"Leo's porridge works miracles," Alyssa said, her pale green eyes studying him with an intensity that suggested she was looking for signs of Valerio's influence. "You should have him make it for you every day."

"I plan to," Pierre replied, offering Leo a small nod of appreciation.

The boy ducked his head, a flush spreading across his cheeks. "It was nothing, Captain."

Pierre moved to the table, looking down at the map Raven had spread out. It showed the Dawn Sea and parts of the Great Sea beyond, marked with shipping lanes, Navy patrol routes, and various ports.

"So," he said, breaking the awkward silence. "Where are we going?"

Raven and Alyssa exchanged a look that spoke volumes. They'd been discussing this extensively in his absence.

"That's what we were trying to figure out," Raven said, tapping a slender finger against the map. "We're fugitives now, in case you forgot. The Navy will be hunting us for Valerio's death."

"And we're running low on supplies," Alyssa added. "We have enough food for maybe a week, water for less."

Pierre nodded, absorbing the information. His enhanced mind automatically began calculating distances, wind speeds, optimal routes—Valerio's influence making itself useful for once.

"What about the money?" he asked, looking up at Raven. "Did you manage to take anything from Valerio's safe along with the ledger?"

Something flickered across Raven's face—quick, almost imperceptible. "Yes," she admitted. "I got what I could. About three million Cori."

Alyssa whistled softly. "That's a small fortune."

"Not small enough," Raven muttered, almost to herself.

Pierre caught the comment but chose not to press it. Instead, he straightened, assuming the role of captain that had been thrust upon him.

"Then we need to make some decisions," he said, his voice firmer than it had been in days. "We have money, a ship, and our freedom. What we do with those things is up to us."

Raven stiffened, her blue eyes narrowing. "You mean we need to split it," she said flatly. "The money. Divide it four ways and part company. It's the logical thing to do."

The statement hung in the air like a thunderclap before a storm. Leo looked up from his mending, eyes wide with sudden fear. Alyssa pushed away from the wall, her posture instantly defensive.

"What?" Alyssa's voice was sharp with surprise. "Why would we do that?"

Valerio's voice whispered in Pierre's mind: An equitable division of assets maximizes individual survival probabilities. This is optimal resource allocation.

Pierre pushed the thought aside, focusing instead on Raven's face. Behind her usual mask of indifference, he caught a glimpse of something raw and desperate.

"Is that what you want, Raven?" he asked quietly. "To take your share and go?"

Raven looked away, her hands spreading flat on the map. "It's not about what I want," she said, her voice stripped of its usual sarcasm. "It's about what makes sense. We completed our business arrangement. You have your ship back. Alyssa is free from her father. I have some money. Leo is..." She glanced at the boy. "Leo is safe."

"That's not an answer," Pierre pressed, stepping closer. "Is that what you want?"

Raven's shoulders tensed further, her knuckles whitening against the map. For a moment, Pierre thought she wouldn't answer. Then she raised her head, her eyes hard but something vulnerable lurking beneath the surface.

"What I want doesn't matter," she said, each word clipped and precise. "What matters is that I need twenty-five million Cori. And I'm not dragging any of you into my mess."

The number hung in the air between them. Twenty-five million—an astronomical sum. The same number she'd mentioned before, back in Orellia Village.

"For what?" Pierre asked, though he already knew the answer.

Raven met his gaze, her own a mixture of pain and unyielding resolve. "To buy a person."

Silence fell over the galley. Even the ship seemed to quiet, the creaking of wood fading to nothing.

Raven sighed. "My sister Lily. She was sold to a nobleman in the Ember Sea when we were younger. Twenty-five million is her purchase price."

"Purchase price?" Leo echoed, his young voice cracking with shock. "People can't be bought and sold!"

A bitter smile twisted Raven's lips. "Sweet kid," she said, glancing at Leo. "Yes, they can. Every day, in every sea. Some call it slavery, some call it indentured servitude, some dress it up with fancy words like 'concubine' or 'personal assistant.' But it's all the same thing."

"How long?" Pierre asked.

"How long what?"

"How long have you been trying to save her?"

