When Aniko woke, a small patch of sunlight was streaming through the small port window. She stretched, and looked over at the other beds. Spoons was still asleep, curled under the piles of blankets Marigold had insisted on adding on top of him. Marigold was also asleep, chewing her thumb. Salty was supposed to be watching Molly, but Aniko had a feeling he was out too.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Aniko found Salty slumped against the prison door. Rolling her eyes, she pushed him over so she could crack the prison door open to see Molly. Peering into it, she saw Molly still out cold.

Aniko sighed and went back to the med bay with the intention of waking Marigold up. She hated being the only person up, and out of all the annoying people here, Marigold was the best to talk too: She couldn’t stand Salty, and she couldn’t understand Spoons.

But when Aniko got back to the room, Marigold was already awake. She was talking excitedly, reiterating that last night’s accomplishments to Spoons, who was sitting up as well. He beamed at Aniko when she walked through the door, still his perky self.

“Вы встали! Как дела?”

“Uh, hi to you too.”

Spoons sighed.

“-and then Black Molly went all crazy and collapsed and her eyes are all normal so we think that cinnamon is the cure and we decided to drag her back here but we put her in the prison till she wakes up just to be 100% sure cause what if she isn’t and we’re all possessed by her? Anyway, that’s all that you missed!”

“Значит, с Молли все в порядке ?! Да!”

Marigold smiled. “I feel the same way.“

“Ты хоть представляешь, что я говорю?”

“Same!!”

Spoons sighed again.

Aniko rubbed her stomach. “Hey, do we have anything for breakfast–“

“Guuuuys!” Salty came skidding into the room, his hair sticking up in the back. “It’s Moooolly! She’s up!”

“Really?” Aniko turned on Salty. “And?”

“And what?”

Aniko took a deep breath. “Is she’s still possessed?” she said in a slow tone.

“Ooooh, that! I don’t know! I didn’t check! She just started banging on the door.”

“And you didn’t look in?”

Salty quivered. “It’s Molly.”

Aniko rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

“Let’s go look!” Marigold jumped up and dashed down the hall.

“Wait! Don’t just– aw, yeah, she’s gone.” Aniko groaned.

The rest of the group followed Marigold out into the hall. Soon, they stood before the heavy metal door. Molly was banging on the inside, shaking the exterior.

“What should we doooo?” Salty whispered, nervous. His breath was quick and rapid.

“Why’re you so scared of Molly?” Marigold raised an eyebrow. “It’s almost like you burned her house down or something and you’re scared she’s gonna find out!”

“W-w-what?! Burn? House? Me? Noooo! I’m innocent! I don’t know what happened to her church! IT’S A TRAGEDY, BUT IT WASN’T MEEEEE!”

“Geez, I was just joking!” Marigold laughed.

Salty glared daggers at her. “First the romance novels, now this!” He hissed angrily under his breath.

“What was that?” Marigold turned her ear toward him.

“NOTHING!”

“Guys, focus!” Aniko hissed.

“Sooo… what are we gonna do?” Marigold asked, turning to Aniko.

“Uh… talk to her?”

“How?”

“HEY, MOLLY!” Aniko yelled at the door. “Uh, ARE YOU POSSESSED STILL?!”

There was a beat of silence. Then, faintly, muffled by the thick door between them, the group heard a familiar, ornery voice.

“What?“

Marigold and Spoons gasped. “Oh, gosh!” Aniko said. “She actually replied!”

“That’s a good sign, right?” Marigold said excitedly.

“W-WELL, THEN! MOLLY! WE’RE OPENING THE DOOR, BUT BE WARNED! WE’RE ARMED AND DANGEROUS!” Aniko shouted again at the door.

“Ready?” she said, turning back to the group.

Each of them nodded in turm.

Aniko burst out in a war call and dashed toward the door. Banging it open, the rest of the group filled in behind her, ready for a fight. Yet, Aniko didn’t see a creepy, lifeless hunk of Molly. Instead, she saw Black Molly backed up against the far wall, her hands thrown in front of her face protectively. She was on the ground, no longer floating, and her eyes, now opening again, were their normal color.

“Черная Молли ?!” Spoons called out.

“Spoons?! Thank god, what is everyone doing?!” Black Molly called back at them with a very-normal sounding voice, albeit an angry one.

“О Боже! Ты в порядке! Вы не одержимы!”

“Oh, good! You’re okay! You’re not possessed!” Aniko announced.

“What?! What do you mean?! Why would I be possessed?! WHY AM I LOCKED IN OUR OWN PRISON CELL, SALTY? WILL THERE BE NEW NAMES ON MY LIST?!”

Salty paled dramatically. “Oh, no,” he said faintly under his breath. “I think I need to sit down!”

“What list?” Marigold asked.

“Her Grudge Book! All the people who’s names are in there eventually disappear!”

“Why?”

“Why’da think, dummy?” Aniko conked Marigold’s head.

“Ow!”

“I WANT AN ANSWER.” Molly looked threateningly over at Salty.

“You were possessed!” Marigold squeaked. “Did you not know that?”

“What kind of crap story is this? I fell asleep just last night–“

Aniko held her finger up, interjecting, “That was, like, one or two nights ago.”

Molly glared at her intensely. “THEN. I woke up here, LOCKED IN MY OWN BRIG WITH YOU GUYS GUARDING THE DOOR.”

“I’m not here, I’m not here, I’m not here, I’m not here, I’m not here, I’m no–“

“PLEASE shut UP, Salty!” Aniko turned on him.

“I’m not here, I’m not here, I’m not here, I’m not here–“

“Oh, whatever!”

“Please calm down,” Marigold said in a soothing voice. “What you’re experiencing is a normal receptivity to the disquietude you’re surely feeling, and you may possibly be developing a small case of temporary agoraphobia, which is quite common. It is merely a environmental stressor, however, and we can solve our issue by clarifying what you’ve just been through. Remember, though, please try and think of things that trigger positive feelings while we untangle this mess. It may benefit you significantly.”

