Luz had become as still as a pillar of salt; she wasn't taking her eyes off the creature in front of her, even though he was advancing dangerously. "C-Captain Salty… you… what…?"
"Luz, watch out!" Amity screamed, and she dragged her back using her magic an instant before the monster grabbed her with his lobster legs.
Luz felt like her mind had just exploded. She couldn't speak, move, or even breathe. Every thought seemed to have totally vanished from her mind. The world had become empty in her eyes: she could no longer see anything other than the monster in front of her. It was indeed Captain Salty, she would have recognized him among a thousand other people: he was the same kind and authoritarian half-human, half-crustacean guy who had put her and her friends on board his ship, saving them from a storm, which had forced them to participate in a boarding attack. and that he had shown several times that he had an excellent relationship with his crew, especially with Viney.
Luz couldn't understand. So Salty was still alive? Even after being devoured by Belos, he wasn't dead? She had always assumed that he had been dissolved along with all the others in the acidic liquid of the stomach, or whatever else was in the belly of that monster. Instead he was alive... but what had happened to him?
Why had he become... like that?
Why was he acting like a monster?
What was she supposed to do?
How was she supposed to act?
She didn't even know whether to be happy because he was still alive or desperate for what he had become. She could only stay still and watch him advance...
King's sound wave shook her from her apathy; the young Titan stepped in front of her and blocked Salty's advance. "You want a challenge, hm?" he said as his fur began to flutter and his shoulders broadened. "So be it! If you want to fight seriously, I will satisfy you!"
The young Titan swelled and regained the form he had used when fighting the Titan Trappers; his snout lengthened and became more massive and full of teeth, his body became larger and stronger, and his fur became more and more matted; with a roar he launched himself at Salty, who responded in turn by letting out a screech and charging at him. The two of them clashed, and the sound of claws and pincers hitting each other was heard throughout the cave. "King, lure it to that spot" Amity said pointing with her tail to a fairly closed corner. "I'll use a more powerful spell to hit that thing, and then..."
"NO!" Luz screamed making her jump. "Don't... don't hurt him!"
Amity froze at those words; she wasn't understanding, but looking at Luz's face it was clear to her that she was upset about something. "Okay" she told her. "We'll just trap... him. King, do as I told you before!"
The young Titan nodded and pushed Salty into a corner; although in terms of size and brute strength the crustacean clearly had the advantage, King also possessed the power of his sound waves, which allowed him not only to fight quite admirably against his opponent but also to lead the battle where he wanted. As soon as Salty was cornered, Amity whispered a spell, and a sticky mass composed of dark energy appeared around him and pinned him to the cave wall, preventing him from moving. "This should stop him for a while at least" she said.
"Good" King said as he stepped back and returned to his normal appearance; given the situation he didn't want to waste even a drop of energy, so he couldn't constantly remain in his fighting form. "What do we do now...?"
He didn't have time to finish the sentence because Luz crawled towards Salty as fast as possible, and she got much closer than what the prudence advised. "Captain? Captain, can you hear me? It's me! It's Luz! Can't... can't you understand me...?"
"Luz, it's not safe! Get away from him!" Amity yelled at her, but since the puppet was ignoring her she turned to Gus: "What's going on?"
Gus looked just as upset and shocked as Luz, but when Matt started chewing him on the head he finally explained the situation: "That... that's Captain Salty! The captain of the pirate ship that took us to Bonesborough! We thought Belos had already digested him...!"
Amity rolled her eyes. "Is that thing Captain Salty!?" she exclaimed in amazement.
"It wasn't like this before..." Gus murmured. "Belos must have done something to him… what the hell…?"
In the meantime, Luz had not stopped fussing and screaming at Salty: "Captain, please! Wake up! You... you are not like this! You are... you are a good person! Please... answer me!"
But just then Salty ripped away the sticky mass that was holding him down and broke free of it with a roar. King and Amity immediately prepare to intervene, but Luz didn't leave; on the contrary, to everyone's surprise she forced herself to get up, and finally raised herself on her legs, leaning on Salty's belly with her hands so as not to lose her balance, and she looked her straight in the eyes: "Captain... please! I know that you're in there, you have to be in there! You would never give up! You would never leave your crew alone... you wouldn't leave Jerbo alone, or Barcus... or Viney... captain, wake up!"
Salty raised a claw with the clear intent to strike her, and Amity and King prepared to attack him, but suddenly the crustacean froze in place; he stood still for a second, and then his mouth twitched slightly and a gasp came from it: "Viney...?"
"Yes, captain! You would never leave her alone! You wouldn't leave her alone, or Jerbo, or Barcus, or all the others!" Luz yelled at him. "You have to fight, captain! Come out!"
Salty's head moved slightly downward, and a faint glimmer of awareness appeared in his eyes, even though they remained haunted and empty. "Luz... is that you...?"
Luz nodded. "It's me, captain! Keep up the good work! Fight him!"
But Salty suddenly threw himself on his knees before her and stuck his lobster claws into the ground; due to the sudden movement Luz was pushed back and almost fell, but with extreme effort she managed to remain upright on two legs, even if her posture continued to remain curved. "S-Stop me… please, stop me!" Salty begged. "Kill me... kill me now before he takes control over me again!"
