"Land's ahead!" someone yelled into the cabin.

Cross was competing with Pierrot in a knife-throwing human spinning machine. The sudden call made him throw one off aim--

Boar, who was tied to the machine, had never screamed that hard in his entire life as a knife pinned right beside his eye.

"Really?" Cross completely forgot their game, "Land! Lilisia!"

"Ilisia!" Pierrot cheered back.

"Gawraah!" Leer added.

They left Boar tied up there and they rushed onto deck, ready for their first island in nearly a week since they started travelling together.

"See that?" Butterfly chuckled, showing them the island-- a stretch of green mass, mountainous bumps, and large marble structures of royalty. 

The town was flourishing and full of plentiful trade, ships porting in and out of the shores. The island was huge even from afar, much bigger than Shikke at least-- the top of the mountain perched the royal family's mansion-- a beautiful white gem shining in the deep green of the mountain forests. A clean, tiled trail lead up to it.

"That's the Ilisia Kingdom," Jester told them, "it's a huuge town, so you don't need to be worried about camouflaging into the crowd-- but be careful, this is still a World Government country!"

Leer leaped onto Cross' head for a better view.

The breeze threw their hair furiously about-- the sun rose from the east, in line with their final arrival on the island. It was a momentously joyous occasion-- the three pirates were awfully elated.

It was time for a new journey.

  ー  

Takara chuckled, pulling on a black turtleneck sweater and gloves. He strapped on a toolbelt-- a pleasantly overly gaudy metal contraption, full of unnecessary punk designs and compartments and metal jangles. The buckle was, as if he wanted to prove a point, a diamond with a large X over it.

Visul's changshan, deep blue and gold, was torn around the shoulder a few days ago so Spider simply shore it off at the shoulders-- now the dress was showing off proudly the deep brown scars at her shoulders. 

Cross, pulling his hood over his head, chuckled at the sight, "what's with you two, an image change?" he teased, tucking his red-wired blades into his stomach pocket.

"Oh, shut it, you," Takara grumbled.

They hopped off the deck, where the Masked Merchants were unloading their cargo.

"Thanks a ton for the ride, you guys!" he hollered.

"Bye byee!" Cross yelled, "hope to see ya guys agaain!!"

"Have fun, you three!" Grizzly hollered back, "stay well, alright?"

"Don't die out there!"

"Take care of your girl!!"

"Give her to meeee!"

"No way!!" Cross snapped back.

Visul burst into laughter, "see ya, Jester, Pirouette! Thanks for everything!"

"Make it big, y'all!"

"Yeah we will!"

"Wait, we never asked," Pierrot yelled, "who's the captain in you three?!"

Cross and Takara pointed at each other, "well, obviously, it's--"

They froze, realizing they'd jinxed each other.

"No, no matter how I look at it, it's you, Takara," Cross argued.

"You're the one that invited me in, so it's you, Cross," Takara retorted.

"JAhaha!" Enma laughed from the boat, "you couldn't decide on a captain?"

"Gao!" Leer declared, raising a paw.

"The captain's Leer!" Cross and Takara decided synchronously.

"The bear?!" 

"Well, I guess we can't call them out, we have a bear for a captain too..."

"Are you fine with that, Masquerade?!"

Laughter chimed in the cacophony.

After goodbyes that lasted literally forever, they parted ways. The three dragged their little boat to the corner of the shore, and went into town. Last the merchants heard anything about those pirates, they had rented an inn at the edge of town.

  ー  

"Hey guys, Captain's got something important to say, would you come up for a bit?!" Boar hollered to the shore, where everyone was bringing unsold good onto the ship again to close for the day.

"What's this, did he finally propose to Masquerade?" someone joked.

"We all wish!" Boar yelled back.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Grizzly flushed madly.

"He always has the ring in his back pocket but he's got no manly spine," Masquerade helpfully supplied, "hey, should I have told him I liked the ring?"