A beat of silence. “WHAT?!” Black Molly yelled, now even louder. “I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND A WORD THAT JUST CAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH.

“Should we knock her out again?” Aniko cocked her head.

“DON’T YOU DARE KNOCK ME OUT!”

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Aniko rolled her eyes.

“No, no, no!” Marigold chuckled. “Rookie mistake, ‘Neko! The key to a good therapist is talking it out, even when the topic gets deep and difficult.”

“Don’t call me ‘Neko.”

“So sorry, ‘Neko.”

Aniko’s nostrils flared. “Also,” she added, “we’re not therapists.”

“I am–“

“No, you’re not.”

Marigold looked heartbroken. “Yes, I am!”

“Marigold, you aren’t a therapist, but you certainly need one to cure your strange self-denials.”

“I’m not–“

“Can we please focus on the task at hand?!” Salty snapped at them.

“Okay, okay!” Aniko held her hands out at Molly. “Please calm down. You’re okay now!”

“What do you mean, now?!” Molly bit back. “I was perfectly fine just the other night!”

“No, you weren’t!” Marigold peered over Aniko’s shoulder. “You were possessed!”

“What.”

Aniko didn’t want to reiterate all the last nights’ events, but unfortunately found it necessary to make Molly understand their situation. The memories were more painful than she’d wished, but she managed to describe them all to Molly without showing any vulnerable emotions.

When Aniko got to the point where she was describing how Molly had been possessed and had become a lifeless chunk of meat (Aniko probably could’ve been nicer with her terminology) Molly paled slightly.

Once Aniko finished her story, albeit with lots of melodrama, Molly wasn’t looking so great. Aniko watched her survey them, covered in scratches and bandages. Spoons had a bruise across his forehead, Marigold had a bandaged nose, Salty had a thick bandage covering his arm (though Aniko was convinced it was a mostly fake and he really had just a paper cut or something), and Aniko herself was covered in her own bruises in varying degrees of color.

As Molly looked at their disheveled states and weary eyes, something in her seemed to give. She leaned backward against the wall and closed her eyes.

“So….” she finally said. “I was… possessed.”

“Yep.”

“And everyone else is still possessed? And there’s a creepy guy on our ship?”

“Yes.”

She sighed. “And we have to save them?”

“If you want your ship back, yeah.”

Molly puckered her lips. “Darn.”

A small smile toyed at the edges of Aniko’s mouth. “Soooo… wanna help us beat some insubstantial butt?”

Molly considered this a moment, then grinned. “You know it,” she said.

“Great!” Aniko clapped her hands together. “Let’s go do that right now! Grab your stuff, guys!”

“Nuh uh uh!” Salty waved a finger at Aniko, obnoxiously. “Plan first. Hitting later.”

“UGH, of course you’re gonna be that guy.“

Salty huffed. “The only guy I’m being is the sensible one!”

“Well, actually-“

“РЕБЯТА. Давай не будем начинать, а?” Spoons looked threateningly at them.

Aniko and Salty shut up, but glared angrily at each other.

“Great! Our Frankenstein group just got bigger!” Marigold ambled over to Black Molly with her arms wide open, expecting a hug.

“DON’T touch me!” Molly scowled at Marigold.

“Aw, you’re just a tough cookie! Like River and Aniko who never let me give them hugs. Aziminil and Colonel do though! And Bob.”

“Who’s Bob?” Aniko looked turned to Marigold.

“My friend. He comes out when I’m lonely.”

“God,” Aniko sighed. “You have so many psychological issues.”

“Bob says I don’t!”

“I don’t have time for this!” Aniko sighed. “We need to be saving the rest of our friends.”

“We still need a plan!” Salty huffed.

“What’s there to plan? Run down there and throw cinnamon at them! Simple.”

“No, it’s not that–“

“All in favor of my simple solution,” Aniko grinned, “raise your hand!”

Marigold, Black Molly, and Aniko all raised their hands. Turning back to Salty, Aniko smiled. “Raise your hand now,” she said, faking sweetness, “if you just lost.”

Salty shook with anger, which Marigold didn’t know you could actually do.

“Well! That settles it! Let’s get cracking!”

“Hold up!” Molly called. “Let’s do it tonight.”

“Why tonight?!” Aniko looked very disappointed.

“I’m too tired.” Black Molly yawned again and slowly made her way down to the medical bay.

“Noooo!” Aniko moaned. “What am I supposed to do till then?”

“Sleep?” Marigold suggested.

“I just got up! You can’t be tired either!”

“No, but you could meditate! That’s what I’m gonna do!”

“I don’t believe you can do that all day.”

“I bet ya five gold I can!”

Aniko grinned. “I’ll gladly take that bet!”

---

So it was that thirty minutes after sunset Aniko made her way toward their barricade with pockets heavy with five more gold as the group prepared themselves for the rescue mission that lay ahead of them.

The door in front of them creaked open slowly again as Marigold peered down the stairs. The darkness stretched menacingly out before her, but she found no signs of life.

“We’re good,” she whispered behind her.

“Great! Everyone got their cinnamon ready to go?” Aniko whispered back.

The group all nodded.

Marigold snuck forward. The stair she was on creaked. She shushed it.

“See, I told you I should’ve gone first!” Salty whined from behind Marigold. “She’s so slow! And mentally unstable!”

“Well, she wanted to!” Aniko rolled her eyes, though no one could probably see.

“That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea!”

“I honestly don’t care! She’ll be fine, and if she isn’t? I don’t care that much.”

Marigold turned around and shushed them too. “I think I hear something!” she hissed.

“Yeah, is it you speaking?” Salty said in a mocking tone, clearly a little upset with Marigold for hushing them.

“No, silly!” Marigold said in the same tone. “Something else!” Then she smiled at him pleasantly.

“I’m gonna keep going!” she whispered, then turned around and took several more steps down. Aniko, who was behind Marigold, watched her tentatively more around the corner at the bottom of the stairs.

