I Won't Say I'm In Love - Buggy x Reader

Chapter Three: Buggy

    "Sure, but not enough to do whatever it takes to get me back."

    Those words, her tone, that sadness in her rosy eyes. Can a father truly not love his child enough to do whatever it takes to retrieve them?

    I think back to my own father. His cold eyes, blank stare, and hard, strong hands. The sharpness of his blade. Yes, I think, yes they can.

    "G'day, Captain!" Says a crew mate as I pass him in the narrow hall, "prisoner still knocked out?"

    "No," I reply, "but no one is allowed to enter the cell room without my permission. Understood?"

    "Aye sir!" He salutes and goes to stand guard at the door.

    At then end of the hall is the Captain's Quarters, my room. It's pretty plain, though; with oak walls and a single queen bed, with a desk littered with papers and ink bottles and quills galore. The rug a simple black-red checkerboard pattern that matches the curtains over the window.

    Now that I'm alone, I begin to think again. Does her father really not care for her? What happened to her brothers? What is the real story there? Hmm, I'll have to ask.

    I stare blankly at the wall. That info merchant wasn't kidding: she is beautiful.

    Long yellow curls, rosy eyes, and skin the color of sweet chocolate. In the moonlight, I could see little freckles dot her skin, which pops against the pale pink of her small silk gown. The fight and strength of her yet gentle voice, and those full lips. . . .

    I smack myself hard on the cheek. "Buggy no!" I whisper yell to myself, "she's your prisoner, damn it! Get ahold of yourself!"

    But, I suppose, it doesn't hurt to dream a little.

    ~~~~

    The next morning comes too soon. I awake to a thunderous crash rattling the boat.

    "Glory!" I shout, "what the heck is going on?!"

    I rush to the hull where my men are heaving at the sails, weary of the fast-approaching ship. It's big, fast, and loaded with canons.

    "CAPTAIN!" Mina shouts, "they're gonna fire at us!"

    "What for?!" I holler back.

    "They keep spewing stuff about needing a princess back?" Says Todd.

    "Tell 'em they can't have her!" I reply, "and that they're not welcome aboard my ship!"

    I stop as a good-sized canon ball whizzes past my head and into the water. "Or not," I shrug, "just get us out of here!"

    The boat veers off and speeds away from the scene in hot pursuit. I stare, trying to figure out what's on their flag. Bright red, a fancy black x and three white triangles. . . .

    "Oh shoot!" I realize, "it's The Bloody Reapers!"

The captain looms at the hull of the ship like a black crow in the night. Hair black as Jett and dead amber eyes, legend calls him Captain Roddy Reaper. He holds about three hundred deaths under his belt made of skin and bone of his enemies. If he's after us. . . .

"They're gaining on us!" Todd cries, "they're gonna fire!"

Suddenly, an ear-shattering crash shakes the boat, and a canon flies right into the prison quarters. Reaper's crew launches a rope over and zip lines into the cells.

"Protect the princess!!" I cry, sword in hand, "and don't let them get on the ship!!"

But it was too late. Swords clang and men shout their battle cries as they launch into battle. I shoulder past a broad-shouldered macer and a pair of swordsmen who charge past me. It takes only a minute to get to the cells.

Flower hastily fends off a lanky reaper crew mate with an amazing weapon. It's a golden rod a head taller than she, with two twin scythe heads gleaming from either side of it and face opposite directions. The blades glitter in the sunlight as she swings them with efficient ease.

"STAY BACK!" She shouts, "DON'T TOUCH ME YOU WEASLE!"

My sword finds his back and he lands with a thud. "Flower," I Say breathlessly, "you hurt?"

"Thanks to Kiloton's lessons," she smiles, "not a scratch."

Another canon ball impales the side of she ship, sending us both to the floor.

"What do these guys want?!" She cries over the roaring of the waves beyond.

"You!" I reply, "but they can't have you!"

"Why not?! They're literally blowing holes into your ship!"

"So?! You're too valuable to lose so early in the story!"

"Glory, stop breaking the fourth wall and just get me to the bow, damnit!"

So, I guide her from the bottom cell floor all the way to the top, slashing at enemy pirates as I go. She stands behind me and grasps the string of my belt from behind me. You just need her for the money, I remind myself, just think of the money....

We finally reach the bow of the ship. She bounds away from behind me and grips the railing in her hands. Then, firmly, she begins to chant

"Goddess Healer
Give me strength
To reverse the changes made
To thy vessel and heal these men
And never let them harm again
Goddess Healer
Make me a shield
For these who protect the power I wield
Make me their savior from the mist
And let the magic show begin!"

In a burst of light, the ship is engulfed in swirling cloudy twists of shimmering gold. Reaper's crew is flung into the sea off of the ship, and our boat begins to rise out of the water! Not only that, but the wood begins to mend itself!

Away we soar into the sky and far from Reaper and crew. Flower turns to me, hands still clamped around the rails and says, "too much?"

"Holy crow," I say, beaming, "you can make my ship fly."

"Well, yeah," she shrugs, "I am part fairy."

I sit and brush the hair from my face. "My ship is flying," I assure myself, "I am on a flying ship."

"I think you broke him," Todd laughs.

"Oops," she giggles, "sorry about that." The wind makes her long yellow curls bounce lightly, and the folds of her gown ripple like water.

I haul myself to my feet and walk to stand behind her. The view is stunning: a brilliant blue sky with puffy white clouds and and endless sea below.

"Flower," I say softly, feeling heat rush to my face, "thank you."