Possibly I forgot to post last week. Or maybe I remembered. Time has lost all meaning; the only way I know it isn't LAST March is that last March it was snowing and this March can't decide if it wants to be warm or cold. But anyway.

The poem Jamie quotes is actually called Flannen Isle, and is based on a real event when three lighthouse-keepers vanished without a trace. The tragedy has inspired a poem, a video game (Dark Fall: Lights Out) and an episode of Doctor Who (Horror of Fang Rock). And this chapter, but since this is a Winx Club story nothing very bad happens to anyone. Look up the poem though, it's my favorite. I have it taped up on my kitchen cabinets.

9 157 Twig ~Lights Out~

We're on a dimension ship heading for a realm called Linphea and my sister is freaking out over the phone.

"...and she won't go to class—she's hiding in the closet. The literal closet, not the other closet. And Signor didn't leave, he's saying the video wasn't good enough so he has to record more, I don't know why Madame hasn't kicked him out but I guess at least he's not running around being weird all over Paris. Can you please find out how to fix him?"

"I'll ask Amber." I offer and glance across the aisle. Amber is sitting with Jamie, who's coming along on our field trip for some reason. Maybe Amber invited him. They're talking animatedly, with sketchbooks open on their knees. Amber draws, but she doesn't show her art to anybody else, not even the other Winx kids who seem to be her closest friends.

On the other end of the phone Vera finally notices the noise around me. "Where are you anyway?"

"Field trip, we're visiting a magical animal preserve on the planet Linphea. Flora invited all the first- and second-years."

"Well have fun." Vera says sourly. I try not to be annoyed; she's just worried and she said she's been up all night chasing Shimmergloom's shadow around the school. But it's kind of Vera's own fault; if she'd just come to Alfea she wouldn't have to deal with this stuff.

I close my phone and try to think what I can do. Which is basically nothing. I don't think I could do anything to help Shimmergloom—but I might be able to do something to help Mr. Vincenzo get his shadow back. He's one of the talents who met the Winx, so Flora might know what symbol of his dream would make his shadow come back.

The shadow magic book said if someone's shadow stays detached for too long they'll turn into a vampire, which… would that really happen on Earth? Vampires don't exist on Earth. I think. I read a lot of books about them, but I never saw a real one.

The ship returns to the normal universe from the weird swirly hyperspace, and everyone turns to the windows. Cassie scoots over to give me a chance to look.

Someone mentioned Linphea is a moon, but I didn't realize what that really meant. Out the ship's window I see a distant sun and much closer the bulk of a gas planet the color of yellow cake. It looks soft somehow, feathery with swirls of cloud. Cassie points out one of its moons which shines like a gold nugget as it reflects the color of Marigold's clouds.

"And that's where we're going." Cassie adds, pointing the other way.

Linphea is so green it looks green even from this far away. Cassie says even the oceans are green. It remains just an emerald mote for a long time as our ship approaches, then slowly it gets bigger in my view and I begin to see variations in the color: the equator a wide band of rich jungle green shading to the poles that shine greenish-silver cut through with bands of dark forests. One thing I don't see is anything that looks like a city.

When I ask about this Cassie says, "They live in trees of course! I've been to Linphea, it's a little like the elf realm we went to. Not exactly the same, but there were elves along when the realm was first colonized."

"Hey, so Flora who invited us, she's one of the Winx right? And the Guardian Fairy and a musician?"

"Yeah all the Winx are the Guardian Fairies of their realms. They're pretty busy so it's really neat that Flora invited us. I'm excited!" Cassie tugs on her pigtails happily.

As our ship sinks towards Linphea Cassie tells me about the world, it's tree cities and the flower of the depths and the giant ladybugs people ride around on. "My family was here one summer 'cause Dad was on a dig. He didn't like it, the jungle kept growing over the digsite overnight."

"Are you going to be an archaeologist like your father?" I ask while the world below us becomes a patchwork of greens and turquoise water.

"I want to be an adventuring fairy like the Winx! Maybe discover a new fairy form or be in first-contact for a new realm… something big!"

