Kie's Fleuros Beach Mayhem

The beach is too hot. The sun is too bright.  The shade is far from cool. The water feels like broth slowly boiling every soul that dared to step in alive. Also… wearing all black was a terrible idea. COY fanned himself slowly with the dance steps to their new song. Recording in the heat of the day in the middle of summer. Who thought this was a good idea again?? Probably Angel. Angel was the only one crazy enough to enjoy the sunlight. The silver haired fleuros could care less and less about their song and more about going back inside to cool off. It did not help him that his normal outfit consisted of his red bleached jacket and whatever black shirt and pants he could pull out of his suitcase first. Not to mention his lack of shoes. Perhaps that was the worst part. The burning grains of sand under his feet that him shifting back and forth like an impatient child. He could not find it in himself to completely hide how he felt about the situation. His exquisite white tail slowly flicked back and forth before tracing shapes in the hot sand. Sadly he did not think of the after effects of such a movement. Hot grains caught in his primroses and cosmos, digging into the joints of his bone tail. A soft click of annoyance left his mouth but quiet enough to where only he heard such. His tail lifted and fell into his hands. The joints clicked one by one as he rubbed his gloved fingers in between each crack and over each petal. There had to be at least one upside to this beach. The sand was white. The water was clear. Dark red and black eyes fell upon the ocean waves. The fish were free. The coral was thriving. Occasionally in the distance, he could see a dolphin jumping up and soaring above the water. Even farther out were the silhouettes of ships. Whale watching or something. Angel mentioned it as something that was on their agenda. Whale watching, scuba diving, a photoshoot, swimwear modelling? COY was not looking forward to those last two. If it was up to him he would stay in the hotel room and pretend to be sick. But part of the reason they even got this trip was that Angel found them a sponsor. (Or maybe the sponsor found them…) And that sponsor just happened to be COY’s biggest fan who was also a photographer and apparently now a swimsuit designer? Not that he minded having to take a few pictures in return for a good vacation. Their sponsor had been pretty much nowhere to be seen, probably busy setting up the photoshoot location. Hopefully, at least the swimsuits would be his style. Something modest and preferably red and black. Of course, he could only pray so much. The ocean was colourful. His eyes slowly looked up to the horizon meeting the bright blue sky and the few clouds that rest in the air above them. The birds sang a beautiful song and the wind was sweet. No. The wind was salty. Something was sweet. Sweet, a little fruity, and very strong. His eyes lowered to the fleuros in front of him. Angel was sweet. Today he wore some wretched ‘magic pink peach perfume’. Only after spraying the room with it and getting it on everyone’s clothes. It was not just Angel he was smelling it on, it was the black cloth mask COY always wore around. The red clothed fleuros rolled his eyes adjusting his mask before taking a few steps forward to be at the other’s side. If he was not such a germaphobe he would have taken off the silly mask by now. But suffocating in the scent of his friend’s perfume was better than catching some sickly disease. One could only imagine what horrors of viruses and colds he could catch if he took it off. Who knew what germs rest in those clear blue waves! COY did not that was for sure.

Angel was well dressed. He always was. To see Angel in an outfit that did not match his aesthetic was an absurd thought. It was always something white or black or a mix of both. Colour accents were never needed when you were naturally pretty. Angel looked comfortable despite wearing his normal fluffy jacket. The white haired fleuros was wearing lightly ripped jeans and his usual fluffy black jacket. He looked hot. Physically hot. One could only wonder how he was not passing out from heat exhaustion. But Angel did not have a drop of sweat on him. Perfect. That was what Angel was. A literal angel. All he needed was a pair of fluffy white wings and he might be able to pass for one. But maybe the jacket was just for show. It was not below Angel to pretend to be dying of heat to get the ladies attention. Not that COY cared. He had plenty of fans just being himself. Angel was on his phone trying to take what seemed like a selfie but unable to get the proper light source. Not that it mattered. The longer Angel took to figure out the perfect angle the more time COY had to escape the situation before he was dragged into a photo. He already had one photoshoot to deal with later, he would prefer to keep all his 'interacting with people’ battery charged for then. COY slipped his hands into his pockets before walking on past Angel. He walked farther down the beach to stumble upon his other bandmate.

