#belpepper

 Fortunate for Belinda, Valentine's Day landed on a Thursday, meaning that she got the chance to spend some time with her students who she had not seen in quite a while. On the other hand, it was a bit unfortunate because she wouldn't have much time to her Hunny Bunny nor little bunnies. Well, at least the day was finally coming to an end.

She smiled as she sat behind her desk, her eyes watching the children giggle and laugh amongst each other as they shared candies here and there, ran from one desk to another to give out a valentine card or tiny gift, so many little things going on at once. Belinda had already gotten a few gifts herself, some from the children, some from co-workers who were either just friendly or decided to ignore the fact that she was married.

Anyways, Belinda continued the students as her head lay on her palm, the other hand fiddling with one of her pink pens that she unconsciously scribbled little hearts on her notepad with. She wondered how the twins were doing, since they were both at school with her but not in her class unfortunately. Hopefully(and most likely) they were having lots of fun and gathered lots of Valentine's gifts, but also birthday gifts because of their birthday being the previous day.

Her thoughts then went to Pepper and Benji. Sometimes, she honestly did worry a bit about Pepper because he was obviously still nervous about being a "new" father and all, but she knew he was doing great. So, he must have been doing just fine at home with the baby since Pepper was taking the day off from his shop.

Belinda gave a small sigh before adjusting her glasses, but soon, there was a knock at the classroom's door which somehow caught the attention of all the excited children.

The door soon opened and there was a single leg in sight for it had pushed opened the door, and the leg was then accompanied by another leg. Belinda's eyes then trailed up to see another pair of legs, but smaller ones that wore little shoes and little pajamas adorned with hearts. With some more examining, Belinda noticed that there were two heads, each with two green eyes and red locks.

"Ciao, mia bella regina!~" exclaimed an excited voice followed by the sound of a rattle toy which made Belinda grin. "Worry not! For your Hunny Bunny has arrived to comfort you!"

"Oh, Roger!"Belinda squealed, quickly walking once more through the children who curiously watched the couple. Belinda stood in front of her husband who she gleefully kissed, but they were interrupted when the sound of a rattle was heard again, but it was clearly a little angry.

"Don't think that I forgot about you my little bunny.~"Belinda cooed before leaning down to Pepper's chest, where their baby was being carried in a baby carrier. Benjamin shook his rattle again before patting his mother's cheek and sucking on his pacifier, then shutting his eyes as he felt her kiss his cheek. That was honestly enough to satisfy the little baby who watched as his mother once more kissed his father, nearly making the man melt right on the spot.

"Eeeew!"

"Cooties!"

"Kissing is gross!"

Belinda and Pepper broke from their kiss before turning to look at the children behind the teacher, nearly all of them watching in childish disgust which made them both blush. But either way, Pepper shook his head before revealing the stack of boxes he had somehow carried and hidden behind his back.

"Well, if you really think this lovey dovey stuff is gross, I guess you won't mind if me and Benji eat all of the cupcakes I made for you guys!"

Soon, all of the children gasped and in an instant rushed towards the couple, Benjamin staring down at them all as some actually tried interacting with him. The baby initially hesitated, but he then allowed himself to be the center of attention besides the cute cupcakes his parents carefully passed out to the students, all the students but one.

Once Pepper had discarded of one of the now empty boxes, he left the other to sit as he now sat on the edge of Belinda's desk with only her, and Benjamin, in front of him. They held hands as Benjamin stared up at the two of them, Belinda pressing a soft kiss onto Pepper's nose which made him giggle.

"Lovecup, I got you some other gifts.~"

"Oh Hunny Bunny, you didn't have to."

"Yes I did.~"Pepper grinned, looking a bit goofy as he reached behind himself to grab another one of the pink boxes he had brought along with him. "First, a teddy bear with eyes as beautiful as yours!"

"Aww!"

"Well, not as beautiful! Your eyes are too beautiful!" Pepper laughed as he presented Belinda with the plush bear, then handing her another box. "And as you know, I never forget your most favorite dessert and make it will all the love and care in the world!" Then, there was the sound of an angry rattle again which made Pepper giggle again.

"Ben here helped me out! He poured all the strawberry drizzle!"Pepper grinned as he opened the pink box, showing Belinda an angel cake with whipped cream and the aforementioned strawberry drizzle. "The ice cream is back at home!"

"Oh Roger, you're the best hubby I could ever ask for!"Belinda swooned as she accepted the cake, once more peppering her husband's face with kisses which left a few lipstick marks. Pepper, in return, only giggled to himself like an idiot as Benjamin shook his rattle, demanding kisses himself, which he of course got before Pepper snapped out of his lovesick daze.

"And one more gift! Well, one more little gift!"Pepper announced, and he reached out for another box which had a distinct scent coming from it which made Belinda raise an eyebrow. She carefully took it and placed her fingers on the lid that had holes along with the rest of the box, but Pepper stopped her.

"Just be careful with this one, okay? It hops."

Belinda glanced back at the box and cautiously opened it, her eyes meeting little, dark colored hearts inside of another pair of eyes, and then she heard a croak.

"I got you this little guy because of his eyes! I learned from a book Jeff checked out from the library that some frogs have heart shaped eyes! And so, it reminded me of yours eyes! So I looked everywhere for a frog with heart shaped eyes because of the heart eyes and frogs now kinda...remind me...of...um...."

Pepper then stopped himself, scratching the back of his head as he realized what he was saying.