Phe leans back from the row in front of us to say, "You promised I can come along."

"Twig can too. Daybreak club fairies! There's the port, that's where we're going!"

There's no more conversation as the ship lands and we all file off. There's a lot of milling around as we all get officially arrived and make sure everyone has their backpacks and Lupita's swerret escapes and flies around the port to the delight of everyone else waiting for their ships.

We all catch a bus built onto the back of a giant millipede. I would've thought a giant millipede would be gross but it's smooth and sort of shiny like a car without any buglike parts showing except for the antennae at the front. The creature has rows of seats on its back on a big jointed saddle with stairs that swing down so we can climb on. It's really cool. I take lots of pictures and send them to Mom since Vera's having a rough time so I don't think she wants to see pictures of weird magical stuff.

The millipede moves fast over the curving streets between giant trees. Citizens of Linphea are walking around on bridges between the trees—their version of skyscrapers, so I guess we're on the subway.

The subway takes us through the shadows under the giant trees to a castle made of trees—at least four trunks twisted together and shaped with swooping balconies and towers of living wood. The castle is framed by the sky; beyond it the skyscraper trees end, giving way to lower land with normal sized plants.

It's really amazing.

The subway-pede delivers us right to the castle—which is hopping, people coming and going. we're met by a lovely woman with honey-colored skin and a crown of vines on her long hair. I recognize her from the Winx cds, the girl with the little pigtails and the pink guitar. This Flora is tall and elegant and she hugs Amber and says hello to professor Palladium and the rest of the class. Her eyes linger on me a moment, probably because I look like Mom.

We all walk through the castle and out the back door—slowly, because we're all gawking at the inside which is alive and growing and full of flowers and paintings and furniture growing out of the walls. It reminds me of the elven realm, but in a style, maybe because this place is alive and crowded with people, grownups and kids and big bugs that must be pets.

Cassie whispers that this is the royal palace of the king and queen as well as the residence of the Guardian Fairy, and points out one of the royal kids who waves to us.

The castle sits between the city and wild land, with the coast on one side, so the royals' backyard is a whole huge national park. This is what we've come to see. Close to the castle someone's put out blankets and picnic lunch for the whole class. A woman with long watermelon-pink hair is sitting with her lap full of the fluffiest frosty brown puppies I've ever seen.

Cassie tells me, "That's Roxy, Guardian Fairy of animals-"

"Best field trip ever!" Phe interrupts, then realizes he's interrupted, "Oh, sorry. But magiwolf puppies! The softest puppies in the magic dimension!"

So we all lounge around and have lunch and play with the puppies while Roxy and Flora talk about magiwolves and the park and their work to maintain the balance between places for people and animals to live. It pretty much is the best field trip ever.

After the lessons we're free to wander around the park and watch the animals or ask questions.

I wander after the rest of the students trying to talk to Flora since she's famous. We go over the hill and there's the ocean, closer than I thought. My classmates scatter to check out the tidepools. Amber and Jamie get their sketchpads out to draw the funny spiky things living on the rocks.

I pluck up my courage. "Miss Flora?"

"Oh, you're Twyla aren't you? Amber told me you've been helping our friends on Earth get their shadows back."

"Actually, my sister Vera says Mister Vincenzo just lost his shadow now. Do you have any idea what we could use to remind him of his dream and get his shadow back on before he puts hot pepper in ice cream or something?"

Flora giggles musically. "Vincenzo always thought more about how his food looked than how it tasted. He won the chef contest when he finally saw that people's enjoyment of his food was the most important thing. He did give me a recipe for rainbow ice cream. I haven't made it in years, but I'll find it and send it to you."

"Thank you! Vera's worried he'll do something weird at her school. Um- do you have any idea how to return someone's shadow if they don't have a dream that came true?" I don';t know why she would, but the Winx did all sorts of amazing things so they'd know a lot of stuff, right?
Flora thinks about it but shakes her head. "I'm not an expert but maybe true love's kiss would work—if the victim has experienced true love!"

