Author's Note: The usual disclaimer: All Alvin and the Chipmunks characters are copyright to their original creators. But the story, and my original characters are all my own work.
Neptune's Palace - Part 5
"Okay, so let me get this straight. Theodore left you guys to go to Neptune's Palace to face his fear of whatever he heard there." Simon adjusted his glasses as he looked between each of the Chipettes, while Alvin stood beside him with his arms folded. While Simon's voice maintained a steady tone, his eyes were just as wide as Alvin's. They stood in Miss Miller's living room, where the karaoke machine still buzzed in the background from being on and Jeanette sat in front of the computer.
Alvin and Simon hadn't hesitated getting dressed and going downstairs, taking no time at all to rush past the front door. Simon had to stop Alvin mid-rush to ask what they would tell Dave if he woke up and found them gone. In the end, they left him a note saying that they were going to Miss Miller's to stay the night. It wasn't a lie - once they found Theodore, it would be easier to go there than go back home, and Theodore was supposed to already be there - according to Dave, anyway.
Jeanette nodded. "Yeah, we just told him it might be better just to ask someone there. It wasn't dark, so we figured he'd be all right and go straight home after. But if he's been gone this long..." Jeanette trailed off, placing a hand under her chin as she collected her thoughts.
"I knew it - Theodore's been eaten by a monster."
"Alvin, Theodore wasn't eaten by a monster. I'm pretty sure we can rule out that possibility." Simon cut his eyes over to Alvin, who frowned in response. "Anyway, I'm worried it might be something worse if the boy who went missing is any indication."
"What boy? And what's that got to do with Theodore?" Brittany asked, her hands on her hips.
Jeanette turned her chair to the computer, using Google to search articles about Neptune's Palace. She found a news article dated for that evening about the missing boy.
"Here it is. Nine year old Remy Turant. Went missing on Friday at the water park and his parents haven't seen him since. They said that it's just one of the major problems that Neptune's Palace has had in its opening weekend, though the police are pulling back from there because there's no sign of anyone who saw him last."
"That's really strange. You'd think someone would notice a boy by himself at a place like that." Eleanor remarked, but her face had the same shock as the other Chipettes.
"But it's a big park. Anybody can get lost in a place like that." Brittany added.
"Wait a sec, I don't know about the other boy, but maybe Theodore might be all right, but he might've gotten lost!" Jeanette said.
"Well, what are we waiting for? We should go out now, look for him, and bring him back home!" Eleanor said.
Alvin sighed. "I just hope we're not too late to help the little guy. Both of them actually."
Remy and Theodore approached the pirate ship, which slowly crawled along the water. Theodore and Remy floated not far from where it sailed. It wasn't the biggest pirate ship, but in the light of the moon and drifting clouds, it seemed a lot bigger - and that made Theodore swallow back a lump in his throat. Yet, Theodore realized, as they swam closer to it, that he heard something.
"Hey, is that...music?"
Remy nodded. "I think so. It looks like they're having a party or something on the deck. We should check it out, see if someone could tell us where we are."
"That's not a bad idea, but.." Theodore hesitated. "How are we gonna get up there?"
Remy looked upward at the smooth belly of the ship, wooden planks smooth with the lapping waves. He frowned, even as the sea salty breeze blew his curls back from his forehead. "There's no way I can reach up there, even if I jumped. Wait a sec, can I jump that high? I forgot I'm a mermaid...no wait, merkid...whatever."
Theodore grinned, but he saw Remy dive under the water, waited for a moment, and then saw Remy leap from the water in a shimmering arc against the silver-kissed water. He landed with a splash in the waves, sending a spray of water over toward Theodore, as Remy popped his head above water.
"Did you see that?" Remy said excitedly.
"Yeah, that was awesome! How did you do that?"
"I don't know - I just thought about it and could do it. But even when I was thinking about going the highest I could go, I still can't reach a place to grab on the ship. Even if I could, I couldn't carry you up there with me."
"Yeah, I guess so." Theodore wondered if it was a good time to dive back under the water before someone saw them, but then he looked at the suction cups underneath his octopi limbs, and then he had an idea. Theodore felt oddly confident, and if the whole mission of him coming to Neptune's Palace to face his fears and ending up in this predicament with Remy was anything, he wanted to use it as much as he could.