"You know, I think I can take the frog back. Maybe give it to Jelly or Lennie, they could-"

He was then interrupted by the sound of the frog's croaking which even made Benjamin turn to it in surprise, but Belinda gave a little giggle.

"Sweetie, I love it so much."she smiled, peering down at the frog that gave another croak. "I think I'll name him Prince."

"You do?"Pepper asked, then receiving another kiss from Belinda who nodded and sat next to him on her desk.

"Of course. It's so cute, and the heart eyes thing is also so cute. I'm glad it reminded you of me." she reassured him, and so Pepper gave a smile before leaning his head against her shoulder.

"Well good!"he then exclaimed, right before bringing his hand up to pet Benjamin's hair which m made him shut his eyes, enjoying the feeling. "Anyways, are you ready for tonight Lovecup?~"

"Hmm, I sure am."Belinda sighed, placing her new frog to the side as it remained still in its box. "And what do you have planned Hunny?~" "Some very fun stuff I think you'll enjoy!"Pepper grinned as he lifted himself up to sit straight, then covering Benjamin's ears as he leaned in to whisper to Belinda. "And if we're lucky and Ben here sleeps early tonight...and the twins do stay at my grandparents' house..."

Belinda giggled as Pepper leaned even closer, making sure the students still in the class didn't hear as he gave a smirk, and Belinda blushed as she felt his hot breath against her skin.

"Let go of me!"

"Sorry Highness, but it's for your own safety ." a girl's voice said to the woman who was currently being held with her arms tied behind her back.

"Dragging me to a ship's jail cells will not aid me in safety! Let go of me, please!"the first voice said before

"I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request." the second one spoke again before giggling. "That means no. Heheh, your lover Roger taught me that!"

The hostaged woman, Bella, stopped her struggling for a moment before turning to look at the one holding her.

"Lover!? That damned pirate is no lover of mine nor do I-"

"Ah, yada yada! Stop yer yapping and walk already! I don't have time to hear you talk about him. I got other things to do."

Bella let out a yelp once she her holder shove her forwards and she luckily was able to catch herself, and she continued walking towards wherever she was being lead as she heard the wooden floor creak under her as well as loud laughter above her. She looked around the noticed that there wasn't very much to work with, the area was crowded with cells holding previous prisoners, alive or well...not so alive.

She glanced to the side and let out a quiet gasp once her eyes landed on what appeared to be a hook stuck to the wall, a rather sharp one that could have helped. Bella turned to look at the woman holding her who only gave her a smug expression as she hummed to herself, and she turned back to the front to look at the hook that they were slowly approaching.

Her eyes remained on it  and right when she was a few feet away from it, she lifted her leg backwards and heard a grunt of pain after she had kicked the woman's shin and was soon released. Bella ignored the fact that the woman was down trying to soothe the pain on her leg and ran towards the hook from before and turned so that her hands were now in front of it. She risked her hands and fished around for the hook, cutting her palm which made her wince, but she bit her lip before the hook cut her ropes and she was free.

Bella wasted no time and dashed the way she had been escorted through, shoving the other woman away to the side to run towards the end where there was a stairway. Although rather than running up, she ducked behind it to hide in the darkness as the other woman now looked around for her but did not find her anywhere. Bella saw that she stomped her boot before running up the stairs which made Bella sigh in relief before she circled around the stairs and slowly began walking up, making sure to not make a single sound nor be seen.

The higher she climbed, the louder the laughter above sounded which made her heart beat faster. She gulped and walked up, looking around and thankfully saw nobody which gave her the sign to continue on her way. She realized that she was now on the second level of the pirate ship she was forced onto, and there was a bit more light which helped her sea the swords that were scattered on a pile.

Bella turned again to make sure she was safe before she leaned down and grabbed one of them so that she now had a way of fighting her way out. She pivoted her body and let out a loud yelp once she saw a tall figure standing in front of the stairway she planned on using to go onto the deck.

"Where do you think you're going, princess?"the man said with crossed arms and a smirk, though his smirk disappeared once Bella revealed the sword she had gotten. Though he let out  a dark chuckle.

"Move out of the way, and I won't cut you! I am not afraid of you!"

"You should be but here, I think there's another pirate you should be scared of."he replied as his eyes looked behind her, so she quickly turned before she lifted the sword to defend herself from-...oh no.

"My little angel, where are you off to?"

"That is none of your concern!"she yelled at the other man who slowly walked towards her with his arms behind him, and he held a smug expression as he chuckled to himself, then stopping once a few feet away from her.

"Why, it is very much my concern. I got you as my pet, and it's now my responsibility to nurture and care for you. Can't have these dirty pirates doing anything to you, now can we?" he said before taking another step, a very slow one as if trying to scare her.

"I am nothing of yours! Now let me go before I-"

"You, what? Duel me with that petty little sword of yours?"he asked in a mocking tone before he brought his arms out, the right one reaching to his left side before he pulled out his own sword. "Because please be my guest, and entertain me with whatever you have up your sleeve, angel."

Bella furrowed her eyebrows and frowned, but did not take action until she heard the other man behind her walk towards her. She stepped forwards and swung her sword at the man in front of her, though he easily deflected her attack before also disarming her which made her eyes widen as her sword flew off and clanked against the floor.

"Tsk, tsk. And to think you'd be a lot more prepared."the pirate said before putting his sword back into its holder, then giving her slow claps. "Horrible foot work if I do say so myself, and that attack was just so...wrong it's pitiful."