"Like in fairy tales? That's a real thing?"

"Of course! True love can break all kinds of curses."

"Thank you!" I say, but I'm not sure that's any use. Vera hasn't mentioned either of them having boyfriends.

Flora's phone rings and she gives me an apologetic look as she answers it. I scoot back to give her privacy but of course I can still hear, "Hello?...yes… oh dear. I'll try to find time to go see what's happened. But Queen Krystal is using the royal yacht so I haven't got a boat."

I'm trying not to listen but when Flora closes her phone Amber looks up and says, "Can we help? Jamie has a boat."

"He does?" Flora asks.

Jamie grins, white teeth flashing, and points to a folded paper boat floating in a tidepool. He picks it up and tugs it between his hands. The boat unfolds like origami, stretching from four inches to a foot long.

Cassie squeaks, "Whoa, is that real? Where did you get it?"

"Maybe I made it." Jamie teases her.

"You're not a wizard!' Cassie flicks water at the boy.

"He won't tell me where he got it. But Aunt Flora, we could help you with whatever."

"Maybe you could. It's the lighthouse on the rock, the light's been dark for two nights. I just heard about it. If you'd like to go see what you can find out, Desyiree can show you the way."

Amber whoops and jumps up, her clothes changing into a little sailor dress.

"That's not really what you wear on boats..." Jamie says, but his eyes sparkle. He offers one end of the paper boat to Amber, who takes it between thumb and finger. They back up slowly and the boat continues to unfold, strings appear and grow into ropes as the whole thing turns from brown paper into a wooden sailboat. I'm laughing because it's so neat. It's a real boat! A wave comes up under it and Jamie hops in.

Amber pulls herself into the boat and calls, "Twig, come on! Jamie, how many people can come?"

"One more. Who do you want?"

Amber considers, "Phoebe. Would you like to come too?"

"Sure! I've been sailing before in Arcadia." Phe wades out to the boat and climbs in.

I don't know a thing about sailing, the only boats I've been on are whale watch tours in Gardenia. At least I don't usually get seasick! "I don't know what ropes to pull, but I could probably summon a breeze." I offer.

Jamie says, "Thanks but we've got enough. Here we go!" He pulls a rope, the sail swings around and the boat lurches off the rocks and into the open water. It bounces over a few waves and I hang on to the edge. Amber's hanging off the bow, her flame colored hair blowing in the wind. On the shore Flora waves and calls, "Try to be back for dinner!"

The magic dimension is so weird! Grownups just sending teenagers off to who knows what and not even worrying! It's great!

Past the waves the boat settles and Phe and Jamie do something else with the sail so we don't get blown back to land. I stand up and look ahead but don't see anything that looks like a lighthouse. "How do we find where we're going?"

There's a splash beside the boat and when I look down there's a little person waving at me from the water. Not a human person, a doll-sized mermaid with pink and green skin. She pipes, "Hello! I'll guide you to the lighthouse. Amber, can you bring me up?"

Amber reaches both arms into the water and when she straightens up she's holding a bubble of water with the tiny mermaid sitting inside it.

"Hi Desyiree. This is my friend Jamie, my squire Twyla and our friend Phe. What happened at the lighthouse?"

"Who knows? The light is manned by three phoenixes who warn ships off the rocks, but the light has been dark."

"Phoenixes?" I ask. Like in Harry Potter?

Phe says, "They're birds that can light up. They're as smart as people so they wouldn't have just flown away from their job without telling anybody. Probably."

"Desyiree, when were the phoenixes last seen?" Amber asks.

"Last week. Another boat dropped off some supplies to repair the buildings on the rock. Everything was fine then."

In a dramatic voice Jamie intones, "Though three men dwell upon the isle to keep the lamp alight, as we steered under the lee we caught no glimmer through the night. A passing ship at dawn had brought the news and quickly we set sail, to ind out what strange thing might ail the keepers of the deep-sea light..." As he recites, Desyiree points and Jamie sets the sails to turn us in the right direction.

With a shy smile Amber says, "Poetry?"

