Hoist the Colors Ch. 9 (Mobuseka)

(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Hehehe…

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To Angelica’s pleasant surprise, everything moves rather quickly. She’s expecting it to take weeks to get a rowdy band of ‘Pirate Lords’ together, especially given the sheer sizes of the egos that had to be at play in such a group. Instead, she finds herself in lockstep with Olivia, following behind Leon just a couple of days later.

They make their way from Leon’s manse back into the Port itself, eventually arriving at a rather large building where a bunch of pirates are milling around out front. Angelica narrows her eyes as several of the ones who look at Leon go wide eyed and quickly look away out of fear. He certainly had quite the fearsome reputation!

Of course, there’s also his golems… they’re frankly everywhere, and once the three of them step foot inside of the large round building, it becomes pretty much only Leon’s golems by and large, with barely any actual human beings. Normally this would have unnerved Angelica something fierce but considering the ‘actual human beings’ on Tortuga were largely pirates and Leon’s golems had done nothing to harm her or Olivia yet; it was actually something of a relief instead.

Eventually they enter a chamber with a large round table in it… and around that table are occupied chairs. The assembled Pirate Lords. It looks like they’re nearly the last ones to arrive, given there are only two empty chairs. The one Leon leads them to and another across the table from him.

Every other chair is occupied by a pirate with one or two additional pirates stood behind them, followed by dozens of Leon’s golems lining the perimeter of the chamber. It’s a blatant show of force, Angelica would be stupid not to notice that and she’s sure the others do as well.

Perhaps this was how Leon was going to go about stealing the ‘crown’ from the absent Pirate King. Angelica assumed the empty chair belonged to them, and that wherever they were now, if they still lived, they weren’t going to be showing up in time to protest this.

And even if they did… well, Leon’s golems would completely and utterly overwhelm any biological fighting force, Angelica was pretty sure.

Finally arriving at his seat, Leon takes it while sweeping his gaze around the table at the other assembled Lords. Angelica takes the chance to do the same, sneaking glances at all of them. They’re an incredibly motley crew, to be sure. A bunch of them are so stereotypically ‘pirate-y’ that it hurts. Unkempt beards, eyepatches, and scarred faces abound. The few female Sky Pirate Lords aren’t much in the looks department, but they make up for it by exuding sheer menace, Angelica figures.

That said, there are others who are dressed in what Angelica can only describe as a mockery to nobility. They look like they’re trying to put on airs, a stark contrast to the others who seemingly don’t care one wit about their appearances.

Really though, the most surprising thing in Angelica’s eyes is… how quiet they all are. They look like they’d be a rowdy, opinionated, and altogether egotistical bunch.

It feels like there should be some verbal sniping going on across the table if nothing else, with comments being bandied about between the ones trying to mimic nobility and the ones fully embracing their pirate lifestyles. Instead, they’re all uncharacteristically quiet, or at least it seems like it would be uncharacteristic on the face of it.

… Angelica almost feels robbed. Why are they all so well behaved?

“Glad you could all show up.”

Leon is the first to break the awkward, tense silence of course. Angelica can’t see his face given she’s standing behind his chair with Olivia, but she can hear the wide grin in his voice all the same. A shark-like grin, to be sure.

The rest of the Pirate Lords look at one another for a long moment before one of them seems to finally work up the courage to speak, dipping his head in a deferring gesture.

“Of course, Your Majesty. You called and we answered.”

Indeed they did, they- wait, what? Angelica blinks as she processes the term of address. While she’s doing so, another of the Pirate Lords finds their voice when the first’s head remains attached to his shoulders.

“We were all surprised to receive the message. Been a while since anyone heard from you directly. Heard plenty about you and some of your exploits of course, but…”

They trail off, not seeming to know what else to say. Leon chuckles, even as Angelica is trying to catch up mentally.

“Yes, well… I preferred to be hands off, you all know that. So long as you followed the Code, why should I interfere, right?”

There’s some uncomfortable shifting around the table at that. Far less seem to be happy and content than his congenial words should have prompted. Of course, Angelica barely notices that. After all, she’s far too busy putting two and two together.

The way Leon had spoken about the Pirate King dominating the rest of the Sky Pirates, establishing a Code, and then fucking off. The way everyone had been reacting to Leon ever since they arrived on Tortuga. And now… a Pirate Lord calling him ‘Your Majesty’. And another mentioning how he hadn’t been around for a while…

Leon’s words are the nail in the coffin, aren’t they? There’s really only one logical answer to all of this. Leon is the…

“Pirate King. Why have you called us here, exactly? Is this about the Winged Sharks?”

One of the Pirate Lords, a grizzly looking man, finally speaks up in a sharp, clipped tone. Not quite disrespectful, but certainly less afraid and less deferent than the previous speakers. He even has his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw set in a stubborn manner.

Angelica… has to admit that she lost track of the conversation for a bit after that. Leon is saying something about how the Winged Sharks (apparently the only absent group from the meeting) will be dealt with in due time but that this meeting wasn’t about them.

She’s more focused on the revelation that Leon ‘Devil’s Smile’ Bartfort… is the goddamned Pirate King! Setting aside him clearly playing games with her and Olivia by not just telling them that outright, how the fuck had nobody back in Holfort ever heard about this before?! Surely fucking Sky Pirates were the most loose-lipped group in the world! This…

“No, I didn’t call you all here for anything to do with the Winged Sharks. They have broken the Code, obviously. Trading in flesh like they thought I wouldn’t notice… but that’s besides the point. They’ll be dealt with in time. Rather, I brought you all here today… to announce my heir.”

