The smell of smoke stung everyone's noses as the pirates' ships engulfed in flames. The pirates’ cries were as hollow as ghosts as their ships slowly sank further and further into the abyss. Their flames were a single burst of warmth alongside the murky, cloudy skies as they disappeared among the mist, no more than a speck amid the clouds and vast skies. Even the screams cut off, and all that was left were the howls of wind as everyone else watched the fall end…

But despite the morbid circumstances, they all cheered and leaped up! They escaped ghost pirate territory with the lives and ship (not an easy feat by any means), and by the Ancients, they were gonna cheer! They all hugged each other tight, spun around, Trigger Happy shot golden fireworks in the air, and even Stealth Elf managed a grin beneath her mask as she crossed her arms.

"Welp, looks like that ship's down for the count!" Flynn remarked as he wiped his hands. He grinned for a moment, but his grin slowly fell as his eyes popped open. "Actually, though, being a ghost ship, there's a pretty good chance it'll come back!"

Flynn gasped, jumped back to the Dread-Yacht's steering wheel and swung the Dread-Yacht around! It slowly creaked into motion and soared across the skies till the dying ghost ship down below vanished from view. All that was left were endless expanses of clouds and sky once more, and with the pirates gone, everyone took a breather and sat down.

Ninjini leaned over and quirked a brow as Gill Grunt admired the locket in his palms. "Were you not able to find your lover?" Ninjini asked as she leaned in closer.

Gill Grunt shook his head, yet he still kept that simple, gentle smile on his face as he traced hearts in the side of the locket. "'Fraid not," Gill Grunt whispered, and his grin grew a bit larger as he examined the locket's inside, "but, she's alive!"

Ninjini frowned a little bit, and a look of disappointment shone in her eyes. though, she dispelled her somber look with a shake of her head and examined the locket's inside.

On one half of the locket, there was a picture. Its paper was a bit worn and faded, yet the illustration on it was crisp and clear as day: a young gillman dressed in a marine's outfit wrapped in a mermaid's embrace while they kissed with the passion of lovers much older than they were, as close as close could be. On the other side, G and R runes stood carved into the locket's rusted metal.

"She still kept this old thing, even after all this time." Gill Grunt chuckled as he closed the locket and held it close to his heart. "Rita, once I find you, I'll make sure I get it back to you."

Ninjini chuckled and sat back up. "I'm sure you'll find her someday."

Gill Grunt nodded as he tucked the locket into his pocket, and shook his head.

"No, I'll definitely find her."

Ninjini smiled and rubbed Gill Grunt's shoulders with her finger, a rare moment of peace after such a hectic time. Even that was fleeting as the crackle of static echoed over the loudspeakers.

"Alright, everyone! This is your captain speaking!" Flynn boomed. "Now that we're making our way out of ghost pirate territory, onto our next objective: finding the rest of our crew and getting back on track!" Flynn's voice lowered just a bit. "That is, if I can even figure out where the heck we are in the first place…"

Sighs and eyerolls came all around, and some even buried their heads in their hands. In all their elation over finally making their grand escape, they forgot one thing: they had no idea where they were! Surely, it would take them days, weeks even, before they even remotely got to somewhere familiar.

"Yeah, this is gonna take a while," Spyro remarked as he shook his head, jolted it back up and gasped. "That's right! I'd better let Chi know we're alright!"

Spyro bowed his head and clasped his front paws together. A purplish-pink light shimmered from the gaps in his toes, and glowed even brighter as Spyro lifted his paws to reveal a butterfly! The butterfly sparkled as it flew away from Spyro's grip, hovered and flew in midair as if it waited for Spyro's next command.

"Find Chihiro, and tell her that we're alright and going to find her!" Spyro said.

The butterfly nodded, and Spyro grinned as it flew off from the Dread-Yacht's deck! He waved goodbye as it disappeared beyond the clouds, but even that momentary glimpse of happiness disappeared as he lowered his paws and frowned.

"Hopefully."

"Alright everyone, you might wanna hang onto something!" Flynn boomed over the loudspeakers. "I'm about to shift this baby into overdrive!"

Everyone turned around and frowned as they gazed at Flynn, but that happened a little too late. With the crank of a lever, the Dread-Yacht dashed off fast a bullet! Screams were the only thing that could be heard as everyone flew forward and pinned to the walls.

Flynn was perfectly oblivious despite their cries; he just cheered from the pilot's seat as he spun the wheel around. "Hoo baby!" Flynn cried as the Dread-Yacht burst through a particularly large cloud and split it in two. "Let's see if this can go any faster!"

"NO!" everyone else cried as the Dread-Yacht disappeared into the distance.