"Nope! There is no way, no how, that I'm going there!" Gurglefin shouted as he shook his head back and forth, his arms crossed.

"But, Gigglefin, we need to get there, that's where the Eternal Water Source!" Chihiro pleaded as she fell to her knees and peered up at Gurglefin with the saddest puppy-dog eyes she could make.

"First off, it would help your case if you got my name right for once." Gurglefin gave Chihiro a tired stare as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Second off, I'd love to help you get the Ethereal Source of Water or whatever it's called, but I am not going to Leviathan Lagoon!" Fear sneaked into Gurglefin's voice as he gulped and looked over the oceans. "After all, that place is called Leviathan Lagoon for a reason!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Chihiro smiled as she stood back up and shrugged. "But how bad can a giant, carnivorous monster that could eat whole villages for breakfast be?"

"Very bad?"

"Eh, not really. Look, I'm sure that thing is probably nothing, so are you gonna take us or not?"

Chihiro frowned as Gurglefin fearfully shook his head.

"Come on, pleaseee?"

Gurglefin continued to shake his head. In fact, he shook so badly that the shaking moved from his head to his webbed toes.

“Come on, it’s just one little carnivorous fish, it’s not like it’s gonna eat you or something—“

Gurglefin’s eyes shrank, and next thing they both knew, he screamed for mercy and dove behind a crate as he shuddered.

"Chihiro!" Hugo shouted as he ran down the beach's stairs as fast as his little legs could carry him with his breath heavy all the way. "Were you able to convince Gurglefin to take you there?"

Chihiro pointed towards where Gurglefin hid, and extremely poorly at that as his shuddering gave away his hiding spot. "Does it look like I was able to convince him?"

"Here, let me talk to him then."

Hugo pushed though Chihiro and knelt down to Gurglefin's height, which actually wasn't too far from Hugo's own. "Gurglefin, you do know where Leviathan Lagoon is, right?" Hugo watched Gurglefin nodded his head. "Good, then you can take them!"

Hugo clasped his hands together as Gurglefin rapidly shook.

"B-but—" Gurglefin raised a finger, and drew it back down; Hugo had already passed him by, and clearly would not entertain any more arguments.

"Well, better get going then!" Hugo turned back to Chihiro with an oddly smug look on his face. "We don't want Kaos to make off with the Eternal Water Source!"

"You picked that up from me, didn't you?" Chihiro teased with a cock of her eyebrow.

"Who else?" Hugo nudged Chihiro towards the stairs. "Now, you'd better tell the Skylanders that we're ready to go. The Eternal Water Source isn't going to return itself, as much as we'd like it to!"

Chihiro chirped as she dashed up the stairs and to the central part of the island.

"Hey guys!" Chihiro shouted with a wave that earned her the attention of each Skylander in the area. "Looks like we've got a ride!"

"Really?" Zap gargled as he ran to the forefront of the Skylanders that crowded around Chihiro.

"Hugo managed to talk Gurglefin into giving us a ride to the Lagoon!" Chihiro hastily nodded as she peered over her choices. "Now, to decide who's going."

About half of the Skylanders crowded around her at the moment. It was surprisingly light on crime today, so many of them were assigned to guard the island—which was just enough of a varied pool for Chihiro! She hummed a bit, and pointed to Gill Grunt and Wham-Shell.

"Gill, Whammy, you're with me." Chihiro's tone was orderly, but still held some youthful excitement in its grasp. "The rest of you can just sit tight! We'll have the Eternal Water Source back in no time."

Gill Grunt and Wham-Shell came to Chihiro's side, and all the three of them nodded.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Chihiro backed up without even a moment spent to turn around, "I—excuse me, we—have an Eternal Source to—WHOA!"

Of course, not paying attention has its consequences, and for Chihiro, this meant falling down the stairs with a resounding shout of pain exclaimed from every bump she gained as she fell down! As soon as the shouts stopped, Gill Grunt and Wham-Shell peered down the stairs. Down at their bottom, Chihiro plopped face-first in the sand and staggered upwards as she spat out a faceful of sand.

"I'm fine, just a little slip."

