Now with the others gone, Cer turns to Captain Madame Eve and her furry companion Belle, “We still have half a day’s ride to the edge of the Mystic Evermore, would you like to help me teach Pupu some more tricks of our trade?”

“I DO NOT engage in trickery and there is nothing to trade.” snaps Eve jokingly with a hint of snark and smugness.

Taking no offense to Eve’s chide and resistance, Cer continues to probe for Eve’s assistance. “Do you still shrive?”

“Nope. Not the way you do. You can hear and see the proof of Claira’s work. They are here on their own accord. Claira taught me there is more than just your type of shriving. My vessels are for redemption and seeking a greater serenity. What you and I were taught were lessons of boundless consumption and an unquenchable chaos. Our destinations are the same, but ironically I have found my footing and path before you, my honorable mentor.”

Considering the implications of Eve’s words, Cer acknowledges Eve’s reflections, “I can see that you know your path. I have yet to see mine. I am proud of how far you have come without much guidance after the corruption of the grand isle. Things are different now that I have Pupu. What will you do once Pupu and I disembark and continue with our journey.”

With a tone of solemn conviction, Eve reinforces her commitments.

“I will do what I agreed to do. I will return to Miyas, which is hers to steward for and manage, and I will continue to set sail and ferry those that need it. Remember, we all agreed that my crew and I will not get involved in the battles that await you all. Our only agreement is to be the telepathic slingshot for you all before any anticipated wars or battles occur. Belle and I will relay communication between Ordair, Cazem, and Wyndel’s pack. That is as far as our involvement goes. Once you all start fighting, my crew cuts off ties.

Any souls that you send to sorters will be ported to the Open See and are fair game for my crew to recruit.

So do your part and let’s hope the others do theirs. If all works out, we can resolve your land issues without any war or fighting. It will be nice to have one higher covenant again with our broken covens reunited. I miss our brothers and sisters and miss having a home where we did not have to hide.”

Reflecting on the experience of meeting the Mech Nights and hearing about their curse, Cer offers an unsolicited resolution to an assumption of why coven members may be hiding. “Sometimes, to come out of hiding, people need to bring awareness and acceptance to the parts of themselves they fear others won't accept.”

Looking at Cer from the corner of her eyes, Eve grins at Cer’s hypocrisy, “Sometimes, we need to start with ourselves before asking others to address their own shame, guilt, shadow, and demons.”

Without hesitation, Cer responds without feeling perturbed by Eve’s snark, “I agree. And sometimes we do both. We walk that path of healing and we invite others to join us to redefine our wholeness, even if we are all hurting.”

Sighing in agreement, Eve gets up from her casual squat and looks at Punkin. “Alright sis. Let’s do this. Let’s get old daddy over here to stop being lazy and lame.”

“Daddy? He is your daddy too?” asks Punkin with confusion.

Bursting out with laughter, Eve corrects Punkin. “HAHAHAHA NO WAY HE IS MY FATHER! Claira took care of me and taught me and so did your father. Since they both had you, I figured we are more like sisters… wouldn’t you agree?”

“I NEVER HAD A SISTER! YAY I HAVE A SISTER NOW!” squeals Punkin as she runs to hug Eve. “Madman Eve is my sister! Now you are in trouble daddy. You can’t win us.”

With a sigh, Cer pacifies Punkin and Eve with a slightly annoyed tone. “I don’t even know what that means. This is not a competition. Eve get serious. I need you to teach her to use the bubble wand and blade. Reality is that she won’t be able to even see them. How is she going to catch them if she can’t see them? She can’t just cast bubbles everywhere and hope they connect.”

Turning to Punkin, Eve places her hand on Punkin’s shoulder to give instruction. “Right! Wield your bubble blade Pupu… this time you will play Catch and Release while our friends are in their normal forms. No humming, no shadow cloaks, no runes. Got it? When you see or feel or hear something, swing at it with your blade. The blade makes the bubbles thicker and stronger. If you feel lots of things, you can switch to your wand and swing that. It makes weaker bubbles but a lot of them. Then smack the bubbles with your blade if they are close and they’ll pop and get sent to the sorters or something. If you need more reach because you are short, swing your wand. You might have to switch between the two because you are small and not strong enough to swing both at the same time. So uhhh… GO!”

Holding her bubble blade in hand, Punkin looks around confusingly. “I don’t see anything.”

A bit lost with her words and wavering in her confidence, Eve continue to encourage Punkin to try to catch the unseen essences. “Yeah, I have never had to teach anyone really. Earlier I was just having fun. This is harder than I thought.

Try closing your eyes and just feel for them. You’ll know when you feel them.”

Closing her eyes, Punkin focuses on feeling for the souls of the vessel.

Feeling something, Punkin swings her bubble blade and releases a bubble. She opens her eyes and immediately swings her blade and pops the bubble. “Did I get it?”

With her drink spouting out of her nose and mouth as she watches, Eve bursts out in laughter. “What are you swinging at?”

Pouting and stomping in place, Punkin shouts. “Don’t laugh! Not nice! You said swing when I feel it!!!”

Chuckling with a warm disappointment in the process, Cer chimes in “You did well in casting a bubble and popping it. You caught air though. You must’ve felt the wind and swung at it. I can see the souls through their intent and auras. You can’t see them. Let’s see if I can try to help you. Do you remember which foot and hand are left and right?”

“Uh huh” responds Punkin as she lifts up her left hand, “This is left.”

“Good. I’ll tell him when to swing and how far. We can try that. I can try to also point them out with my cane. ”

“Okay. Let’s go daddy! Team awesome!” Shouts Punkin.

