Ñrutas
"What a cool sword!" I exclaimed, jumping around Ani.
"It's not a sword," she murmured. "It's a katana."
"What does the inscription mean?" Tracy wondered.
"Atponoe?" Picky mused. "Who's Atponoe?"
"It doesn't matter," Tony said. "We've got to defeat the Guardians of the remaining Energy Points and absorb the Points' powers. Who knows what's going to happen soon?"
Poo nodded. "It would be most prudent to complete this exercise as quickly as possible."
"Just think about it," Tracy said. "We're three-quarters of the way done. And soon, Giogas will be defeated. We can return to the lives we were living before."
"The next point we should go after is Deep Darkness," Picky mused. "Then we can regroup in Dalaam to get Mu."
"Let's go, then," I proposed. "I want to see if we can help BJ recover."
"So do I," whispered Dusty.
I looked at everyone. Ani and Tony seemed hopeful, and Poo was frowning slightly -- as he always was. Picky was looking at the sky. Tracy was herself frowning, but I don't think she was just frowning for the sake of frowning; she was looking at Dusty. And Dusty was as he had been since BJ went into a coma, punishing himself. We climbed down the mountain and arrived back at the boat, where the captain was waiting silently.
"So, yer ready to gob'k?" the captain asked in his sailor-speak.
"Yes," Ani said. We all climbed back on the boat.
"Captain," Poo inquired, "could you possibly take us to Scaraba before you return to Summers? We have business to take care of that would be easier to do if we went through Scaraba."
"Warr yessay," the shipmaster muttered, moving to the wheel and manipulating the boat around the island and towards Scaraba.
"Ness always talked about the Kraken that he fought with you, Poo," mused Tracy following a lengthy silence. "Are there still Kraken in this sea, Poo?"
"I'm not quite sure," admitted Poo. "I doubt that there was just one Kraken, but another Kraken should have come to the aid of the one we fought if there were more than one."
The conversation drifted off into completely unrelated fields: politics, computers, literature. And then it returned to our adventure.
Ani pulled me off to the side.
"Ñrutas," she asked, "do you think Dusty's punishing himself?"
I looked at Dusty. He was staring silently out over the ocean.
"Yes. It just seems wrong that he's punishing himself. I don't blame him for anything anymore."
"Don't you?" she wondered.
"No. It just seems heartless."
"Aww, isn't that sweet. Pity party!"
"Robe!" Tracy yelled, bolting upright.
"I'm glad to see you remember my name," he said mockingly. "Let the game begin. Ad vitem revenio!"
The water around us bubbled and fizzled. A guttural growling rose up below the ship.
"Until we meet again, ta ta." Robe made the sign for victory and faded away into the sky.
"Aaaagh!" I screamed as something burst through the ship and shattered it into pieces.
"The Kraken has returned to life!" Poo yelled.
"Grab for a plank or something!" Picky cried out.
"Hold onto me, Ñrutas," Ani said.
We all climbed onto separate planks. It was hard to keep them afloat. The Kraken surfaced fully.
It was a zombified sea-serpent. What could have been fins were now brittle remnants. Whole patches of scales had rotted away or were dripping off the Kraken's skeleton by threads. Its eye sockets were empty, and its mouth was lacking any teeth.
"PSI Fire Gamma!" Tracy yelled. Fire burst from her fingers and arced towards the Zombie Kraken. Some of the Kraken's scales burned off and fell into the sea.
The Kraken turned towards Tracy, growled, and opened its mouth. Somehow, fire burst out of the Kraken's mouth. "PSI Freeze Gamma!" Poo called out. Ice crystals shot out from his direction — I couldn't see him, as he was behind me — and neutralised the fire.
"Uh," Tony stammered, "where's Dusty?"
"Augh!" Picky growled. "This self-punishment of his is pushing my limits!"
I wriggled out of Ani's hands and leapt into the water.
"Ñrutas!" she cried. I ignored her.
It was hard to see underwater. I had to keep my eyes open for Dusty, but it was difficult to swim with my eyes open.
I treaded water for a second so I could find Dusty. I closed my eyes and tried to move towards him. Then something brought him towards me and we were swept away.

Picky
"PSI Fire Gamma!" Tracy yelled. Silence, then, "Okay, I've evaporated that wave."
"Where did they go?" I wondered.
"I can't find them psychically," Tracy responded. "They must be unconscious. There's no other way to explain it."
