A Curse of the Heart - Jungle Cruise

~The Tree~

"Hallo!" chirped the prince.

MacGregor had been captured, and, evidently, pointed the Germans in the direction of where to find them. 

"There's a war?" said Frank while the prince droned on and on. 

"Yeah, big one," Raf mumbled back.

"Another one?"

"Yeah. People never learn." 

"This tree is long dead - you know more about the Tears of the Moon than anyone, so you know how to make the Tree bloom. You will do this for me," the prince told Lily.  "But the little brother stays one the boat."

"'Little brother'? I have a name, thank you very much!"

And so, with MacGregor held at gunpoint, Lily led the way into the cavern.  Threatening her brother was more than enough to make her comply.

"Where's Rafaela?" Lily whispered.

Frank looked around and didn't respond - he didn't know. 

While they were distracted, Rafaela had made her escape. She slipped away into the shadows, armed with her bow and arrows. 

From her perch up on the rocks, she watched the scene unfold.

Well, she heard it first. 

BANG! BANG!

Lily had shot Frank! Obviously it was some concocted plan of theirs, now that she knew his secret, but still, despite knowing it wouldn't harm him, Rafaela's chest tightened. 

Frank made his death scene extra dramatic (as he usually was), making sure to smash into some tree branches on his fall downward before splashing into the water below. Very dramatic, very Frank.

Alone now, Lily led the way onward to the Tree, the prince following close behind, right at her heels. 

Moonlight began to stream through the cavern's ceiling, through a hole carved specifically for this purpose. As soon as the rays of moonlight hit the branches, they instantly came to life.

The tree glowed a brilliant pink, full of magic - but not for long. So long as the moon shone down on them. 

Sounds of chaos rang out from the boat - by the looks of it, after faking his death, Frank had swam over to liberate MacGregor from the prince's guards. Proxima assisted as well. 

That was Lily's cue to spring into action and she took off up the tree and across the branches.

"SHOOT!" howled the prince.

Rafaela took this as her cue to jump into action as well. She began firing down arrows, taking down the guards before they could hit Lily. Pretty soon, the prince would be alone himself. 

Oh, Lily was so close! And the moonlight was rapidly fading. 

It's lifeline gone, with the vanishing of the moon and its silver light, the tree was dying again, crumbling by the second, cast back into the deep, dark shadows. 

"Where's Lily?" asked MacGregor.

"Up there." Frank nodded. 

"Oh, here we go again-"

Lily dropped the petal, letting it go to evade the prince. Rafaela was scrambling down the rocky ledge, jumping down onto the deck of La Quila as the boat sailed past beneath her.  She scooped up the petal just in time. It was long and delicate and she could barely feel it resting in her palm.  

"Aguirre!" Frank suddenly cried.  He took the petal from her and held it up to show their old friend, instantly gaining his attention.  He and the other Conquistadors were back as well.  

"This is where you get off," Frank said suddenly, pushing her and MacGregor off the boat and onto the flat stone ground. 

"What?" she demanded. 

"Where are you going?" cried MacGregor. 

"And at a time like this!"

"MacGregor, it's been an honour. Tell Lily 'thank you'. And Rafaela - you are world enough for me," he told her, gripping her hand tightly before letting go.  "Proxima, you protect them, you're in charge, go."

He sailed away, the Conquistadors swarming him and the boat. 

"Rafaela! MacGregor!" Lily was racing towards them.  "What's Frank doing?"

"Enough is enough!" Their troubles weren't over yet - they turned to see a very disheveled and angry prince.

"Really? You're still here?"

"Time for you to die!" he declared. 

"Yes, enough is enough - I think we've had quite enough of you-" MacGregor strode forward and punched the prince.  "Good night!" As if on cue, a large chunk of carven stone broke off, landing right on the prince, effectively crushing him.

"Nicely done!"

MacGregor stared wide-eyed at the scene.  "Not exactly what I intended..."

"Now that he's taken care of-" Rafaela whirled back to face the boat. 

"Frank wanted me to tell you 'thank you'," MacGregor told his sister. 

"Where's the petal?"

MacGregor withdrew a folded handkerchief from his pocket.  "He wanted you to have it."

Frank must have slipped it to MacGregor before taking off. His plan became suddenly, strikingly clear.

"It's only a scam if you fall for it..." Raf mumbled. 

"He's going to crash," cried MacGregor.

"No, he's going to block the river-"  She took off at a run, calling out to him, doubtful that he could hear her, but she called out nonetheless.  "Frank! Frank - NO!"

But she was too late - he had made his decision, and saw it through, right to the very bitter end. 

(Cliffhanger! Kind of! ;) See you all in the next - and last - chapter!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed as always! :))