[[ AND the music will have a cue when I think you should play it since it doesn't fit the first part]]

-------------------

The sun beat down on the girl as if she were being cooked in an oven.

It had been a month since she boarded the ship, and she had never physically worked so hard in her life.

But she never complained.

Currently she was scrubbed the deck on her hands and knees, her knees ached, and her hands were forming blisters. What made it worse, the princess could feel the crew eyeing her, as if their gazes were constantly prodding her.

She did not like the attention that having female parts on a ship of men got her. She wore the dress her maid had given her, but her now short hair was covered in a plain cream-colored cloth Leopoldo, the older white-haired man, had given her.

As modestly dressed as that, she was still being looked at like a pile of meat in a cage of wild dogs.

The princess was only comforted by the fact that the four men had made sure the crew did not touch her. When it happened usually one would intervene quickly leaving the perpetrator with a warning. She was truly thankful for them.

She had been introduced to all of them properly her first day of being the ships maid. The man with onyx hair being Kazumi, the captain of the ship, she had seen him the least her stay here. She wondered if he was still angry with her for boarding without permission.

"You've never worked a day in your life, have you?" A small voice made the girl look up from her duty, Leven stood above her, looking down at her progress.

"You are useless, how hard can it be to scrub?" The man complained.

(Y/N) looked up to the man with a sweet smile, "I admit, I am not used to this." She chuckled. "I'll try to do better, I'm sorry, Leven."

She continued with her chore, putting more force onto the brush.

Leven was thrown by her calm, and kind response to his invectives.

He had never met a girl, or anyone for that matter, who smiled no matter what. Nor a girl who said his name just as sweet, and how he hated to admit his name rolling off her tongue, and out her beautiful lips, made his heart tighten.

He had spoken to her in passing these last few days and has come to find out that this girl was never really in what would be a bad mood. Even if everything he said to her had a hint of an insult, she always smiled at him and never retorted with the same.

Leven rolled his eyes and began up the stairs to where his comrades gathered by the wheel.

"An odd little dove she is." Ivo chuckled softly eyeing the girl working hard.

"More so dim than anything," Leven scoffed.

"Oh, brother, I disagree." Leopoldo smirked, his younger brother came to stand beside him, leaning against the banister. "She is many things, but I don't think she is dim, maybe... naïve."

The four men looked down to the girl, they did not share their true thoughts, but they were all becoming interested in this strange girl that stumbled upon their ship.

"Um, Captain..." The girl called out to Kazumi, he eyed her as a response.

"What is that?" She pointed out into the sea; all the men followed her finger to see a foggy impression of a silhouette.

It was far out in the distance, but it caught the princess's eye.

🎵📣

"It looks to be a ship," Kazumi whispered to himself, pulling his spyglass from his pocket, and spotted the Jolly Rodger.

"The Loyal Doomed." Kazumi said loud enough for the three to hear.

"In these waters?" Ivo speculated.

"What stupid little men." Leo joked.

"Should we remain on course, or avoid?" Leven questioned.

Kazumi thought about his options and peered down to the girl who was had continued scrubbing. The captain is far too territorial to allow them to sail in his waters, but a pirate fight is something he did not wish (Y/N) to be a part of or even witness.

"Stay on course. Leopoldo, take the girl down to her room and stay there with her until whatever happens is over with." Kazumi ordered.

"Happily," Leopoldo smiled, and began his descent down the steps, to meet with the princess.

"(Y/N), dear. Come this way." Leopoldo gestured for the girl to follow him to the lower levels.

"Are you sure? I haven't finished-" (Y/N) began but Leo held up a single hand.

"Never mind that, leave the bucket and come." He urged.

(Y/N) had thought Leopoldo to the be the kindest so far, so she did not hesitate too much to follow him.

"Is something wrong, Leo?" (Y/N) asked as she took the steep steps slowly.

"Nothing to be concerned about, dear." He said guiding her all the way to her room.

When they arrived, he ushered her in, and went to sit on her bed casually. She stood in the middle of the room confused.

"Did I do something wrong?" The girl questioned, for some reason feeling guilty, wondering if maybe she should not have called out to Kazumi.

"No, no, nothing of the sort." Leopoldo smiled, leaning back on his hands, and crossing his legs in front of him.

"We will be running into an enemy ship, just taking precaution that our precious maid is not injured if a fight ensues." He said so nonchalantly.

"Enemy ship? A fight?" (Y/N) started to panic.

Leopoldo sat up, positioning his elbow on his knee, having his hand to prop his chin on.

"Don't worry, like I said you'll be-" Leopoldo started but was quickly cut off by the princess kneeling down in front of him, grabbing his forearms gently.

"Will they be okay?" She asked frantically. Leo's eyes widened before his brows furrowed.

"W-who?" Leo was never one to lose his even and concise tone, but this unexpected behavior caused him to stagger on his words.

