"Can't say that I'm surprised," Franky said.
"Mm," Zoro concurred, lifting his arm so Chopper can bandage his side.
Overall, the crew was taking Cherry's decision to stowaway on the unkillable pirates' ship rather well.
Even Nami wasn't too upset about it. She only banged her head on the table in frustration about half a dozen times.
"So," Usopp chimed in. "Which of us are going to follow her in the Shark Submerge? We can't very well chase after them with the Sunny, since we still need to wait for Luffy and Jinbe."
That idea had a few people perking up, but the first to volunteer was Reiju. "I'll go! I wanted to give your submarine a whirl anyhow!"
"I shall go as well!" Brook announced.
"And me!" Carrot bounced in her seat, hand raised high in the air.
All in all, they were a decent spread of combatants, two of which aren't powerless in the water and a third that at least won't drown if the sub sinks.
"It's settled, then!" Franky first clapped his large hands, then extended his small hands to clap them too. "I'll get the sub ready to go. No time to lose!"
…
Cherry's opinion of Barbossa had steadily declined since the beginning of dinner.
He himself didn't have any food in front of him, instead arranging a somewhat fancy spread for Elizabeth alone. He declined when she asked if he was hungry at all, then Elizabeth dug into the meal with gusto and very little manners.
Barbossa, meanwhile, simply stared at her with an increasingly longing look in his eyes. Cherry briefly considered the possibility that he was a cannibal, judging by just how hungry he looked as he did so.
"Enjoying the food, are you?" Barbossa finally spoke up.
Elizabeth started. Had the girl really forgotten she wasn't alone? If not, she was a pretty good actress. You'd think she hadn't eaten in weeks from how focused and ferocious she was!
"Oh," Elizabeth spoke with her mouth full of half chewed chicken. "Yeah…"
"I'm envious, you know?" Barbossa said, almost a whisper as her eyes were drawn to her lips. "It's been some time since I have enjoyed a meal, as simple a thing as it is."
"You said you didn't want any," Elizabeth swallowed. "You can't have mine."
Barbossa roared with laughter at the pure audacity of the statement, and there was a note of anger hidden within. "I'll not take from you that which I've already given; but you should be mindful of your tone, lest I do not offer anything more in the coming days."
"Just how long are you intending to keep me here?" Elizabeth stabbed at a salad in frustration.
"As long as we still have need of you, Miss Turner," Barbossa said in a more hushed tone.
"And how long is that?!" Elizabeth rephrased. "I was to be married, I'll have you know! To the man of my dreams, no less!"
"Is that so?" Barbossa clearly held no pity for her plight. "If things go well, then a few days' time should be more than enough. You'll be off our ship in no time."
He clearly meant it, but Cherry recognized that undertone of 'I'm being a tricky bitch right now' and 'My words mean something more than they seem'. People who thought they were smarter than everyone in the room often spoke in this way, and it was a telltale sign of a middling manipulator.
Unfortunately for Barbossa, there was one more person in this room than he was aware of, and he was still the third smartest.
"That's not ominous at all…" Elizabeth displayed every ounce of sarcasm she could muster. "The roast could use more salt. Did your cook even bother to taste his cooking?"
"Probably not," Barbossa admitted. "An… incident in the past left him without a sense of taste."
'Yeah, an incident where he got turned into a rotting bag of bones,' Cherry thought. She mentally noted the symptom down, 'Lack of taste, perhaps a lack of senses in general?'
It wouldn't really be a curse if the worst that it did was make you ugly under moonlight.
"Sucks to be him," Elizabeth crunched down on an apple. "Couldn't have happened to a better guy, I'm sure."
"You are remarkably rude given your circumstances," Barbossa said in a flat tone.
"You need me for something," Elizabeth stated plainly. "And whatever that is, you need me at least somewhat intact, because otherwise you wouldn't be treating me as well as you have."
"Is that what you think?" Barbossa narrowed his eyes. "How do you reckon that?"
"It's either that," Elizabeth held his gaze unflinchingly. "Or you're all eunuchs."
Barbossa stood abruptly, his chair toppling over behind him. Elizabeth flinched and leaned away from him.
"It's not wise to mock your captors, Miss Turner," Barbossa's voice was cold. "You have no idea what a desperate man is capable of, let alone hardened killers such as ourselves."
Barbossa snatched up the serving tray and launched it across the room. "As I promised, I'll not take away what I've given you; but if you wish to eat from henceforth, you'll eat off of the floor."
Barbossa turned and marched straight out of the room, locking the door as he did so.
"That was enlightening," Cherry said, making Elizabeth jump out of her skin. Figuratively, not literally like the guys outside.
"It was?" Elizabeth asked, once she had recovered.
"Oh yes," Cherry nodded sagely. "The curse these men are under is very interesting. The lack of taste in particular speaks of a certain malice behind the curse maker's intent."
Elizabeth frowned. "Like, taking away the joy of living?"
"Very astute!" Cherry praised. "Yes, I suspect that all of their senses will be dulled or completely absent. On top of the skeleton thing."
"The what thing?" Elizabeth didn't look like she actually wanted to know.
So naturally, Cherry answered anyway. "Under moonlight, their skin and flesh vanishes and reveals the hidden rot beneath their existence. Very unique!"
Elizabeth glanced at the door. It was obvious that bore some amount of morbid curiosity, but even more clear was her unwillingness to go see for herself. "I'll take your word for it."
"Come on, now!" Cherry nudged her with an elbow. "This is your bachelorette adventure! Live a little!"
Elizabeth whined a little, but then lit up. "The door's locked up tight! I couldn't sneak a peak even if I wanted to!"
"I can handle that. Just tell them that you learned how to pick locks ages ago if you get caught," Cherry picked her discarded fork off of the ground and bent it out of shape. "Here, hold this."
"What is…" Elizabeth started as Cherry went to the door next. Before she could change tracks and ask her to stop, Cherry did something to the door and cracked it open.
"That's your lock pick silly," Cherry motioned for her to come closer. "Now have a look. I think they're about to start singing~"
Elizabeth had been pretty firmly on the side of 'I don't want to see the undead pirates', but hearing that they might start singing was enough to push her over the edge.