𝑰'𝑽𝑬 𝑮𝑶𝑻 𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 - 𝑫𝑬𝑺𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑺

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟗

NOTE: The day I figure out why my writing motivation takes a nosedive every time I publish a chapter, I will be dancing naked in the streets. Until then, pls accept my humble apology, this LONG overdue update, and the reassurance that chapter 10 should hopefully not take four goddamn months because I have a more cohesive plan/vision for starting that one than I did with this one. (Also, I'm studying abroad rn and, therefore, am in a different time zone so I genuinely have no idea who is seeing this and when. God help my engagement, I just publish the chapters when they're done 😭😭😭)

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The Pirate Code of the Lost Revenge had been drafted nearly five years ago, immediately after Delphina had officially been initiated into the crew. With the addition of a quartermaster, the other pirates had officially begun to take the Lost Revenge seriously. They weren't just a group of kids running around and playing with swords. People saw them as a real crew, and real crew had real risks. No one had betrayed Uma up to that point, but it was undoubtedly a massive possibility on a place like the Isle. So, Uma and Delphina had decided to nip it in the bud before the seed had even been planted.

They sat down one night, after a long day of waiting tables and barking orders and started throwing out ideas. Delphina hadn't expected it to take too long, but soon enough, it was the middle of the night, Delphina had to go home, and they were still debating the list of rules. What was meant to be a quick meeting after work turned into a days-long affair, dedicated to observing how the crew worked on a molecular level and every possible problem that could arise because of it.

It wasn't until almost a week later that the list was finally completed. They had tried to cover every base they could, and in turn, the list ended up being 15 codes long. Every now and again, Delphina would run down the list and rank them by how likely Delphina would be to breach them. The number one spot always changed depending on what was going on in her life.

Sometimes Uma would piss her off so much, she contemplated breaking the very first code; Never undermine the captain.

Sometimes her grandmother would go so far that she nearly broke the twelfth code; Never use the crew for your own personal gain.

Sometimes the food deliveries at Ursula's restaurant would be so good (for Isle standards, at least), that Delphina grappled with the fourth code; if it belongs to one crew member, it belongs to every crew member.

There was always a point where she considered breaking a rule. But that was as far as it ever went: a hypothetical situation that Delphina never imagined she'd come upon. She never thought she'd be in a situation where she broke the very code system she helped create.

And she never, in her wildest nightmares, thought it would be this one.

The eighth code of the Lost Revenge was originally supposed to be the first. It tackled what was undoubtedly the biggest risk among a crew on a place like the Isle; traitors and deserters.

Uma and Delphina almost made it the very first code, but quickly realized that putting it at the top of the list might signal to the rest of the crew that they didn't trust anyone. They had to figure out a spot on the list that was low enough as to not raise suspicion, but high enough to make it seem like that it was still a priority for them. So, it ended up being the eighth code. They made sure the terms were clear, leaving no room for ambiguity;

If the captain deemed a crew member a traitor or deserter, that crew member was stripped of their status and exiled forever.

It was a devastating sentence. To be exiled on an island where everyone was already exiled was something no one forgot. It made you a target wherever you went, impossible to ignore. It etched your face into the general memory of everyone who lived on the Isle.