"Kazumi! Leven! Ivo! Will they be okay? Should you be down here with me?" The worry in her eyes for his friends made his gut twist, he did not realize it was out of jealousy.

"Nonsense." Leo smiled, regaining his composure, and placing a hand on top of the girl's head. "What do you take demon crew for? They will be perfectly fine."

"Demon crew?" (Y/N) questioned.

Leopoldo looked at the girl almost confused. "Yes, don't you know whose ship you trotted onto?"

The girl shifted awkwardly under his perplexed gaze, and she took her hands from his arms, which made his heart twitch by a fraction not wanting her touch to leave him.

"I assumed it was a just a sailors ship, right?" She asked embarrassed by her ignorance.

To her surprise Leopoldo started to laugh, it began as a slight chuckle and then grew to a hard-deep cackle. It seemed he could barely breath.

"Maybe I was wrong... maybe you... are a bit dim." Leo managed to say between laughs making the girl blush from humiliation.

"Dear girl, you are aboard The Scorched Bones, captained by a demon himself." Leopoldo leaned in closer, just inches from the girl's face. "And his band of demon comrades." He winked.

The girls heart dropped.

"Demons?" She whispered looking over Leopoldo for any horns or sharp teeth.

He chuckled again. "Well... part demon." He admitted.

"I- I'm a little confused, I'm sorry." (Y/N) confessed.

"Well, since you're so cute, I guess I can enlighten you just a bit." Leopoldo uncrossed his legs, to cross them the opposite way.

The girl blushed a little as he continued.

"It is a pretty common story, anyway. You see, when you agree to follow the captain you agree to make a deal, a deal with a demon." He smirks. "You see, our demons are really powerful... parasites." He thought for a moment for the right word.

"For centuries, the crew of this ship made a pact that in exchange for a host, they will lend their specific skills when needed." He explained.

The girl thought for a moment.

The supernatural was quite common through the kingdoms, in fact her old childhood friend, Mamoru, was also bound to a spirit in a similar way. But she had never heard of a demon being tethered to a person.

"So... you're possessed?" She asked meekly.

Leo once again, laughed at her words. "I suppose. Demons are dormant in their hosts most of the time, they rear heads in case the host is in danger, meaning their home is."

"... Are the demons from... Hell?" (Y/N) asked worried.

"No, no. Demons... they are just spirits. Neither from hell nor heaven."

The girl sighed in relief, glad that the men were not evil.

"Kazumi, Ivo, Leven and I are all inhabited by a demon, it gives us inhuman strength, speed, agility, even a few tricks up our sleeves" Leo listed to the girl.

He could hear shouting on the upper deck, but (Y/N) could not, and he did not intend to worry her with the fact. He was much more interested in the reaction this girl will have to learning that they are part demon.

"But you are Leopoldo, right? These past few days have been you and not a demon?" She asked which surprised Leo, he did not see why she wanted to know.

"Yes, like I said, the demon will only come out when we are extreme distress. A demon needs a body to live in, or else it will just wither way, so they often make contracts with humans just to escape death, even if most of their life is spent sleeping." He explained evenly looking out her cabin window, out at the sea and the sun glistening off the waters with blinding shimmers.

When he looked back to the girl, he was shocked to see a wide smile spread across her features. It was not expected in the least and his brows furrowed.

"I am so glad; I was so worried!" (Y/N) beamed. "It's true I never heard any stories of your crew, and I apologize for making you explain your situation to me, but I'm grateful that all of you will be okay."

"You're grateful?" Leo flatly asked, confused, and almost annoyed by her remark.

"Yes, after all, Captain Kazumi let me stay on the ship." The girl explained.

"As a prisoner..." Leopoldo commented, but it was like background noise to her.

"And you've all been so nice, and even given tasks to pass the time."

"You are supposed to be the maid..." He muttered but again she ignored.

"Captain Kazumi could've thrown me off the ship, and you all could've ignored me... but you didn't... and to know that it was you and you alone, not another force, making me feel like I belonged, I am truly grateful." Her smile softened and she looked Leopoldo in the eyes for the first time.

His crystal blue orbs spellbound by her heavenly (E/C) eyes, he couldn't look away and he couldn't place the feeling crashing into him like waves; knot in his gut, his heart thumping like crazy, and he felt nearly dizzy.

"(Y/N)..." He whispered so quietly even he could barely hear it... Just then the door burst open, standing on the other side was a man neither recognized, his crazed eyes flickered from (Y/N) and Leopoldo.

"So, the runts are down here hiding, huh?" The burly man approached steadily.

Leopoldo rolled his eyes and released a heavy sigh.

He stood from the bed casually, grabbing (Y/N) by her arm pulling her to her feet and, guided her to stand behind him.

"As a man you should know how frustrating it would be if another man were to interrupt your time with a woman." Leopoldo shifted to block the man's view of (Y/N).

"I'll treat her good once I cut you down, pretty boy." The man swung his large sword through the air stiffly.