"I think I have an idea, Remy. Follow me." Theodore swam back to the side of the ship as it slowly pushed the waves past. Placing his hands on the smooth wood of the ship, he allowed two of his limbs to latch onto the planks and started climbing up the side of the moving ship. It surprised him for a moment, but then he continued inching himself along the side, like a spider crawling with ease in its web.
"Whoa," Remy said, raising his eyebrows, then he realized what Theodore wanted him to do. "All right, I'll come to you."
Theodore did so, shimmying his way up as the ship cruised. When he got to a ledge just below the railing for the ship's deck, he saw Remy swimming a distance back from where they both floated. Remy readied himself and started swimming towards the ship at a full speed, then leapt with all his might in the air, to where Theodore could grab Remy's hand and pull him up on the ledge.
"I guess your octo-legs must be super sticky - I didn't know if that would work."
"I'm glad it worked too." Theodore grinned. Remy smiled back, but the two heard sounds that called their attention. Loud roars of laughter and the thumps of boots against the deck. They peered their eyes between the guardrails on the side of the ship, keeping their heads low to stay out of sight.
No doubt about it, there were definitely pirates on this ship. Many of them sat in groups of three or four, clinking bottles together and chatting lively. Theodore and Remy's eyes scanned the ship, then they looked at each other as if they were wondering the same thing - what were the pirates celebrating?
"Maybe we should join them - they look like they're friendly." Theodore suggested.
"I don't know, I think they'd freak out with us being the way we are, you know? We're not much different from fish. Well, human, chipmunk, and fish."
Theodore frowned, a little disappointed. He'd never met real live pirates before, and they looked like they were having so much fun. Considering he didn't know when or if he was going home again, he could use a little fun to settle the uneasiness in his stomach. Either that, or he might just be hungry again.
"Don't worry, Theodore, I think we can still listen to them to figure out where we are and how we can get out of here."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
The two of them listened into the conversation between three pirates standing near the edge of the deck.
"Be proud of yourselves men, we've collected quite a bounty."
Another of the men nodded cheerfully. "Yes, and imprisoned the cursed God of the Sea in the process. Now we sail on calm waters without a care in the world. The seas are ours forever!"
Several cheers nearby erupted, most of them chanting "The seas are ours! The seas are ours! Hurray!"
That shocked both Remy and Theodore, judging from Remy's surprise when Theodore met his glance.
"God of the Sea? Do they mean King Neptune?" Remy asked.
Theodore nodded. "I think so, but why would they want to capture him?"
Remy put a finger to his lips and they both continued to listen.
"I think we have to thank that lad who gave us the tip off. What was his name again? Surgan?"
"No you blunderin' idiot. His name was Siran. You best remember it because he promised to bring us more fortune. Wouldn't be surprised if he's a god himself."
"I do have to say though, he's a shady character."
"The more shady, the more I like 'im. Doesn't matter much where he comes from, if he leads us to fortune, all the more reason to make deals with him. At least we keep the bounty."
"Don't you think it's strange he didn't want none of the treasure though? For all we know, what we got is cursed!"
"You worry too much. Treasure will fetch a pretty penny once we get to the shore, and knowing that we can sail the seas without worry now. From where I see it, it's win-win."
Remy drew back from the ledge, and Theodore wondered if Remy was headed back to the sea, but he just sulked beneath the place they were looking on deck. He seemed really mad.
"What's wrong, Remy?"
"They're working for Siran." Remy said, his eyes narrowing. "I should've known."
"I guess they are." Theodore reluctantly admitted. He didn't like dealing with the fact that the pirates they saw were actually bad. The thought scared him, and he didn't like being scared.
Theodore swallowed the lump in his throat. He wasn't supposed to be scared, remember? He had to be brave, so he tried to think of what the brave thing to do in this situation would be. Then it came to him. "But if they captured King Neptune and stole his trident, we've gotta get it back to him."
Remy's eyes cut over to Theodore. "We don't even know the first place King Neptune is. Even if we get his trident back, there's no way we could find him to take it back."
"Maybe we should just try to figure out where it is and go from there."
Remy exhaled slowly, running his fingers through his damp hair. The sea salty breeze gusted in spurts as the ship made its way over the dark waters. Theodore was already starting to feel like he needed to get back into the water, and Remy looked the same way, his face pale.
"Okay, sounds like a plan. Let's get back into the water and follow the ship for a while, then when the party dies down..."
"We find the trident." Theodore finished, nodding his head and slamming his fist into his palm. Remy grinned, catching onto Theodore's enthusiasm.
The two of them dived back down into the rolling waves.