Raven looked away, her profile sharp against the dim light of the galley. "Six years," she said quietly. "I was sixteen when they took her. I've been... collecting... ever since."

"And how much do you have now?" Alyssa asked.

"With what I took from Valerio and Moreau?" Raven calculated quickly. "About nineteen million. Not even halfway there."

Pierre felt a surge of anger—not at Raven, but at the system that had forced her into this position. A system where a human being could be assigned a price tag like any other commodity.

"We could have—"

"Could have what?" Raven cut him off, her voice suddenly sharp. "This is my burden. My sister, my responsibility."

"That's not how crews work," Alyssa said, stepping forward. The aristocratic edge had left her voice, replaced by something softer but no less determined. "We help each other."

"We're not a crew," Raven snapped. "We're people who ended up on the same ship through a series of unfortunate circumstances. Nothing more."

Pierre studied her, seeing past the harsh words to the fear beneath. "You don't believe that," he said quietly.

"Don't I?" Raven challenged, but her voice lacked conviction.

"No," Pierre said simply. "If you did, you wouldn't have come back for us in Porto Veloce. You wouldn't have risked your life to get us all out of there. You would have taken the money and run."

Raven's expression faltered for just a moment before she reconstructed her mask of indifference. "Maybe I'm just bad at math."

"You're the best navigator in the Dawn Sea," Pierre countered. "You're excellent at math."

A heavy silence blanketed the galley. Leo's gaze darted nervously between the others, his young face etched with worry, fingers twisting the hem of his shirt. Alyssa maintained her stance, arms folded tightly across her chest, her pale green eyes never leaving Raven's face. And Raven herself—she had the look of a wild creature backed against a wall, caught between acknowledging what she knew to be true and clinging to the protective falsehoods she'd wrapped around herself like armor.

"None of it matters," she finally murmured, her normally confident voice diminishing to something fragile and raw. "I can't... I can't let myself care. Not about any of you. Not about whatever this is becoming. Not when Lily is still out there waiting for me to save her."

Pierre moved deliberately toward the table, extending his hand to rest it on the edge of the map that separated them. He didn't reach for her—didn't breach that final barrier—but positioned himself close enough that his presence demanded acknowledgment, his red hair catching the lamplight as he leaned forward.

"What if you didn't have to choose?" he asked.

Raven's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting," Pierre said slowly, the idea forming as he spoke, "that maybe your sister's freedom isn't just your problem anymore. Maybe it's ours too."

"Ours?" Raven echoed.

"The Crimson Sparrow's," Pierre clarified, gesturing around the galley to include them all. "This crew's."

Alyssa stepped forward, her green eyes bright with sudden purpose. "He's right. We're stronger together than apart. And twenty-five million Cori isn't impossible for four people working together."

"Especially not for four people who've already toppled two tyrants," Pierre added.

Leo stood up, clutching his needle and half-mended sail. "I don't have any money," he said earnestly, "but I can help. I can work hard!"

Raven looked from face to face, her expression caught between hope and suspicion. "Why would you do this?" she asked, her voice uncharacteristically vulnerable. "Why would any of you take on my fight?"

Pierre thought of the status screen, of the power he'd stolen and the curse that came with it. He thought of Hardy's darkness and Valerio's obsession, both now part of him. He thought of how his crew—yes, his crew—had stood by him despite it all.

"Because," he said simply, "that's what a family does."

The word hung in the air between them, fragile and powerful all at once. Family. Not just a crew, not just business partners—something more.

Raven's lips parted slightly, words failing her for perhaps the first time since Pierre had known her. Her hands trembled almost imperceptibly against the map.

"I don't know what to say," she admitted finally.

"Say you'll stay," Alyssa suggested, her voice gentle but firm. "Say you'll let us help you. Say you'll stop trying to carry this alone."

Raven looked down at the map, her finger tracing the outline of the Ember Sea—where her sister waited, unaware that her rescue might now have four champions instead of one.

"And if I say yes?" she asked, looking up at Pierre. "What then?"

Pierre smiled, feeling more like himself than he had in days. "Then we plan our next move. Together."

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