Prince typically seemed disinterested in the whole photo shoot thing. COY could not blame him as he was not exactly the most interested either. Prince was already half changed for the shoot other than his typical black and white patterned scarf that rest on his shoulders. The moment that break was declared Prince went back to building his sand castle. He started it the moment they got out there and kept building on it every break. Now it was about as tall as him and overly extravagant. He took a step back peeling open a cherry flavoured lollipop and sticking it in his mouth. COY silently walked up alongside him looking up at the sand castle that almost blocked the sun. It was impressive. COY started to open his mouth to compliment Prince’s masterpiece when a group of kids ran by. One of them bumped into the castle’s moat as they ran through and one thing led to another till eventually, the castle had crumbled to the ground. COY closed his mouth feeling as if things could go a lot better if he did not say anything dumb here. He heard a soft cracking sound as Prince bit down on his lollipop. He pulled the stick out of his mouth before kicking the now fallen castle. All his work..gone. Even the grains of the ocean floor are not immune to the passage of time. COY took a few slow steps away to create distance as Prince continued his temper tantrum and instead found himself wandering down the beach. In his eyes, today would hopefully be yet another normal day. Photoshoots, hanging out with friends… what could possibly go wrong?

COY’s jacket fell to the ground as he dipped his feet into the water. Perfect temperature. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. Just like all the brochures on the plane said. He waded out to knee depth before looking back to shore. Of course, he could swim he was not concerned about that in the slightest. But as what felt like the only one with brain cells in his friend group he had to keep at least one eye on Angel and Prince at most times… at least Angel, who tended to be the source of drama for all the local news stations. COY was almost sure that the paparazzi were out and about waiting for one of them to screw up somewhere. They were not even that popular! Just enough that people wanted to butt into their daily lives. Of course, as he thought, Angel had found his way into a girls beach volleyball session. COY took a step back towards the shore but paused and turned back to the open waters. Well… Beach Volleyball was not…inherently bad, was it? Maybe it was good publicity! Or that’s what COY would tell himself as he waded farther out from shore. Sadly, he was wrong. Angel had always been the flirty one of the group, even if as an idol dating was out of the question. But if he could make some girl’s day he was sure to do it. COY however wasn’t thinking about that. He was not going to spend his vacation parenting the other two. At least… not right now! He dipped beneath the waves, soaking his hair and ears as he did. It felt nice to get all those loose grains of sand out of his hair. Even if just for a few minutes.. COY was going to try and enjoy a peaceful vacation.

Meanwhile, back on the beach, Angel had found a way to stir up trouble. It wasn’t even his fault in the end! The ball he hit just accidentally smacked some poor girl in the face. How was he supposed to know that hitting it that hard would end up breaking her nose??? The white fleuros ran up to her side with a concerned look on his face, “I’m so sorry miss! Are you ok-”

“I’m fine! I’m fine..” The lady said quickly in return. She was wearing a nice white bikini with a sakura petal themed coverup. Well, it was nice and white… but now it had faint drops of red scattered on it. Angel rubbed the back of his head unsure of how to properly remedy this situation.

“Sorry for uh hitting you in the face with that ball. I really didn’t mean that haha. Can I get you a drink to pay you back? And I’ll pay to have that washed as well!” Angel offered. He figured the one thing he could offer to someone was a drink and maybe a bandage if the beach bar had any. The lady glanced down at her outfit with a soft sigh.

“Ah this one was new too… that would be nice. If you could get me a drink. I’m Chimari, you’re one of the idols here for the photoshoot right?” The brown haired fleuros asked holding her non bloodied hand out to the other. Angel nodded accepting it and helping her up. 

“I am! I’m Angel. The other two Prince and COY are off somewhere on the beach too. This is our mandatory break time.” Angel explained leading her back towards the bar. 