"You kNEW?!"

Laughter bubbled in the background, filling the air with a sort of warm, hearty atmosphere that misted in the deep orange sunset. 

They gathered onto deck quickly-- a circle around their captain, as the older members wore grim faces that sent shivers down everyone's spines.

"What's this, all of a sudden?" Jester felt unnerved by the tension.

"If you're gonna laugh off those dreary faces as  joke," Pierrot pouted, "it ain't funny."

"Well, just hear me out," Grizzly interrupted, settling comfortably in the center, face downcast, "it's been a long journey for all of us... long for some and you kids have only been here for a year or two."

"Don't get so emotional now, you creep me out!" Wolf teased.

"I have a twenty million beri bounty," Grizzly admitted, "that's the highest we have in here."

"A lot of us have bounties about a million or so, y'know?" Mime laughed, "awesome, ain't it!"

"Yeah..." Jester was hesitant-- why were they bringing it up? This didn't sound good. Not at all.

"The King of the Ilisia Kingdom-- Thalassa Lucas-- he is a wise man. Pirates know better than to riot here, because King Lucas grants them shelter even from the World Government," Grizzly explained, "he simply makes it a point for us to turn from banditry and not needlessly cause a ruckus. Many respect him for his kindness."

Pierrot felt his fists clench-- the message was clear.

"Jester, Pierrot, Rose, and Pirouette," Masquerade called them one after another, "plenty of you have no known criminal record or bounties. Most of you arrived because you have no place left to be. Being with the rest of us any further will only taint yourself."

"Wait!" Pierrot spoke up sharply, "what are you trying to prove? Why--"

"Simply put-- we have decided to end our voyage here," Grizzly declared.

A glass cup shattered-- Rose Eyepatch had dropped her glass of wine. The shimmering crack broke into more pieces than a hundred, a reflecting noise that seemed more than just painful.

"You're joking, right?" she couldn't believe her ears-- she stepped over the broken glass, laughter in her voice, "what's with that decisive tone? It's just a suggestion, right? Grizzly, why are you making it sound like it's already set in stone?"

Grizzly only eyed her carefully-- a resolve in his eyes that meant there was no room for rebuttals. A sorrowful determination that ensured obedience, and spoke of just how much thought had been put into it.

"Wait, did you guys--" Jester choked out, realizing how many of them seemed unsurprised, "did you guys already know of this?" 

Mime nodded, "Grizzly talked it over with us, and we agreed."

"What about us?" Pierrot got up, desperation and denial in his tone, "I didn't hear anything about this!"

"We're telling you now, aren't we?" Grizzly argued, "it's because we knew you would respond like this-- our crimes are our responsibility, they had nothing to do with you."

"They have a lot to do with us!" Jester raised his voice, "we're comrades, aren't we?"

They fell silent.

No one lifted their heads to speak back to it-- but Grizzly's stern gaze remained unshaken.

He simply stood up with a sigh.

"The four of you have a choice," Grizzly decided, "to stay here, or to go on a journey of your own. I will not stop you if you leave, and I will not reject you if you stay. I simply want you to retain the freedom of travel you deserve."

"Regardless of your decision, we will not be setting out to the sea again," Masquerade told them sternly, "King Lucas was kind enough to provide our needs out here. We will take it and live it with gratitude."

"Don't screw with me!" Rose snapped, gripping a fist and sending it crashing right at the mast, "why did you make such an important decision without us? There was no reason to!"

"You're hiding something..." Pirouette mumbled, "...if not, you would have told the few of us from the start."

There was anger boiling in them-- disappointment, something near betrayal.

The four were the only one without knowledge of this occurring.

In a sense, this was the furthest they've ever felt from the other-- weren't they comrades? Were they the only ones that fully trusted everyone?

"In return for the safety of everyone else in the crew," Grizzly swallowed his words, hesitant to reveal, "me, and as well Mime... will be surrendering ourselves to the Marines."