"Haaaaaaaaaaa!" I turned to my right and saw Ani leap into the air. I followed her through the sky as she drew her katana. She rose towards the Zombie Kraken and slashed the front of its mouth. The bone broke apart and fell into the sea, sinking as it went.
"RAWR!" growled the Zombie Kraken. I saw Ani land in its ribcage.
The Kraken looked down and growled at Ani.
"PSI Starstorm Omega!" Poo yelled. I saw the sun blot out, replaced by the gentler light of the moon. Then the stars in the false night sky crashed into the Kraken and day returned.
"There, we're doing it!" Tony exclaimed. "There go its fins and the rest of the mouth! Bottle rocket, fire! Out of the way, Ani!"
"On my way!" And Ani leapt out of the Kraken's ribcage and back onto her plank. The whump-whump of the bottle rocket as it struggled and strained towards its target met my ears. The Kraken gave one more mournful howl as it sank back into the depths, toward Davy Jones' locker.
"Na' why do?" the Captain asked. "M'ship's just gone through Scylla and Charybdis and come out worse fer wear."
"I cannot see Scaraba from here," Poo observed. "Nor can I assure you that we are sufficiently close to land to freeze the water and make it that way or swim there."
"So, what do we do?" Tony yelled back. "Wait for a passing Kraken and hitch a ride?"
"...I think that may be what we're going to do..." I said. "I saw the shadow of a Kraken moving around below us."
The water's surface was pierced by a red fin. Then, ever so slowly, the Kraken's head appeared above water. Staring at Tracy. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again.
"Tracy?" No response.
"Tracy?" Ani asked. Again, no response.
"Tracy! What's happening?" I insisted. "Traaaaaaacy!"
I leapt towards her, but some strange force field stopped me from getting closer.
"Traaaaaaacy!"
I collapsed onto my plank. Tracy's mouth was moving as if she were talking to the Kraken, but no sound was coming out. As if in response to what Tracy was saying, the Kraken would open its mouth and squeal. And I could hear the Kraken. Amazing, huh?
Suddenly, Tracy slumped slightly. She turned to us.
"We've got a ride. That Kraken we fought was this baby Kraken's father, isn't that right, Krakky?" "Rawr!" growled the small Kraken. It proceeded to purr.
"Krakky wanted his father to rest in peace, but he couldn't kill his father himself. Since we saved his father, Krakky wants us to climb on," Tracy said.
"That's a baby?" Tony asked.
"Kraken are naturally large," Poo explained. "Despite the fact this Kraken looks like he's only a bit shorter than a fully-grown elephant, he is a baby. After all, the Zombie Kraken we fought was the size of three elephants placed one over the other."
"Rawr!" growled the Kraken that even I now thought of as 'Krakky'.
"What'd he say, Tracy?" Ani inquired.
"He wants us to get on. He'll take us to Scaraba."
"No way!" the captain complained. "There ain't no way I'm gettin' on that thar Krak'n."
"Rawr..." Krakky said.
"Aww, you hurt his feelings!" Tracy shot back.
"I'll stay 'ere," the captain insisted.
"Fine," I said, climbing onto Krakky. The others followed me and Krakky began to swim off, we heroes [and heroines] on his back.

When we docked at Scaraba, there was a whole smattering of Scarabans ready to shish-kebab Krakky.
"You're not going to hurt Krakky!" Tracy yelled. "I won't let you!"
"But it'ssss a Kraken!" a lisping man said. "It'll eat usss, as ssssure as my name is Red Sssnake!"
"He won't eat you!" Tracy pleaded. "He's gentle."
"Rawr," Krakky said, seemingly purring.
"See?"
"What I sssee is a deliccciousss meal of Kraken fin sssoup," Red Snake lisped.
"Rawr..." Krakky growled.
"I would recommend prudence," Poo observed, "as I suspect that Krakky may attack the Scaraban people."
"Calm down, Krakky!" urged Tracy.
"Step down, Scaraba!" Tony yelled. "Otherwise, I'll be forced to use my Super bomb on you!"
That got the Kraken-hungry people panicked. They immediately backed off, returning to what they had been doing before we arrived. We turned to Krakky, who was about to leave.
"Don't leave yet, Krakky," Tracy whispered. She leaned over and kissed him. I felt jealous. "You can go now. Good luck, Krakky!"
"Now, shall I teleport us to Deep Darkness?" Poo asked. I confirmed that wish, and he teleported us to the swamp.