Elise and Tony sat alone in a darkened jail cell. The floors were sludge black, there were no windows only a barricade of iron bars, and the only place for Elise to rest her body was on a small wood bench supported by chains. She wanted to break down and cry, but she was much too worried for the fate of her crew and even herself to truly give on.

An uncertain amount of time passed as she sat in the cell. Because there was no window, the only way she knew it was evening time was when an enormous man in a shadowy suit of purple armor trudged down the stairs with a tiny plate. On it was a tiny piece of bone with the slightest fragments of meat and a meager glass of water. "Dinner…" he growled. A singular eye glowed from beneath his helmet and it made Elise squeak in fear.

"Yowie!" Tony gasped, "You're freaking me out, Mr. Jailer!"

"That's the point," the man growled and shoved the dish beneath the door. "Bon Appetit. Or should I say, bone appetit."

Elise rushed to grasp the plate. She observed the bone. "A spare rib?" Elise asked, her eyes magnified by her cracked glasses.

"With very little to spare..." the hulking jailer man chortled and stomped away.

Elise and Tony shivered over his presence, but Elise scurried and scooped it up anyway. She placed the plate on the bench. "Soon we're gonna be nothing but these," Elise said, her eyes watering

"Be one of what?" Tony asked.

"Ribs!" the girl cried.

Tony crawled over to Elise and placed his fin on her hand. "There there, small fry! We'll get through this together."

"Why do people hate pirates so much?" Elise sobbed.

"Well now, pally," Tony said, side eyeing the rib. "Dats a loaded question, but as ya know, we pirates are the scourge of the four great seas!"

"But…" Elise sniffled, "Aren't there good pirates too?"

"I'd argue da cap'm, but…" Tony bit his scaly lips. "Even if the cap'm's been more about da spirit of adventure, he's still broken plenty of laws and plundered plenty o' booty. And I don't just mean the dubloons."

Elise pursed her lips. This sounded typical for Archibell. Nothing too out of the ordinairy. Though she didn't know what booty wasn't dubloons or jems. "Is that all he did?"

Tony grumbled and sighed. "He did some other stuff. Stuff he isn't proud of. It's nothin' on the level of Rotten Rogers or some of the other pirate lords...but close."

"What did he do?!" Elise said, sliding uncomfortably away from Tony.

"Da captain doesn't like to talk about it, but let's just say that he betrayed his friends. Many of his friends. Not outta malice or spite or anything like dat, but because he's into that crazy, little ting called self preservation."

Elise slowly nodded. "Self preserwhat?"

"Dats when you care about yourself more than anyone else," Tony said. "You are numero uno and the big cheese. Your needs outweigh da needs of tha many."

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Elise silently looked at her pale legs beneath her purple sundress. Archibell was such a charismatic leader, but he did seem to have a cowardly streak.

"I learned about being self centered prat, da hard way," Tony said, as he began to nibble the meat residue off the bone. "I thought Swingin' Singles Island was my ticket to an easy dame, and now one batty manic witch later, and look, I'mma guppy. Goes to show that sometimes when you only look out for number one, you end up at the back of da number line."

Elise sighed and Tony realized what he was doing wrong. He presented the rib to Elise's face. "Wanna meat molecule, pally?"

"Thank you," Elise said softly, "But I don't want it. The water is good enough."

"Being a magical fish dat can breath on land," Tony said, "I gotta enough o'dat. Hydrate yourself, pally."

Elise nodded and took a sip. She then poured the rest on Tony's skin. His scales glistened in the darkness. "Aww yer the best pally." Tony said, and Elise smiled.

After dinner, they both turned in and slept on the bench. The cold night passed quickly, and they were woken harshly at the break of dawn. The jailer started banging on the cell with his sword. "Up...you louts. Giddup!"

The jailer banged the bars again with his sword. He opened the prison, cuffed Elise's hands and squeezed Tony so hard his eyes bugged out. "Owch! Careful there. I'm not a stress ball!"

The jailer paid no mind to Tony's woes and led them out of the castle's dungeon to the village square. As they traversed the castle drawbridge and walked past towering manors, they noticed the sky was grey and gloomy.

There was a large wooden setup erected at the center of town where eight miniture tables and chairs spread around a tall throne and a much smaller if still significant throne. Running parallel to it were five tables with no chairs. Elise immediately realized that was for her fellow pirate criminals.

The cobblestone streets were damp and smelled of petrichor so there was a hope in Elise's mind that the rain would call off the trial. But the clouds cruelly rolled away giving way to a bright blue sky.

"It's my favorite day," the jailer said proudly.

"What day izzat?" Tony asked caustically.

"Execution day!" the massive jailer laughed cruelly.

"But…" Elise said, "I thought we were going on trial?"

The jailer placed his sword right at Elise's pasty thin neck. "Expect no mercy for a bunch of pirate scum like you!"

Eight people filed into village square. Some wore powdered wigs and robes, while others wore casual tunics and dresses. "Who are they?" Elise asked.

"The jury," the guard said. "And let me warn you ahead of time, none of them like pirate scum like you."

Elise opened her eyes wide at the people entering the town. Leading three people along in chains was Lord Florian Cornbury, Admiral Archibell and their naval guards. "Archibell! Tito!" Elise cried out.

"Salutations!" Archibell said with a playful wink. "Seems you took the grand tour of the Mainland."

Tito grinned too. "Speckles. You're alright…"--he looked away--"not that I was worried."

"Hey," Sincirce said, glaring at Elise and feigning a fake moan. "No greeting for moi?"

"Dats the proper greetings for her," Tony chuckled to himself.

"I heard that!" Sincirce screamed and stomped her feet. "You're lucky I don't have my caudron or I'd be cooking up caviar on toast!"

"Sorry to break it ta ya!" Tony said, "I can't make ya caviar. I'm not a female fish!"

"You better protect that fishstick then," Sincirce smirked with a catlike grin.

"Enough blabber!" a familiar yelping voice cried out. Elise looked to the wooden throne where Dingsworth the Minister broadcasted his voice. "The reigning monarch, Queen Annabell Chime is here and she will preside over the trial of the century."

Chloe timidly stepped out from beside him. "Chloe!" Elise cried, but the young queen was silent and gazed at the ground with her hands folded.

"Without further ado," the minister said, casting a gloved hand forward. "Let the trial of Captain Jonas Archibell, public enemy of the Mainland Kingdom and his allies commence."