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Charlotte tried to relax as he asked her to do and since he shot down all of her suggestions she just waited for him to come up with something. When he slammed his hands on the desk she let out a tiny gasp and flinched.

She assumed he had finally come up with something and judging by how he was acting it was not going to be productive. Her skin crawled when he requested Yuna of all people to come to his office. She observed his body language and facial expression and it was just as she feared.

She wasn't allowed to disobey due to their contract so she nodded her head and went outside to get Yuna.

Charlotte had spotted her friend cleaning deck as apart of their morning duties.

"Yuna! Can you come here a moment?" Charlotte called loud enough to grab her attention.

Yuna noticed that Charlotte has a worried look on her face so she walked over to Charlotte almost immediately. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Charlotte lowered her head and pressed her two index fingers together, "uh...the Captain wishes to see you."

Oh, bloody hell...Yuna let out a sigh and walked over to the Captain's office at the back of the ship. Yuna has been a good girl for almost an entire week and suddenly the Captain wants to summon her out of the blue? This couldn't be good...

Charlotte followed behind and held the door open for her friend while Yuna nervously walked into the room and took a seat in front of the desk. Charlotte closed the door and walked beside Captain Dealt, she had her eyes to the floor as she brand for whatever mischief the Captain had planned.

"I know you might be a little pissed that I spilled a little ale on your cloak a couple of days ago, but it was an accident, honest!" Yuna confessed without even knowing why she was even summoned in the first place.

Charlotte cupped her hands in her face in embarrassment, "Yuna no", she whispered.

Dealt wasnt exactly sure where he was going with this but sometimes that's half the fun. As Yuna came in he watched her take a seat he grimaced.

"Still no manners I see.." he checked his cloak. "Oh I didnt really pay it much mind, I assumed like your manners you were just terrible at your job."

Before she could react he stand and would draw his blade and bring it downwards in a full swing, stopping just before it could even touch a hair on Yuna's head. He stopped with such precision it would appear to be intentional. He would sheathe his blade and look to Charlotte.

"I asked you to grab her, not bring her here. Take better care next time. And as for you." He darted a look at Yuna. "Do your job right. If she is to keep settling your debts I will have to start making an addendum to our contract." He shooed her away. "Leave, Charlotte take a seat."

Yuna reflexively scooted as far as she could in her chair when the Captain swung down his sword like a madman. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Yuna shot Captain Dealt an aggressive stare for the unwarranted attack.

Charlotte wanted to step in and smack Captain Dealt across the head, he was like a savage child.

"You said to go "grab" Yuna, yes? I just assumed you wanted to see her for something." Charlotte retorted, "unless you wanted me to literally grab her..." She mumbled.

Charlotte realized that she was talking back and corrected herself, "No, um, what I meant to say was that I am so sorry for messing up!" She apologetically bowed her head.

Yuna darts out of her chair and back to the deck so she could continue cleaning before the Captain used her as a training dummy. Charlotte walked over and sat at the same chair Yuna was sitting before.

"Am I in trouble?" She asked innocently, her eyes looked like that of a guilty child.

Dealt looked at her from across the desk. "So you will tell to protect your friends. But you still won't talk to me casually. I guess this doesn't particularly help the situation." He softened his tone and his demeanor.

"No you are not in trouble, honestly the order was for either but you were set up to fail, if I am being honest." He conjured some water which appeared in a magnificent glass pitcher, trimmed with gold, elven in design filled with cold water. He grabbed two cups and poured each full, but the water never emptied from pitcher even though two full cups sat in front of them.

With a wave the pitcher disappeared and he took a drink. "That's for you to drink. Its elven water, it's more hydrating and tastes better. The elves and their magic trinkets, but this is a useful one." He took another drink. "So you will yell at me for your friends but double back immediately, you are interesting. But for the real reason for all of this, when I drew my blade and brought it down. What did you see?"

Charlotte watched him conjure a beautiful water jug out of nothing and pour both of them a glass of water. Charlotte gently grabbed her cup and took a small sip, he wasn't lying that it tasted better than regular water. So cold and refreshing, she never had such a delicacy before.