Wait, what? Angelica focuses back on the conversation at that last part. His heir? What was Leon even talking about?!

The assembled Pirate Lords are all just as shocked as she is at least. Eyes widen, jaws drop open, and many of them just stare at Leon in disbelief for a long minute of silence. Until finally, one of them finds the words and speaks up.

“You… your heir, Your Majesty? You’re finally going to choose someone?”

Leon smiles a winning smile.

“That’s right. I did say I would eventually, didn’t I? Way back when. I told you all that if any of you could impress me enough, I’d see about making you my heir. Well, the time has finally come.”

Backs straighten up. Looks are thrown across the table in every direction, from smug smirks to intense death glares. Clearly, every Pirate Lord thinks they’re the most likely to be made heir to the Pirate King. It’s frankly a testament to the hold Leon has on all of them that there once again isn’t any verbal sniping. Even Angelica can tell that many of them are holding themselves back from talking shit to one another.

Meanwhile, Angelica herself is left… adrift. What was Leon doing here? He was supposed to be announcing her, to be telling everyone that she would be in charge of the Isle of Tortuga and Port Paix from now on. And that piracy would no longer be tolerated on the isle or in its surrounding airspace.

That was the plan… so what was all this heir nonsense about? She feels caught completely flat-footed, left wondering once again if she and Olivia have been bamboozled or something. It’s not like she can afford to make a scene here, after all. All she can do is stand quietly and look pretty in her maid uniform right alongside Olivia… like a pair of dolls that Leon has dressed up and brought with him.

“Well then… who is it?!”

One of the Pirate Lords breaks the silence and tension by speaking up, waving a hand erratically at Leon. Everyone else is clearly waiting with bated breath to hear his answer. Angelica, meanwhile, is starting to feel despair again…

“Oh? Right, it’s Angelica here. She’s my heir now.”

And then Leon jabs a thumb back over his shoulder at her and Angelica blinks stupidly as all her thoughts are thrown out the window. Wait… she’s his heir?! Heir to the Pirate King?!

While she stands there looking stupid, every Pirate Lord in the room stares at her, also looking rather stupid. Or at least, stupefied. None of them seem to know what to say or do for several long seconds… but then the dam breaks and they all begin to shout and clamor at once.

It’s a whole lot of protests of course, with everyone quite up in arms that Leon’s heir was one of his maids instead of one of them. Angelica just stands there, feeling like a rock in the midst of an ocean storm, barely bothered by the noise. Instead, she’s more focused on the back of Leon’s chair… what the fuck was he playing at?

Suddenly, Leon raises his hand… and closes it into a fist. In unison, every single golem lining the edge of the large round room raises one foot… and brings it down.

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

They do this three times, making the room shake a bit with the force of their stomps… and drowning out the shouting from the Pirate Lords until they’ve all fallen silent. Those who have risen from their seats return to them, sitting back down with pale expressions as Leon reminds them all of his power.

Silence reigns once more, this time only broken by Leon himself.

“You all seem to be quite aggrieved… but I never said I would choose my heir from among one of you. And let’s be honest… none of you are worthy of being Pirate King… or Queen. So I’ve decided Angelica is going to be my heir instead. She’s my protégé, you see.”

There’s some shifting and very quiet grumbling at that from around the table, but no one is actually willing to make a fuss just yet. Angelica stares out at all of the so-called Pirate Lords, surprised by how domesticated they all are. Or maybe tamed would be better?

Regardless, she’s so caught up in studying their reactions that she almost missed what Leon says next.

“Now that that’s settled… I’ve decided I’m abdicating from my position as Pirate King.”

Rising from his seat with a flourish, Leon pulls out the chair and shoots her a smile, offering it to her before giving everyone else a Look with a Capital L.

“Meet your new Pirate Queen, everyone.”

Angelica’s mouth opens… and then closes. And then it opens and closes again. And again. What… what was he doing?! This was not the plan! Except… it also kind of was the plan?! But it was a bastardized version of the plan at best!

Stomping forward, Angelica grabs Leon by the arm, whispering angrily to him.

“Leon! I can’t be the Pirate Queen, I’m a noblewoman, a lady of House Redgrave! I can’t just… rule over a bunch of pirates!”

Leon arches a brow at her.

“Of course you can. That’s exactly what you’re going to have to do here in Tortuga, Angelica. You’ve seen for yourself… the entire population is either pirates or supports piracy in some way.”

That…

“You could clear the place out, sure… deliver Holfort justice to all ne’er dowels and what not. But you would wind up with an entirety empty island and port. There wouldn’t be anyone left once you were done.”

He…

“On the other hand, having authority over this bunch of miscreants as Pirate Queen, backed by yours truly… well now, that gives you options, doesn’t it?”

… She hates that he’s right. She really, really hates that he’s right. But at the same time, Angelica doesn’t really have any better options, does she? Not if she wants to fulfill her duty to her House and keep her promise to her father. She’d told him before she left that she would make him proud and get Tortuga back into working order.

Now control of the island was being handed to her on a silver platter…

Slowly, Angelica steps forward… and settles herself into the chair Leon is offering her. As she does so, she looks out at the sea of angry but also fearful faces.

… Long live the Queen.

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A/N: Remember to Vote, leave a Like, and let me know what you think!

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Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tQcuyHgI1TEVLSt4-VRur6i0Y92wklqdb35C8J_wmew/edit?tab=t.0