Piled emotions

"Ah!" Jack woke up feeling his bed move, only he wasn't on a bed but on a hammock. And he stared blankly at the unfamiliar roof.

'Right… I remember now.' Jack remembers running away from his home at night, and started sailing with Sky and his crew. And before he knew it he was deep asleep in the hammock.

He didn't see anyone else on their hammocks so he got up. Jack took his swords and walked upstairs. He could feel the ship was moving and the waves were hitting the sides of the ship. Once he reached the deck he squinted his eyes due to the bright sunlight.

Jack saw something he didn't expect, Sky was swinging around a nice staff, Jay was handling cards as if he were a magician about to perform a trick, Jericho was disassembling and assembling metal objects without touching them, and three slaves were cleaning the ship with a mop and rags.

"Well look who's awake." Sky put his staff away to greet him properly.

"Hey…" Jack still found it hard to believe he was actually away from his family, it felt as if at any moment he would wake up and find himself back home on his bed.

Sky walked over and flicked Jack's forehead with his finger.

"Ow!" Jack covered his forehead and looked at him in shock.

"Did that hurt?" Sky asked.

"Yes, it did. What the heck?"

"Then you know you're not in a dream." Sky chuckled.

"Wait… how did you know what I was thinking?"

"Easy, it's written all over your face."

"Oh."

Jericho and Jay walked up to Jack. 

"Nice to see you again, Jack." Jericho said with a smile.

"Likewise… Jericho?"

Jericho nodded.

"So… Jack, you're the new cook?" Jay asked, sizing him up.

"Yeah, I am. Jay, was it?"

"Yeah…" Jay took out a card from his pocket and gave it to Jack.

"Um?" Jack was confused when he saw the card..

"Inside is a sandwich I made before you woke up. Please tell me how it is in your opinion. It has bread obviously, turkey, tomato, onion, lettuce, and mayo."

"Pft!" Sky looked away, almost laughing. He didn't think Jay would do something like this.

Although confused Jack ripped the card and in his hand appeared a sandwich wrapped neatly on large leaves to keep it fresh.

"You do know I am not a certified chef, right? I just cooked at home for my family and their friends."

"I want your honest opinion." Jay activated {eye of truth} on Jack which everyone noticed.

With a sigh Jack took a bite out of the sandwich then another.

"Hm… well, it's dry. The turkey is very dry."

"Dammit!"

"Also you put way too much mayo, about half of what you put would be an improvement. Also your tomato slices and onions are too thick which is why the presentation isn't well. The lettuce is fine. Also from what I can see is that you put the mayo on the turkey instead of the bread, did you do that on purpose?"

"Well… does it matter?"

"It's better and easier if you apply it to the bread and only the bread… I mean if you rub the utensil for the mayo on the turkey and you put it back on the mayo then the mayo will have bits of turkey and other foods."

"Ohh…"

"Honestly it's a decent sandwich, but I can't really judge you on your cooking skill based on a simple sandwich, can you cook anything else?"

"Well… no, I can only make sandwiches."

"Ah. Then is it okay if I show you all what I can do as a chef? If you don't mind me using the kitchen."

"It's your kitchen now." Sky said.

"Please do. I'll show you." Jay showed him to the door and guided him to the kitchen. Sky and Jericho followed him to try his cooking.

"Jules, everyone, to the kitchen." Sky called out to everyone else.

The three slaves and Jules, who was in the process of making more potions, followed Sky's command.

"Wow." Jack looked at the kitchen. 

It was a simple kitchen, small but cozy. It had a fridge, sink, stove, and cabinets all over, an oven, and a dishwasher.

"It looked better than I thought it would. Normally ships don't have such neat kitchens." Jack said.

Jack turned around and noticed everyone was staring at him. They all heard from Sky he had a talent for cooking so their expectations were quite high.

"What? Go wait in the dining room, I'll prepare the food."

"Need help with something?" Sky asked.

"No, I can easily cook for… seven people. Well it depends on what ingredients we have."

"I made sure to buy a lot of ingredients and kitchen utensils of all kinds when I knew you were going to join us. I transformed them into cards to save up space."

"Okay."

Tiana raised her hand.

