(A/N:
Heads up this is a pretty long chapter hahaha sowwy~ I'll try to make the others a bit shorter ^^
Then again I haven't updated this in a lONG TIME so maybe a long chapter won't be too bad hahaha XD)
~*•.~
Hongjoong, Iridessa, and Mingi all sit up from landing on the ground and they look around their surroundings.
"Are you guys alright?" Hongjoong asks them immediately receiving nods from the two.
"Where are we?" Mingi asks them as they all stood up.
"I don't know," Iridessa says with a frown. "But looks like we're on a pirate ship...?
"Ding! Ding! Diiiinnggg!~ you're right!" A voice behind them confirms brightly.
They all turn around and tried to reach for their weapons but they had none.
Yechan chuckles, "I took your little toys. You can't use them here!"
"Alright, what do you want from us then?" Hongjoong asks him, brows furrowed.
"Get off this ship! Easy!~"
They look around and notice that the ship was in the middle of the ocean.
"And if we make it off?" Iridessa asks him.
"Then you get to come to the banquet!~"
"Banquet?" Mingi asks with a brow raised.
Chan nods cheerfully, "Mhm!~ okay rules!! No steering the ship, no diving into the water, and! No flying!~ oh wait! You're humans you can't fly!! HA HA HA HA~"
"Good luck!~ I'll be watching from the crow's nest!~" Chan says with a happy little dance before teleporting up there.
"Alright, let's brainstorm," Hongjoong says.
"How can't we steer the ship on land?! Or swim?! Well, not like I could swim anyways." Mingi says.
"No swimming or steering to shore...then the exit is on...the ship itself." Iridessa says.
Hongjoong nods, "Then let's search the ship together."
Chan teleports back to them and gives them a teasing smile, "I forgot one little detail! I set traps somewhere on this ship! If you make it you might just get to the exit. If you don't!~ wamp wamp~ game overrrrrr. Hahaha~"
He disappears again making the three sigh with frustration.
"Okay! So let's avoid the traps and stick together at all costs." Hongjoong concludes and the other two nod.
Mingi points downstairs, "Let's go below deck there might be something there."
The two nod and follow the tallboy downstairs.
Chan giggles excitedly as he watches them. They had no idea what they were in for. He knew Jun hyung would be proud of him. First, he was going to throw each of them into a test, then show them the exit.
He was in this for the fun. However, he's not completely up for hurting the three. He just wanted to watch them like rats in a maze for entertainment. He also thought it was fun making his own game. He teased them about losing for fun, but deep down, he was going to be nice and show them the way out.
He couldn't help it, it's the sunshine in him.
The three searched below the deck for something that seemed like an exit. A door, a ladder or a hole, anything.
"I'll check the cannonry real quick." Mingi announced to the two getting "okays" in response.
Mingi walked down the thin corridor and made it to the cannonry. It was set up similarly to the one on the ATEEZ ship. However, it was dark and Mingi had no lantern to see through.
He walked through with a bit of uneasiness about the surroundings.
"Nothing should pop out and scare me right?" "Gah come on Mingi you're over a lot of fears by now! Get yourself together!" He tells himself.
As he checked, he continued cheering himself on as he walked through the racks of cannonballs. He's familiar with this, it's his job back on the ATEEZ ship. He's the master gunner.
"A scaredy-cat huh?" Chan asks him in an amused whisper.
"Not anymore. My crew has helped me big time be brave."
Chan brushes his hand against Mingi's back making Mingi jump startled.
"Then why did you just jump?"
"Wouldn't anyone?! Who likes being touched huh?!" Mingi said defensively.
Chan laughs and stands in front of him. Mingi squinted trying to make out his figure in the dark.
"Welcome to your trap. I want to see just how brave you truly are."
The goblin giggles excitedly before whispering again to the tall pirate, "let's see if you really deserve being the master gunner, Mingi."
Mingi closes his eyes shut and clenches his fists.
"Since your list of fears was long I'll just put you in your top one!~"
Mingi opened his eyes and gave him a confident smirk, "bring it on, goblin."
Chan giggles again and Mingi looks around him as a thick mist appears him. A light appears behind the mist and the mist slowly fades away. When Mingi could see clearly, he noticed he was back on the ATEEZ ship.
"Ya!! Mingi-ah! What the hell did you do?!" The angry voice of Yunho called out to him.
Mingi turns around to see the 99 line crew members come up to him with upset looks on their faces. What was wrong?
"Why are you so freaking clumsy?! You didn't tell me that you knocked over all the medical supplies in my office!! Now I have to fix them all! Replace them with new shelves! Do you know how hard that is especially when we're nowhere near a town that sells wood?!"
