(Bellamy POV)

“How are you feeling?”

“Like shit, captain. Sarquiss kept me up all night.” Lily replied, letting herself droop over the railing of the ship.

“Yeah, it did sound like it.” I idly commented, riffling through my morning newspaper in search of anything interesting.

“Oh, you heard that?”

“It was difficult not to with all the noises you two were making. These old walls aren't exactly soundproof.” I said, tapping the wood a few times. “Though Iceburg did promise that our new ship will be different.”

“Well, I fucking hope so. This is bloody embarrassing to be honest.” Lily muttered, though she sure as hell didn't look like it. Her face tone hadn't changed a bit.

“There's nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re two adults in a not so secret relationship. Just try and be mindful of Aisa, ok? We don’t want her getting the wrong impression of us.” It's only after mentioning our newest chibi, that I was treated to the rare sight of a tomato red Lily. Hadn’t thought of her, had you?

“…hopefully she didn’t hear anything. Sarquiss is going to be mortified.”

“He should be, losing control like that. That isn’t what I expect from my first mate.” I said, trying to make a joke. I think it fell flat from how she nodded along in agreement.

“I’ll let him know. It's probably better if I tell him off, than have you do it. His ego is…fragile after last night.”

“Oof, that bad?”

“You wouldn’t think that with how he usually acts, right?” Lily asked, offering me a weak grin.

“No, he always did do his best to act cool and composed, but people are complicated." And wasn't that a pain? "It isn’t too surprising for him to have other facets to him.”

“Not that I disagree, but still…it was really out of character.”

“One could also flip the argument and say that maybe that’s what he is like, deep inside?” I suggested, much to Lily's horror.

“Oh, dear heavens, no! One night like that is enough for a lifetime.”

“…does he know your feelings on the matter? I know this is meant to be private between the two of you, but this has the potential to…break my first mate.” After all, apart from my own, it was Lily's opinion which he valued most highly.

“No…I didn’t show it, I think. I tried to be understanding at first, and wasn’t that fucking difficult, but later on it was more ‘lean back and think of England’.”

“…lean back and think of England?” I repeated, taken aback. England? What England?

“Yeah. Something my mother told me. Apparently, it’s a saying passed down through the family since before the void century." Lily shrugged, "Not sure what England is either, but the phrase means: to endure and mentally detach oneself from an unpleasant task.”

“That’s certainly an…interesting phrase.” England existed before the void century? But the geography was all different. Perhaps it was something to ask Robin about on our next den den mushi call.

“Mother had a crap ton of these, which she would throw out every so often. Be a lady this and a lady that. Fuck that. I’m a pirate and I’m free just the way I like it.”

“I do think that you should talk to Sarquiss. I can’t imagine that it’s advantageous for a healthy relationship if you aren’t open about your feelings on this matter.” I told my quartermaster, who turned to face her body towards me.

“You think so?”

“Yup.” Wow, I was giving out relationship advice to a pirate. Who would have thought? “I’m sure you’ll do fine, but if possible try and spare his feelings?”

“Like what? Make him feel manly when he wasn’t?” Lily asked, raising an eyebrow and I had to hide a wince. Jeesh, that was brutal.

“I know things started flowing near instantly, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing…”

“It got freaking everywhere! My clothes, my face…MY FUCKING HAIR!” Yeah, it was a wonder that she didn’t blow up right then and there. Lily loved her own hair, spending hours grooming it every day. Getting it dirty was not a crime easily forgiven nor forgotten, not even if the perpetrator happened to be Sarquiss.

“It looks fine now? Obviously it washed off.” Immediately after the words left my lips, I knew I had made a mistake. Put a shoe in my mouth as it were, dug my own grave.

“BECAUSE I SPENT TWO HOURS SCRUBBING IT WITH SHAMPOO! And I can still SMELL it!”

“Two Hours?” I didn’t squeak. I definitely didn’t squeak, though Lily was scary when she was angry.

“Do you know how hard it is to get snot out of one’s hair? And my favorite shirt is ruined as well!” She fumed, making odd strangling motions with her hands. I’m not sure if she was imagining wringing my neck or that of my first mate, but I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

“I’m sorry?”