A beat of silence. “I think she’s good. We can probably follow–“

Aniko jumped as she heard Marigold give a high pitched shriek.

“Oh, no,” she moaned.

Aniko pound down he stairs after her. “Marigold,” she hissed, rounding the corner quickly, “are you dead?!”

But Aniko didn’t find Marigold in the air like a puppet dangling from loose strings. Instead, she found Marigold staring at the ground with her hands in front of her mouth.

Aniko glanced down and saw a lump lying discarded on the ground. “Good job, Marigold! You got one! Wait– what’s wrong?”

“He surprised me, so I just threw cinnamon at him!”

“Marigold, that good, why’re you worried?”

“Because he just collapsed!”

“Who?”

“Colonel Popcorn!”

Aniko gasped. “You got Colonel?”

“I kiiiiiilled him!” Marigold sobbed.

“No, Marigold, you saved him!”

“I… did?”

“We’re you even paying attention to what happened to Black Molly?” Aniko sighed.

Marigold ignored the last question. “So, he’s okay?”

“He will be! But we should find some cover before someone else comes along.”

The group dragged Colonel into the dining hall, which Marigold thought was very dirty and untidy. Spoons closed and locked the doors. Salty stood by with his ear pressed to the wood, listening to see if anyone else would come by.

While Molly sat on one of the tables staring off into the distance, Marigold and Aniko attempted to wake Colonel.

Aniko and Marigold threw him on the table and stared at him. Unfortunately, despite their initial hopes, he remained unconscious.

“What should we do?” Marigold whispered.

“I don’t know. Black Molly took awhile to wake up, it might be the same for him.”

“Aw, no! But we need him!”

“Yeah, plus I feel uncomfortable leaving him here alone while we’re gone, and we need to keep moving soon.”

“Hmm,” Marigold peered at Colonel, and then she poured more cinnamon on his face.

“What’re you doing?! Don’t waste that stuff! We need it for everyone else!”

“But what if it wakes him?”

Aniko gestured at Colonel. “Well, he’s still asleep! It doesn’t work! Now stop wasting it!”

“Sorry.”

There was a small gap of silence as the two pondered how to wake their friend. Marigold screwed up her face in concentration, and Aniko cocked her head slowly to the side.

“What’re you think–” Marigold began to ask, but was cut short by Aniko’s sudden movement toward Colonel.

“Ah!” Marigold cried as Aniko leaned forward and slapped Colonel in the face.

“What did you do that for?!” Marigold cried. “You’ll hurt him!”

“I’m just trying to get him to respond,” Aniko sighed. “It clearly didn’t do anything, though.”

Marigold squinted. “‘NEKO!” She pointed forward at Colonel. “He’s stirring!”

Aniko whipped her head back to Colonel. He was making a faint groaning noise and trying to sit up.

“Colonel!” she cried, reluctant relief flooding the edges of her tone.

“Did someone just slap me?” he said weakly. “I told you guys there’re easier ways to get me up.” His voice was oddly scratchy, and that’s when Marigold saw red claw marks around his throat, which scared her.

“Not in this case,” Aniko said guiltily.

“Huh?” Colonel said, opening his eyes slightly. “Hold on,” he opened them fully and looked around him, “where are we?”

“Um,” Aniko sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“We’re fighting meat-puppets but you were one of them cause it started with Pistol Annie being a psycho but I was a cowboy so I saved the day by coming to get Aniko and we found out–“

“Marigold, he’s already gonna have a horrible panic attack, but you’re gonna make it way worse by throwing the information at him like that!“

“Wait,” Colonel said, worry flooding his voice. “Why am I gonna have a panic attack? What happened to me? Why am I covered in cinnamon? Aniko, what is Marigold talking about? And what are those pirates doing there? And where are Aziminil and River?!”

“Weeeeeell,” Aniko looked sheepish.

“Aniko?” Colonel looked more panicked by the second.

“Okay, fine, I’ll explain, but just… don’t get super panicked, okay? You should just take it easy. Panic attacks probably aren’t good for you right now.”

Colonel just looked more worried than before.

“So,” Aniko began with a big breath, “there’s been a slight problem with that weird shadow-thing. A couple nights ago, the… thing… possessed several people.”

Aniko watched Colonel pale.

“Those several people included you, all the pirate crew save Salty and Spoons, Aziminil, and River.”

Colonel’s mouth fell open.

“We’ve managed to find a cure and have secured you and Black Molly. We’re trying to save everyone else. The problem is, they’re not friendly. The shadow-thing is apparently sentient, has gained a human form, and is currently trying to possess all of us. We’re hiding in the dining hall right now, trying not to get caught, and we were waiting for you to get up. But… you conscious again! Yay! You’re not possessed!” Aniko ended her spiel a little too peppy, and she could tell.

Colonel didn’t say anything for awhile.

“Colonel?” Aniko eventually prompted him.

“S-So,” Colonel stuttered, “I was possessed?”

“Yes.”

“And River and Aziminil are still possessed?!”

“Yes?”

Colonel’s face broke and he quickly jammed his head into his knees. “This is too much!” he moaned. “The last thing I remember is being choked by Black Molly!”

“So that’s what’s up with your throat!” Marigold said happily.

“She was probably possessed then.”

Colonel just moaned. He was shaking violently.

“Aw, c’mon, Colonel! We’ll be fine! Cinnamon is the cure! We have lots of cinnamon!”

Colonel just squeaked.

“Gosh, River’s much better at this than I am,” Aniko shook her head.

“BUT RIVER’S POSSESSED RIGHT NOW SO Y’KNOW WHAT’RE YOU GONNA DO?!” Colonel rocked back and forth harder.

“Aw, Colonel, she’ll be okay! I mean, it’s not like she’s actively dying, right?”

“But she’s probably not okay! Aziminil wouldn’t be either! I feel terrible, so they probably feel worse!”

“Uh…?” Aniko looked to Marigold for guidance, which, upon reflection, wasn’t the smartest decision.

