Iguanatopia - ONC 2021 (Completed)

6: Spelltopia

With a still fluttering heart, Alba walked back towards camp. She had forgotten the firewood she had gathered on the beach. Her head couldn't focus on such mundane tasks when it was filled with soft salty lips and pearly smiles.

She took a deep breath and tried to center herself. Alba was not one for romantic dreams. Those were reserved for feeble-minded girls whose only goal in life was marriage. She had known such girls when she grew up. She had been in love with such girls.

But marriage was not Alba's dream. She dreamed of ships, treasure, and adventures. She dreamed of standing by the wheel steering her own ship into uncharted waters. She dreamed of putting her footsteps on beaches where no man's feet had stepped before.

The island in front of her was now pitch black. Only the moon and stars lit her way. As Alba tripped over a root she cursed under her breath. She should have headed back earlier when she still could see the path in front of her.

To her surprise, the root wheezed back at her, and then it rattled its tail rapidly in an annoyed manner.

"I'm sorry, Ignacio," she said and leaned down to stroke the scales of the upset lizard. "But if you run in front of me like that, you might get kicked."

The lizard looked like it pondered her argument before he skittered away through the sand and left wavy strokes in his wake.

"Wait up!" she called out. "I can't see in the dark as well as you."

Why was she talking to the damn lizard as if it would actually listen to her? Perhaps the mermaid encounter had messed with her sanity.

But maybe Ignacio did understand Alba because the lizard stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at her. He waited in place until she had caught up and walked right by her side all the way back into camp.

There she was met by Joe and Pedro who stood by the stitched up sail and looked at the progress Grace and Lucien had made. It appeared they hadn't noticed her arrival.

"We should be able to continue towards Feather Islands tomorrow," Joe said to the other man. "Towards the treasure."

"There's no time to waste," Pedro agreed. "We can get the sail properly mended later."

Alba looked at the still frayed sail on the ground. Grace and Lucien had done good work but no amount of skill sewing could undo the damage. "We can't sail far with that sail," she said and walked up behind the men. "We need to get to the closest port to acquire a new sail."

As usual, they didn't seem to hear her. They didn't even turn around. She sighed.

That's when everything changed. That's when the lizard next to her spoke.

"We can't sail far with that sail," Ignacio repeated. "We need to get to the closest port to acquire a new sail."

The voice seemed too deep and intelligent for a lizard. Although any voice would probably seem weird for a lizard. Lizards shouldn't speak. But this one did.

Pedro and Joe both turned around to look at the animal. Flabbergasted expressions were on their faces.

Now they listened. Apparently, a lizard's opinion was more important than a woman's.

"Captain?" they said in unison. "Captain Ignacio? Is that you?"

Both of them rushed up to look closely at the lizard. The animal glared at the men as they entrenched on his personal space.

"It's not the captain," Alba said. "It can't be."

Alba would have recognized his voice. A kind and understanding voice that always came with good advice.

The men once again didn't seem to hear her. It was quite infuriating.

"I'm not the captain," the lizard repeated. "I can't be."

Joe and Pedro gasped upon hearing the lizard's words. Their hearing was very selective.

"But maybe he can be... maybe the captain doesn't remember who he is," Joe theorized. "He got turned into a lizard and lost his memory."

"He's had a spell put on him," Pedro spun further on the theory. "Maybe if we follow the treasure map we can break the curse though! We can save him!"

Alba didn't believe the lizard was Captain Ignacio. But something odd was clearly going on because the lizard seemed to repeat everything she said. She decided to try the theory out.

"You two should head to your tent," she said silently. "You need to rest for the trip tomorrow."

Soon the same words Alba had just spoken flew from the lizard's mouth as well.

"Ay ay, Captain," Pedro said and put his hand up to his forehead in a salute.

"Right away, captain!" Joe concurred and saluted as well.

Alba had trouble keeping a chuckle in as the men obeyed the lizard and headed towards their tent. It seemed her theory was correct.

***

Perplexed and overwhelmed by everything that had happened, Alba stumbled into the tent she shared with Grace, with Ignacio in tow. Or rather, she stumbled over Grace and woke the other woman up.

"What's happening?" Grace asked in an annoyed and sleepy tone.

"I'm not sure..." Alba stuttered, uncertain how to explain this recent turn of events. How did explain you a lizard suddenly becoming unusually chatty? "Something weird is going on with Ignacio."

"Is the lizard sick?" Grace asked. "I might know how to mend some human ailments but I'm too sure how to heal a lizard."

"No," Alba began. "I don't think he's sick. But he's... talking."

"Talking?! What do you mean?". Grace threw a confused look toward the lizard.

"The lizard keeps repeating what I say," Alba clarified. The other woman listened attentively as Alba retold the recent events, albeit with a few jawns thrown in. "At least when someone doesn't listen to what I'm saying. Like this."

She muttered something under her breath and a few moments later the lizard piped up. "I am a lizard," Ignacio said, loud and clear. Just like Alba had just said.

Grace's mouth flew agape and she stared at the lizard like it was bewitched. Perhaps it was.

"Joe and Pedro believe he's Captain Ignacio with a spell put on him," Alba continued. "But I don't think so."

Grace threw a look towards the lizard and examined its features closely. Perhaps looking for something familiar. "I would recognize the captain," she said a moment later. "Even as a lizard. And that's not the captain."

Alba nodded. "No it's not," she said. "But something weird is certainly going on with the lizard."

"The men might be right about there being a spell... did something odd happen while you were away tonight?"

Alba blushed slightly. "I met a mermaid," she admitted, but she chose to keep certain parts of the story to herself. She didn't want Grace to think she just went around kissing mermaids willy-nilly. Even if she did.

"Mermaids are known for their spells to trick men," Grace told her. "They like to mess with them and have them do their bidding."

Of course. Alba couldn't believe she hadn't realized it earlier. Mirabel had told Alba the men would soon listen to her. This must be her doing. A spell sealed by a kiss. Transferring words from her lips to the lizard's. Every word the men refused to hear.

She felt a bit silly who had thought the kiss meant something more, but also excited about what this spell could do. Because she too liked to mess with men. Especially men who refused to listen to her. They would soon be doing her bidding.