She dropped her shoulders while exhaling a relieved sigh, she was glad that she wasn't in trouble or putting anyone else in trouble. But she had to wonder if this was some kind of test or just another one of Captain Dealts cruel tricks.

She took a moment to answer his question so she could give him a proper answer but what was it he wanted her to say? Charlotte decided to give him an honest response, "I saw you almost strike my friend and the way I would describe it was absolutely terrifying. It all happened so suddenly that I am unable to give further details, sorry."

Dealt finished his drink and sighed. "You should be more observant. You saw the baseline but you missed the point but that is ok." He stood up and paced around behind his desk. How to explain it.

"I tried to kill your friend, for not doing her job properly thus voiding our contract. But what you missed was that I didn't stop intentionally. I had every intention of cutting her. But like I said the other day. I am bound to the contract wholly." He came to her side and looked down at her.

"I cannot allow harm to you or your troupe. That was the deal. My form is bound to these contracts, with them I can destroy nations, ravage worlds, commit acts of great good or evil" that cause him to smirk, no one really wants him for good. "But because of them I am bound by them. I don't hate Yuna, she is annoying but frankly not even a tenth as annoying as some old enemies. But I have no concern for her either. She is... un-tetherable."

He would offer her another pour of water. "I may be a demon but that is a name. I know my, ugh, cousins you are more familiar of are brutes and monsters. I am of a higher breed. I am no more different than an elven lord. A dwarven prince. A humble farmer as it comes to behaviours. I just do as I please because I can. I don't care much for killing, it's a waste of a soul. And that is what is most... second most important to me."

He softened dramatically, so much so the air in the room appeared to shift and sway like a dance over an empty plain, calming and relaxing.

Charlotte gently placed the glass cup she was holding back onto the table, being mindful not to spill any water on the wooden table. She listened intently as the Captain explained most of the crucial points she was missing.

With one hand she placed her index finger to her lips while her free hand rested on her lap. She tried her best to process what he was saying and at the same time trying to put the pieces together.

It was disturbing that he casually admitted to wanted to harm her friend but at the same reassuring that he didn't go through with it because he couldn't.

From what he was saying, Captain Dealt was a powerful monster, but he wasn't completely evil as some would assume. He could have slaughtered them all but he didn't, he could have forced himself upon Charlotte but he didn't he could be so much more than a simple pirate but he wasn't.

"Are you trying to say that even though you are a demon it does not mean you have some humanity in you...?" Charlotte turned her head with questioning eyes, she at least hoped she was finally getting the bigger picture.

Was this another one of his tricks to get her to open up to get more or was this a genuine attempt to make ber more understanding of who he was as a person?

He chuckled a bit. "In a way yes. I have no humanity but that is because I am not human. The more appropriate term would be... civility I guess? Of which I have shown to clearly had. I have kept my word to the contract, I have treated you well, granted there was the odd scare but that's just me having fun. I have been civil. Kind, caring to a point, but if nothing else friendly.. to a fault."

He began to conjure various images. "You see there is always a want, someone always wants. There is rarely a need. You, for example." He showed her images of her troupe. "To be with them, to be free and to enjoy your days." The images changed to a mountain of gold. "Some want money." Then changed to a crown. "Power, authority." Then it changed to the world. "Some want the world." He crushed the image in his hand and released it as dust that disappeared as it fell. "And some wish to destroy it."

His golden eyes steeled when he looked down at her. "I am not without my own desires as well, I may not be a 'human', but compared to many in the world, I am far closer. Like everyone I am fighting for what I want, and like anyone of passion. I fight with all I have."

He let the words hang for a moment. "What is you passion Charlotte? What is the thing you will fight for, the thing you will never waver on?" Dealt felt more emboldened by his own words, he had doubt but he doesn't lose, not without giving it his all.

Charlotte looked totally entranced by all the images Captain Dealt created out of thin air she didn't even know such magic existed. As she was listening to the Captains lecture it was like she was learning more and more about people.

