Chapter 16: Rescuers Down Under

"You did…what?"

Mr. Smee rocked uneasily on his heels. It was never easy approaching the captain – what with his hook and spontaneous temper. But with the captain currently accompanied by the most distasteful villains, serving as messenger for the crew was triple the challenge.

"Rescued a lass from the sea we did, Capn Hook." repeated Smee, praying the captain would find the answer more attractive the second time around. "And a lad. But he was beat up terribly awful. Little lass saved him from drowning by all accounts. Said they were students at that Fantasia school, she did. Got trapped during the explosion, 'parently."

"The school?"

Smee gulped as a drastically beautiful woman, sitting behind the captain, whispered in a deep melodic voice. She rose. The horned crown on her tall head sanctified her with staggering dominance. Even, thought Smee, over the captain.

"Fantasia School?" repeated the tall, horned lady sweeping forward in her black robes. "Fantasia School of the…Magically Skewed?"

Her thin lips smiled as the villains around her laughed.

"Magically skewered." grunted a beefy Italian, smoothing his greasy black beard with fingers the size of sausages. "Skewered right through the gullet."

"Delightful." said a pair of slanted eyes floating in a red, gaseous body. Smee bit his lip as the red genie shifted into a slithering, skeletal man. "And rather fortunate. I say we terminate students both."

"Send their heads to that puny little mouse." drawled a voluptuous seawitch. The villains around her seethed and hissed at mention of the 'puny little mouse.'

"I have no objections." said Captain Hook, turning his hooked hand lazily over a candle flame. He raised intensely blue eyes to Smee. "Are both conscious?"

"Not the lad, Capn." Replied Mr. Smee. The villains groaned as the boatswain continued. "But the lass is, and what of it! Oh she'd be a particular pleasure to torture, Capn! A particular pleasure. Very spritely. Ginger and all."

"Verily?" Interested, Captain Hook leaned forward, uncrossing his glossed boots. "Name?"

Smee grinned, anticipating the captain's approval. "Very forward she was with that information, Capn! Ariel, she said. Ariel…Triton."

The villains hissed and spit as if the word were poisonous.

"Triton?"

"Triton?"

"Let me kill the little urchin." said the seawitch, elbowing by a seething tiger. "Triton and I have unfinished debts to pay."

"No." Asserting his clout as captain of the ship, Hook stood. He faced the ring of villains. "The Wishing Star is on our side. The daughter of Triton! Don't you see what fortune this is! You see…"

Captain Hook's face twisted. "…Admiral Triton was rather uncooperative at our last parlay at the Benbow. Wouldn't you agree, Iago?"

"Turned 'im down flat." said the parrot, grooming his tail feathers.

"Thus," continued Captain Hook, fixing each villain individually with his electric blue eyes. "We are forced to hide in these perilous waters. With Triton's daughter on the line, we can…persuade the Admiral to allow us safe passage through Fantasia waters."

"How's that?" a sinister Mongolian asked from beneath his thick, fur hood. "How can Triton guarantee sage passage?"

The seawitch glowered. "Triton controls the sea." Angry nests of light throbbed inside her seashell necklace. "He's one of those disgusting mer descendants."

Captain Hook nodded. "His powers extend to the borders of the Northern Fantasia Sea, where we currently hide. But, should we venture from these waters…Triton would be aware. And…"

Captain Hook flicked his hand. A glass bottle smashed to the floor. "…render us all to Davy Jones locker." finished Hook as rum soaked into the wooden planks.

"So with Triton's daughter…" smiled the tall, horned woman taking her place at Hook's side. "…we have a barter."

The villains nodded, excited in their comprehension.

"Then Triton can give a protection spell!"

"Like a letter of marquee!"

"We sail to land."

"And then – we attack!"

"Release the demons from the Wishing Star!"

"Iago!" Captain Hook rapped his sword twice against the floor. Heartened by the villains' cheers, Iago granted the pirate his attention.

"Fly to the mainland." ordered Captain Hook, sweeping his hand into the sky. "Tell our friend, Admiral Triton the wonderful knews and that a second parlay is in order. But first…"

The captain smiled more crookedly than his hook. "Accompany Mr. Smee to our guests…take a lock of the girl's hair. Bring it to her…dear, ailing father. Inform him that she is safe…for now."

A snake bounced his hypnotic eyes. A plump little witch pulled her shaggy lavender hair. The tiger rumbled with laugher. A hag-queen permitted a smile on her solemn face. A guardian of the dead swirled his head of blue flames. A fat queen raised a sharp, ruby heart. A scarred lion roared. The seawitch cackled. The red genie bared his snaky fangs. And as terrible others howled triumphantly, the horn lady turned to the pirate captain.

"The boy?"

"He lives." said Hook as Iago and Mr. Smee pranced onto the deck. Regally, Hook and the horned lady followed, closing the door behind. "The girl cannot become suspicious. Especially so, if we are to vanquish those brats."

"The mouse will protect them." Whispered the horned lady. She smiled fondly as a raven swooped from the stars and settled onto her sharp shoulder. "Dethroned or not…he still has power."

Captain Hook turned his eyes to the stars. The Wishing Star looked back. It was a small, faint prickle. But its significance rendered it brighter than the sun.

"And the mouse has spies." continued the horned lady, meaningful blame in her voice. "Billy Bones alluded you, did he not?"

"Billy Bones is dead." replied the Captain tartly. "I killed the seadog myself."

"But..." grinned the horned lady, clearly enjoying Hook's bottled anger. "...the map. The map. The map to the Wishing Star...is gone. So you see..." she cocked a thin eyebrow, "...the mouse is dangerous. He has many, many allies."

"We have an ally, in the school." responded the pirate, gazing at the Wishing Star. "He is our informer. As we speak he is on the eye for the student...the one with the power we require to release the demons from the Wishing Star. He'll capture that student before his or her powers are discovered by the mouse. We shall know everything...the mouse's actions will not be unnoticed."

"But the school is destructed." The horned lady narrowed luminous eyes at the pirate. "Destroyed by your explosives. Yes?"

Captain Hook grinned. He winked at the Wishing Star. He watched it shudder.

"Ahhh, but you said it yourself, Malificent." replied Captain Hook, taking the sorceress's arm. "The mouse has power. However unlikey…however impossible…mark my word by dawn…the castle will be rebuilt."