"Yunho I'm sorry but I-"
"He did that to you?! Wow so clumsy." San judged with a scoff.
Wooyoung shakes his head angrily, "Mingi you're so dumb! Tell me how on earth did you manage to do that and then go behind my back and switch out the white paint bucket for the white glue bucket when I asked you to hand it to me earlier!! So now the whole side of the mast that was supposed to be painted white is full of glue!! Captain is gonna kill me when he finds out I did that! It's all your fault!!"
"But this isn't real! I didn't do any of those things! Even if I did I'm sorry..." Mingi said trying to explain to them.
Yeosang rolls his eyes, "you love lying don't you? That's all you do is lie to get by."
"Honest guys! I never did-"
The door to the captain's quarters swings open and outmarches Hongjoong, Seonghwa, and Jongho.
"There he is!" Jongho tells Hongjoong as they March up to him.
"I'm so disappointed in you, Mingi. I expected better from you." Hongjoong tells him.
Mingi felt his heartbreak hearing those words from his dear captain. He hoped he never had to hear them. Sure, he'd mess around with Hongjoong but he'd never go far enough to disappoint him. As he looked around everyone, it seemed that edge disappointed and upset everyone. It was indeed the one big fear he had.
Having his friends, his brothers, hate him.
Seonghwa says with a serious expression, "Mingi this is unacceptable. We can't have someone like you in our crew causing chaos. Would you mind telling everyone what you told us, Jongho?"
Everyone looks to Jongho who looks at Mingi with a frustrated expression.
"I saw him sell our gold to our enemy for information on the Red Ruby. He's trying to curse us I tell you!! That ruby is a pirate's curse!!"
Everyone gasps and Mingi felt so defenseless. None of this was real, but no one would believe him if he said so. How could he get out of this situation? How could he fix this?
"I hate to say this but...Song Mingi...walk the plank."
"H-Hongjoong!! Please I didn't do anything!"
"Yeah!! Make him walk the plank!!"
"We don't need him! He's caused enough issues!!"
Tears fell down the tall pirate's cheek as Seonghwa started tying a rope around his wrists.
"Guys please...believe me! I didn't do any of those things...I would never hurt you all."
"Yeah, well guess what? You hurt us." Yunho, his best friend, stands up to him and tells him with hurt eyes, breaking Mingi's heart again.
San pulls out his cutlass and pokes Mingi's back making him walk towards the plank that the cabin boys had just finished setting up.
This was it, they were making him get on the longboard over the sea. As Mingi stepped on, he blinked back his tears as he tried to remain brave. It was hard, he was scared. Scared of losing them, scared of being pushed to death. But, being brave was the one thing Hongjoong always taught him how to do.
Even in a situation when all hope is lost, brave walk it. Don't lose hope. It may seem like the end even though it's not. You'll find your way out.
"Any last words? Or shall we wait until you beg for quarter?" Hongjoong asks him.
Mingi looked below the plank and saw sharks circling the waters below. The maknaes must've thrown in shark bait to draw them in.
Mingi took a breath and shook his head.
"I won't ask for mercy. If I say anymore, you won't listen or believe me. I love you guys too much to continue to hurt you more. I'll take the plunge. It's worth it. You all gave me amazing memories, you all taught me how to be strong. You all showed me that my fears don't define me."
Mingi carefully and slowly turns around to face them all on the plank and he's able to give them a confident smile.
"Plus, you're all not the real ATEEZ. None of this is real. You know what? I should cross this fear off my list too because now I know, none of you would ever make me walk the plank even if I make a mistake."
Mingi turns back around, heart racing as he sees the sea below him. He looks back up and slightly turns his head to them.
"Oh, and one more thing..."
"Fix On."
Mingi jumps off the plank and closes his eyes shut, expecting to crash into the waves. Instead, his body hits the hard yet soft sand of the Wonderland beach. He opens his eyes and the first thing he sees is Yechan, sitting next to him on the beach.
"I'm surprised. There were at least 10 things in that trap that scared you yet, you faced them boldly."
Mingi sits up and dusts the sand off his shirt, "I'm Song Mingi, you goblin. I keep walking even when there's worries."
Chan nods and hums in satisfaction, "hmm, well! Congrats!~ you made it out of your trap! I was supposed to just have you die in the water, but! I pulled you out in time!"
Mingi scoffs, "am I supposed to thank you?"