Chihiro's voice carried the slightest hint of pain as she gave them a thumbs up. With her message taken as a good sign, the two of them raced down the stairs and joined Chihiro at her side.

"You sure you're alright, Chihiro?" Wham-Shell asked as he picked up Chihiro and gave her a concerned gaze.

"Yeah, Whammy, it's just a little fall." Chihiro claimed that, but the crack in her voice betrayed her weakness.

Wham-Shell frowned as Chihiro just passed it off with a giggle. "Well, just take it easy, Chi. I don't want you getting hurt."

"You don't need to worry about me! If anything, you should be worrying about those pirates that are gonna get a thrashing when we get there!"

Wham-Shell rolled his eyes and chuckled as Chihiro punched and kicked the air while she made all sorts of fight scene noises. "Just be careful."

Wham-Shell gave her one last concerned glance, and smiled as she squeezed his hand tight. The two of them then went after Gill Grunt, who already reached Delilah's parking spot and currently held a chat with Gurglefin.

"Gill! Is Gurglefin ready to shove off yet?" Chihiro shouted as she leaned over and waved her arms.

"Actually, it's Gurglefin!" Gurglefin corrected as he gave Chihiro a look of disdain.

Chihiro gave Gurglefin a confused look and shrugged. "But, that's what I said."

"Yep!" Gill Grunt proclaimed as he pushed past Gurglefin. "We just need to get on and he'll take us straight there!"

"Not saying I'll enjoy it," Gurglefin added under his breath as he ignored the others' faces of excitement, "But…"

"Hey Gurgles!" Chihiro shouted, her smile wide and her voice perky as she pushed herself next to a still-perturbed Gurglefin.

"Er, hello there."

"So, you gonna start sailin' or not, Gurgly?" Chihiro tilted her head while her smile receded into something that vaguely resembled a cat's mouth. "'Cause—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, the Ethereal Source of Water or whatever won't wait all day." Gurglefin turned and looked at Delilah. "And neither will—" Gurglefin gulped "—the Leviathan!"

"Oh hush, it's just a big fish!" Chihiro slapped Gurglefin on the back and frowned as he screamed out.

"B-but, its gigantic! In fact, it's the size of a sky whale!" Gurglefin addressed Chihiro with a fearful gaze and trembling hands, but frowned as she laughed it off.

"Look, Gurglefin." Chihiro relaxed her shoulders. "I was born in a town where they sold giant fish in the marketplace for two thousand, four hundred yen a pop! That Leviathan is probably nothing!" Chihiro passed by Gurglefin and looked over at Delilah. "Now, when are we headed off?"

With a sigh, Gurglefin peered over to Delilah, whistled, and watched as she released the plank. "Right now."

Chihiro, ever so eager to get the adventure started, dashed up the board and raced around the deck a few times before she took notice of the steering wheel. She reached out her hand and was about ready to touch the side of the wheel, right when a seafoam green fin slapped it away!

"Not today you aren't," Gurglefin scolded as he gave Chihiro the stink eye and shook a webbed finger at her.

Chihiro pouted and stuffed her hands into her pockets. "You guys are no fun sometimes."

Chihiro drew her eyes away from her lost prize, and instead noted Gill Grunt and Wham-Shell. As they took their seats, Chihiro gained a dangerously excited grin on her face—the kind that was fueled by caffeine and unkempt energy, the kind of look that screamed mischief and mayhem.

"Hey guys!" Chihiro swung over to where the three of them sat deep in conversation. "Wanna stand on the mast and see how long it takes for us to fall off?"

The two of them looked at each other with confused glances, and then looked back at Chihiro with those same confused expressions pasted on their faces.

"We'd love too, Chihiro, but that sounds a little," Wham-Shell said before he pursed his lips and looked over at Gill Grunt, "er, what's the word I'm looking for here?"

"Unsafe?" Gill Grunt suggested as Wham-Shell nodded—though it was hard to tell since Wham-Shell had no neck.

"Yeah, that's about right."

Wham-Shell looked over at Chihiro, who shrugged and sat down.

