"Turn 'round! Batten down the hatches! Yarrgh! The Seven flow in devious ways about these waters! Bring a spring upon 'er ye sons 'o biscuit eaters!"

A meek young man draped in rags halted his mopping to make sense of the ear piercing screeching emanating from of a frail old man attempting to jump overboard. The boy looked on as multiple hands rushed the bag of bones trying to jump ship and pinned him to the deck.

"Three sheets to the wind!" The skinny boy proclaimed. The old man continued and as he did his insults multiplied and intensified to the point of comparing certain sailor's mothers to various animals and rotting fruit.

"That be not the work o' spirits, ye scallywag." A gruff voice lowly expressed.

The boy's red, faded to salmon pink, bandanna that hugged his head turned to the grumble that bellowed from behind him. There, on a leg of wood, stood a behemoth of a man. Dirt brown hair that grew as clumped, seeking roots, tortured and twisted, topped a scar riddled face. All of this was hidden behind the tangle of a great bushy beard washed only by the salt of the ocean. The ungainly man inched forward with an arm practically pulling his right peg leg. The boy immediately swallowed his tongue at the sight of his captain and bowed his head in the presence of his superior. But not out of respect as one may do in the company of someone of a higher rank. In all his months aboard the ship, he had acclimated to his new life quite well yet he found it exceedingly difficult to become accustomed to the captain's ungodly effluvium. For that reason he always buried his head into the stench of his rags on the rare occasion the captain made himself seen.

"He be the last survivin' member o' the Bloated Barnacle, he be."

The boy's bow became deeper as the captain remained at an arm's length away. He fell to his knees as he clutched the mop with a force strong enough to choke the life from a horse. The only thing that smelled worse than the captain was the captain's breath. The boy began to say something with watery eyes but only let out a slight gag. The captain, rosy faced from seeing such a respectful crew member, continued.

"Yarrrgh, that be right m'boy! The very same ship that disappeared amongst these waters of the devil's ocean. One o' many that no pirate'll ever learn te count te!"

Tickled pink under the black grime smeared about his face, the captain swung an arm around the seemingly respectful young man. The boy stiffened at the touch of the moldering coat and wept tears through his burning eyes from the unbearable stench. The captain continued with his hook firmly embedded in the boy's abdomen, something that went unnoticed from the specter of listener the boy had become.

"Only a fool would dare traverse these here seas and his crew were collectively that fool they'd been. Yarrgh!"

The captain stared off into the blood red depths of the sun setting sea before abruptly turning heel and addressing a few pirates tuning their instruments.

"Oi! Have ye' lot rested enough to sing the Demon's Ocean song?"

A jumpy pirate amongst them dropped his instrument and wrenched out in a hoarse, barely audible squeal.

"It'd be murder, Captain! We sang all the way here we did!"

They slovenly began the starting notes of their masterpiece when the captain interrupted their discordant melody.

"Aye, be at ease and save it fer something important! Oh, oh be you ready fer a rendition o' that sea cucumber song I've been so fond of these past days!"

The man collapsed back into his nook and the chuckling captain, humming the sea cucumber melody, turned his attention back to the boy. He slowly hobbled to the old man underneath the dog pile while talking.

"This tale goes back te before even me grandpappy, may his soul be plunderin the briny depths, turned to the great life o' piracy."

A look of admiration settled upon his face but quickly furrowed into solemn glare.

"Out there in the world there be places even pirates dare not go. One o' those rare places be these very waters wherein if ye wander in ye don't come out. Aye, it be told that the fabric between worlds be err. Umm."

A crew member wrestling the still struggling old man grunted out in between jabs to his ribs.

"Fragile, Captain!"

"Aye, it be fragile! Ready te tear it be! Strange things are said to happen as you near it and stranger things are said te call it this cursed place home."

"But if people so get lost here then why are we here?" The boy worriedly inquired.

"There are some that wish te map out the world. Y'know cartographers and explorers and the like. Or maybe they be lookin' fer a holiday. As long as they pay then we take them." The captain explained.

"But what if we get lost Captain?"

"Ho ho ho! Not while we have this our teasure!" The captain chortled.

The pair of them, the captain and the boy, finally settled near the dog pile. The captain shifted his weight from off the boy and onto his other foot.