She learned that human desire was natural no matter what that desire may be and that she was no different.

When the images disappeared Charlotte turned to the Captain to look him in the eyes when she was ready to answer his question. She slowly stood up from her chair and turned her body so she could better see the captain.

"If there was anything I wanted in this whole wide world it would be to dancer, it has always been a dream of mine to be an entertainer ever since I was a little girl. My instructor did not think I was able to become a performer because I was too afraid to be the center of attention." She lowered her eyes when she revealed this sensitive information.

"I joined the Bizzare Wonders because I wanted to overcome my meek nature."

"I used to practice performing silly plays for my parents behind our house whenever I got home from school." Charlotte lifted her eyes to look at the Captain once more, her lips were curling upward.

"I would dance on and until my feet...oh!" Charlotte paused for a moment to notice how much she was blabbering about nothing.

"My apologies you must find this terrifically dull! You must have plenty of exciting adventures..." Charlotte turned her face as her cheeks were turning pink, she did not expect herself to start getting so personal.

Dealt only smiled at her passion, finally she was appearing. He would cup her cheek as she turned away to keep her looking at him. "Every adventure is exciting, you just need to see the value in it, and it appears you have found yours." He would drop his hand and smile. "No one can take that from you, that passion for your dreams." He paced around for a bit. I can help where I can, but I don't work for free as I am sure you can understand." He paused in thought.

"How about a trial package then? You want the confidence to dance freely? Well how about this, when you go for your nightly practices, I will watch, over time as you get more comfortable, I will add more illusions to watch, they will feel and respond like a real audience. They will boo, they will cheer, and they will or won't be entertained."

He extended a hand to shake. "So how about it? try it out for a few weeks and see if you want to buy the whole thing?" He smiled broadly towards her, he was genuinely happy with her outbursts, she was opening up to him.

When Captain Dealt touched her cheeks he would be able to feel the temperature in her face rising. She wasn't prepared for that sudden touch and when he let go Charlotte gently touched her cheeks with the tip of her fingers. At least she wasn't turning her face away this time which was strange but at not unpleasant.

Charlotte thought about his offer for a moment and she had to admit that it was very tempting, but that wasn't how she was going to do it. Charlotte politely shook her head as to decline his offer.

"Do not be offended, but this is something I want to solve on my own without the help of magic or deals from a demon." She gave him a warm smile as to not make him think she didn't appreciate the thought.

"But thank you for asking, please try to respect my wishes, I do not want to be given any extra treatment hehehe..."

Dealt was shocked, but accepted the answer. "Alright Charlotte, you won't get any special treatment, I do hope you realize that I will still watch your practices though." He was invigorated and was quite uplifted by her attitude. Her resilience to taking the easy way was admirable, not many resist his help.

"I am glad we had this talk though, I am sorry I was a bit rough with the presentation, but its easier to show some things than tell them." He tapped his chin. "I have a job for you, it would seem to be one of the troupe isn't performing well, I think they need to be shown how to do things. Spend the rest of the day bringing them up to speed. Really make sure they get a handle on what is expected of them, I think you are familiar with this person, and I think you can tell Yuna how I like things here."

He felt happy, truly happy which was strange, it felt alien. Sometimes innocence catches on. Maybe he would try and be a bit nicer. Who knows how he would feel tomorrow. "Just make sure your back by the time the troupe begins to eat, because they need to prepare for their show. Until then I am going to take a nap." He sent her off with a wave, and would nap until she would come back.

"I will do my best to get them up to speed!" Charlotte stated with absolute confidence, she was worried about Yuna anyways. Charlotte thought maybe she should start convincing Yuna not to burn the ship after the Captain's stunt.

Charlotte gave Captain Dealt a salute and marched towards the door with a little pep in her step. And for the rest of the day, Charlotte spent her time retraining Yuna until supper, she listened to Yuna's ranting and raving about how the Captain was this and that. It was understandable that she was angry, but Charlotte wished she would focus more on not letting a situation like that happen again.

