𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘, 𝖺 𝗀𝗅𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗅𝖻𝗎𝗆

FLASHBACK: fire on the sea

in "YOU GIVE ME STRENGTH" Nico wasn't properly introduced. All we know is Nico help Bea caused a distraction to save her friends. This is a proper flashback scene how Nico and Bea met and why he left his pirate crew behind.

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The night sky was burning.

The Gladers' ships, once lined in careful formation, now reeled in chaos. Explosions cracked through the rain-soaked air. Flames danced across the water's surface, eating through the sails like paper. Screams echoed between crashing waves.

Bea ran.

Her heart pounded louder than the thunder above her. Her boots slipped on blood-slick wood as she leapt over debris, ducking behind a broken barrel.

She could still hear their voices — her friends. Bea had seen it happen. Nancy, Sonya, Thèrèse, even Harriet—dragged off the deck by masked pirates like animals, kicking and screaming. And she—

She had been the only one who got away.

Not by strength. By accident. The mast collapsed just as she was cornered, and in the smoke, she vanished. Now, hidden among shadows and broken crates, she searched for her bow. Her fingers trembled, dirt and salt caking her nails. She couldn't fight without it.

Don't think. Move. Save them.

She crept across the lower deck, eyes scanning, breath short. Her bow had to be—

There.

Half-buried under splintered wood and rope, still intact.

Bea darted forward, yanked it out, fingers already reaching for the arrows—

"Got you."

Arms locked around her from behind.

Bea thrashed, kicking. "Let go!"

"Little rabbit thought she could hide?" The pirate sneered into her ear, dragging her back. "You're gonna regret—"

A sharp crack cut through the air. The grip loosened.

Bea fell to her knees, coughing.

The pirate dropped beside her, unconscious — or dead.

Standing over them was a young man — older than her, but not by much. Rain soaked his brown hair to his skin. His knife gleamed red in the lightning. His eyes burned — not cruel, not empty like the others.

He extended a hand to her.

Bea didn't move. "Who the hell are you?"

"Nico," he said. "You were about to get killed."

She ignored his hand, scrambled to her feet, bow tight in her grip. "Where are the others?"

Nico blinked. "Others?"

"My friends. Girls. They were taken by your crew." Her voice shook — from fury, not fear. "Help me get them back."

"You're asking the wrong guy," he said. "They won't listen to me."

"You just knocked one of them out. You're already in deep."

A long pause.

Nico looked around — the fire, the smoke, the screams. He looked at the girl in front of him, shaking with rage and soaked in seawater, still standing like she'd fight an army if it meant getting her people back.

He cursed under his breath.

Then nodded.

"Alright. Let's go find them."

Bea blinked. "You're serious?"

"You'll get yourself killed alone." He turned, motioning for her to follow. "And... I'm tired of being on the wrong side."

Bea hesitated only a second before moving behind him.

That night, beneath a burning sky and a sinking ship, a pirate switched sides — for a girl who refused to abandon her friends.

★