“Mandatory… break time?” Chimari didn’t get much of an explanation as the moment they arrived at the bar the bartender retrieved the first aid kit for her. Angel picked out two pretty flower themed drinks for them. One with rose petals and white slush for Chimari and a black and white swirled one for himself.  “Thanks for the drinks and for fixing me back up.” Chimari said cheerfully as Angel carefully bandaged up her nose.

“You’re welcome but you wouldn’t be like this if I didn’t accidentally spike that ball into your face. Maybe sports aren’t for me” Angel laughed sitting back on one of the barstools and sipping his drink. Tasted like blueberries? Unexpected but he was fine with that. “But it was nice meeting you! It’s always nice to meet pretty fleuros-”

Prince had been watching the pair from a distance. He, like COY, was aware of the dumb shenanigans that Angel could find himself ending up in., And as he had finally finished his tantrum and had a new lollipop to suck on, it was his turn to babysit their local idiot friend. He didn’t plan on intervening as Angel seemed to be handling the problem well on his own. That was until he caught a flash out of the corner of his eye. Of course, even a vacation in the middle of nowhere brought obsessive paparazzi and reporters. Prince twirled his lollipop in his hand as if trying to decide if he had to deal with this or not, before remembering the last scandal the news got ahold of. They didn’t need another ‘Angel caught with new girl’ headline. With an internal groan, he headed towards the pair at the bar.

COY was happily floating in the ocean when he heard the commotion back at the beach. Of course. Something had to go wrong or else this wouldn’t be a normal vacation would it be? He quickly swam back to shore to assess the situation. He assumed it was another one of ‘Angel accidentally talks to someone he shouldn’t!’ problems. Last time it was some CEO of some company that COY honestly' didn’t care about at all. And sure enough, it was a similar situation. Cameras flashing and reporters asking what their relationship was, while Prince was adamantly telling them all to back off while he dragged Angel away. Angel seemed to care less about the situation. Always happy to say he made a friend. That was just Angel for you… unaware of how people would twist his words wanting to see the best in everyone. But the world took advantage of someone like that. No matter how sweet one was someone would find a way to manipulate their kindness. 

“Angel won’t be answering any more questions for now. You can ask more at our fan meet” COY said smoothly as he arrived. Flashing lights turned on him in an instant. Just one day without someone’s phone or camera in his face was all he asked for. Before he could accidentally give someone a piece of his mind, Prince of all people grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the crowd, dragging all three of them off the beach and into the forest. “Come on you two! We’ll lose them in here”

 They navigated through the forest for what felt like an eternity but had to be no more than thirty minutes. The reporters were long gone and now they were just lost. Angel cut his finger on a leaf and had been quietly whining for the past five minutes. “Are you sure this is the right way, Prince? I’m pretty sure the hotel was to the right of the beach. My finger hurts-”

“Quit your whining, if you were better at volleyball we wouldn’t be here right now!” Prince huffed crossing his arms as they stopped in front of a cave of sorts. “We’ve been here before…. We’re going in giant circles.”

“Well first off, in my defence, I spiked that volleyball perfectly. It just happened to smack that lady in the nose. Second, it’s not my fault she’s pretty and accepted my offer of a drink. Third, off you’ve been the one leading us in circles so you can’t blame your lack of direction sense on me.” Angel taunted back half defending himself but mostly just being a sassy brat. COY rolled his eyes. Why was he here again? Why did he agree to all of this? He could be in the hotel now, in bed, sleeping. Or even better he could be home now, in bed, sleeping. But instead, they were lost in the woods on an island that was probably haunted by ghosts or some other crazy monstrosity. COY sighed fixing his mask as he made the command decision to walk into the cave.

“COY? Where are you going?” Prince called after him before quickly trotting up behind him to stay close. Angel didn’t think twice to catch up to them not wanting to be left in the spooky forest all alone. Who knew what kind of monsters lurked out here.

