"Well, if we're gonna do this let's start with a bang. Mystery magic it is," Mikey picked up the top book from Gisla's pile and opened it wide, its aged smell wafting into his face.

"Wrong book, dunce," Gisla tittered, though she quickly hid her amusement when Mikey noticed her attitude.

"That's Captain Dunce, at the very least, princess," he corrected her, tossing the book down onto the desk and taking his leave from the quarters.

"Don't throw my books around like that," Gisla scoffed, neatly reorganising her previous pile before following Mikey out onto the deck.

Moving across the deck, since Lady had taken over all crew functions herself, as well as an unnatural level of control over the ship, the Blackjack was virtually still as it glided over the sea. An hour earlier, Lazarus had managed to casually drink tea on deck without the slightest hint of it spilling over.

Mikey and Gisla both moved for the starboard side. As Mikey was waiting for Gisla, he leaned his elbows on the railing and watched over the water. Gisla flicked through the pages looking for the one she'd marked.

Whilst she patiently searched, Mikey turned towards her with the intent of a sly comment - eager to get started. However his eyes gravitated past her towards the stairs by the captain's quarters. Liza was making her way down with Lazarus, though noticed Mikey's gaze. A coy smile from her sent a rush of red to Mikey's cheeks. He returned it with a shy grin.

"What are you smiling at?" Gisla asked as she raised her head from the book, Liza and Lazarus disappearing behind her. Gisla was made rather awkward by Mikey's demeanor.

"Huh? Oh, no. Nothing," Mikey refocused on Gisla before letting out a substantial sigh. "So when is this ready? You've been flicking through for ages now."

"Yeah yeah, I'm ready," she replied, looking back down to her book rather quickly, snapping it shut. She then passed the book to Mikey as he looked back out to the water.

Gisla brought her index and middle fingers to her neck, lightly pushing them against her throat. A faint white luminescence extended from her fingers, moving over the skin of her neck before being drawn into her blood vessels. Gradually, the light streamed throughout all the vessels on her body, branching out until her entire body emanated with pure, white light.

"Shit! Why are you- so damn- bright?! What's about to happen?!" Mikey asked as he took a step back, his arm moving up to shield his eyes - though even that barely worked.

Eventually, the blinding light dimmed to a soft, red glow from under Gisla's skin. If it wasn't for the sea breeze constantly carrying away the heat, Mikey would've been drenched in sweat.

"I've no clue what I'm supposed to do with this," Gisla commented, looking down at the visible red pulsing through her hands. However, as she turned her attention to Mikey, her eyes widened. She began to look around the ship, her gaze moving between fixed points.

"I can see everyone, everyone on the ship - they're all shining. They're shining through the walls! I can see them!" Gisla excitedly announced, moving towards the stairs leading down to the hold.

Left behind by Gisla, Mikey was overcome with curiosity for what she meant exactly.

Mimicking Gisla's previous actions, Mikey moved his fingers to his throat - creating a similar glow that she had. Like a dam being released, the powerful glow rushed from his fingertips and throughout the blood vessels on his body. Every branch of vein and artery relentlessly illuminated. Mikey looked down at his surreal skin. It was white, clear and pure. He could see every detail, yet felt that he shouldn't be able to - as if every detail should be hidden by the sheer luminosity of his being.

"I feel like a star, a literal star. Is this what it feels like to be a God? This is how I'd imagine it. This feeling. This view," he spoke to himself, trying to rationalise what he'd seen.

Once the cosmic-like experience began to repress, the white transitioned to red and was filtered through the thin layers of skin that lay over it. Mikey looked up and around the ship. Two glimmering figures stood below deck, which Mikey could see through the objects that existed between them. The two figures were too far to be heard by Mikey, leaving them seem as though they were miming a conversation.

The larger one was Lumpy, undoubtedly, with his short and stumpy legs that miraculously held the weight above them.

The other was Gisla. Turning, twirling and gesturing to her body.

Mikey then turned his attention elsewhere, the cabins. It's there that he'd begun to notice the alluring shape of a woman, Liza. Somehow, though he could not see in detail, the blinding silhouette of Liza could be seen almost perfectly. She turned, running her hands along her waist and up over her shoulders as if she was removing a shirt.

"You've got a stick in your pants, oil lamp," Mikey would hear a chuckle from the voice of Galliard, who was holding a bucket of water cheekily. "This glowing stuff is cool though, but best not to use it indoors of course."

"Why are you even looking down there, Galliard!" Mikey replied, turning away and reconfiguring the angle of his third leg. "Pervert."

"It was basically waving at me mate, might as well have hung a sign from it," Galliard replied, though pulled the bucket into a good stance to toss its contents.

"Want to make a bet?" Galliard asked, a mischievous grin appearing over his face.

"A bet? Pft, maybe if we hadn't bought a hundred of those stupid potions to cure Lumpy of his alcoholism," Mikey rolled his eyes, looking briefly at his skin to make sure the glow was actually real, running his fingers over it.

"If you're able to deactivate the spell - I'll jump off the ship and swim to catch up while Lady's still going," Galliard gestured to the waves overboard. It was choppy with barely a moment of stagnant water.

