[Flashback] The treasure of the cat kind

[Nabra]

Pirates find out that the "salesman's legend" about the ring stolen from the catlord mafioso by Alice is, in fact, true. But the ring isn't enough to get to the treasure. They need help from the Max, the Catlord Mobster himself. Thankfully, he is quite as much of an advanture-seeker as they are. Unfortunately, he is quite as much of an advanture-seeker as they are.

[Alice]

Rimer and Max were useless. Alice thought she was thinking better. Amir seemed the most sober.

"It seems to affect cats more than us," Alice whispered to Amir. "At least I can speak coherently. Or am I imagining it? I saw flowers from an old science fiction book. In it, they took over the Earth, replacing all the plants. People allowed them to do so on the condition that some of them would remain purple flowers, because it was beautiful. Perhaps, and this is my own hallucination. This local crap affects each of us differently. I'm scared. I'm afraid of getting lost in illusions. This book... I read it to my sister. A long time ago. And then we played out the events of the book, when the purple roses my mother planted bloomed in our garden. My sister was the only one in my family who continued to communicate with me after I became a disgrace to the family. She didn't know I was a pirate, but she guessed I was doing something illegal. Now, even she doesn't write to me. And this thing somehow found out what's bothering me and will exploit it. And these vines remind me of the Greenhouse. I was terrified there. That's why I'm terrified here. I'm waiting for another Morel. Or another mazon with their mad queen."

Alice said this and continued walking forward. She followed Max. Did he know where to go? Or had he succumbed to his illusions and was leading them into a trap? There was no other way out here anyway.