Tiffany faintly felt someone press two fingers against her forehead, and a voice followed, saying , “Oi, I think she’s waking up.” She heard the sound of a chair scraping against the floor, and many footsteps going close to where she was, where ever /that/ may be. Her eyelids fluttered opened, and she saw fuzzy outlines of seven people crowding around her. Tiffany realized who they were, and sat up straight as a ramrod, her eyes sparkling.

“So, Sleeping Beauty’s finally awake,” Hung declared. Ken gave him a sharp jab between the ribs and replied, “At least /she/ wasn’t pretending to be asleep, unlike a certain /someone/ who spent all that time lying in a comfortable bed in the ship while we either being chased through the jungle or being turned into animals..”

“What happened after? And where am I, and most importantly, who changed my clothes!?” Tiffany asked, a flood of questions threatened to spill out. Ken grinned from ear to ear, “Well, my dear sword-slinging Amazon princess, after you fainted, Reika here teleported you back to the ship, and we raided Valerie’s whole palace. Oh, and Tom joined the crew.” “We’re rich! Rich!!” Zack interjected, and pulled Allen’s fist close to her face. “Lookit this! Ken bought this for Allen; it’s a solid gold Maple Claw! And he’s got 2 sets of Ilbis now!!”

Tiffany gaped at his extravagance. She swept her eyes over the group; all of them wearing silly grins and expensive new tailored clothes. Ken and Hung each wore giant tricorne hats with gold trimming and a ridiculously large feather stuck in both of them. Reika was still wearing the same style of an altered Dark Enigma- baggy shirt and cargo pants, though her Black Seraph Cape had been changed into a long trench coat, and a spiffy new Black Bandana kept her unruly, spiked purple hair in line. Tom was no longer wearing dirty servants’ rags, but a Pirate set. Ron touted a flashy new Doombringer.

“You what?!? I went through hell so you guys can go off on shopping sprees?!” she yelled indignantly. “Now now, we didn’t just take the shiny stuff; we robbed her blind, and that includes taking all her maps. That’s how we got to this new island, found this nice little city by the sea, checked you into this comfy little inn, and /then/ went off on our crazy shopping sprees. And did I mention? We finally named our ship; it is now called the You Just Got Jacked,” Hung said with a flourish. “Oh, and the innkeeper’s wife changed your clothes, so no worries. You /do/ prefer an old nightgown to that ripped up, bloody Calaf, don’t you? And now that we’ve got maps, you can get us to that big island we’re looking for, and make us even more rich!”

Tiffany sputtered, “Maps? Why didn’t you get them when we first left Lith Harbor?! Island hopping, that’s what we were doing! Island hopping from one crazy island to the next! You wanted me to come and be your navigator, but I ended up being your cook instead! And /now/ you give me the maps, after a month of island hopping?!”

Hung scratched his head, and allowed Ken to take over. “Aww Tiffany, we didn’t forget about you. You should know that we spent a whole day trying to find this for you..” He turned and picked up a small, rectangular box that was sitting on a chair. “I was waiting for you to wake up to show you this.” Tiffany took the box and opened it, and in it was a carefully folded White Calaf. A shiny new Dark Circlet rested on the folded Calaf. The gold fabric shimmered brilliantly, and the white portion was immaculate. The daughter of a humble fisherman would never dare to hope to ever own a robe like this. Her brothers would never believe what she’d been through in the past month. “Aha, and this little thing you can save, for later,” Reika said and handed her a brand new Evil Wings. “7 INT; you don’t see one of those everyday, now do you?” She was deeply touched, they could see that.

However, Tiffany furrowed her brows and asked, “What was the point of giving up the thing we treasure the most when we first started out, if we were going to get all these expensive things?” “Most people don’t get rich along the way. Fortunately, /we/ did,” Reika sniffed. “And besides.. Ron and Ken left behind several years’ worth of hoarding that can’t be replaced..” “Hoarding what?” Tiffany asked, and braced herself for the answer. Ken started whistling loudly, and Ron turned his back and pretended to be absorbed in studying his reflection in his Doombringer. “/Gentlemen’s magazines/, if you know what I mean..”

