Oddly enough Hemslock, who advocated that I join the earlier cave expedition, is now against it. “I’ve been in the caves several times now and shit happens only when you’re with us. You seem to attract these paranormal activities wherever you go. Who’s to say that you won’t make things worse for Galant if you’re with us?”

“We may not know the mind of the god who dwells here, but Alon is good at calming it down,” Gries points out, taking a completely opposite stance from before. “And I thought you would jump at the chance to record more ghostly activity.”

Hemslock glowers at me but stays silent.

“I want everyone at the mess hall,” Gries instructs the rest of the crew. “Stay together; if you need to use the bathroom or get something, go in pairs.”

“We promise, sir,” Straw Hat says nervously.

The new team consists of me, Hemslock, Gries, and the rest of Hemslock’s bodyguards. The armed men calmly outfit themselves with thick vests and check their guns, as if traveling into caves to shoot at ghosts is a daily occurrence in their line of work.

“You two be careful,” Chase whispers worriedly to his father and me.

As it turns out, we didn’t need to travel very far into the cave to find Armani.

I almost do not recognize him. The executive producer has divested himself of his clothes. Naked, he lies atop the stone altar, gazing up into the hole in the ceiling as if in a trance. He does not stir as we approach. His physique has noticeably declined since he fell into the pit. Once a broad-shouldered man with a bit of a gut, he’s grown emaciated. There are craggy lines on his face like he’s aged thirty years within two days. He looks as desiccated as the balete around us.

“Reuben,” he rasps as we approach, never turning his face away from the moon above. “That you?”

“You’re gonna be alright, Steve,” Reuben says reassuringly. “We’re going to get you home. I’m sure that stone’s comfy, but I think a nice soft bed would be more to your liking.”

“I can’t hear,” the man whispers, oblivious to his friend’s words. “I can’t hear anymore. I can’t see. And yet I can hear. I can see. Visions that I don’t like, words that I don’t want to hear. Can you see them, Reuben? The damned? The island has seen it all. More than we thought, more than we could ever dream.”

He laughs suddenly. His cackle echoes through the cavern. “Am I dreaming? Are we all just dreaming? That’s what it’s telling me. That’s what it’s whispering in my ear. We’re all dreaming, and we will all cease to exist when the god awakes.

“The fifth to serve. The sixth to lure. I understand now. They will root into our bodies and sprout like newborns. We are nothing but a mote in his eye, Reuben. We are nothing but dust underneath his feet. He will drink from us and then, if we are worthy, he will dream us into the next world.