At the bow of a ship, the mouth of a whale—held fast by that gigantic stone hand—was shattered by a bite before it let out a deafening roar that shook the sea with its force.
"Are you ready, Greenie?"
"You needn't ask, Your Highness!"
An arrow was fired and landed squarely in the eye of the giant whale floating above the vast ocean—the monster screamed in pain and writhed, and that was when the thorny green roots emerged and began to bind its enormous body—I even needed ten cards at once, which I hurled into the air, to restrain its massive form.
I sighed with exhaustion and nearly collapsed to the floor, but Robin was there just in time to support me. "Summoning ten giant roots at the same time is impressive, I must admit," he said; I couldn't help but smile when I heard him.
"It's only right."
Without warning, a loud shout echoed throughout the ship. "FIRE!" I turned round and saw it was the captain of this ship—his hand was pointing at Monstro, and almost immediately, the sound of a loud explosion could be heard.
The crew under his command fired the cannons, and a huge black ball landed right on the monster's body, disrupting it—creating an opening for me. I could feel something land on my shoulder; my blue eyes glanced over to find a young man sitting elegantly—his shining yellow dress almost blinding me.
"Tinkie! Where on earth have you been?" I asked, and she let out another jingling sound. She explained that her powers had suddenly faded, causing the pixie dust that had made us float to vanish. "Can your powers actually fade?"
"Alice!" Before Tinkie could answer, Robin had already called my name—I'd momentarily forgotten our current situation, and without my even needing to ask, a shower of sparkling dust appeared and surrounded us; our bodies felt light as cotton once more and almost instantly I soared and flew through the air.
"Tinkie, can you help me?" I smiled before pulling out five cards, and with a reluctant expression—she nodded and took the cards, which were even taller than she was. "I'll give you a bowl of honey later," I said; hearing that, she immediately jumped up and flew away, breaking free from my shoulder.
The 'A' logo in the centre of the card instantly transformed into a symbol of petrol—the two of us flew above the whale and doused it with the petrol; as it continued to be hit by cannon fire and its body was bound by roots, it couldn't dodge and allowed the petrol to completely cover every part of its body, down to the tiniest spot.
All my energy was gone, and if I were to float any further with the help of my card, I would certainly fall and drown in the water—yet now I was floating downwards, even though my breathing had become extremely laboured. "Robin!" I shouted his name before my body landed on the deck; I fought hard to stay conscious and hoped I wouldn't lose the consciousness right here, just yet.
Robin stood tall beside me, his hand already drawing his bow, and the flaming arrow glowed brightly beneath the night sky. "This is for her trust," he muttered before releasing his grip—THWANG!—the arrow whizzed through the air and finally struck the monster's body squarely.
Before, the monster would have dismissed it as nothing more than a minor scratch, but the fire at the arrow's tip spread rapidly, burning the monster and causing it to scream in agony. "RUN!" he shouted, and the ship's sails immediately billowed wide, propelling the vessel swiftly away—leaving that place for the very last time.
I gazed up at the moon as it bathed us in its light; the nausea was rising and I instinctively covered my mouth, but without warning—Robin pulled me to my feet, gripping my shoulders tightly, and cheekily shook me with glee.
"We've done it! We've done it! We've done it!" I wanted to fight back, but I had no energy left; the nausea had reached my mouth and, in the end, I immediately emptied the contents of my stomach onto the deck, causing Robin to jump back instantly.
He stared at me with a shocked expression, realising he'd just made a huge mistake—once my strength returned, I'd hang him from the ship's mast in place of the sail. But as if they weren't satisfied with tormenting me, a rough hand slapped my back, forcing me to expel every last bit—even the very last drop—from my stomach.
"You lot are absolutely brilliant! To have reduced the Monstro to such a state!" That was Captain Hook's voice; he was completely ignoring the fact that I was utterly drained right now—I'd use both of them as substitutes for the ship's sails. "I've made up my mind! You're my permanent crew until the day I die!"
That declaration made me feel even worse. In the end—when they threw a small party, because if they'd had one earlier, they'd have run out of food before they could even dock on land—I was lying on a hammock, accompanied by Robin, who was sitting on a bed opposite me. "Sorry, I should've realised you were so weak back there."
"At least you apologised," I replied, letting out a long sigh. A long, awkward silence fell between us again—I was far too exhausted to think of anything else to talk about or even tell a story, so, with my back to him, I planned to just go to sleep whilst he hadn't brought up another topic and delayed my rest.
"It was Red who told me that," he began before I drifted off—I desperately wanted to pretend I was asleep, but the moment he mentioned Red, I became very curious. "She said she isn't Marian, but she's still willing to be my friend as Red—not someone overshadowed by the figure of my lover."
I got up from my hammock and turned towards him; he then began to recount what they'd talked about whilst chained up in the mansion belonging to the man with the blue beard. He also began to tell the story of himself and Marian; hearing just how tragic his story was really moved me.
He spoke calmly, though his hands were clenched into fists and trembling—sweat was beginning to dampen both his hands, and his voice sounded strained, as though if he let out the slightest emotion he would break down and cry immediately.
I listened intently; I had even sat up and turned to face him fully—not a single word escaped my ears until, at last, he fell silent. I tried to process the truly tragic and heartbreaking story.
I sat in silence for a very long time, racking my brains for what to say; I didn't want to ask any questions for fear of reopening an old wound—finally, I raised my head, my eyes fully fixed on the devastated man sitting before me.
"Marian isn't dead," I insisted, causing him to jerk his head up, his eyes wide with shock; he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.
"...What do you mean?"
My legs were able to support my body again; I walked closer and stopped right in front of him before crouching down so that our eye levels were even, and I gently continued. "People are only truly dead when they are forgotten."
"But because you're always thinking of her—" My hand reached out and my finger pointed and touched his chest; I could feel his heart beating wildly. "She's still alive in your heart."
"Right?" I gave him an encouraging smile, and to be honest, deep down in my heart I wanted to see Robin let all his emotions out and cry in front of me like a little child. But surprisingly, he just remained silent—completely silent; his vacant eyes began to sparkle.
Yet against my wishes, he broke into a broad smile that revealed his teeth—his hand suddenly drifted over my head and gently stroked my blonde hair. "You and Red really are very alike, aren't you?" He chuckled softly; my cheeks flushed as he treated me like his own little sister.
"Stop it," I brushed his hand away, which only made him laugh even harder; I turned my face away and, without realising it, my cheeks puffed out—and for some reason, I felt both embarrassed and annoyed at being treated like that.
"Speaking of Red… there's something that's actually been niggling at me all this time," I slowly made eye contact with him again; his finger rested on his chin as he stroked it, as if trying to understand his own thoughts once more. "Don't you think Red's twin… seems a bit odd?"
"What do you mean by 'odds'?"
"I mean… she looks far too much like Red."
"She is her twin, isn't she?"
"Yes, but think about it again—isn't there something off about it?"
I recalled everything about this girl named Juliet Aliegheri; in appearance, she really was very similar to Red—especially her face—but her personality was completely different; I couldn't even imagine Red having such a cheerful personality.
However, I couldn't deny that I did have one or two questions about this girl, the most important of which concerned her eyes. From what Juliet had explained, she'd given her left eye to Red, who'd lost both her eyes; but was that really possible? Could a sacrifice made by the Fables after receiving the Everafter truly be reversed in that way?
But if she really was Red, what was her reason for assuming a different identity and joining a team formed by an organisation whose members had once destroyed her body?