Seven Years Ago...

This is boring.

Jackie stared up at the clear blue sky. It was so very...uninteresting. Nothing in the sky, nothing going on in town, nothing to do. After all, he was stuck on the shitty island of Cariboa. It was an island too close to mainland to be used by pirates or even the British navy. So there was almost no action nowadays.

But he had indeed heard from some adults that pirates had used to invade the island quite frequently several years ago. Naturally, that was why he was hated.

But why didn't they raid Cariboa now? Because it was now under British protection, naturally. If anyone dared do anything to anyone here, the Navy would be onto them immediately.

I hate the idea of it. It doesn't seem like they even want to protect this place willingly. It feels more like they want to do it just to spread their agenda and popularity.

"Oi, Jackie. What are you doing here?" He heard a familiar voice behind him, and looked over to see the strange guy from the Witch House that him and Elma had met last month. "Oh, hey Ebb!"

He scowled. "For the love of god, it's Eddie! Or Ed, if you want to call me that." Jackie laughed and waved over at him. "Whatever. Come over here! You really need to fix that habit of loitering in the woods."

He stumbled over, and sat down under the nearby apple tree rather than sitting beside Jackie. "Too hot." He cited his reason, and Jackie nodded in agreement. He crawled over to the shade of the tree.

He still couldn't believe Eddie was four years older than him. He was twenty, but didn't really act all that mature, he was rather awkward, and not used to talking to people at all.

"Wanna join my crew?" Jackie asked suddenly.

"No thanks."

"Okay."

They sat beside each other for a few minutes more, before Jackie got tired of it and jumped up to leave for his town. It was the only one on the tiny island, called Caribo. Before he could leave, though, Elma appeared on grassy plains, running towards them at full speed with a pink kite. "Guys! Check out this cool kite!" It was kind of cool, but Jackie hated the color. The kite was star-shaped and had red strips of paper on all five points. That, at least, made it a bit interesting.

Instead of taking it himself, Jackie gave it to Eddie. The poor guy had never flown a kite before, and he looked stupidly happy running around like a ten-year-old, his blonde hair flowing behind him like a waterfall of honey in the wind.

"It's nice and peaceful, huh? No bullshit from Lee today!" Elma said cheerfully, and Jackie groaned. He raised his hand and slapped her face lightly. "Don't say shit like that! He's gonna show up any minute now that you've said that."

She laughed and jumped up to climb the apple tree. "And what are you gonna do if he does?"

"Um...I'll...er...punch you?"

She leaned towards him with her face just inches from his, and stared at him with steely brown eyes. "Wanna see how that ends?" She asked, not moving away. Jackie stared back boldly.

But he wasn't stupid. He laughed and pulled his face back. "Okay, you win."

"Thought so." She said, and started climbing up the tree. Before she even got halfway, Eddie suddenly raced over and threw himself into the nearby bushes. "Eddie? What the hell are you doing?" Jackie asked, startled.

"He's coming! Lee!" His voice squeaked through the thick leaves of the bush. Alarmed, Jackie looked up at Elma.

Positively not giving a single fuck, she simply shrugged and bit into a juicy looking red apple.

"JACKIE! Get over here!" Lee yelled, still a good twenty yards away. Jackie rolled his eyes. Lee was the town Judge, and he had been taken in by him because the townspeople felt it would be "safest" if he was raised by someone strict and firm. He was a major pain in the ass, and had even hidden the cutlass that Jackie's dad had left him before he set out to sea.

"Why the hell should I? What do you want?!" He yelled back, and Lee's fat face scrunched up into a scowl. "I need you to chop some firewood! Come on, get to it!"

He was a plump man, always wearing black oversized jackets over long-sleeved shirts. Despite being only 29 years of age, his blonde hair was already thinning, and thick lines would spread across his chubby face every time he smiled or frowned.

Jackie absolutely hated the very sight of the sweaty pig of a man. "Fuck off! I ain't doing it!" Lee twisted his face in anger, causing a hundred thick lines to appear on his face.

"Shut it, brat! You should be glad I feed you and give you a roof to sleep under!" He yelled at him, prompting Jackie to throw a pebble at him.

"Roof? You mean the shitty little shed next to your fancy home that I have to sleep in? I'd rather sleep in the grass!"

Lee laughed, his body jiggling like a plate of pudding in the convulsions. "Fine then, sleep outside. See how you like it! That's how pirates sleep anyway, isn't it? Like animals."

He started walking away, but Jackie wasn't having any of that. He ran off after him, and Elma watched the drama from her hiding spot in the tree.

"What did you call pirates?!" He screamed at Lee, who turned around with a vile grin on his face.

"Animals, I said. Your parents, too. Right animals, they are." Jackie stared at him, feeling wave after wave of rage and hatred wash over him. You're the animal. You!