Chan stands up and laughs, "hahaha I don't expect one. You're lucky I'm one of the nicer goblins out of my brothers. Anyways, go through the jungle and go straight and you'll make it to the banquet! I'm gonna go get the couple~"
The goblin disappears in a yellow smoke and Mingi stands up, dusting the sand off his pants. He couldn't help but smile, feeling proud of himself. He felt like he could accomplish anything because he was able to overcome so much.
::::::::::::::::::
Hongjoong and Iridessa were now checking the cabin crew quarters on the ship for any clues to the exit.
"I wonder where Mingi went. It's been 20 minutes..." Iridessa says as she feels the walls may be for a hidden door or window.
Hongjoong sighs and gives a shrug, "I don't know. He wasn't in the cannonry when we checked. I hope that goblin didn't do anything to him."
"Oh. I did."
Both Hongjoong and Iridessa turn to the voice and see Chan leaning against the doorframe with an excited giggle.
"Where is Mingi?!" Hongjoong goes to him and demands.
"It's no fun if I tell you. It's more fun if you find out! Speaking of which, it's trap time!~ I've been observing you two to come up with the perfect trap."
Chan appears next to Iridessa making her jump startled, "the princess who left her castle because to her "freedom" is being a pirate."
He then appears next to Hongjoong, "and the captain whose treasure is loving a princess turned pirate!"
Yechan disappears then reappears in front of the two of them with an amused laugh, "it's cute really, how you two turned each other's treasures into a love story! But...what if we test that love in my little trap? The fun part is, you two won't even know what specifically it is you're being tested on! Let's play, shall we?"
His laugh echos in the room before them and Hongjoong holds tight onto iridessa's hand. The mist fills the room, enough so they could no longer see the goblin or the room around them. When the mist disappears they found themselves at a ship port.
"Iridessa didn't you listen to me?! What are you going to choose?!"
Iridessa turned around to the familiar voice and saw her brother standing in front of the Royal guards who had every ATEEZ crew member tied up behind their backs.
"Maddox?! What the heck?! Let them go!!" Iridessa says to him.
"I can't until you give up your life at sea and come back to KQ. It's been chaos since you left. If it wasn't for these pirates you wouldn't have ever left! I'm giving you a deal. If you come back, I'll let them go. If you go with them, I'll have each one sent to the dungeon for life. The captain on the other hand..."
He makes a sideways notion with his arm across his neck, hinting that he'd have Hongjoong killed. Iridessa furrows her brows at her brother and looks at Hongjoong next to her.
"You're making me decide the fate of his crew and mine?! Yet you know how I feel about all of them?! You're not truly my brother." She tells him upsettingly.
"You're a princess. You have duties to your people, not the sea. Not to thieves!"
"They aren't thieves!! You know that!!"
Maddox stomps his foot, "All pirates are!! Enough with this!" He holds up a medium-sized hourglass, "See this hourglass? I'm giving you till the sand runs out for you to make your decision. If you don't decide I'll send everyone to the dungeon."
Iridessa groans and looks to hongjoong.
"Iridessa, this is a test of the goblin. None of this is real."
"You're right...but how can we escape the situation without having made a plan? I only have two options. I can't have you or the crew killed. The answer is obvious, I have to go back."
Hongjoong shakes his head, "No. I can't have you give up your treasure just because someone forces you to!"
"You'll die and your crew will rot in the dungeon! I have no choice Hongjoong! This way you all are free."
"But then you won't be free! Don't you see the truth behind this situation? None of us are truly free no matter the choice!"
"Hongjoong this is my choice to make. It's okay! As a Princess, my duties to my kingdom come first."
Hongjoong scoffs and looks away before looking back at her. He couldn't believe what she just said.
"So, you're saying after everything you learned when you were with us, our love, your happiness, all of that, you prefer to put your Princess duties first?"
"Kim Hongjoong! That's not what I'm saying!" Iridessa exclaimed frustratedly.
"Then enlighten me, your highness! What is it?"
The two remained quiet for a minute, the sand in the hourglass running out throughout each second. Both glaring at each other. Both are too heated to speak.
Iridessa takes a breath and looks at the white-haired pirate calmly, "you know I love you and the crew very much, so much, that I would sacrifice my happiness to let you have yours. I'm not saying that you all meant nothing to me when you all very much have. In fact, I don't like being in this situation at all where I have to choose between you all and my kingdom. But, if you were stuck in a situation like this, wouldn't you choose giving up your own happiness for the happiness of the ones you loved?"
Hongjoong remained quiet processing her answer. He knew she was right. But he refused to see that this was the only option. There had to a flaw to all of this. What if the point of this test wasn't for her to choose between her and her duties...what if it was simply to get them to fight to the point they'd leave each other?
