Iguanatopia - ONC 2021 (Completed)

Epiloguetopia

A light breeze rustled Alba's curls when the ship exited the purple fog. She had to hold on tight to her captain's hat to prevent it from blowing away. The Estrella and its crew had left the enchanted island of the iguanas the day before and were now on course toward other shores. Distant and mystical shores. Romantic and magical shores.

They had promised to return in a year. Hopefully for a wedding.

"Lucien, can you take the wheel for a bit?" Alba asked and the boy, who now sported blue highlights among the blonde curls, swiftly stepped up and took her place.

The purple stones that were the key to the paradise they had just left rattled in the bag on her belt as she moved. Ignacio the iguana had gifted them to her so that they could return whenever they wanted.

Of course, they also needed an iguana to hold the stones against to be granted entrance. And luckily, they had one on board.

At that moment, Oliviero and Rodrigo came rattling across the deck and up on the table. The two animals seemed to be constantly in play mode and any surface of the ship was an arena for their games. The small iguana had a penchant for exploring, evidenced by him getting lost in the waves which necessitated Captain Ignacio trying to save him, and had happily volunteered to come along on their adventures.

"Can you two move out of the way, please?" she asked and tried to shoo away the animals. Because she knew now that they could understand her, even if they pretended not to. At least they couldn't talk back to her.

This time the animals actually listened and the cat and the iguana ran full speed across the deck, almost tripping Pedro over. The one-legged man had to be caught by Joe not to fall. He was rewarded with a kiss for his effort. The two men had made their relationship official during the visit to Iguanatopia.

Alba turned her attention elsewhere. To see Joe and Pedro kissing was already getting old. It was as if they couldn't stop once they had got started.

Instead, she carefully unrolled a parchment from a bottle and laid it out on the map table.

Before they left the iguana paradise, Ignacio, the lizard not the captain, had shown them a cave full of things that had washed ashore on the island and the iguanas had no use for. Among driftwood, broken furniture, and torn sailcloth they had found a few chests filled with doubloons. Enough to keep the ship running and the crew fed for quite a while. They probably could even afford other provisions than turnips on their adventure.

Because a new adventure was afoot, spurred on by something else Alba had found in the cave. A frayed and dusty parchment that was threatening to break as she traced her fingers over the pale letters and shapes.

It was a map. And despite the condition of the paper Alba could make out the words written on top.

Atlantis. That's where they were heading.

Alba would find Mirabel. Just as she had promised.