Captain Hook is the only pirate captain I respect—perhaps also the only one I know—yet he cares deeply for his crew, even though his actions are often misguided, such as killing a crew member he'd heard was a traitor without checking further.
However, that is a sign that he is very protective of his ship against traitors; moreover, I'm in awe of just how brave he is—or perhaps more accurately, just how foolishly brave he is, such as when he leapt to confront the Siren head-on.
Yet the Captain, who had stood as if atop a peak, fell immediately, and he had been replaced by another creature—a creature unwilling to surrender to death. His skin had turned a pale blue and his eyes were completely dead; he was like a corpse forced to move by strings high above.
The Captain looked at us all without blinking even once; suddenly, his body began to convulse again, and he needed to press his hand against the wall to support himself. "Alice…" His voice had returned to normal as he called my name, "I… am being controlled by him."
Hearing this, we were shocked and I immediately started thinking of a way to bring him round, but Liz wasted no time—she walked up to him before—SLAP—a hard slap landed squarely on Captain Hook's cheek, leaving a red mark that left him speechless, at a loss for words.
"I've been part of your crew far longer than you have, so why on earth did you call out to Alice?!" Liz protested, catching me off guard; I hadn't expected that to be what made her so furious—my blue eyes glanced towards Captain Hook, who remained silent, the corner of his mouth twitching. "…Have I been of any use to you, Captain?!"
We waited for an answer, and that pale, bluish hand touched Liz's head before stroking it. "You remind me of myself when I was young, full of ambition and seeking validation from everyone on board," which made Liz's eyes widen in surprise; she lifted her head and her purple eyes met his black ones. "I'm also in awe of your courage in boarding this ship, even though you're the only woman on board."
"I know there have been many terrible things done by the other crew members, and I still feel guilty for letting that happen, on the pretence that you could feel the consequences of your choices," his rough hand paused, and he removed the tricorn hat he'd placed on his head. "As an apology, you are the successor to the Jolly Roger, all right?" He handed the tricorn hat to Liz.
Liz was so shocked she couldn't utter a single word. "Why… Why have you made me your successor as if you're going to die, Captain?" Her voice trembled, and her reaction only served to strengthen my conviction that the scenario playing out in my mind was true.
"Because I'm meant to be dead, Liz," replied Captain Hook, and upon hearing this, the girl—who had already been crying—rushed over and hugged him tightly. "If I hadn't died, Jones, who's trying to take control of my body, would be free to roam as he pleased."
He looked around and found his crew lying in pools of their own blood. "At least I want to save the three of you... I don't want you to die just like them," his left hand clenched tightly; he couldn't bear to see that he'd killed his entire crew with his own hands. "Take their bodies; when we reach land, please bury them with dignity," he added.
Robin and I nodded at the same time; Liz finally broke the embrace, though she was still sobbing—she simply couldn't bear to see her own idol die for her sake, with the hook—the very one she'd protested against—touching her neck—she was ready to end her life, but I wasn't. "Captain," I called, not in a shout, just as I might call out to anyone. "At least, let's celebrate our victory over Jones first; we do like to do that, don't we?"
Liz and Robin were taken aback by this. "Alice… He's about to die, you know, but you're thinking about a party now?" Robin asked as though I'd just come up with the most ridiculous idea, but not Captain Hook—he understood what I was trying to do.
"All right, I'll try to keep my wits about me," replied Captain Hook, and I immediately nodded with a smile on my face. I then asked Liz to store our crew's bodies in the captain's cabin, whilst Robin set up chairs and a table. As for me, I was concocting drinks for this little party—I used my card to summon the necessary ingredients.
Not long after, in the middle of the deck there was a square table, with a chair on each side, which was immediately occupied by Robin, Captain Hook and, next, Liz. "What is Alice actually planning?" Liz muttered; she knew I wasn't doing this just for a small gathering.
I finally walked over and placed four wooden glasses on the table before sitting down myself. Captain Hook gazed at the wine in his glass and immediately smiled, as if proud of what I had just done. "I'm so proud to be your captain," he praised me out of the blue; I took a sip from the orange soda in my glass.