If Iridessa chooses to give up her happiness that's giving up Hongjoong. If they both fight enough, that's giving each other up. They weren't supposed to let this separate them. They were supposed to work together through this.
Hongjoong pulls Iridessa into a hug making her confused but then melting into his arms. He kisses her head making her heart flutter.
"Don't do this to yourself. I know you love me enough to do it but don't. That will only hurt me. This test isn't supposed to do that. This test was designed to hurt our treasures. For you, it's freedom, for me, it's you. Regardless of it being your choice, let's do it together. Okay? You know that I've never once made you choose between your treasure and your duty. I've helped you find a way to connect them both together. Remember, you're not just a princess, you're a pirate princess."
Iridessa smiles at hongjoong's words and kisses his cheek, "you're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten so heated."
Hongjoong smiles at her, "me too. Make a decision and I'll work it together with you."
Iridessa nods at him then pulls from the hug, turning around to face her brother.
"Our law states that the princess must stay in the kingdom unless by permission by the king to leave OR marriage. You permitted me to stay however by law, you can order me to return home as I'm not married. However, our law was made flexible that I may marry anyone outside of our kingdom so that I may not stay. So..."
Hongjoong's eyes widen as Iridessa gets down on one knee and holds Hongjoong's hands in hers.
"Darling? What are you doing?" Hongjoong asks her with a shy smile feeling his cheeks burn up.
"You said we'd find a way out of this together. This is the best way. So, Captain Kim Hongjoong...will you be willing to spend the rest of your life on the seas with me? And on the occasion in the castle of KQ kingdom?"
Hongjoong grins like an idiot, "I love how bold you are. Yes of course! I've dreamt of the day this would happen. Haha just didn't expect you to get on one knee for me."
Iridessa gets up and chuckles giving Hongjoong a kiss, "I think we should change proposal roles. Who says a woman can't propose to her man?"
Hongjoong wraps his arms around her torso and kisses her lips sweetly before looking at him again, "I love you for that."
The mist appears around them and they're on the island of Wonderland. They pull from the kiss to look at their surroundings and they see Chan standing them with tears running down his cheeks.
"You guys are so cute! Awww~ instead of sacrificing each other you two make it work till the end. That's...true love."
"Don't test us again," Iridessa tells him sassily.
Chan gives an awkward laugh, running his hand through his short hair, "Right! Never again! I promise!~ well! You both are free! If you keep walking through the forest you'll make it to the banquet and meet up with Mingi. I'll see you guys there!~"
And with that, Yechan disappears leaving the couple on the beach.
"So...just to be clear, you proposed to actually marry me? Not just to get out of that test?"
Iridessa wraps her arms around Hongjoong's neck with a giggle, "Silly pirate, I proposed to you for real back there!~"
The captain's cheeks heated up again and another grin formed on his face and he dipped her excitedly. They both laugh happily before kissing each other once again.
::::::::::::::::::::::
Wooyoung, Seonghwa and Yunho land back on the beach and they stand up in annoyance.
"Why did we just leave to come back here?!" Wooyoung asks brushing the sand off his pants.
Donghun appears giving a slight laugh in amusement, "I thought it was funny. Plus the other ideas were taken."
Yunho furrows his brows not finding any of this funny, "What do you want with us, goblin?"
"I have a name and it's not Goblin. Just relax, I'm just gonna test you all."
"What kind of test?" Seonghwa asks.
"Wow, you're pretty. Really. Well! I'll test you on your treasure of friendship, you on your treasure of justice, and you and your treasure of wisdom."
Donghun smiles and puts his arms around all three of them, "what do you say, boys? Can you handle it?"
He gives a dark chuckle before snapping his fingers making everyone appear at a ship port. The three of them look around in confusion, wondering why they were there. The ship they were next to was none other than the ATINY ship.
A tall man wearing all black with a black mouth mask and hat came up to Seonghwa.
"Cap'n! Ever since ye came back, we've been a success with our treasure findings!"
Seonghwa's eyes widen, "C-captain? I-I'm not your-"
The pirate laughs, "yer funny cap'n! I see ye brought captures for us. I'll bring them on board!"
He goes to grab Wooyoung and Yunho but the two of them back away and seonghwa stands in front of them protecting them.
"Hold on! Explain what's going on! Why do you keep calling me your captain?!" Seonghwa demands from him.
"Don't ye remember cap'n? Ye took over the ATEEZ ship and made princess Iridessa yer pirate queen! Yer plan worked! We be one of the richest pirate fleets to ever sail the sev'n seas!"
