<>

Again, the ghosts began to wail and moan. However, instead of their previously toneless, frightening screeches, it was more sonorous and in sync, something akin to a choir than a crowd of ghouls.

<>

Still, their singing soon faded, and in a few seconds, all the ghosts had left through the chamber's exit, snapping the three out of their trance.

Malkov was the first.

"What... What was that?" He looked at Connor and Mariya; Their eyes were still glazed over in pleasure.

'Hmm... could their singing be a trap?' His brain instantly went into high gear as he thought of the possibility, though it was dismissed soon after, 'No, that can't be; why would they leave if it was...'

After a few more failed hypotheses, he decided to give up.

There's just too little information right now, so what's the use of shooting in the dark when it'll be soon revealed the moment they walked inside that pathway? With this in mind, he started to seriously observe his surroundings, which had been previously overshadowed by the ghosts.

"Interesting..." The whole chamber was circular by nature, with stalactites and stalagmites loosely littered around. It was the same old grey and dull atmosphere any other cave would carry. Only, caves were also dark; you know, seeing as they were underground with no sun? This one, on the other hand, was brightly lit. How? Mushrooms, my friend, tons and tons of mushrooms!

"Heh, luminous fungi, who woulda thunk," Fascinated by this discovery, Malkov began playing around with the shroom while waiting for his friends to wake up...

----------------------------------------

Outside the cave, on the ship.

"Cap'n! A boat's been spotted starboard side!" At the barrel man's report, Adammus' curiosity was immediately piqued.

Using his bronze spyglass, He began to zoom in on what his crew had seen. And he was shocked, "What in the..."

There, maybe a few nautical miles away, was the faint silhouette of a boat was drifting in the ocean! However, his attention wasn't on the boat; it was the little girl on it!

"Men! Send a rescue boat in that direction; a stranded boat's drifting in the sea!" Hearing his commands, the crew immediately got to work.

It didn't take long for their boat to reach her's, and it took even shorter until both were back to the boat.

When she arrived, he noticed the iron grip she had on the little doll in her arms.

He kneeled down, a smile on his face, "Hello, darling,"

"Hello mister!" She was cheerful, probably not even aware she'd have died if it wasn't for them.

"What's your name?" He could see her wince.

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He frowned, "Don't you have a name?"

"I-I do... but mommy tells me not to give my name to strangers..." His face lit up, and he chuckled to himself.

"I see. Then It's fine if you don't want to..."

"Mister! U-Um... would you like to play a game?" Her innocent voice seemed to ring in his ears, making him answer almost instinctively.

"Sure... what game do you want to play?" Only after he replied did he finally realize what had just happened.

'Hm?!' He was baffled, 'Why did I answer so fast?'

She nodded, "Then let's play this game..."

She zipped open her doll and took something out.

<>

"!!!" Everyone was shocked by what they saw: In her hands were... a rat!!

<>

"Ozzie!!" One of his crew members suddenly screamed in horror, "Why is he there?! Give him back to me!"

The rat squealed, desperately trying to escape from her little hands, twisting and turning, even trying to nip at her hands, though a squeeze subdued it...

"Ok, the game we're going to play is a guessing game! There's only one rule!" Her cheerful voice broke their rapt attention of the rat, "You have to guess whether the rat is dead or not! Guess correctly, and you win! But if you get it wrong, you have to listen to whatever I say!"

"W-Wait! If the rat's dead?! What do you—"

-Zip!-

His protests were ignored as she quickly shoved the rat back into the doll, and under the terrified gaze of Adammus and his crew, began stomping on it!!

-Stomp!-

"W-What..."

-Stomp!!-

"Stop..."

-Stomp!!!-

"Stop!!"

Finally unable to take it anymore, he rushed to pick up the dirty and battered doll from the ground. When he was about to zip open the thing, the little girl spoke again:

"Don't open it yet! You still haven't guessed..."

"What?"

"You said you would play the game! You have to guess if the rat's dead or alive!" When he heard her, his face scrunched up at the absurdity of it all.

"I-I don't.." While he was still trying to comprehend what she just said, the same man from before answered for him.

"What do you mean if it's alive?! Ozzie's dead! Tell her cap'n! Tell that no good bi—"

"Shut up, Geno!" He turned to glare at his agitated crewmate.

"..." He heaved a huge sigh when he saw the fury in Geno's eyes.

"I know you're angry," He paused to look at the girl, "But she may not have grown in the best environment. It behoves us to be a bit more patient with a child, no?"

"..." Geno's frown eased considerably after this, but everyone knew he was still bitter about the whole debacle.

"Look, I'm not telling you to forgive her; I just want you to suspend disbelief until everything's been cleared up, got it?"

"Fine..." He eventually relented and stood behind the crowd.

Seeing this, Adammus sent an appreciative glance his way before turning back to confront the real problem at hand: the little devil that's been the cause of all this.

"Ready to guess yet, mister?" When she saw him refocus on her, she asked eagerly, eyes practically sparkling.

"...Care to remind me what the choices are?"

She held up two fingers, "If the rat's dead, or if it isn't!"

"I see..." He was pensive when the choices were laid out before him; in his mind, it was obvious the rat was dead... but what if it wasn't?

'No. It's most certainly dead; the doll didn't move an inch while we were talking,' He rationalized to himself. However, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was wrong...

Still, he had to answer, and if he had to choose between logic or instinct: logic almost always won out. So after a few more seconds of thought, he opened his mouth to speak:

"The rat... is dead!" He nodded to himself, as if convincing himself that that gut feeling of his was wrong.

"Hehehe... If that's what you chose, open the doll up and see for yourself!" She stared intensely at her toy.

He looked down at the doll: its colour was a deep shade of purple, mauve, to be exact, just like the girl's eyes. Sadly, its beauty had been considerably tampered with from the dirt and mud...

Slowly turning it around, he could see the large silver zipper sewed straight onto its back. Again, he felt a rumble in his gut; his instincts were screaming at him, even his brain began to doubt itself... But he did it anyway. Putting one hand on the zipper and another on the doll, he pulled!

-Zip!-

With one swift movement, the doll's insides were revealed!