Chapter 14 – Woohoo!

Hello dear readers, and welcome to yet another chapter of A Piratical Legacy, which is following the lineage of the Buccaneer family. The Buccaneer family was founded by the infamous pirate, Captain Jack... Buccaneer... after he was marooned on Pirate Island when his crew mutinied. The natives immediately made him their chief, and much mayhem has ensued since that point. If you want more of a recap, I suggest reading my other chapters, and if you get confused by the family lineages, I suggest you have my legacy family tree (http://purplebunny.tribalpages.com) open in another window or tab while you're reading this. Not that it'll necessarily help, but you can't say I didn't make the effort. And now, without further delay...

*cough* *cough* Yeah, I'll get to the Legacy in a moment. *cough* Y'know, after I recover from my pesticides overdose. *cough* *cough* This is oddly ironic, since in real life I work in a lab that does pesticides testing. *cough*

Hrm. Well, I wasn't expecting that.

And since I'm a family-oriented deity and since I don't have real kids yet, I immediately spawned a little plant-baby. It's a girl, and her name is Demeter, and she's weird-looking.

Artemis seems to like her, though. Of course, Artemis now wants to be a plant sim. Oh yeah, she grew up. Did I forget to mention that? Artemis is the daughter of SimMe and SimHubby (ChrisTheS, D&D Legacy). The nose is his fault.

Anyway, Demeter grew up and moved onto her own lot and has had quite the interesting life, but I couldn't fit any of those slides in. If you're lucky, I'll tag them onto the next chapter.

Ha! Right! Room for extra pictures? I always take waaaaay too many. Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled chapter.

...in a minute. Cured of plantsim-ism, I was more than ready to start playing Legacy again when I got a special request from SimHubby, Chris. Since I thought his idea was a good one, I invited Celeste and Jack over to chat with them. Neither of them were elder yet, but they were both getting close, so I'd called them just in time. "I bet you're wondering why I called this meeting," I said once everyone was comfortable.

"I must admit, I have been extremely curious as to what may have precipitated this miniature convention, as it were," Jack said. "When you summoned us, we came Because you are our deity and must heeded. But if it's all the same, I've got bread that must be kneaded. If it's not too much trouble, Can we not tarry long? Alan's blowing bubbles To that stupid weasel song." "Well, it's this," I said, shrugging. "Jack, you and Celeste are two of my most popular spares, and you're getting pretty important in the Spade series as well. A lot of my readers have asked if you guys are going to age along with the Legacy family, and I finally have an answer."

"Sarah's decided that one spare from each generation gets to be immortal and live forever!" Chris said gleefully, stealing my thunder. I shot him a look. "Nice one, Chris." "What?" "You totally spoiled my surprise, dear." "Ohhh... sorry." "It's okay, you're forgiven," I said, grinning. I turned to look at Jack and Celeste again. "Anyway, you'll be getting an indefinite supply of

Elixir which you can share with your spouses. Welcome to the immortals club!" "We give our thanks, and think We'll go home and have a drink! At least elixir isn't pink... 'Cause that would stink." "Indeed, my dear aunt Celeste," Jack said. They nodded inscrutably, and took their leave. And now we return to our regularly scheduled Legacy-in-progress.

Lam Plaza Dormitory: 7 Graduates Served Once these five are done, that will make it an even dozen. I'm playing a lot of spares through university - way too many to expect my readers to keep track of. In the last chapter you met (L-R) Emily and Tom, the Maxis playables; and Hadrian Toyonaga. The three of them, now at the beginning of their junior year, are met by Hadrian's younger brothers: Cestus and Benjamin.

You don't really have to worry about remember anyone's names except Benjamin, because the first thing he did when he moved to university was pledge the Greek house. The house is a bit full right now, but as soon as there's room he'll be moving in with the generation 4 heir and a few other pledges. Oh, and I didn't intentionally make Benjamin and Cestus look like Brody and Micah Legacina (Pseudo Legacy, written by Orikes). Seriously. But I thought it was cute when I realized it.

