A/N: We've reached 40 advanced chapters on P_treon (finally). This is the last bonus chapter, I like to keep the chapter releases in increments of five, so from now on, the chapter schedule is fixed. Thanks for reading this far.
P_treon: March_Rain
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Before the shocked eyes of the pirate crew, Cotton's white hair began to darken rapidly, his wrinkles softened, the rough sea skin was replaced by smooth, well-cared-for skin, and his yellowed nails and teeth became white.
Cotton opened his mouth, and a tongue quickly reformed itself. Cotton, unaccustomed to this, was so shocked that he almost bit his tongue. On the other side, the situation was the opposite.
The water flowed directly towards the unfortunate captive, he awoke with wide eyes as the water swirled around him, the power of the fountain. He tried to flee, screaming in fear, but the wind and water held him in place. His flesh began to disintegrate, his hair to fall out, and even his clothes seemed affected by time, turning to dust.
The soul was the last thing to disappear while the skeleton was still moving, trying to save itself, but in the end, the skeleton fell completely, it was all that remained of the captive pirate.
The stark contrast between the two scenes left the pirates stunned, but fear soon gave way to greed as they gazed at Cotton, completely young, strong, and healed.
"Captain! My turn! My turn!" Pintel shouted!
"I'm older! Let me go first!" Another pirate with a gray beard shouted immediately afterward.
...
The pirates looked ready to fight, Rigel coughed slightly, the group of pirates froze, all looking at Rigel who stared at them expressionlessly.
Finally, each one fell silent, lowering their heads quickly, as they remembered who their captain was.
"Cotton, how are you feeling?" Rigel turned to Cotton, who was younger.
Cotton opened his mouth, but only a few strange sounds came out. He looked at Rigel, embarrassed. Rigel realized, he'd spent decades without the tongue, so it made sense that he needed to relearn how to use it.
"Alright, don't force yourself, you'll learn again in time. Instead, do you feel any discomfort?" Rigel asked, limiting himself to yes or no questions. The other pirates were also looking at Cotton with interest, they wanted to know everything about it.
Cotton shook his head quickly, he felt no discomfort, in fact, he hadn't felt this good in decades.
Rigel nodded and asked another question, the most important one. "Do you feel like using the fountain again?"
Cotton seemed thoughtful, but continued shaking his head in denial.
Rigel frowned, thinking Cotton was lying to him. And the curse?
"He's not lying." Calypso looked at Cotton with interest. "He really didn't want to use the fountain, to be more direct, he didn't care whether he used it or not, a man who resigned himself to fate, whatever it may be, rare, but not uncommon."
Cotton seemed a little nervous about being looked directly at by Calypso, but he didn't move, frozen there.
Rigel looked at Cotton thoughtfully, shaking his head. It was bad luck, Cotton is the kind of guy who can use the fountain without being cursed. Well, for Cotton, that was truly his good fortune.
"Alright, Cotton, you can go back. Ragetti, your turn." Rigel looked at the man who was missing an eye.
"Me?!" Ragetti's one eye widened, Pintel looked at him as if he had just betrayed him, Ragetti, on the other hand, was the most confused of the group.
Rigel was choosing based on damage, not age, Ragetti had lost an eye, so he would help him get a new one. Besides, among the pirates, Ragetti was one of the 'least sinful'.
Ragetti smiled excitedly when he realized Rigel wasn't joking. Soon it was his turn, and another unlucky captive was placed before him. He had already seen what had happened to the last captive, so he fought wildly.
This time the pirates didn't even need Rigel to intervene, making the captive faint with a 'kinetic analgesic' again.
When Ragetti's turn was over, he had the eye in place, as well as the complete package of fountain embellishments, but when Rigel asked if he wanted to use the fountain again, Ragetti said it would be better to offer it to Pintel.
Rigel was stunned, Pintel was stunned, the pirates were stunned.
Rigel turned to Calypso, and Calypso shrugged. "This one got away with it too. It seems that some of yours subordinates still have hope, Rigel."
Rigel rolled his eyes and Pintel felt embarrassed, if it were him, even now, he thinks he would ask to use the fountain again, after all, who doesn't want to live longer?
Ragetti, on the other hand, thought of him as soon as his turn was over.
Looking at Pintel's embarrassed face, Rigel knew he had found the right target this time.
If he chose Will and the man didn't feel anything either, he would be very angry.
"So be it, Pintel, step forward." Rigel said, looking at Pintel.
Despite everything, Pintel knew how to be grateful, he was already crying a little when he patted the now 'handsome' Ragetti on the shoulder and approached with evident enthusiasm.
The ceremony was repeated, Pintel quickly grew younger, even hair began to grow on his bald head again, he touched his head, feeling the hair, he shouted excitedly to Ragetti. "Hair! I have hair!"
Ragetti laughed, giving Pintel a thumbs-up. "You look very handsome!"
"You too! My friend! You too!" Pintel smiled excitedly.
Rigel rolled his eyes at the pair, coughed slightly to get their attention, and they both gave him embarrassed smiles. Rigel ignored this and looked at Pintel.
"And you, do you want to use the fountain again?" He asked curiously.
Pintel was about to deny it, but looking at the fountain, he felt a faint compulsion within him. "I... maybe just one more time, yes, just one more time and I'll be satisfied."
Rigel finally smiled, he looked at Calypso, who was smiling back at him.
Then Rigel levitated Pintel by his clothes and summoned his coffin from the ship, the coffin appeared right beside him.
He first cleaned Pintel and took Salazar out of there, who immediately became unhappy.
Rigel didn't hide the coffin this time, so the pirates saw it. Rigel shoved Pintel into the coffin, the man was screaming in terror. "Captain! Captain! It was a joke! Please, don't bury me alive!"
Rigel rolled his eyes at Pintel and said, "I'm not going to bury you, idiot. I'm helping you get rid of a curse, now be quiet!"
Pintel opened his mouth, he really wanted to say he didn't believe it, but seeing Rigel's increasingly angry eyes, he could only bite his lip and pray that Rigel was telling the truth.
Rigel held Pintel in the coffin for a moment. Calypso was unaware of the coffin's effects, so she stared at it curiously. Rigel, on the other hand, placed the Triton's crown on his head. Looking at Pintel lying in the coffin, he saw a faint, dark aura swirling around him, still faint, but present nonetheless.
The next moment, Rigel allowed Pintel to enjoy the effects of the coffin.
Pintel fell asleep immediately, while Rigel, on the other hand, watched with divine blue eyes as the dark, shadowy aura slowly began to leave Pintel's body.
"It works!" Rigel chuckled excitedly.
Calypso, on the other hand, looked at the coffin with interest. She had always wondered why Rigel liked to sleep in a coffin, she could sense that there was something unusual about it, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
Now she sees.
"Can this thing get rid of curses?" She asked, a little surprised.
"Yes, but it takes time." Rigel looked at her for a moment, answering sincerely, after all, the coffin was connected to him, no one could remove it from him, and there was no reason for her to try either, so he was being honest.
Calypso sighed, if she'd had this thing sooner, even if it took a long time to remove the seal from her, judging by how quickly the curse on Pintel faded, she still would have escaped her prison much sooner.
Of course, she wouldn't have found Rigel.
Looking at Rigel, she felt it wasn't so bad after all, then she looked back at Pintel.
Rigel removed the crown, at this speed, it would take several hours to completely cleanse this curse. In the meantime, he turned to Calypso and asked the question he wanted to ask.
"Can we take the fountain with us?" Rigel asked curiously.