"I like seafaring poems. I want to be a pirate when I grow up." For a moment I see a secretive curl to Jamie's smile as if he's laughing at something—but then he's just smiling as he adds, "I don't think you want to hear the rest. It's a really long poem."

But Phe and Amber both say they do, so Jamie recites it. It is indeed a long poem, about a lighthouse empty because the keepers have vanished without a trace. I hope it isn't a sign of what we're going to find.

The whole poetry thing is new. Of course I don't know Jamie well—he was a fisherman and he rescued Amber from a giant hydra and they became friends. And Amber has a fiance so some people think she shouldn't have guy friends, so that's a thing. Because I'm sympathetic with Amber on this, I've been purposefully not paying much attention so she can have some privacy to pick her own friends.

But maybe I should've paid attention. Jamie is pretty cute—well he's twelve like Amber so he's not cute to me but I can see Amber might think so. He's pale for someone who spends time outdoors, with thick black hair and indigo eyes that shine with pleasure at being out on the water. The boat is on course now and Phe is managing the sail and watching for directions from little Desyiree so Jamie is free to show Amber some sailor knots. She ties her own hands together—on purpose, I think, and they laugh.

Phe flops down next to me on the seats in one side of the boat. "Any Earth questions?"

I think about it. "There are lots of cute little mini people in the magic dimension, are they all related?"

Phe laughs and explains about selkies and elemental creatures, and how pixies are not quite the same and how most fairies only get one cute critter friend but great fairies like the Winx have lots and lots. It seems like one would be enough for most people. Nerys is little but she takes up a lot of space.

Up front Jamie is talking about pirates and their pirate magic.

Pirate magic?

"...a true pirate can change form just like you fairies! But only if they keep the pirates' code."

"What's the pirates' code?" Amber asks, "Wait, can you transform?" Her eyes are bright with delight, she wants to see a pirate transformation. So do I; what would that even look like?

But Jamie says, "I'm too young. We can't all be prodigies. But the pirates' code..."

I mutter, "Them as falls behind gets left behind?" I saw those movies.

But the code Jamie explains is more civilized, even if he does put on a pirate accent to tell us about it. "All booty be shared by all the crew, with the captain gettin' the biggest share. Yer ship be yer home, treat her as such. Ye best not harm civilians, but sometimes it can't be helped. A pirate never betrays crew or blood family, or all their magic be lost. So long as the captain leads his crew to riches there be no call for mutiny. But a faithless captain be sent to Davy Jones. A faithless crew deserves to be marooned."

I push this flood of words around in my head and decide it's just a very piratey way of saying to play fair. But are pirates even a thing here? The magic dimension is modern; if pirates attacked anybody they'd just get the police called on them.

Phe explains for me, "Modern pirates mostly do—theater, sort of, pretending to attack cruise ships so the passengers can have some excitement."

"I've seen it. Really cool." Amber grins. Of course she's been on a cruise ship.

Jamie's still in character as he adds, "A pirate's greatest dream be to find buried treasure, gold and jewels lost to the ages..." he drops the accent and finishes, "But there aren't a lot of those around."

"And archaeologists haaaaate that." Phe says, "I've heard Cassie's dad rant about pirates trying to sell artifacts they dug up without following dig procedures."

Jamie gives Phe a look and goes back to his pirate voice, "Dig procedures be havin' no place in the hunt for booty!"

"Have you ever found any booty?" Phe asks.

"Just fish. I'm too young to be a real pirate."

"You do the voice really well." I offer. Jamie does—he's got the right accent, unlike Vera's friend Shimmergloom who just uses pirate words in her normal English accent.

The lighthouse is visible now, a white spike sticking up from the water. I stand up to see it better, balancing against the movement of the boat. Jamie opens a little cabinet and gets out a telescope for me to use.

It's a lighthouse. Tall, thin, lamp at the top just like every arty calendar ever. I was expecting it to be on an island, but the piece of land isn't really big enough for that name. It's a rock sticking out of the ocean, with a lighthouse on it. "Wow, people live out there? Or, phoenixes do? There's nothing there!"