A short blurb on the others can use up a few slides that would have gone to Demeter otherwise, because I want to give all twenty-four of this generation's children at least a few minutes of fame. During his first year, Cestus didn't accomplish anything terribly impressive other than wooing evil Cow Mascot, Tracy Carr.

Older brother Hadrian, meanwhile, gave up on the permanently lukewarm Renaud and moved onto Ray, one of the moderators at www.boolprop.com, which any of my readers who haven't already joined must now proceed and join. Although if you've managed to get this far without joining, I'm surprised. Even hubby doesn't get all the in-jokes. Ahem. Anyway, I'm sure they'll be very happy together, and Ray, Hadrian is actually pretty cute and is one of my favorite sims. So you're getting a good one.

Benjamin, meanwhile, decided to go to the Gypsy Matchmaker to find love. He and his fellow dormies had a fair bit of money so he paid the full $5000, and this is who he got. Uranium Apocalypso, evil mastermind extraordinaire (Apocalypso-A-Go-Go, by Ephemeral Toast). Uranium is up for woohoo at any time with pretty much anyone at least once, so she was game for the date.

However, it wasn't until Benjamin mentioned that he was planning on converting to the worship of the Potty God that Uranium's heart was won over.

Of course, she is a Romance sim. So who knows how long it will last. Probably only as long as the woohoo is any good!

Casteroff Dormitory: Where the Legacy really begins. I know, I know I said that 7 slides back. And again a few more before that. William Curtin and Elphaba Uglacy, in the back, were joined by Nala Buccaneer, daughter of Eddie the Tiger; Roche Buccaneer, generation four Piratical heir; and Alder Thayer. Because Roche was assigned to Casteroff when he moved to university, a lot of the story took place here, starting with group photos on the first day of class. William and Elphaba were the only ones who really got into it, though.

"This is stupid," Nala complained. "I don't get the point of all these dormie-bonding things. I wish these meetings weren't mandatory." "Aww, c'mon Nala," Roche said lazily. "I thought you'd be all over this, being a Popularity sim and all." "I'm already friends with all of you," Nala muttered. "I want to meet someone new. Someone who isn't related to me would be nice for a change, too." And with that, she pouted and slouched off. Fortunately, the photographer was done.

"I thought that was pretty cool, actually," Alder confessed to Roche as they walked downstairs. He glanced at his companion's attire. "Umm... when did you change into pajamas?" "Pleasure Sim," Roche shrugged. "I like wearing them. But I'd better change before going into the cafeteria. It's pancakes this morning and I don't want to get syrup on my pjs."

By the time Roche was dressed in his exceedingly complicated pirate outfit, Alder was long gone. He sat down with Nala instead. "I see you have embraced the pajama lifestyle," Roche observed. "Denim chafes my tail," Nala said, wincing. "What's it like having a tail?" Roche asked. "I've always kind of wondered." "Cool, actually," Nala said, beaming. "For one thing, it makes me

look totally unique." "I think the fur manages that pretty well," Roche pointed out. "Well, yeah," Nala agreed, shoveling some pancake into her mouth. She was not a Neat sim. "But it's the whole package deal. Except for the ears, anyway." The cousins ate in silence for a few minutes. Then Nala spoke up again. "Hey, my parents told me all about this curse you're supposed to break. That's awful that you won't be able to have kids until it's taken care of."

"Yeah," Roche said glumly, "I don't like thinking about that." "But you need to!" Nala exclaimed. "For the family, I mean. Can I help you?" Roche grinned. "Sure, I guess. Hey, want to play Red Hands?" "Okay," Nala shrugged. She steered the conversation back in the direction she wanted. "So, about the curse. What do you know about it so far?" "Just what everyone else does," Roche said. He slapped Nala's hand. "Ow! Not so hard!" Nala complained.