Two weeks had passed since the Bizarre Wonders were out at sea, their morning routines had finally become natural and everyone was finally getting familiar with the other crew members. Each member of the Bizare Wonders knew their duties and performed them at a satisfactory rate.

As for Charlotte, she continued to do her nightly dance routines, she knew Captain Dealt was still watching from a distance but she usually tried to ignore his presence. Charlotte was by now much more comfortable with the Captain and even started up a conversation with him once every Blue Moon. She wasn't as intimidated as she was before and it showed.

As time went on Dealt began to enjoy his time with Charlotte even more. She was proving to be valuable and the troupe almost felt like part of the crew. His own crew even stopped putting on their acts as well. He sighed, he was getting soft and so was his crew. But it was fine. His crew were still animals, but animals that travel in packs, and besides the odd lecherous looks towards some of the woman, they began to feel the troupe was a part of their pack as well. Dealt studied it over the weeks that passed.

Charlotte spoke to him from time to time and he was content to have the company. The nights were where he expressed the greatest interest. Charlotte began to get more confidant, and it showed. She looked more elegant in the moonlight, and it suited her very well. He was impressed at her growth, it was gradual, but it would only increase from there on.

One day he asked her. "Would you want to perform your dances with your troupe one night?"

Charlotte was doing her usual house cleaning as per usual, the office had been much cleaner ever since Charlotte became his assistant as well. She knew that they were pirates and cleanliness wasn't a priority but it didn't hurt to be a little neater. Captain Dealt's office was becoming the cleanest place on the ship thanks to Charlotte.

At the moment, Charlotte was organizing and sorting out the liquor cabinet, placing bottles in certain places based upon color and size. She put the ones Captain Dealt liked the most upfront so it would be easily accessible. She took a step back to admire her hard work, the Captain was probably going to disorganize it all over again, but she would just fix it again if it became too messy.

Charlotte turned to the Captain when he made the suggestion, her eyes were twinkling with eagerness, that had to be the best thing he has ever said all week!

"Truly! Do you mean it?" Charlotte clenched her fists with a wide grin.

Dealt was taken aback at her excitement. He never expected it to make her that happy! He chuckled at her. "Yes I do mean it, you have been practicing for a while now, and you finally seem like you can dance with the person you hate most on this ship watching you, so with your troupe as back up, I believe you can only add to their performance."

He looked over his cabin, he was also running out of things to get her to do, it just seemed like good timing as well. "Not tonight but perhaps tomorrow, I was planning on making a trip below decks today anyway, so why don't we go and discuss tonight's festivities?"

He gathered his cloak and threw it on, he never really needed it but it gave him that extra air of mystery and intimidation he liked. If he was being truly honest, he like the sound it made in the wind and the way it trailed behind him, it's always the simple things in life, no? He would follow behind Charlotte, he knew the troupe would prefer to see her first before him anyway.

Charlotte frowned when he said that she might not perform today, but that's what she got for getting her hopes up so quickly. She stepped forward, holding the door open for Captain and walking ahead of him towards the bottom of the ship.

"Hehe..oh, stop, I do not hate you" Charlotte chuckled at the Captain's teasing.

The deck was busy with working crewmen as usual. "Mornin' Bubbles!" A crew member shouted towards Charlotte's direction, she turned her head, smiled and waved. Then she heard someone greet her again with the name nickname and returned the greeting.

The crewmen started calling her 'Bubbles' for some time now and she didn't know who started it but she had a couple of guesses. She tolerated that name more than "sweetings" or "babe" anyway so she didn't complain.

Once below the deck, she could hear music in the distance, it must have been the musicians of their group taking time to practice their music. Charlotte wasn't the only one who wanted to keep her skills sharp. When she arrived to check on her crew they all took a moment to greet her. Yuna, however, as the first to get up and give her a more ing hug.

She missed sleeping in the presence of people she knew.

Dealt smiled at her and followed after her "Well glad I am not the most hated on the ship!" Dealt listened to the music, it carried along the wind and always found his ears, they seemed to have gotten either better, or more comfortable. He gave strange looks to his crew that called after Charlotte. Even his men were getting infected by her innocence. But he let them be. Things had been calm and good as of late, he only had Charlotte to thank for that. He sighed sadly, he knew it wouldn't last.