The pirate, who she learned to be named Roger, lowered one hand down before the other that was still up snapped its fingers.

"Grab her and take her to her cell." he said and before Bella could react, the other man from behind grabbed her arms.

"Let go of me you brute!" Bella yelled as she struggled getting out of his grip, though he proved to be a lot stronger than the woman from before.

"Now, now, I don't think that's a very nice thing to say sweetheart."Roger said as he brought his hand up to stroke her cheek with a smile, but he then stopped and looked at the other man. "Abraham, be gentle with her and make sure she's comfortable...or I'll be dealing with you later myself."

"You got it."the taller man said before pulling Bella away, and she groaned after giving up because she knew that there was no way out of it this time considering the size of this giant pirate. She turned and saw Roger who now walked up the stairway but stopped when the woman from before walk down with another prisoner in her hands.

"Where are you taking them Maggie? Stellar gave orders to not bring them down to the cells."he said before the woman shrugged.

"Dunno, I was told to bring 'em down to the cells."

"Well don't, Stellar said he wants to talk to Captain Tennant here."Roger said as he smirked at said person who glared down at him.

"Aye aye Cap-I mean, Roger!"she said before turning and walking up with Roger following behind as Bella was taken back down to the cells with a frustrated expression.

"Must you continue holding me in such a position?"the prisoner said before Roger shrugged to himself as he now walked in front of them and Maggie.

"Is there a problem with being held that way?"

"It's far too uncomfortable and it hurts my wrists, along with the idea that you know there is no need to hold me!"

"Lighten up Harley, it's all part of the act!"Maggie exclaimed, but they then pulled their arms away before rubbing their wrists.

"I know that quite well, but the entire crew knows that I mean no harm nor that Stellar plans on harming me."

"Yeah, they know it so well that Abraham's spread the rumor that either of you's might be eunuchs heheh."

"Roger this was a crew secret!"

"Thought Harley might as well know considering nobody knows what these two do in Stellar's quarters."

"Would it be alright is we ceased the talk on the topic of Stellar and me? Where might you all be going and why would I be needed in your journey?"Harley interrupted with a reddened face before Roger cleared his throat.

"Since we've finished ravaging your precious little bay,it's time that we head back into the sea."he started before turning to look at Harley. "We're visiting big sis."

"Coraline? I thought you only-"

"We only visit when the sun is out, I know. But there's been storms meaning she's not in the best of moods, and we happen to have to many bodies on board."

"We're feeding Calypso!"Maggie said in an excited tone.

"The Kraken!?" Harley exclaimed in full surprise, especially when they remembered the girl that was dragged through the ship earlier. "And you're feeding that poor girl to the kraken as well!?"

"Roger, come on!"

"N-No! This is a b-b-bad idea!"

"Baba black sheep- shut up and just follow me!"Coraline exclaimed, now grabbing her brother's wrist as she attempted to pull him out of the house but...his grip on the doorway happened to be way too strong. "Roger!"

"Coraline, no! W-what if Stel-"

"Stellar's not here you big chicken! He won't be back until next week so, come ON"Coraline yelled out and once she said the last word, she successfully pulled her brother away from the door which resulted in his fall on the front yard grass as his sister ran towards the door and locked it.

"Coraline!"

"Oh, Roger please! It's just one night, one night that happens to be my night!"she said showing a bit of passion. "It's Halloween night Roger, the best night in the entire year! I have to wait 364 days for this night every year because our stupid brother never lets us go out!"

"B-but it's a scary night!"Roger replied as he got onto his feet, now dusting the costume his sister made for him two weeks before. He then looked up and saw that she gave him a shrug as she walked off the porch and then by him, exiting the house's gate before he followed behind her.

"That's why I made you a scary costume, so you can scare off the others!"

"Coral, I-I don't think a jack o'lantern is very scary-"he said right before he stopped walking because Coraline stopped to turn and look at him with a stern expression. "Well...maybe they are...with these sharp teeth."

"That's the spirit! Now come on, we don't want to be late to the festival!" she said, once again grabbing his wrist to then drag him down the not very steep hill that their house was set on, to then walk through the woods that thankfully had no fog for it was still a bit early in the day.

The siblings walked in between the trees as Roger looked out in the distance, seeing the orange and yellow sky slowly turn into a purple and blue one meaning that the night was quite near. He then looked back to the front, seeing his sister's costume flow behind her in such a ghostly manner because well, she was dressed as a ghostly bride or whatever she called it. Why'd she have to wear a fishnet as a veil?

He shook away the thought, then bring his hand that wasn't being pulled on by his sister to his head to fix the pumpkin mask he wore and fixed it. Roger sighed to himself after a while of walking, eventually hearing loud voices, laughter and cheering. And so it begun…

"Oooh Roger, look! We're here!"Coraline exclaimed, now picking up the pace and tugging harder on her brother's arm as she ran towards the source of the sound where Roger clearly saw an array of costumes. He felt his heart beat quicken a bit, th anxiety ever so slowly starting to take over him though he was able to relax as he instead focused on watching his sister who now slowed down.

He let out a breath as he smiled, maybe it wasn't so bad being out. Everything really did look cool! Costumes everywhere, pumpkins, bats, bones and- ew, spiders were a big no no. Either way, he grinned when his eyes landed on all the colorful drinks and food that was being served and oh sweets candies!?

Roger, for once, grinned widely as he now willingly followed his sister and actually felt quite excited. Tonight was going to pretty fun.