"Sorry," Roche said with a goofy grin. "Anyway, you know the whole deal with the curse. It's hung over me practically since I was born. Ever since that guy Anthony died after stalking mom, he's been out to get our family. His ghost even killed Grandma, remember? Good thing Grandpa was there to rescue her. Oh, and you can't forget all of mom's concubines dying either." "Doesn't it bother you that your mom has half the island in love with her?" Nala asked curiously. "Nah, I just make sure never to talk about it when my dad can hear," Roche shrugged.

With the recap out of the way, and with Nala agreeing to help him on his quest to break the Curse on the Buccaneer family, Roche stopped worrying about his responsibilities and started really enjoying living on campus. One of the first things he did was apply for Greek House membership. There was only one Greek House on campus and it had been founded by his grandmother Mary and his great-aunt Elisabeth. Currently his older brother Bart and several of his cousins were living there, so Roche figured it would be a cinch to get accepted.

"Of course we'll let you in right away!" Roche's "cousin" (refer to family tree!) Irony Curtin said. "How could we not, Roche? Just look at you. I can already tell that you're going to be a huge asset to the House." "What do you mean?" "Well duh," Irony giggled. "You're a Pleasure Sim and a Legacy heir. All the prettiest boys and girls are going to flock to hang out with us once you're a member. I may be dating your cousin Wedge, but I still get to look -- right?"

Autumn Thayer came over with the rest of the Greek House members to confirm Roche's admittance into that august body and while she was there, William finally proposed to her. "Of course I'll marry you!" Autumn squealed. She threw her arms around William and immediately started planning a huge blowout wedding, which you may or may not get to see at a later date.

Love, or at least like, was in the air, it seemed. "Hey Roche, do you see that girl behind you?" Alder whispered. "Uh, no," Roche said as he shoveled the macaroni into his mouth. "She's behind me." "Oh. Right. Well, she's really cute," Alder said. "So? Go talk to her if you like her," Roche said encouragingly. "But what if she doesn't like me?" Alder was a bit nervous. He'd never really talked to any girls except relatives before. "Then you find another one," Roche shrugged. "No harm in trying, anyway. What are you waiting for?"

Screwing up all his courage, Alder put down his fork and walked over to the girl. "I haven't seen you here before," he said shyly. "Oh, I'm a friend of Nala's from Pirate Island," the girl replied. "I'm in Paris for the week and thought I'd look her up. She's at class right now, though." A few awkward sentences later, and Alder learned that his mystery woman was none other than Denise, aka avidreader2466 (Puritanical Green Thumb Legacy). He was smitten, but only time would tell if she returned the feelings.

Just another day in the life at Casteroff. Cousins thumping each other with pillows while another cousin looks on.

Since Alder had taken the pretty simself with the braids, Roche decided to try to find someone for himself. However, he and Jaiden Baena just didn't hit it off, and there were no other unattached female dormies living in Casteroff. He'd have to do things the old-fashioned way.

Hey, have you read the first few chapters? For the Buccaneers, this is the old-fashioned way. "I've got... a dorm standard-issue desk, some pocket lint, a stuffed bear with an eyepatch, and about six million pillows."

The matchmaker presented Roche with Marie Mazza, pizza delivery girl. They have three bolts - who am I to argue with that?

Their courtship went fairly quickly, as it does with all three-bolt couples.

A few rather suggestive words and we have a crush! Well, on one side at least. But Roche is outgoing enough that, combined with the three bolts, he'd probably even marry Marie without having a crush on her if their relationship was high enough.

Of course, things soon heated up so Roche felt the sudden urge to smack his new girlfriend over the head with a water balloon in the middle of winter. Y'know, if either of them freeze to death I'm calling it the curse and leaving it at that.

The date went so well, it lasted all night with a judiciously applied burst of the energizer. "Hey Marie, congratulations on being so hot!" "Oh, I know," Marie said. "Isn't it just divine? I mean, you'd know. You're hot too." You sure about that Marie? Roche seems to have gotten the weirdest possible mix of Ivy and Pao's genes that you can imagine. "Can you hear someone talking, Roche?"

