“They’re awake!”

Someone was calling out from the below.

I was still in my bed, but it seemed like everyone else was moving around and about on the boat.

The footsteps were loud, and the creaking of the wooden ship echoed in the room.

Lorelei was peaking her head through the door to check what was going on.

Mun was still sleeping in her bed, her blanket was on the floor and she was asleep with both her arms and her legs stretched out. I was surprised I had been able to sleep with her snoring.

Lorelei and I went ahead to check out what all the noise was. Many of the crewmates were gathered outside the room where Tal and the others were kept.

“What’s happening?” I asked as I wiped my eyes.

It was Ralphie who answered with a quiet whisper, “They’re awake now. Scarlett just went in there to see if they’re still under Crowell’s control.”

There was a small window on the door which everyone was trying to peak through. I was able to see Scarlett through the small window.

“And do you have any way of proving that?” Scarlett asked in a dignified manner.

The large man with curly black hair called Tommy was on the floor, kneeling before Scarlett.

“Please, Captain! I had no idea what I was doing! I had no control over myself, I swear to you! Please understand, I’m sorry, we’re sorry!”

“We’re sorry!” I could hear the other crewmates apologize as well.

They weren’t under Crowell’s control anymore, that was good to hear.

“Ma’am, is it okay if we can talk with Din and Mun? I know they’re here in this ship with us.”

That was Tal’s voice. At the mention of my name, the other crewmates allowed for me to walk closer towards the door.

I leaned onto the door to get a clearer view of inside the room.

That was when Tal noticed me, “Din!”

Scarlett sighed, but then motioned for me to come inside. I walked into the room and then stood next to Scarlett.

The ones that had been under Crowell’s control were chained up on the other side of the room.

“Are you okay, Tal?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t really use the word ‘okay’, but we aren’t hurt so you don’t have to be worried. It did sting every time I got hit by that stupid sleeping dart though.”

Ralphie apologized from the other side of the door, “Sorry, mate!”

“Anyways, there’s something important I need to tell you. It’s about Crowell.”

“What is it?” I asked.

Tal seemed reluctant to answer at first. He glanced at Scarlett and then back at me before he answered, “He’s carrying a Spirit Item. I saw it only for a moment when I was in front of him, but his earring is definitely one of the Spirit artifacts! I have no doubt about it!”

The Spirit artifacts? If I remember right, Tal did mention something like that when we were talking about Gods the night of the moon shift.

“What is this Spirit artifact you speak of?” Scarlett asked.

Tal didn’t seem to want to answer her. Did he not trust her?

Noticing that Tal was going to remain quiet, Scarlett walked over to him and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him off his feet.

“Tal!” Lewis suddenly stood up and grabbed Scarlett’s arm. He had both his hands tied, but he was much stronger than Scarlett.

Scarlett’s crewmates barged in through the door. Even the ones that were chained stood up to protect their captain. I didn’t know what to do, were we about to fight right here?

“Stand down!” Scarlett ordered.

Everyone backed off as told. Scarlett released Tal’s collar and then turned to Lewis.

“You’re currently on my ship. If I want someone to speak, they speak. Those who refuse to comply with my orders get punished. It’s all as simple as that, do you understand?”

Lewis didn’t back down. Then Scarlett suddenly kicked him in his stomach with full force. He landed right on Chris, who had been sitting in the corner.

Tal was on the ground, trying to catch his breath.

“Scarlett, what are you doing?” I stepped forward.

“I’m just trying to get him to answer my question, Din. Your friends here are not cooperating with me here, so I had to set them right.”

Was Lorelei correct? Could I really not trust Scarlett?

“You think I’d tell a pirate what she wants to hear?” Tal said as he stood his ground.

Seeing his determined look, Scarlett sighed.

“Why are you making me sound so bad? I know I’m a pirate and all, but that doesn’t mean I’m a crook. I want to get revenge on Crowell for what he did to my men, but before that, I need to know what we’re dealing with. Are you going to help with that or would you rather I send all five of you to swim with the sharks?”

That last one was targeted at me. She must believe that I know about the Spirit artifacts.

“Fine, I’ll tell you, on the condition that we keep the artifact after all is done,” Tal demanded.

“You have my word,” Scarlett said with a confident smile.

They shook hands on it before Tal explained, “There are stories of items that can grant the user a wish. I think Crowell is using that wish to control everyone by just giving them an order. This is my first time encountering one though so there could be other stuff the item can do that I haven’t heard of yet.”

Scarlett pressed her fist against her chin as she was deep in thought. Then finally, she pointed out, “That doesn’t help for shit.”

“I didn’t expect it to. The fact remains that our goal should be to collect that item and then everything will go back to normal in Lanport. If not, then we can make our own wish to return Lanport to its normal state. Are you happy now?”

With a nod, Scarlett ordered Ralphie and Reginald to release all the ones chained. Before leaving the room, she announced, “We will rest for a bit. I will go over our plans after lunch and then we will launch an attack later at night. We will make sure Crowell understands what it means to go against a pirate.”

After Tal was released, he immediately came by my side and whispered, “Din, what’s the big idea? Why are you with pirates? Also, where’s Mun?”

“Mun is sleeping right now. And I didn’t really have much of a choice. We had no one else to turn to after you guys were controlled.”

Tal sighed and then held his head, “We’re in deep trouble if they get their hands on the Spirit item. Din, we have to make sure one of us get the artifact, got it?”

I nodded.

Lewis and Chris were just released as well, but they remained sitting at the corner of the room.

I walked over to Lewis and asked, “Are you doing okay? That kick looked like it hurt.”

Rather than answering my question, he asked, “Do we really want to get rid of this new Lanport?”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked. “Do you really want to leave the people of Lanport like that?”

Lewis sighed, but he didn’t answer. He grunted as he stood up and then helped Chris up as well.

“It doesn’t matter what I think. Let’s just do it and be done with it.”

“I don’t think he wants Lanport to go back to how it was,” Lorelei pointed out.

With how Lewis looked, Lorelei might just be right.