Don't get me wrong, I was happy with the system I had in place, having only to ring up a small collection of no more than a dozen people to be informed of all that had occurred. The issue was the sheer amount of s.h.i.+t that had happened in the brief week!

I was broken out of my revere by a small knock on the door, the crew had arrived.

The group filed in silently, Fawkes calmly walking through at the head of the lot before walking to my left. The rest of the group spread out before me looking at me calmly.

Terrick had gotten a much needed change of clothes, a small and airy s.h.i.+rt and a pair of black cargo pants. A small holster with a tiny dagger rested on his hip.

Barts stood to his right, she had ditched her more tribal costume for a pair of clothes that I guessed that she borrowed from Angella.

Scipio glanced at me with rich determination in his eyes, gleaming with a renewed vigor. A small smile stretched across my mouth. "Brat, it seems you've dealt with it.." I said out loud looking piercingly at him.

"Remember what I said to you? I won't hold your weakness against you, as long as you work hard to remove it. 'Being weak isn't wrong, staying weak is.' So, boy did you try your hardest?" I asked. My voice breaking the grim silence of the room.

Scipio looked at me, surprise in his eyes. "Aye Captain." He said nodding to me. "Then all's fine. No one here will expect anything else." I said to him before looking at Sorren.

The fat boy had slinked into the room at the very end, carefully steadying himself at the door frame as he looked onward.

"You doing alright fatty?" I called out.

"Ugh, Captain how did Fawkes deal with this? It hurts soo much!!" He whined out loud, his serious expression melting away to reveal a more carefree demeanor.

"Eh." Was all I said as I shrugged. "Now then onto more serious matters. Terrick do you have a plan?" I asked, obviously referring to the crew's pathetic poison resistance.

He nodded solemnly as he came forward, I was really starting to like the 'fall in' esque feel of the whole briefing, but I digress.

"I have a few things that would be useful. From tomorrow I'm going to have Fawkes put in small amounts of toxin into the food that we eat. I was trained this way so it's probably going to work.. Of course we're all going to have very rebellious stomachs for a week or so, but it's a small price to pay." He said as I nodded.

Fawkes grimaced slightly as I looked at him before nodding.

"What about you, Rein?" I asked our resident guest as I glanced at the other corner of the room. As if to camouflage with the deep shadows he had pressed his back against the walls, his eyes darting around constantly.

"Don't you mess with my food!" He roared out loud before flinching. With a meek nod of apology he walked out of the room evidently rattled by the events on the island.

"Leave him to me." Barts said, interrupting my thoughts. "I'll handle it. You don't need to worry too much." She said nodding proudly before stalking out of the room. The floor boards creaked as I looked at the rest of them.

"Hah… Fawkes work with fatty for a new schedule, we won't be rowing out of here any time soon it seems…"

**************

Rein gulped as a suffocating feeling slithered down his back. He could feel it returning, panic laced through his spasming muscles as he leaned against the walls of the s.h.i.+p.

Merely staying near the crew seemed to bring it on, horrific scenes filled his mind as he began to heave. Giant serpents seemed to dance before him as his breath began to shorten, he could feel his muscles constricting unnaturally as he tumbled to the floor.

He was hyperventilating, his heart seeming to want to flee his constrictive ribs as veins began to reveal themselves on his arms.

He clenched his hands firmly as he s.h.i.+veringly reached into his pockets, only calming down slightly as he felt the bulge of cloth beneath.

He would do it. However much he suffered at this point, he could not hold it against the crew. True, they had forced him to work. But he was not as spoiled as to believe that he was ent.i.tled to free service from anywhere.

He wasn't a world n.o.ble. And even the distant manner that the crew dolled against him could not possibly alienate them from him, for whatever they did they still treated him humanely, caring for him the way they would care for another member on the s.h.i.+p.

He pulled his coat to his face as he b.u.t.toned it down on one side. rapidly he began breathing into it as he forced it around his mouth and nose.

Slowly he could feel his heart begin to calm down, and his breathing to subside.

"What're you doing?" A curious voice suddenly called out, rapidly piercing his one man bubble. He could not help but gape at the women staring down at him. Her black eyes gleaming intelligently as she regarded his fallen form.

He smiled weakly as he tried to get to his feet, only for her to kneel down in front of him. "What happened?" She asked her voice once again ringing out soothingly.

He sighed slightly as he began to sit up, no longer trying to get to his feet he looked at her. Then his mouth began to move, and as he spoke he could feel his tense muscles relax and his heart settle.

For her part Barts listened, not interrupting at all as he told her how he felt, a small smile on her face as she patted his back encouragingly.