And before long, they were sitting in the love tub, talking about handcuffs. However, that's when the date ended and Marie went home. Roche decided to hang out in the hot tub and freeze for a bit longer.

Uhh... Roche. That's NOT Marie! Actually, that's Elphaba! Faba! You cheated on Hercules while I wasn't looking! "Why would I do it while you were looking, goddess? You're my future mother-in-law!" Ooooh... why I oughta... For those of you who are wondering if this was staged, I can assure you that my sims decided to do this all on their own. I installed ACR recently - Autonomous Casual Romance. I'm pretty sure that Roche and Elphaba's relationship is in the low 20's and yet they do this? Gah! Pleasure Sims! Now... should I tell Herc or not....?

"Wow, that was fun, Faba! Uhh... but we probably shouldn't do it again. I don't think my girlfriend would like it." "Tee hee, I bet Hercules would be pretty mad too." "Who's Hercules?" Roche asked. "Oh, just my fiancé," Elphaba shrugged.

Roche! I thought you weren't going to romance Elphaba anymore! "I *smack* didn't say that *slurp* goddess," Roche said between sloppy kisses up Elphaba's arm. "I just *mmph* said no more woohoo!" Elphaba! Stop enjoying it! Do I have to come down and smite you?

"Geez, Faba, your mother-in-law's a real --" I can still hear you. And I have smiting powers. "Fine, I'll be good," Roche grumbled.

"So, you and Roche woohooed, did you?" William observed as he slurped down some chilli. "Yep," Elphaba shrugged. "But it's not like anyone else is going to be faithful to their partners in college unless they're a family sim." "Well, not anymore," William said. "Hey, do you think Nala would woohoo with me?" "Eww," Elphaba shuddered. "She's practically your cousin!" "Not according to my relationships panel," William shrugged. "My own fiancée is my mom's nephew's daughter."

A few days later and Hercules stopped by on behalf of the Greek House to review Nala's membership application. It went through with no hitches due to the high levels of nepotism involved. Nobody mentioned that Elphaba and Roche had partied in the hot tub. It just didn't seem to be their place. And I held my tongue because I hoped it would only be a one-time event.

Besides, Elphaba spent most of the Greek House visit stalking Herc and making out with him. That looks painful...

And that brings us to: Mille House Dormitory, with the people I don't really care about except April Thayer because she's the fourth housemate for when Roche takes over the Greek House. L-R we have: Sadism Curtin, Scipio Toyonaga, April Thayer, Aspen Thayer, and Wedge Biggs. Wedge is currently dating Irony Curtin (Sadism's twin). Sadism is currently dating whoever will woohoo with her as she is a Romance Sim.

April is Jack's favorite daughter, which is why he sent one of his minions to Paris to keep an eye on her. Blite, aka Mr. B., aka Ben, aka writer of the Ten Caesars Legacy, was the one stuck with the job and decided to tell April right off the bad so she wouldn't be too mad when he followed her around on her dates. "Let me get this straight," April said. "You're here to babysit me?!? I'm going to kill daddy when I see him again. When will he ever admit that I'm grown up?" Ben didn't say much but he had definitely noticed that April wasn't a kid anymore. She was absolutely gorgeous.

"Hey, if you're stuck following me around, we might as well make the most of it," April grinned. Ben recoiled. "What? Your dad will kill me!"

He soon proved to be helpless against April's charms, though.

See? Aww...

Of course, things were then extremely awkward between the two of them because Ben was still technically working for her dad, and part of his job was making sure that April didn't hook up with any seedy characters. So he sat down (nice choice of seats there) and started babbling about counterfeit pearls.

Scipio found romance as well with an ugly dormie.

And Sadism found romance with... Wedge? Sadism, that's your sister's boyfriend! "Tee hee, twins should share everything!" You're awful. And Wedge, what would Jack say? Wedge is currently in training to become Jack's chief lieutenant in the Syndicate.