"P-pirate fleet??"
"Haha yeah, cap'n look behind the ship! They all be yers!"
Seonghwa quickly scurries to the side of the ship and sees almost 20 other ships with names he used to plan to name his ships after.
"So? What's the next step cap'n? Where should we go from here?" The man asks Seonghwa from behind.
Seonghwa was in awe. Was this some reality where his plan worked out? It wasn't so bad after all.
"Seonghwa!! Snap out of it!! This isn't real!! You're not the captain." Yunho calls out to Seonghwa.
Seonghwa turns around and walks back over to the two of them.
"Don't listen to these scallywags, cap'n. Of course yer our captain! I'll take them off yer hands."
The pirate grabs them by their wrists tightly and starts dragging them up on board.
Wooyoung tries struggling out of his grip, "Hyung!! Do something!! Do what's right!"
Seonghwa felt so confused, all of this felt real. A reality he used to dream of. He knew every part of this was wrong. He doesn't need to be captain to be happy anymore. He likes being quartermaster. Hongjoong's first mate. He had all the respect from his friends just by being that.
"They're trying to rob you of what you truly want."
Seonghwa gasped as he heard Donghun's voice but he was nowhere to be found.
"All of this is yours. Just step on your ship. Make it happen."
A captain fit appeared on Seonghwa's body and he looked down at his clothes and felt his tricorn hat.
"Seonghwa hyung!! Don't listen to that goblin!!"
"Yeah! He's lying!! You love being our quartermaster!! You love bossing us around!! We love you keeping us in check!!"
"They're lying!! They only care about themselves. Look how helpless they are without you. You don't need them. Those fake friends."
Seonghwa looks at Yunho and Wooyoung as they get pushed up onto the ship. He goes up to the ship after them. The crew ties the two of them up and muffles their mouths with cloths.
"Cap'n should we set sail and drop them over the shark bed?" The quartermaster asks him.
The crew watches him, waiting for an answer.
"Seonghwa?" A familiar voice asks for him.
He turns around and sees Iridessa standing there.
"You're back! I've missed you."
She comes up to him with a smile and gives him a hug and a cheek kiss. Seonghwa freezes especially when he sees the necklace he had given her years ago was around her neck.
"Did you come back with anything for me this time?" She looks up into his eyes and asks him.
"Haha yeah! Some ol' crewmates." The quartermaster says and points to Yunho and Wooyoung.
"Oh! Why did you bring them on board?! What are you going to do with them?!"
"Why throw them overboard of course! Just give the word cap'n and we'll set sail and dump them in the ocean! Just like how they almost did with you..."
Seonghwa looked between everyone. He's certainly changed since then. This is what he used to want. But now...
He looked at the pleading eyes of Wooyoung, he always joked around with him but he cared for him and looked up to him the most.
Seonghwa looked to Yunho. Yunho was a good boy who always gave seonghwa the best advice even when he never knew he needed it.
They and ATEEZ cared about him and who he was for more than his role on the ship. They treated him as a true friend and brother and that's all that mattered to him over the years being on the ship.
Not this, not any of this anymore.
Seonghwa furrows his brows and takes off his hat, tossing it to the floor. He marches up to the two of them, grabbing a sword from the quartermaster's scabbard. He slashed the rope around the two of them and pull down their cloths, setting them free.
"I'm not your captain, nor am I theirs. I'm their best friend and that's all that matters to me." He tells everyone.
The three of them suddenly appeared back on the beach and Donghun shows himself to them.
"That test was mostly for seonghwa hyung wasn't it?" Yunho asks the goblin.
Donghun gives him a smirk and nods, "you're indeed wise. You all passed in your ways. I'm impressed. Yunho, you knew everything wasn't real and advised your friend best you could. Wooyoung you knew what was right and tried advising your friend in that. Seonghwa, you stayed true to your friends despite what was in front of you."
Seonghwa smiles at him, "Of course I did. They helped me see my true treasure. They helped me see there's more to life than being a quartermaster or a captain."
Donghun scoffs and rolls his eyes, "dork."
"He is, right!!" Wooyoung joins in and Seonghwa sticks his tongue out teasingly at him.
"Anyways. Head into the jungle. You'll find the banquet." He says before disappearing.
"Hyung, why did you hesitate so much though back there?" Yunho asks.
"I'm sorry. I just couldn't believe it was all real. Before I turned on you all many years ago, that was all I wanted. But I had to remind myself that I have something greater." He tells them, putting his arms around the two of them with a smile.