As I stepped outside, a strong gust of wind immediately blew through my hair—a few strands even got into my eyes. This wind was much stronger than yesterday's, and I was puzzled as to why.
"Oh? Alice, you're right on time!" A deep male voice called out to me, but I couldn't see him because my hair had decided to temporarily blind me. "The air's lovely and fresh, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's really, REALLY fresh," I replied, and I saw a hand holding out a hair tie in front of me—I turned my head and realised it belonged to Captain Hook. "Thank you," I said as I took it, before biting it and starting to tie my hair into a ponytail.
Now that annoying hair was out of the way, although my fringe still liked to play tricks on me by poking me in the eye every now and then. "Why's the wind blowing so hard?" I asked, and Tinkie popped out of my pouch before perching on my shoulder.
"We're getting close to the sea monster's territory! Monstro!" she declared with such a loud shout that it could probably be heard by the entire crew on board; her black eyes checked to see if I was equally excited or not.
I clapped as though he were a theatre actor performing on stage. From behind, a man in a green jacket walked over and stopped beside me. "And this works to our advantage, because if we're chased by strong winds, it can make this ship sail faster," Robin added.
"That's right! I'm starting to consider you both as part of my permanent crew," he laughed, and I knew that once he'd made up his mind about something, he'd be insistent—and that would put both of us in jeopardy here. "I can't wait to see that sea monster with my own eyes!" He turned to look out towards the horizon and threw his arms wide.
Robin and I exchanged glances before turning back to face forward. "What do you intend to do with this monster, Captain?" Robin asked, as we had two options: the first was to flee, and the second—which I'd already suspected the Captain would choose.
"Kill it, of course!" he said with great confidence. He turned back around with a broad smile on his face—and I exchanged glances with Robin once more. "By defeating this second creature—all the pirates will fear me!"
So he wants to be feared and respected by all pirates, it turns out. Now I have the answer to his motive—yet his words have planted a question within me. "The second creature, eh…? Will there be a third?" he asked, offering just a glimpse of the obstacles we'd face on our journey.
"I'll save that for later—everyone likes a surprise, don't they?!" He laughed as if he'd just cracked a hilarious joke, though it didn't amuse me in the slightest. "Now, let's wait until we meet it! I'm sure it won't be long!"
Contrary to what he'd said, the sky was already studded with stars and I'd already eaten twice today—I was sitting on a barrel with Robin standing right beside me; he was like a pet dog always wanting to stick close to its owner. The jingling sound rang out very clearly, as it was right next to my left ear.
A fairy sat there looking bored and asked, with a long sigh, whether it would be much longer. "Mhm, you can sleep—I'll wake you if we need your help," I replied, but the loud tinkling sound nearly deafened me; the fairy looked really annoyed, though I should have been the one showing that expression.
"'You don't like being woken up even more?' Say that quietly! Don't shout like that," I lifted her tiny body before flinging her into the sea without so much as a glance; Robin, who'd seen this, burst into an amused laugh mixed with astonishment. "Hmph"
"Are you sure about just throwing her in like that?"
"Yeah, she can fly anyway"
"But if she really can, she should have flown back here by now"
"She was just testing me."
Neither of us spoke; the sound of the waves and the crew chatting filled the silence between us—but seconds turned into minutes and Tinkie still hadn't shown her face; worry began to fill my heart—the ship kept sailing on, making the spot in the water where I'd thrown Tinkie out of sight.
I really wanted to stop myself from going to take a look, but after a while—I jumped down and rushed straight to the bulwark, looking to the left where the ship's wake was. "Huh?" But I didn't find a glowing fairy; instead, there was a huge splash of water, as if something were moving beneath the surface.
A loud jingling sound came from behind me, and from the way it sounded—the fairy was laughing, followed by a man's laughter; judging by the way they were laughing, it seemed they were working together to play a trick on me. However, that didn't set me off, as there was something else odd that was weighing more heavily on my mind.
I turned round and, without responding to their tomfoolery, demanded immediately, "Tinkie, give me your pixie dust!" That sudden command left them both stunned into silence; I looked utterly panicked and worried, which was clearly evident from my trembling hands.