Bgfds

Nope. Nope. Nope. This was absolutely not happening.

"C-Coraline? Coraline!?"Roger shouted out as he tried pushing through the crowd but was instead pushed himself, and he felt his heart beating intensely against his chest. He stood on his toes, looking as high and far as possible but the fact that he wasn't wearing his trusty platform boots was no help to him. He lowered himself, then bringing his hands up so he could fiddle with his fingers as sweat dripped down his forehead, so he reached up to remove his pumpkin mask before wiping his face.

"Coraline?"he now whispered, feeling terror as he processed what had just happened even more: he lost his sister. Roger let out a small whimper as his hands clutched onto the pumpkin head, he looked like a lost child or a puppy wandering out for the first time, especially since he never really did go out so perhaps that was his situation.

Everybody merely passed by him, not paying much attention to him which brought even more worry to him. He stood in place, now shaking the slightest bit as he gulped. Standing on the same spot didn't help him at all, but neither did running around calling out his sister's name which left him no choice but to stay on the spot hoping that she would find him in between all these costumed people.

"Oh dear, are you lost?"

Roger's eyes slightly widened as he felt small tears prickle at their corners, and he slowly turned around to look at the owner of the voice. Oh no, it was a witch! But wait...is it possible for anybody to look this pretty?

"Y-y-yes..."he whimpered out, still shaking in place as he hugged his mask to his chest, now looking up at the woman who gave him a warm smile and oh sweets was it enough to make it melt if he hadn't been shaking out of fear and being cold. "I-I-I-I can't find my s-sister…."

"Oh no."the woman said, now reaching over to gently place a hand on his cheek which magically made his shaking stop, and he looked up at her with big green eyes as he stopped breathing for a moment. "Do you need any help finding her?"

Roger's lip quivered before he gulped again, then nodding quickly before he felt the woman's hand trail down to his pumpkin mask and soon it slid down to his hand which made him completely freeze. He felt her gingerly grab his hand and he unconsciously let go of his pumpkin, not realizing that he had dropped it before she began to lead him away.

The woman smirked, then turning to walk away as Roger followed her almost in a daze because she looked absolutely mesmerizing. She was too pretty that if it hadn't been for her asking, he would have forgotten that he was even looking for his sister.

"What's your name honey?"

"R-Roger...Roger D'Vitt..."

"My name is Bella."the woman said, now turning to him to smile sweetly which only made his face turn red while he gave her a weak and nervous smile. "And what is your sister's name? What does she look like?"

"C-C-Coraline, and s-she's dressed like a ghost lady...l-light blue dress that looks w-white. Fishnet veil w-with flowers...blonde hair...green eyes…."

"Green eyes as adorable as yours?"Bella asked as she fluttered her eyelashes at Roger, only making him turn redder and weaker as he slowly nodded, not sure if that was the right answer. "Ah, then I feel as though I might have seen her. Not everybody has emerald eyes."

"Y-yeah...my family has a lot of g-green eyes! My grandpa Edgar, h-he has them...and lots of my aunts and uncles got them...and my dad...a-and my o-older brother and s-sister."

"That sounds fascinating."the woman replied, now smirking secretly as she noticed that she so close to a dark alley that was obviously occupied by nobody in that moment. "Oooh, I think I see your sister right over there."

"R-Really!?"

"Yes...right next to that alley right there."she said and she felt that Roger gently squeezed her hand in a somewhat excited manner. Bella furrowed her eyebrows, now thinking of how innocent this boy was...so afraid, shaking like a leaf and finally he's happy...Oh no. She shook away the thoughts, then pulling him towards the alley where they both now stood, nobody really noticing them.

"Where is she?"Roger asked, gently slipping his hand out of Bella's before he brought both of his up to let out little excited jumps, almost like a bunny rabbit, and Bella looked down almost feeling...bad. In that moment, she wasn't even able to extend her fangs and she let out a quiet sigh and looked up ahead, catching sight of a worried girl wandering around with a pumpkin mask in her hands that fit the description of the boy's sister quite perfectly.

"Right there. Blonde little darling dressed as a ghost, yes?"she finally said, pointing at the girl, so Roger followed her hand and oh lord, he gave the purest and most excited smile like a dog would to seeing its owner after so long.

"Y-yes! That's her!"

"Well, then go to her honey."she whispered, gently ushering him forwards before he turned and gave her a tight hug that made her yelp slightly. "Thank you, thank you,thank you!"

Bella looked down at the boy with surprised eyes, but then she relaxed and brought a hand up to pat his head before he finally pulled himself away from her and he now gave her a smaller smile.

"You're welcome."she said, now caressing his cheek which once again made him turn into his red and flustered self. "Be safe all kinds of monsters prowl especially on this night.”

"Y-yes, I will!"he stuttered out with a happy nod, and he turned before waving back to her, then running off to where he saw his sister. Bella's eyes followed his form, seeing that once his sister caught sight of him she gave him a very tight hug and even lifted him off the ground after having dropped the pumpkin mask she held which made Bella quietly giggle.

The time on her watch read 7:53 am, and she groaned loudly before turning her head back with furrowed eyebrows and a frown to look at the one steering the bike she was currently.

"Because of you, we're going to get late to class!"she shouted out as her brother let out a small pant.

"Coral I'm sorry! I couldn't find my homework and-"

"That's why you pack everything the night before Roger! Not right when we're supposed to head to school!"she exclaimed before turning back to the front with her same mad expression. Although, her expression lit up once her eyes had landed on the school building and she felt her brother pedal his bike faster. Coraline gripped onto the bike under her before it finally made it to the grassy area on the front.

