III. The Evil Eyes

"Whew. Good work, guys," I said, swiping my forehead. It had taken a lot of energy none of us really had, but we had pulled into Marituga, gotten water for a reasonable price, returned with the refilled barrels and stowed them onboard. That last bit was largely thanks to Crogar, though.

Speak of the devil—Crogar staggered up from below and groaned. "Hot. Too hot for Vikings."

"It is awfullox hotox for Marituga," Caramba agreed. He had his armor open as he tinkered with the part he had picked up for the Chaos. "It feelox more likeox Blazz."

"This heat seems dangerous," Cece agreed, waving a hand in front of her face, which looked a bit red.

I looked closer at her. "Cece, are you getting sunburned?"

"Nonsense. Atlanteans do not sunburn," she answered, predictably.

"That can't be because you're underwater all the time," I pointed out.

She fanned her face and shot me a glare. She was cute when she was annoyed.

To be fair, we were all kind of grumpy. The air felt humid. Almost like a storm was coming, and it was making us all cranky.

I tried to pull myself and my crew together. "All right, Cs. We'll weigh anchor and hang out in Sino for a while, maybe. Caramba, how's that fix going?"

"Well, Zak," he began. "This is the flux capacitox. It lets us gox from seaox to seaox without too much elementox in the cystalox in the wiring regulatox—."

I crossed my arms and interrupted before the explanation became too complicated. "So it's like thermal shock again?"

"Yes, exactox—well, if I don't reattachox this part. It was knockox into the oceanox by one of Skullivar's minions." Caramba continued to play with the thin, triangular piece of metal, which had colorful wires sticking out the back. "So once I fixox it, we can continueox sailing."

"All right, 'Ramba. How—" I stopped myself. I had been about to ask how long he needed, but Caramba had only ever answered that question in Wahoolian units of time, which I was not fluent in. If there was one thing being captain for four years had taught me, it was to just let him work. He always came through. I continued. "How about the rest of us explore the bazaar while we wait? Unless, of course, you need help."

My friend shook his head. "No, go aheadox. Have fun. Clovis and I will fixox it."

At this, Clovis poofed into existence above Caramba's head. "Wot? I heard me name." He had his ball and chain, which he was using as a jump rope at the moment. "One, two, three—"

"Clovis," I interrupted. "You're gonna stay here and help Caramba fix the ship, while Cece, Crogar and I go back into town."

"Ahem!" Calabrass cleared his throat.

"…And Calabrass," I amended.

"What do ye think I am, some lame toothpick to be forgotten, Zak?" he grumbled.

"I'm sorry, 'Brass," I sighed. Then I laughed. "Although Sassafras seems to think so."

"Don't even mention the witch's name," he snapped. "And ye know that ain't funny."

"Uh…," Cece, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. "I…" She staggered a bit. My arm shot out and caught her, steadying her waist.

"Cece. Cece, are you okay?" I asked with concern, looking deeply into her eyes.

"I…do not feel well," she answered, gritting her teeth. "It is the heat, Zak. Something about it is wrong. And the sea…not right…"

She buried her face in my shoulder. I held her close, conscious of the intimacy of our postures and how neither of us had actually warned our friends about this.

"Zetraflon!" I heard from behind.

"Ewww! Look loike they're about to kiss."

"Zak loves Cece?"

We pulled apart, watching the expressions on everyone's faces.

"Yes, Zak loves Cece," I replied, feeling my heart thump. "But we have bigger problems right now." I helped her sit down, gently peeling her off of me.

"Look," she whispered, pointing a shaky finger. There was a threatening cloud of fog, almost a wall, against the horizon. It resembled the mists of Vapir.

"Whoa," I breathed. "That's wild."

"It is making me feel sick. f you do not mind, I believe I will stay here while you go to the bazaar," she whispered. "I feel that it would be worse if I am on land. Perhaps I will swim." Now her former redness had faded and she was pale, biting her lip.