"And if I can't? I'm not swimming to catch up, I can only doggy paddle," Mikey replied with a serious frown, pulling his gaze up to Galliard.

"Wait, what the fuck? Really?" Galliard's cheeks blew up in size. "Well in that case you just get this bucket of- I actually don't know what's in this bucket."

Mikey, looking back and forth between the bucket, ocean and his skin, thought about it.

"You've done it too then, uh, good job?" Gisla commented as she rejoined the group. She too was glowing, however it had begun to quell. If it wasn't for the glow, it'd be easy to notice just how shy Gisla had gotten by the end of it.

"Thanks?" Mikey asked, raising a brow as he wasn't sure whether it was an insult or not.

"Okay, tell me when you're ready for the next one," Gisla looked away awkwardly and walked off, her strides rushed.

"Dude, you have no game. You two are so weird," Galliard laughed, tossing the bucket's contents overboard. "Your relationship with her is harsh enough, you don't need a bucket of piss all over your shirt."

"That was piss?!"

A couple hours later, once the spell had fully worn off, Mikey leaned back against the exterior of his quarters. Though he was waiting for Gisla, his attention was kept on Adendé.

The forecastle had become somewhat of a sanctuary to him now, where he remained in an untouched meditation since Mikey last spoke with him.

That's when Mikey noticed it, a brief spark of electricity running in mid-air around Adendé. The observation piqued his interest, as he moved closer to get a better look at it. After a few minutes, he noticed another streak of lightning around Adendé.

Mikey discerned the briefest nature of the electricity: it seemed to be flowing outside of a dome around Adendé.

Mikey's tongue stuck right out of his mouth as he licked his lips. Looking back to the captain's quarters, Gisla still had not arrived to begin the lesson.

"Well, you know. One attempt couldn't hurt right?" Mikey sneakily rationalised with himself, mimicking Adendé's meditative position.

Bbbbbzzzzzapppppzzzz!

The dome around Mikey burst into existence, however it held more than just brief sparks. All of it illuminated with blue from the uncontainable presence of an enormous electrical surge. Not only this, but the electricity from the dome constantly struck down on Mikey like a pylon, striking him multiple times a second.

Left rolling on the floor, writhing and screaming in pain, it then suddenly stopped with a dispersal of the energy and dome. Mikey felt a cold grip on his wrist.

"You're an immature boy with no sense of boundaries. Kill yourself in your own time, there are things for you to do," Adendé commanded with an agitated voice, Mikey's actions deemed intolerable. His cold glove threw Mikey's wrist back to him. Adendé was completely unaffected by entering the dome, promptly returning to the forecastle to continue his meditation.

"Fuck…" Mikey let out under his breath, painfully pushing himself to his feet and walking down into the hold. His legs and arms sprawled out as he walked. At the very least, Mikey would not allow the dry and burning torture of his crisp skin rubbing against itself.

"Lost your flame hotshot?" Galliard smirked as he slid a hot bowl of stew in front of Mikey, who had his forehead resting on the table.

"Ah, I get it. The meal is probably hot, very clever," Mikey replied without lifting his head to check, too exhausted to pull it off the wood.

"You want us to pour it onto the table? You could sip it right off the boards," Lazarus jested, taking a seat right next to Galliard. He wasn't eating, but grabbed the spoon out of Mikey's bowl anyway - only to use it as a catapult and flick the chunks of meat into his hair. "Come on, open wide."

"Leave me, I'm thinking, I'm thinking," Mikey mumbled.

"There's no energy left in you to think Mikey. Look at you. You're barely bothered to breathe," Lazarus commented, picking up the fallen chunks of meat to resupply his catapult.

"I hope you bullies aren't harassing him," Liza chuckled as she appeared from behind Mikey. The moment he'd heard her voice, his head perked up - a brief rush of adrenaline to fix his posture.

Liza leaned forward and over him. She used Mikey's head as an armrest, leaning her chin down atop her forearms. As Liza leaned forward, Mikey felt the light push of her chest on the back of his head. He bit his lip nervously as Galliard and Lazarus looked at eachother amusedly.

"Think I heard something bang the table," Lazarus whispered under his breath as Liza scowled, moving off of Mikey and walking off toward the stairs.

"Gisla is in her little study yeah? I've got some things to ask her," Liza looked at Mikey, paying her attention only to him and ignoring the other two boys.

"Oh come on, that was just a little tease," Lazarus chuckled, quickly flicking a chunk of meat at Liza before she'd left.

"Stop picking on him, he'll end up making you swabbies!" Liza began to reply, though finished her sentence with a yell down the stairs once she reached the top.

"So, what else are you learning Mikey? The magic of love?" Lazarus asked.

"The magic of marriage?" Galliard continued immediately.

"The magic of love making?"

"The magic of childbirth?"

"The magic of loving the WHOLE person?"

The two boys continued their emotional pincer attack, mercilessly unleashing their stored desires to bully a little brother.

It continued for about an hour until Mikey had to push himself up. His magic lessons weren't quite finished yet.