The ship's captain was standing at the bow with one foot rested on a box in front of him. His gaze was fixed on the horizon, and from behind him three crew members ran up to him. "Captain! We'd like to thank you for choosing to support us!" they all said in unison; they looked like children thanking their parents after receiving a Christmas present.
Captain Hook turned round and put his feet back together; he folded his arms and flashed a broad smile. "I don't understand what you're saying." Hearing that, the three of us immediately exchanged glances and realised what he meant.
"What we mean is, thank you for giving Colin, that traitor, what he deserved!" replied Robin. Liz and I nodded in agreement, which drew a laugh from Captain Hook, who suddenly ruffled Robin's hair as if he were his own son.
"I just don't want history to repeat itself," he said, turning away and looking straight ahead as if he didn't want us to see his face right now, but I could tell how he was feeling. "It's a captain's duty to ensure the safety of his entire crew, isn't it?"
From that moment on, I felt respect for the man I'd initially thought was a scoundrel; his actions proved me wrong. He wasn't like the other pirates out on the open seas, and it seemed he didn't want to become like them either.
"Thank you for appointing me as your right-hand woman, Captain! I swear I won't let you down," Liz declared, and though I couldn't see her face, I knew for certain she was smiling right now.
Tinkie then popped out of my pocket and perched on my shoulder; seeing this, I was immediately reminded of one thing I hadn't yet got round to asking. "Captain, what exactly is the treasure you've been searching for all this time?" That question caught the attention not only of Captain Hook but of Robin and Liz as well; unlike them, Liz looked nervous, as though it wasn't a question I should be asking.
"Alice! Only the captain is allowed to know that," the girl with the purple eyes immediately reprimanded me, and I was taken aback to hear that—so the crew were continuing to help the captain search for something they didn't even know what it was. "That's one of the rules on this ship, you know!" She raised her finger and lectured me like a lecturer with far broader knowledge than mine.
"The Heart of the Sea," Captain Hook suddenly blurted out, startling the three of us—in stark contrast to what Liz had said, Captain Hook said it very casually. "It's an artefact that, if possessed by someone—"
"—that person would be able to breathe underwater and speak to sea creatures at the same time!" He explained, and it immediately caught my full attention; an artefact like that would indeed be incredibly valuable and sought after by many. "And if I had it, everyone would know of my existence and worship me because of it!"
I couldn't help but let out a little chuckle at his declaration; the fact that he was so eager to be recognised by others reminded me of my former self, who wanted to be the number one Fable and be praised by all the citizens of London.
But my goals are different now; I just want to live happily whilst I can, together with all my friends.
"How much longer until we get there?" asked Robin, and that made me curious too—Captain Hook turned round and placed his hands and hook on his hips before replying.
"Another week." That really took Robin and me by surprise; I felt a wave of nausea wash over me and I rushed to the edge of the sea to vomit. Tinkie immediately flew away, disgusted by the sight—was I going to have to put up with this for a whole week? I wasn't having any of it. "Let's hope for a strong wind so we can make better speed," Captain Hook added before walking off, leaving the three of us behind.
Hearing that, I immediately had a brilliant idea. I stood up straight and turned to look at Robin, who was trying to touch my back. "Robin, would you come with me later tonight?" The question caught him off guard.
"Huh?" Although he was confused by what I was planning, he followed me anyway and watched as I inflated the ship's sails with a dozen of my Everafter cards—I'd deliberately done this at night so no one would see and try to take advantage of me. "Tired already? Have some of this!" Robin's job was to prepare food to replenish my energy, and just as I'd thought, the ship was sailing much faster than before once all the sails were filled with wind.
And I'd been doing that for three days in a row until, on the fourth day in the early morning, I still hadn't woken up, nor had Robin, who was still asleep standing by the mast of my hammock, clinging to it. But this tranquillity didn't last long when, suddenly, a loud voice woke me up: "Wake up, you sleepyhead! The sun's about to be high in the sky!" My eyes snapped open to find a girl with light tan skin and black hair standing by my bunk.
