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“Alright, we’ve got ONE shot.” Calypso began.
“You can wish for just about anything here… wish for the treasure… wish for our safety… just don’t wish for anything stupid, like the shovel” Calypso continued.
Player wasn’t sure how Calypso could have pieced together anything about the disaster that was his first wish but it was certainly working.
The shovel, just out of reach of both Player and Calypso was their key to getting out of here. The Great Flocci floated above it, starring daggers at Player. Even if he didn’t mean it, Flocci was guarding their key to escape like a gargoyle.
Player took a moment to think. “OK, so, can I walk through a purely hypothetical wish with you real quick?” Player asked.
The Great Flocci let out an audible sigh, his face buried in one of his blue hands. “Whatever thou wants” he mumbled.
“Sooooo…. what if I wished for something like; I wish for my and for the crew of Captain Trotter to be completely safe while we search for and successfully retrieve the Firebrand and the treasure from the Temple of the Red Sun.” Player stepped ever so closer to the pedestal where the shovel lay.
Flocci pondered for a moment, in which Player swiped the shovel right from under him.
“If that is what thou wishes for” Flocci responded after a moment.
“Alright I wish for-”
“THOU WISH IS THY COMMAND!” Flocci, clearly done with Player’s tomfoolery, instantly granted his wish before taking a long sigh of relief.
“And with that… I’m FREE!” Flocci cheerfully announced, startling Calypso who stood behind Player, whose fingers were now anxiously drumming against the shovel he had swiped.
“Thousands of years… time to see this world! Aloooha HAWAI! Maybe even TIBET!!” Flocci fake-sniffled before raising his voice again, knocking a few sand particles loose as Calypso and Player looked up at him in awkward silence.
“So long, kiddos!” The Great Flocci shouted, summoning a brown panama hat and pulling out a suitcase from god-knows-where before floating away, never to be plagued by Player’s stupidity ever again.
It took a moment for a starstuck Calypso to speak again.
“Well… let’s hope that wish worked then. That was selfless of you, using your last wish on us” Calypso responded.
“Good idea on grabbing that shovel, too, looks like that’s our ticket to getting out of her-”
A loud thud came from down the hall.
“Geez, what NOW?!” Calypso barked, frustration prominent in her tone.
Moments later, Terry and Jerry fell from the ceiling.
“GET BACK HERE!!!” Terry shouted in a blood-curling shout, impatiently hoping.
“STUPID Genie! I’ll get my revenge on you for that!”
Terry turned his attention to Player.
“Dude. DUDE. Do NOT tell me you messed with that GENIE again!” Terry shouted, his voice a slightly less blood-curling rage now that he wasn’t shouting towards the location that Flocci had flown away from.
“No” Player lied.
“...Again?” Calypso echoed, mostly to herself.
“That absolute idiot just blindsighted us!!!” Terry continued, his voice shaking with rage.
“Can you BELIEVE people these days?! I’m like “...eyy I’m swimmin’ here!” BUT NO! The AUDACITY of people these days…”
If Player had to be honest, he blocked out Terry’s complaints and the following back-and-fourth Terry and Calypso had right after.
“Are those two your friends?” Calypso asked, finally snapping Player out of his trance.
“I have no idea” Player responded, giving an exaggerated shrug.
“Well, let’s just get moving. I’m right behind you, as always” Calypso responded.
And so, Player dug himself and Calypso out of the room they were in and it wasn’t until much later did Flocci’s wish get to prove itself.
It didn’t take long for Player and Calypso to end up falling on a piece of a fallen bridge while fighting something Player swore he saw in a history textbook once.
The crew was falling all around them with Captain Trotter falling somewhere above them.
The Temple Guardian was relentless, and Player quickly realized he couldn’t use his swords at all without powering it up further. Despite the painful onslaught of fists flying and the Guardian itself coming in for multiple bites, Player and Calypso managed to stay on their feet, disregarding how much pain they were until the fight ended and terminal velocity stopped and everyone hit the hard stone floor.
Player woke up after what felt like an eternity. The pain that radiated from his chest suggested that his ribs were broken. Should be. Despite this, as Player pushed himself up, he was completely fine. His ribs and all his other bones for that matter were completely fine and after a minute, he didn’t so much as have a headache.
Player walked forward a bit, his eyes focusing as he saw the Temple Guardian smashed to smithereens laying in front of him.
Then Player heard Captain Trotter coughing from his left and saw Calypso approach from behind him.
“Cap’n! Are you alright?” Calypso shouted, concern rising in her voice as she rushed over to Trotter. Player too found himself at the Captains side moments later.
“Aye, I’m alright. Nothin’ this ol’ seadog can’t handle!” Trotter responded.