The telescope is passed around and everyone agrees. Phe says they'd go stircrazy in a week. Jamie, who knows all things nautical it seems, explains that lighthouse keepers work in shifts so they only have to live on a rock for a few weeks at a time.

Little Desyiree pops up and says, "The light is usually automated. But it's broken, so the phoenixes were hired to take over for a while. Now, we're getting close to the rocks! Follow me carefully, please!"

The boys busy themselves with the ropes and sail and Amber and I look out over the sides of the boat keeping watch. The island is one of a line of rocks that come close to the surface, that's why there needs to be a lighthouse to make sure ships don't crash on them. But that makes it dangerous for us to sail through them too. Some of the peaks are visible from the boat, looming creepily under the water, and I have to wonder what will happen if our paper-and-magic boat hits one.

We have one nasty moment when a wave shoves us toward one of those visible rocks and Amber has to use magic to push us back, but besides that we sail slowly but safely to the lighthouse.

There is no beach, just a ledge on the rock with carved steps going upward. We climb out of the boat and Jamie folds it down and puts it in his pocket.

We look up.

There are a lot of steps, then a lot of lighthouse which is probably full of more steps.

Generously Jamie offers, "Fly up if you want to, I can climb."

I want to fly, but that wouldn't be fair.

"I think we'd better stick together." Phe says. So we climb.

Now that we're here I have time to realize something bad might've happened, and we might be about to see it. What if the phoenixes are hurt or sick, or a monster is here or something? I've got my bow, at least. And we have our phones to call for help. The others don't seem worried. Pretty soon I stop worrying too, since I can't think about anything except how my calves are starting to ache from all these stairs. I'm supposed to be in good shape!

We reach the top and pause to get our breath back.

The lighthouse door is open. We look at each other. There's no other sound of life here, just the wind pouring over the rock and four panting teenagers.

Amber is the one to push the door open and call, "Hello? Phoenixes?"

Silence.

I say, "Hey, I'm your squire, I'd better go first." and unfold my bow just in case. But I don't think I'll need it. The building sounds empty. Feels empty.

The ground floor room is a living room and kitchen, originally made for humans but redecorated. There are perches instead of chairs, bags of what looks like fancy granola cereal, and someone's added a wading pool next to the sink, for a birdbath I guess. "How big are phoenixes?"

Phe holds his hand at waist level, "That's standing on the ground. If it's flying it'd be as tall as we are with its tail hanging to the ground."

The table is set with bowls of granola and water, as if the birds were ready to eat dinner and just left. The place is clean otherwise, with just a few shed feathers on the floor. I pick one up. It glows pale yellow.

Amber's already halfway up the stairs at one side of the room. "Nobody's up here either."

We follow her up. It's the bedroom. Three nests with pillows and blankets and a few more feathers glowing on the floor. No phoenixes.

"Could they have just… flown away? Or caught another ship?" I ask.

"But they wouldn't just leave their job." Amber says and Phe nods. Lighthouses are important.

There's nowhere else to go but up to check on the light itself. A long, scary spiral staircase later we reach the lamp. The light itself is a strange boxy structure made of rippling glass with a perch inside. I guess all the phoenix has to do is sit in there and glow, and the glass concentrates the light into a beam. There's nobody up here either.

I step outside onto the little balcony that runs around the light. Wind smacks into me. I look out at nothing but a line of rocks and water as far as I can see.

Phe joins me, the wind ruffling his short hair. "Whoo! Cold! Her Highness is going to make a magic light so the lamp will be on tonight."

"What else can we do? We just looked everywhere."

Phe looks around at all the nothing and shrugs.

Back inside we have a brainstorming session. Amber looks really worried. "We must find the phoenixes and make sure they're all right!"

I can think of a couple theories, but they aren't very nice. Maybe they got swept away by a giant wave or carried off by a sea monster—though if a giant hydra had been here it would've taken out the whole lighthouse.

Jamie suggests, "Perhaps this place is haunted. All the ships lost on the rocks for so many years..."

