Chapter 293: Getting to Partia

Rubis, Emeraude, BM, Cherry and Ivy were all on the Bridge together. BM was at the helm of the ship. Emeraude had shown Cherry and Ivy`s their room. Ivy said she could not possibly have this to herself however Emeraude insisted and she accepted. Cherry was over the top when she got a room. She jumped onto the bed and started rolling. Emeraude smiled. She then gave Cherry some food. At first she hesitated however she quickly accepted. Emeraude could see sparkles in her eyes after eating the food. 

"We are approaching Partia," BM informed. 

"Is the lab not inside the forest where the ship cannot get to?" Rubis asked. 

"I think so, Alvida mentioned that they had to take Lexi with them there," Emeraude replied. 

"We only have the damaged body of the Treasure Guardian, that is useless right now," Rubis said. 

"There is a stream that takes us there directly," BM replied.

"You and I can swim there, Rubis," Emeraude suggested.

"We can stay near the Miss Love Geese while you're away," Ivy quickly said, feeling they might not trust them. She thought this was reasonable as they did not her and her sister.

"We can walk and carry your things," Cherry offered. She did not want to be upset or be kicked out. Emeraude was nice, like Vivi. 

"You are not a slave on this ship," Emeraude said firmly.

"I can carry them both," BM offered.

"No, we cannot burden you," Ivy said, shaking her head.

"Are you okay with that, BM?" Rubis asked. BM nodded in agreement.

"Okay, that settles it," Emeraude said, then looked at Ivy and Cherry. "We are equals," she emphasized. Ivy and Cherry did not want to argue against Emeraude. They both nodded but they felt a little guilty. 

They sailed around the island and got to the back of the island. "This is the south side," BM reported.

"We could not see much of the town since it was so dark," Rubis said. Cherry looked outside and put her hands to her eyes, mimicking binoculars. Through her make-believe lenses, she saw a thick forest with tall, towering oak and beech trees stretching towards the sky.

"I will drop the anchor here," BM informed. 

"Should no one stay on the Miss Love Geese?" Ivy asked. 

"I am connected to her so I will know if she is in danger," BM replied. 

"We are close by anyways, as fishwoman we can swim fast so we will get back once BM says," Rubis added. 

BM pressed a button and dropped the anchor. She retracted the sails. "Okay, the Miss Love Geese is secured," BM reported. 

Emeraude nodded. "Okay, let's head out," Emeraude said. 

BM held onto Ivy and Cherry. They saw she looked a bit different. She had small wings and two pairs of horns. She also had a thin black tail with a heart at the end. In the midst of the panic, they did not notice these details. They both thought she looked a little like Princess Vivi. 

Rubis and Emeraude held onto their spears. They jumped into the sea near the island. BM took to the sky. She flew towards the stream.The flow of water was coming downhill, following the contours of the landscape which was straight. They went up and up the stream. Cherry was smiling the entire way as she felt the wind in her hair. 

Ivy looked at the joy in Cherry`s face. She saw this smile when she was with Princess Vivi and now here. She thought of the nights where they went to sleep starving. She hoped, no she knew they would not let that happen to them.

They arrived at a breathtaking waterfall. "It's beautiful," Cherry exclaimed, gazing at the cascading water with the night sky as a stunning backdrop.

"It sure is," Ivy agreed, equally captivated.

"The lab is behind the waterfall," BM informed them. BM flew behind the waterfall and there was a cave behind the waterfall. 

At that moment, Rubis and Emeraude jumped from the river and into the cave. BM flew down and let Cherry and Ivy off. "Looks like we made it," Rubis remarked. 

"Are you both fine?" Emeraude asked.

"Yes, we are," Ivy replied. Cherry nodded. 

The cave was a hollow rock structure which extended inwards. It was dark, grey and damp. "It is really dark," Ivy said as she tried to walk around. 

Rubis grabbed her hand and held it. "We can see a bit better in the dark," Rubis said. 

Emeraude held Cherry`s hand. "We can guide you," Emeraude remarked. They both nodded.

"Thank you," Ivy and Cherry replied. They started to walk down the cave. 

"It smells," Cherry commented. Emeraude grabbed a cloth from her pocket and put it over Cherry`s nose. 

"This will help a bit," Emeraude remarked. She looked and saw some skeletons appeared to be dressed in civilian clothes, while a few were clad in pirate attire, their bones bleached white. Among them, some still had remnants of flesh clinging to their bones. One particularly haunting skull, devoid of most flesh, was adorned with a tattered bandana. Its empty eye sockets and a jagged, skeletal grin revealed teeth that had long since turned to dust. There was another one which had all his flesh however there were wounds. 

"There seems to be more," BM observed. 

"More?" Ivy asked. The smell was repulsive. 

"More bodies and they look fresh," BM replied.

Ivy and Cherry felt a shiver go down their spine. "They did mention there is something else going on this island," Emeraude noted.

"We should get to the bottom of it," Rubis added.

"This is our lab and we should not let it be a dump ground," Rubis further added.

Emeraude nodded as they walked towards the end of the cave. BM walked a small piece of rock went upwards revealing a panel with a numeric keypad. She pressed the number 3, three times. Next to the number pad the rock opened up and a lift could be seen. It had a bright light illuminating the cave. 

"Wow," Cherry said as she looked at the white lift. It was clean. 

"I did not expect this," Ivy said, surprised at the sudden contrast in front of her. 

"I think this is just the start," Emeraude said. She was excited to see the lab. 

"Finally," Rubis remarked. They walked in the lift.

"We will go down," BM informed as she pressed the "D" button. The doors closed. Emeraude moved her cloth over Cherry`s mouth. 

"Thank you," Cherry said as she bowed down to Emeraude.

"You don't need to bow down," Emeraude said. The lift slowly started moving. It went down for a few minutes until it stopped. The door opened.