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Mmph... mmph!

Mmph—!

Give it up already, will you?

Don't blame me for handing you over to the Inquisition. We all have to look out for ourselves.

I'll take the cloth out of your mouths if you'll quiet down.

(Nods hesitantly)

I'll be quiet...

Yeah, if you know what's good for you.

But even if you hand us and the compass over, that doesn't mean things will end well for you. Ever thought about that?

Yeah...

The bodies of your dead crewmates are still decorating the flagpole outside of town. You sure you won't end up joining them?

No... Not here either...

Where is that blasted compass? The chaval puts it back here every night!

Is this what you're looking for, Javi?

You shouldn't have come back so soon, Juana.

On the contrary, I think I returned at precisely the right time.

Señora, I... I don't have a choice.

Put down the knife, Javi. I taught you how to use it. You don't stand a chance.

You're injured. Might not even be hard.

How did it come to this?

What dissatisfaction could possibly have driven you to point your blade at me?

I was never unhappy with you. I supported every decision you ever made, every idea you ever had.

When my mother left me, you took my hand and said we were family.

Ever since then, I've never been unhappy with you.

Then why?

It's for your good, Juana... for you...

Lies. I'm standing right here.

Tell me! How is it my for own good when you're pointing a blade at me?

The Juana I know wouldn't put the entire fleet in danger for her own selfish desires. She's a brave, wise leader we can trust.

You're not her. You're just a...

Spit it out!

Just a pathetic woman who refuses to face reality, drowning herself in the passions of the past!

I've told you time and again...

The ocean is not our past. It's our future.

That's what you want to believe. No one else in the fleet does. The old generation is dead. The stories they told should've died with them.

Give me the compass, Juana. Don't make me take it.

I'd like to see you try.

Don't you understand?

You really think I made the decision to hand it over to the Inquisition on my own?

A mutiny... So this is what was waiting for me.

What a surprise.

All I want is the compass. All they want is a peaceful future.

Give us what we want, and you can still be our leader. Nothing has to change.

Nothing will change? Don't tell me you actually believe that, Javi?

Stop fooling yourself. At the very least, I wouldn't trust you like before.

You're right.

Sorry to do this to you, boss, but the sea's no place to call home.

We just wanna leave the Flat and live a better life.

Put down your weapons, go back to your tents, and I'll pretend none of this happened.

We're out of options, mates.

We can't keep fooling ourselves.

...Sorry I'm late.

Mmph—! Let go of me!

The hell I will, you finshit eater. I still got the marks from the ropes!

You said nobody would know about this mutiny, Javier!

...Mierda!

I found Señor Rus 'lost' on the Salt Flat, so I brought him back.

What's this about, Javier?

Now now, I wouldn't make any wrong moves if I were you. Not if you still care about your friend here.

Shut up! This is none of your business, outsider!

What do you suggest we do then?

To fight them of course! Burn that blasted town to the ground and take back what's ours!

You're going against the boss over some finshit scheme to kneel before the Inquisition? Did you lose your spine like a gutted fin?

They just killed so many of us and took our supplies, and you can't wait to grovel to them, Javier?

I know Juana taught you better than that.

We're tired, wounded, and can barely muster up half a scrap of food. How're we supposed to fight?

Besides, those Inquisition capullos wouldn't even be after us if that dumb girl didn't bring the compass here.

Er, Señora Juana...?

So just give them the girl! What do you think you're doing, turning yourselves in along with her?

Teach...?

Enough, this isn't helping.

Yeah, why haven't we handed her over yet?

Urk!

Señores and señoras, if I may say something...

You shut your mouth!

Uh...

Cold sweat runs down Pascuala's back as the pirates point their cutlasses at her.

She gulps and tries to wipe her sweaty palms on her pants.

She knows there is only ever one way to get what she wants: fight for it with her own two hands.

Come on, guys, what are you doing to one little girl?

Pelirrojito, you—

So many adults in the room, and the best you can come up with is to hand over a child?

Enough already!

Hey, I'm speaking up for you!

I know! But I can speak for myself!

You folks wanna hand me over? Sure! Why not?

I get why you'd want to beat the finshit out of me, and I'm sure you get why I scammed you.

Violence and deception. That's how we survive. That's all we know.

But you know how they do things in town. Do you really think handing me and the compass over will help you even one bit?

But if you don't, the Inquisition bastards will keep hunting you, and that won't go so well for you either, no?

So what's your point? We're screwed either way?

One week.

Give us one week to fix up that compass!

Yes. I just need a little more time.

If he succeeds, the compass will guide us to the sea, where those finshits will never find us again!

If he doesn't, well, it won't be too late to hand me over and see how that goes!

Not like we could escape with the whole crew watching our every move. What difference could one week make?

In Iberia, you escape one barren hellhole only to end up in another.

Outside the country, your life isn't your own without cold hard cash! It belongs to whoever's paying you!

Señora Juana isn't taking you out to sea just to die. What do you think she's trying to do?

You should know better than me how smart she is. She'd have been way better off leaving your sorry asses behind ages ago.

She could've held your lives in her hands and made you work for pennies, but she didn't.