But Luz shook her head vigorously. "No, I won't! I thought for too long that you were dead, I don't intend to kill you!" she told him. "Fight him! Don't let Belos win!"
"I-I can't..." Salty whispered. "He... he infects your mind... he's like a parasite that eats your brain... he empties it and fills it with something else..."
"I know Belos is a parasite. I've already seen how he controls the minds of others" Luz replied, remembering when Belos forced everyone on the ship to fight each other. "But it can be countered! You're talking to me now, so it can be done!"
"I-I don't know how long I can hold out..." Salty stammered in a small voice. "Please... end this torment of mine! Take my life before he can play with me again!"
But again Luz refused. "I'm sorry, Captain, but I cannot carry out your order. If you are alive... then perhaps Viney is alive too. She may need your help!"
Salty's tail thumped the ground and his paws flailed, and he visibly trembled. "V-Viney... is she still alive...?"
"I don't know, captain. Maybe yes... if you survived, surely she did too! She has extraordinary willpower, you know that!" Luz told him. "Please... fight for her!"
Salty put his claws in front of his face and made a pained noise; it was as if his brain was being eaten by worms burrowing their way into it. And as he did this the plates that had grown on his back trembled slightly and some of them came off. Amity's eyes widened when she saw that. "Those plates... they are not part of him"
"You're right" Gus confirmed. "Captain Salty didn't have a tail or lobster legs or an armor..."
Amity was already no longer listening to him after the first three words: she concentrated and her witch senses immediately detected the presence of a large amount of dark magic. "They are artificially implanted and infect his mind... they are like a mirror that increases the power of the mind control spell!" she exclaimed. "We have to take them off! Luz, keep distracting him!"
She didn't know if Luz had heard her or not, but it didn't matter since the puppet showed no sign of wanting to stop. "Captain, don't give up! You are strong! Don't let Belos get the better of you! Don't..."
As she spoke Salty continued to moan in pain, and the plates on his back continued to tremble and shake; taking advantage of this, Amity formed streams of magic that slipped under the armor and hit the ligaments that kept her locked to the man's back. It was very difficult, as these ligaments were magical and surprisingly strong, but one by one she managed to break them all; at that point he nodded to King, who nodded and erupted a sound wave from his mouth, which finally ripped the armor off Salty's back. He let out a scream and a roar, and he fell to the ground trembling.
Luz gulped at the sight. "Captain?" she whispered, taking his face in her hands. "Captain, can you hear me?"
Salty's eyes trembled, and then he opened to reveal that they were no longer blue and phosphorescent, but their classic black color. "I hear you, shrimp… sorry, I meant sailor"
Despite the bad situation, a broad smile appeared on Luz's face and she hugged the captain, crying with joy. "Captain Salty... you are well... and alive...!"
Gus also jumped on her head and waved his arms to make himself noticed. "It's nice to see you again too, captain"
"Ugh... guys, it's good to see that you're still okay. Where's the cricket?" Salty asked, and then he noticed Luz's appearance: "And why are you like this?"
"Long story, and don't worry, I'm getting back to normal... hey, I can stand up now!" Luz exclaimed, realizing this detail only then. Her spine was also back to normal; now all that remained was the tail, the head and the donkey ears. She hoped that the next detail that would change would be her face, at least she would be able to make normal expressions. However, at the moment something else was what was pressing her. "Captain... you are alive! I thought you were..."
"... dead? Well, maybe that would have been better" Salty said, struggling to his feet. He seemed decidedly worn out and tired by the experience he had experienced. "But I'm happy to be alive too"
"How is it possible?" Gus asked him. "How did you survive in Belos' stomach?"
Salty let out a grunt. "That monster... doesn't let you die so easily. We are nothing but toys to him" he said with a trembling voice. "It's as if he could control his entire body at will, he has eyes and ears everywhere, even in his stomach, and he enjoyed watching us suffer. Trust me... you have no idea what's in there. He kept us alive with magic as he experimented on us"
Luz swallowed. She could notice the note of fear in Salty's voice; the only other times she'd heard from him were when he'd told her about spotting Belos when he was younger… and when they'd actually met Belos. "Captain... what happened to you...?"
Salty shook his head. "I don't remember well" he admitted. "It's like my mind has been broken and reassembled over and over again… my memory is completely out of whack. I don't even know exactly how long I've been here"
Luz was silent for a moment, then she dared to ask: "Do you know if... anyone else is still alive?"
Salty seemed to think hard, then replied, "I remember... we were all still alive when Belos devoured us... and I remember a tentacle grabbing Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus and dragging her away from me... and I remember hundreds of evil eyes staring at us in the darkness... but nothing else". Suddenly he gasped: "Luz... I think he wants you!"
The puppet opened her eyes wide, and so did her friends. "What do you mean? Why would Belos want me?"