"Heh, just kidding," Chihiro remarked as she stretched her arms and beamed, her tongue stuck out in a teasing manner. "Well, guys—"

"Chihiro, before you go off suggesting anything," Wham-Shell interrupted as he drummed his claws against the deck. "Do you have anything in mind that won't result in certain death?"

"Well…" Chihiro placed a finger to her cheek and slyly smiled. "I could tell you about Beautiful Remedy for the next hour or so?"

Wham-Shell and Gill Grunt looked at each other for a moment and shrugged.

"Well, you never did tell me how that nightmare kingdom story ended," Gill Grunt remarked with a gentle smile.

"Go ahead, Chi. Enthrall us," Wham-Shell said with a slight hint of amusement in his voice.

Chihiro's smile grew the widest they had seen, and she let out a shrill scream of delight that caused everybody around to cover their ears. "THANK YOU THANK YOU! THANK YOU! NOBODY'S EVER ASKED ME TO CONTINUE BEFORE!" Chihiro squealed as she bounced up and down on the deck, "Anyway, where was I at before we started?" Chihiro snapped her fingers after a few moments of thought. "Oh right!"

Before Chihiro could speak, however, they all heard something lurch forward and rolled across the deck!

"We must've hit the edge of the island!" Wham-Shell shouted as he grabbed onto the deck's pole and held on tight. "Gill, Chihiro, you alright?"

With a grunt of pain, Gill Grunt slammed face-first into the pole and wrapped his scaly arms around it. His panting was heavy as he lifted up his head, which now had a giant, purple bruise right where he had slammed his face.

"I'm fine, I swear," Gill Grunt panted as he looked around. "Wait, where's Chihiro?"

The two of them heard a scream, then looked down to find that Chihiro had fallen further down—MUCH further down. She slammed against the back of the deck's leftmost tip, and her back pinnedagainst the wood as she tried to climb back up… But it wasn't working. The further she climbed, the more the wind pushed her back, right until she was just inches away from falling off!

"Chihiro!" Wham-Shell shouted as he let go of the pole and dropped down. As he fell, Wham-Shell corkscrewed himself over to where Chihiro laid, grabbed her off the edge, and pulled them both to a safer part of the deck. "You're lucky, Chihiro." Wham-Shell panted as he sat down and caught his breath, "This ship's way too dangerous, I—" Wham-Shell's eyes shot up as he snapped his claws "—dangerous! That was the word I was looking for!"

Wham-Shell turned back to address Chihiro, but Chihiro only looked away with a frown, like her mind was completely elsewhere.

"Hey, Whammy, do you feel like you're moving?" Chihiro asked as she looked back at Wham-Shell.

Wham-Shell frowned, then stopped and thought for a moment—but that moment wasn't enough to response. Why, one may ask, was that not enough time? That was because while Wham-Shell tried to keep Chihiro from seeing her life flash before her eyes, Gurglefin plunged Delilah straight down the waterfall! Thanks to the rapid speed of the plunge, Wham-Shell and Chihiro tumbled down the deck and onto the mast! The two of them wrapped their arms around the mast and clung to it as hard as they could—understandably, given that their grasp on it was the only thing that kept them from plummeting to their deaths.

"Heh, guess we got to play 'Who-can-stay-on-the-mast-for-the-longest' after all, Whammy!" Chihiro shouted with an uneasy grin on her face.

"Not right now!" Wham-Shell shouted back as his arms struggled to keep from slipping off the wooden mast while the ship hit the skies.

As her grip on the mast slipped slightly, Chihiro let out a shrill scream and hastily pulled herself back up. Once she was safely wrapped around it, she breathed a sigh of relief only to peer down at the endless sky below her and gulp.

Wham-Shell dug his claws into the mast's wooden surface, and pulled himself back up onto the top of the mast. As he kept his balance careful, he knelt down and grabbed Chihiro's hand from the mast before he tossed her back onto the deck.

"You alright, Chihiro?" Wham-Shell asked as he jumped onto the deck and sat down.

"Somehow." Chihiro briskly nodded her head and stood. "Y'know, that was actually pretty fun! Let's do it again—"

"NO." Wham-Shell promptly fell on his back.