She hopped off of the bike and fixed her bag before running off to the front door.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you Roger, thank you and I'll see you later!"she shouted before she disappeared into the building, and her brother sighed to himself as he chained his bike to the bike poles. He stood up and fixed his backpack to then turn and face the school, sighing as he now walked up the stairs while his hands clutched onto the straps.

Roger walked through the now empty hallways which resulted in the echoing of his shoes to sound as he looked around and he finally found his homeroom class, so he gulped before he shut his eyes and opened the door. He knew he was in for something because he was late again, unlike his sister who probably barged into her class announcing that she was not late.

His hand slowly pushed on the door as he was careful to not make any sound, and he opened his eyes to see the class filled while the teacher's back was facing the front. He let out a quiet sigh of relief as he slowly shut the door, right before he sneaked behind the last row of seats where his own seat happened to be.

Roger carefully slipped his backpack off as his eyes remained on the teacher's back and soon enough, he sat down on his chair which let out not sound thus resulting in a satisfied smile as he placed his hands on his desk. His eyes glanced to the side diagonally from him and they landed on a waterfall of beautiful locks that belonged to his one and only Bella.

He slightly gulped as he leaned his chin on his open palm, and he let out a dreamy expression as he took in the features he was able to see. Beautiful, big eyes, little nose, rosy cheeks...oh how he was practically melting at this point!

And he melted even more when he saw her turn and hell, he almost fell off the desk due to the daze he was in. In just a moment, his eyes met up with her own and for once, he didn't turn away with a red face or scared eyes because of how nervous she made him. She looked at him but did not smile while-

"D'Vitt."

Roger gulped as he now felt his eyes widen because he now realized that one, Bella was looking at his goofy expression and that two, how did the teacher get from the front to his desk?

"Y-yes?"he said as his eyes glanced up to the adult who looked more than upset.

"Office. Now."

The male blinked with an open and almost confused mouth and before he could say anything, the teacher extended an arm out that pointed towards the door. Roger stood up with a sigh and he picked up his backpack that he instantly slung over his shoulder before walking around his desk to leave.

He heard a plethora of snickers, giggles and laughs as he did his walk of shame, frowning before he turned his head to look at the class. Although almost as if on instinct, his eyes landed on Bella's own which resulted in a red blush to spread across his face as he froze in place.

Unlike the rest of the class who smirked and laughed, she gave a quick flutter of her eyelashes as she also smiled sweetly at him before giving him a small wave. He didn't know what to do and merely gulped as his heart beat increased, and soon enough his palms became sweaty.

"D'Vitt, stop slacking or you're also going to be late to the office."said the teacher which made Roger snap out of it, and he snapped his head to the door before he fast walked out as Bella could only see him leave, though she turned back to the front as she held a pink note in her hands.

She smiled down at it, reading the words she received the previous day which had been attached to a pink box adorned with a white bow.

"I donut know what I'd do without an angel like you, so please donut ever let me go."

The clock on the hallway wall now read 10:59 am meaning that there was one minute left of third period. Maggie swung her keys on her finger as she walked around the hallways, barely having left the auditorium after she caught sight of somebody that made her choke while she had been whistling to herself.

Speaking of whistling, she had been currently doing that as she took a stroll without a care, her eyes glancing to the side before she stopped twirling her ring of keys to then place them inside her pocket. Once she heard the school bell ring, she turned her head to the side and she shrugged it since it now meant it was lunch. Although, wasn't she having her own lunch during third period?

She giggled to herself as she remembered accidentally scaring her friend earlier once she saw that he had gotten out of class with a gloomy expression, obviously because he had arrived late to class.

Maggie turned the corner and placed her hands into her pockets, one of them feeling the cold metal of the keys while the other felt a little wrapper that she pulled out. She lifted it up to her face and grinned when seeing that it was a cake pop she had gotten earlier. Well, it was given to her by her previously mentioned friend who told her that his sister would have given it to her herself but could not wait.

Maggie admired the treat and pulled out her other hand to take off the fake seashell that held the cake and was wrapped. Tucking the seashell away, she looked at the pop and giggled when seeing how it clearly resembled a pearl. She smiled and took a small bite out of it, right before an idea came into her mind.

As always, the library was dead quiet and Maggie slowly walked in after opening the door as carefully as she could. She threw her wrapper away before putting her hands back into her pockets and she scanned the area for no real reason, though her eyes did land on a person that held onto a few books as he neatly placed them into the book shelves.

She smirked to herself as she silently snickered, though she did not do anything and walked through the tables so that she could get to her current destination. Maggie avoided each seat and thankfully nobody since the library was a bit empty at the moment, but she shrugged it off before her eyes caught sight of a girl sitting on the table that was practically in the isolated part of the library.

She walked a bit faster before pulling out one of the chairs to then sit down with a casual smile.

"Hey there sweetie."Maggie whispered which made the girl turn around to reveal a stoic faced Coraline who now smiled softly as she saw her closest friend.

"Hello there, darling."she replied quietly before sliding her bag to the opposite side so that Maggie could place her own things on the spot. "And what may you be doing here?"

Maggie shrugged before grabbing one of the many books that surrounded her friend, and she opened it to a random page.