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"This man be the only livin' thing te be deep into the unknown and back. I've been around the world a few times but never have I seen anything to break me as it did that old sea dog. Alright laddies, lets have some fun!"

The men holding down the scraggly old man hoisted him up. The old man flailing and gasping about as a fish out of water. With a swift shove to the boy's back the captain proclaimed.

"It be the duty o' the freshest recruit to take this old barnacle to the crow's nest!"

The men circled the boy and the old man as he struggled to get a hold of the manic old man. Visible blood splotches emanating from the stinging pain of the hook, still fresh in his abdomen. The jeering man lined up parallel to one another, forming a path straight to the top of the nest. They shouted and laughed as the boy struggled but steadily made his way up.

"What's with all the shouting and running about up here?"

A smartly dressed woman emerged from below deck with an armful of papers and journals varying in sizes. Stumbling and dropping a few papers as she stepped onto the deck, it was clear that she hadn't been on many ships before.

"Watch your step Professor!"

A broad shouldered man clad in armor frantically squeezed through the tiny opening and quickly retrieved her papers.

"Wow, it's a wonder that they weren't blown away, professor!"

The lady graciously accepted the papers and quizzically scanned the waters. She replied.

"That's a bit odd. It appears we've stopped moving. Um excuse me Mr. Captain! Are we being held for ransom?"

The large man jumped at the question and, with a burly hand on the hilt of his sword, acted as a shield for the professor. The partial brandishing of his weapon stopped everybody on the ship. Every hand slowly reached for whatever they could firmly grab a hold of and use as a weapon. The gleam of the sword was coupled with the glitter of sweat beading down the armored man's brow.

"Nay lass!"

The captain guffawed out, almost instantly dispelling the tension. Then after a laughter shared amongst the crew, the captain continued.

"The Devil's Sea be dead waters! No ship can sail upon 'er so long as the sun shines upon these waters!"

This questionable piece of information was left unheard by most on the ship as they couldn't be bothered to lend an ear. However, to the professor, it was another of life's great secrets that she admired with the entirety of her being.

"Fascinating! Did you hear that Lum?!"

The starry eyed professor shouted into the small opening she had previously emerged from. A discouraging voice reverberated back and was accompanied by a smaller, older man. He was dressed as the professor. A yellow collared shirt that allowed air to pass through freely, durable shorts with deep pockets and mid calf lace up boots. However his shorts seemed to be pulled up much higher than her's, revealing much more leg than was necessary.

"Yes, yes I heard but I hardly find it plausible! Do you expect me to believe that the ocean knows when to have a current or blow air based solely on the time of day? Poppycock!"

The short man stomped around waving his arms about but kept his distance from the pirates and tried not to touch anything. The professor, not disheartened in the least by his words, urged him.

"Come now, Lum. You know as well as I that there is no useless piece of information! It's all pieces of a puzzle and our job is to fit them together just right!" She held her arms before her as if bestowing a portrait.

The little old man raised his shoulders as the words traveled in and out of his head, leaving behind a shudder.

"Right, right. You're right. This part of the world has yet to be properly charted so who knows? Maybe up is down and magic is science."

The shrimp of an elder chuckled out as he looked into the waters. The setting sun almost entirely consumed by the ocean had him holding his breath for what was to come.

"Attaboy Lum! That's why you're my mentor! Oh Captain, I brought up a few things in case you or your men would like to learn about—"

The professor presented her papers much to the captain's disdain but with a simple raise of his rusty hook he interrupted her and grumbled.

"It be time."

The sun's descent slowed as it's crown gradually disappeared from sight and taking with it any color. With a last drop of crimson sunlight fading, the sky deepened to a stark blackness darker than they had known. Alone they all stood with their breaths held. A sudden cold presence gripped the chests of all aboard. The old man atop the crow's nest quietly wept as he began to mutter strange, jumbled words under his breath. Suddenly the ship groaned to life with a sudden gust of wind and with it the old man clutched his knees as he rocked back and forth.

"Get a navigator up there!" The captain ordered.