"Okay." I looked up at my crew, who was still gaping. "You heard that, she isn't feeling well. So I'm not going into town. We will all stay here with Cece until Caramba has the Chaos fixed."

"I can't believe you two finallox got togethox," Caramba said, very obviously not thinking about what I was saying.

"This doesn't change anything," I said impatiently. "We're the 7Cs. We save the Triangle and we're the best of friends. Just because Cece and I are dating now does not mean the group dynamic is gonna change or anything,"

Clovis remained silent, floating with a frown.

Meanwhile, Crogar clapped his big hands, tears rolling from his eyes. He laughed. "Now Crogar hopes he will be as lucky and be with Zefra some day!"

"And you of course have my congratulox," Caramba added.

"Ugh," Clovis groaned. "This means they'll be all kissy in front o' us. I'm jumpin' ship!" He tried, anyway, jumping off the Chaos and running on his chain for a bit before it snapped back. "Yeowww! I hate this thing! Hate it!"

Next to me, Cece groaned too, a sickly sound. Her head had landed on my shoulder again.

"Cece, is there anything I can do?" I asked a bit hopelessly. "What is the mist? And the heat?"

I felt her head shake. "I do not know. Nothing good."

"All right, we'll figure it out later. So the Triangle's acting weird. We've never seen that before. Anyway, everyone, to work," I told my crew, who was still gawking. Was Cece and me getting together really so weird?

Caramba resumed work on his flux triangle thingy, and Crogar hunkered down nearby, his chin propped on one giant fist like a rock.

"Captain." Clovis was interrupting, hanging upside down in front of me, interrupting my thoughts. "This may be a bad time, but…"

"Yes?" I answered tiredly.

"Well, you know I can't get off the ship, so's I was wonderin' if you would for me. Could ye get me some o' those caramels, Zak? Pretty please?"

"Now?" I looked worriedly at Cece. She was quiet, but pale, as she listened.

"Well, we won't be back to Marituga for a while," Clovis pointed out, his eyes big.

I sighed. "Cece, will you be okay if I leave for a minute?"

She nodded, and I helped ease her head against the side of the Chaos. "Crogar, please watch her. I'll only be a second."

"Crogar protect Cece," he assured me, moving to sit beside her.

"Wait…Zak…" She lifted her head and looked directly at me. "Do not go. Something is wrong."

"Aw, Cece…" I held her hand. "I'll be right back. I owe Clovis one and the stand's right up the stairs. And of course, I have Calabrass," I said, smirking a bit.

"Damn right, lad!" He crowed.

Cece still looked unsure, but she squeezed my hand. "I would rather that you did not go, but…" she sighed.

"Like I said, I'll be right back. You just work on feeling better, okay?"

I pecked her cheek and leapt over the side.

"A bag of caramels, please," I requested from the shopkeeper. She handed me a bulging sack of the sweet candy, and I gave her a few doubloons.

You know, I wasn't quite sure what Clovis wanted with these—he couldn't exactly digest them, being an 'endoplasmic life form'. But I owed him this—I had been too busy to play every time he asked me this week. I reflected that all of us growing up had to be hardest on Clovis. Somewhere along the way we'd all had less time for fun and games and things had gotten more grueling.

That being said, I still did my best to keep the grueling parts fun…but that wasn't the point. "Clovis feels left out," I confided to Calabrass as we headed back to the ship.

I heard a sharp grunt. "He ain't the only one."

"Is this about me and Cece?" I wasn't clueless. I'd heard my friend's moans and groans. "Aw, c'mon, Cal, don't be such a cross-bones."

"Ye and yer moonstruck eyes when ye looks at her," Cal grumbled, ignoring my joke. He'd been doing a lot of that recently. "Like a siren and a shipwrecked pirate what's been snipped by crab claws."

"Wow, that's colorful," I observed. "Look, Cal, I'm sorry. This is my first time in love, and I don't want to mess it up. Because…I don't know. I just feel like…Cece's her. She's right for me, somehow. There's no one else, and there won't be anyone else."