Phe says, "If they got carried away by a ghost ship we won't be able to find them. And we can't stay here until night to ghost hunt. Maybe we should have a fly around and check out the rocks. Maybe there's a clue somewhere."

Amber nods. "Sorry Jamie, you'll have to go down all the stairs."

"It's fine." Jamie waves us off and heads for the stairs. "Meet you down there."

Amber puts her hands on the railing and I'm afraid she's going to launch herself off like she did on Zenith—and we're a lot closer to the ground here! But she opens her wings first and them vaults over the side. Phe climbs over the railing and pushes off like he's in a swimming pool, his wings catching him before he can fall.

I unfold my wings and transform my clothes, then awkwardly copy Phe's takeoff method, getting my wings going then pushing away from the lighthouse. The cold of the wind feels totally different now that I'm transformed. It isn't chilly on my arms and legs, which feel wrapped in warmer air, but my wings tingle with pleasant chill. And the wind catches me and sweeps me up into the sky so I have to work to turn and fly back. Fighting the wind I can see the line of rocks the lighthouse is in the middle of. It must be an underwater ridge, with bits that poke up almost to the surface waiting to bash holes in any passing boats. A few rocks actually make it to the air, with waves washing over them every minute. I see Phe flying one way along the sunken ridge and Amber going the other. They aren't going to have much to look at. There really is nothing out here.

I drop down and land on the ledge where we first arrived on the island. After a minute Desyiree surfaces, a worried look on her small face. "Have you found the lighthouse keepers?" She chirps.

"No, there's no sign of them."

"Oh dear!"

"Is there anything under the water like, I don't know, sunken ships with ghosts?"

"There are many sunken ships from before the lighthouse was built but they're all in pieces. There's not much left of them. I don't think there are any ghosts but there might be."

I have a sudden worry, "Are you all right? You're all alone in the water..."

Desyiree giggles, "I'm not alone! There are lots of friendly fish. And there is a cave under this island, I think."

"A cave?"

"There's a hole, but there's air so I can't go in too far."

Oh, this does not sound good. We're going to have to swim into a cave in this freezing cold water aren't we? "Can we get to it? We don't have scuba—I mean, breathing gear."

Desyiree nods, her pale green hair-fin swirling in the water. "I think you could go in. You aren't very large."

She shows me where the hole is, off along the ledge. It's right at the waterline and makes funny gurgling sounds as the waves rise and fall. I lie down and reach to feel around the edge, noticing first that it seems like a hole big enough to get into, and second that my magic doesn't protect me from cold water nearly as well as it protects me from cold air.

Phe lands next to me. His transformed clothes, a glittery vest and shorts, are very masculine in style but sort of show the Phe kind of has girl hips which is a weird reminder that he isn't totally a boy even though my mind has filed him as 'he.' "What'd you find?"

I show Phe the hole, he takes off to look at it from over the water then lands again, and Desyiree assures us it's just a short way before it's full of air and there's space in there.

"Can phoenixes swim?" I ask.

"Um..." Phe checks his phone. "The magical animals guide says they can. They don't like to, but bored birds might've decided to explore. Or there might be a monster living in there that scared them away."

Hadn't thought of that. I scoot away from the hole in case tentacles come reaching out of it.

Watching me Phe says, "I'll go first."

Amber swoops down, her fiery hair blowing behind her like a comet's tail, and a moment later Jamie makes it down the stairs to join us. He aims a jealous look at Phe's wings and Phe lands and folds them down against his back.

Phe says, "Hi, Your Highness. We're getting ready to swim into this cold wet hole in the island. If I make it ok I'll yell and Twig can follow me and then you two, all right?"

I nod, to pressure Amber not to argue, and she only frowns at us.

Phe climbs over and lets himself down into the water. "It's cold! Very cold! Just as cold as it looks!" He grabs the sides of the hole, takes a deep breath, and ducks out of sight.

After a minute we hear a faint, "Hello!" that comes from under our feet.

"We can hear you!" Amber calls back.

"Come on! There's air, it's a big cave!"

