The captain looked at his ship with satisfaction as his men boarded the crates on it. The man turned toward the people he hired for their protection, visibly thankful.
"Thanks for your help with the Amiral, you're very kind."
The leader of the fleet bowed, thanking the girl with short red hair.
"It's only natural, so many pirates want to steal treasures on those lawless seas. My associates and I will gladly help."
Before the girl could go on the ship, the nun at her side took her clothes to stop her.
"Silv... I can feel him, Neige is here."
"Isn't it good? You'll see your friend soon then!"
Silv confidently entered the ship, followed by the uncertain Ada. The third member stayed outside silently, lost in her thoughts.
"Hey Emel, don't waste time."
The Elizabeth and its crew were still sailing on the calm seas. The four members sang songs with too much alcohol in their blood. The captain held his glass of alcohol high in the hair, holding Neige while singing.
"It had been so long! I miss having a crew!"
"Maybe rum was a good idea..." Neige said, barely able to stand up.
"Tiens bon la vague, tiens bon le vent! Hisse et ho, Santiano!" Silva yelled with all her heart, holding Sepide in one arm, a bottle of rum in the other.
"Why do we live? Is it because we enjoy life or because we fear death?" Sepide's voice was cold and precise as her eyes stared into the void of the horizon. The captain looked at the two girls with confusion before turning toward his new friend.
"I can't understand your friend, does she speak another language?"
"I can't even understand her... I think she's too drunk for anyone to understand..." Neige answered to the man's question.
"They don't support alcohol very well, but it's part of the fun!"
"Are those harbingers of death or fortune?" Sepide asked with her cold voice "Was it doomed to be? Were those cannonballs meant to kill us from birth?"
"Huh?" The captain was confused at her words but quickly noticed another ship attacking them, they missed but the man recognized the ship "The Amiral! It's our target!"
The captain couldn't hide the smile on his face and hurried toward the ship's helm to head toward the ship with the flag. A man on the other ship yelled at him, holding a girl with short red hair in his right arm.
"We apologize, we didn't mean to! We have a few drunk members."
"Oh, no worry mate, no hard feelings." The pirate answered, visibly relieving the man on the other ship.
"That's a relief."
"But we'll still pillage you!"
"Oh... That's not good."
Gol'tooth headed toward his drunk crew and yelled at them with excitation.
"It's time! Steal their loot! We have no honor, only wish for riches and adventures!"
"Houra!" The crew jumped on the Amiral with excitation. Neige approached his friend, managing to keep calm despite the alcohol in his blood.
"Don't forget our goal, destroy the tools."
"Destroy the tooth, alright." Silva nodded her head before running to the insides of the ship.
"Tools... Aren't we tools? Tools made for Fate itself? Is anything different from a tool?"
"Sepide, I meant the tools for the metric system."
"The metric system..." Sepide thought for a while, pondering on those words like they were a philosophical enigma "What is a man?"
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"Just don't die, alright?"
Neige tapped his friend on the shoulder before leaving to search for the tools.
"Death... Are we truly alive?"
Silva made her way to the insides of the ship only to be met with her other self, waiting for her.
"Silva... Not today, my head hurt..."
"Can't handle alcohol?"
"Alcohol? No... I just am seasick... Wait, are you drunk?"
"Yes, I am!" Silva announced proudly.
"I can't believe you're my other self... I have to fight though, for the greater plan..."
Silva tried to punch her opponent but missed by a few meters.
"Silv, you're the worst! You managed to clone yourself!"
"What? No, you're just drunk."
"Don't lie, I hear your chubby voice in triple."
"Silva, you have a problem."
Silv took a knife and went toward her but stopped after only a step.
"If I move too fast, I'm gonna puke..."
"Real men aren't afraid of that!"
"Shut the fuck up... I'm just going to-"
The ship was rocking suddenly, moving around the two girls in the ship. Silv barely managed to hold onto something, while Silva rolled on the floor.
"I didn't know I was seasick... It's the worst..."
"Wait... Why am I here?" Silva stopped for a moment, trying to remember what happened before "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to get a soul for the robot."
"That was thirteen chapters ago... I can't believe you're in that state and I can't do anything..."
The ship's movement made Silv fall toward Silva, who managed to catch her before she hit the wall. Silv suddenly flinched, feeling the uncomfortable sensation of touching her other self.
"Hey, let me go! It burns!"