"Excuse me, I know where all the ingredients and utensils are, can I help if you need me to find something for you?"

"Of course! Everyone else, dining room, now."

Everyone but Tiana and Jack left the kitchen.

"Wait, are there any allergies I should know about?"

"No!" Sky answered for everyone.

"Sweet!"

"He didn't even ask us what we wanted to eat." Jericho said while stretching her arms.

"Let him surprise us. Besides, I want him to be free to choose."

Sky read Jack's mind. Apparently he was looking forward to surprising them with his cooking skills.

Jack not only had a talent for cooking but his cooking level was at level eight which meant he was very experienced. Sky did have high hopes for Jack.

Jack took out a long large knife from its sheath that he carried on his person.

"This is my favorite knife. Can you also get my bag for me? I left it beside my hammock."

Tianna nodded and soon returned with his bag.

He took out some clothes out of his bag, and a single thick notebook. He opened it and read his notes.

"I can finally cook whatever I want. Okay what ingredients do we have?" Jack opened the fairly large fridge and saw many ingredients, mostly meats, and the vegetables were in cards.

"Some of these ingredients need to be in a freezer, do we have a freezer or something?"

Tiana shook her head.

"I need to ask the captain to buy a freezer. Do we have a whetstone or a honing rod?"

Tiana pulled a kitchen cabinet door open and took out a card and handed it to Jack.

"Oh, neat. Let's see…"

After thirty minutes Sky and everyone else was eagerly waiting for Jack in anticipation.

There is a dining room that can seat forty-eight people at once. It had eight tables all made out of food, and the chairs were made of comfy materials that Sky bought to make eating more enjoyable.

The two slaves were also present and felt awkward sitting in the same room with everybody. It was common sense for slaves and non-slaves to eat somewhere where no one else could see them, but Sky wanted them all to try Jack's food at the same time.

The tables had also been set up by the two slaves.

Jericho was playing around with a ball of iron changing the ships, making it grow, tiny, sharp and pointy, round. She had gotten so good with her magnetism she could treat almost any metal like it was a liquid.

'System, looking at Jericho handling that piece of metal I need to ask why didn't her magnetism work on Ryu's sword when she tried to break it?'

{Player will have to find out}

'Figures. At least tell me why I could not see Ryu's stats or skills? That's the first time it happened.'

{The system only does that for bosses or mini-bosses if they're too powerful for the player. You did have a tiny, eeny-meeny, small, slim chance of winning against Ryu, at the cost of your crew's lives}

'It's a good thing I fled then. Also does that only include bosses? Because I know Xero's and Lucious' stats were beyond Ryu's stats.'

{Indeed. Only bosses and mini-bosses in dungeons will have the {???} symbol}

'That seems unnecessary. Clearly you know what Ryu's stats and abilities were, yet if you showed it to me I could have done something with the information, but you hid it.'

{It's how the system is programmed. Also, Sky, don't expect the system to always help you in every situation. Sometimes you need to make your own decisions}

'Well… you have a point. Also what the hell is 'silence'? That skill Ryu used on me that didn't let me use any abilities?'

{Cannot say}

'Was it a black-grade skill or a system skill?'

{Cannot say}

'Whatever. At least tell me how Ryu was able to deflect a curse with his sword? I didn't even know that was possible.'

{Skill issue}

'Thanks for the info.' Sky gave up looking for more answers.

"Everyone, can I ask you all a question?" Jay broke the silence.

"What?" Jules asked.

"Do you think I put too much mayo on my sandwiches? And are my onions and tomato slices too thick?"

Everyone looked at each other.

"And dry, don't forget dry." Jericho chimed in.

"Dammit! Why didn't anyone say anything?"

"Why would we? Honestly your first sandwiches weren't very good." Sky said honestly.

"What, really? And you guys still ate it?"

"I ate it because we had nothing else to eat aside from takeout." Jericho said.

"I ate it because I liked it. And also I almost never ate anything that wasn't seafood so your sandwiches were delicious, to me at least." Jules said honestly.

"And your sandwiches got better eventually. Remember as long as you're part of my crew your skills will improve, that's why I didn't say anything because you were improving."