It's my turn. The water is achingly cold even in my fairy form, and it makes me hurry to pull myself into the cave. There's hardly any tunnel, just a foot of narrow passage then my head breaks the surface in a space of drippy darkness. Phe helps me out of the water onto piled rocks slick with some kind of slimy vegetation. The light from our wings reveals a low-ceilinged cavern that slopes up and around, suggesting more space on the other side of a piled wall of stones. The air is so wet our breath clouds, and it stinks of salt and rot. "Uuuugh."

"Maybe we can see everything before Princess Amber has to-" He's interrupted by Amber appearing in the pool.

Amber takes a breath and coughs. Jamie surfaces just behind her and says, "It smells like a sea serpent died in here!" His voice echoes around the cave.

We scoot and crawl over to where the ceiling is high enough that we can stand up most of the way. Amber reaches down and picks up a waterlogged feather, still glowing, from the floor. And just at that moment we all jump as a raspy groan echoes through the cave.

Amber calls out, "Is anyone there?"

Another groan.

We have to go see. I get myself in front of Amber and pick my way around the pile of rocks. And stop in surprise.

It's a pirate ship. A huge pirate ship, or part of one, half buried in the wall. The bottom is broken open, spilling out the cargo: rotting wood that must once have been barrels and chests, and treasure. Filthy treasure now, but jewels and gold glint through the muck.

The three phoenixes are lying around the cavern looking flat and miserable. One looks up at us and gives a mournful squawk. It's lying flat on its front, neck stretched out, with two big bulges where neck meets shoulders. And it's licking a gold cup that's next to its head.

Amber laughs. I look at her in surprise and she's stepping past me, crouching down to lift the closest phoenix into a sitting position. "Sillies! Of course you're going to get sick! It's all right, they just ate too much."

Ate? The bird beside Amber gives a huge cough and throws up a pile of sparkling jewelry. A heaping handful of pearl necklaces and gold chains hits the floor of the cave. The phoenix makes a few little coughs and wiggles its neck a bit, and then its feathers perk up and it starts looking more comfortable. Its glow brightens too, illuminating the cave.

I sit down by another phoenix and it squirms into my lap, using me for support so it can get into a position where it can lighten the load too. I stroke the glowing feathers and murmur encouraging things like, "I'm sure you'll feel better soon." and, "Why were you eating treasure?"

Phe answers me, "They naturally do, jewels taste like candy to them. But if they eat so much their gizzard gets overloaded, this happens."

He's answered by several grumpy squawks, I think the phoenixes are defending their decision to stuff themselves. My phoenix coughs up a gold crown that looks too big to fit up its skinny throat, then a whole pile of loose gemstones, and finally a ruby ring, then lets out a big sigh of relief and rests its head on my shoulder. This bird is heavy. It's like having a full grown Labrador dog on me, an experience I had once when the Frutti Music Bar did pet adoption. I'd kind of like to look around the wrecked ship, but I can't move. Since I have a hand free I pick up the ruby ring. It's slightly damp, remarkably non-gross for just having been puked by a bird.

"Phoenixes are the best at cleaning and shining jewelry, my mom gets her jewels cleaned by them every year." Amber says like that's not weird at all. She's also having a conversation with her phoenix, cheeping back and forth with the bird. It only has its head in her lap, not its whole body. "They found the cave because they were bored, then there was all that tasty food… you three, you missed your job and made people worry! Flora will give you a talking-to, but only a short one because no ships were wrecked."

Jamie's the only one of us not babysitting a bird so he's picking through the wreckage that was once a ship. He's holding a stick in his left hand, poking bits of wood out of the way to see what's underneath. There's more treasure, and a lot of… I don't even know, stuff so degraded it's not identifiable. Only the gems and metal have survived.

"Whoa!" Jamie yells suddenly, and something rolls away from his feet. "Found the captain!"

It's a skull. Amber squeaks in surprise. I don't feel much shock; it looks like a Halloween prop, a gooey brown skull. I'm not going to touch it but I'm not freaking out.

Phe calls, "Is there anything with the ship's name on it?"