But Sadism wasn't out to steal her sister's boyfriend. No, she just wanted woohoo and Wedge was convenient. The next time she wanted woohoo, Aspen Thayer was the closest candidate.

"I'm the most successful Romance sim at this university."

And that brings us to the Greek House. Refer to the last chapter to see who everyone is. I'll give a brief recap if I think of it when they walk on, but that's about it. "Goddess," Bart, generation four spare and Roche's elder half-brother, said. I immediately paid attention to him 'cause he's nice to look at. "I've decided to do it." "Do what?" I asked.

Oh! After eating, Roche invited his girlfriend De (aka fireflower314, Morgan Legacy) over. The first thing he did after greeting her was pull out an engagement ring!

And the first thing De did was put it on and then jump Bart. Even though she's a Romance sim and he's Family, they really love each other and they actually have a bolt or two despite the opposing aspirations. And they're my favorite couple.

While the two headed off to the hot tub to 'celebrate', Autumn (in the pink) threw a party to celebrate the new additions to the Greek House. A bunch of old friends as well as the new members came by and a good was had by all. "Why are you wearing so much pink?" Benjamin asked Autumn. Meanwhile, the Purple Hair Club reunited over by the stereo. Hadrian and Irony have always gotten on well.

As Bart and De headed back towards the house, they greeted the next batch of party guests.

"CK!" Bart said, greeting his friend happily. "Glad you could make it, dude! What's up with the blond hair, though?" "I didn't have to come straight from work this time," Cale Kosmokos shrugged. "Man, being at this place brings me back. I remember hanging out with a cool chick named Ivy here back in the day." "Wow, that's eerie," De said, staring at both of them. "You two have the same profile."

"Wait, you knew my mom?" Bart said. He put a few things together in his head. "CK ... Cale Kosmokos?" "That's me!" Cale grinned. "Weird how we look so much alike." "Uh... CK, I have something I should probably tell you," Bart said. "Oh?" "Dude, you're my dad."

And Bart engulfed his newfound father in a big bearhug while Roche wandered over to introduce himself to De. "So, you're going out with my brother, are you?" "Actually, we're getting married!" De smiled prettily and flashed her ring. "Whoa, that's cool!" Roche grinned. "My bro found his dad and got engaged in the same day. Geez, it's almost like all his plotlines are wrapping up at once!" Stop sounding like a Knowledge sim, Roche. And stop critiquing your deity's writing style.

"Well, you'd better not cheat on Bart," Roche said, ignoring my commands for the most part and changing the subject. "Why would I cheat on Bart?" De asked. "Have you looked at him lately? He's hot!"

Their conversation was interrupted by Bart and Cale. "CK, I'd like you to meet my fiancée, De," Bart said. "I have to go to class but we'll talk later, okay?"

Upstairs, Irony decided that the party was the perfect time to finally propose to Wedge. So she did, and he said yes because on the whole he liked Irony a lot better than her sister Sadism. The name has nothing whatsoever to do with it. I swear.

This picture is just here to show you exactly how pretty April Thayer is. Stop ogling her, Herc. You have a fiancée already.

"And then he just started babbling about counterfeit pearls," April complained. Bart, back from class and disappointed to see that CK had left, was still more than happy to listen to his cousin talk about her problems. "Sounds like he's just nervous about crossing your dad," Bart said. "Give him some time. I'm sure he'll come around." "I guess," April said. "But you know what my dad can be like. I wouldn't blame Ben if he ran as far away as he could get!" "Yeah, but then he'd be not following orders," Bart pointed out. "True..."

De, meanwhile, wandered into the back yard intending to soak in the hot tub. She was rather unhappy at being foiled by Blake and his fiancée.

Mmm... men cooking dinner...

... while the women order pizza. That's so exactly how things work in my home. Chris cooks on his nights. I order pizza on mine.

This shot is for all the people who like staring at Bart's bare torso. Like me. Mmm...