"I've never, in my entire life, been on such a thrilling adventure as this… Battling the Sirens, rendering the sea monster Monstro defenceless, taming the Kraken and even defeating my own boss."
"You could say this is the best adventure I've ever experienced in my life!"
We listened intently, and unlike us, Captain Hook hadn't touched a single drop of his wine—he kept talking and pouring out everything on his mind onto the table. The ship carried on sailing, as did this conversation that flowed so naturally; I couldn't remember the last time I'd had such a lovely chat out at sea.
"Ugh—" a wave of nausea hit me; I immediately turned around and headed to the side of the ship before throwing up the contents of my stomach, which drew loud laughter from the three of them as they witnessed my embarrassing moment. "I want to go home straight away."
"A pirate with seasickness—I've never heard of such a thing before!" teased Liz, a remark immediately echoed by the others. In this moment, filled with jokes and laughter, we forgot all about the ticking time bomb that was counting down, waiting to eventually explode.
"But I am not an endless ocean; there comes a time when I must leave behind everything I possess in this world," Captain Hook said again, dampening the light-hearted atmosphere that had prevailed earlier. His hand finally touched the handle of the wooden glass—Liz glanced at the wine inside it and immediately realised what I was trying to do.
Liz immediately stood up and shouted. "Alice, what are you doing?!" She snapped at me on the spot; I remained seated in silence and didn't even glance in her direction, as that would only hurt my feelings. "Don't you have a way to get Jones out of Captain Hook's body?!"
'If I had, I'd have done it ages ago!' I snapped back, still staring at the table. I'd thought of all sorts of ways, but nothing sensible came to mind; all I could do was grant Captain Hook a painless death.
"Didn't you boast that you were the greatest Fable ever to exist?!" Her hand slammed down on the table, but all that anger was instantly quelled by Captain Hook's touch. "Captain, do you want to die just like that?! You haven't made the world acknowledge you yet, have you?!"
Captain Hook let out a sigh. "But there are you lot who can tell the world about my greatness, aren't there?" That answer made Liz fall silent and her emotions began to subside. "Therefore… I want you all to stay alive until your feet touch dry land."
"Because you are the only ones who know and have experienced this adventure with me!" Hearing this, Robin suddenly slammed the table, spilling his wine onto it, before rising from his seat.
"You're a foolish captain who acts without thinking things through!" Robin protested, but before Liz could retort at such an insult to her captain, Captain Hook stood up and stopped her.
I stood up and released my hand from the stem of the glass. "You, too, are far too quick to trust others, as if none of them would ever betray you!" I joined in the protest, and at that very moment, Liz realised what we were doing—venting our frustrations one last time. She fell silent for a moment, as if weighing up whether or not to go through with it.
"You let those scoundrels use me as a pawn without a thought for my feelings!" That was our final outburst before we finally locked eyes with Captain Hook, whose gaze still seemed lifeless, though the smile on his face was enough to bring him to life.
"Even so, you are our captain, whom we hold in the highest regard!" we exclaimed in unison, and upon hearing this, Captain Hook burst into loud, hearty laughter before raising his glass high into the air.
"My final command—live happily and never forget this adventure of ours!" he said before taking a swig from the glass and draining it in a single gulp.
"Aye aye, Captain!" we all shouted together, after Captain Hook let out a contented sigh and smiled so widely we could see all his teeth, before his body fell backwards and hit the floor with a heavy thud.
The tears I'd been holding back finally flooded my face; Liz wailed loudly like a little child—Robin walked over and hugged us; as the most mature amongst us all, he took on the responsibility of calming us down, even though he himself couldn't hold back his own tears.
To me, Captain Hook is no ordinary captain; he is an unfortunate soul who wanted to prove to the world that he existed—and that was no pipe dream, for he succeeded in doing so, and that is what sets him apart from other captains.
What I want is for him to be able to sail once more in the afterlife, and to invite us to sail with him again when we've caught up with him—even though that won't happen any time soon