Using Cer’s cane, Cer dances around Punkin and points at the air where souls pass or Cer anticipates a soul will fly, while Punkin practices casting bubbles and swinging her wand and blade. While practicing, Punkin learns techniques to use the side of her wand’s head and blade tip and edge to pop the bubbles while using the face of the wand and blades flat side to smack the bubbles to make them move, whisking the bubbles in her desired direction to where Cer points.

“That is pretty good. You learn quick Pupu!” Shouts Eve from the side.

Jumping up and down from Eve’s acknowledgement, Punkin responds with excitement. “Baba Kala teached me. We catched butterflies and bees and we smacked bubbles at home.”

Smiling with a mocking tone, Eve stands up and snaps her fingers, setting up her runes and calling upon her crew. “Now it’s your daddy’s turn! Let’s see what you got Cer! Pupu, go sit by Belle and eat your snacks!! I’m gonna beat the big tough daddy here!”

“Okay. We will win! Daddy is in trouble. Eve has big pets and lots of friends,” Shouts Punkin as she settles down to lean against the side of Belle while eating honey bread and rose water.

Humming her familiar tune, the sound of a murder of crows cawing grows louder around their vessel. Summoning her crew to wear shadow cloaks so Punkin can see the battle, Eve salutes Cer and mutters, “En-garde…” as all the shadow cloaks bow at Cer and then disperse. Snapping, Eve summons the appearance of some shadow blades resembling a falchion, a rapier, a scimitar, a gladius, a saber, and a shamshir.

Pulling out fang, Cer tries to draw upon mana and feels nothing. “I can’t draw out mana on will.”

“Sure you can! You have no choice!” Yells Eve as she points at Cer and launches the six shadow blades in Cer’s direction.

Following the blades, several crew members in shadow cloaks fly towards Cer to launch an attack.

Cer parries with Fang and jumps out of the way of the blades as they take turns slashing at Cer, barely dodging the souls of the crew as they fly past Cer overhead.

Turning around to face the souls that flew past, Cer parries the shadow blades with Fang again and jumps out of the way to try to create distance from the blades, only to crash into several barrels on the side of the vessel.

Stumbling to get up, Cer yells “Argh! Time out. I can’t see the trash on your ships.”

“Nothing on my vessels is trash. You are trash! There are no time outs in the world.” Yells Eve as she jumps towards Cer, summoning and taking hold of a large dadao out of the air and swinging the blade downward upon Cer.

“Blocking Eve with Fang, Cer pushes back and launches Eve away and then jabs Fang in Eve’s direction.

Eve blocks Fang’s tip with her dadao, and upon contact, the blade squeals and screams as it dissolves from the tip of Fang.

“Hey! You broke my finger!” Yells Eve as the dadao disappears.

“What are you talking about? You blocked me with your sword!” Retorts Cer.

“I am the hand of the Great Chaos. These swords are my fingers! You will pay for that one. I liked that one and it took a long time to make!” Yells Eve as she runs towards Cer, summoning to wield a jian out of the air and swinging it to slash at Cer’s chest followed by a lunge.

Blocking Eve’s jian with the side of Fang, Cer pushes Eve back once again.

Clink

Raising Fang in time, Cer blocks another one of Eve’s swings by mere centimeters as Cer steadies balance on the floorboards.

Snapping, Cer summons the wooden Shriver box which launches at Eve, causing her to jump off crates and retreat away before grabbing a rope to circle herself back towards Cer for another attack.

Whistling, Eve summons several souls that appear behind Cer and grab Cer’s legs, immobilizing Cer while Eve’s six other blades fly towards Cer from behind.

With Cer held in place, Eve rapidly approaches Cer, swinging and dancing with her jian. Cer stabs her jian with the tip of Fang and another wail screeches as her blade begins to dissolve. Preoccupied by blocking Eve’s latest attack and unable to move, Cer sees the other blades approach rapidly from behind.

Upon inches of contact from Eve’s blades, Cer blinks and ports behind Eve, stumbling into crates and rope.

Whoah, I didn’t think I could do that anymore.

Blinking again, Cer attempts to port near Eve but nothing happens. “Damnit, I can’t control that either.”

“Enough!” Yells Eve as she snaps and the souls disapparate and the blades cease to move. “That was something. Looks like you can only concentrate your mana into the tip of Fang. What’s with the porting?”

“I don’t know. I blinked as I was preparing to get hit and I ended up behind you. I can’t port on command. But it’s good to know I can port when needed I guess.” Shrugs Cer.

“At least we know your limits and challenges. Seems instincts are still intact.” Shrugs Eve.”

Agreeing, Cer responds. “Yes, I agree. When we know our challenges, we know how we need to adapt.”

Clapping enthusiastically, Punkin stands up with excitement. “ Wow. FUN! I want to try! ME NEXT”

“That’s enough for now.” Replies Cer. “I am tired. We have a long way home. We can still learn from your mother’s book of mysteries while we rest.”

Looking towards Eve’s glowing aura of pride, Cer acknowledges her help while asking for guidance. “Thank you Eve for never holding back. How can I find my way home, when I can’t see what I am looking for?”

Responding, Eve offers encouragement, “Always welcome sensei. This is only the beginning Cer. Once we know where we want to go, our journeys truly begin. Until we address what obstacles are in our way, our journeys may never end.”

Nodding in agreement, Cer begins walking towards the resting quarters as Punkin follows excitedly. Looking down briefly at Punkin, Cer wonders what lies ahead for Punkin’s trajectory in life.

I have much to teach you. Who knows how much I can protect you. We will need to ask our friends to look after you as well, since I am so limited.

Surprising Cer and Punkin as they walk away, Eve shouts with a coy smile. “No time to rest. You have finally arrived…”