"Not much, just felt like checkin' up on ya."she said before reading aloud, and it literally was a bit too loud. " The sea is so big and so are some of its creatures. The blue whale is the largest animals ever to live on the planet with a maximum length of about 100 feet and a maximum weight of about 200 tons. Geez Coral now that I read about size, this book is a lot smaller than what you usually read!"

"Maggie quiet down, they're going to kick you out for being so loud."Coraline said before snatching the book away with a small smile. "The size doesn't matter, as long as it contains good things."

"Well now that I think about it, size really doesn't matter considering how you didn't go for a tall person like Abraham or even Harley. And you always said you would go for a tall person!"

Coraline furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at Maggie, who stared at her with a mischievous smirk as her eyes darted to the side. Coraline turned her head and felt her eyes widen when they landed on the male Maggie had seen once coming into the library, and her cheeks turned red before she snapped her head towards Maggie.

"No, no, no. I do not-"

"Hey Coral! Sea life is so interesting! Tell me more about it!"Maggie practically yelled out before her friend pulled her down with a now worried expression.

"Maggie! Shut up or-"

"Or what? Lennie the Librarian's gonna come over here and tell me to quiet down?"Maggie said, now in a whisper as Coraline's blush only darkened.

"W-why would I care if he comes over h-here?"she stuttered out, and that only made Maggie smirk widely as her eyes glanced to the side, seeing that said person had taken a quick look at the friends before turning away to pay attention to his book shelving.

"Because you're my best friend, and as your best friend I know about your little crush on Lennie."she whispered slowly which made Coraline quickly push her chair back to stand up in a flash as she now clutched onto a single book.

"I do not like him nor do I know anything about him."she said, never realizing that it was a bit loud and had gotten Lennie's attention. And what she also had not realized was that Maggie had looked behind her, noticing him looking at them which made her look up at Coraline before she stood up with her.

"Are you sure you don't?"

"Of course I'm sure!"Coraline shouted with a heated face, though she cooled down after she swung her arm out that caused her pile of books to topple down to the ground. They both looked down at the scattered books before Coraline quickly scrambled down to pick them up as quickly as possible.

She never looked up and tried her best to quickly pick up the books as she dreaded picking out far too many, and right before Maggie could get down to help her, somebody else had already leaned down next to Coraline.

"Well thank you Mag-"Coraline said before stopping herself as she turned her head to the side expecting to see her friend, but her eyes widened when they had landed on none other than Lennie who also turned to look at her.

"You're welcome!"her friend said as they stared at each other for a moment.

"Maggie-"

"Oh would you look at the time! It's 10:13, so lunch is over!"Maggie exclaimed and right before either of the two could correct her, she finished as she dashed away. "Time to go to class!"

Coraline's mouth fell agape when she saw Maggie run off...leaving her alone...with Lennie.

She turned back to him and saw that he quickly looked down at the ground so that he could pick up some of the books, so she did the same as a blush formed on her face again. Soon enough, they had picked up all the books without a word and held them stacked in their arms before they stood up and now looked at each other.

"Um...thank you."Coraline whispered before clearing her throat, and Lennie let his eyes wander to the side as he blinked a few times.

"It's no problem. Just doing my job."he told her as she set down her stack of books on the table."If you're done reading, I can take the books for you."

"Oh! Um...yeah sure, I think...yeah, I should get going already..."she started though she quickly took out a pen and a small notepad. "Let me just take a really quick note and...I'll be on my way."

Lennie nodded and saw her open the top book the stack she had previously placed down and she quickly wrote something before putting her supplies away and shutting the book.

"T-thanks a lot..."she said with a very small smile, and she pat the book she had opened and she waved at Lennie before turning to walk away. He didn't wave back due to the fact that he was holding the other stack of books, but he let out a small smile before glancing at the book where he saw the note she had written.

"She forgot her-"he started but then cut himself off once he read the words on the paper.

"The name's Coraline, we should dolphinately talk some otter time ^^"

"Aw look at that pretty face, such beautiful eyes and look at that smile..."a charming voice said right as its owner's fingers held onto a girl's chin, the thumb running across her skin as she lovingly looked up at the person. "You know, I've never seen any lips much prettier than these."

The person, a young man, brought his thumb a little higher so that it could rub her soft lips as they let out a giggle, a flirty yet shy one as the male leaned down very close to her face.

"Oh Stellar...you're such a charmer..."she whispered as she leaned her head up, trying her best to lean in closer to his own face.

"Me? Why sweetheart if anybody has the charm, it's you without a doubt."the male said as his other hand came up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, and the other hand went down to gingerly hold her waist as he smirked down at her. "With those pearly teeth and stars in your galaxy like orbs."

He pulled her waist so that he back was no longer on the lockers, but so that her body was slightly pressed against his as he leaned down even more in a teasing manner.

"Stellar?"

"Hmmm?"

The girl brought her hands up and threw her books to the side before placing her hands on his shoulders using them to lift herself a bit more as Stellar discreetly lifted his head up. The girl closed her eyes and soon puckered up her lips which resulted in Stellar to put up a face of disgust as he didn't know how to stop this, but he soon heard somebody clear their throat.

The pair turned to the side to see a blonde girl stand with crossed arms and a stern look, though it was mostly directed at the girl who tore herself away from Stellar.

"Scram."she said with a strict voice and expression, and the girl nodded quickly before ducking her head and scurrying away, careful not to get near the other girl.

"Thanks Coral, now I won't get my english homework done."Stellar plainly stated as he crossed his arms and harshly pressed his back against the lockers which resulted in a loud crashing sound. "Oops."

