"So, let me see if I understand this correctly." Gibbs spoke, with a glass of rum in his hand.
Rigel looked at the cup, clearly made of pewter, but he knew that pewter cups of that era often contained lead, not just the cups themselves, but various utensils as well.
The lead made them more malleable and cheaper.
Rigel looked at the unappetizing-looking food served in that same material and pushed it away. He took the food that the Kreacher had prepared for him, placing it on the table, along with a jar containing dozens of liters of grape juice. He picked up a glass and poured the juice into it, then put the jar away.
Picking up the silver cutlery, he began to eat calmly, under the bewildered gaze of Will, Jack, and Gibbs.
His meal was a large piece of roast beef cut into thin slices, with baked potatoes and broccoli.
The trio swallowed hard. the spell had left the food still steaming even after so long, the smell clearly appetizing.
Spices were very expensive in that era, so having such well-prepared and seasoned food in front of pirates...
"Hey, kid! What's that? Give me a piece." A pot-bellied, drunken pirate walked by, smelling the delicious food. He reached out to grab a handful, but at that moment, a black snake leaped from Rigel's sleeve, biting the pirate's neck. He screamed in pain and staggered roughly backward, knocking over another table. In seconds, he was dead, foaming at the mouth with wide eyes.
Rigel didn't even turn his face away, continuing to eat his food. to be more precise, he didn't want to see the dead man, or it would disgust him to the point of losing his appetite.
Ignoring the bar, which had fallen silent, he went back to eating.
Jack, Will, and Gibbs swallowed hard, quickly averting their gaze from Rigel's food.
The pirates also retreated, frightened by the event, but for a group of drunks, they let it go with impressive ease.
Only the man's body remained there, the black snake slowly crawling back onto Rigel's clothing.
Gibbs resumed his train of thought, avoiding looking at the 'demonic child'. "We'll go after the Black Pearl for Jack, the girl for Will, and the treasure for the Wi-Mr. Black."
"Exactly." Jack smiled.
"Yes? And what do I get out of it?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow.
"What do you want?" Jack opened his mouth, but it was Rigel who asked first, still focused on his food.
Gibbs swallowed hard and said. "Well, just my fair share, if you know what I mean."
Rigel looked at Gibbs and said. "A kilo of gold."
Gibbs swallowed hard, mentally calculating how much rum that could buy.
A kilogram of gold at that time was worth around 125 to 130 pounds sterling, thanks to Sir Isaac Newton who had fixed the value of gold years earlier.
One pound is worth twenty shillings, the price of rum varied around two shillings per gallon, the standard gallon on the other hand has almost 4 liters of capacity.
In other words, with a Kilogram of gold, Gibbs could get drunk and passed out every day for the next few years. for a pirate, that was all that mattered.
A smile quickly appeared on his face. "Done!"
Will wasn't interested in gold, but Jack, standing beside him, approached Rigel with a mischievous grin. "And what about me, Captain?"
Rigel rolled his eyes. "Weren't you Captain Jack Sparrow?"
"Well, given the current situation, I find myself between two sides of the same coin: I'm a captain without a ship, but I could also be a crew member on your ship, of course, just until I find my own." He spoke in his usual smooth voice, exploring any openings he could.
Rigel raised an eyebrow, remembering the effect of his hat, he smiled. "Done, a Kilo of gold, welcome aboard, Mr. Sparrow."
[A/N: I know that the unit of weight used by the English is not the kilogram, but just think of it as AU. Pirates of the Caribbean is full of plot holes anyway.]
--x--
[Announcement: Finally, we've reached chapter twenty, counting this chapter as the first chapter of this week. From now on, only one chapter will be released normally each week.(Starting from the weekly Power Stones update)
In addition, one bonus chapter will be released for every 60 Power Stones the story receives per week, with a maximum of 6 chapters per week. Ideally, this would mean up to 7 chapters per week. (This number may and will change in the future.)
Furthermore, as an addendum, a separate bonus chapter will be released after the story receives at least 15 ratings.(Note that I'm talking about reviews of the story, not reviews in the chapter comments.)
I really enjoyed this story. Whether it continues or stops now depends on you. Thank you for reading this far.]