Maybe going to a New Years party was a bad idea, given his recent health. He didn't faint or otherwise feel sick, so maybe it was all in his head? Either way, he was still breathing and in fine health, except for one problem: he couldn't sleep. He was far too wound up from earlier, he could still hear the soft crackle of fireworks. What was there to do this early in the morning?

He summoned his senshi phone and flipped it open, stopping. Now didn't seem like an ideal time to poke his team and see if they wanted to do something. Besides, it was New Years. Didn't the Negaverse take time off too? He hoped so. Otherwise he could feel a twinge of sympathy for the Negaversers and their cruel queen who seemed to constantly yell at them and just act like an all-around spooky person.

Carter flipped through his contact list, stopping to stare. Merope was now available. His home. He could go back. Dare he? Why not? Henshining up was second nature. Getting there, however, took time. Pushing the button didn't work. He tried it three times before recalling that he needed to listen, and wait for home to call him.

There was a sort of warmth in the air, a dry and dusty warmth that made him open his eyes and stare in disbelief. Was this the same Merope? He

He had made it to Merope all right. But where was he? He slowly turned in the wooden room, the heels of his boots thumping against the wood grain. The desk was in the same place as he left it, as well as the backless chair. There was something about the room that made him turn a slow circle, his eyes drifting from the shutter-opened windows to the far corners. For an abandoned ship, the room itself seemed to be in rather good condition. It was odd that he didn't notice it several weeks ago when he was last here. In fact, he could even see his footprints.

Wait.

The boy's eyes drifted up to the ceiling, staring. There was a source of light; a lantern hung from the ceiling. Why hadn't he noticed it before? Was it because he never looked up? He raised his hands to lift it off the hook, freezing. Merope narrowed his eyes and carefully took a step back, squinting up past the light. “Who the hell carved a love note on my ceiling?!” It was a love note. Or more precise, someone had carved two initials in the middle of a heart. Right on his ceiling. The heart pattern was large enough to go around the hook the lantern hung on. There wasn't a way to not look at it when hanging the lantern up. Whoever wrote them didn't speak English either. But there were two symbols all the same with a plus sign between them. In all honesty, Merope had assumed the tradition of defacing trees by carving initials into the bark had long disappeared. Either way, just looking at it made a knot of emotions rise in his throat, with irritation and annoyance at the top. This was his ship. Who the hell would have the audacity to do something like that?!

The sailor scout grumbled as he reached up and unhooked the lantern from the ceiling, placing it on the table. The contraption itself was about a foot tall and made out of wood. The same that the ship was made out of? Possibly. The oddest thing about it was that the boy couldn't see a flame. Instead, the center of the device had an odd smooth stone that gave off a soft, dim white light. He reached out to touch it, snatching his hand back on reflex before making contact. The surface of the stone wasn't hot as he was expecting it to be. Rather, it was... cool.

He twisted the lantern around, stopping to glare. There it was again! That dratted heart with those initials. Or at least he hoped they were initials. It couldn't be someone's name, could it? What sort of a person would have such a short name that made him want to punch them in annoyance?

Merope rolled his eyes and picked the lantern up, leaving the captain's quarters. Whatever. The markings could be dealt with at some other point in time, for now he had the rest of his ship to explore. He stubbornly kept his eyes on the deck floor, ignoring the area surrounding and beyond the ship. There wasn't any way he could handle with looking there again, what with wanting to go home the last time. He refused to look up, to spare a glance as he set the strange lantern down before kneeling at the hatch to the hold. Lifting it took a bit of trouble. Maybe if he oiled the hinges...?

With what? The lantern obviously didn't use any source of flame, and having fire on a dry wooden ship would be rather disastrous. Should he punch it? No – salt water causes rust. Merope sighed, staring at the hatch. Maybe if he tried it at a different angle...? Yes! The hatch squeaked and groaned in protest as he hauled it upright. It jammed, refusing to flip over completely. That was fine! He had enough room to get down there. He grabbed the lantern and carefully descended into the ship's hold, one foot testing each step before he trusted putting his weight onto it.