"I don't give a damn about your homework, you should have done it when you had the time instead of procrastinating with your video games."his sister said. "Now, have you seen Roger? I heard he got sent to the office."

"Does it look like I'm constantly monitoring this idiot? No, I haven't because I have other crap to do."

"Like flirt with all these dimwitted girls? I thought you would have much high standards than to flirt with airheads."

"Well they're not all stupid, some of them actually have an advantage to them and you know it."he replied. "Besides, don't you have anything else to do besides scold me?"

"You're right, I do."Coraline stated before fixing her bag's strap that hung over her shoulder."Thank you for that unnecessary reminder. I'll be on my way as you should be on yours or else."

Stellar furrowed his eyebrows as his frown grew.

"Or else, what, Coraline?"His sister leaned in with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Or else you're about to see your little doll friend, Nat."

Nathalia walked through the hallway, clutching onto her binder and a few loose papers in her arms as she heard a brief conversation near the corner she was about to turn. She bit her lip and stopped walking when she heard the sound of footsteps and soon enough, she saw the one called the princess walk right in front of her before she noticed her.

"Nathalia, how do you do?"Coraline asked before the girl grinned and shrugged.

"I'm doing well! Thank you for asking Coraline. How are you?"she replied before Coraline shrugged as well.

"Things could be better."

"But they also could be worse."Nathalia said with a smile which made Coraline blink a few times before smiling and nodding.

"You are right about that."she said before giving her a small bow. "I'll see you around, little doll."

And just like that, Coraline walked away as she held onto her bag's strap. Nathalia smiled to herself before she took a few steps to then turn the corner, and she immediately stopped once she caught sight of Stellar.

She gulped to herself before taking a breath and began walking, acting as casual as possible while he walked in the opposite direction that she was.

"Hi Stellar."she quietly said as she stopped walking, and he stopped himself as well before he looked her up and down. For a moment he stared at her face, until he twitched his nose and turned his attention to the hallway before cracking his neck, then walking away. Nathalia's eyes slightly widened as she looked at him walk away without a care and somewhat...angry and offended?

She felt a prickle in her eyes as she looked down at the ground, now blinking hem rapidly to prevent anything from dripping from them. The girl then let out a semi loud sniff before looking up, now clutching onto her belongings a little tighter as she walked across the hallway until getting to her locker.

Meanwhile on the same hallway she had been before, Stellar had pressed his back against the lockers as he covered his face with his hands.

"Fucking idiot...you can't do anything right..."he muttered into his hands as he felt them burn with his red face, although he stopped once he heard footsteps nearby. He immediately fixed himself so that he was now casually leaning against the lockers, though he sighed when he saw his brother wave at him.

"The hell you want now?"

"Oh, nothing! I was just walking to...the auditorium..."Roger said with a pink hue on his cheeks as he nervously laughed. "And what have you been up to?"

"None of your fucking business, that's what."Stellar said before he got off of the lockers and walked past his brother who merely sighed and shrugged to himself, being used to the acts his brother always put up. He shrugged again and smiled to himself before walking again, ready to turn the corner before he pulled himself back.

Roger slowly peeked out and saw the girl sigh before she reached into her binder, then carefully pulling out an ivory envelope. She then took out a sheet of what appeared to be stickers before she took one off and used it to tape the envelope onto the locker.

Nathalia let out another sigh before she smiled softly, then placing a kiss onto her fingers that she gently pressed against the envelope before she turned and walked away in the opposite direction.

He scurried over to the locker, nearly tripping over himself before he caught himself by placing his hands onto the lockers next to his brother's. Roger stood straight and looked up, then seeing the little envelope have the word Stellar written on it in a very neat and pretty cursive print, just as it was held up by a sticker in the shape of a heart.

Bella let out a small sniffle as she looked down at the ground with a neutral expression.

Was it worth being sad about her current situation? Probably not. Was it worth being mad about her current situation? Probably not, especially because her anger only happened to get her mocking responses along with laughs and teasing.

She let out a sigh as she shut her eyes, slowly losing her hope as she had no idea what she could do to escape these dreadful pirates. She wasn't in the best of moods considering how she had been kept against her own will for about a week or so and during that time period, nothing seemed to work out for her.

And oh that damned pirate...how he ruined everything, even her dreams of meeting a pirate some day...Roger.

"Ahoy there!"she heard from behind, and she slowly turned her head before her eyes landed on an all too familiar woman who held onto the cell door's wood as she peeked her face through one of the holes. "Name's Maggie, and I've heard you're Bella. How things going for you?"

Bella glanced down at the chain that was on her ankle before looking at the ropes tied around her cuffs, then looking back up at Maggie quietly.

"Right, right...shouldn't have asked that."she said before unlocking the cell, then walking in with a silver plate that held a variety of foods too fancy for a prisoner. "The boys wanted me to bring these for you, especially since we'll be arriving to the shore soon and we won't be eating anything there."

"Shore? What shore?"

"Medusa Shore of course! We have certain business to handle on there."Maggie replied before setting down the plate on a nearby barrel, then getting down with a key to remove the heavy piece holding Bella's ankle. "Come on, Jolly Roger boy wants me removing these things from you. Apparently he wants a word with you."

"And what, do you plan to do once in control of your sister's kraken?"

"Simple: I use it to demolish rivaling and enemy ships Harley. I thought you would have known that by now."

Harley looked at their friend for a moment, right before releasing a sigh to then hold their now scrunched up nose.