A tinkling sound rang out, questioning what I was trying to do. "Hurry up!" And from her hand, she produced a golden powder that surrounded me—instantly, my body felt much lighter than before and, without wasting any time, I soared into the air. "Alice!" a girl's voice called out, and when I glanced down, it was Liz looking up at me from below.
"Liz, tell the crew to unfurl more of the sails!" I ordered, and the girl looked startled by the sudden command, but upon seeing the determination on my face, she nodded and walked away. "We must hurry and get out of here."
"Hey, can I have my turn now?" I turned round and saw Robin floating there with the fairy perched on his shoulder. "I've been cooped up on the ship for far too long—I want to show off my skills too," she teased, a mischievous smile playing on her face.
I gave a little chuckle at that; I wasn't going to refuse, but I knew he'd get a big head if I seemed too pleased. "All right, all right," I agreed to his request, and my brow furrowed immediately as I spotted another strange movement in the water.
"Alice, what's going on?" My name was called again and when I turned round once more, I found Captain Hook standing there with his arms folded, looking perfectly calm—before I could manage even a brief explanation, the ship was already pitching wildly. "Huh?!"
"GET AWAY!" I shouted from far ahead of the ship, as a creature began to emerge—a creature with a head so enormous it was as big as the ship itself, sharp teeth the same size as my body, its eyes flickering as it opened its jaws wide. "MONSTRO!"
The crew began turning the wheel frantically to avoid a direct collision—or worse, being swallowed alive by the monster. I shot forward towards the creature—and without warning, a dozen arrows whizzed past me and struck the monster's hard hide before—BOOM—all the arrows exploded.
The smoke from the explosion began to dissipate slowly, but the monster showed no sign of pain or injury whatsoever—my fists clenched tightly at the sight of the creature's resilience. "…I've got an idea," I turned round and saw Robin hovering there, looking at me hopefully, as if expecting me to have a plan to fight the monster.
Luckily for her, I did indeed have a plan worth trying. "Robin, stay right here!" I ordered, and she nodded obediently without asking too many questions; I dived down and hovered above the ship's deck. There, I saw Captain Hook had already drawn his sword from its sheath. "Captain! Hold on a moment!"
"Hm?" His hand froze mid-motion and one of his eyebrows raised. "Oh, well, do you have a plan?" he asked before straightening up again, pointing at me with the hook on his prosthetic hand.
"I do, and I want you all to aim your cannons forward—the rest is up to Robin and me," I said. The crew behind the captain exchanged glances, whilst the captain didn't budge an inch—it was as if he needed time to think about whether to trust me or not.
"All right," the Captain nodded, and I couldn't help but grin. I immediately nodded back and leapt back into the air—now I just needed to carry out the plan by coating the creature with oil—that was what I wanted to do, but the monster unexpectedly swam towards the ship at an incredible speed.
My eyes widened; I desperately hoped the monster would stay where it was floating—but I had to resort to plan B, with the ship continuing to speed along, followed by Monstro from behind.
Robin and I flew closer whilst Robin kept firing arrows at the monster, which simply deflected them into the sea. "Was this part of your plan, Alice? Because if it was, you should have warned me first!" he protested, continuing to fire arrows.
"No—it isn't! We'll go with Plan B!"
"And what is this Plan B?"
"I've no idea! Try to keep the people on the ship alive?! I'm panicking—please don't chat to me right now!"
The monster's mouth opened wide—I immediately flew towards it until I was right in front of it, then I produced two cards, ready to seal the monster's mouth shut tight. "Haven't you ever heard of toothpaste" Just as I was about to throw the cards, I felt myself growing heavy again—I looked down and saw that the pixie dust surrounding me had vanished. "Tinkie?!"
"Alice!" Robin shouted. The dust of light surrounding her had also vanished; her hand reached out to grab my limp hand—my two cards had already fallen to the sea, and I no longer had time to produce another card because beneath me, Monstro had opened its mouth wide, ready to make me its meal.
I let out a long sigh—there was no way it would swallow me whole straight away; once inside its stomach, I'd immediately start thinking of a way to get out. Suddenly, my hand was gripped tightly, and when I turned my head, it was Robin who was already very close to me. "Greenie?!"
He smiled, revealing his teeth; he pulled me in and shielded me in his embrace just as both our bodies were drawn into the monster's mouth—a fleeting moment before we were devoured, but this was not the end—because I wouldn't die until I'd met that fool again.