So Julia and Lanse and Gray and I all scrounged around every place in the city, looking for the res of our crew and the next night, we found the last one. We immediately all ran back to our ships trying to leave as fast as possible.

"RUN! EVERYONE RUN! Gray you go on ahead, I'll meet you once we have all gotten on our ships and are away from the dock, go now! Lanse! Don't fall too far behind we need to stick together, RUN EVERYONE! FLY!" I ordered us all so we wouldn't get separated or taken by our new nemesis.

"WAIT! WHERE'S JULIA?" I asked, I was terrified that I may have lost her in the haste to leave so fast, but then turned around, and saw her running, she was actually in front of me.

"I'm right here Anthony, don't worry!" She laughed to herself and ran up the gangway to our ship swiftly and gracefully like a gazelle leaping away from its predator.

Gray saw his ship, and ran immediately onboard, skipping steps going up the gangway. I could see all the lines being heaved tightly by his crew so tightly, that they tore the capstan off the dock, and they did that so they didn't have to waste time untying. Lanse gathered all the crew, and shouted at them to make,

"FULL CANVAS GENTS! WE GOT NO TIME, HEAVE! HO!" Julia ran up the steps to stand next to me at the wheel, feeling secure there, certain that the enemy wouldn't harm her. I made a promise e to keep them safe and safe is where I'll keep her and Lanse. The thick heavy black sails dropped, sounding like an enormous tarp flowing in the wind, and the crew scrambled doing all our orders as quickly as possible, and in record time, we headed out to sea. I could see the Caroline and spouted over to him,

"Ahoy Capn' Gray! Follow us; we have the chart to the city!" I could see Capn' Gray nod, and duff his huge gray three-cornered hat with yellow feathers. We were already making 9 knots and it had been only an hour since we started running. We were not nearly out of sight of land yet, but at least we were safe on our ships with a heading and a crew. Julia and Lanse came up to me, and I told one of the nearby crewmembers to take the wheel. We went into the huge oak doors to the Captain's Quarters, the room where we also had dinner.

"Cap'n Anthony, we best be getting that map out so as to sail in the right direction." Lanse suggested.

"We have a heading, the compass points to whatever ye be wanting, and now that's Atlantis, so we follow the compass." I explained.

"Ah, but do you know how to get to Atlantis its self? Or what to do once you reach the spot where the compass starts spinning, telling you it should be where you are. You do know Atlantis is miles beneath the sea right?" Julia asked.

"Well let's take a look then, because I have no idea at all." Lanse nodded in agreement with me, and Julia went over to a drawer and dug out the map. It still read the same message leading to the Fountain of youth, so I started swiveling it again, until something readable was found. For a while nothing. Remember there are three rings on the map to turn and each turn reveals a hidden and riddled message. Then suddenly, Lanse told me to stop.

"Right there that's it that's the message!" We all looked at it and were confused, so Julia read it aloud.

"Swivel around, plunder the deep, then found is the crystal city" she trailed off, trying to think what that could mean.

"Swivel around and plunder the deep? That doesn't sound good," Lanse said. We all agreed, plunder after all means to sink. A few days past, and we were finally out of sight of land. That only meant our chances of getting closer to the Sea Witch had just doubled. Despite the fear in the air, we all loved being out at sea, the fresh air, the warm pure sun, and the salty spray from our bow below. I could see the Caroline having fun being out at sea too, riding the waves leaping every other wave, upwards. The weather was at first very nice, and then by the afternoon, the wind picked up. It was good for our speed, but we were worried a storm might be brewing.

"Cap'n! It be a good thing Cap'n Gray be in his own boat alongside us instead of part of our crew," Lanse told me, while looking out into the vast Atlantic horizon which we had only just entered.

"And why be that Lanse?" I asked him, holding the wheel, feeling good about me self, the Pearl was mine and we were finally starting our quest.

"Because if we meet the Sea Witch, we're gonna need all of the extra fire power we can get. You know that ship has three rows of cannons on each side, and bow as well as stern cannons. And, she has powers that can make her sail underwater, and summon the Sharks and other predators of the deep to do his bidding!" He was a little afraid, but more warning me than anything. Julia was afraid, well we all were, but for the same reason. We didn't want to have anything happen to the other one. The wind had begun to get mighty fierce, and the waves were getting stronger.

Another day past, and Capn' Gray was on the other side of us now. Seeing as we only had a straight crossing to go on now, he thought he'd have fun and circle around us every other day. Julia came up to me and said she figured out the riddle on the map. Lanse and I followed her back into the Captain's Quarters, and we all sat at the table.

"I think it means there is going to be a maelstrom. Or worse, a sort of ocean black hole or whirlpool that sucks us all down beneath the waves," She said.

"Aye, an then what happens- when we're mile beneath the water?" I asked.

"Well, I heard that only certain people can actually go inside the city, everyone can see it if you get there, but the way you find out if you can get inside, is if when the city's guards attack, you don't turn into glass, and die." We were all silent for a second processing that. Then it hit us.

"We can't possibly be in good mind to be doin this then. Absolutely not! I will not take us to a place of certain death!"

"We can't just turn around either; we don't have enough food for that! Shipwreck Cove is too far away!" Lanse argued.

"Captain Redhook said there was a prophecy in the city! That they were waiting for a girl to come and save them from their underwater prison. I asked him who she was but he didn't know. On two separate occasions, he tried to stop all of us but I think specifically me from getting to Atlantis, don't you see? I'M PROBABLY THE CHOSEN ONE!" Julia had it all figured out, Lanse and I were dumbfounded.

"But if you're the chosen one, where is your crystal? Captain Redhook also said that there is only one way to open the Cities doors, the crystal. If it's destroyed, then you can never return." I pointed out.

"Perhaps, the crystal be waiting to expose its self once we've reached the City," we all stopped talking and stared at the blue light coming from Julia's piece of 8, her opal ring on her thumb.

"Julia, your ring, look it's glowing!" Lanse pointed.

"There you see? We must be heading in the right direction if it's already glowing!" Julia finally defended. We all agreed on what had just happened, and told Gray with signal flags, and he signaled to us that he be understanding, and would follow our lead to the death. A few weeks later, and the storm had really begun to cook something ugly. Our ships were pitching up and down heavily, rolling side to side with heavy force, and sometime yawing, doing all of them simultaneously! The clouds had rolled in and the rain came, along with lightning and more wind.