Chapter 21 - A Swashbuckling Fight and Letting Things Out
When they reached the island, the pirates had their prisoners all tied in ropes. Poor Sheila, though, was locked in a little cage that was carried by Long John Silver. As the crew and their prisoners made their way around the island, they argued about which way to go in order to find a treasure chest. "I'd say we should take ten steps east, six steps north, and then four steps to the west!" suggested Tom Morgan.
"So complicated!" argued one of the dark-skinned pirates, "Let's go south all the way!"
"No," added George Merry, "I'd say we go three steps north, twelve steps east, and then…"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" shouted Silver.
"Rawk! Enough!" repeated the parrot.
Silver got out a map of instructions and said, "We're all going twenty steps west, three steps south, and then seven steps east!"
"Men!" muttered Sci Fi, "They never ask for directions."
"Sci Fi," whispered Becca, "Did you call me a princess on the ship?"
The marten was about to answer when the pirates ordered her and the other prisoners to follow them towards the buried treasure sight.
After several steps, the pirate crew finally found a treasure chest! But when they opened it, they were shocked and surprised by the results – all the treasure was gone! "What's this?!" Long John Silver shouted angrily, "No treasure?"
"Think again, boys!" shouted a familiar male voice from above.
The pirates all became scared, and George Merry asked, "Who said that? Are ye a ghost?!"
"No, but they don't call me Horror for nothing!" said another familiar voice. Becca and Sci Fi smiled when they heard what was going on; they knew now that their friends were around somewhere!
Suddenly, a familiar woodchuck jumped down from a nearby palm tree, shouting, "SANCTUARY!" Horror kicked two pirates in the face, making some of their teeth fall out!
"Horror!" Becca cried with excitement, "You're okay!"
"Of course he's okay, honey!" came a familiar female voice. Fantasy jumped down from another palm tree, and landed on Tom Morgan's head! The pirate tried his best to capture the squirrel, but she got away and scurried to a coconut tree. Tom charged towards that tree, but Fantasy climbed up the trunk, making Tom whack himself in the head, and have coconuts fall and knock him out!
Becca watched in excitement as Mystery leaped from another palm tree, and then landed and bit a dark-skinned pirate on the head! "This will teach you a lesson or two!" remarked the fisher with a smirk. He then ran over to Becca and the other animals, and undid the ropes that held them together. "Fantasy, get the keys to that cage and free the kitten!" Mystery called to Fantasy.
"Will do!" said Fantasy with a wink. She then went over to Long John Silver and undid his belt, making his pants fall down and exposing his underwear! The squirrel found a set of keys, and then went over to Sheila's cage, where she found the right one and freed the kitten. Sheila ran into Becca's arms, and the girl cuddled her, but not before Silver snatched the kitten again!
"You and your friends leave me crew alone," threatened Silver, "Or ye'll never see your precious cat again!"
Becca reached for a nearby sword and held it in front of the pirate captain. "No!" she shouted, "You and your crew should leave me and my friends alone!" Sci Fi and Mystery growled at Silver, while Adventure, Fantasy and Horror stood by with angry looks on their faces.
"Be grateful that I'm not going through a certain time of the month," added Sci Fi with a deadly glare, "Or there will be blood shed!"
Silver motioned for his crew to come close to him, while he gently put Sheila down. "All right, ye feisty mermaid," he said to Becca, "I'll let you and your friends go just this once. But next time I see ye, I will have victory!" The pirates all walked away from Becca and the animals before they went back on their ship and departed.
Becca put the sword down and said to her friends with a smile, "I did it! I actually defeated one of the meanest pirates in literature!"
"Of course ye did!" added Adventure, "Ye just needed a little extra help!"
Sci Fi looked at Mystery, Fantasy and Horror with a glare and asked, "So where did you guys go after the storm? Becca and I thought you were DEAD!"
"Sci Fi, calm down and we'll explain everything!" Mystery said patiently.
