hand. It was dripping hot blood. "That fucking hurt", he mumbled, ignoring Nigel.

"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME, YOU ARROGANT-" Before he knew it, Vreil's fist had appeared in front of Nigel’s face. "VREIL", Arthur and Milos shouted but they were too slow to react. Nigel was smashed backward, his nose broken. If Arthur didn't catch him, he would have fallen into the water.

"What the fuck, Vreil?" Milos exclaimed. "Calm down!"

"No, Milos", Arthur said, trying and failing to control the anger in his voice. "I will make him calm down."

Gently placing Nigel on the floor, his figure straightened and he slowly moved towards Vreil, clenching his fists.

Arthur’s enraged figure as he approached was very much imposing. Vreil's hand instinctively tried to move towards his sword, and he forced his hand to stop right after it began. The movement was almost imperceptible, but Milos had a good viewpoint and managed to catch it. At least he's not that far gone, he thought.

Without another word, Arthur threw himself at Vreil. It wasn't some elegant fight. It was a street brawl. Both men focused only on attacking, allowing the other's punches to land with no regard for defense. Fists landed one after the other, drawing blood with sickening sounds. The two men roared as they fought with wild abandon, freely exchanging punches, taking out all their tension on one another.

Milos was impressed by the sheer brutality. It reminded him of what he felt like when fighting in his wolf form. It also reminded him of how children fought, even if particularly aggressive; no weapons, no magic. Only fists and the will to punch down one another.

The fight lasted for seconds, but they were both physically and mentally spent. As they were both stumbling, Nigel got up, shimmering with rage. He rushed to Vreil and punched him even harder than he had before. Vreil, bloody and exhausted as he was, and of course not employing any form of magic, couldn't react in time and was hit, falling on the ground once again.

"WILL YOU FUCKING LISTEN TO ME, YOU IDIOT?" shouted Nigel, leaning over Vreil. "WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" he tried to punch him again, but Arthur grabbed his hand to stop him.

"FRED DIED. VELROS DIED. THEY ALL DIED VREIL, AND YOU DIDN'T HELP THEM. AND YOU DON'T EVEN FUCKING CARE", he screamed, pointing at Vreil's face.

Vreil just laid there, the spit from Naigel's shouts falling all over his face.

"There was nothing we could do, Nigel", he tried to say. "Even if we stayed, we-"

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!" Nigel screamed. He took a deep, long breath and Vreil waited. Nigel sighed before continuing, calmly this time. "It doesn't matter, Vreil. You didn't even try to help them. We... didn't try. I don't blame you for our decision but... at least care a bit. Mourn them. I saw your face at the funeral and it drove me crazy. How can you be so calm?? I wanted to cry my eyes out like a little bitch!"

Vreil didn't reply. Neither did anybody else. Both Arthur and Vreil were bleeding and in pain, and yet they did not let out a single sound.

"You should value the people around you more, Vreil. If you knew what I..." Nigel clenched his teeth. Images of his childhood went through his mind, the loneliness, the superficiality, his noble "friends", the people he lost... He shook his head.

"I let you have your revenge," he continued, "but they died. I know many more would have died if we hadn't taken down Black Beard and I don't know if I regret it, but..."

"I do know", Milos stepped into the conversation, similarly taking a step forward. "I believe that things would have been much worse had we stayed there. But I also believe that it's not only the consequences of actions that matter, it’s also our intentions. It remains that we didn't try to help them when we could have. That... was not right."

Vreil clenched his teeth.

"Revenge is a dead-end", Milos continued, speaking words far beyond his age. "Virtue is not. Graciousness should be repaid with graciousness, even against the odds."

This struck a chord inside Vreil. His father had once said something similar.

Arthur also chose this time to speak up. "I don't know about revenge or not, consequences and reasons. All I know is right and wrong. And what we did was not right. Although it was not only your fault."

Vreil stood up. Another round of silence ensued as the young men contemplated their thoughts, looking at each other.

"I know", Vreil finally spoke up. "What we did was not right. But I don't regret it, for I had no choice. If I could go back in time, I would do the same thing again. But that was the only time. From now on..." he shook his head, "no more. Never again."

Vreil looked up. "Thank you", he said softly. Regardless of anything else, they had abandoned others to help him, others who deserved their assistance more. They weren’t having this conversation to excuse themselves or take their anger out, but because they believed him to be worthy of their efforts. Vreil knew that if they didn't honestly care about him and consider him their friend, this discussion would never have happened. Or, at least, not in the same way.

Vreil gave them some time to digest his words before speaking up again. "Are we still... friends?"

They all looked at each other.

"Yes", said Milos.

"Yes", said Nigel.

"...yes", Arthur also spoke, reluctantly.

The three had spoken at the same time, and they looked at each other surprised. Vreil let go of his breath that he hadn't realized was holding. The others also felt like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Only Arthur still felt stifled inside... he wouldn't let go of this easily, but he didn't feel like pushing further. Vreil noticed, but there was nothing he could do.

In the future, nobody would forget this incident, but they knew that everybody had their own reasons, and nobody was truly unjustified. Nobody is perfect.

Just... their viewpoints were different. Now, their friendship still held true. And for now... friends understand.