“It’s okay, Colonel! Just think: you don’t remember anything, so I’m sure River and Aziminil will recall none of the traumatic experiences they’re going through as we speak!”

Colonel froze in his shaking.

“That is, unless your trauma is buried deep in your subconscious and will reveal itself at some specific point in time that recalls the memories at which you’ll all get severe P.T.S.D.”

Colonel brought his head up slightly to look at Marigold. He was paler than Aniko had ever seen him.

“How is this supposed to help?!” he sobbed.

Marigold shrugged, smiling at him.

“This isn’t good! This is all bad!”

“Colonel, we’ve dealt with stuff like this before!”

“No, we haven’t! Before, I wasn’t trapped in the middle of the ocean with a demon trying to kill us! Before, I didn’t wake suddenly with no memory of the last few days! Before, my own mind was never violated! Before, I didn’t have to fight my own friends! Before, we were all together!”

“Okay, Colonel, you’ve made your point!” Aniko held her hands up. “Calm down.”

Colonel just jammed his head back into his knees.

“Look,” Aniko said after silence had stretched on for too long, “I know this isn’t the… best situation to be in, but… if we don’t do something about it, River and Aziminil will probably die and you’ll regret not doing anything.

“I know that’s not way to calm you down, but it’s the what’s gonna happen. If you want to freak out over here, be my guest. You have the right. But, in three minutes, we’re gonna have to keep moving.”

Aniko hesitated a for a second, then moved back to Black Molly and Salty, talking to them quietly. Marigold stayed next to Colonel.

There was a long silence. Silences were always too empty for Marigold, so she started to hum.

While Marigold rocked back and forth humming a random Christmas song, Colonel suddenly sat up a bit.

“Y’know,” he said quietly, “I didn’t used to be this nervous.”

Marigold stopped humming and turned to look at him. He was staring off into the distance. He looked very disheveled. And tired.

“Before I met you and Aniko. It was just me and River and….” Colonel trailed off and looked down again.

“And who?” Marigold asked, quietly to match Colonel’s tone.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Why are you so nervous now, then?”

Colonel sighed. “It was our friend. Things didn’t… work out so great for him.”

“Did he… die?”

Colonel buried his head again in his knees and didn’t say anything after that.

Marigold waited a beat.

Then she began to hum again.

---

Eventually, Aniko waved Marigold over to the group huddled together by the door.

“What’s up?” she asked, skipping over.

“We’re gonna keep moving,” Aniko said.

“What?! But what about Colonel?!”

“If he’s not gonna come, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“But someone has to stay with him!”

“We need all the manpower we get: we can’t afford to leave someone behind.”

“What’re you talking about? We have lots of money!”

Aniko rolled her eyes. “Not the same thing, Marigold.”

“Do we really have to leave him? He’s so sad!”

“Seriously, we wasted enough time.”

Marigold looked torn, Aniko firm.

“We’re going.”

Marigold reluctantly followed the group out the door, close to tears but refusing to let them spill. They’d just got Colonel back, and now they were leaving him. But she knew she had too if she wanted Aziminil and River back, which she did desperately.

But the group only got a few feet down the corridor when they all heard a voice behind them.

“Wait!” Colonel whisper-shouted after them. “I’m coming!”

“Colonel!” Marigold happily ran and barreled into him with a bear hug. “Yay! Now we’re almost a happy group again!”

It was dark, but Marigold thought she could see Aniko smiling. “Great to see you joining us, Colonel. What made you come?”

“We need to get Aziminil and River back. Before it’s too late for them.”

“Okay, this is all nice and touching,” Salty’s normally ornery disembodied voice floated from the darkness, “but we really have to keep going. I’m bored.“

As the party continued down the darkened hall, Colonel felt his heart pounding. The rest of the group seemed to feel mostly at ease in the pitch-black passage ways that could lead to terrifying “meat-puppets” (as everyone seemed to be describing them), but Colonel was absolutely terrified.

He was terrified they’d run into a puppet and be possessed again. He was terrified that he had been possessed: a meat-puppet. He was terrified they’d fail. He was terrified to see Aziminil and River so lifeless, though he didn’t know what these possessed people actually looked like. He was terrified to find out. But most of all, he couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if they were too late.

He was still tired. He really just wanted to go to sleep. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to rest until his friends were all safe.

So he kept walking forward, step after step, sandwiched in the middle of the party. Marigold was the only one behind him, but she’d stopped humming after Aniko got angry at her.

“Guys, is anyone else freaking out?” Salty whispered into the dark. “What if we get possessed again?! No one here could even imagine the horrors probably associated with it! I mean, if we were saved, we’d be traumatized for life!”

“Salty, you are literally the thickest person I’ve ever met,” Aniko growled at him. “Are you forgetting that we just saved Colonel from being possessed?!”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot he was there. He’s so quiet.”

“Do you want me to alert the Shadow- Guy to us?” Colonel whispered from the back.

“Fine, fine.” Colonel imagined Salty rolling his eyes. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

“No, I think this someone woke up from possession.”

“How ’bout we all just shut up?” Black Molly sighed.

“Yeah, guys, we’re almost to the basement where we’ll meet the Creepy Man.”

“We should really give him a proper name,” Marigold whispered from the back.

“Y’know, for some reason, I don’t really feel like giving the evil man a name,” Aniko sarcastically whispered back.

“Aw, c’mon,” Marigold pouted. “What about… Hatman?”

Salty rolled his eyes. “Please, dear gods, help me conserve brain cells and shut up.”

“What’re brain cells?” Marigold asked.

“Something you have none of,” Salty said dryly.

“How can I get some?”

“Normally I would tell you to educate yourself and read some books, but I think its too late for you.”

“Aw, really?”

“No, Marigold,” Colonel whispered. “Salty’s being mean to you; you have lots of brain cells.”

“Yay! But, Salty, why do you think you’re being mean to me?”

“Because you suck?”

“But why?”