He gritted his teeth, determined not to let the fat pig win. "Just you wait. I'll take my sword back! Just you wait!" At this, Lee's grin grew even wider, and he shoved his face into Jackie's.

"Oh, fine. Go ahead, steal it. I'll have a real good reason to execute you when you do!" He whispered, his snide, shaky voice making Jackie wish he was born deaf.

Jackie balled his hands into fists, and looked back at him. "My father gave that sword to me. It's mine!" But Lee only looked more and more victorious.

"I am the man of the law here, Jackie. Unless you can prove he's dead, you can't have the sword." His unnaturally white teeth flashed in the sunlight as he grinned, making Jackie sick to his stomach.

He walked away, his laughter carrying back toward Jackie in the wind.

Jackie stood there fuming, until he heard Elma strut forward towards him. "Harsh. So what are you gonna do? Let him keep the sword?"

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Jackie shook his head. "No way. That sword has a handle made with gold and a red ruby in it. He'll sell it to someone for sure!" Elma smirked, and reached behind her back. Jackie knew full well she was reaching for the dagger she always had on her.

"Want me to take care of him?" She asked, and twirled the dagger in her hand with a sly look on her face. But Jackie shook his head again.

"For whatever reason, he hasn't sold it yet. I know because it's on his living room mantelpiece. Until I can sort this out, I don't want you to do anything." Elma looked disappointed, and Jackie patted her head with a kind hearted grin. "Hey, I don't want anything to go wrong. If I die, that's it. But I don't want you to die because of me too."

She batted his hand away, and looked down at her dagger. "I get it. But what's your plan, then?" Jackie smiled. He replied, "I've asked Lars to make me a copy of the sword. He's been working on it for the last couple of days."

Elma was visibly surprised at Jackie's ingenuity, and he winked at her. "It's my sword. I'm not going to take any chance on it." She laughed, and put away her dagger. Jackie was the only person in the world who could make her replace her dagger once she took it out.

"Hey, where's Eddie?"

Oh yeah, where did he go? Elma looked back, and could see a bit of white clothing behind a bush, just within the woods. She walked towards the bush and whistled at Eddie, who was clearly hiding there. "Hey, dumbass. He's gone now."

The white cloth rustled, and Eddie poked his blonde hair out of the greenery. "He's gone?"

Elma sighed, and walked away. "Look. If you want to make friends and live a life you want, you have to get over this. It's no problem to be weak. But it isn't okay to give up on yourself!" She turned back, and stared at him with that piercing stare she always had.

"We're going back to town. If you want to come, then come with us. If not, go back home."

With that, she walked away. Jackie didn't even look back, and just walked on with her. Eddie frowned, and grabbed his blonde hair.

What do I do? What do I do, what the hell do I do?!

The visions started playing in his head again. They always did whenever he was under large amounts of stress.

His house, on fire.

People laughing, children screaming.

Is that me? Am I screaming too?

He sobbed, and felt as though he was surrounded by the dancing firelight, orange and red colors flashing around him in a nauseating circle.

Wake up.

WAKE THE FUCK UP!

He gasped, and suddenly he was back in a bush. All by himself. He looked back, and saw that Elma and Jackie weren't too far ahead.

Without hesitation, he took off after them.

Elma and Jackie walked on in silence. Just as Jackie was about to open his mouth to ask about Eddie, someone rushed straight into Elma's shoulder.

"Eddie!"

He bent over and grabbed his knees, breathing hard. "Like hell...I'm gonna go back...home!" He wheezed, and Jackie grinned.

"Wanna join my crew then?"

Eddie looked up, suddenly looking more amiable than usual when asked that question.

"No thanks."

Jackie almost screamed in frustration. So close! I almost had him!

After Eddie caught his breath, they continued their walk back into town. Everyone was preparing for autumn, chopping firewood or raking up the already dying leaves.

Everything seemed normal. Extremely boring and normal.

And then-

"PIRATES! PIRATES IN OUR WATERS!"

The yell carried on pretty much everywhere in town in the strong wind. Jackie looked up like he'd seen gold.

With a stupidly big grin on his face, he took off without a second thought. Elma thought she briefly heard the word "pirates" escape his lips before he disappeared.

She started running after him, and was impressed when Eddie not only started running too, but actually managed to keep up with her. He was more athletic than he seemed to realize.

At the harbor, there were about ten or twenty townspeople gathered there, including the chief, Grandpa Howie. Elma saw Jackie, and rushed beside him. Everyone was staring at the huge pirate ship slowly closing in on the harbor.