All hands on deck came to life and made way for their navigator to climb the ropes. The men moved seamlessly and without any wasted movement. All except for the boy atop the crow's nest with old man and the professor's own crew who were understandably confused. Creaks and grunts echoed through the open waters as the man moved. The boy was suddenly pushed aside by something in the blackness without warning and stumbled backwards off the railing. Just then a few stars began twinkling, allowing for some visibility as their eyes adjusted. The scrawny boy managed to grab ahold of a dangling rope as he witnessed the navigator approach the weeping old man. Slowly more and more stars shone above and revealed the depths of the cosmos as reflected upon the mirror like water. The navigator knelt down to the old man, listened intently, then took to the night sky, then shouted directions to the captain who would steer and order the rest of the crew. The rest of the night was filled with the stomping of the men on deck and the creaking if the pained boat. As ordered by the captain, the three passengers stayed under and as dawn brought upon a new day they resurfaced to an odd sight.

"Oh my!" The professor gasped.

Men were asleep in various positions. Some standing or leaned against a wall and some even dangling from ropes. The captain slowly hobbled over to them. On the way he kicked a few men awake and ordered them to ready a dingy.

"Landho." He said in a low, almost dreading voice.

The professor and her colleagues looked past the captain and saw a little sliver of something in the distance. It was so thin and faint that it appeared as if a strand of hair was floating upon the waters.

"That over there?" The professor clarified as she pointed towards the line.

"Aye." The captain said as he sullenly stared at the planks.

In response to his answer she hurriedly jumped down into the lower decks. Shuffling and clattering resounded from the hole as she excitedly muttered to herself. A few moments later her head poked up with her teeth clenched as she struggled to introduce an unseen object onto the deck.

"Professor!" The large framed man rushed to her side and helped her pull up a large brown trunk.

The force of her upward pulling and the interference of the armored man caused her to fall backwards onto her rear. She appeared with an oversized pack upon her back and retreated to the hole once more only to emerge with another pack. Filled with the excitement of a long awaited anticipation, she wasted no time in lunging towards the trunk. She grunted as she struggled to move the heavy case and was once again aided by the metal clad man.

"Thank you!" She graciously squeaked out as they made their way towards their prepared rowboat.

As the two crew members and the large man loaded the aged case onto the boat the professor attended to the captain. She reached into one of the many pockets of the pack and produced a sizable pouch and with a clang of a number of coins she punctured it onto the captain's hook.

"Thank you very much for this opportunity! I promise not to put to waste all the effort put in by you and your crew!"

Without another second to spare she jumped into the rowboat, using the trunk the men had yet to load as a stepping stone. This caused the loading men to squeal as they dipped uncomfortably closer over their respective ledges.

"Come on you two! We haven't a second to spare!" She commanded with a slightly maniacal grin on her face.

Lum and the armored man exchanged looks of slight uncertainty at the unnaturally peppy professor. The two stepped lively towards the gleeful girl waving them over and past the squeamish loaders. When presented with the quite large gap between him and the rowboat Lum elected a more careful approach then his colleague. Wishing to close the gap any amount he could, he first stretched an arm as far as he could to try and make contact with it while clutching onto the railing with his other hand. When this failed he brought his fingers to his chin and repeatedly tapped as he thought. All at once a brilliant idea illuminated his mind. Next he tried stepping on the other side of the railing and from those extra inches of space he tried once more. Again met with failure he next tried stretching his foot to make contact. When that failed he tried his arm once more but slightly lessening his grip on the railing. Little by little he inched closer and closer until his fingers just barely grazed the wood of the boat. He struggled and strained as noises akin to livestock escaped his lips. The armored man hoisted the trunk over his shoulder and with his free arm collected a sweat glistened Lum then without much effort simply hopped onto the boat. The boat rocked back a forth a bit and after dropping his baggage the knight unsheathed his sword to free them of their bindings.

"Aghhgghghg!!" Both Lum and the professor yelled as they held on for dear life.

With a moderate splash they were finally afloat and not long after began moving with the knight rowing at an impressive pace. The giddy girl gave on last farewell to the crew which was reciprocated with a lamenting silence from the captain's raised hook. As the landmass became larger and larger they noticed a shift in the air about the area. It seemed as if the very land pulled things in as a magnet but the air was in stark contrast quite still. When finally on land they disembarked on a bleach white beach and were face to face with miles of desert beyond the horizon. With a determined look on her face full of wonder and curiosity she led the charge into an unknown land.