Salty pushed to the front of the group to get away from Marigold.

“I’m boooored,” Marigold moaned. “When’re we gonna get there?”

“You want to be there?” Colonel looked a her with disbelief.

“I’m bored. Plus I wanna see Aziminil.”

“Y’know, Aziminil is gonna be all creepy, right?” Aniko turned to her.

Marigold nodded. “But then we can fix her!”

“You’re too positive,” Aniko said.

“I think it’s inspiring,” Colonel said.

“Wow, I’m inspiring!” Marigold gasped excitedly.

“Here’re the stairs that lead down to the basement,” Black Molly turned back to face them. “Are we ready?”

“Finally!” Aniko called excitedly. “Just go down it, we’re all ready, I’m sure.”

Since no one objected, Black Molly crept down the stairs silently. The group reached the last step, and Molly peered around the edge. Miraculously, there was no one guarding the basement door. There was, however, more light pouring out from underneath the door.

Black Molly turned back to her group. “There’s no one there guarding the door, but there are people in there. The lights are on.”

“This feels too much like a trap, guys,” Colonel Popcorn called nervously from the back of the group. “A-are we sure we’re gonna do this?”

“Yes,” Aniko nodded. “How else are we gonna get our people back? Let’s just barrel into the door, we’ll be fine. I’m tired of all this planning: ANIKO WANTS ACTION.”

“Oh god, we’re gonna die,” Colonel moaned.

“I’m with Mr. Kernel,” Salty quivered.

“It’s Colonel Popcorn,” Marigold corrected him. “Like the title.”

“How did you even know I was thinking of the wrong word?” Salty looked over at her, horrified.

Marigold shrugged. “Just a feeling. Plus, it seems like something you’d do.”

Salty glared at her. “What’re you, a witch?”

“Guys, could you shut it for more than two minutes?” Aniko said through gritted teeth.

“Who wants to go in first?” Molly asked.

Aniko, after a beat of silence, said confidently, “I will!”

“Great,” Salty said, “so it doesn’t look like you really need me, right? So I’ll just be on my merry way-“

“Salty.”

Salty froze at the sound of Black Molly’s voice, and he returned to the group’s side with a hanging head.

“Cool, now that it’s decided,” Aniko grinned, “here I go!”

The party tentatively followed Aniko as she barreled into the door, bursting it open. The door flew back on its hinges and hit the opposite wall with a bang. Aniko put her fists up into the air, and the others followed in behind her.

Colonel knew he hadn’t been prepared to see this, but it was a shock all the same. Derek, Pistol Annie, Dr. Leech, Cabin Boy, Barnacle Bill, Queequeg, and Scurvy all turned their scary limp heads to face the group as they stood there, dumbstruck. Colonel told himself not to do it, but he let his eyes scan the crowd till they fell on Aziminil and River.

Like a shock to his gut, Colonel realized that they might not make it out of this scenario with all their party. So many friendly faces, now painted with a unnatural darkness, stared fixedly at him. I was one of them, Colonel thought, and even though he didn’t feel at all grateful to be looking at everyone as they were, he did think of how lucky he was to be on this side of the room now.

The huddle of puppets slowly started to part as a tall dark shadow slithered from their center. Colonel and the others watched as a small storm swirled before them, forming the body of a man as it spiraled upward.

“Why, hello, again.” Now, before them, stood the tall man in a suit of deepest black. His white smile flashed brightly as he turned toward them. “I was wondering when you were going to come down here.”

“We’re here to get our friends back!” Aniko called out brazenly.

“Why, of course! I expected no less.” The man smiled brighter still.

“And there’s nothing you can do to stop us!” Marigold added.

The man smiled serenely. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah!” both Aniko and Marigold called out.

“And I’m here for revenge!” Black Molly glared at the shadow before her.

The man grinned at this. “How could I forget you, dear puppet? I hope you haven’t gotten too comfortable being in that mind of yours.”

“I’m gonna slit his throat,” Molly snarled.

“I’m here because I have to be!” Salty called from the back of the group.

The man actually laughed. “Someone who understands the vital need of self-preservation. I’m almost sorry I have to take your mind too.”

“You know, he almost seems quite reasonable,” Salty said.

“Really, Salty?” Aniko rolled her eyes.

“So, why are you here, my good friend?”

It took Colonel a second before he realized the shadow was talking to him.

“W-What?” he stuttered.

“My puppet. What do you gain from coming here?”

Colonel bowed his head, scared to be in the presence of the man who had possessed and contaminated his mind. A strained silence began to pool around the room.

Mustering all the effort he could, Colonel finally spoke. “What’s your name?”

The man looked at Colonel strangely for a long second, before responding. “Hm, let’s say… Corbin.”

There was a second of pause as the two stared at each other.

“I’d ask your name,” Corbin replied, “but I do believe I already know it, Oliver Jenson.”

Colonel stared at him. “How do you know my real name?”

“How quickly you forget in the face of danger. I was in your in mind, Oliver. I know you now.”

“You know nothing about Colonel!” Marigold cried, watching Colonel pale.

“Oh, really, little girl? And why is that?”

“For starters, you got the wrong name! It’s Colonel Popcorn, silly!”

“Marigold, remember how Colonel’s a nickname?” Aniko whispered in Marigold’s ear.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. Well, no one calls him that anymore, so you still got it wrong!”

Corbin laughed. It was a mellow sound, shockingly free of cruelty. It made Colonel look up sharply to hear it.

“Ah, you care so much for your friends,” Corbin said.

“And that’s funny to you?” Aniko looked confused.

“It’s not the camaraderie of your group that’s entertaining to me. No, in fact I think it’s quite touching the way you all seem to care so much for each other, in your own subtle ways. It’s the futility of these actions that humors me.”

“Wow, what a nice guy,” Salty said dryly from behind the group.

Corbin smiled softly.

“How are you here? Why this ship?” Colonel, said, needing to know more.

“Oh, now that’s a fun one,” Corbin chuckled. “I’ve been with you for quite some time, now.”

