"Blackbeard," called Izzy, stepping into the dim captain's quarters. "Blackbeard? Edward?" He sighed before reluctantly adding, "Ed?"
"He's not here," Almina finally stated.
Izzy jumped turning towards where she was sitting in the alcove, his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword. He instantly relaxed when he saw her.
"You," he breathed.
"Izzy, sir, sorry," said Frenchie, rushing into the doorway. "Um... we have a situation, sir. There's a ship approaching on the horizon. Thought you should know." He turned and hightailed out before either of them could say anything.
"F*ck," Izzy muttered under his breath.
Almina slid off of the bench and stood up. "Go on up deck, Z, and tell the crew to prepare to greet our guests."
"And just what exactly do you expect us to do? Ed's not even here!" exclaimed Izzy.
"If they wish to approach Blackbeard's ship, then they'll get to meet Blackbeard," she said, stepping closer to Izzy before smiling at him mischievously. "I'll work out the specifics. Don't you worry, Z."
"You better not be the death of me," muttered Izzy, turning and storming out.
"Ah, would you look at this men! The Revenge, at last. Who would have thought we would ever be able to catch up with the likes of this ship?" said the soldier as he stepped aboard the ship. "With an impressive ship, I can only imagine what the captain must be like."
"Speaking of captain," whispered Frenchie over his shoulder. "Where is Blackbeard?"
Jim only shrugged their shoulders in response.
"You wish to meet Blackbeard?" said a voice from the captain's quarters.
Everyone became quiet as they turned their attention towards the source. Izzy's eyes momentarily flashed in surprise as he gazed upon the figure stepping up beside him. Although the build and clothing attire matched the usual look of his boss, there was differences only those quite familiar with Edward Teach would acknowledge. The eyes were a bit too green and the hair while silver grey resembled more like ash than salt and pepper.
"Then consider yourself lucky," continued the figure. "Or unlucky, depending on how this visit goes."
"You're Blackbeard?" asked the soldier, voicing the awe of the group of soldiers who had climbed aboard.
"The one and only." The figure turned to look at Izzy and whispered, "Not a word." They then walked over to the lead soldier but still kept their distance, allowing the firelight from the nearby lanterns fall behind them, throwing their face into shadow. "So, what brings the likes of you aboard my ship?"
"We... we received word that there might be some questionable cargo aboard your ship."
"And what exactly is this supposed cargo?" They glanced around at the crew staring wide eyed. "Seems like an awful lot of trouble to hunt us down for it."
"Oh, we're not hunting you down," said the soldier quickly. "This isn't an accusation of thievery. No, not at all. Rather we believe a person of interest may have snuck aboard your ship. They had been in our sister ship's custody but the person managed to escape and has been giving us a goose chase ever since."
"A person?" asked Izzy, stepping forward.
"Her name is Almina Fernside. She has recently become involved with the piracy crowd... and based on the recent rumored encounters, she may have made her way onto your ship."
"Afraid we don't have anyone by the name here," replied the Blackbeard-figure, waving hands around at the crew around them. "As you can see all of my men are here. I wanted to make sure they gave you a proper hello. And if we did have a stowaway..." They paused for a dramatic moment and their voice took a darker tone when they spoke again. "We would've given them a different type of greeting."
The soldier did not hide his deep swallow as the fear of what the figure implied became apparent. "Yes... right... of course. Well then... I don't think we need to take up any more of each other's time then."
"No, I don't think so."
"Back to the ship, men!" called the soldier turning to his crew. The soldiers quickly scrambled to climb over the railing to return to their own ship.
The Blackbeard-figure turned to Izzy and quietly said, "As soon as they disembark and unhook from our ship, I want you to get us moving. I don't want them to suddenly change their mind and decide they have reasons to imprison us."
"What about Edward?!" exclaimed Izzy.
"Once we've put our distance from our so-called friends that will be your task. You know Ed better than anyone. Aside from me, of course."
"As you wish," said Izzy, nodding his head.
The Blackbeard-figure turned to return to the captain's quarters before pausing a moment at the stairs. "Oh, and Z?"
Izzy turned to look back at them.
"If he gives you any trouble, just tell him the Sea Queen requests his audience."
The crash of metal tools on the wooden deck drew both of their attention. Frenchie stood there in shock, staring at both of them. "The Sea Queen?!"
Jim looked back and forth between Frenchie and them, a gaze of disbelief and awe in their eyes.
The Blackbeard-figure smiled before stating, "To your stations, men! We don't want to dawdle too much longer in these waters with our so-called friends so close by." They then turned to return to the Captain's Quarters leaving the crew to blink their way out of their shock back to reality.
