"Four aces."
Jones's voice rattled like loose chains as he commented on the cards laid out before us. He tried to sound annoyed, but the expression on his face betrayed him completely.
He was pleased.
I slowly nodded, pretending to think while pressing my lips together so I wouldn't shout with joy.
I could hardly believe it.
Not just the victory.
The prize.
I had won many games in my life—but never like this.
This time I had beaten the devil himself.
Jones began to laugh.
That laugh quickly turned into a rough cough.
With a sudden motion he swept the cards off the table and threw them into the fire. The flames swallowed them instantly, without even a crackle.
The devil leaned back and scratched his ragged beard, never taking his eyes off me.
"You won."
"I… I won," I answered, my voice thin with emotion.
Jones tilted his head slightly.
"You wanted power over the ocean," he said slowly. "So I will give it to you."
The air grew heavier with every word.
It vibrated faintly, as if the world itself were listening.
"You will not drown," he continued, "even in the deepest waters of this world."
The whisper of the waves outside the cave suddenly rose into a roar. They crashed violently against the sandy shore, like the first warning of a storm yet to come.
"At your command, storms will rise."
The sea screamed again.
"You will stand above the whirlpools and the tides," Jones continued, his voice now sharp and powerful. "I grant you the right to command the ocean I created."
He leaned closer, narrowing his eyes.
"The first condition has been fulfilled."
Outside, the sea suddenly grew quiet.
Then a deep bubble burst somewhere in the water. I couldn't see it—but I knew something was rising from the depths.
"I give you the fastest ship sailing these waters," Jones said. "The Banshee."
The name echoed through the cavern.
"She will be the terror of your enemies."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"A crew of one hundred convicts will serve under you. Men who made pacts with me long before you did."
His smile widened.
"They will be neither alive nor dead. So they will never truly know death."
"Resurrect my—!" I began, trying to claim the third part of the bargain.
But Jones's expression darkened immediately.
"To reach him," he said sharply, "you must dive to the hatch yourself."
I stared at him.
He was mad.
Or perhaps I was.
"How?" I demanded. "How am I supposed to find hell?!"
"You already have everything you need," Jones replied calmly. You have a ship. A crew. Power over the ocean. And your Devil Fruit." He watched me carefully. "More than you can accept… and more than you can bear."
He leaned closer, lowering his voice to a whisper.
"The human heart knows no moderation. It cannot draw boundaries. Your heart, Emeral D. Ralagan… is filled with greed. Just like the heart of a devil."
For a moment neither of us spoke.
Then Jones crouched down and began to draw something in the sand with a clawed finger.
Triangles.
Circles.
Lines connecting them.
A crude map.
The cave was completely silent while he worked.
"You are a wayfinder," he said at last. "You will find the path."
When I finally lifted my eyes from the drawing — Jones was gone.
The fire had burned low. The sea outside was calm again.
And I was alone.
Alone with the faint echo of the waves and a new feeling rising slowly inside my chest.
Victory.