Work Text:
For a moment, there was quiet. Chip lay on the splintering deck, panting and squeezing his eyes shut. His thoughts raced faster than light, but he let himself focus on one simple fact: they did it. Not only that, he did it. A tiny smile crept onto his face despite it all, and a laugh escaped his lips. Trust their luck to encounter a sea monster when half their crew weren’t in their right minds. But it didn’t matter, because they made it.
Chip just lay there, chuckling like a madman: the sun beating down on his face. His entire body ached like hell, but he didn’t care. The ship was wrecked and would no doubt sink in the next few hours, but he didn’t care. It was almost funny. In fact, it was funny. It was so fucking funny that he couldn’t breathe. How impossibly unlucky was it for them to encounter a thing like that in the Royale Ocean, of all places. The safest sea on Mana, but not for them apparently. Only the Riptide Pirates could find trouble out of nowhere.
After his laughter subsided, a chill ran down his spine. The silence lasted a little too long.
Right about now, Jay and Gill and the rest of the crew should be joining him. They’d climb onto the deck and Jay would berate him for laughing after they nearly died, but she’d start laughing too. Gill wouldn’t understand and would make some silly comment, and Chip would slap him on the back and they’d laugh and laugh together. The crew would point out how they had the craziest captains on the four seas, and they’d deal with the aftermath together.
Instead, Chip lay on his own, accompanied only by the sound of lapping waves and a frantic splashing from below deck, where presumably Drey was trying his best to stop the ship from immediately sinking. Chip got to his feet, looking worriedly towards Gryffon, who was still unsure of what was happening, then up to Queen, who stared at the water below, fear in their eyes.
A moment later, Ollie and Alphonse materialised on the deck beside him. Both looked dazed and bruised, but they were fine.
Still no sign of Gill or Jay.
Relief turned to worry turned to dread. Chip braced himself as he drifted over to the ship’s edge, following Queen’s gaze.
For a moment, all he saw was Gill’s back: a stark silhouette against the calming waves. The relief returned in an overwhelming rush and Chip clutched at his heart. He cried out Gillion’s name but, as the triton turned around, the word became caught in Chip’s throat.
Gill didn’t even look up. Didn’t even bother with an explanation. It wasn’t needed. If anything, it would’ve made it all the worse. No words could do it justice. No words would ever be enough again.
Every time Chip had seen Jay, from the moment they met, she had looked strong. Fierce, even. No matter the circumstance. Her tears were powerful; her anger shook the earth; her grin could bring mountains to their knees. Somehow, she was even intimidating in sleep. Her snores were certainly scary enough.
Every time he had seen Jay, she looked strong. Now she lay limp in Gillion’s arms. Still. Unbreathing.
Silence.
What was there that could be said? What words would make this better? What words would-
-bring her back.
Chip never cried. He couldn’t when the Black Rose sank, when he woke alone on that island, when Gillion disappeared. Now he choked on the tears. They dripped down his face and he didn’t bother to brush them away. He couldn’t. His arms were frozen at his sides.
Slowly, Gillion looked up at him. The triton trembled with untamed anguish. His eyes were pleading, his voice desperate and quiet when he said, “Chip, my magic isn’t working.”
Chip shook his head, refusing to believe it.
“Chip-”
Jay was so full of life. She was so strong, so bold, so brave. She could battle foes far stronger than her and win. She had so many times. Chip had stopped counting how often she’d saved him and Gillion from imminent doom. And sure, she’d fallen. She’d collapsed from exhaustion or passed out from blood loss. But she had always gotten back up.
“-What do I do?”
Why wasn’t she getting back up?
“I don’t-” Chip’s voice broke, barely a whisper as it was. Gill’s eyes glistened with tears. “I don’t know.”
