"To make a difference you have to face the abyss and try not to get swallowed by the darkness."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Back to Present Time*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I-It's the Prince of the Sea, it's Captain Tyler Ellis!" A pirate yelled as the ship halted beside the pirate's ship. Captain Crawford looking at the crew on the ship, noticing none of them baring the Estron emblem like the Venetia's crew always wore proudly. And not only that, he could see Estron soldiers tied up and knocked out as well. His eyes averted to the top deck, to the oar seeing a woman steering the ship and a hooded figure stood beside her. Crawford's hands clenched into fists. 'I was assured that Prince Tyler was dead!' Crawford thought to himself.

"I was told you were dead, Prince Tyler," Crawford said. The hooded figure smirked for a moment before they pulled their hood down.

"Wrong ship, Captain Crawford." The figure said.

"Captain Max," Lachlan said before Max went down the steps to the main deck, his eyes looking at the tied up Admiral and the Shivoaian vessel struggling to stay afloat.

"The Skylark..." Crawford mumbled.

"The second fastest ship that's ever sailed the sea." A pirate said. Crawford chuckled and shook his head.

"Baring the colors of the Venetia, are ye? Wishing you were the Prince?" Crawford asked. Max shook his head a bit.

"No, no, that sounds like a lot of work I don't want to do. Besides, who wants to be a Prince? Oi! Shivoa! I would suggest sailing away and making port--"

"Are you crazy, Estronian?! You are outnumbered!" The Shivoaian Captain shouted. Max crossed his arms, smiling a bit.

"How can you help from the bottom of the ocean? Just trust us..." Max said.

"Us?" Lachlan mumbled before he heard cannon fire from off in the distance, at first he thought it was pirates firing on Shivoa again till he heard an explosion making him look over his shoulder, his eyes widen a bit seeing pirates ships that once were afloat now on fire and sinking with one ship still afloat and heading towards them.

"What?! How did you--" Max looked at Crawford.

"I'm not the person you need to worry about, Crawford," Max said before the board that was laid across Shivoa's ship and the pirates was kicked off, the ropes that were attached cut and the ship turning away as it sailed away from the two ships. Lachlan looked at it, noticing the damage to the hull, Lachlan bit his bottom lip back and looked back at Max. 'Crawford is scared of Prince Ty...at least the firing on the kingdom stopped.' Lachlan thought to himself as the vessel stopped on the other side of the pirate ship. Lachlan stared at the ship, recognizing some of the crew members. 'Venetia's crew...that means.' Lachlan thought as he looked at the top deck, seeing Prince Ty coming down the steps. The pirates backing away from the Venetia, nearing towards the Skylark instead. Ty smiled slightly, looking at Crawford.

"Why are you always on the wrong side of my cannons, Captain Crawford?" Ty asked him. Ty looked at Lachlan, he chuckled. "So, Admiral Lachlan, how did you manage to get yourself captured like that?" Lachlan shook his head a bit.

"L-Long story, can you please just free me already?" Lachlan asked. Ty nods before Crawford spoke.

"Sink the Venetia now, kill that Prince!" Crawford shouted at his crew quickly. Ty put his hand up halfway, speaking.

"Now hold it for a second, Crawford. I want to talk to you first." Ty said before a plank was placed on the railings of the two vessels, Ty crossing it onto the pirate ship as well as Captain Max from the Skylark, who also comes up behind Crawford, scaring him. Crawford takes a few steps away from Max. Ty looked at Max. "Cut the Admiral free." Max nods, drawing his sword as Ty stopped in front of Crawford. "You have guts, Crawford, willingly defiling King Mitchell? I thought you knew better then to cross that King, his reputation for being heartless is no joke. Look, I'm not about to say that I can help you avoid punishment for this because King Mitchell will be beyond angry with what you have been doing--"

"I'm not helping you, Princeling. I'm not helping the enemy." Crawford said to Ty. Ty's eyebrow arched up at Crawford as Max cut the ropes that bounded Lachlan. Lachlan stumbled forward, Max grabbing his arm to keep him on his feet. Ty glanced at Lachlan.

"Captain Max, take the Admiral and port the Skylark. I can handle this. Make sure the Admiral's injuries are tended to and notify the King of our arrival." Ty said. Max looked at Ty.

"Yes, your highness," Max said making Ty tense up a bit. Lachlan and Max went on the Skylark, the board being pulled back, Max going up to the top deck as he gave out orders. The vessel pulling away from the two ships.

"Why would you--" Ty looked at Crawford.

"I'm giving you a choice, Captain Crawford. You can either take it or not." Ty said. Ty crossed his arms. "Your crew is very capable, you have a great crew...I would hate to be the one to have good men die. How can you go from aiding Shivoa to turning your backs on them? How?" Crawford looked at Ty.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." He responded back. Ty nodded, agreeing.

"I agree, you don't have to...but if you want to keep this ship from meeting the ocean floor, you probably should explain yourself." Ty threaten. Ty uncrossed his arms. "And I know how stubborn you can be, so either you can talk to me or you cannot. I want to talk because I want to know if you are being forced to do this, if there's a valid reason as to why you are doing this, if there is any way I can help you but if you don't--"

"How could you help us?" Crawford asked him. He stepped towards the Prince. "You don't have a kingdom anymore, Prince. You have no more power, you can't depend on your father anymore." Ty's eyes hardened.

"You think my father helped me get to where I am?" Ty asked him making Crawford nod.

"Yes, I do. You are a Prince, royals get whatever they want, especially Princes and Princesses, you--" Crawford stopped once he saw the look on Ty's face.

"Just because I was born into royalty doesn't mean my life was great," Ty said before his eyes soften at Crawford as the pirate scoffed. He shook his head a bit. "I'm not giving you my life story...you probably wouldn't believe it anyway."

"Probably not." Crawford snapped at him. Ty stared at him for a few moments and nodded to himself.

"You still believe that rumored reputation of mine...don't you?" Ty asked. Crawford nods.

"Everyone does, Princeling, you--" Ty swallowed down his emotions as they flooded up in him. He crossed his arms, letting out a shaky breath as he looked away.

"Alright, f-fine. I tried," Ty said before looking back at Crawford. Crawford tilted his head a bit, confused. Ty turned from Crawford, walking towards his ship. "Prep the cannons to fire!" Crawford's eyes widen.

"Wait! I thought you wanted to talk! Didn't you want to help us--"

"I did..." Ty said stopping at the railing. His eyes looked up, locking eyes with Linda, who stood by Venetia's railing.

"You're better than this," Linda mumbled to him. Ty's eyes looked away from her.

"Do you want my help, Crawford, or not?" Ty asked him. Crawford hesitated, his eyes looked at his crew, seeing they were all looking back at him.

"I would be a fool to not take your offer, wouldn't I?" He asked. Ty nods turning halfway to him.

"You would be a dead fool," Ty said. Crawford nods at him.

"Alright, fine, what can you do for us? And what's the catch?" He asked. Ty's eyes narrow a bit at Crawford, almost tempted to just board his own ship and sink Crawford's and leave. But he knew that Linda would have something to say about it. Ty leaned against the railing and sighed. 'This is gonna be a pain.'