Bloodlines

Chapter 25

It was preposterous! Was he actually serious? She never thought the day would come that the young male who worked at her bar would make such a stupid decision. Join a pirate crew? Did he have a death wish?

"Yes, my little Aston-chan is part of my crew now. The poor thing. He came here all pathetically, a way to get stronger and I just had to reach out to him. He's much better now that he's with us. He isn't a lowly coward anymore," Hades said and Liza growled.

"Aston! Are you going to let him insult you like that?! You joining his trash crew? Stop kidding around! You're a bartender at my bar, not a scum of the sea!" Liza yelled at the male, but his expression stayed cold, unreadable.

"He's not working with you anymore. He's part of my crew now. Why would he stay with you? You're just-""Shut up. I'm talking to him. I don't recall asking you anything," Liza dangerously snarled at Hades and his eyes widened.

His men growled at her and wanted to attack but he raised a hand to stop them. They look back at their captain and stood back again. Liza then turned her attention towards Aston, her brows furrowing.

"Answer me, Aston."

"I was weak and I wanted to become stronger. I wanted to throw my pathetic self away and become someone who would be able to fight his own battles since you wouldn't let me. You kept fighting everything for me, scolding me like a child, making me feel useless," he said and her eyes widened.

"I came here after Captain Hades offered to make me stronger so I could no longer stand in your shadow. I don't need you or Richard-san anymore. I don't need you to boss me around anymore," Aston sneered and Liza's brows furrowed.

"You honestly think that you won't be bossed around anymore?" She asked and his eyes briefly widened. "When you're working underneath him, he'll just use you and boss you around more. You have to follow your captain's every order."

"Don't listen to her, Aston-chan, she's just messing with you. She wants you to go back to her where she can treat you like a little wimp again. She's manipulating you," Hades softly told Aston and Liza's anger flared.

"I'm not! You are! Now shut up and get away from him!" Liza snapped angrily at the male, his eyes narrowed when he heard the chains almost snap loose from the wall. He growled at her and took his arm off Aston's shoulder.

"Aston," Liza said and looked back at him. "I never knew that you felt that way. I should've taken your feelings into consideration every time I stood up for you. I should've let you fight your own battles. I was wrong. I'm sorry." A peculiar emotion swirled in Aston's eyes.

"You were never weak. Physically, you aren't the best built, but you have a sharp tongue. You always picked fights and never let anyone step on you. I admired that a lot. That's what made you strong. You don't need to part of a pirate crew to be powerful," she said, her blue eyes gleaming.

"If you choose to join them, then fine. That's not for me to decide. However, you can come back with me. We can go on with our lives and I'll teach you a thing or two about fighting. What do you say?" She asked and noticed that Aston's eyes were wavering.

"I...I..." He was struggling deeply inside and seeing him in such a state made her angry to the core. What did they do to him? Why was he being so cold? He was never like that. Whatever they did, they were going to pay dearly.

"Nice try, Red Menace. Aston-chan isn't going anywhere." Veins started to throb painfully out of her skin and she gritted her teeth. "He's staying right here with us. I won't let my comrades leave once they're part of us," Hades said before yelping when Liza growled at him.

She jumped up onto her feet and pulled back her one leg. She was about to kick him, but Aston was quicker. His hand shot up and the chains behind Liza pulled her back against the wall. She hit the wood with a loud thud and gasped as her wind was knocked out.