The cave was wet. Sounds of water dripping echoed throughout. Deeper in the sound of running water echoed up to them. The air smelled salty. The walls of the cave were lined with bright blue and green bioluminescent algae. If they listened hard enough COY could faintly hear the sound of waves crashing against rocks. If they were lucky maybe this place led back out onto the beach! COY took careful steps as the cave sloped downwards, wet rock hard for his shoes to stick on. “I think the hotel is this way.” COY unlike the other two seemed rather calm about the situation. Prince stayed in the middle, running his hand along the wall to ensure he didn’t slip and fall into COY while Angel took up the rear, taking pictures on his phone as they went along. This place would be perfect for his Fleurgram Story! Their fans would love it! Plus it was a great inspiration for a new song. He seemed a bit better now that COY was leading the party, humming one of their new singles to himself as they went along. But humming did not help the white clad fleuros keep his balance on the slippery rocks. One wrong step had him tumbling into the fleuros in front of him which in turn sent the whole party sliding down the wet rocks towards the sounds of crashing water up ahead.

“Angel! Can you watch where you are going for five seconds??” Prince yelled, trying to grab onto something as they slid down the slick surface, but there was little vegetation sticking out from the cave walls to help slow their descent. 

”Hah! Sorry! But hey! Say hello to our fans! We’re in a beach cave! And we are about to fall into a river!” Angel called back trying to live stream their journey. At least Angel had his priorities straight. And at least some fans somewhere would know why they disappeared off the surface of the earth. COY took a deep breath before he fell into the river, quickly swimming back up to the surface before Prince could smack into him. This was not how he planned his day to go. COY was supposed to be under an umbrella right now, on the beach with a nice fruity drink in hand. Instead, here he was! In a river! Being dragged to who knows where!

~~~~~

Meanwhile farther in the cave, another group of fleuros were exploring.  They were in making their way carefully down the river’s edge heading lower into the cave. One wrong step would send anyone slipping off the rocky bank and into the swift moving water below. The cave was dimly lit save for the one fleuros in the front that held the group’s torch. Occasionally one of the other’s would check their phone a bright flash illuminating her area before being sternly told to shut that thing off. 

“Keep up you spineless cowards! There is a treasure to be found and I won’t be waiting around all day to find it!”

The silver haired female in front was Nerine Koizumi, current captain of the most feared pirate group in Oceana Beach’s midst. People said she’s ruthless and takes no prisoners, but the two poor souls that were trailing behind the group could disagree with that statement. 

“Ms Captain lady how long till you think we find the exit? I have a photoshoot at uh… 5? 6? I wish I had a signal in here.”

The smallest of the group with messy white hair was Ryn. She was not a pirate. In fact, she had nothing to do with the group she stumbled upon. They simply took her in because they took pity on her and her red haired friend. Nerine had now put it upon herself to teach these two children how to read a map. The red haired fleuros besides Ryn who was busy trying to read a map upside down was Nell. Ryn introduced him as someone with a big heart and not much else but the pair were best friends and somehow ended up lost in this cave only to be found by a group of pirates. Nerine stopped for a moment and flipped his map right side up before continuing on. 

“We’ll get out once we find the treasure. It’s much more important than your photoshoot.” She said simply before carrying on. 

Ryn sighed pulling out her camera again and continuing to document whatever peaked her fancy as they continued on through the cave. “Hey, Nell.” She whispered, “Remind me to never go into a cave and get kidnapped by pirates again.”

“Deal” Nell whispered back studying the map as if he understood any of it. “Hey, Ryn. How come this map doesn’t show where you are like the phone does?”