"Right… So how is my cooking skill now? You can see how good my skills are, right?"

"Well… it's still pretty low honestly."

{Cooking: lvl 2}

"Wait, but after all this time it's still low?"

"Probably because you've only been making sandwiches."

"Ugh… I should have known."

"They're coming." Jules said.

Tiana walked in the dining room with a tray full of food.

"Can you help me, please?" Tiana looked at her friends. They nodded and followed her to the kitchen.

Soon the three slaves returned with more food and drinks and placed them on the table. They once again returned to the kitchen and returned with even more food of all kinds, from chicken, to beef, pork, soup, and fish. They were all prepared well with a wonderful presentation, the smell made them hungry, and everything was cooked and prepared to perfection.

There were even sides of veggies, rice, and sauces prepared by Jack.

"Why did he make so much food?" Jericho asked.

"To prove his worth." Sky chuckled.

Jack wanted to show Sky just how good of a cook he really was. He wanted him to know that he is useful and wasn't going to leech from them.

Jay looked at the plates filled with hungry eyes, then took out a card, inside was another sandwich he made.

'I concede.' Jay placed the card back in his pocket.

The three slaves sat down on

Jack appeared before them with his arms crossed, he felt happy for some reason.

"Well? What do you guys think?"

"Aren't you going to sit first?"

"Not yet. I want to see what you guys think of my cooking first."

Everyone looked at each other and they each grabbed something different, even the slaves couldn't resist and grabbed something.

Sky took part of the chicken, some rice, and a weird side-dish he hadn't seen that had cubed tomatoes, onions, lime juice, and cubed jalapenos.

Sky took a bite and was amazed.

'Wow… that's good.' Sky couldn't hide his expression which Jack noticed. Sky didn't stop taking bites.

"What's this?" Jericho pointed at a dish.

"That's ceviche. It's shrimp with lime, onion, tomato, cilantro, and avocado."

"Weird name." Jericho took a spoonful of it and ate it. "I love it." Jericho said instantly after tasting it.

No one else said anything and ate the wonderful feast in front of them.

Jack right now was happy for two reasons: he is always happy when people like his food. The thought that he created something that people loved made him feel happy.

Second, he is finally able to cook whatever he always wanted. Every time he wanted to cook something new his mom wouldn't let him. She hated it when she saw her kitchen was a mess.

Jack never agreed with her on this, because he is the only one who cooked and the only one who cleaned, yet she complained about messes when she did nothing to make it better. And not every dish he wanted to try would result in a huge mess, if anything their yearly parties where they invite their friends over made the house a huge mess.

Jack always hated it when they invited guests, because it meant he had to clean even more to make the house spotless, which it already was. Sometimes he would have to clean for sixteen hours a week straight before a party was held at his home. What was worse is that none of those guests were his friends, because he had no friends, because he had no time to make friends. And those who were his friends at one point left him because he didn't have time for them.

Sky read his mind and could tell just how restrictive his house was to him, specifically his mom. And because of that he hated cleaning with a passion.

"Can you three clear the table and clean the kitchen and everything else after we're done?" Sky looked at his slaves.

They nodded while stuffing their faces. Usually they always respond with words but they didn't even stop eating to answer him properly. Sky continued eating as well.

Seeing this Jack's lip quivered a bit. This is a first for him… usually those words were directed at him.

"So how is it?"

No one said anything, they all had their mouths full but they gave him a thumbs up before stuffing their faces again.

"PFT!" Jack laughed at their response.

Then, other emotions started welling up inside of him, emotions he had bottling it up for a long time and he could feel it, he was about to explode in front of all of them.

"Excuse me!" Jack left the dining room running.

"Is he okay?" Jericho asked and stood up, everyone stood up but Sky stopped them.

"Let him be. Let him vent."

Everyone was confused but Sky.

"What's wrong with him? Is he okay?" Jay asked, concerned.

"He's just… let's just say he finally feels free."

"What?" 

"Please don't bother him or ask him what's wrong. Trust me, please." Sky urged them to not pursue it further.

Everyone was concerned but they listened to Sky. Still they couldn't help but worry and wonder.

Sky thought that the best thing Jack could do right now was to let it out where no one could bother him.