Jay had called him the glue that tied the crew together: the centre of it all. But it was her that stopped them from falling apart. It was her who stopped him and Gill from fighting in their stupid, needless ways. It was her who brought Gill back, who helped convince Chip to stay. Without her… without her…
Alphonse and Gryffon helped to carry Jay onto the deck. Chip just stood there. Ollie burst into uncontrollable sobs. Chip just stood there. Drey emerged from below, mouth falling agape when he saw; silent tears trickled down Earl’s face. Even Queen, who barely knew what was going on, looked solemn and placed a comforting hand on Gill’s shoulder, as the triton collapsed to his knees. Chip. Just. Stood there.
Without her, how could they ever be whole again?
Gill muttered the words of healing spells again and again and again. There was no change. Still, his voice grew louder, as if sheer volume could bring her back. Eventually he stopped, simply clutching at his face and sobbing. Chip wanted to help, to be of some comfort, but he still couldn’t move.
It all faded into the background. All he could focus on was Jay's expressionless face. Her red hair was spread out onto the deck, like flames licking at the wood. She was so still. Someone closed her unblinking eyes. Someone brought a bedsheet to lay her on. They all blurred into unrecognisable shapes. All Chip could see was Jay.
She had always been there. The one constant he could count on. Since the beginning. At least, the only beginning that mattered. And now…
Without her, how could he keep moving?
A hand rested on his shoulder. He looked up. Drey met his gaze, eyes filled with unshed tears, and gave Chip's shoulder a squeeze.
Hopelessly, already knowing the answer, Chip asked quietly, "Is there anything we can do? Anything at all?"
Drey shook his head. "Nothing that she'd want." At Chip's furrowed brow, he added, "You remember Captain Tastrius. No one deserves a half-life."
With a solemn nod, Chip understood. Death may not necessarily be final, but it should be. Whatever life came after could never be real. And Jay didn't deserve that disrespect.
Which meant she was gone. Eternally. Irreversibly.
The weight hit him suddenly. The realisation that she'd never be there again. She'd never roll her eyes at his awful jokes, never yell at him for sleeping in, never call him a bastard again. And it wasn't just the simple things. She'd never get to talk for hours about her latest contraption, never give another heartfelt speech. She didn't even get to stand up to her family. Or find her sister's killer. Or achieve any of the things she'd set out to.
And it was all Chip's fault.
If he'd never stepped in, never convinced her to join his crew, maybe… But she'd loved it, hadn't she? Hadn't she chosen this life, again and again? Hadn't she promised she always would? Hadn't she been so much happier?
These two voices waged a war in his mind: guilt and pride. Eventually, both gave way to sorrow. In the end, it didn't matter. She was gone. And she was never coming back.
Chip broke free from his frozen stupor, fighting against the overwhelming urge to hide away in his room. But he couldn’t be selfish. Gods knew they all needed support. Especially Gill.
Gill who always took the blame. The burden. Gill who depended upon his heroics, his role as a saviour. Gill who was already dealing with so much. The nightmares, his sister. Gill who, despite everything, Chip couldn’t talk to about emotions. That job had always gone to Jay. Now it all fell on Chip. And he had no idea how to help.
But he had to try.
Even if it killed him, even if it made things worse, he had to try.
He took a breath. It was more a gasp, than anything. As if he'd been drowning. Then another breath, and another, until he was back in reality. Back in the present.
He deliberately avoided looking at the shrouded figure. Instead, he pulled Gillion to his feet and into a hug. Gill buried his face in Chip's shoulder, just sobbing. It broke Chip's heart.
But he had to be strong.
"We'll make it through this, okay?" Chip murmured, his breathing still shaky as he squeezed Gill tight. "And we'll do it together, like always."
"It- it's not the s- the same," Gillion managed between sobs.
"I know. I know. But it's you and me, Gill. It's you and me and nothing will change that, okay? We'll be here for each other, always. Day or night, peace or war. Nothing will tear me from your side, got it?"
Gill nodded, sniffling, and raised his head. Chip gave him a weak smile.
Through the burning tears and unsteady breaths, Chip whispered, "We'll brave the storm and keep moving. For her."
"For her."