In the sea…
The Clown stood at the bow of his flamboyantly decorated ship—a chaotic mess of rainbow stripes, oversized gears, and grinning puppets hanging from the sails. Arms spread wide, coat flapping in the salty wind, he stood like a performer before his final act. His mismatched eye lenses, one yellow and the other a cracked glass orb, scanned the horizon with eerie precision.
Then he got a feedback from all the Jack-in-the-boxes in the sea, a barely-there outline of a ship cloaked in concealment array, fighting to remain unseen.
His cracked smile widened.
"F.O.U.N.D youuuuuuuu," he whispered, dragging the word out like a twisted melody.
In response, the Jack-in-the-boxes surrounding him burst into cackling laughter, their spring-loaded heads bobbing wildly in agreement.
---
"Mode Shadow?" Mathilda asked from the deck of the White Pearl, her eyes locked on the incoming ship.