Jack ran to the deck and started laughing and crying uncontrollably. He didn't want anyone else to see or hear him so he ran to a place where hopefully no one could hear him.

"AHAAAA! HAHAHA! AAAAAA!" Jack screamed, letting everything out, even his tears didn't stop nor did his cries and laughs stop.

Nearly ten minutes passed and he wiped his tears as he calmed down. His eyes were red and stuffy from crying.

"Hah…" Jack let out a sigh. "I haven't done that in a long time. Wow, I feel free. I can actually do what I want now, and not just clean, and clean, and clean over, and over again."

Jack sat at the front of the ship looking at the gentle waves. Sometimes about this, the way he felt, the scenery of the ocean, the clear blue skies, the salty breeze, something about it all made him feel like he was free from a chain he didn't know he was on.

Behind him several people were looking at him, they had just arrived after filling their stomach, but they were all still worried.

"He looks better." Sky was glad to see he was doing well.

"Poor guy." Jericho said.

"Let him be for a while. I feel like he needs this."

Everyone nodded and stayed inside the ship.

After a while everything was peaceful for Jack before a sudden realization hit him.

"Oh crap!" Jack stood up and ran downstairs.

In the dining room he saw no one, but the food had been cleared and cleaned already.

"Oh, there you are. I thought I heard you." Tiana walked towards him.

"Hey, sorry about that. Where is everybody?"

"Crew's quarters. We have leftovers if you want. We have almost finished packing them. Right now Phoebe and Rachel are cleaning the kitchen."

"Okay. Wait, did everybody like the food?"

"We loved it! Everybody loved it." Tiana smiled as she could still taste the food lingering in her mouth.

"I'm glad to hear. I'll be back."

Jack walked to the crew's quarters, there he saw Sky, Jericho, and Jay talking about something.

"So this card burns anything?" Sky pointed to a card Jay had with a fire symbol.

"I believe so. If it has a shield it gives anyone I throw this card at a shield, if it has a sword it stabs any enemy I throw at, if it has a '+' it heals anyone I throw. But it also has some weird symbols, like fire, and even some pictures of monsters but I am scared to see what those do."

"Don't you run out of cards? I think there's only fifty two."

"Surprisingly no. New cards just appear out of nowhere."

"Wow. What I like about this is that it doesn't require mana, just luck."

"Yeah, I agree, cap'n. I like this weapon but I still feel like relying on luck seems too risky."

"I understand. If we find a good gun or a bow I'll give it to you."

"Just hope we get lucky on that." Jericho said.

"Um."

Everyone turned around and saw Jay standing there looking sheepish.

"Hey, you okay?" Jericho asked.

"Yeah, I am so sorry about that, I don't know what came over me. I am so sorry if I ruined the food."

"Jack, your cooking was so good, you could have shot me in the ass and the food would still have tasted the same." Jay appeared beside Jack and put his arm over his neck.

Everyone nodded but it only made Jack feel more embarrassed.

"I see. I'll make something else tomorrow. Any recommendations?"

"I think we'll leave it up to you to decide. I liked everything you made." Sky said.

Jericho and Jay nodded.

"Okay… also before I forget, captain Sky, we need a freezer."

"We do? Okay, the next island we stop at I'll give you money to buy one you think it's good. The price doesn't matter."

"Sounds good."

"Sky, we're near a dungeon." Jericho looked at her map.

"Sweet, we need more red items to feed them to the devourer. Jack, have you ever cleared a portal before?"

"No, never." Jack shook his head.

"Neat, this'll be your first time. Come on, let's go! Grab your swords!"

Jack was eager and grabbed his two swords while everyone else stayed behind.

An entire day passed and Jack went to his hammock with a smile on his face.

'Ah… I haven't felt this happy in so long… hmm…' Jack turned around looking at the roof.

'By now my parents must have read the letter I left for them and realized I left home. I hope they can use the money I left them to live a good life, knowing my mom 's either extremely pissed and angry at me and looking for me. Well dad won't let her, and there's my sister so I don't think they'll do anything dangerous.'

He scratched his head as he realized something.

'I'll do that in the morning.' He closed his eyes and went to sleep.