"Oh yeah, it's funny haha."
"Are you saying that the universe trying to separate us is funny?"
"Yeah... Kinda..."
Silv managed to get free from Silva's grip and tried to use her knife to stab her. Seeing the attack, Silva disarmed Silv and violently threw her on the ground with a wrestling move.
"Too fast... You're moving me way too fast..."
Gol'tooth arrived in the insides of the ship. He stopped after seeing the two identical girls and pointed his saber toward them.
"I don't know what's happening, I just hope Silva's the one winning. I'll just take all the gold and you keep on dealing with her."
"Oaky!" Yelled Silva while saluting the man.
"You can't even talk prop... I'm too exhausted to complain..."
Sepide stayed on the deck, pondering about profound mysteries of life in between the chaos.
"Am I a human if I'm created from a book? Is a human decided at birth? Is my gender decided at birth? Is my sexuality-"
"Hey, are you not fighting?" A girl with long ginger hair asked, who Sepide seemed to recognize.
"Emely?"
"Emely? Where does the Y come from? I'm Emel. Are you with the good guys?"
"Good guys, bad guys, isn't it all a social construct?"
"Huh?"
"Who decides what is good? Who decides what is bad? Who to trust?" Sepide started at the girl with empty eyes. With a scared expression on her face, the girl took a step back slowly, trying to get away from Sepide.
"Is everyone crazy here? I'm just a tailor, not a pirate! Why did Silv bring me here? Where are we?"
"Is there even an answer to this question? Do things ever are?"
"I think I prefer going with the pirates than hanging out with you..."
Neige managed to get the tools he needed, he hurried to throw them at the sea but was surprised by the sight of a person he had seen before.
"Ada! What are you doing here?"
"Neige? Come hug me!" The anomaly could barely stand straight but managed to hold Neige in her arms.
"Are you drunk too?"
"I'm just a bit tipsy... I'm not a nun anymore, I'm allowed!"
"I... Sure, why not? But what are you doing here?"
"I dunno, Silv told me to come and I came."
"You just listen to her? Is she your leader or something?"
"I don't know, I'm lost." Ada laughed wholeheartedly while taking Neige tightly in her arms "I don't know what I should do but it's okay... I'll find Neige someday."
"Your Neige?"
"No, the one that lives on a ship with no pantie girl and black pantie girl..."
"... Me?"
Ada looked at Neige for a moment before giving him a bright smile.
"Neige! How long have you been here?"
"You're so drunk, how much you drank?"
The anomaly counted on her fingers, Neige was getting increasingly worried as the number on her fingers went up.
"Six..."
"Six!? You've drank six bottles?"
"No, kegs..."
Neige stared at her deeply, he wasn't even sure if she had six kegs of blood in her body.
"How are you still alive?"
"I'm not, hehe."
"That's... Concerning. As long as you don't cause problems it's alright, I was a bit busy at the moment."
"Oh yeah, Silv said I had to find the metric system and protect it! I don't know what that is..."
"That's meters and grams. You know, the thing you use to measure distance and weight."
"Wow, you're smart..." Ada said with her eyes closing themselves "I use Neiges to calculate distance... My church is twenty Neiges tall!"
The nun fell asleep in Neige's arms who placed her comfortably on the floor to let her sleep.
"That's really a weird day."
Neige threw the tools at the sea, officially finishing his mission. He hurried to get Silva to tell her the good news.
Silva and Silv faced each other inside the ship, none moving a muscle. Neige arrived to see the two girls staring at each other, not moving an inch.
"Silv! I knew you were here!"
"Just take Silva, she's tiring me..."
"I'm just being myself!"
Neige contemplated the idea of arresting Silv right there but the chaos around would make it difficult. He just took Silva's hand and hurried outside with her, all he needed now was to find Sepide.
Thankfully for them, Sepide just stood there, looking at the horizon. What surprised them was the person next to her, a girl looking eerily like Emely.
"Are you her friends? Take her, she's creeping me out."
"What is truly scary? The fear of death? Am I able to kill if I am not alive myself?"
Neige stared at Sepide with worry before taking her hand as well.
"I'll make sure to never give Sepide alcohol again."
Neige and his friends made their way on the Elizabeth. The captain was also here, waiting for them.
"You got what you needed?"
Neige nodded his head. After getting everything they needed, the group sailed away from the ship, satisfied with their mission.