“We’ve only been on this ship for like a week–” Aniko began.

“Oh, no, I’ve been with your party much longer than a week,” Corbin said, laughing at their naivety.

“How long?” Colonel said, a pit of worry sinking in his stomach. His eyes kept drifting to the limp River and Aziminil.

“Remember the portal? Kevin?”

Understanding dawned on the party’s faces, while Salty and Molly looked at them in confusion.

Salty scrunched up his face. “What portal? Who’s Kev–“

“Oh, dear, dear, Aziminil. She got lost, dragged you all to the portal, got you into this mess in the first place. Oh, don’t look so shocked, friends.” He spread his arms out. “Of course I know your story. I’m in Aziminil and River’s mind. Not to mention I was in yours.” Corbin smiled at Colonel, who felt a chill run through him.

“I felt you and Aziminil go through the gateway.” Corbin was speaking directly to Colonel now. “I must say, it shocked me. The device had been inactivated for so long that when it did turn on, I must say I reacted rather slowly. By the time I acknowledged what was happening, the two of you had already gone through.

“I stuck around, though, and not long after, your dear friend River came following.” Corbin carefully ran a finger down River’s cheek.

“Don’t touch them,” Colonel glared.

Corbin raised his eyebrows at this. “Why, you do have some spunk after all! But don’t interrupt me, Oliver, or I’ll get a bit angrier.” His nail dug into River’s skin, leaving a thin trail of blood trickling down her cheek.

“I caught onto River then. Like a hitchhiker, crammed into the back of her subconscious. It wasn’t easy, nor pleasant, let me tell you. But I had to remain hidden–I couldn’t let you discover me too early. Not to mention, I hadn’t been to this dimension in so long that I’m afraid my powers were not quiet up to snuff. River had no idea, though. How could she? There was no way for her to know. I was beginning to wonder when I would ever get a chance to make my appearance when River had a… small accident.”

The party looked confused. “Oh,” Aniko suddenly looked up. “When she almost drowned.”

Corbin smirked. “Smarter than you look. She was so close to death and quickly losing consciousness that I finally overcame her mind, and I gained some power. Took a bit of her life force, then. “

“You took her life?!” Marigold said, shocked.

“How could you?!” Colonel cried.

“Oh, stop it! Don’t look so insulted! She was dying anyway, plus what do I care?! She’s fine now–well, other than being possessed. I could take some of your life force right now and you’d eventually gain it back. It just made her weaker for only about a day or two.”

“STILL,” Aniko yelled.

“Poor River!” Marigold sobbed.

“Why’re you so-“

“WHAT DID I SAY about interrupting?” Colonel saw real anger in Corbin’s face now. The group quieted.

“Luckily for the both of us,” the shadow continued, “River was saved. She was thrown inside, as I’m sure you all remember. I took that moment to depart from my host, and when everyone else came? Well, I take it you remember the incident with your friend Spoons over there.”

Spoons stuck his tongue out at Corbin. “Ты – дебил!”

“I guess you know the story from there. Really, this was the best environment to make my appearance. A ship, alone in the ocean? I can start by taking everyone’s mind from here and spreading once we reach our destination.”

“What do you even want here?” Black Molly broke the silence.

“Ah ah ah! Spoilers. Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise, now would I? Though I guess you won’t be around to see it.”

“What does that mean?” Salty asked. “Wouldn’t we be around as your puppets?”

Corbin paused, and he looked surprised, glancing at each of them in turn.”Oh, you don’t know, do you?”

There was a silence. Colonel saw something like amusement in Corbin’s face.

“Know what?” Colonel asked.

“Oh, you’re not gonna like this!”

“What? What is it?” Colonel started to panic again.

“None of you are gonna be around for much longer,” Corbin said matter-of-factly. “This possession I’m using on your friends and that I’ve used on some of you is very detrimental to one’s mind.” He paused. “It eventually kills you.”

The world seemed to grind to a halt.

“Molly, Oliver. You were saved from it, you’d be fine if I weren’t about to take you too. But your friends? I’m afraid they don’t have much time.”

Colonel felt sick to his stomach.

“Maybe another thirty minutes or so? Depends on the person.”

Suddenly, Colonel realized, the stakes of this encounter had raised. A time limit had been set upon the fight. A timer, for each person floating above the ground, slowly ticking away with each second Corbin stood there, a smile of brightest white still on his face.

“I take it by your silence,” Corbin eventually said, “that this puts pressure on whatever plan you had established?”

“Enough with the talk!” Aniko called angrily. “Guys, let’s do this!”

Corbin smiled as Molly and Aniko rushed toward him. Marigold pulled an arrow from her selection and fitted it into her bow. Salty started to mutter and twist his fingers into a spell. Colonel stood there, shocked, till a single thought finally processed. Save Aziminil and River. He pulled out his small cinnamon supply.

Marigold shot an arrow toward Corbin, but she watched in amazement as it flew right through him. Puzzled, she shot another, but, again, it harmed him in no way. It was when Marigold shot a third that Corbin even realized what she was doing. He laughed as everyone watched the arrow fly through him again, this time hitting Queegueg, who was behind Corbin.

“Why isn’t this working?!” Marigold cried.

Black Molly rushed forward herself, intending to hit Corbin through the middle with her cleaver. Instead, however, she fell through him, stumbling through the dark mist of Corbin’s body. He laughed again, turned around, and grabbed Black Molly by her hair.

“You really think you can hurt me?” He threw her against the opposite wall, where she slumped to floor, dazed.

“He choses when he’s substantial?!” Salty cried out. “That’s no fair!”

“Hit him with a spell!” Colonel called, helping Molly to her feet again.

Aniko threw a fireball at him, but it did the same thing as Marigold’s arrow. However, Corbin turned around quickly as it passed through him, grabbed it, and threw it toward the group.

Colonel threw himself and Molly out of the blast range, and turned back around to see Marigold crumple, catching the force of the blast.