§

"And then, right as everything seened to be going right, the big villain showed up and blasted Monika to bites and Marisa broke down crying," Chihiro rambled, complete with exaggerated stances and hand gestures, "and honestly, I almost did that too, because honest to goodness, Marisa cares about Monika sooooo much, and seeing Monika nearly die in front of her just broke me."

Chihiro made a highly exaggerated weep as she swooned onto the deck. "But get this!" Chihiro sprung back up and grinned. "It was all an illusion! Monika got a new power and then they sent him running with his tail between his legs!"

"And I take it Marisa and Monika are good friends?" Gill Grunt asked with a gentle smile as Chihiro's eyes sparkled.

"Oh they're more than just friends, Gill, they're totally lovers." Chihiro got so excited that she edged closer to Gill Grunt until she was in straight in his face. "In fact, Marisa and Monika are meant for each other and anyone who says otherwise is a filthy liar!"

"Are we there yet?" Wham-Shell groaned as he laid down on the deck with only half a mind paid to their conversation.

"Hey, that's my line!" Chihiro shouted as she let out a humph. "Anyways, I doubt we'll be there any time soon—looks like it's just ocean and ocean and more ocean." Chihiro got up, peered over the deck only to spy vast oceans and more, and turned back around. "Yep."

Chihiro turned her attention back to Gill Grunt. "Anyways, Gill, it's totally true love, I can tell. In fact, I have two seasons' worth of evidence!"

Chihiro took a deep breath, the widest smile on her face.

"So, my first piece of evidence, and arguably the best piece, would have to be—"

Before she could finish her speech, Chihiro fell onto her back as the ship lurched to a halt.

"Hey, I don't know if you noticed or not, but we're here!" Gurglefin shouted from across the steering wheel.

Chihiro stood up and peered over the edge, where sure enough, they arrived onto the beach shores of Leviathan Lagoon! The island looked a bit fancier now that they had arrived on its shores; there was grass all around the area with only a few chunk that were entirely sandy beach. Each one of these areas was decorated with rickety wooden bridges and fancy red and yellow stone pillars, like the beach level of some semi-obscure game. Of course, there were also pirates in all shapes and sizes everywhere one turned!

"Ugh, great—pirates." Gurglefin moaned as he banged his head against Delilah's steering wheel. "Like I didn't get enough of these guys back at the Cove."

"Cove?" Wham-Shell repeated as he looked at Gill Grunt.

"It's a long story," Gill Grunt replied with a tired tone as he returned Wham-Shell's gaze.

"Guess my Marimoni evidence essay will have to wait for later!" Chihiro shouted as she watched the plank proceed out from the ship and run down onto the island below.

Once she was situated, she gazed down at the crystal oceans that enveloped the island as if there was something odd brewed beneath its surface-level beauty. Wham-Shell stood up, dashed to Chihiro's side and peered over the edge with her. Together, they saw the image of a giant blue fish the size of ten whales as it swam underneath them, its shadow a dark blue, inky stain against the crystalline waters of the ocean blue.

"Think that's the Leviathan?" Chihiro asked as she looked over to Wham-Shell.

Gurglefin gulped in the background.

"Wouldn't doubt it," Wham-Shell replied as he looked over at Chihiro. "It's certainly big enough. Thing's probably the size of two Sky Whales!"

Gurglefin gulped again.

"Well…" Chihiro frowned as she looked over the shadow once more, then stood up and shrugged. "It doesn't seem like it's going to bug us right now. Best we get going before it changes its mind!"

And with that said, Chihiro dashed down the road ahead before any protests could be made!

"Jeez, kid." Wham-Shell chuckled turned to address Gill Grunt, who nodded and started up his water jetpack. "Hey Gill, does she act like this when she's around you?"

Gill Grunt cracked a wry smile and a laugh. "All the time, Wham. All the time," Gill Grunt replied as he hovered down the plank.

As the two of them left Gurglefin behind, Gurglefin only sputtered and forced an awkward grin.

"Well, uh, I'll just stay here and guard the ship for you! And if you see any giant killer fish…" Gurglefin looked over the ocean and shuddered before turned back to the island as he raised his voice. "DON'T CALL ME!"