Broken - Isadora Quagmire

Chapter Forty Seven - The Great Unknown

I woke up at 11am the next morning. A blanket was wrapped around me and Klaus was gone, everyone was gone.

"Duncan?" I asked. He was sitting up on the bottom bunk of the middle bunk bed.

"Yes?"

"Where's everybody else?"

"I don't know"

Duncan and I left the sleeping quarters and started exploring the Queequeg, looking for the others. We eventually found our way to the kitchen (aka the galley), Sunny was in there with Phil, a one-legged optimist that the Baudelaires met at Lucky Smells Lumbermill. They were making a cake. Phil told us the way back to the library and we said goodbye. 

When we got to the library Klaus was looking through books and talking to Fiona. He was wearing a bright red outfit, the same one as Fiona's.

"Hello" I said.

"Isadora. You're awake"

"Did you think I was going to sleep forever?"

"No, of course not, it's just, I just, I'm glad you're here, why don't you sit down and-"

"Why don't you go and get your uniforms on?" interrupted Fiona. "Violet and your brother are in the main hall, they'll show you where to go"

Over the next few hours, many arguments occurred between me, Violet and Fiona, during which Klaus never sided with anyone. While Violet and I fought with Fiona, Duncan, Quigley and Klaus found a place that they thought the Sugar Bowl could be: the Gorgonian Grotto underneath Antwhistle Aquatics

"We'll be at Anwhistle Aquatics within the hour" said Fiona

"Maybe you should tell us what we're really getting into"

"Violet, stop"

"Klaus, Violet's right, there's something she's not telling us" I said

"That's why she hesitated" continued Violet.

"What's down there?" I asked.

 "The Medusoid Mycelium"

I started flicking through my commonplace book.

"Mycelium is a word for mushrooms"  

"And Medusa is a monster from Greek mythology. Her hair is made of snakes"

"I bet she was really nice when you got to know her"

"The Medusoid Mycelium is a rare mushroom that only grows in the grotto. One of my books has a poem about it. A single spore-"

"has such grim power that you may die within the hour" I said.

"So it's poisonous" said Quigley.

"And deadly" said Duncan.

"The mushroom waxes and wanes. It appears and disappears in cycles. When it wanes, you might not even know it's there, but when it waxes The grotto isolates the fungus so it cannot spread"

"If that's where the sugar bowl is If that's where we're headed this mission could be doomed"

There was a beeping sound.

"It's the sonar detector" said Fiona.

"Is that Q the Queequeg?" 

"Aye"

What's that question mark?" 

"Maybe if we go dark, it won't see us"

"But She who hesitates is lost"

"Shut off the engines, lights, everything! Go!" Fiona shouted as the beeping got faster. "Get down" she whispered.

I closed my eyes. There was crashing and creaking and beeping and a scraping sound. Then after what felt like forever, someone turned the lights back on.

"What was that?" Klaus asked.

"Sailors called it The Great Unknown" Fiona said. She was talking to all of us, but her eyes only fixated on Klaus.