Gabrio sits across an Inquisitor. It has been years since he has sat with one. In a way, he has been friends with the Inquisition of the Kind God. Worshippers of the Light. Through the years, he had forgotten what their name was.

“Doctor, it is a pleasure to see you.”

The Inquisitor smiles amiably. Gabrio retains his professional demeanor. His eyes on the inquisitor. Hands flat on the table. The Inquisitor tries to make Gabrio flinch, but it’s hard to make him so when he has pulled the ears of this fool.

“So, what brings you to me, Dior?”

Dior retains his smile. “I have a question regarding your thoughts on our recent activities.”

“Go on.”

“I have noticed that a lot of our people have expectations on the land above. Duties have been abandoned in favor of curiosity. Before I take measures, I want your opinion, good sir.”

“It’s Doctor, Dior. Or should I say Inquisitor?”

“You are a senior of mine, and you have ties with the Inquisition. A golden favor from Inquisitor Ackie himself. That means your word has weight. Of course, many of us were taught combat and other affairs by you.”

“Do you intend to punish people? For being curious?”

“Of course not, good Doctor. I am simply asking what I should do. See, Doctor, the fleet will not repair itself. Many of us are rightly concerned that the focus on building outside of the fleet’s maintenance has greatly diminished the efforts of the repairs.”

“Understandable concern, but we need the resources outside of the fleet to repair our shits, fill our storages, and create new sources of food that will allow us to continue our journey. Dior, surely, you must have seen the returns?”

“Of course, but isn’t it good that there is a reminder from all of the people that this is not the thousand islands?”

“There are others who think that, I assume?”

“Yes, for they are ignorant, and they do not understand that such a fabled land can’t possibly be the promised land. Of course, you understand these words, Doctor.”

“I know. But be merciful, like a body, they are what makes us move. Without them, the fleet will cease to function.”

Dior nodded. “Of course, I still remember your teachings, Doctor. We have improved throughout the years, for better, for worse. So don’t worry if you think I’d forget such valuable teachings.”

“Go. And please inform your fellow Inquisitors of what I think all of you should do before acting, as always.”

“I will, Doctor.”

Dior leaves. Gabrio stays his look on the flapping tent before turning his attention back to his notes.

Mana came out of the other room, holding a blade, an apron dotted and splashed with the blood of a creature.

“You students have grown old. I am surprised that you’d teach would-be Inquisitors.”

“Every part has a function and because of the Inquisitors of the fleet, that discipline is imbued on every fleet-kin. Without the discipline, we would be an unorganized force that would have surely sunk at the bottom of the sea.”

“Hmm, I wondered if you taught them Aon’s doctrines?”

“I had to. Traditions should never die. And it’s better for me to teach them than let the old ones teach it.”

“You should see this.”

Gabrio follows Mana inside the space where a creature of unknown origin has been dissected from the neck to its genitals. Most of the intestines have been taken out.

“It’s what they found in the mines?”

“Yes. We have sent an expeditionary force armed to the teeth to clear the mines of these creatures.”

“Nice work. Rather clean.”

She grins. Her finger points to the chest area where Gabrio noticed something. The creature has this purplish organ just below the heart. It looks like a tumor growing on the heart.

“Is it a disease?”

“No. I think this creature was in the process of duplicating his own heart.”

“Is it? I have examined them and none of them have something like this. Have you identified why it is growing?”

Mana handed over the notes she wrote. “We can assume that these creatures differ by the tint of their skin. This one has a purple mark around the back of its neck. I have studied the rest of the markings and yet there were simply no signs of it.”

Gabrio scanned her notes. “It looks like it was herbs. No, this one specifically was eating some kind of herbs. Have you spread this to the other Doctors?”

“Not yet. Gab, I think we should keep this for ourselves.”

“I.. agree.” Gabrio understood. It was quite an unusual creature and although they have seen walking four-legged birds that towers trees. And now creatures of the night that have long been thought to have never been found.

There might be creatures of the in-between that are lurking in the area. “Have you informed anyone?”

“I had Isakov tell Strongarm about this situation. Hence the expeditionary forces have been sent to deal. Besides, most of the fleet has been tasked to remove creatures that are unusual and have been deemed to be a threat to the fleet.”

“That is good.”

Gabrio almost wanted to go. Then he realized that he had some authority now so only the medics had to go. Being a senior crew member of Milostiv means that it’ll cause more trouble if he goes. A valuable personnel. It frustrates him, but seniority comes with the responsibility.

As much as he hates to think about it. As long as he’s around, he could teach more Doctors, Surgeons, and Medics to replace those who died. It’s a reality he had made qualms with. With that in mind, Gabrio looked at Mana for a second before going back to the desk that had been laid out.

Supplies, medicines, and the state of the people. There are logistics that have been laid out by the people of the fleet. But with his presence in Bluepur, he was deemed as second only to the Strongarm who led the forces.

***

Mana takes a glance at the other room and smiles a little. She feels a presence, and then her face freezes. As if someone had swapped a mask for a new one.

“What do you want?”