Dealt stayed behind and let Charlotte get her greetings out. He owed her that much, after a couple moments he entered the room but stayed close to the entrance. He looked towards each of the crew and gave a nod to all, even Yuna.

"Good day everyone! I believe that Charlotte has an announcement for you all to hear!" He motioned to her to take the lead, he just stayed back and leaned against a wall. She worked hard and seemed so happy to have the news, might as well let her deliver it too. Anyone who looked could see him smile in her direction.

Charlotte looked at the Captain then back her crew, then back at the Captain than the crew. Wait, she thought it wasn't set in stone yet, but if he wanted her to tell then she was happy to oblige.

"The Captain has allowed me to perform with all again tomorrow," Charlotte admitted.

Yuna shrieked in delight, causing some member to cover their ears, "the gang was finally back together again!" Yuna declared throwing her hands around Charlotte.

"Y-Yuna I did not say that this would be permanent", Charlotte struggled to speak as the life was sucked out from Yuna's bear hug. Yuna eventually released Charlotte, she didn't care Yuna was glad to have her friend back at least for a day.

" At least I won't be dancing by myself anymore, but it is great to have you back even for a little while." a woman in the back called out, she as wearing similar attire to Charlotte but her body was much more feminine and mature.

"Your dancing has always been a step above mine, Primrose," Charlotte responded.

"You are too modest, child." The woman chuckled.

"We need time to prepare our usual duet routine if we are going to incorporate you" Their leader Cicero chimed in, he was rubbing his hands through his hair. He was glad to have her but that meant they needed more time to incorporate her into their performance. They had already begun planning their routines for the next few nights but now they had to rethink their plans.

Charlotte could see that Cicero was sweating up a storm just thinking about tomorrow night. "Cicero, if you are stressed, may I suggest something?"

"Hmm...whats that more alcohol?" Cicero's joke made some of the other member chuckles.

Yuna threw her hands on her hips and scoffed, "Hey, didn't you say work first and get wasted second?"

"Actually I have something that doesn't involve any liquids! There is this sharp woodcutting ax on the deck of the ship that is a great stress reliever. You can give it a couple of swings and you will feel right as rain. Personally, I prefer using it to cut some firewood. It is so exhilarating!" Charlotte spoke a little too gleefully.

Everyone went dead silent as they listened to those unsettling words come out of such an innocent girl.

Yuna looked over Charlotte's shoulder to face the Captain, she mouthed the words 'I blame you for this' in his direction. Charlotte looked around the room with her head tilted, "why is everyone so quiet all of a sudden?"

"Uh..nothing. Thank you for the suggestion Charlotte!" Cicero said with an awkward grin.

Dealt didn't have time to cover his ears, but the ringing was worth it. He enjoyed the happiness they had shared. He couldn't remember the last time he enjoyed comradery like this. A longing feeling settled in his heart. He could have sworn Charlotte was about to die the way Yuna embraced her, but they were close so, chances are she wouldn't kill her... he hoped. This girl was truly the heart and soul of this band. The way they all looked to her, it made sense though he saw her affect on his ship, and on him.

Dealt took notice of Cicero, and more importantly of his drinking, he took a mental note to check reserves, he had a feeling Cicero could drink all his alcohol and there would be nothing left. And you don't know misery until you have seen a ship of pirates without alcohol. Dear god he made that mistake once, and never again. He burst out in laughter at Charlotte's claim to relaxation, maybe he was rubbing off on her too! He caught Yuna's look and gave a wink back to her hoping it would piss her off.

He would walk over to Charlotte during her confusion and place a hand on her head. "I have something to take care of, plan your event for tomorrow with whoever you need, but those who have work and aren't needed still need to work. Return when they sit to eat, alright?" He would then take his leave, his cloak following behind him. "Need to make sure Cicero isn't drinking us sober.." He could be heard muttering as he headed to the storage.