Anchors Away

꧁8:The Crystal꧂

Aqua went to the crow's nest and remained there until they reached their destination. The ship docked on the shore before everyone got off the ship, Aqua made Emily and Amirah join them, they could use a little adventure.

The cavern used to only be a hill but after the disaster took place, the entrance to the cave was made; because the cave was deep in the forest, only a few people have ever been there.

It wasn't spring season yet so it was a bit chilly, especially because they were in a dense forest. In the corner of Aqua's eye, she saw a blanket flower, a flower which only blooms in the summer. Aqua approached the flower and picked it up, she looked around before spotting Adam and Iclyn in the distance sitting on a tree branch.

"The cave is right over there!" Aqua shouted to the pirates, pointing to the cave's direction as she shoved the flower in her satchel and ran over to her fellow guardians.

"Did you manage to hide it?" They nodded "go left before you reach the real crystal room, then keep going straight ahead until you reach the end of the tunnel, that's where we hid it" Adam spoke. "Left then straight ahead, okay, got it. Thanks again guys, I'll be sure to give you two free cakes for this" Adam and Iclyn's faces lit up when she said that.

Iclyn hugged Aqua tightly, saying a thousand thank yous before releasing her and letting her run along with the other pirates. The crew entered the cave with stalagmites and stalactites scattered all around the inside.

"The crystal is that way" Aqua pointed in the dark cave and started to walk deeper in the tunnel; the pirates followed close behind her, watching their step to avoid tripping on anything.

The crew continued to silently walk through tunnels, only hearing the sound of dripping water and the chirps of bats, everything around them is consumed by darkness except the areas that the lit lanterns illuminated.

The crystal's chamber is nearing; Aqua turned left, leading the others to the chamber of the decoy. There, the crystal sat, balanced on a random rock that formed in the middle of the area, the pirates cheered at the sight of the crystal but were immediately hushed by Aqua who pointed above them.

"This place has huge stalactites all over the ceiling, loud enough noises can cause it to break and fall on us, so be quiet," Aqua explained as she made her way to the crystal, stepping on the stones to avoid getting drenched by the water that surrounded the rock formation.

Amirah wanted to be the first to hold the crystal so she ran over to Aqua, "Amirah get back here," Emily called out to her, "but I wanna get to it first," Amirah said, "No, Ami this is not a race," Emily tried to keep her voice down.

Her reply made the little girl throw a tantrum, she kicked little rocks and screamed, Aqua attempted to calm her down but before she could, the ground started to shake and ripples formed on the surface of the water. Aqua looked up just as a stalactite cracked and fell beside her.

"Run!" She exclaimed, She quickly grabbed the crystal and tossed it to Oliver as Emily dragged Amirah outside of the chamber with the other pirates, stalactites fell in every direction making it difficult for both Aqua and Oliver to escape the chamber, in the end, they managed to make it out the area alive, she was not going to let both of them lose their life over a crystal that's not even authentic.

"Thank goodness you're okay" Emily hugged the two. After a few deep breaths, Oliver handed the crystal over to his father who then proceeded to observe the crystal, "Is that it?" He asks, Aqua knew that Iclyn and Adam can flawlessly make a decoy, look exactly like the real deal, but she couldn't help but feel anxious.

'What if he realized that it's fake?'

'What if Icy and Adam missed a few details that the captain just so happens to notice?'

'What would happen if he did find out it was fake?'

"This is it." The captain's words freed her from her train of thoughts, "it is exactly like the illustrations I've seen of it," he continued, Aqua let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding as the crew celebrated and followed her on their way out the cave.

Everyone got used to how dark it was inside the cave, so much so that the sight of how bright the outside world was made them squint, and the cold winter air made a few of them shiver.

They made their way back to the ship that rested onshore and stepped aboard the vessel. The crew readied the sails and lifted the anchor once again to travel back to the main docks.

The suns were setting; while most of the pirates drank in the village, Aqua met up with the guardians who waited for her to arrive in their underground meeting room.

She opened the door to see all of them sitting quietly in their seats. "So," Aiden uttered, "how was it?"

"Aside from the fact that I almost died, I had fun, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." She answered and sat down on her spot.

The leaders nodded, "Anyone you're fond of?" Blaze asked, who Aqua looked at weirdly, "no, but there is the captain's daughter, and we get along quite well." She said, "what's with the question?"

"Nothing, just curious" he quickly replied. "Nevermind that," Nyx so suddenly spoke, "we heard Iclyn and Adam get to have free cake from you." She eyed Aqua as she placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her palms.

"Yeah, why is that?" Hemera copied her sister's position. Aqua slouched in her chair, amused by their childishness, "Listen, they did me a favor so I owe them, besides there's gonna be a huge cake in the valentines festival you can eat that instead." They bickered and laughed then talked about plans and events.