After Sci Fi took some deep breaths, Fantasy said, "Horror and I thought we were dead, too! But Mystery proved to be an excellent swimmer, and we swam all the way over here!"
"You did?" Becca asked with astonishment.
"Yep!" said Mystery, "Fishers are excellent swimmers, even though they don't eat fish!"
"Speaking of which," said Horror with worry, "I think we should hurry along, because I don't wanna be a woodchuck forever!"
"I doubt you will," said Sci Fi, "But you are right. The longer the curse is delayed, the more we books become animals. We'll start losing our human-like skills, and we'll resort more to the animals we have become!"
Becca looked at her friends and said, "I guess so. But I'm so glad that Fantasy, Horror, and Mystery are okay! You guys are the only friends I've ever had in my life besides Nicole."
All the animals became confused and looked at Becca. "Who is Nicole, honey?" asked Fantasy.
Becca's smile dropped as she said, "I don't think you should know."
"Oh, but we should!" said Horror, "Even if you don't wanna talk about it."
Becca took a deep breath and said, "Okay. Well, Nicole was my best friend from the real world. Ever since seventh grade, we have been best friends. My dad said we were like 'peas in a pod.' She always listened to my stories I told, my adventures from my dreams, and a very special dream I had when I was seven." Sci Fi felt her stomach churn as Becca continued, "But then one day, things changed. I was on a hiking trip with Nicole and her parents, and she and I decided to go for a walk in the woods. Everything was going fine, but then a grizzly bear came and growled at us. We tried scaring it away, but it wouldn't budge. Then it began to attack, and I dropped to the ground and played dead. Nicole wasn't so lucky, though." The girl could feel sobs coming as she continued, "When the bear was gone, Nicole was so badly injured that I ran to her parents and told them what happened. We got the paramedics to take her to the emergency room, but she lost so much blood, that she…" Becca started crying at the last part. Horror walked up to her and nudged her with sympathy as he, too, began to cry.
All the other animals bowed their heads in sympathy, and Sci Fi thought to herself for a while. "Becca doesn't have to wait for her," she told herself, "Because Becca really is… Bethylasia. I know, because of what she said of dreams and travelling with an old man – the Pagemaster." She then gathered herself together, and motioned for her friends to leave Becca alone for a while. Sci Fi led the other animals to behind a bush and told them, "She's the real thing, did you know that?"
"What are you talking about?" Fantasy asked her.
"What I mean," said Sci Fi, "Is that Becca is really Bethylasia. Remember when she told us about travelling with an old man through Libralia? And remember when she told us about a special dream? I'm telling you that she is the lost princess!"
"Why do you say that?" asked Horror.
"Because I remember when we were there to help her and her grandfather when Malaria's curse was just starting!" replied Sci Fi.
Adventure thought for a moment, and remembered the tragic day when Malaria killed the Pagemistress, and then turned the rest of the royal family (except Bethylasia and the Pagemaster) to stone. "Oh, now I remember!" he said with enthusiasm.
Fantasy grinned and said, "Me too! In fact, I don't think we're far away from my section – and I hear that the Pagemaster is at some royal ball in a palace somewhere!"
"He is? Oh, that reminds me!" said Mystery, picking up a nearby piece of paper. He showed it to everyone and said, "This piece of paper says that the Pagemaster is paying fifty million pieces of gold to anyone who returns Bethylasia to him!" Everyone glared at him as he smiled weakly.
Meanwhile, Becca finished crying and was taking some deep breaths to calm herself and continue with her journey. The animals came back to her and Sheila just as the girl was getting back on her feet. "Where to next?" asked Becca.
"I think my section!" said Fantasy, "My wand feels like it's gaining a little more power. That means we're getting close to the World of Fantasy!"
"Woo-hoo!" cheered Becca, "That must mean I'm one step closer to home!"
"You sure are, sweetheart," said Sci Fi as she winked to herself, "You sure are!" So all the friends happily skipped along, making their way to the fantasy section.