The steps held. Whoever built the ship knew what they were doing, even if Negaverse take him there was another of those dratted heart markings. Right there on the side of the stairwell, too! Merope held the lantern up to it, a look of disbelief frozen on his face. This carving was detailed. While the rest were straight-to-the-point markings, this one looked as if the carver had spent some time on it. He couldn't resist running his fingertips across it, removing some of the dust. Merope grabbed his sash and began to use the end of it to rub at the wall, freeing the design further.

The edges of this design were carved to look like interlocking leaves. Some sort of plant, perhaps? Outside of the heart-shape were stars. Inside? More scribbles. There were three markings again, with the middle one an embellished plus sign. The other two symbols, though... He didn't think they looked like the writing on the lantern, and a quick glance confirmed it. Something about the symbols didn't make him as upset as before. Merope narrowed his eyes and tried to sort out the conflicting emotions. Admiration? Irritation? Annoyance? Sadness? No. Merope had an overwhelming desire to cover his face with his palm, a motion he shamelessly indulged in. Whoever did this... Ugh. He wished there was someone somewhere who could tell him what this meant.

The boy lowered his hand from his face and turned away, peering into the darkness. There was a door to his immediate right, and a hallway to his left. He took the right, raising his lantern to get a good look inside the room before stepping in. It appeared to be some sort of kitchen by the looks of things. Or what he assumed to be the kitchen. What other sort of room would have the floor littered with broken bowls and plates?

Merope carefully backed out and turned around to the hallway, not wanting to slip and fall on any of the pottery. The hallway was small, but not small enough for Merope to reach out and touch both sides of the hallway. He entered into the first door on his left. It was a small room, and looked to be living quarters for one of the crew. Traces of frayed rope were all that remained of the hammock (where was the hammock in his room? They didn't expect the captain to sleep on the floor, did they? He was jealous, even if this hammock was unusable) hanging from the wall. He could see a small chest for personal belongings (empty), and another lantern. This one wasn't working like his. Curious, Merope picked it up to examine it. It didn't seem broken – it was just dark. Why was that? It also didn't have the obnoxious heart-message carved into it either, but it was smaller than his.

He took it with him as he examined the other room. It was just the same as the one he went into, just like the other two rooms he merely poked his head into. Uninterested in the smaller rooms, Merope walked past the living quarters. It seemed that the rest of the ship was dedicated to storage, in addition to one last room. He ignored the last room, placing the lanterns on a nearby barrel. He knocked on it, listening.

It sounded as if there was something in it. But having never knocked on a barrel before, it could have been empty for all Merope knew. “How do you open one of these anyway?” He asked himself, tapping it. Knocking obviously wasn't the way to enter. Did they contain water? Food? Alcohol? He placed his bets on alcohol, as pirates were a rather boisterous lot. According to the movies at least.

Next to the tied down barrels were some crates. He didn't know how to get into them either, but thankfully someone was considerate enough to break one open for him. Or did it break open by itself? Needless to say, Merope was disappointed to find it empty. Either someone had beaten him to it, or time itself had devoured the contents. His footprints were the only ones he could see on the floor.

Merope sighed and picked up the lanterns, retracing his steps out of the hold and back onto the deck. Half in and half out of the hold he sat down, resting his feet on the second step down and leaning back. He was so tired. “Maybe coming here wasn't such a hot idea,” he realized, closing his eyes. Going back to Earth sounded like a good plan. But first...

The boy senshi hauled himself to his feet and forced the hold latch down, closing it. It didn't feel right to leave it up, even if it was a chore trying to move it. Next time he came, he needed to bring some oil. But for now, Merope simply summoned his phone and dialed for home, appearing there moments later. His dusty senshi uniform faded away, and after a quick change into sleep-clothes Carter fell onto his bed. He was asleep moments later, dreaming of the pirate treasure the space pirate ship didn't seem to have.