On the Port section of the ship, Chief Murillo was leading a group of lady crewmembers down a set of stairs and into safety. Before she could let in the remaining lady crew, six demons had already converged at their location. Without even thinking, she closed the hatch to save the ones already inside.
The ladies outside struggled to break free from the demons, but they were severely outmatched. The demons took the female crewmembers back to their raft. Amidst the chaos, a heart-shaped locket was left on the deck.
Chris and Cecilia, on the way to the bridge, ran by the captain's cabin. Here, their path was blocked by four demons. They suddenly started to sniff the air around them, their eyes gleaming red upon locking their sights on Cecilia. "Hoo man?"
Cecilia's eyes widened in fear. When the demons' mouths started to water, she instantly deduced she was on tonight's menu. When the invaders lunged at her, Chris held them back with nothing but his brute strength. Despite his powers, he was slowly being overwhelmed by the demons.
Chris pants and grunts as he exhausts himself to the limit. "Pink! Go leave, hide somewhere, I can take these uglies on!"
The demons broke through Chris's defenses, and he was grabbed by the neck. "Such a weak Captain!" A gargoyle-looking demon said.
"He is the weakest amongst all those who commanded the barge of the dead," A goblin-looking demon snickered, mocking Chris
Cecilia looked around her, unsure if there was any place on the ship that could be safe. Then her eyes spot something. "Wait, where are you going, little human?" The demons asked, mocking Cecilia's attempt to flee.
The hungry demons ran after the human and brushing off the captain's efforts to subdue them. Cecilia was able to reach her target, a door. The demons were nearly on top of her, and she held tightly to the latch and pulled. When the door opened, it let out the wails, screams, and screeches of the portraits.
The demons covered their ears and dropped to their knees. Cecilia, as well, they were assaulted by the cacophony of unearthly wails. Chris closed the door before her mind broke. "Are you okay?" he asked, helping her to her feet.
Cecilia shook the cobwebs from her mind. She then witnessed the drooling demons, convulsing on the floor with blank stares. "I'm fine, thanks," she replied to the captain.
"Quick thinking," Chris grinned at her. "Common let's go!" They resumed their march towards the bridge. Their footsteps receded, and the defeated demons, with their minds broken, soon turned to dust.
On the bridge, demons had already taken off with several of the crew members. Martinez and three others would have been taken had it not been for Chief Bustamante, who stabbed the demons with a mana spear.
"Thank you, sir!" Martinez panted as he watched the slain demons dissolve into nothing.
They all whipped their heads towards the entrance of the bridge when they heard rushing footsteps heading towards them. Bustamante aimed his weapon at the source of the rushing steps.
Bustamante jabbed his spear at the entrance way. Chris was able to catch the tip of the spear by deflecting the weapon upwards and bending backwards to avoid getting stabbed in the face. "Whoa!" he shouted.
"Captain?" Bustamante quickly retracted the spear upon seeing that it was Chris and Cecilia who entered the bridge. "Are you okay, sir?"
Cecilia scanned the bridge that was in disarray, and counted that only five bridge crew members remained. "What happened here? Where are the others?"
"The demons stormed the bridge and took most of our crew. I arrived just in time to save these four from being taken as well," Bustamante reported, his distress was evident with every word he said.
Just then, a crew member came in running, "Captain! The pirates are leaving the ship, but they have taken Chief Murillo and most of our crew."
"What are your orders, Captain?" Bustamante asked, hoping Chris could light their way in this dark hour.
Chris looked around him, and he, too, at that moment, did not know what to do, but seeing the fear in his crew's eyes, he knew it was not the time to show weakness. "Gather all remaining crew members…we will convene in the conference area in one hour." he quickly stepped off the bridge and went back to the observation deck.
Bustamante could sense the apprehension from the captain. He then turned to Martinez and the others, "You heard the captain! Gather everyone in the conference area!" He then turned to Cecilia, "Follow the captain, he needs your help."
"Help? What can I do? I'm just a lowly human," She replied, unsure of how she could be of help in this situation.
"He needs someone to lean on…and you're that someone." Cecilia's expression changed from doubt to resolve; she nodded to the chief officer and ran after Chris.
When she reached the observation deck, she saw the captain slumped on the floor, staring blankly into the distance. "Captain?" she approached him, "Are you okay?" She sat right beside Chris and glanced in the direction he was staring.
"I don't know what to do," he confessed to her. "I mean, I know that I need to rescue them…But I don't know how"
"So why don't we?" Cecilia followed up
"You heard them, I am a weak captain, how can I rescue my crew if I am so weak?" Chris lamented his failure to safeguard his crew members.
"You're not alone, we are all here to help, we will follow your lead. Just get up and take your crew back," She said in an uplifting tone, trying to get Chris his confidence back. "What does your instinct tell you?" Cecilia asked.
Chris glanced at the human; he was sensing that she was guiding him to an epiphany. "My instincts tell me to rush in, guns blazing and no plans," he answered, humoring her.
"Why don't we do that?" She asked with a hint of mischief in her voice
"What?" Christ blurted out, surprised at what was suggested to him, "Don't you know, that is too reckless, unhinged, and…and…something they won't expect! Huh!" He pondered for a bit, standing up, he took her hand, and they ran towards the conference room. Thanks to Cecilia, Chris just figured out a plan to rescue their shipmates. It was a stupid plan, but a plan nonetheless.
On their way to the conference room, Cecilia saw something gleaming under some overturned tables and chairs. She stopped and picked it up, and saw it was a heart-shaped locket. She hadn't fully examined what it was when she heard Chris's voice, "Let's go, we don't have much time!" She pockets the locket and follows the captain to the conference room.