“You will ALL go to hell!!” Screams a distant voice barely audible to Kala, Punkin, and La Gateau.

Startling from what sounds like movement on nearby ships, Punkin panics as she looks around for Kala. Seeing Kala in the same chair as she was before Punkin fell asleep, Punkin’s fear of being alone eases.

“What was that?” Whispers Punkin, as she tries not to wake La Gateau.

Chuckling, La Gateau acknowledges Punkin’s attempt to be considerately quiet. “Don’t worry, I am already awake.”

With her eyes still closed, Kala responds without looking up, “I don’t know. But it’s been going on all night. They can’t hear us or they don’t care we are here. Or maybe they don’t know we are here. Whatever is going on, nobody has come knocking on our door just yet.”

“Baba, is Hell close to home? I wanna go home… I don’t wanna go to Hell.” Punkin whispers quietly, still afraid someone or something might hear her.

“Darlin’, we can’t go back to Haeven. It isn’t safe for us. We aren’t going to hell. For some people, home is hell. For others, hell is home. But not for us, we don’t have any business with hell and it certainly is not where you need to be.

La Gateau, we need to find another place to go. Did you eat and rest enough yet? Take us out of here as soon as you can.”

Getting off the bed to stretch, La Gateau responds almost seemingly unconcerned. “So we might have a slight problem. It really hasn’t happened before whenever I visit the Valkyrie, but I can’t port anywhere right now. I can see where I want to go, but nothing is opening up and I can’t feel the port. Something is blocking me.”

Hearing La Gateau’s predicament, Kala stands up abruptly and begins to move the chair from blocking the door. “Well, we need to find a safe place to go and that means we really can’t stay here and wait for safety to come to us.”

“We gonna explore?!? Like an adventure?” Screams Punkin as she jumps up off the bed, no longer trying to remain quiet and hidden.

Sighing, La Gateau leaves the bed reluctantly to follow Punkin towards the door.

As they open the door to leave the cabin, a cool breeze passes them and a sense of calm washes over the air.

Remaining cautious and aware of Eve’s abilities, Kala weaves a protective aura using her beaded bracelet. Is this an enchantment in the air? Is Eve trying to put us under a spell. Brethren, watch over us.

Stepping out of the cabin, Kala notices hard-to-miss details that she did not observe when they first arrived. The odd decor of the ship surprises Kala, filling her mind with more curiosity of Eve’s growth and trajectory as a witch.

Being her first time on a ship or anything outside of Haeven, Punkin wells up with excitement. Equally fascinated by the strange decor, Punkin screams gleefully and runs around the deck while proclaiming the misunderstandings of a three year old.

“This is my balky-ray now. It’s so prettttttty. It is my ghost shit. You are my stow-away-ways,” screams Punkin as she runs into a large greenhouse surrounding the center mass on the main deck.

Busting through the greenhouse doors, Punkin screams more excitedly upon recognizing some of the plants that Kala taught her about, “ Shepard hydra! Hedera hell-ix. Nightshade! Angels Trumpet ‘toot toot’. It’s a magic garden for me! Calla-lilies!!!

Running out of the greenhouse, Punkin runs towards the rails of the ship, reaching for the vines intertwining across the rails to the taffrails. “Weeeee!!! Swing me!”

Just as Punkin reaches the vines, La Gateau appears right before her with his paw extended directly in front of him, stopping Punkin in her tracks as her face collides with his paw.

“Owww! You smacked-ed me! NOT! NICE!!!” yells Punkin in anger as she instinctively grabs her necklace, turning it into her bubble wand, with the intention of swinging at La Gateau.

Porting behind Kala, away from Punkin, La Gateau nonchalantly ignores Punkin’s attempts while trying to make sense of what was happening. “That’s odd, I can port on this ship. I just can’t port out of it. I didn’t even imagine porting to her to stop her. I just did it.”

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Turning to find La Gateau, Punkin yells “ I’m gonna get you. That was not nice, Gato cat.”