"Ugh… I don't think so. It's gone all to pieces." Jamie nudges a mostly solid board out of the way and crouches to pick something up. "Score! This is waterproof."

"What is it?"

Jamie brings it over and sits between us so everyone can see what he found. It's a book, wrapped in a layer of clear slippery magic. Jamie half turns away as he cuts through the spell with a little knife. "It's the ship's log. Give me a minute to get the preservation spell off."

The phoenixes are looking much better. The one sitting on me squirms, shakes itself and stretches its neck out. I think it's considering getting off me but remembers the floor is slimy and decides my lap is a better place to sit. I don't mind too much. It's heavy but it is super warm and now that they're all feeling better they're glowing brighter so we can see a little.

The phoenix sitting by Amber makes a move towards some treasure and Amber grabs it. "No you don't! We need to swim out of here soon! You can eat more treasure later."

What's going to happen to all the treasure? Gold and jewels aren't worth so much in the magic dimension but it's still treasure! Phe is absently sorting coins and chains into piles.

Jamie holds up a glowing feather and squints at the book, which he's gotten free. "Pirate handwriting… ok. This was the ship Waterlily carrying tribute to some ancient king. But the crew didn't like this king and wanted to run off with the loot. So the captain ran the ship aground. Marooned the lot of them. Captain didn't make it, maybe that's him there."

I scoot a bit back from the skull and so does everyone else. "Did he write it while he was dying?"

"Aye. Gruesomely." Jamie smiles, and the cave's shadows on his face make him look old and—frightening. But he's just a boy, boys like awful stuff, on Earth he'd be playing bloody video games like every other boy.

Amber looks at her friend sharply. "The captain risked everyone's lives because they didn't want to give money to a tyrant? What a terrible thing."

"The crew deserved it for mutiny." Jamie says. Then he looks up and realizes we're all looking at him. He shrugs. "That's what the pirate's code says, anyway."

Amber is quick to change the subject. "I think our friends are well enough to swim out now." she gives her phoenix a poke with one finger and it stands up, stretches and shakes, its feathers ruffling out.

The phoenix sitting on me makes a whiny sound and squashes itself down further. I say, "I'm glad you're comfy, but I'm sitting on cold rocks. Let's go outside and you can sit in your own nest."

It takes some doing to convince the large, heavy birds it's time to leave. Phe gets the idea to use magic to poof the treasure up to the island and the phoenixes get moving because they want to go eat it again. They dive through the hole one after another like penguins and once the third one is gone the cave is darker and colder, lit only by the bluish light of our wings. I wave Amber and Jamie to go through first, then Phe lets me go next. I don't argue since I'm a little scared to be by myself in the dark with a skull.

When I haul myself up onto the rock, dripping and freezing cold again. The three phoenixes have waited for us and Jamie and Amber are huddled with them for warmth. I turn to help Phe out of the water. He thanks me and turns back to talk to Desyiree.

"Can you tell Flora we're all right?" He kneels by the water and offers her a fine gold chain.

Desyiree takes it and hangs it around her neck. "You found treasure?"

"We found a whole wrecked ship, even its logbook—Jamie, did you bring it?"

"Here." Jamie tosses it over and I catch it, fumbling because the slippery preservation spell is back on it.

Desyiree looks up at the sky, "You should come back to shore. it's going to get dark soon."

She's right. We still have to make sure the phoenixes get settled in their home all right and collect all the treasure so they don't eat it again. Maybe Flora can use it to get the light repaired sooner or give it to the descendants of the ship's crew or something, but right now it's in a heap on the shore, dripping slime since Phe transported a bunch of muck along with the gold.

Jamie and Amber unfold the boat again and Jamie produces a canvas bag from one of its cabinets. Phe and I shovel the treasure in while the phoenixes watch mournfully. Amber lectures them on eating healthy and promises they can eat more treasure later once their gizzards recover.

As we sail away Amber says, "Look!" and points back. I turn and see the lamp atop the lighthouse flicker on, casting a broad yellow beam over the water.