"It's really dark around here. I think we should've brought flashlights." Jeanette suggested as she peered around the corner of one of the bushes in front of Neptune's Palace.
Alvin, always prepared, came with binoculars that were enabled with night vision and wore a camouflage army outfit, with an oversized pack on his back. He popped his head from the bushes and aimed his binoculars toward the gates, scanning the area in front of the fountain and the
"Okay Chipmunks, Operation Rescue Theodore is underway. Let's storm the place and demand that they hand us back our brother!"
Simon gave a hard slap to Alvin on the back of his makeshift helmet. Alvin felt only a little of it, but it was enough to count.
"OW! What did you do that for, Simon?"
"You are the only one of us that's treating this as an army mission. Not to mention you look like an idiot."
"Hey, I'm just trying to make sure Theodore gets back safe and sound. And I'm prepared for anything that comes our way. Hear me soldier?"
"You're totally overdoing it!" Simon said, groaning. "If we're going to get Theodore back, we can't just go storming the park in getups like what you're wearing and using the jargon you're using. We'll be arrested."
Alvin raised an eyebrow. "Jar-what?"
"Jargon. Oh forget it, I'm just gonna tell you to cut the act," Simon snapped, stabbing a finger in front of Alvin.
Alvin folded his arms across his chest and stared back at Simon, defiant. "Okay, Simon. So would you care to tell me why you're wearing the outfit for the operation if you think it's so stupid?"
"Because you and Brittany made us wear these costumes."
"I heard that Simon! I'll have you know that I made these myself." Brittany snapped, her head popping from beneath the leaves of a nearby bush. It happened to be the same one Jeanette was in, and she looked uncomfortable beside Brittany.
Simon chuckled nervously. "I'm not so much insulting your camouflage suits Brittany, as I am insulting Alvin for actually supplying a helmet, a backpack that's probably crammed with food and who knows what else, and military boots. Notice that none of us have anything else in common with him except for the costumes you made."
"Well, the facepaint was my idea. It does help hide us when it's dark like this." Jeanette pointed out.
Simon sighed. "Okay, that too. But still, you forget we're not just looking for Theodore. What if we run into Remy too?"
"Well, we'll just be rescuing a chipmunk and a kid too. I call that a extra special mission, which means only one thing."
"What, Alvin?" Eleanor asked.
"We'll have to bring out...the special artillery!"
When Alvin brought out the corked water gun from his backpack, Simon collapsed on the ground with a groan.
Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor leaned over Simon, whose glasses were crooked on his face as he lay on the grass.
"Is he okay?" Eleanor asked, genuinely worried.
"Simon? Earth to Simon?" Jeanette said, waving a hand in front of his face and manually opening his lids to check his eyes.
"I guess he just couldn't handle the pressure. Looks like we already lost a munk on the mission. How tragic." Alvin said, shaking his head and clicking his tongue.
It took about two seconds for Simon to sit up and grab Alvin by the collar. Alvin was genuinely surprised, and laughed nervously as Simon stared at him, their noses touching.
"Heh heh. Oh good, you're okay."
"Alvin...!"
"Boys! Cut it out! If we're going in the park, we can't waste any more time. I wanna get home and get some beauty sleep after all of this is over." Brittany said, pushing them apart.
"Brittany's right, let's go." Alvin said, breaking from Simon's grasp and marching ahead. The Chipettes and Simon followed wearily, wondering just what kind of adventure they were in for.
Remy and Theodore managed to climb back aboard the ship the same way they came after following the ship on the water for a while. Sure enough, the party had died down and all of the pirates on deck seemed to be asleep.
"Now's our chance, Theodore. We've just got to figure out where they have the trident."
"Okay! Um...just one question?"
"Yeah?" Remy said, turning to Theodore as they spoke in hushed tones.
"What does a trident look like?"
Remy nodded. "You know that thing that the statue of Neptune holds in his hand at the front of the water park? The thing that looks like a fancy fork?"
Theodore nodded.
"That's a trident. The reason they call it a trident is because it has three points. It's supposed to have a lot of power."
"That's so cool!" Theodore said, speaking a little louder than he intended. Remy hushed him.
"Shh!" Remy warned, putting his finger to his lips again. "Remember, we don't know how easy it is to wake these guys up."
"Right, sorry," Theodore said.
The two made their way around the rim of the ship, with Remy being guided by Theodore. It was easier for Theodore to move around on his sticky eight legs, compared to Remy, who could only flop behind him as best as he could with a tail.
