Kid walked down to the harbor. He eyed the boats he could see. It didn't matter if the boat was in good condition. He just needed something that would take him out on the water. He could talk it into being better than it was once he was away from prying eyes.

It wouldn't be the first time he had made changes to his transportation to make it better than it had been.

He thought he had two candidates. They both were bigger than the usual fishing boats that surrounded them. Either one of them could take him where he wanted to go. He didn't want a crew to get in his way while he was diving.

How much would it cost to buy one of those boats outright and sail it out of the harbor? He doubted either captain would sell their craft to him. Real sailors wanted to sail. Being stuck in a sailing village with no way to sail would not appeal to them.

He thought about talking a boat into building itself, but thought it was better to have some kind of reality instead of something that might go to pieces when pressure was applied. Countering arguments were something to consider when he didn't know what was going to happen once he was out to sea.

He just didn't want to risk someone else's life for his personal quest. Sailing with him was asking for trouble for any crew that he hired. And he wasn't sure if the key was still down there.

He decided that he should keep his story simple, and offer the lowest he could. If neither one of the captains would sell with him, he would try to persuade his money to be more valuable. If that didn't work, he would put together a boat out of what he could find on the docks.

He was sailing from the harbor no matter what.

Kid noted a fog drifting in from the sea as he walked toward the closest boat. He wondered how many times that happened. Green flashes ran through the cloud.

He paused on the dock. Maybe he should walk back the other way. It didn't have to be connected with him, but he wasn't ready to assume that yet.

A boat sailed out of the fog. Kid knew it had come for him when he saw it. The hull was made from barnacles held together by unspoken forces. Two great eyes decorated the bow to give the thing a living creature appearance. The masts twisted up to the sky. The sails glowed between the cross masts without being real cloth. Sailors on the deck appeared to be the children of men and fish. They held weapons of bone and coral.

Kid looked around. The sailors he could see were fleeing their boats and heading away from the docks. Their boats remained tied to the piers. That placed them in the way of the ghost ship.

He said a few words to cut the ropes holding the boats to the dock. They floated away from their places. Some banged into each other. He didn't see any damage being done.

Now he had to get on one of the boats and attract the ghost ship's attention. That should help the village, unless the village was the real target.

Kid ran to the closest boat. He commanded a wind to fill the sail to push it away from its neighbors. He leaped on the deck and took the rudder. He steered the boat so it pointed to the entrance of the harbor. He commanded the wind to push him harder.

The strange boat turned to chase him. He smiled. That meant they would leave the village alone while they tried to catch him.

He spoke a word. A fire broke out on the other boat as he sailed in the wind. He wanted to add fuel but the fire died as soon as it sprang into existence.

One of the fish men stepped to the bow. He raised his sword and pointed it at Kid and his boat. Grappling hooks sailed toward the smaller boat. The magician paused as the hooks fell short.

At least he knew they needed him alive. That was comforting. How much did they need him? How hard could he press them before they decided that it wasn't worth the effort?

He decided that it was better to run. He didn't know what they wanted. He didn't know how much he could talk them into doing something else. It was better to run from them and hope for the best.

If they caught up with him, he would try to talk his way out of it.

He commanded the wind to push harder. He commanded the sails to catch as much of the air as they could without breaking. He stiffened the mast so that it wouldn't break at the talking he was doing.

The monster ship turned into his draft and used the wind to close on him. It had a lot more sails, and the crew glared down at him as they readied lines and hooks.

They might want him alive, but apparently that didn't mean unhurt.

Kid turned to the ocean. If he could talk it into helping him, he might be able to escape this. He tried to think of words that wouldn't fall on a deaf surface.

He asked it to carry his craft forward on its top. The hull lifted out of the ocean. It flew along in front of the wind. He nodded.

Removing drag on the hull was the thing he needed to increase his speed. If the boat was lighter, he might be able to get it into the air and let it fly through the sky like a bird.

The ghost ship turned and took a diagonal course. Cannon slid out of openings as the shells slid aside. The captain screamed and cut the air with his sword.

Kid whispered for his reflexes to be equal to the task. Apparently they didn't need him alive that much after all. He must have pressed them too hard.

How did he get out of this? He didn't want to stand and fight when he should be taking care of his search. How had Gai known he was back, and trying to find a boat in the harbor?

He asked the ocean to help him evade the expected projectiles. He hoped that would be enough to let him get out of the harbor and out to sea. Then he could try to use the island as cover until the coast was clear.

The ghost ship might be able to track him whenever he tried to sail anywhere. He might be grounded until he found some way around the ghouls chasing him.

And he knew they were immune to convincing on his part. He could see it in their faces.

Balls that unwrapped into squids flew from the ship. They soared toward Kid. He couldn't think of a counter.

The ocean countered for him. It tossed his boat out of the way of the squids and let them crash into it. One came close enough to latch on to the deck rail with two of its tentacles. It tried to pull itself on the deck so it could seize its target. It took the blunt end of a fish hook pole to the face and fell into the water.

Kid put the improvised weapon back on its hooks as he steered away from the ship chasing him. He decided to turn right and circle the island and lay up somewhere until the ghosts went back to where they belonged.

He should have known Gai was still looking out for his return after their climatic fight. His use of persuasion must have set off some alarm somewhere.

There was nothing he could do about that now. He had to escape the monsters chasing him. Then he could worry about hiding his use of his skill.

Maybe he could hide in a fog and use that to change his identity. It was risky, but it could be done. He just needed to escape the gaze of the fish man captain long enough to change how he looked and how his boat looked.

The screams of more tentacled terrors cut through his thoughts. He needed to get out of range of the cannons before he could put any scheme in motion.

The ocean took him through some twists and turns that left him holding on to the rudder for dear life. None of the squids came close this time. The water had an accurate reading of how the cannons worked. It wouldn't let any of the living missiles land within touching distance of his boat.

Kid let go of the rudder long enough to go to the side of the boat. He reached out and grabbed some of the water as the boat flew along. He didn't have a lot of time before the fish men reloaded and fired again.

It was time for him to try to turn the tables and make his escape.

He talked to the puddle of water in his hand. Water vapor bloomed from the small source. It covered the boat in a foggy shroud. He turned the rudder to change course away from the land. The fog expanded as he sailed away from the battle.

The cannons fell silent. His tactic had brought him that much of a reprieve.

Kid took some of the fog and covered his face and clothes with it. When he was done, he looked like an older man with dark tanned skin and no teeth. He placed a pipe in his mouth to finish the cover.

He rubbed some of the fog along the boat. That changed the shape and color as he worked. He turned the fish pole into another mast. He didn't have a sail for it yet, but it changed the profile of his boat.

Would it be enough to fool the fish men? That was the real question. He had thrown the fog out there and the expanding cloud might have obscured a second boat sailing on the ocean. On the other hand, there had been only two of them on the water, and one had vanished and now there was a new boat in the vicinity.

Would they try to sink the new boat out of principle?

He decided to keep the fog expanding until he was miles away from the island. That would help his deception. By the time it had faded, he should be halfway to where he had to dive to look for the key.

He hoped he wouldn't have to see them again.