“What are those?” Allen piped up; ruining the effect Reika had wanted. She turned around and scowled irritably, “You ask something as stupid as that again, and Ima shove that claw up where the sun don’t shine!” Zack took Allen by the shoulders and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him..”

He pulled him a few feet away from the bed, and whispered hoarsely into his ear, “Them’s magazines of “nekkid” ladies.” Allen’s eyes popped wide open. “They got magazines for that?! Whooee, I don’t have to look through the cracks in the bathroom door anymore!” the younger boy declared joyously. Reika was flabbergasted, “You peep at your own ma?!” “She’s still a “nekkid” lady, right?”

Reika looked dangerously close to fulfilling her threat, and Tiffany laughed nervously, “Come on you guys, it’s barely a few days since the whole Valerie incident, and you’re already jumping at each other’s throats?” “You little midgets, clear out of here! Tiffany, you get dressed, and we’ll take you around town,” Hung said, shooing everyone out, and closed the door.

Tiffany sighed and climbed out of bed. She shimmied out of the dingy old nightgown, and slipped into the new Calaf. The girl peered into a floor length mirror in the room, and slowly turned around. She laughed; the dress went down to her feet, and though the neckline was a bit lower than that her old dress, it was nothing revealing. She’d expected her perverts to think it was funny to buy her a ridiculously short dress with a deep scoop. She pulled on her shoes, and with the Dark Circlet perched on her head, Esther shield and Arc Staff in their rightful places, and her new staff safely hidden, she stepped out of the room. There were many other doors in the hallway, but they were all closed. She located the stairs and timidly went down.

The group was sprawled about in the lounge, and Reika caught sight of her first. “Ho ho, there’s Sleeping Beauty!” Allen turned and saw Zack ogling at Tiffany, with two thin trails of blood coming out of both his nostrils. “Zack? Zack? Why is your nose bleeding?” he asked, pulling on his friend’s sleeve. Zack looked down at him and said, “What do you mean? /Your/ nose is bleeding.” Further away, Ron had put down his poker cards and started punching Tom across the table.

Ken held his arm out for Tiffany, but she brushed past him. “Well, what are we waiting for? I thought you said you were going to show me around,” she smiled. Allen pushed everyone else out of the way and held the door wide open for her. Tiffany laughed, and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Allen turned and smiled smugly at Zack. “Don’t be a smart ass!” Reika said and bopped him on the head. The rest of the crew tumbled out of the inn and into the bright midmorning sunshine in a rush to escort their lady in an outing around town.

After six straight hours of sightseeing and waiting around for Tiffany to finish admiring stuffed animals and squealing at the pets in the various shops around town, the group finally made their way back towards the inn. Zack and Allen had gallantly offered to carry her numerous bags, which were overflowing with assorted panda-themed merchandise. Reika was moaning about how sore her feet were when the sea breeze blew a small rectangular sheet against her face. She snatched it off, and scanned it carelessly.

The girl was struck dumb when she realized what she was holding in her hands. It was an old photograph, torn and faded, but she could clearly make out the faces of eight individuals, hers being one of them. She allowed Tiffany to force her and the two boys back to the inn, while the other four were heading straight to the pub, each with a heavy need to get drunk. They’d planned on spending the day enjoying the company of an attractive girl of 16, but what they got instead was someone more childish and hyperactive than Reika, Allen, and Zack, on crack, /combined/.

Speaking of Reika, she waited until Tiffany went upstairs to her room, then ran out of the warm, cozy inn and into the cold night, despite Zack and Allen’s shouts that they were going to tell Tiffany what she was doing. She made her way down to the docks, as the way to the pub passed by this area. In her tightly clenched fist was the photograph.

She happened to pass by their ship, and tried to suppress a snicker as she read the gold painted letters at the ship’s prow: “You Just Got Jacked”. Reika was about to move on when she thought she saw shadows moving about. She hid behind a large pile of old fishing nets, and watched. Indeed, several dark shapes were making their way up the ropes that tied the ship to land. As Reika made a move to stop them, she felt something brush her shoulder ever so slightly. She whipped around and grabbed ahold of someone who had snuck up behind her.

For a second, she thought that it was Tiffany come to fetch her, but then she realized who it was that was staring back at her with equal shock. “C-Cait?!” she choked. “Reika, is it you??” the other girl gasped.