“No signal or out of battery” Ryn said confidently. Poor souls. They were lucky Nerine took pity on them because she needed extra hands to find this supposed mythical treasure. If it was up to her she would have brought her whole crew in here. But someone needed to watch the ship while she was away and she decided that only a few helping hands were needed for this journey. If only she picked better helping hands as only one of her original five had managed to stick with the group so far. Her last crewmate was Alpha. Alpha was currently her right-hand man.  To be quite honest she didn’t fully trust him as he tended to do whatever he wanted to do. But as long as his brother, Zion, was back on the ship he would at least half obey any order he was given. Or well… he would at least consider half obeying whatever order he was given. He made up the rear ensuring, or hopefully ensuring, that their two temporary helpers were doing their job. But currently to him, it felt like he was babysitting two idiots that shared one half of a brain cell amongst them. To be honest he wasn’t sure how they managed to make it this far into the cave without getting terrible lost or injured or both. Perhaps they were simply lucky that Nerine and himself happened upon them. Alpha didn’t get much time to think about his own thoughts on his situation as the sound of screaming echoed down the rocky tunnel.

“Hey! That kinda sounds like COY! You know in their last music video how he screamed at that one part? That’s exactly what that sounds like” Ryn chirped pulling on her friend’s sleeve. Nell squinted up the river trying to see if something was coming towards them. 

“It’s probably COY’s ghost! Don’t worry I can punch it when it gets closer!”

“Don’t punch COY’s ghost!! If he’s a ghost I wanna take him home! Do you know how cool that would be to have an idol haunt you for the rest of your life?? You would have your own private singer at all times!” Ryn huffed gently pulling at her friend’s hands. Neither of them got to put many more words into their short argument on whether or not aeroplanes would accept ghosts as carry-ons or if you would need to buy a ticket to take your ghost pal home, as the trio of idols flew past them down the river. Ryn and Nell went silent, Ryn being particularly in shock about what she just witnessed. “I think I’m seeing things Ms Captain lady.”

Nerine didn’t answer as she quickly ran down the path in hopes of getting those poor kids out of the river. Alpha rolled his eyes, pushing on the pair in front of him to get them to walk, “You know, Nerine, it would be much easier to use your magic and pull them out.” Alpha said in a rather monotone voice. Nerine scoffed half turning back as she continued down.

“No need to use magic when the river is depositing into an underground lake soon! It’s almost as if you didn’t read the mission brief, Mr Alpha!” She taunted back as she turned around a corner. Alpha mumbled something about mission briefings now days being far too long and not having enough good information in them. Who needed mission briefings when one tended to go off course anyways? He slipped past the pair in front of him to catch up to his captain figuring that hopefully, those two could manage to go straight for a few seconds without getting lost again.

Sure enough, there was an underground lake up ahead where the three idols were promptly deposited into. COY was the first to make it to the edge of the lake pulling himself out and pulling his now soaking wet jacket off. And all this stuff was relatively new too… well at least most of the group was already wearing their outfits for the shoots save for the signature jackets and scarf that each individual typically toted around. No worries COY thought to himself as he wrung out his jacket and tied it around his waist. Prince was the next to reach the shore crawling out and laying on the rocky surface. 

“I am Never following you into a cave again.” He said with a distinct huff before reaching into one of his pockets and pulling out a dripping ziplock full of lollipops. Amazing how he even thought to waterproof his snacks before coming on this trip. He picked out a green apple lollipop and stuck it in his mouth with another upset noise as if to make his point about how much this trip sucked. Now for Angel, it was a miracle he even made it out of the water. He looked exhausted despite not having to paddle too hard on the journey down. COY offered him a hand to help him out which Angel gladly took.

“It’s so cold and I’m wet. And we definitely are missing our photoshoot now.” Angel said with an exasperated sigh. Coy rubbed his head. He had completely forgotten about the photoshoot for a moment. Hopefully, they would find a way out of here soon so they could at least explain to their sponsor what happened. 

“It’s ok she’s pretty understanding isn’t she?”

“Maybe if we are lucky she thinks the shoot is tomorrow,” Prince mumbled through his lollipop not seeming to really care about missing out on their photoshoot. Angel quickly agreed with that thought starting a plan where they could hopefully convince their sponsor that they were given the wrong date and time. The group wasn’t allowed to rest long as the other party caught up.

“Hey, you three! Are you alright?” Nerine called out as she made her way down to them. 

Angel perked up brushing his wet hair out of his face, “Are you from the hotel? We got a little lost-”