Porting again, La Gateau lands on Punkin’s back and hugs her and purrs. “I’m Sorry! I was playing tag.”

“Awww it’s okay. You are so fuzzy! No more smacked-ing! That’s bad! No more being bad!”

Rolling up her sleeve in caution, Kala feels a sense of wariness washing away her sense of calm. “This place may enhance our magic. Which also means, that whoever we heard through the night, may be stronger than we can imagine. Keep on your toes and stay aware.”

“Baba? I can’t stay on my toes. It’s hard.” Whines Punkin.

“Shh, I hear something.”

Approaching from the port side of the ship, another ship begins to break into view through the mist. Two faint orbs of light float in the mist. “REEK”

Quick rustling of light footsteps jump between the bow and aft of the adjacent ship as the orbs approach slowly.

Appearing out of the mist, with a coy smile on her face, a small cat-sized fox hops onto their ship.

“Oh hey, it’s just you Kala,” snickers Runt.

“Excuse me, do I know you? State your moniker and with whom you are aligned.” Kala demands, reaching for the silver orbs in her pocket.

“Relax, it’s me Runt!”

“Runt who?” Demands Kala again, pulling out an orb and squeezing it, causing her broomstick to appear in the air.

“Kitsune! It’s me Kitsune!!! Relax, put that stick away. I go by Runt now. Long story short, I’m a fox now.” Turning to each side of her, she proclaims, “Hey guys, it’s just Kala. We are good!”

Appearing from the stern and bow of their own ship, Akiraion and Cherub respectively walk to join Runt at the starboard side of their ship.

Dropping her wand and running towards them at full speed with open arms, Punkin squeals! “More pet friends!?! A dandelion!?! A chunky cat!! And small doggie?!? I’m gonna keep you? You are my friends. All mine! So fluffy!”

Akiarion and Cherub port behind Kala and hiss, avoiding Punkin’s grasp.

Choking under Punkin’s grasp, Runt squeals “REEK you are as cute as your mom but as terrifying as your dad.”

Now walking through the mist and approaching slowly, Kali waves at Kala “ Hey sis. How’d you get here? You all alright?”

Surprised at seeing Kali, Kala sheds a tear which drops to the floor of the deck, sprouting a small Calla-lily in its place. “Wait… are you dead? I’m so sorry, sister. Are you being ferried?”

“Ha-ha. Relax. We are alive and well. We aren’t dead at all. Though I can say we are just as surprised as you, if not more. I cast the sorting spell, woven with some help, and it brought us here. I guess this is officially where the sorters are. I have used the spell many times, but I never knew where it actually went! I just trusted Claira to know what she was doing when she created the basic spell.”

Interrupting their conversation, Eve agilely jumps onto the greenhouse from a passing ship. “I miss Claira. You all are pretty lame, except for Pupu. But to answer your unexpressed curiosity, yes I am one of the sorters. I have my own coven now… BECAUSE YOU ALL LEFT ME!!! Claira was the only one that came to visit and she told me about the Apiary. She taught me shields, protective spells, bubbles, and how to grow my own garden and make potions, salves, and tinctures. The rest of you left me at the Grand Isle! YOU SUCK. YOU ALL SUCK! Where is Claira? She promised she would come and help me finish the floating Apiary.”

“Mommy is gone but she is still here! It is magic. She will always be here. Arwyn and Kala said so.” Yells Punkin as she points at her heart.

“What’s the halfling keep saying? Did you eat her?”

Stomping her foot to get Eve’s attention, Kala throws a quick and sharp piercing gaze at Eve and raises her eyebrows to correct her, “No, Eve. Her mom isn’t coming back to the Apiary or Haeven. She has found a new home, in Pupu’s heart. You know, when people don’t come home. When they leave peacefully on their own or end up on your ship visiting you? You know, she ‘LEFT US’.”

“OH, You mean she’s dead! Yeah, no, it must’ve been peacefully because she didn’t come across the Valkyrie. Yeah. She must have died peacefully!”