“But still, I be fixin’ to take it easy fer a minute or two. Sharkbait and you need to keep goin’” Trotter continued.
Trotter paused for a moment, before speaking again.
“We need to find th’ crew” he said.
“Forget about the treasure. Lass, Sharkbait, yer goin’ to need to go on ahead of me. Forget about the treasure an’ that blasted Firebrand. Get the crew and get out. Savvy?”
“Heard, cap’n” Calypso responded.
“Thank ye. I be puttin’ my trust in ye both. I’ll with ye in a minute. Sharkbait, before ye go, I wanted to thank ye. We just met today but ye been fit as a fiddle an’ loyal as a hound.” Trotter replied one last time before resting again, clearly still heavily shaken from the fall.
And like that, Player and Calypso were off. After a minute of stumbling around even more ruins, Player and Calypso eventually found their way past a sea of sand.
When Player dug them both out, they encountered the rest of Trotter’s crew. Calypso was quick to round them up and shame them for ignoring Trotter’s orders before telling them their new plan.
Unfortunately, despite their best efforts of finding a way back up to the surface, the crew only found themselves deeper and deeper.
Eventually, the crew found what they were after, and Player did to.
Upon the highest peak in depths of the Temple of the Red Sun, treasures of untold amounts of value in the form of gold and gems lay before a very ecstatic crew.
Whilst Captain Trotter and his crew were trying to figure out how to equally split the fortune amongst everyone, Player found himself walking up towards the Firebrand.
That was when Captain Trotter and Calypso spotted him.
“Oi! Sharkbait! Watcha doin?” Totter shouted, racing over with Calypso not far behind him.
“Cap’n. They’re just grabbing the Firebrand, I don’t think there’s much to worry about” Calypso responded.
Trotter stared past Calypso and at the sword Player was now standing in front of.
“Calypso. Ye were the one who read out those hieroglyphs. Do you not remember those curses an’ sacrifices? I know Sharkabit here needs it for his quest and all but…” Trotter stopped, instead he simply motioned towards the Firebrand and Player in hopes Calypso would understand what he was trying to convey.
“Cap’n, I know you’re scared but we can’t leave the Firebrand here now that its resting place is open. Someone nefarious could come in and find the blade. Then what? We’d have a whole new problem on our hands and Sharkbait here still wouldn’t have the sword for Shedletsky even after all this trouble” Calypso argued back, her voice stern yet soft.
Trotter paused for a moment before sighing.
“Yer right, lass. But, Sharbait, before you pull that there Firebrand, mind if we back up. It’s nothin’ personal, just being cautious is all” Trotter responded, his voice quivering a little bit.
Player gave the thumbs up and Trotter and Calypso backed up to where the rest of their crew was messing around at.
Payer grabbed the hilt of the Firebrand, immediately feeling a comforting warmth as he did so. He continued to pull up, loosening some of the molten rock the sword had been hooked in with. He pulled further and further until, at last, the sword was loose and in his hands.
There was a tense moment. Everyone waited with baited breath for many moments. At last, nothing happened as a wave of relief washed over everyone. Trotter and Calypso walked back up towards Player, relief imminent on their faces.
“I’m sorry I doubted ye, Sharkbait. Yer been loyal to me ever since we met. I just wanted to keep th’ crew safe” Trotter said upon approaching Player.
“We should probably be tryin’ to figure out a way back from here an’, hey, if yer ever need me or th’ crew’s assistance, don’t hesitate to call me, lad”
Trotter reached into his coat and produced something from it, handing Player a card, which Player received with a smile. Trotter patted Player on the shoulder before walking back towards the rest of his crew with Calypso and Player watching him go. For a moment, the two stood in silence before Player felt a brief pain spike from left arm.
He turned only to see Calypso, who was smirking, had elbowed him.
“Hey, it seems that wish of yours worked. Thank you, Sharkbait. I’m not sure what could have happened without it” Calypso said before she suddenly turned towards one of her pouches.
“I know you just got the Capn’s calling card but-” Calypso grabbed a card from her pouch and handed it to Player, who still had Trotter’s in his hand too. “-if you ever need my assistance too, don’t hesitate to call on me” Calypso finished, smiling a little more as Player thanked her and she walked off to the rest of her crew.
Ther crew's many woes on trying to figure out how to get out of the temple were eventually quelled after Terry teleported in with his stolen wizard’s hat and after much bribing with tuna on Player’s end, Terry agreed to drop off the crew and the loot back at camp.
And that was that. Once everyone was anchored down back at camp, Player said his goodbyes and went into Vermillion Village for the night, content with what he had managed to accomplish.
Who knows. Things could have turned out a whole lot differently had he been so careless with a simple wish.