"I guess now I know what a fish feels like flopping around on deck when my dad goes fishing." Remy said.
"Do you go fishing with your dad a lot?" Theodore asked.
"Yeah, but it was mostly before my sister was born. We...kinda didn't do as much of that stuff after."
Theodore turned back to see Remy leaning by the rail. He looked really sad, and Theodore had an idea of why.
"I don't think your parents forgot about you, Remy. We'll get home soon. I just know it. And don't you want to go home?"
Remy looked up at Theodore. "Yeah. Yeah, I really do."
"Well, then, let's go. The sooner we find King Neptune's trident, we can at least return it to him and see if he can help us."
Remy nodded, his expression a little more firm and confident. "Right."
The two made their way further up the ship, until they came to the cabin.
Remy gripped the railing on the rim of the ship. "I'll go first. I can pull myself to the cabin and look inside. I think it might be in there. You be my lookout, Theodore."
"Okay."
Remy vaulted his body over the railing, and pulled himself along the deck to the front of the cabin door, easing it open. Sure enough, the pirates that were inside the cabin were also sound asleep. The cabin didn't look like much on the inside, Remy noted as he looked around and moved through the door, easing it shut as quietly as he could. There were a bunch of crates filled with stuff he didn't know, a large table around which the pirates slept while snoring loudly - a map spread under them, and the place really smelt bad with a combination of whatever the pirates were drinking from their bottles and raw fish.
But Remy saw what he was looking for in the far corner of the room, a chest of treasure, and leaning against it was the golden trident. It shimmered in the light of the lantern that hung close by - golden, adorned with jewels of various colors along the handle, and with sharp points, which made it good to use for defense.
But how was he going to move that far without the sleeping pirates noticing. Remy thought he might have to tell Theodore to help him, but he'd come too far into the room to turn back, and if he woke any of the guards on his way out, there was no chance he'd be able to get the trident.
No, he had to try for this on his own, and hope he wouldn't get caught.
He was careful to slide along the floor and angle himself between stacks of crates, so just in case one of the pirates did wake, he had a hiding place to shield him. Based on how long the swords at their sides were, Remy knew he didn't want to chance waking them while noticing what he was trying to do.
That would definitely put them in a bad mood, enough to actually use them. And the silver of the swords gleamed in the hanging lanterns around the room.
Remy felt a drop of sweat trickle down his brow, but he shook his head. He had to keep going. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat and kept moving toward the trident.
The way he moved was much like if he'd been crawling on all fours, except he didn't have the aid of legs to push him forward. He had to rely on his arms, and he was lucky the wood was smooth enough to slide on, both using his arms and the slickness of his tail.
When he reached the trident, he let out a slow breath of relief. The sleeping pirates hadn't stirred and he was in reaching distance of the trident. It was about the size of a small broom, but he wondered how heavy it was. Would he be able to drag it out with him without anyone noticing?
He swallowed, and reached for the long, majestic object. When he had a firm grip on it, he pulled it toward him.
It made a loud screech against the wood, and Remy stopped with the sound, alarmed because it was loud. He saw one of the pirates stir and froze in place. Remy's eyes widened.
But the lazy pirate only shifted positions. He didn't really wake from the sound. Nor did the others.
Remy sighed. He'd have to be a lot more careful. He braced his body on one of the crates, gripping the trident in his hand and started lifting it toward him.
It was heavier than he imagined, and pulling it towards him made him fall over, his back hitting the floor with a dull thud, while the trident loomed against him, the cold handle of it resting against his body while the fork end went over his head.
There had to be better way getting it out of here than this. He'd have to take just as much time getting out of the cabin as he'd came in, maybe even longer.
But Remy was definitely willing to do it. After all, it was in his hands now.
After several moments of using one arm to propel him along the wooden floor of the cabin, while the other arm held the long trident. He actually had to take a break once he'd made it to the door, because it required so much effort just to carry the trident and move in his merman body. He realized just how much he missed having legs.
When he made the attempt to open the door, the creak of it was much louder than he'd anticipated, and he only had his body halfway through it before he turned to look at the sleeping pirates at the table - and realized one of them had snapped fully awake.
The pirate stared at Remy, and Remy stared back in horror. The pirate at first sputtered in his words, and then shouted with a loud "AHHH!" Remy matched the pirate's yell with one of his own, especially since the other pirates awoke and started throwing their swords at the door toward him.