“SHE’S DIED?” Cries Punkin as she runs to Kala and jumps into her arms. “YOU SAID SHE LEFT! But she’s dead.”

Correcting Eve, Kali chimes in, “There was nothing peaceful with how she left. She left painfully, fighting for everything she loved. She must have crossed here.”

Understanding Kala and Kali’s sentiments now, Eve’s anger subsides and spirals into sadness. “I’m sorry for our loss. The way someone leaves doesn’t have to be peaceful, the important thing is for them to be at peace with it. That is what determines if they step onto the ships of the Valkyrie, and whether or not they stay on the ships, or the wasteland of a world we live in. Unlike many others out there, she can be lost waiting to be found, picked up, and brought home. I hope Claira found her way home.”

Summoning the book off Punkin’s charm bracelet, Kala shows everyone Claira’s vial of tears and book of mysteries. “She did. She is still with us. She left her mystic in these.”

Feeling some sense of resolve at the loss of Claira, Eve throws dead flower petals from her pocket onto the deck floor which sprout into living flowers, “May mana flow in her favor, and may her mystic make peace. It is true Punkin, your mother will always be with us, through you. You are her greatest magic. She is here in the garden as well, growing it with magic.”

“Magic!!! Is this mommy’s shit and garden?” Punkin squeals as she lifts her teary eyes from Kala’s shoulder.

Correcting Punkin subtly, Eve offers comfort to Punkin, “Yes, this was your mother’s gift to me. So it was hers first. It is not a SHIT or a SHIP. This was her safe haven and vessel. Now it is my gift to you. We can keep it safe. But we need more honey. If we only had honey, we could appease my deities.”

Remembering his promise to get honey, La Gateau chimes in to update everyone about the barriers to porting, “Well, I can’t port back to Haeven because something is blocking us. If I can leave I can get us honey.”

“Sorry, that is my doing. Let me lift the shield. When we ended up here, I didn’t want any surprises or demon jail breaks so I trapped all the ships and the mist in and everything else outside of the mist- well outside.” Admits a smiling Kali, proud of her own spell’s efficacy.

“That makes sense now, We had to slow our course because we couldn’t tell the direction we were going. You blocked our beacon.” Sighs Eve, relieved that there is an answer to her problems.

Analyzing the situation, Kala inquires, “Beacon? What Beacon? And where are you headed?”

“You wanted safety and I had souls to ferry, so I figured I’d bring you to the Mystic Evermore. You can’t hear the beacon. Only my sister’s can.” Eve responds as she uses her oversized spyglass to scan for unseen objects in every direction.

“I will open the bubble.” Upon Kali opening the bubble seal around the mist, Eve sighs again with relief. “Ahh, Thank you. And Thanks be to Hell’s Triumph. I can hear it again. I thought I was going woo woo in my head.”

Reassuring her guests, Eve invites everyone to the comforts of her ships “Come, we have a long way to go. Please eat and rest. Make yourselves at home on any of the hundreds of vessels. Just don’t get lost. If you get lost, just call out and Belle will find you or one of my crew will guide you.”

“Crew?” Inquires Runt.

Snapping her fingers, swords appear all about the ship out of thin air. “They are always here. They will not intervene unless told to do so or allowed to. You are safe here. Also we are protected by the most treacherous Water Baby.

“Now I can resume my hunt too. If you are good, Pupu, we can hunt for a demon or monster later. To be a great hunter, we sometimes become the very thing we hunt.”

Suddenly remembering how she used to play hide and seek and hunt for Cer at the Apiary, Punkin rejects Eve’s invitation,“I don’t wanna hunt! I wanna go home! Daddy will go home. I wanna see daddy!”

“Yes, Make yourself at home. Trust your father will find his way home. It is up to Cer, May mana flow in Cer’s favor, and may Cer’s mystic make peace.”

“Come, right now we rest. Later, we will continue to follow the lead of the Siren’s Caw!”