Jerico was slumped against the main mast of the ship as Cresendo returned. He had a crumpled piece of paper in his hands, and his cheeks appeared to be wet with tears. "Cresendo.. they're gone.." He said quietly. He wiped his nose on his sleeve and stood up, walking over to Cresendo and handing him the paper. It was a letter from the crew, a letter of resignation.
"To our Dearest Captian Jerico,
You have brought us from one side of the West Blue, to the other. But sadly, we must resign before going to the grand line with you. We hate to do this to you, but some of us are fathers, and mothers, some of us are afraid, and some of us have a different path we wish to follow. Its been two years since we all walked aboard your vessel, and we will all treasure it as close as we can to our hearts. Never forget us Jerico, and in the name of The Black Blade pirates, we will carry your's to the end of time."
Jerico let out a shaky breath, then wiped his eyes. "We can't let that stop us, Cresendo. We need to push forward, we can't allow this minor set back to be the better of us.." Jerico looked off to the horizon of the water. "Its what they would have wanted." He turned back to Cresendo with a smile, though it was obviously plastered on to hide his pain. "What's this great news you have?" He looked at the paper in his hand and snatched it. He let out a whistle, then smiled up at Cresendo. "Nine million? Thats quite a bit." He smiled, then folded up the wanted poster and put it in his pocket.