"15 million gold?" Kaylo questioned, peeking over the edge of Haylee's shoulder while he stared down at the bounties that lay before her.
"I got a bounty…" She muttered, staring up at the rest of the crew in fear, before revealing the bounty poster that was linked to her name.
"Haylee Park - Daughter of the Park Pirate Captain." Elez read, recognising the famous Captain's name.
"Avon's crew must have reported our attack to the navy," Kaylo mumbled, shuffling through the many new bounties and noticing that Madison had appeared as well. "Wo, Captain, you got a huge increase." He gasped, lifting up the poster and quickly realising why.
"Dragon Captain - Madison Nightshade," Zenith mumbled, reading off the words that plastered the front of the page.
"It was only a matter of time before they figured it out," Madison sighed, looking woefully towards the floor whilst the rest of the crew sighed and shuffled through the new paper.
"Hey, what's that?" Elez asked, pointing casually towards a loose sheet as he walked slowly into the room with Jade cowering close at his side.
"Better question," Zenith replied. "Who's that?" He asked, gesturing towards Jade. The pastel-haired boy stepped back and hid behind Elez, leaving the Angel boy to do all of the explaining.
"His name is Jade, I saved him from Avon's ship." Elez replied, glancing back at the purple haired boy before motioning towards the table. "Please, sit down, we have plenty of food." He smiled, picking up on Jade's hesitation to join them.
"O-ok," Jade nodded, sitting down atop the old oak seat and picking out a few small items of food. Elez reached over him though and added other things to his plate, before passing him a tall glass of water and a smile.
"You don't have to be modest, eat anything and everything you want," he said, sitting down in the chair beside him while the others stared at them both with knowing looks.
"Do you adopt every helpless boy you see?" Zenith teased, causing Elez to look up at him and growl in his general direction.
"Says the one with a child in his arms." Elez smirked, watching as Zenith rolled his eyes and gently pet Pip's hair.
"Touche, but seriously, every dude that we've come across - you've helped. I'm starting to think that you have a thing for them." He chuckled, causing Kaylo and Jade to blush and look away.
"Very funny. But we both know who I'm after," Elez smiled, earning a threatening glare from Zenith in response.
"And who's that?" Madison asked, reaching down and lifting up the stray sheet of paper while the entire room went silent. Elez and Zenith stuttered to find the right words, while the others were lost too deep in the awkwardness to start a new topic.
"Well, you see…" Elez began, before he stopped when he noticed that Madison's expression had changed. Immediately, Elez and Zenith stood to check on her, as tears pooled endlessly in her eyes and ran like rivers down her face.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Zenith asked, reaching out to embrace his Captain whilst she shook and cried uncontrollably.
"They're dead…" She said, leaning forwards and accepting his hug. "They're gone," she cried, causing the entire crew to stare at her in confusion.
"Is she having a panic attack?" Haylee muttered, standing up to approach the Captain as well.
"No, she's not." Elez muttered, looking down at the sheet of paper that Madison gripped tightly in her hand. "It's the Star Pirates… Their ship was destroyed by the Navy a few days ago. They found no remains…" He sighed, reading through the rest of the official document.
"We don't even know the Star Pirates though," Kaylo replied. "If anything, they were just competition." He said, confused why Madison had become so upset.
"No, I read about them," Elez cut in. "They're pirates like us, adventurers and outlaws. They've done nothing to hurt any innocent people." He explained.
"Oh…" Kaylo nodded, staring down at the floor while Zenith lifted Madison into his arms.
"You guys continue eating, I'll go lay her down in bed." He said, walking off towards Madison's room while the others stood in silence. Pip was far too young to understand what was happening though, and immediately turned his attention to Jade while he stood up in his chair to eat - since sitting down would make it impossible to see over the top.
"You have pretty hair," Pip said, munching down on another slice of bread after he spoke. "It's like clouds." He smiled, causing Jade to smile back at him.
"Thank you," he replied. "Your ears are very pretty too, are you a fox?" He asked, turning his attention towards Pip while the others sat back down in silence.
"Yes! I am a fox boi, and I sneeze sleepy dust!" He grinned, causing everyone to turn towards him in confusion.
"Sleepy dust?" Haylee asked, her eyes filled with curiosity. Pip nodded fast and bounced about in his chair, almost knocking his glasses off of his face while he moved.
"Yeah! I sneezed at the mean man and he fell over and went night night." Pip grinned.
"Fascinating…" Jade muttered. "You have magic,"
"Magic? Seriously?" Elez asked, surprised by the sudden news.
"Yes, nature magic, I can sense it from him." Jade replied, reaching out to pat the small boy's hair. "He's a very special familiar." He smiled.
"He's just a kid." Zenith added, stepping slowly back into the room. "He may have been born a familiar, but around here, he's family."
"We're all family here," Elez smiled, chugging down another glass of juice.
"Family is blood though," Jade sighed, thinking back on memories of his father.
"No," Elez cut in. "Family is what you make it, blood related or not, family is forever, and you can choose who you spend that forever with."