“Marigold!” Colonel cried, rushing toward her.

But before Colonel reached her, Pistol Annie shot him in the shoulder with her crossbow.

“We need a better tactic!” Aniko called to Colonel.

“I don’t know what to do!” Colonel looked to Aniko, panic in his eyes.

“PUPPETS,” Corbin commanded loudly, “GET THEM!”

The limp figures of their friends began to circle around them, brandishing various weapons.

“Don’t hurt anyone!” Marigold cried as Aniko gave Derek a long slash down his arm.

“We’ve got no choice!” Molly yelled, cutting into River’s leg.

Aniko fired a frost spell at Aziminil, freezing her briefly into place.

“NO!” Colonel looked frantic. “Stop hurting everyone! Throw cinnamon at them!”

Spoons rushed forward, throwing out his arm so the cinnamon landed on Aziminil. There was a pause.

But nothing happened.

Corbin started to laugh. “You really think that feeble tactic is going to work when they’re all so close to the source? Cinnamon won’t help you now!”

Colonel looked close to tears. “We can’t hurt them!” Spoons nodded along with him, agreeing.

“What else can we do?” Aniko cried, giving Pistol Annie and Scurvy new scars.

Spoons started speaking at high speeds, waving his hands wildly.

“Spoons, we don’t know what you’re saying!” Molly cried, pushing back Cabin Boy and Barnacle Bill.

“Используйте корицу на Корбина! Уничтожь разум улья! Это, вероятно, освободит наших друзей!” Spoons was pointing from his cinnamon bottle to Corbin frantically.

“Wait, wait!” Colonel cried excitedly. “I think I know what he means!” He turned to Spoons. “Do you mean you think we should use our cinnamon on Corbin to free our friends?”

Spoons smiled and nodded up and down violently.

“That’s a great idea!” Colonel turned to the rest of them. “C’mon! We can do that! Stop hurting everyone!”

“We just have to find a way through to Corbin!” Aniko shouted.

“I’ll push everyone to the side with my wind spell,” Salty said, “And everyone else dash forward with their cinnamon!”

But when Salty cast his spell, the dark mist that had invaded their friends pushed back against the wind and they held their ground.

“UGH, that should’ve worked!” Salty looked angry.

Aniko shoved another three possessed people. “We’ll have to force them back manually! Everyone shove someone out of the way!”

Marigold took on Myrtle and Scurvy, shoving them to the side. Aniko got River and Derek cornered, slashing at them to keep them back. Salty took Aziminil and Cabin Boy, Black Molly had Barnacle Bill and Queegueg, while Colonel advanced on Pistol Annie and Derek. This left Spoons, who ran towards Corbin at top speed.

Corbin realized that Spoons was running at him, and shot a hand out in his direction. Dark shadows quickly sped toward Spoons, ready to possess him.

But Spoons was ready for this, and right as the mist crowded into his face, he upturned the entire bottle of cinnamon on Corbin’s head.

Every possessed person in the room suddenly stopped. Corbin froze in place, Spoons still suspended in the air by the shadow man’s mist.

Corbin screamed. It was high-pitched and loud, echoing throughout the room. The mist in everyone’s eyes quickly seeped out, returning to Corbin. Everyone hovered in the air still, their normal eyes rolling back into their heads. There was a beat of silence, as Corbin finally stopped screaming.

Then all the possessed people fell to the floor, unconscious, except Spoons, who hadn’t been fully possessed. Corbin, still standing still, suddenly burst. The mist that made him up scattered to every corner of the room, finally dissipating into nothing.

There was silence. The group stood there, tired, staring around to see if anything would happen. No one on the ground stirred.

Colonel dropped to the floor by Aziminil and River, shaking them by the shoulders, trying to see if they would respond. For a terrible second, Colonel thought it was too late.

Then River sat up and started coughing. “Gah, hair in my throat!” she said in between coughs.

“River!” Colonel cried with relief.

Then Aziminil yawned and stretched. “Ouch!” she cried, looking at her new arm wound. “Oooh! Why do I have a new cut? Marigold, did Bob visit you again?! I hope he did, he’s so nice!”

“Aziminil!” Colonel threw his arms around both of their shoulders.

“What? Colonel? What’s the matter? And why am I covered in injuries?” River said, patting Colonel on the back.

“Hiiii Colonel!” Aziminil squeezed Colonel as hard as she could. “I had the weirdest dream about puppets! Do you wanna hear it? So I was sitting in Derek’s office playing with some creepy ol’ puppets and….”

Everyone else around the room began to stir and sit up. Spoons rushed to Pistol Annie as she inspected new gashes on her arms. Black Molly was trying to explain the whole situation to Scurvy and Derek, the latter of whom was looking very confused. Salty just looked like he desperately didn’t want to be there.

Aniko and Marigold came to sit by Aziminil and River, both of whom were still trying to pry information out of Colonel.

“No, no, no, I’m still confused. Possession?” River cocked her head. “Then who beat me up?”

“Hahahahaha, Marigold look! I can’t move my leg! It’s frozen!” Aziminil poked at her frozen appendage.

Everyone in the room was slowly getting up and wandering off.

“Wait, why am I in the hold again?” Derek was asking Black Molly, who sighed loudly and rolled her eyes.

Colonel was very tired, and he let Aniko explain the entire situation to River and Aziminil.

“Ohhh,” River said, “that’s why Colonel was being all weird!”

“Huh?” Colonel turned to River.

“It was you who pushed me into the hold! You were possessed! Ah, that makes so much sense!”

“Wait, you saw me possessed?”

“Wow, it must have been creepy being in a ship full of possessed people!” River grinned.

The group had gotten up and was moving up out of the hold. “But you killed the bad guy, right?” Aziminil asked.

“I’m pretty sure, yes!” Aniko said.

“Wow, that answer instils me with confidence,” River said dryly.