"Five more hours…"
"People usually say "five minutes", you know!" Liz sighed in disbelief at the fact that we still hadn't woken up and looked as though we were sleeping as soundly as babies. "You lot have been sleeping in a lot lately, haven't you…? As the captain's right-hand woman, you mustn't be lazing about like this!"
I was suddenly hit with a sense of responsibility, and as my hand was yanked, I sprang to my feet even though I was still half-asleep and my body was too weak to stand on my own two feet. In the end, Robin and I had no choice but to drag our feet and make our way to the deck—the sunlight was almost blinding, and I still needed Liz's help to walk.
"Oh? You're already up—it's just as well I've got some bad news for you," was the first thing we heard as we stepped onto the deck of this ship; he really does know how to ruin other people's moods, doesn't he. "We've spotted the land where the treasure is!"
Hearing that news immediately made both our eyes widen and practically light up. Robin and I exchanged glances before clasping hands and jumping up and down, spinning in a circle with sheer joy. "Yippee! Yippee! Yippee! Yippee!" He'd never know just how happy we felt now that our struggles had paid off.
"Are you two six years old or something?" Liz muttered in amazement at our childish behaviour, but we only then realised something was off about what Captain Hook had told us; we stopped jumping and turned fully towards the man with thick, curly black hair.
"Wait, why did you say this is bad news?" I asked.
"Yeah, it sounds like good news to me," added Robin.
Captain Hook tilted his head, seemingly confused by what we'd just said. "Have you forgotten? There's still one more monster we haven't faced yet." That instantly drained our enthusiasm; I'd completely forgotten about it, and I'd also grown a bit weary as the monsters we'd faced had gradually become more difficult. "For some reason, this ship's travelling much faster than I expected; that's meant our preparations haven't been as thorough as they should be."
We both jolted; we knew full well that this was our fault for making the ship sail much faster than it should have. Nervously, I stepped forward and managed a slightly awkward smile. "Don't worry! There are two great Fables on your ship now, remember?"
"Yes! We can even defeat Monstro!" Robin laughed, though her laughter sounded very nervous. Captain Hook was baffled by our sudden, strange behaviour. "We're ready to face any monster!" he asserted confidently.
"Even if I told you we were facing the Kraken?" That statement made us turn pale; the Kraken is a sea monster shaped like a giant octopus that likes to sink sailors' ships. There are many versions of the Kraken, and one I've heard claims that its eyes alone can be as big as the ship itself.
IT'S TOO BIG! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BEAT IT?!—I desperately wanted to shout that out across the ocean, but I tried to compose myself and not look panicked or frightened, whilst Robin's legs were already shaking and a cold sweat was beginning to form on his face.
"Even so, with you two here—it's just a minor problem, isn't it?" The captain had placed such high expectations on us, and it was partly our fault for being too cocky earlier; all of this was making me feel sick to my stomach.
"I need to throw up first…" I replied, gesturing to the side.
"Me too…" Robin walked alongside me.
This was all completely unexpected; I hadn't had time to come up with a new plan to fight this colossal monster, and whilst the ship sailed on, I sat quietly with Robin, trying to work out what we should do when we came face to face with it.
However, as we drew closer to land, there was still no sign of the monster—even after the anchor had been dropped—the monster hadn't revealed a single tentacle. "TIME TO DISEMBARK!" ordered the captain, and almost all the crew stepped onto the sand after having been tossed about at sea for so long.
There were still a few crew members remaining on board to keep watch and report if anything happened, whilst Robin and I were hopping around joyfully, dancing in a circle. "HOORAY! HOORAY! HOORAY! HOORAY!" We were absolutely over the moon that the monster hadn't appeared; the weight of responsibility had lifted, and the little fairy perched on Liz's shoulder let out a sigh and shook her head—she was acting as though we were strangers.
"They sound happier than before!" Liz commented, and all attention shifted immediately as the Captain began to speak; he looked around at all the crew members in front of him before raising the map into the air.
"Right then, lads and lasses… IT'S TIME TO GO TREASURE HUNTING!"