“Lady Mana.” Rosalve comes out of the shadows and lowers her food. Next to her was Felecia. “We’ve come to ask if the creature is…”

The calmness in Mana’s face a while had been gone. It became rather dull and emotionless when facing these two in particular. Ever since that day, where they would have let Gabrio die and put them in danger. She never truly appreciated nor cared about these women. She had no reason to do so. She does not hate or like them, but it doesn’t mean she had to entertain them.

“It is a creature of the interstice. Judging by the markings and the deformities it went through. It’s safe to assume that this was a man who had been turned into a creature after being exposed to the interstice.”

“I see. Does this mean?”

“We might be closer to the thousand islands… or simply in a territory that is near those who would call this place home. My people have sealed the island and I believe that your pack with iron-blooded giant remains? Is he willing to craft the weapons the fleet requires if we fight them again?”

“As long as Terin Gaspar sleeps, the last giant of the makers clan will continue to serve us.”

Datu, the master craftsman of the fleet, had been hard at work for years. The technological wonders of the ship and the innovation of technology can only be done because Datu can bring that idea into fruition. Of course, with the bright minds of the Fleet, and combined with the expertise of the makers clan’s last iron-blooded giant, many results are made.

Other than the ironwood treants. There was only one creature that could work next to the high heats and produce precise machinery. It’s in the blood of the giant and it is the reason that the fleet has been constantly innovating. The ores they salvaged. The locations of it were predicted by Datu who had mastered smithing and a way to find materials.

“You make Datu, a free-thinking, giant sound your servant. Remember, Rosalve, that he is a giant who volunteered in hopes the world can be saved. A task that your kind has failed to do.”

Felecia glares at her. Mana precisely removes the heart and the tumor from the chest area of the creature and mutters words of power that froze the heart.

Rosalve calmly takes the heart. She tries to calm Felecia, who, despite the years, has remained stubborn. She was spirit-blooded and yet her mind retains old ideals that should have been forgotten when the land she owned sunk.

“You accuse us of failing when you have done nothing.”

“I know my role and stuck with it. Perhaps, I would have been more tolerant of your group if you had goodness in you. But no, your desire to save the world through blinding it led to failure. The Blinder of Light sleeps, and the world now rests in an Age of Antiphaty.”

“That is unfair,” Felecia refutes. “How could we have reached it easily? Look at us! We’ve been sailing the seas and yet we have not reached the thousand isles! And now we’re playing around on the island! Doing nothing!”

Mana casts her a blank stare. “If you have the ability to create a spell that will shorten the distance needed to be traveled, then please do so. Do you know what differs you from the rest, Lady Felecia? You do not innovate. You are like my kin, you think the ancient is superior and that there is no need to change. Thankfully, some of your kin is much smarter than your ambition-filled head and knew better. I have heard whispers of what you have been doing. I suggest that you abandon it. Yes, you have mastered spells and may have surpassed some of us in regards to it. But you… have done nothing to cultivate anything else.”

“Speak for yourself, elf!”

“You seem to have forgotten who I am. Lady Rosalve, can you tell your youngling who she is speaking to?”

“You are Lady Mana Treeheart, of the Ergan Clan. High-Elven of the Erga Clan and the one that nurtures the Vitae.”

Before she was Ristina’s friend. Mana specialized in the Vitae. She was someone who cultivated Treants to such a masterful degree that she was considered second only to the elders in terms of the skills needed. If there was a giant beast, then she would have the power to control the beast like the elders had done to the beast that the fleet-kin is living on.

“Lady Felecia, I do not hate or like you. I am simply reminding you that excuses shouldn’t be your way of escape. The kin have been trying their best. And yet you have not done anything other than master the spells that WE provide to you. Look at your kin, they innovate and if the Doctor is right, then it wouldn’t be long until we have iron birds flying over the sky and steam-powered mining carts that travel on rails and machines producing items with such preciseness. Do not be left behind. You come here to see if there are any creatures of the Interstice. You expect that you’ll be helpful, because in truth there is something in you that acknowledges your failure during the clash of the Blinder and the Baron. Because you must face the truth, they won and we lost. That is the truth that we must acknowledge and understand.”

Felecia couldn’t get a word out. She stares at Mana for a long while before leaving. Lady Rosalve watches her disciple go without her. She rests her eyes on Mana who is continuing her dissection.

“Do you think that we are stagnant?”

“We are. Do you know why I studied human medicine, Rosalve?”

“Because you think think it's foolish to rely on Artes-medicine.”

“Correct. I want to make sure that we do not trap ourselves in such a folly of relying on the old ways. It has helped us, yes. But look at what your kin can accomplish in such age. Without reliance from our Artes. Maybe one day they’ll reach the stars as well.”

“The Doctor has been a great influence to you.”

“Well, he does say such things. I did question it once, but seeing it come to fruition makes me realize that perhaps he might not be wrong about it.”

A thin smile cracks across Mana’s lips.

“Perhaps I will take some of your advice.”

“It is your choice. Never mine. Perhaps, I am wrong as well. Still, the blinder’s still state means that there is a role he still needed to play. I wonder if we will see it sooner or later?”

“Maybe.”

Rosalve looks at the creature before affirming something in her head. It has been so long since she started her journey. And yet it will never end until the Blinder finds himself in front of the eye of the world… if it's still there.

Nonetheless, the time that was still moves again.