I Don't Want to Be a Pirate: Part Five

     “Are we there yet?” he asked, awaking from his stupor.

     “Yes,” Pella replied. Gerald saw nothing, but he trusted Pella for some reason. Perhaps it was because she had been so nice to him, though Gerald had to admit that if Captain Bloodscar could put so much faith into the Acara, it definitely made him feel more secure with her. Bloodscar seemed like the type of Krawk who didn’t trust others easily.

     The door to the control room opened and the captain entered the control room. He must have felt the ship stop moving as well. “Pella, I assume we stopped because we have arrived. Ready your scuba gear. You, too, cook. You will be joining us in the water as well. I want you to see my source of evidence along with the rest of the crew. I want you to see why we have ventured to the depths of the ocean in search of treasure.”

     Gerald exchanged a look of awe with Pella as the two of them headed out the control room door and joined the rest of the crew, who were climbing into wetsuits and preparing to depart into the waters. The only one not hurrying to put on the wetsuits was a Peophin who had been tasked with checking each crew member to ensure they had their gear on properly.

     Once Gerald was finished donning his wetsuit, he walked to the Peophin who inspected him as well. The Peophin ran his fins over the wetsuit to ensure there were no gaping holes through which water could enter. The Peophin then connected Gerald to an air tank and pushed him through a door to a section of the ship where everyone was waiting.

     Captain Bloodscar stood at the front of the growing crowd of pirates in front of a large waterlock. His wetsuit was tightly secured, and a saber rested on the right side of his belt. On the left side, a glowing bottle was attached. Gerald wondered what it contained but knew better than to ask, though it did appear to be a bottled light faerie.

     As the final members of the crew assembled, fully dressed in their wetsuits, Captain Bloodscar raised his hand for silence.

     “As many of you are aware, the depths of the sea are no place for fun or games. Men and lady, we are on a serious mission to unearth a treasure unlike any other on the face of Neopia. We will be in constant contact at all times, so I ask that you only speak when in danger or in response to my own inquiry. If we encounter Kelpbeard’s troops, avoid them at all costs. If they are not to be avoided... then take precaution that they will never bother us again.” Bloodscar’s voice had gotten low to the point that it seemed he was growling his orders.

     “If we succeed, we will be the richest pirates in Neopia. And we must succeed or our trip was wasted.” Captain Bloodscar turned his attention to Pella. “The button.”

     Pella nodded, understanding the order perfectly. The Aisha turned and pushed a green button on the wall near the waterlock. A booming sound echoed throughout the chamber as if a foghorn had been blown, and the door which led the pirates to this room closed and sealed with a pop behind them all. Within seconds of the popping sound, the waterlock unsealed itself and water began pouring into the room.

     Some of the pirates panicked when they saw the water rising around them, but the vast majority was ready when the frigid waters touched their feet. They were fully prepared to enter the water. After all, they had taken all that time to put on wetsuits. Water filled the chamber and soon, even the panicked pirates grew accustomed to the waters and breathed deeply from their air tanks.

     “Follow,” came a growling voice through Gerald’s helmet. Apparently, Captain Bloodscar had made sure everyone could hear him in the wetsuits. All the better to bark orders at each and every pirate.

     The crew followed Bloodscar out through the open waterlock into the murky depths of the ocean. At first, Gerald saw nothing. It was very dark as no sunlight could penetrate the waters at this depth. But soon, a crop of kelp smacked into his helmet, and he noticed that they had hit the ocean floor. The weight of the helmet weighed his entire body down, and he was able to walk along the ocean floor without floating. It was really quite convenient for travel.

     Bloodscar had barely exited the ship, though, when he stopped. The entire crew stopped when he did. The captain gingerly removed the glowing bottle from around his belt loop. He then tossed it into the water directly in front of him. The bottle fell for a bit but then rested in place a few feet in front of Captain Bloodscar’s face.

     “Oh, Oracle of the Light. We beseech you for an answer to our request.”

     The glowing bottle flashed once, emitting a blinding light through the waters. Gerald was afraid that the light would attract the Maraquan troops, and the last thing he wanted was to engage in battle underwater.

     The bottle popped open, and stream of light billowed and filtered through the waters until they formed a shape. The shape of a beautiful ethereal light faerie. The faerie’s hair shimmered in the water, and Gerald thought that she must be a spirit of some type as she obviously had no problem breathing in the aquatic conditions.

     “Oh, Oracle of the Light,” Captain Bloodscar continued. “We beseech you to know where the Ancient Treasure of Kamanila lies.” As he said this, the captain knelt on the ocean floor, a sight Gerald never thought he would have seen.

     With a booming voice no one seemed to have expected (except perhaps for Captain Bloodscar), the light faerie spoke in response to the given inquiry. “The treasure you seek is no longer at the bottom of the Neopian seas.”

     The crew was dead silent as they heard these words. They exchanged looks with one another. On the other hand, Captain Bloodscar looked beside himself. He had completely forgotten about the reverence he had just shown the faerie. Instead, he stood on his two feet in an abrasive and threatening way leaning towards the oracle whose shimmering hair showed absolute composure.

     “But you said it was here!”

     “Captain of the Silver Spectre, hear my response. The treasure was taken mere hours ago. The people of Maraqua suffer losses from its removal. A piece of the treasure lies at the large one’s feet.”

     The crew looked around at one another, looking for the largest of them. The only Skeith on board, however, was not looking around at everyone. Instead, he was looking at his own feet. A glimmer of gold met his eye, and everyone saw it at the same time.

     The Ixi near him reached into the sand at the Skeith’s feet and pulled from it a large gold crown sprinkled with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and other colorful gems. It sparkled in the light of the faerie. The entire crew stood transfixed on the piece of lone treasure.

     “It must be worth ten million NP,” said the Ixi as he stared at it as if he were a jeweler. The crew began to chatter amongst themselves, and the noise coming from Gerald’s helmet was beginning to hurt his ears.

     Suddenly, a spear coursed its way through the water and shot straight through the light faerie’s abdomen. The spear passed through the faerie as if it was traveling through nothing by water, which greatly enhanced Gerald’s idea of the faerie being a spirit. The faerie seemed vastly unaffected by the spear that materialized through her body, but she did shrink back into the bottle she came from.

     Captain Bloodscar viciously grabbed the glowing bottle from the water in front of him. “Pirates, we are under attack! Get back to the ship! Now!”

     The pirates turned back to the ship, but walking along the ocean floor was not nearly as fast as swimming. Within seconds, spears were coming from every direction, and it took everyone’s concentration to avoid being pierced.

     Suddenly, lights could be seen through the murky darkness, and Gerald nearly fainted from fear. Dozens of lanterns were being carried through the water by armed creatures. Not only were spears being lobbed at the intruders, but the creatures were also carrying Maractite weapons such as scimitars and swords. And they were all heading straight for the pirates and their ship. And in the lead was a dressed up Koi who could only be King Kelpbeard.

     The Army of Maraqua had arrived.

To be continued...