"I don't know" Salty replied, rubbing his temples. "I don't remember it... but I remember his roar of rage when he couldn't catch you... and then... there was something else... while he was in my head... it was like I felt something ... a kind of cruel and relentless desire, like an obsession, but stronger". He let out a soft sigh. "Luz… I think he wants you for something"
Silence fell between them. It took a while before Amity finally broke it: "But... that doesn't make sense. I mean... Belos managed to lure us here. If he wanted Luz from the beginning, why didn't he take her and lock her somewhere as soon as we got here?"
"Yeah. We've been here five days" Gus pointed out. "He could have captured Luz at any time"
Salty shook his head. "I don't know the answer to these questions. Even if Belos had told me what he had in mind, I don't remember at the moment" he said, and then he looked Luz straight in the eyes: "But... I'm sure he has some strange interest in you. He's just having fun with us, but you... he needs you for something else"
Luz felt a shiver run down her spine. "But... why? I have nothing special. I'm just a puppet..."
"A puppet who is able to return to normal after being transformed in a donkey by Belos himself, despite not even Amity can do it" King pointed out to her. "Luz... I'm afraid the captain here is right. Maybe there's something inside you that Belos is particularly interested in"
"But if there is something inside me that interests him so much, why didn't he take it right away?" Luz protested. "Why wait five days and than turn me into a donkey? Why not grab me with one of his tentacles while I was alone, tear me to pieces, and take whatever he wanted?"
Her friends shook their heads; none of them had any answers. They were just as confused as she was. Belos' reasons and actions seemed to completely contradict each other. Finally it was Salty who spoke: "Don't try to understand that monster with logic, Luz. Trust me... his mind is in a completely different state than a normal one. He is an abominable creature in both body and soul". He stood upright, although he was clearly still feeling tired, and he resumed his proud and respectful posture. "We'll wonder about anything later. For now, the priority is to find the others and get out of here"
Those words made Luz remember an important detail: "So... do you think the others are really alive?"
Salty let out a sigh. "I'm not sure" he admitted. "But I doubt this monster would have digested them before playing with them enough. Trust me, he's not that charitable. As long as there's a chance they're still alive, I have to find them"
Luz trembled. A bit of hope was rekindling in her heart, but she was almost afraid to welcome it. "Captain... do you know if... Vee and my mother... are still...?"
Salty seemed unsure how to respond. Finally he said: "I remember they were still alive when we fell into Belos' esophagus... but I can't tell you what happened next. My mind is too clouded"
Luz shrugged her shoulders as if she were very cold. So… maybe her mother and sister were still alive? Maybe they had remained prisoners in that monster's body all that time? But if that was the case... what had happened them? What had Belos done to them? She didn't know whether to hope they were alive or pray they were dead before that monster did something unspeakable to them.
Seeing that she didn't seem to be able to think straight, Amity spoke up: "Mr. Salty, we also want to help our friends and get them away from here, and we have a plan... well, sort of. You know how to get to the throat or the stomach?"
Salty concentrated. "I think... I vaguely remember it" he replied. "Why?"
"There's an airship there" Amity answered him.
"Airship?" Salty repeated, not remembering ever hearing that word.
"It's some kind of flying ship. An invention of my father" Amity explained to him. "If we take it, we can get everyone on board and take them away"
"He'll see us" Salty warned her. "And he will tear us to pieces"
"Gus has the power to create illusions. And so my siblings" Amity replied. "They can hide us from his sight"
Salty looked at Gus surprised, and the spider shrugged: "A lot has happened since last time, I'll explain it to you later. Anyway, yes, I can hide the airship"
Salty didn't seem convinced at all. "I doubt you will be able to hide from his gaze. Belos has abilities you can't even imagine"
The kids seemed very discouraged at those words, but Luz finally seemed to recover and put a hand on the big man's shoulder: "Captain... I know it's not a perfect plan, but it's the only one we have available. We must at least try. Can we count on your help?"
Salty let out a loud snort through his nostrils. "Of course you can count on my help. I would help you even if the chances of victory were a thousand times lower" he replied, and then he looked her straight in the eyes: "But on one condition: if Belos will find us and I to buy you time will throw myself into his jaws, you will abandon me and run away as fast as you can, am I clear?"
Luz blanched. "But... captain..."
"Luz" Salty told her placing his large claw shaped hands on her shoulders. "A captain's job is to protect his crew, always, and you're part of my crew. The priority now is for you kids to escape this monster. I'd rather die fighting than slow you down as you run away. Focus on retrieving Viney and the others, not on me". He paused briefly, then he added: "Please. I don't want him to take you. I still don't remember what he did to me... but just asking this question makes my blood run cold so much that I feel like a reptile. The horrors that can unleash are worse than what you would find in hell"
Luz was silent for a moment, and she looked into the captain's determined eyes, and then she whispered: "Okay... we'll do it, I promise"
"You better remember this promise" Salty told her, and then he motioned for her to follow him. "Come after me. The path to the stomach is this way"
The kids followed him... not noticing an eye that had opened a short distance from them and had observed everything very carefully.
Salty's "enhanced" form doesn't exist in canon, it's my invention. Imagine Salty but with lobster plates with tail and legs stuck on his back. It doesn't matter anymore anyway since Amity took them off from him