... and these are the sorts of things that can happen on a university campus lot when the deity isn't paying attention. Hercules! What about Elphaba? "Too lazy to phone her, mom." Bad Herc. Bad! Grr... and I can't even smite you since you're my offspring. However, I would like to say that I'm very disappointed in you and Autumn. You're both engaged to other people! That hack shouldn't be called ACR... it should be called 'meet & cheat' or something similar.

See?

"What are you staring at?"

The next day, cow was still hanging around when William stopped by for a visit. "Dude, you want to know what I saw your girlfriend doing yesterday?" "Nope. Eating." "Suit yourself."

"Sooo... cheating on Elphaba, huh?" "What's it matter to you, Bart?" Herc shrugged. "I disapprove very strongly," Bart said. "That sort of thing leads to... well, me not knowing who my father was until last week. That sort of thing." "Not like anything can happen in university," Herc shrugged. "I've been with Elphaba since we were kids. I need to sow some oats

before settling down." "How would you feel if she felt the same way, though?" Bart asked. "I'd kill the guy," Herc replied matter-of-factly. "Ah, the good old double standard," Bart mused as he lined up to take a shot. "Whatever. I'm a deity. That stuff happens all the time."

Just the words a mother loves to hear. I was a little tired of all the cheating partners so I went into the other two dorms, used the college adjuster on them since there are no heirs or spares living in them, and then returned to Casteroff.

WHAT?!?!?!

Oh no, you did not just cheat on my son again, you little huzzy. I'll teach you a lesson!

ZOTZ!!!

"Elphaba, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Your mother-in-law is a b--" I CAN STILL HEAR YOU. DO YOU WANT ME TO ZOTZ YOU AGAIN? "Some benevolent deity you are," Roche muttered as he got out of the hot tub.

"Elphaba, I'm thinking that maybe we shouldn't actually even talk anymore. Y'know, so the goddess doesn't get the wrong idea." "Frammit, that sucks. Almost as much as these pancakes." "Don't diss the pancakes."

Elphaba then proceeded to show me precisely how evil she really is, starting with this...

... and culminating with this. Okay, she and Herc are NOT living with Chris and me.

"Yeah, my new mother-in-law is such a jerk. She won't even let me woohoo with Roche!" Elphaba's voice was filled with righteous indignation. "Uhh, Faba, you're engaged to Herc, not Roche," Alder pointed out. "What's that have to do with anything?" Elphaba wanted to know. "I'm a pleasure sim and it's way less work to woohoo with Roche than to call Herc over for some fun."

Alder had a feeling that if he didn't take action, both Roche and Faba would end up getting smited by lightning so he arranged for a double date and also invited Herc over. While Elphaba was occupying the hot tub with her honey, Roche and Alder greeted their dates. Roche and Marie have three bolts and thus their date was boring. So let's focus on Denise and Alder for a slide or two, shall we? Denise had returned to Pirate Island not long after meeting Alder, but they'd kept in touch via phone and computer and were very good friends by the time of her next visit, which this was. This was their first date.

I'd say that it went very well! A first kiss, double crush, and double hearts later and they were firmly in love.

Nala, meanwhile, kept an eye out for some visitors she was expecting. She was taking advantage of Roche being busy for the evening to take a few matters into her own hands.

"Hi April!" she said, greeting her cousin enthusiastically. "The others will be here in a few minutes."

"Oh? Who else is coming over?" April asked. "Just Benjamin, but he asked if he could bring a friend," Nala said. "We need to get to work figuring out how to end this curse. As you can see," and she gestured to where Roche and Marie were making out on the lawn, "Roche has other things on his mind and hasn't really been applying himself to fixing things. We may be popularity sims instead of knowledge or family sims, but I don't want to have to worry about whether the curse applies to me or not. You?" "I want at least one kid," April said worriedly. "I didn't know the

curse could apply to me too." "That's just it," Nala said. "We don't know. And that's why we need to break this curse if Roche isn't willing to do it." "And if it doesn't apply to us," April added, "I don't want to be stuck founding a new Legacy or anything." "Me neither," Nala agreed, shuddering. "Oh look, here comes Benjamin and his guest."

