Davina Jones and her men were trying to escape. They sprinted across the deck of the navy vessel, their boots pounding against the blood-slick wood, their lungs burning with the effort. Behind them, the men of the Black Ledger Gideon Crowe's relentless hunters pressed forward, their cutlasses gleaming, their faces twisted with the joy of the chase.
Ahead, the edge of the ship. Beyond it, the stormy sea dark, churning, hungry.
She shouted out, her voice cutting through the chaos.
"If anyone of you survives, I swear on it I'll give you a good time!"
Her crew's eyes widened.
"Though you have to wear protection!" She grimaced. "I really don't want to do it with you."
Immediately, it felt as if a rush of energy flooded her men's bodies. Their legs pumped faster. Their breathing grew more controlled. Their fear transformed into something else something closer to desperate, animalistic hope. Each of them picked up the pace, faster than they had ever run before, panting and racing at high speed.
Davina smiled.
She said to herself, her inner voice almost amused, Well, that kind of celebration wouldn't be that bad, I guess. I could do it.
Her face turned red.
She glanced at her men at their renewed vigor, at the way they threw themselves toward the edge of the ship, at the life that still burned in their eyes despite everything.
I haven't done it in a while, she thought. Wonder how it will feel if I do it.
She made a weird face half embarrassed, half longing and kept running.
The men that served under the Black Ledger chased after her.
They were relentless silent, efficient, deadly. Their boots hammered the deck in perfect synchronization, their cutlasses held at the ready, their eyes fixed on their prey.
Davina and her men got close to jumping off the ship.
The railing was near just a few more strides, just a few more heartbeats, just a few more seconds.
Then they noticed the ropes.
Thick, coiled ropes that came from below the sea rising from the dark water, swinging through the air, carrying bodies upward. From the ropes, more pirates were jumping onto the ship.
Not Davina's pirates.
Gideon's pirates.
They landed on the deck in front of her cutting off her escape, blocking her path, surrounding her crew.
Davina immediately yelled to her men.
"STOP! STOP AT ONCE!"
Her voice was desperate, frantic, too late.
She bore the regret in her mind like a physical weight.
If I had seen the signs earlier, she thought, her heart pounding, I would have stopped it. But I didn't.
Her men were thrown into a two-way combat.
Pirates from the Black Ledger pressed from the front their blades flashing, their faces hard, their intent clear. The men who had been chasing them pressed from the back cutting off any hope of retreat, closing the trap, sealing their fate.
Davina could not control the tide of battle.
Her crew fought bravely, desperately, futilely but they were outnumbered, outmaneuvered, outmatched. Bodies fell. Blood sprayed. The deck grew slick with the dead.
Thus, Davina was a woman who led pirates.
But could not be a pirate captain.
The captain of a pirate crew is not simply defined by their arrogance, their bravery, or their sheer strength. If that were the case, then many men and women would deserve the name captain. True captaincy requires something deeper something that cannot be measured in kills or gold or the size of one's ship. It requires the ability to see the battlefield, to anticipate the enemy's moves, to protect one's crew even when the odds are impossible.
Davina did not understand that.
And as such, that was the reason for the death of her men.
But she had a strong will.
She shouted out as the number of her men fell, her voice raw with desperation and fury.
"HOLD STRONG, EVERYONE!"
She raised her whip and her saber.
"I WILL TAKE DOWN THE LEADER!"
She sprinted forward.
Her body launched through the chaos weaving between pirates, ducking under blades, leaping over bodies. Her pink coat flapped behind her. Her necklace of shark teeth clattered against her chest.
She evaded many pirates that were in her sight.
But they continued to increase in number overwhelming her, pressing her back, forcing her to retreat.
She said, her voice tight with frustration.
"I didn't want to do this."
She grabbed a hold of one of the pirates.
Her hand wrapped around his collar, yanking him close, forcing him to meet her eyes. Her fingers stretched reaching toward his face, finding his eye socket, digging into the soft flesh.
SHLIK!
She uprooted his eye.
The orb came free wet, warm, glistening and she swallowed it whole.
Her throat bulged with the effort. Her stomach churned. Her body shuddered.
But the power came.
Two pirates that were at her back came down on her their blades raised, their faces twisted, their intent murderous.
Then they saw it.
Over her entire back, eyes appeared.
Dozens of them dark, gleaming, alive. They opened all at once, their pupils dilating, their gazes fixing on the attackers. They were real. They were watching.
She turned around.
Her body spun reacting to the information her new eyes provided, anticipating the attacks before they landed, moving with a speed that should not have been possible.
Her saber cut through the first pirate's throat.
Her whip wrapped around the second pirate's neck.
She pulled.
Both bodies fell.
The gap of numbers between her and the pirates was now reduced by a not-so-fair margin.
Davina Jones now had 360-degree vision capability.
She could manifest eyes on any spot of her body her back, her arms, her legs, her scalp. The eyes blinked, moved, saw everything. There were no blind spots. No surprises. No escape for her enemies.
The Black Ledger Gideon Crowe still sat in his chair.
He flipped another page in his black book, his expression unchanged, his voice calm and lecturing.
"Human anatomy is so complicated." He traced a diagram with his finger. "Yet at the same time, it is such a simple system."
He looked up.
"Complicated, in the sense that it is hard to understand. And hard to change. Hence, if something is changed, it could lead to devastating consequences."
He paused.
"Such as death."
He looked back at his book.
"And simple, in a way whereby a simple alteration is noticeable... and its result is even more noticeable."
He closed the book.
"I didn't believe she had that type of ability." He looked at Davina at the eyes covering her body, at the power she had unlocked. "I heard the legends. The daughter of Davy Jones... and her plenty abilities."
He stood up.
"Perhaps that is why you died." His voice was cold. "Your knowledge of human anatomy was little."
He smiled.
"Now... I will begin my lectures on human anatomy."
He looked at his men.
"Attack her from all sides!" His voice boomed across the deck. "Give no rest!"
He spread his arms.
"Long ranged attacks! Using any weapons of your choice!"
His smile widened.
"Include sea water."
He took a deep breath.
All the pirates that were on his side threw out a great cheer in unison.
"HOOOOH!"
Their voices shook the ship rattling the wood, echoing across the water, drowning out the storm.
in the space between the cheer and the attack, between Gideon's command and Davina's desperation.
The pirates surged forward.
The eyes on Davina's body blinked.
And the sea roared.