“He just wouldn’t stop crying!” she exclaimed, waving her arms in frustration. “He was all fine and dandy acting cool during the meeting. It was stupid and I hate him for it, but I also thought him very impressive for having the courage to step up and take one for the crew.”

That had honestly been a very surprising turn of events last evening. I know that it was objectively the best option, but I wouldn't be forgetting that moment of horror any time soon, a moment where I watched and waited with baited breath for Sarquiss to start smiling like a loon. Thankfully, that scenario never came to pass, but it was not something I wished to experience ever again. I should also punish Sarquiss for disobeying a direct order, but I found myself unwilling to, especially when considering his motives. Also, he had probably been far more terrified than I had been by several orders of magnitude, which should be punishment enough.

“I’m amazed he held it together long enough for you to get him into his room.” I admitted, thinking back to my first mate's valiant struggle to hold back his tears.

“He broke down bawling the moment I closed the door, before crying about how scared he had been and how weird he looks now." Lily revealed to me. "He only calmed down slightly after I let him hug me.”

“That was him calming down?”

“Incredible, wasn’t it? Think about how it felt in my position. My hearing is half gone.” Lily sighed. “Though, I can understand him a little. This wasn’t an enemy he could stab or run away from once he crossed the line. The helplessness probably made it worse.”

“Undoubtedly. But he still took the risk despite his fear and I think that was very brave of him. Manly even.” I replied doing my best to defend my first mate.

“It really was, wasn’t it?” she smiled, before we both lapsed into silence.

“Lily, how is he?” I finally asked in a more serious tone, to which Lily responded in kind.

“Doing better now that he had time to process things. It’s not going to be easy but he assured me that he would be fine.”

“And you believe him?” I asked and received a vigorous nod.

“One hundred fucking percent, captain. My shithead wouldn’t lie to me.”

Good.

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

If the first piece of good news had been Sarquiss turning into a ‘gifter’ after eating the SMILE-fruit, the second piece of the day was delivered to me by Muret. Nero had woken up.

Our meeting went very well from the very beginning.

“Why am I here, pirate?”

“Because we rescued you, obviously. Don’t you remember anything?”

Of course, he was slightly disorientated at the start, but so would anyone, if they had spent god knows how long in a drugged up coma.

“I…I washed ashore after being thrown overboard by Lucci…”

“You washed ashore on St. Poplar where you were found by the drug baron Crack A. Barrel, who planned on drugging you up to your non-existent gills, all in order to turn you into a puppet of his will.”

“…are you serious?”

“Very. Can’t ask Crack unfortunately, cause Doflamingo took him, but I wouldn’t crack jokes about something like this.”

But upon hearing of our daring rescue and his barely averted fate, Nero was tremendously grateful.

“That pun was horrible and you should be ashamed. Go crawl into a hole and die.”

He was even more grateful when we offered to shelter him until he got his life back together.

“You want to…recruit me? Into a pirate crew?”

“Well, recruit is such a strong word…hire is better. I wish to hire you.”

Though there was a slight bit of emotion involved when he came to grips with the fact that his old life was effectively gone.

“You must be mad if you think I’ll ever join a dirty pirate. I’m a member of the CP9!”

“Former.”

“What?”

“You are a former member of the CP9, who by his own admission was stabbed in the back and kicked out by his comrades.”

"Gaaah!"

But once he calmed down, I calmly made my hiring pitch and he seemed very taken by my arguments.

“Are you BLACKMAILING me?”

“No, of course not! Who do you take me for? The government?”

“Then what is this?”

“Looks like they are pictures of a former CP9 agent receiving state of the art medical care from a qualified doctor…who happens to be a pirate. I’m sure it’s all innocent and no fault of your own, but I do wonder what your former boss would think?”

“You…you…you! I’ll gut you like a…”

“I’d be careful though. Pirates aren’t known for being very good with paperwork, so things tend to go missing. I hear the press is fond of digging through trash bins for their articles.”

"...you filthy...pirate!"

It took a while for us to hash out a reasonable contract. He had demands and I had demands but that was what negotiations were all about anyway.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“You’re paying me how much?”

“Exactly what’s written in the contract. Are you dissatisfied?”

“No, this is like ten times my annual salary!”

“We also offer prime medical care around the clock, state of the art combat equipment and promise not to stab you in the back.”

