He grumbles something at me about this being terribly unfair before making the two hostages follow us up back onto deck. Going by smell, I can tell that everyone is gathered all nice and tidy in the common area. Perfect.

Without any hesitation, I head there, Nazzo following behind me, only marginally less unhappy than his captives.

The common area is surprisingly quiet, even before I open the door and head inside. Since the room serves as both a relaxation and dining area, it’s fairly open, with plenty of space to sit, stand, or huddle on the floor. One corner of the room has been converted into a corpse disposal area, containing five guards and one former sailor. The five remaining members of the ship’s crew are all gathered in another corner, kept in place by the threat of violence and various other forms of hooliganism.

The seven pirates in the room turn to us almost as one. Jumpy, as usual. All but one.

Coda lights up upon noticing my arrival. “Kitty, there you are! You’re just in time.” Nazzo enters behind me and Coda’s turns to look at him, a shadow of disappointment flashing across his face. “It’s a shame you couldn’t keep your claws off at least one or two of them. Having more hostages would—”

Before Coda can finish scolding me, the two turnkeys enter meekly, still tied up with goblingut.

I cross my arms and smirk. “You were saying, Coda?”

A look of shock is quickly replaced by pride and he smiles at me. “—Nothing of importance. Good work, Kitty! I didn’t have a single doubt in mind.”

We look at each other for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

It takes a little while for us to return to our wits, at which point the atmosphere in the room is positively frigid. Coda wipes at his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Right, right, sorry. Where was I? Oh, yeah! We have no idea what these people are saying, so I can’t tell who to blackmail for their release. Can you ask them where they’re from, where they’re going, all that stuff?”

“Sure thing, Cap’n,” I say, casually walking across the floor to where the five hostages are sitting. There’s the captain, dressed in appropriately fancy gear for the occasion, and then four sailors who look fairly experienced, except one, who looks—

My nose twitches. I stare at the young sailor.

…Vann?

He stares back at me, with all the ferocious resistance of a wronged puppy. He’s partially hidden behind the broad back of one of the other sailors, but it’s his smell I recognize. Yeah. That’s him, alright. What the hell is he—

Coda clears his throat and I realize that this isn’t really the time to be needlessly intimidating. Hunching down, I turn back to the captain, trying not to look at Vann’s scowling face. While still trying to make it clear that I’m totally not noticing him, I’m able to extract some information from the captain despite my sweating and stumbling over words, the contents of which I then relay to my own captain.

In the end, Coda nods thoughtfully, his face set in a look of worrying seriousness. “So this vessel not only belongs to a high judge, but is actively transporting a suspected regicide for judgment?” The way he says it, like all of the words are the names of princes and demi-gods makes me feel beyond cautious, so I just nod at him. “A high judge…”

I glance between the two captains. “Is a high judge really that—”

“Can you ask him where the high judge is right now?” Coda says with what almost sounds like mild panic. I’ve never heard him like that.

Gulping, I turn to the other captain and repeat Coda’s question. He frowns at us. “Didn’t you see him? He was down in the hold with the prisoner.”

He was? But the hull only had the guards and the turnkeys, and—

My clothes suddenly feel very hot and stuffy. “Uh, just to make things clear…” I tug at my collar before leaning in, asking in close to a whisper, “This high judge… he didn’t happen to be dressed like a wizard, did he?”

“Tynus the Sage of Three is known as one of Acheron’s greatest wizards, yes.”

…Ah.

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A meter or so away, Coda asks, “What’s he saying?”

“Um…” I turn to him, trying not to look half as pathetic as I feel. Doesn’t help much, though, and my ears are still left red. “There’s a fairly good chance that I might have killed the high judge.”

Coda doesn’t even flinch. The captain of the ship, on the other hand, flies into a ferocious rage, eyes flashing. “You murderous beast—!” Only barely restrained by his sailors, he thrashes, throwing curses at me and every ally I’ve ever made, and also my mother. Kind of impressive, but I’m too busy being buried beneath a mountain of shame to really listen to it.

I lower my face to the floor. “I—I’m sorry, he attacked, and I…”

“No, there’s no need to apologize,” Coda says evenly. “Even if he’d been alive, it wouldn’t have changed anything.”

“...What do you mean?”

He looks at me, eyes shining with something close to envy. A wry smile tugs at his lips. “You’re more innocent than you look, friend.” Before I have time to understand what he’s saying, he turns to the rest of the gathered members. “We’re sinking it.”

“We’re—” The words fall from my mouth heedlessly. “What are you saying? Why would we—we can’t possibly keep the hostages on the Frisk, we don’t even have a hold! What are you—”

“We can’t let them live.” His voice is calm. Rational. “If the kingdom of Acheron finds out that we killed one of their high judges, it won’t end with just one army, or just one fleet. They’d go after us until we were dead. Each and every one of us.” There isn’t a single fault in his logic. And still, I find myself foolishly refusing.

“Well, sure, but…” My gaze falls on Vann.