"Stellar..."

"Yes?"

"You can not...you can not just control a kraken just as you would commandeer your ship, there are grand differences tha-"

"Oh Harley, please. You make it sound as if it were complicated!"Stellar exclaimed before taking a bite of the drumstick he currently held in his hand, then talking again. "I'm going to propose a little deal to her...ask her to borrow the damn kraken and I'll bring her something she likes. Maybe I can cheer her up a bit, seeing how she can't smile at anything."

"Stellar...it is not wise to mess with such things, we all know what Coraline has gone through and that meddling with her emotions or the ones she lacks will result in trouble for everybody."

"Harley stop it, and here I thought you'd side with me. I though, wonderful, we'd rule the seas together like we said we would when younger."

"Please Stellar just, grant me the favor of not doing anything stup-"

"Shhh, wait…."Stellar said before jumping up onto his feet, immediately making Harley close their mouth as they turned their head to the side so that they could glance out the window. "Listen..."

Harley slowly stood up next to their friend who turned to face the door, and he walked over to it in a quick manner as Harley followed behind.

"Stellar what-"

"Harley, keep quiet!"he whispered as he walked up the stairway, then walking onto the deck before Harley grabbed his shoulder and made him look at them.

"Stellar what is going on!? Why the sudden sense of panic?" they said as they held both of his shoulder, but he pulled himself away before whispering.

"It's too quiet...you can clearly hear the waves but no seagulls or fish jumping in and out of the water..."he started before turning to look at the deck filled with his crew. "If it's calm and quiet it means we're near the island, and..."

"The kraken?"

Just like that, despite how quiet Harley had asked, the entire crew turned their heads to look at the pair with wide eyes and they were all ready to run off.

"Avast!"Stellar yelled out and everybody did just that which resulted in everything to quiet down. For a brief moment all was quiet and there was absolutely no movement besides the ship being rocked by the surprisingly soft waves that were also the only source of sound.

Stellar scanned the entire deck with his single eye, noticing that some of the pirates were indeed shaking considering how they knew what it was was currently happening.

He held his breath before he began taking slow steps, some pairs of eyes staring at him as he walked towards the side of the boat to place his hands onto the rail. He carefully leaned on it to peer down at the water: there wasn't very much difference to it since it looked as blue and clear as always.

Although, he did notice the humongous figure that slowly drifted under the ship which made him slightly gulp before leaning back in a bit of panic. He let out a breath before a gasp escaped his lips after the water made a sound, as if something had exited, for one of the figure's enormous tentacles had indeed shot up from the water.

Everybody else had reacted in similar ways as Stellar slowly stepped back looking at the tentacle which merely appeared to grow longer the more it revealed itself before it went down to place itself onto the boat's floor. Nobody dared approach, and neither did Stellar stared at it apprehensively before it slowly slid over to him.

He held his breath again, then shutting his eye as more tendrils appeared out from under the waters which made the entire crew stick together as they clutched onto whatever they could. Rather than looking at the captain, they all looked up at the tentacles not knowing whether they were safe or not whilst Stellar clenched his fists at his sides.

He felt the tendril place itself on his legs, barely wrapping itself around him as it then went to his chest before completely removing itself from him. The tentacle, along with the rest that hovered over the boat, slowly went back into the water which resulted in everybody to release the breaths they were holding in as Stellar opened his eye and cleared his throat to turn around.

"Alright, everybody back to their positions. We're ready to go."he said out loud before walking back to his quarters with as much casualty as possible, ignoring what it is just happened.

"What...was that all about?"Bella asked, turning to Maggie who cleared her throat.

"Oh,that? That was just Calypso."she replied while removing the ropes that were tied around Bella's arms. "She was just checking that it was us, and not the Royal Navy or some other lootin' pirate ship."

"The creature...knows you?"

"Of course it does! We've been here lots of times to visit it and its owner who happens to be my best friend! And the captain and Roger's sister."

Bella blinked for a moment before turning to look at Roger who had been poking at his teeth with a dagger of his, and she saw that once satisfied, he flung it behind him before it barely missed one of the crew members and had instead stuck onto the wooden floor. She then turned back to look at Maggie.

"Sister...now that's something to worry about."

"Worry? Negative,no! You don't have to worry about Corals at all, she's a lot calmer and...emotionless than her brothers!"Maggie reassured her with a grin once she had completely removed the ropes. "I mean, unless you upset her and she feeds you the fishes. Or Calypso."

Bella raised her eyebrows and shut her eyes, not liking the family she was currently dealing with. She shook her head, then opening her eyes to turn and look at the waves that crashed against the boat, as some of them continued on their way until reaching what she now noticed was a beach.

"And-"she started as she turned back to look at Maggie, but flinched once she saw an all too familiar grin stare at her from an evil expression.

"Oh no..."

"Oh yes, my angel~"Roger said before wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her towards his chest as she tried pushing him away. "Did you miss me?"

"No! Let go of me you, dirty pirate!"

"Oh Bella, Bella, you're going to have to do so much better than that to insult Ol' Roger."he said with a dark chuckle, though he gave her an expression of the same way as he grabbed her chin which made her stop to look at him. "But if you do, I'm just going to have to tie you back up down in the cold, dark cellar. Don't think I won't-"

"Roger."somebody said from behind which made his smirk disappear before he turned and the pair caught sight of the captain."Quiet your flirting and leave the poor girl alone. Go do something useful for once and get the prisoners."