Calabrass heaved a huge sigh. "Lad, I was young once too, believe it or not. How can I be such a 'cross-bones', as ye say, when I know how that bond feels?"

"Thanks." I felt a warm glow inside. "I'm just really happy."

"I know, Zak. But what are ye gonna do when we all go home?"

"When we all go home?" I waved a hand. "Like that's gonna happen."

"Oh, it will," came a new voice, reedy and annoying. "O-or we will all die."

I balked. "Too late to run?" I muttered to Calabrass out of the corner of my mouth.

He hissed. "We're caught, mate."

Sassafras was beckoning from her den, waving her gnarled fingers.

I closed my eyes. "What is this about, Sassafras?"

"Come, Zak Storm," she ordered. "You are the only hope."

"I need to get back," I hooked a thumb towards the docks. "My—Cece's sick."

"And why do you think your girlfriend's sick?" the witch countered.

"How did you know—?"

"I know a lot of things, Zak Storm. And I know the Triangle is in trouble."

Still, I hesitated. No wonder Cece didn't want me to go. Something felt wrong.

"Oh, but first…" Sassafras wiggled her fingers.

I scowled. "I don't have any money on me. I spent it."

"But I can't work for free," she cried.

I gave her an irritated look. Then I plopped the caramels into her outstretched hand. "Payment. Now spit it out."

"Oh, well, all right," she said in that annoying way of hers, and she led me down into her dark hole. I'd come to think of it as such. Nothing good had ever happened after I'd had to go down there.

"My, Zak Storm, you've grown," she went on, rounding a table where a book was open. She sounded like the world's worst grandma. "You're a young man now."

My jaw tightened. "Please just get to the point."

"He's grown enough to whup ye, ye witch," Calabrass snarled. His green eyes were burning.

"Yes, yes, noisy toothpick as usual," she said, nodding. "And he's grown up enough for the task."

"Who are ye callin' a toothpick?! Try that again, Sassafras, and I'll—"

"What task?" I demanded, cutting of Calabrass.

"Ah." She hobbled to the book and pointed to a page. "There are the seven eyes of the seven seas." They were all painted on the page, with some ancient script surrounding them. "Or so you think."

She flipped the page.

"There are actually fourteen."

"Hogwash," Calabrass growled.

"Fourteen?" I peered at the book. These eyes looked the same as the ones mounted on Cal's hilt. But there were seven more. Seven that were darker colored than the gems I had.

"These are the Eyes of Apocalypse," Sassafras said. Her voice was grim as I'd ever heard it. She turned another page. "There is balance to everything—light and dark. There are seven eyes of good, and seven of evil. The seven evil eyes are linked by a magic bond that will allow them to destroy the Triangle. Each one has that power. The Eye of Mohoca—evil eye of Vapir—will cause the end of the Triangle by flooding all seven seas with poison and turning it into a spirit world of death and decay. The Eye of Moloch—evil eye of Blazz—will end the Triangle with magma and flame, turning it into a fiery hell. The evil eye of Beru will cause the entire Triangle to drown, the evil eye for Aeria will cause such terrible storms no life form will be able to exist…and so on. And it is nearly impossible to destroy the Evil Eyes."

I stared at the paintings of destruction. "Won't some life forms still exist? The skeletons, for instance—they could survive the Apocalypse brought by the evil Vapir eye, right?"

Sassafras flipped the page again. "Nothing would survive, because after the initial destruction, the overbalance would be too much. The Seven Seas are balanced in their own element, Zak Storm. If one sea eclipses the others, the Triangle will collapse immediately after the catastrophic event."

"So we're royally screwed," I remarked heavily. "I wish this was a bad joke."

Calabrass sighed. "I enjoyed sailin' wi' ye, Captain."

Sassafras held up a finger. "I am not yet finished, Zak Storm. If ye succeed in finding—and destroying all seven Evil Eyes—the path of the Waypoints will be clear."

I stared at her. "You mean we could go home?"