“Or are you saying you’d rather we put our lives on the line for mere money?”

“No!” I say. “I just…” My hands ball into fists. “They shouldn’t need to die because of us. Because I went out of my way to get us wrapped up in this.” My chest tightens. “Wouldn’t that be too cruel?”

“Maybe,” Coda admits. “However, we can’t afford to prioritize their lives above our own.” His eyes sharpen. “Or do you have some other reason to argue with your captain?”

My jaws snap shut. I can’t argue. Not against that. Still, my eyes fall back on Vann. As I stand, feet fixed firmly in place, Coda begins to order the rest of the crew to leave. A few of them complain about how this was all a waste of time, but Coda placates them with the promise of greenberry pudding for dessert, which they accept with only minor grumbling. As they’re leaving, Coda explains what’ll happen next, and I listen, a hollow feeling carving a place for itself in my chest.

“We’ll leave the hostages here with you, and you’ll handle it. Take care of them, and then when you’re done, come out and we’ll sink the ship properly. Is that alright with you, Kitty?”

Yeah, of course. Of course it’s okay. What else could it be? This is more merciful than simply barricading the doors and letting them die to the tar and smoke and fire. Not to mention that I get more experience. Of course this is the best option. I nod at him. This is right. He smiles at me, and then he leaves, closing the doors. And for close to a minute, I’m standing in the room, and the hostages are watching me. There are seven of them, and one of me. As I’m futilely waiting for the horrible WHITE numbness to leave my chest, they all reach the shared, incorrect conclusion that maybe, just maybe, if they all went at me and once, they could defeat me.

So, they attack me. The coordination is almost impressive. But it’s just not possible.

The captain falls dead at my feet. The room is a bloodbath because I fought with reluctance. All the while I was hoping that once I killed this next one, I’d finally find the duty and loyalty needed to kill Vann—that I’d be filled with some kind of fulfilment, and I wouldn’t feel so unsure anymore. But it didn’t come. All but him are dead, and I feel nothing but hollow.

The hollowness isn’t enough to make me kill him. He’s on the floor, atop the fancy, blood-soaked rug, clutching at his arm. I scratched it by accident. Not deep enough to actually have him bleed out like that, but… But if I don’t help him soon, it might get infected, or he might bleed too much, or…

I shake my head. What the hell am I even thinking? Going against Coda’s orders, all for the sake of some random sailor I came to know in passing almost a year ago? I must be insane.

I look down at him. His murky, dark eyes stare up at me in a mixture of terror and animalistic determination. I grit my teeth.

…Damn it.

My hands, previously balled into fists, fall open-palmed and I hiss a sigh between clenched teeth.

Kneeling down, I quickly grab his shoulders and force him to face me. His eyes shine with BLACK hatred even though a light fog of blood loss. “Hey,” I say. “Vann. Listen to me. Can you hear me?” His eyes widen slightly at the mention of his name. Good enough. “You have to listen to me. I might be able to get you out of here alive, but you’ll need to follow my lead.”

His voice, although thin and weak, is perfectly clear. “D—damn you… demon…!” He drags a raspy breath down his dry throat. “I would rather, haah, haah, die than… f—fall to your… temptations…!”

I take a nice, calming breath. “Yeah, sure, but for now, I just need you to…” While I’m still holding him, he passes out. Excuse me? “Hey, wake up, damn it!” I whisper-shout, shaking him by the shoulders. Damn it, damn it, damn it…!

There’s a knock on the door. “Kitty?” Nazzo calls from outside. “Uh, is everything alright in there? Are you… done?”

“Just a minute!” I call out. “I have to, um… Bite through a bit of cartilage!”

In the meantime, I try to get Vann awake by gently slapping him, but when that doesn’t work, I get a bit more violent, which also doesn’t work. Shoot.

“Kitty?” Coda shouts from the other side of the door. “Is everything going well?”

Okay, shoot, damn it, I’ll just—

“I’m coming in,” Coda says, the doors opening just in time for me to heave Vann onto my shoulder. Coda’s eyes move over the small bloodbath for a moment, whistling at the sight. “Excellent work as always. I trust you got your fill of—” His eyes fall on me, or rather, at the goblin hanging limp from my shoulder. “...What’s that all about?”

“Oh, it’s, uh…” I smack Vann on the back. “A snack. For the road. Which is standard human behavior and not to be questio—” Atop my shoulder, Vann groans. Ah. Shoot.

“He seems awfully alive for a snack,” Coda comments.

“I like them fresh,” I say suavely. Now that I think about it, it isn’t even a lie, which makes it easier to tell and make him believe. “Do you have an issue with it, captain?” And, then, to really lay it on thick, “If you want to, I can leave it here…”

“Ah, no, of course not—it’s no issue. Just…” He gives a slightly tense smile. “Nezzo and Farello don’t really like seeing that kind of stuff, so take it in private, alright?”

“Will do, Cap’n.”

And that I do.