Everything on the ship was black. The wood was painted black, and the masts were coloured black. The only lick of white was the flag of the pirates, which was, strangely enough, coloured white. The skull and crossbones on the flag were black, and the skull was covered in what appeared to be white scars.

"Gramps! Who are these guys?" Jackie asked him, but he looked somewhat uncertain. "They're the Black Pirates. Former slaves on the run from Dealers."

Before Jackie could ask what a Dealer was, a huge wooden plank with steps carved into it was swung down from the ship. The man who swung it slowly began to descend from the ship.

The first thing that stood out about him was the amount of scars on his black skin. Although this was the first time either of the two children (bar Eddie, who was 20 at the time) had ever seen a coloured man, they did not even notice his skin colour at first.

Both Jackie, who was always looking to meet new people, and Elma, who was obsessed with fighting, were in awe with the amount of scars on his muscular body.

He wore a gray, torn scarf around his neck, and an open black vest revealing his chest and stomach.

There must have been at least thirty or forty in all, including an especially long scar that ran from the left side of his chest to his waist of the same side.

He was extremely tall as well, probably well over seven feet tall, and had huge arms and hands, which looked even bigger due to his height. His black eyes were sharp and had a harrowed look to them, as if he had seen something that he wished he never did.

As he stepped down on the ground from the plank and his height became even more apparent, they all saw the enormous hammer strapped to his wide back. It was a two faced sledgehammer, almost as long as his body. Black stains on the silvery iron revealed an untold story of blood and violence.

Nobody was expecting what happened next. Without hesitation, he bent down on one knee, and bowed his head to the townspeople. Jackie and Elma in particular, were shocked.

"I need your help. I beg of you all." He said, in a strong and firm voice that radiated confidence. Everyone looked confused and uncertain.

Howie, who was the chief, wasn't completely sure about him. But he had indeed heard about this man, and seen his bounty poster as well. "You...are Black Morgan, yes?" He asked cautiously.

The man nodded his head, and looked up with a sincere look on his face. "I'm Morgan. And I'm in serious trouble. All my crewmates are injured. I need a doctor, and fast. Our two doctors are unconscious!" At this, people started murmuring in low voices. They floated around the kneeling figure of Morgan.

"We cannot trust him!"

"He is a pirate, chief. Think!"

One of the women whispered, "Remember what happened to doctor Matilda? She was held ransom by pirates who said the exact same thing! They took everything in exchange for her!" Matilda, who was in the crowd and heard this, bowed her head in shame.

Howie saw this, and gripped her shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay Matilda. You don't have to do it if you're unsure. That was a traumatic experience."

Through all this hesitation and uncertainty, Howie tried to sort out the situation. But the people wouldn't listen. "Howie, he isn't the kind of man we can trust! He's a runaway slave for goodness sake!" The carpenter, Youri, glared at Howie angrily.

Howie was about to reply to him when he saw a boy jump out of the crowd towards the ship. He had long blonde hair, and was wearing a long white coat over a black dress-shirt.

Could it be? Eddie?!

He ran right past Morgan, and rapidly climbed up the rickety plank to the top deck of the ship. "Look! It's the witch's boy!" Someone yelled, and through the chaos Jackie and Elma pulled away from the crowd and ran towards Morgan.

"Pardon me, but is it true? Are you really the pirate captain Morgan?" Jackie asked with his blue eyes lit up in excitement. Morgan stared at the boy in awe.

"Y-Yes. About that other kid...was he with you?" Jackie nodded furiously. "Don't worry. If there's anything related to medicine that needs to be done, he's the most reliable guy on this whole island." He said with utmost belief and trust in Eddie.

But all around them, people continued whispering about Eddie.

"It's for the best. Who cares if he dies?"

"Better off if they kill him."

"He won't be placing any curses if he dies...just like his parents, of course."

Morgan wasn't the only one who heard all this, and he knew it. In front of him, the boy had a look of rage in his eyes, gritting his teeth with his head down. The girl next to him had half her face hidden with her caramel coloured hair, but he could see the frustration on her face as well.

"MATILDA!" Silence fell as Eddie's shout carried down to the ground below the deck. The doctor, Matilda, raised her head in surprise.

Eddie raised his head from the wooden railing near the edge of the deck and waved furiously. "It wasn't a lie! There's people badly injured here!" He yelled.

Matilda shouted that she was coming, and ran back to grab her supplies. Morgan stood up, and looked at the boy in stunned silence.

How could someone who was scrutinized this much by his own people risk his life like this for a pirate crew he knew nothing of? He wondered. The boy looked over the edge, and waved at his two friends with a wide smile on his face. Now that he had gotten a better look, Morgan saw that he was quite a bit older than the other two.

"Your friend. He's a good person." He said, looking back at Jackie and Elma. They both nodded, clearly proud of him.

"We know."