She just wanted you to be free.

That compass is your ticket to fame and fortune, just like your forefathers! How could you call yourselves pirates, when you've never even seen the sea?

Pascuala feels like her heart is about to leap from her chest. Her clothes are soaked with sweat.

The room is completely silent. She forces a smile and turns to look at Juana, Teach, Isidro, and Elysium behind her, who answer with approving eyes.

Uh... still letting all that sink in?

I got no problem waiting a week. But someone'll be watching you the whole time.

Fine by us.

Anyone else?

I object.

I said, I object!

You're letting a teenage girl make a fool of you like this? You think she knows the first thing about compasses or sailing?

I promise you, if we just get that compass and give it to the Inquisition, then—

I...

Sorry, Javier...

One sailor puts down his weapon, then another, then another. One by one, they walk out of the captain's quarters.

Only Javier and Juana are left, facing off.

I have a mission for you and Rus, Javier. You are not to return to the fleet until it's completed.

Go and pack up. You leave at nightfall.

(Whisper) Let's go, Javier...

One week later

How's it going?

We've almost reached the deadline...

If, and I mean, IF we fail...

How about you just don't fail!

Señora Juana gave you her full support. Think of everything she's done for this.

Exiling Javier and Rus, two of her most trusted crewmates...

She... she even killed her own...

That's enough, Pascuala.

He knows what needs to be done.

*sigh*...

Stop sighing your heart out.

Today's the day. Aren't you anxious?

What's the use of worrying? Just think about what life would be like if that compass really paid off.

Aye... but what if he fails?

Man, they're really packed around the room. Not even a grain of salt could slip through.

I have a bad feeling about this...

C'mon, don't jinx us like that.

Still...

He's refused any help these last few days, holing himself up in his lab...

He wouldn't let us participate, not even today. Said the experiments require precise control, said that he didn't want to be disturbed.

But if I know anything about him, and I definitely do... he's doing this because he doesn't want to drag anyone else into it.

What do you mean?

Maybe he's preparing to fail.

But the repairs aren't done yet, are they?

That's just how Thorns is. He always expects the worst, and braces himself for it.

What was that?!

The layers of Arts energy field on the transmutation table collapse in an instant. The metallic substance that had gleamed with a shiny glow a moment ago is now a pile of charred mud.

Isidro pulled the probe back just in time to avoid damaging it, but the compass parts he had assembled now lie in pieces.

Isidro runs his fingers through the black mud, trying to figure out the reason for the failure.

But the mud holds no answers. All the clever ideas, the well-laid plans that he had put into it are nowhere to be found.

We're out of time...

Why did I think I could replicate it in such a short time?

I should have known better... master said it took even the most skilled alchemists decades to create Corazonix...

The rusted Corazonix lies still in his pocket, as though mocking his incompetence.

What happened?

She needed no answer. Broken parts litter the ground. The young man sits with his head hanging.

I'm sorry, Juana. I failed.

It's alright, Isidro. This was my own choice.

I'll face the consequences.

It's too risky.

You heard the news. The kid failed. The compass is destroyed.

All the more reason you shouldn't go.

The Inquisition's demands were the compass and blueprints for a salt ship. How're you supposed to parley when we got neither?

Nobody said anything about delivering them personally.

We just need to tell them where to pick them up themselves.

You look like someone who can be reasoned with.

If you mean the mate I sent to parley was too vulgar for you, no need to mince words.

No, what I mean is that you must understand that trust is the basis for all cooperation.

I wouldn't have come myself if I wasn't trustworthy.

And yet you've come empty-handed, asking me to go into the Salt Flat myself to retrieve the bargaining chips you're promising?

How am I to know you're not leading me into an ambush, with a hundred bandits armed to the teeth waiting for me?

Or maybe, I'm offering you more than just the compass and blueprints, but also the location of the pirate base and crewmen who already know how to sail a salt ship?

No, Javier! This was supposed to give us a safe future, not make us their slaves!

Still better than following Juana to a watery death without the compass.

Besides, if you can understand, they can too. They'll cooperate when the Inquisition shows up.

...What about Juana?

If I'm putting more chips on the table, then I need more in return.

Spare Juana.

...You will personally lead the way.

Negotiations are not over yet, Señor Alguacil.

Is that my concern?

...What are you thinking?

He clearly isn't here in good faith. This so-called base of theirs is most certainly a trap.

Let me say this again: We have neither the manpower nor the resources for another major campaign.

My men are in good shape. As for yours... I will ensure they are ready.

I do not doubt your ability, but even if you do defeat the bandits, we cannot afford any more casualties.

We will lack the manpower to build a ship, even if we acquire the blueprints. Aarón will remain trapped in the Salt Flat.

Your negotiations, your deals, none of this is my concern. I have gleaned the location of my enemies, and now I will act.

The ships the bandits have used in their sin shall be put to the torch, along with their blueprints.

As for the sinners... I will exterminate them.

Under whose authority?! The clerics you command grew up in Aarón. We've gone through countless hardships together.

Yet you fail to understand them... Nay, you have betrayed them.

So why do you assume they will listen to you?