"Once the prophecy is fulfilled, one way or another," she answered vaguely. "There is a prophecy that the Evil Eyes will be sought and that someone will try to destroy them using the Eyes of the Seven Seas…but it does not say whether the quest succeeds or fails. If it fails, we all die."

"I have the Eyes of the Seven Seas," I breathed. "So there's a chance? They can only be destroyed by the light half of their power?"

"Yes," Sassafras frowned. "But you are working against time, here. These Evil Eyes work like a time bomb. Each is close to detonation. You have a slight window to destroy each of them before one power ruins the balance, causes a catastrophic event, and results in the collapse of the Triangle."

"And this…this is why Cece didn't feel well?" I asked, remembering her warning.

"The Atlantean sensed something wrong with the powers of the sea. The Evil Eye of Beru is restless. They all are. It is abnormally hot because the Evil Eye of Blazz is as well. It feels like a storm is coming because the Evil Eye of Aeria is also approaching its time. The end of the Triangle is upon us. Within the next few days, more signs will appear that things are amiss. But it is the Evil Eye of Vapir that you must destroy first."

"Why?"

"It will unleash its catastrophe first. Did you not notice the dark mists coming over the edge of the horizon? Do you and your friends not feel drained of energy?"

"The mist? It…I thought it was just fog. And the lack of energy…the heat?"

"No, Zak Storm. Something much worse. The Sea of Vapir is surging, about to break its boundaries as its evil eye detonates. In fact, it's all in this book. The order of each gem's detonation, and under what circumstances it will occur," she went on. "You may have it. For a small price."

"All right, Sassafras," I said firmly, ignoring the part about a price. "Sounds like a bad day. But don't worry. Me and my crack crew will save the Triangle." I closed the book with finality and picked it up. Caramba could probably read the old language.

"Good!" she exclaimed as she followed me back up to the street. "It's not like I could ask anyone else, you know. I couldn't ask Flint for this. Although he does have more money than you. Until he stumbles into the tavern, at least. But anyway. I can always wait on your payment in full, Zak Storm."

I nodded, again ignoring the bit about doubloons owed. "I swear I won't let the Triangle down. The 7Cs will save everyone again," I repeated, willing it to be true.

"Good luck, Zak Storm," Sassafras said, waving.

I flashed her a grin. "Who needs luck when I've got Calabrass?"

I vaulted down the steps and walkway towards my ship, leaving Sassafras behind me.

"Zak!" Clovis gasped when I finally climbed onboard. "Caramba fixed the ship ages ago!"

"Where have you been?" Cece demanded, leaning on Crogar. I was so grateful to see her standing and vocal.

"According to my memory files, you did say a secondox, Captain," Caramba agreed.

"Zak gone for long," Crogar chimed in.

I held up the book. "I know, I'm sorry. I—"

"Hey, where are my caramels?" Clovis cried.

"About that…" I hesitated. "Calabrass and I have some pretty bad news. I can't believe this either…but I go to buy candy and I get a doomsday prediction instead."

"Not a prediction, a certainty," Calabrass corrected gravely.

"Yeah…Cece, if you're feeling better, find us a vortex to Vapir. Crogar, haul up the anchor and get ready in case we meet any boneheads. Caramba, can you try to translate this book while we sail? And Clovis, please act as lookout for that vortex…or anything else."

I mounted the steps to the quarterdeck, a slightly steadier Cece following me. "What exactly is happening, Zak?"

I waited till Crogar had brought the anchor onboard, then I pushed the throttle. "I'll explain on the way. Everyone meet on the quarterdeck when the vortex is in sight."

I stared out at that horizon, an uncomfortable feeling eating me.

Ahoy there! Well met, mates. I'm mighty grateful ye stopped by, I am. Wot's wi' the Calabrass talk, ye ask? Why, 'tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and I thought I'd celebrate by postin' Chapter III o' me favorite Triangle pirate and crew's adventures. Aye, looks like a blow is a-comin' for Zak Storm and his 7Cs... As always, mates, enjoy, and keep sailin'!

The Wild Rover Marauderess, On the Account