Edward Teach Died on a Beach (OFMD)

Chapter 13

Roach, in his professional medical opinion, stated that Blackbeard was indeed still alive.

"So... do we kill him?" Lucius asked.

"Yes," Jim and Black Pete replied in unison.

Stede's face fell. "I can't do it."

"Oh, I will," Jim replied.

"No!" Stede said. "I mean, I can't do it without him. It's my fault. Take me instead."

Jim rolled their eyes. "Come on. He's done some truly terrible things."

"I love him," Stede squeaked.

Jim stared down at him. "How about we put it to a vote?"

"We could just leave him on the other ship and let him die out here," Lucius offered.

"No," Jim said. "That's how revenge stories start."

Lucius nodded slightly. "That's fair."

"Okay. Who votes that we should kill him right now?" Jim shouted.

In the end, they decided to just stand in groups a few feet away from each other. Stede stood by Edward's limp body, frowning. Jim stood a few feet away. Buttons had decided to make his own group for torture and kill, which had surprisingly good traction at first.

Oluwande slowly walked over to Stede and stood by him. Jim scowled. Black Pete stood by Jim, but paused when Lucius slowly wandered toward Stede, trying to act casual.

"I'm curious, okay?" Lucius said. "I want to know if we can fix him."

Black Pete frowned but stayed by Jim.

Stede's group ended with Oluwande, Lucius, and surprisingly enough, Frenchie. Black Pete, Swede, and Wee John stood by Jim. Only Roach stood with Buttons.

The only people left were Fang and Ivan. Ivan and Fang glanced at each other, at Edward, and then Fang stayed by Jim while Ivan joined Stede.

"Well, would you look at that," Stede said. "That's... one, two. Okay. A tie. We're tied."

Jim crossed their arms and thought for a moment. "Fine. He can live with a few rules. He has to be tied up at all times until he's deemed fit to not be a crazy asshole. Two, we kill him if he stays crazy."

Stede thought for a moment. "How will we tie him up?"

Stede and Jim stood in front of the mast. Edward was sitting with his back against the mast, ropes wrapping around his body and holding him against it. Roach had been kind enough to stitch up the stab wound in his shoulder. It'd probably hurt like hell, but it was better than death. Probably.

Jim crossed their arms. "So here's the deal."

Stede looked over at them.

"When he wakes up, he'll be muy enojado. He'll probably try to break out. No matter what, don't get too close to him," Jim said. "If there's anyone who can break out of ropes and kill us during the night, it's him. Have Ivan or Fang make sure he hasn't found any weapons."

Stede nodded slightly. From behind him, Lucius broke away from Pete and the rest of the crew, slowly wandering over.

"Wow, he looks so sweet like this," Lucius said as he approached.

Stede made a poor excuse of a chuckle.

Jim glanced between them and then headed toward Oluwande.

"Captain, how are you... coping?"

"Not well," Stede replied dryly.

"You took his weapons away, right?" Lucius asked.

Stede nodded.