Colonel smiled, finally content to see his friends all together again, not a single one of them dead or possessed. Aniko was bragging about managing not to have been possessed, and River was punching her arm, and Marigold was furiously writing things down in her notebook, and Aziminil was waddling like a penguin because her leg was still frozen, and they were all fine and miraculously alive.

---

“I still can’t believe you didn’t kill Marigold without me or Colonel, Aniko,” River grinned.

“It was a struggle, let me tell you!”

The group was making their way toward the Captain’s corridors. It was two days after the ordeal, and everyone was feeling much better. Aziminil’s leg had been unfrozen, and she had walked away from the incident without frostbite.

“I really feel like,” Marigold began, “we grew closer as friends and our bond was strengthened by the difficult ordeal we went through and–“

“Nope, definitely not,” Aniko shook her head while River laughed.

“Hm, interesting,” Marigold pondered as she took out her notebook.

“Ah, there’s that classic notebook,” River sighed as Marigold began scribbling in it. “How I’ve missed it so,” she said sarcastically.

“Really?!” Marigold looked up happily.

“No. Plus,” River added as an afterthought, “I technically wasn’t conscious for most of that ordeal, so I couldn’t have missed it if I wanted too.”

Marigold presumably wrote this down, but it just looked like scribbling to everyone else.

“I wonder what Derek wants now,” Colonel said nervously as the descended down the stairs.

River laughed, “He’s got another demon on board we gotta get rid of!”

Colonel groaned, “Oh, I’m still mad at him for that.”

Aniko knocked on the door, waited a beat, then walked in upon Derek’s cue.

The scene before them looked very similar to when Derek had asked them to get rid of Corbin. Derek was in his chair, hands folded on his desk. Scurvy sat beside him in a chair, and Pistol Annie sat up on the desk, intimidating as ever.

“Why hello, dear friends!” Derek called happily upon their entrance. “How is everyone on this fine morning?”

The party looked at each other before mumbling various answers.

“Great!” Derek said happily, smiling at them all in turn. “You’ve done this boat a great severity this past weeks, and– what is it this time, Scurvy? Can’t you just let me give a speech without–” Derek blushed again as Scurvy leaned down to whisper in his ear while Annie groaned audibly.

Derek cleared his throat. “Pardon me,” he said. “You done this boat a great servitude, which is the same thing really, but whatever.” Derek’s voice trailed away at the end of his sentence as he blushed again. “Anyway,” he continued, “we’ll reach the port of the Quartzite Kingdom tomorrow, and, as you’ve done us a great service, we’ll let you go alive, granted you don’t send any authorities after us.”

“If you do,” Pistol Annie added, “we’ll hunt you down and kill you.”

“Ah hahaha!” Colonel force-laughed nervously. “There’s no need for that, dear, dear friends!”

“We don’t plan on ratting you out,” River agreed.

“Great!” Derek looked relived. “Gather your things, then get a good night’s sleep! You’ll leave in the morning.”

---

The group was on a small rowboat commandeered by Pistol Annie and Spoons. The pirates had decided not to dock at the Peridot Port because pirate ships are sort of conspicuous and they didn’t want to be arrested. As a result, Spoons had volunteered to see the party off. Pistol Annie had come “as backup,” as she described, and also to help Spoons row the boat there and back.

The port was slowly coming into view, and Colonel gazed upon the sprawling, prosperous kingdom of Quartzite. He had always wanted to come visit the area; he had heard many wonderful things about the place. The Quartzite King and Queen had built their kingdom up from the ground, and it seemed to be in a new golden era, or, at least, that’s the last Colonel heard of the place. News about the area was slow to travel across the rest of the globe, and Colonel and the rest of the party had always been a hemispheres away from it. Apparently the portal had popped them out rather closer to the area than Colonel had imagined. It was a little frightening to think they had moved so far away from where they usually spent their time, but it was still exciting to visit a new area.

Recently, though it had probably been several years ago, Colonel had heard that the King and Queen had adopted a kender daughter as community outreach, and the move had been met with great applause from the people. Colonel wondered how the royal family was doing these days: he couldn’t quite remember any other their names at the moment.

Nonetheless, Colonel couldn’t help but feel a chill as the rowboat came to a halt against the board walk of the Peridot Port. “О, мои новые, дорогие друзья! Как я буду по тебе скучать! Я и мои друзья обязаны вам своей жизнью, и я никогда не забуду приключения, которые мы пережили вместе,” Spoons rambled out in one breath.

The party stared at him incomprehensibly, and somewhat guiltily. It seemed as though it were a heartfelt speech, but none had any idea of what it included.

Pistol Annie eventually broke the silence. “Bye, guys,” she smiled. “Thanks for your service.”

Colonel Popcorn still thought Pistol Annie was frightening and quite intimidating, but he accepted he farewell with a smile.

“Thank you guys,” he said, “for not killing us.”

Annie smiled, (somewhat regrettably, it seemed to Colonel), and said, “Good luck on your next adventure.”

Spoons hugged each of the party members in turn as they departed from the boat. River, Aziminil, Colonel, Aniko, then he spent an extra ten seconds on Marigold.

“I’ll miiiiss you!” Marigold wailed.

“Я тоже буду по тебе скучать!” Spoons cried in return.

The party waved as the rowboat receded into the distance.

Another chapter of our lives closed, Colonel thought rather dramatically as Spoons and Pistol Annie became too small to see anymore.

“So,” Aniko finally broke the silence, “where are we going again?”

“The Monastery of Oghma,” Colonel replied. “For shelter and information.”

“Great! Let’s get going! I’m hungry and I want to sleep in a real bed tonight,” Aniko rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

Colonel smiled.

The group set off into the great city of Quartzite.

---

Creators PotatoCat and SquirrelHat would like to apologize for the possibly horrible Russian translations used for Spoons’s dialogue. However, since they both don’t known Russian, they were forced to used Google Translate and have no idea if it’s accurate or not. Thank you!

---

Written by PotatoCat and edited by SquirrelHat. Cover art drawn by PotatoCat and colored by SquirrelHat. Illustrations done by SquirrelHat.