“…do you need to keep reminding me?”

“Yes, it’s a key component of what makes our offer so attractive.”

After the salary was agreed upon, we moved on to Nero’s responsibilities. Being the intelligent man he was, he quickly realized why I was attempting to hire him and was eager to get to work.

“You want me to teach your crew the rokushiki.”

“That’s correct. Oh, and me too. Can't forget that.”

“You are aware that the World Government is going to kill me if I do, right?”

“They are going to kill you anyway, once for being useless, twice for desertion, thrice for colluding with the enemy and lastly because they failed to kill you for the first three. What do you have to lose?”

But after a lot of haggling, debating and essentially discussing terms, we managed to reach a satisfactory agreement and I had my new rokushiki instructor.

“Welcome aboard, Mr. Nero.”

“…this is just temporary.” he insisted.

“Of course. Once the contract is fulfilled, you are free to leave at any time. You aren’t a prisoner.”

“And the pictures?”

“What pictures?”

“…”

The Shandian Chief, Iceburg, Crack, Doffy and now Nero. I might be getting the hang of this negotiation thing.

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

It was nearly noon when Sarquiss reemerged from his cabin, with his coat fully buttoned up and one of Ross’ caps pressed down firmly on his head.

“Hello Sarquiss, how are you holding up?”

“Better, captain.” He answered, one hand trying to shield his eyes from the sun. “Was the sun always this bright?”

“Not any more than usual. Maybe you stayed inside too long.” I pointed out as casually as I could.

“Don’t think that’s it. I hadn’t noticed it until now, but everything looks a bit different too. Clearer, and sharper too.”

“You think it’s the fruit?” My question caused him to shuffle slightly and it was then that I could see what he had hidden behind his hand…eyes which did not belong in a human face, the multifaceted eyes of an insect.

“Yeah. It’s not just my sight that’s changed.”

I was immensely proud and grateful that despite the initial surprise, my crew showed no signs of revulsion. “The air feels different. Almost like I can feel vibrations every time someone moves.”

“You mean you can feel this?” Instead, they seemed rather interested, something which was exemplified by how Hewitt immediately started wiggling and shaking his body and arms in response to Sarquiss' words.

“Yes Hewitt, I can feel you waving something back there.” Despite the semblance of annoyance, there was a tangible air of relief around Sarquiss. Lily had told me that he had spent the night crying, something which we had all heard. It wasn't too difficult to imagine that he would been very worried about how our crew would react to his new appearance and I was thankful that we could lay this concern to rest.

Though, if we were only looking at the ability, his new senses were really impressive and potentially very useful, though it seemed a little similar to observation haki. Whether or not this would aid him in his haki training remained to be seen, but for now it was not a bad ability to have.

“What are your new abilities anyway, Sarquiss?” I asked, pulling Sarquiss a bit back before he could strangle Hewitt. In doing so, I couldn't help but notice a bulge underneath his clothes.

“Maybe it’s best if I just show you.” He replied, whipping his fur coat off and throwing it aside to reveal his new form. The first thought which came to my mind, was the observation that he hadn’t grown a new set of limbs.

Second, the bulge I’d felt had been a black and yellow striped insectoid abdomen growing out of his lower back, though it was a lot smaller in proportion than it should have been on an insect his size.

Keeping on with the theme, he'd gained two pairs of translucent wings on his back, one pair significantly longer than the other, both of which had previously been hidden by his coat. Furthermore, his wrists had also grown some fuzzy fur-like substance on a black and gold carapace, shaped like a wristband.

“Those wings…look almost like a bee or some sort of wasp.” I noted.

“I think so too," Sarquiss agreed, "though I was thinking more along the lines of a hornet.”

“Sarquiss is really close, captain.” Muret chimed in, offering her two cents. “The wings and the markings are characteristic of the Great Northern Giant Hornet. We had several colonies near my home village, which would be a nuisance every year during their breeding season.”

“Great Northern Giant Hornet?”

“Yes, captain.” She nodded. “We had a few fatalities every year, so we needed to be able to recognize them on sight. Their stingers had some deadly neurotoxins, though I don’t see any on Sarquiss.”