“More lost people? Do any of you guys know how to read a map???” Alpha groaned rubbing his temples. They went into the cave with a group of five, ended up having three wuss out and were going to end up leaving with five little kid fleuros that apparently couldn’t read maps. Amazing. Great. Alpha loved that. Honestly, in his professional opinion, if it was up to him, they would toss all these rich kids back in the water and leave them for the sharks. But it wasn’t up to him thankfully. Nerine offered the group a hand waving off her subordinate. 

“Don’t mind him. He’s a little cranky. I’m Nerine, Captain of the Midnight Phantom of the Glorious High Seas.”

There was a long pause as the trio tried to figure out what she was talking about. Prince finally clicked his tongue, “Oh you’re a pirate. Why is your ship’s name so long?”

Nerine’s ears fell flat and she shook her head, “Just call her the Phantom for short. If you three are lost you are free to join our group we’ll help you get out once we find the treasure.”

“Why not just call it Phanny-” Prince started to continue before being cut off by a voice on the other side of the lake.

“Hey! IT was COY! I told you so!” 

Somehow… Ryn and Nell did manage to get lost. Somehow they managed to get on the other side of the lake… Alpha was at a loss for words. Those two absolute gremlins… So help him if he ever had children he would make them learn how to have a sense of direction. Nerine slowly facepalmed before looking back at Alpha. 

“Hey! Don’t blame that on me! How was I supposed to know they wouldn’t go straight for a few more seconds and end up on the other side of the river??” 

Nerine shook her head with a quiet sigh. “It’s fine at least they managed to make it to the lake. Ryn! Nell! Get over here.” The pair was quiet conversing amongst themselves before they finally managed to realise with whatever brain cells they had left that they could walk around the lake instead of swimming through it. COY slowly looked down at Angel.

“That’s our sponsor isn’t it?” He whispered to the other. Angel slowly nodded with a small confused smile. 

”Hey if she’s lost in here… and we are lost in here… that means all of us are late for the photo shoot.” Prince added on before slowly standing and shaking what water he could out of his hair. “Hey, Ryn-” He started holding out a hand to her which was quickly passed up as Ryn opted to hug her favourite idol instead.

“COY! Hey Ms Captain Lady! This was the guy I was talking about earlier! Isn’t he pretty?” Ryn said cheerfully rocking back and forth as she squeezed him. Nerine looked him up and down before looking ahead.

“He’s something… Well… the more the merrier I suppose. Come on you five keep up or we’ll leave you behind to find your way out of this place on your own.” Nerine said swiftly before passing up the group and heading down the next tunnel. 

COY groaned internally now having Ryn stuck to his arm for the rest of the trip. While he didn’t mind her presence too much she did talk quite a lot. The weird part was is she never paused for him to respond the only two fleuros managing to get responses in was Angel and Nell. Perhaps the extroverts just need to stick together. Seconds turned to minutes which turned to hours and the group felt like they were simply getting more and more lost as they continued on through the cave. Ryn had finally quieted down having switched jackets with COY and being ecstatic over how nice his jacket was despite it being wet. COY was just happy to be wearing something somewhat warm and thanking whatever clothing gods were out there that this girl wore three times her size for something she called ‘fashion’. Plus COY finally had his arm back as  Nell was carrying Ryn because ‘her feet were tired’. All of their feet were tired… COY wouldn’t mind being carried around as well but he had some dignity to uphold. 

Nerine suddenly stopped as they reached a new room. The rocks had changed from a murky black and brown to a beautiful shimmering dark blue. She held her hand up to stop the rest of the group behind her but that didn’t stop Angel from bumping into her and almost making her stumble into the room. “The hand means to halt.” She explained to the fleuros behind her before turning back to the room in front of her. A weird warm mist emanated from inside it circling around the ankles of those that stood in the entryway of the cavern. After some examination, she pinpointed that the mist was coming from hot springs that laid inside this cavern and slowly took steps in. The water was warm and shallow, lapping at the intruder’s feet. Nerine slowly moved her foot side to side feeling for the edges of the path. On either side of the narrow path, the ground dropped off into deeper waters below. No trouble to those that could swim but glowing dots deeper in the waters suggested it was safer to stay on the path. “It’s safe you may come in. Mind your step there’s a drop off on either side.” Nerine said confidently before proceeding farther taking careful steps to stay on the path. Nell carefully let Ryn get down so she could continue her documentation of their cave journey. 

