Part 4.7

As much as I have grown to hate the sun, and the sunlight that it brings, I like sunrises. Sitting on my pile of loot I could see over the rooftops that remained in the village. This early, it was just me, a few early risers, and the crackling of the campfires.

As the sun rose, it filtered through the smoke, making it slightly more bearable for me. After a few minutes, the sun was angled just right.

Almost in unison, a chorus of groans emerged from the camp as the sun's light pierced through the eyelids of all the people in camp still asleep, forcing them awake. They might try to fight the sun, but in the end the sun will win. The sun always wins.

Trust me, I tried. The amount of random stuff I've thrown at the sun at a Hundred-Fold speed has reached ludicrous levels at this point. I'm pretty sure I'm reaching it too, it's just not doing anything.

Both the moon and the sun are the same size in the sky. Logic dictates that if they're the same size, they should also be the same distance. I bet if I tried I could hit the moon, so I should be hitting the sun. Problem is, the sun in tough and take anything I throw at it. Literally.

Stupid sun. I'll get you one day!

It's not all bad. The sun rising right now means something important. It means that today is the day.

Last night the accountants crunched the numbers, argued amongst themselves, had a small skirmish, and finally made their way to me to tell me the good news. The ships were all fully stocked and we would be ready to leave for Diz-Harmony in the morning. I was so excited, I woke up early.

I waited patiently as everyone got up and ready. There's a long drawn out process involved where everyone has to get dressed in the morning and roll out of their bed. I didn't have to do that because I was smart. Instead of sleeping in a bed I slept on my chair I had placed on top of the loot pile so I would be exactly where I needed to be when I woke up and I didn't need to get dressed.

You know what my secret was?

I've been wearing the same clothes for the past few days. It's not that big of a deal. I wore the same prison outfit for a year when I lived on Level Three and never bathed during that time either. They didn't want the prisoners to come into contact with a large amount of water when they were cleaning them, so no one was ever clean there. My clothes were so filthy that I'm pretty sure the accumulated filth from my body had fused into them. Causing them to combust in the furnace-like atmosphere of Level Four. It was like spontaneously combusting, except I was naked after it was all over.

No, I've never spontaneously combusted. Just my clothes have. There's a difference.

Soon enough, everyone was awake and gathered at the foot of my loot pile. I glanced at everyone assembled and to my dismay saw that we were missing some people. Over the past few days a person here and there had run off. I thought about sending people after them to drag them back but I decided against it. If they want to leave, I guess they can leave. Keystone didn't let just me out after all. He let a load of people come with me. I'm doing what Keystone asked, but others don't have to because they aren't me.

Simple logic.

When I was sure everyone who was still around was present, I stood up and cleared my throat loudly. There were a few things I wanted to say before we set sail. Things that I felt had to be said in order for this voyage to be successful. Moral purposes and all that.

"Former prisoners of Impel Down, today is the day. The ships are prepped, we have the supplies, and I have the eternal pose to get us out of here and head towards Diz-Harmony."

The men, and occasional woman, began to let out cheers. I raised my hand and they slowly died down.

"Before we go, there's a few things that need to be said. First, there's some people that need to be thanked."

They all looked around confused, but I didn't dwell on it. There were some people that needed to be thanked, and by Justice, the Marine's God, I would thank them.

"Firstly, I want to thank the lawyers and accountants assembled here today. Them going everything that everyone has gathered and crunching the numbers has ensured none of us will be going hungry on our voyage."

They all agreed with me and the lawyers seemed to be especially proud of themselves. I didn't blame them. I would be proud too if I could sell words the same way they could.

"Second..." I chuckled thinking about it and continued, "Let's give thanks to the residents of Brakka Village who most likely owned the boats we have commandeered for our own purposes. They have taken good care of these boats, and because of that we have the boats to begin with. A round of applause everyone."

The men clapped, appreciatively I assumed, and rejoiced. They seemed to get the message I was trying to send about being thankful. Which was good. Being relatively humble and thankful has been drilled into me for as long as I can remember. It would be easier for me to travel with these guys if they could act on their best behavior. Good Behavior would had been preferable, but I wouldn't push it that far. I had been on Good Behavior and look where it got me. Nowhere. Well, here technically, but that's neither here nor there.

"Third-" I trailed off uncertainly. I stared blankly at the crowd and they stared back. As the minutes wore on they looked more and more uncertain. Eventually, I coughed.

"I forgot." I admitted lamely.

Mass face-faults erupted from the men. "HE FORGOT!", they all screamed out.

When they picked themselves back up and I gave them some time to recover I wiped some imaginary dirt off my shoulder. Just to make it look like I was actually doing something and not just standing there awkwardly.

"Screw it. Everyone, load the loot. Especially my loot. I could care less about your loot. It's time to go."

I slid down my pile of loot and landed on my feet at the bottom. As everyone began to scurry about gathering everything they needed I made my way to the ship I would be on. The 'Shadow Of Doubt'. It was time to sail.