Benjamin's guest ended up being Zoey Legacina - who, despite being a Pleasure sim, was well acquainted with occult interference in a Legacy family. Nala was glad to have her around for input. "The reason I called all of us," Nala began, "Is because we're the ones who will be moving to the Greek House with Roche at the start of our Junior year. I think we can get him to start working on solving the curse with us in the spirit of bonding with his greek brother and sisters." "That's a good idea," Zoey said. "I agree," April said. "Maybe we should ask my girlfriend Uranium for help," Benjamin added.

Everyone turned to look at him. "What?" "Her idea of a solution would be to kill everyone and declare the problem solved, although she'd woohoo with all of us first," April explained. "Oh... right." After a bit more discussion, plans were made to kidnap Roche the next morning and force him to start researching the curse in earnest.

However, real life got in the way with that. Marie had spent the night and Roche finally managed to get his hand on a ring and popped the question while Elphaba and Captain Jack supervised in the distance.

"Arr! That be th' way to propagate the legacy, mate." "Am I done now?" Elphaba asked, setting the bear down with disgust. "Aye, love. Y'can be on yer way, aye." In the foreground, Marie accepted Roche's proposal with glee until she realized it meant she had to get married. Then she pouted until he placated her with woohoo.

The day after that Roche got himself invited on an outing by his cousin Nala to bond with their fellow future Greek residents. He naturally accepted, in the spirit of cousinly bonding, of course. "Where the fram are we?" he asked once they arrived at their destination. "The library," Nala said. "What the fram is a library?" Roche asked.

"Um... it's where you go to study," April said patiently. "Study?" "You know, so you do well in school?" "I get Sinjin and Jaden in the dorm to do my homework and papers," Roche shrugged. "And Grandpa Jack tells me the answers on tests." "You're the one who's supposed to save the family from the curse?" April was a bit incredulous.

"As long as it involves woohoo!" Roche grinned. "When you were a kid you weren't nearly as much of an airhead," April said, shaking her head. "Come on, let's go in. I got permission from my prof to study books in the Restricted section."

"Hey, this book has instructions on how to turn a blender into a PS3!" Roche crowed as he flipped the pages. "Shhh!" whisper-yelled the librarian. "Sorry," Roche muttered and went back to reading.

A few hours later and they were about ready to give up. "I can't believe we haven't found anything," Benjamin complained in a low voice, earning a glare from the librarian. He waited until she'd rounded the stacks before continuing. "We've been reading all the occult books and we haven't found a thing." "There's only one more book," Nala said, glancing at the pile she'd pulled. "At least, only one more that I think might have any answers. But I have to go now. Roche, you'll have to check it out on your library card and read it on your own."

"Fine," Roche said, standing up. Nala got up as well and handed the book to him. "What's it called?" "The Necronomicon," Nala said. "You will read it... won't you?"

While the future Greeks were catching a quite bite before returning to their dorms, Alder decided to take Denise out for a night on the town in Paris as she would be returning to Pirate Island the next morning.

They went to the fanciest restaurant Alder could afford, and while they were waiting for their food to arrive, Alder decided the time was finally right. He put a black velvet box on the table. "Alder!" Denise gasped. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Marry me!" Alder said. Denise eyed the ring. "Of course!" she giggled, and slipped it on.

Aww…

At the Greek house, Bart was also thinking about true love. As a loyal, non-cheating, faithful, awesome person, he actually called De and invited her over rather than cheating with one of his distantly related cousins.

De, being a Romance sim, was happy to oblige.

Autumn was going through a phase where she wanted to sow her wild oats. She literally went after every male who stopped by who wasn't a close enough relative to show as family. Here's a perfect example. See how the female hits on her fiancé's twin brother. Ugh.