The group moved slowly through the room, Nerine being careful to examine for any traps ahead before allowing them to proceed. As they made it farther in a pedestal emerged from the mist. A bottle of dark blue glowing liquid sat in a clear angel-like container. Nerine held her hand up to halt her group again, this time Angel listening to ensure he didn’t make the same mistake twice. 

“Why did we stop?” Ryn whispered to Nell who could see above the fleuros in front of her. He reached down pulling her up slightly to see what was ahead of them, “We came all this way? For a bottle of coloured water?” Ryn sounded disappointed but Nerine simply smiled. 

“Not any coloured water, my dear comrade. This is tears from Anthea herself.”

“Who’s that,” Nell asked sitting Ryn back down.

“I don’t know just sounds like some fancy wannabe greek god or something” Ryn shrugged getting an eye roll from Alpha. 

“Are you sure you two are even fleuros and not just some humans wearing bone tails?” Alpha teased. Ryn huffed turning around to tell him off but Nell spun her back around to keep her from fighting anyone. 

“No matter who Anthea is. All you need to know is the power that these tears hold. Just a few sips from this potion and one can grow wings. It fetches a high price on the black market.” Nerine explained picking the bottle up from the pedestal. The room rumbled as she did, the entire group freezing in their spots. The path that they once stood on started to slowly sink as the ceiling above them started to crumble. Nerine was quick to look around and find another way out. She dove underwater seeing a light in the distance. Breaking the surface once more she motioned for everyone to follow her. Nerine led the way under a cave wall and resurfacing on the other side. She helped to pull everyone out as they came through. Angel being the last one yet again, flopping on the sandy floor. 

“What’s with all this swimming?? I came here to relax ugh-” Angel started but stopping as COY interjected.

“We came to the beach, Angel… of course, there is swimming.”

“Yeah!! But there shouldn’t be danger!! Like Caves falling in on people!! Or Volleyballs smacking people in the nose!!” Angel said dramatically before falling back on the sand. Ryn walked over him snapping a picture before stepping back. 

“I’m so happy my camera is waterproof. My brother will love these pictures of you.” Ryn smiled clicking through all the pictures she had gotten on their journey so far. Angel hid his eyes under his hands.

“As long as they aren’t published anywhere. Wet hair does not make nice photos.” Angel said with an exasperated sigh. Ryn rolled her eyes looking over to COY. 

“Please. As if I would be caught dead publishing Angel pictures anywhere. Who do you think I am. Hey Ms Captain Lady! Is your funky treasure bottle thing ok?”

Nerine had stepped away from the group to examine the bottle. She held it up to the girl and smiled, “Right as rain! And it seems we’ve found our way out comrades. Welcome back to Oceana beach!” She said motioning to the exit that lied in front of them. Angel was the first out of that wretched cave falling into the sand outside. 

“I’m Never Going In A Cave Again” He screamed into the sand. Ryn made a bit of a face as she came up behind him, before looking up to the now night sky.

“I’d hate to mention where our photoshoot is going to be tomorrow then…” She whispered slowly raising her camera and snapping a few pictures. Angel slowly got onto his knees looking up to the fleuros beside him. She smiled and lowered her camera slightly, “It’s not a cave don’t worry.”

“Haha…you aren’t funny,” Angel whispered before falling into the sand again. Ryn giggled not minding his antics, grabbing her friend and making him pose for her instead. 

COY slowly followed out behind the group watching as Angel made his scene in the sand and Prince was pulling out his sixteenth lollipop of the day. Today he thought he was going to have a photo shoot and take a nap in the hotel. Instead, he ended up exploring some beach cave, getting extremely wet and meeting pirates. Well… it certainly wasn’t the vacation he signed up for but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t having fun. He stretched out looking to the shining moon above them. This island was pretty as cursed as it might be. He looked around deciding he should probably thank the two pirates for helping them out back there. But it seemed they had disappeared without a trace. Not even footprints in the sand. He looked back to the cave and there was no one but himself. Perhaps… those two were ghosts all along. That thought made him shudder as he quickly caught back up to his friends happy to follow them back to the hotel and hopefully to not get in any more trouble on this vacation.