“Stingers…like these?” Sarquiss asked as with a *SCHLINK*, a pair of blades emerged from his new wristbands. The best analogy I could think of, were those hidden blades from Assassin's Creed. They didn't look a lot like stingers and they were anatomically in the wrong place, but they were going to be much easier to use, than if something were to be coming out of his rear.

“Not quite what I was thinking of, but I guess? Does it hurt letting those out?”

“Not really.” He said, sheathing and unsheathing his new stingers a few times. “And I think if I do…this!”

“Hey, watch it!” Ross hastily threw himself to the side as a stream of purple liquid shot out of Sarquiss’ stingers, through the space Ross had just been occupying, and straight into the ocean. “Be careful where you aim those things…what the hell?”

We all rushed to the railings and peered over the side in morbid fascination, as fish began floating to the surface of the ocean, belly up and gasping for air. I think Eddy summarized our collective thoughts the best when he said, “Whelp, that’s definitely a strong neurotoxin.”

“…I’m going to be veeeery careful from now on.” Sarquiss concluded, getting a collective nod from all of us.

“How did you not hurt yourself or more importantly Lily last night?” I asked him in astonishment. He should have lost control with how emotionally distressed he’d been., but he obviously had not. All I could say was that we had really dodged a bullet there.

“I don’t know for sure, but I think it was because I didn’t want to?” he said, shrugging in a noncommittal manner.

“Wait a goddamn minute…YOU WANTED TO HURT ME?” Ross asked incredulously, even as I patted my first mate on the shoulder.

“Work on your control Sarquiss. We don’t want accidents.”

“Aye, aye captain.” He answered, giving me a lazy salute.

"Can we not ignore how he just implied that he wanted to hurt me?" Ross plaintively asked while everybody else gathered around Sarquiss in a huddle.

“What else can you do? I hope those wings aren’t just for show.” Lily questioned, running a finger down the silvery wing.

“I'm going to try and find out now.”

"Anyone?" Ross tried again.

“Can you move them?” Muret wondered, to which Sarquiss nodded.

“I can, actually. They feel really unnatural…but also natural like they’ve always been there, if you know what I mean?

“I honestly don’t, but sure. Do go on.” Eddy told him.

In lieu of replying, Sarquiss closed his eyes in concentration, slightly curling in on himself as his new wings began to move. Slowly at first but rapidly speeding up, a low hum filled the air, continually rising in pitch until eventually, only buzzing remained.

“Look, guys! Look at his feet!” Hewitt exclaimed, causing us all to look down.

Gradually, inch by inch my first mate rose into the air, to end up hovering a good two meters above deck.

Joyous laughter rang out across the waves as Sarquiss straightened up to take in the view. It was likely no different from mine, but I expected that it felt very different to Sarquiss.

“I can fly! Fly, I tell you!” And fly he did, turning this way, floating that way and even drawing a figure eight in the air. “Look at me, darling! I can fly!”

“Yes, I can see you fly, shithead! And don’t call me darling!” But despite her fist waving in mock anger, Lily also had a giant grin plastered across her face. If Sarquiss had been the one under the most stress during last nights events, Lily was a close second, with me probably being a distant third. Even if things had turned out well in the end, watching your loved one sacrifice himself before your very eyes had to be a nightmare come true.

Even if he no longer looked fully human, this was one of the best case scenarios I could have hoped for, and it was heartwarming to see my Crew try and succeed in seeing the bright side of things, most of all Sarquiss.

The laughter and joy were infectious, our whole crew soon joining in. Fuza took to the air as well with Rivers on his back, almost as if to guide a new fledgling on his maiden flight. Then two became three as Aisa joined in, flying circles around them both. When had she learned to do that?

Soon, it had turned into an acrobatic show as Sarquiss tested out his newly gained aerial freedom, somersaulting and diving through the air. He even began to sing...badly I might add.

“I believe I can fly~”

Wait, I recognized those lyrics…

We all winced as Sarquiss was taught a lesson by our very own mast, as to why one should not look away from where one was flying. That…looked like it had hurt.

Then to add insult to injury, a newscoo dropped a stack of posters on my fallen first mate before flying off, but not before stomping on his hair in a very contemptuous manner.

“Hey captain,” Mani called out after quickly leafing through the posters. “The new bounties are up!”