"Guys, have you *hic* noticed how Autumn's hitting on everyone?" Blake asked. "D'you *hic* think I should tell my *hic* brother?" "Up to you, dude," Bart shrugged.

Real good choice there, Blake. I'm so proud of you.

Irony, meanwhile, had heard a few rumors through the grapevine of Wedge's indiscretions with her twin and decided to get some revenge on Wedge with Herc, since he wasn't exactly faithful either. However, my indiscreet son actually decided not to cheat on his fiancée for once and shot Irony down.

Of course, it might have been because Wedge was downstairs hanging out with Tracy Carr, Angel Mace (the Royal Placeholder), and Bart. I don't blame Herc for wanting to avoid getting slapped.

Angel graduated, which is nice, because she hadn't really had any face time since she was Ivy's lover back when generation three was at university. Enjoy your life, Angel!

"Autumn, I've been hearing some very disturbing things about you and ... well ... lots of guys." "Oh William, how could you believe such slander?" "Aww... how could I believe it?" And with that, William tickle-attacked Autumn, apparently forgiving her or choosing to be wilfully ignorant.

We'll go with wilfully ignorant.

A little while later, Cale stopped by. "CK!" Bart said happily. "Come on in!" "I can't stay long," Cale replied. "Sorry for ditching out of that party, but I got seriously weirded out at the thought of being a father. Your mother never told me, and that's probably a good thing because I'm not really the paternal type."

"That's okay," Bart shrugged. "Mom's husband Pao has been a really good father to me. But I'd like it if we could be friends." "That's cool," Cale said, relief evident in his voice. "I'm moving back to Pirate Island now, which is why I can't stay long. We'll get in touch when you're done school?" "I'll send you an invitation to the wedding," Bart grinned. He hugged his father and said goodbye.

Back at Casteroff, Nala decided to stop by Roche's room to find out if he'd looked at the Necronomicon yet. To her disgust, she found him playing games on the computer. "Roche! You're not going to get anything done if you keep playing those stupid computer games," she chided. "I was just bringing my fun up a bit, honest," Roche said. But he shut the computer off.

"Why is this so important to you, Nala?" he asked. "I may be a popularity sim, but I'm still worried about our family," Nala said. "I just don't want you and Marie to get hurt further down the line when you want a family and can't have one." "Aww, thanks Nala," Roche was a bit abashed. "Listen, I'll read that book tonight. If there's anything that can help us in it, I'll find it -- and you'll be the first to know." Nala smiled and said goodnight.

Roche changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed, but sleep eluded him. He found himself thinking about Marie a lot. He loved her, and he realized that he did want at least one child with her. They hadn't talked about children yet, and Marie was a romance sim, but Roche was pretty sure she wanted to have at least one as well.

With a sigh, he reached under his pillow and pulled out the book. "Now then, what did the librarian say I had to do before opening it... oh, right! 'Klatu, verata, um... nooboo!" He still found it rather odd that a curséd tome of vile wickedness looked like a perfectly ordinary textbook, but perhaps that was part of the absolute evilness of the whole thing.

The next morning, Roche ran into Nala's room, where she was studying with Captain Jack's help. "Roche? What's up?" Nala asked, settling onto her beanbag chair. Roche sank onto the panda bear chair. He looked awful, as though he'd been up all night. "I did it, Nala," he said excitedly. "I read the book! The whole thing, from cover to cover." "And? What be the news, mate?" Captain Jack put in his oar.

"I know how to beat it," Roche said, rubbing his eyes blearily. "I know how to beat the curse." And that's it for this time, folks! Will Roche really be able to beat the curse in the next chapter? Will I be able to refrain from Zotz!ing sims who insist on cheating? Will Jack beat the crap out of Blite? And will Nala ever get a boyfriend? All this and less in the next installment of ... A Piratical Legacy. For an afterthought, click the next slide.

Look, it's Marina's baby! And boy, does he ever look like his father, actor Shane West. That is all.