The Lady Veronica glided on the calm Northern Sea, inching ever closer towards the Wall of Fog. The people of the Empire knew only of one man to ever come back after crossing the border to the Deep North. If not for that man, none would've ever jumped on this expedition.

Since the Captain's revelations, almost three days had passed. Rall and Tui did not have any task until the Fog entered their sight, so they used their time to train. After witnessing his Smite, the mermaid regarded the boy's methods with attention, often asking him for pointers. When they had first started their sessions, she had been taken aback by the sheer amount of knowledge that Rall seemed to contain in his mind. Honestly, she thought he was inventing most of it. Now, Tui trusted Rall's words. No, to be more precise, she had faith in him.

Every day, hours would fly by in the small cabin below deck, the meditation of the two light mages doing nothing but make them pass even faster. Every six hours, someone would knock at their door. It was Billy Winston, the boy apprentice of the ship's cook. He would bring them food and keep them company during their meals.

Billy was the only minor on the ship apart from the two light mages, so they quickly connected. Rall instantly had a good impression of the kid. He had a lot of energy, always talking about life in Sturmwater and the new recipes he was learning. His parents had died during the Second Great War of the Northern Sea, so he was raised by one of his maternal uncles. When his cousins fell ill, his uncle needed all the monetary help he could, so Bill decided to look for a job on a merchant ship. After getting refused multiple times, he finally was given an opportunity by an old lizardman cook as an apprentice. Just a year later, here he was, part of a crazy expedition to the Deep North.

"Will ya really bring us to the land on the other side?" Billy would ask Rall in excitement.

"I don't know... I hope so," Rall would answer truthfully.

"Ya have to! If I find enough treasure, Uncle will have enough to cure cousin."

"Right, I'll try my best."

"Do not worry!" Tui would say, a confident smile on her face. "I will help him out."

Billy would make a happy noise. "Yeah! With Big Sis with you, it will be easy!"

***

That evening, Conrad visited the cabin.

"The winds are with us. At this speed, we will reach the Wall of Fog by tomorrow night," said the Admiral to the two light mages. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as we can be..." said Rall, exchanging a concerned look with Tui. "A bit more time would've helped a lot."

"Time is the only thing I cannot give you, my boy. We will have to make do with what we have."

"I don't even know if I can cover the entirety of the ship..."

They stood there in silence for a few seconds, then Conrad got up from the crate he was sitting on and beckoned Rall and Tui. "Come on the bridge with me. There is something I want to show you."

All three walked together, Tui and Rall following the ship's Captain through the humid planks of the lower deck. As they crossed paths with other members of the crew, they would exchange cordial greetings.

During those three days, Rall had met many of the people on board, not just Billy. Most had already been on other ships together, so they were a tight-knit group from the start. Their family-like demeanor reminded the young light mage of Korn. Since his oldest memory, the people in that small countryside village had been his family.

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Those thoughts quickly gave way to bitterness. He remembered how those same people had betrayed chief Thork, how they had tried to sacrifice a newborn child to save their skins. Emotions that he had not felt in a while boiled inside Rall's body. His Fairylight, out in the open as it was, emitted a scary pulsing light.

"Everything alright?" Asked Tui when she noticed the stark change in the white orb's behavior.

"Yes," Rall shook his head, "just unpleasant memories."

"Those are hard to fight, aren't they?" Asked Conrad without turning his head back. "The myths of many civilizations talk of demons, corruptors of civilization that fed on negative emotions. But I, as one, have a theory. What if demons are nothing but an allegory for our regrets, fears, and bad memories."

"I have met a demon once, and she felt pretty real," said Rall nonchalantly. His mind returned to the time a mysterious slaver named Sharyah had found him in the Dead Plains. She had all the characteristics that his father had taught him about demons.

"What?!" The Admiral stopped and turned around. Even Tui looked at the boy in dismay. "Are you sure?"

"She did not deny it..."

"I... well, it does not matter anymore," sighed Conrad, defeated.

"Why do you care about demons? Aren't most of them gone from the Continent?" Asked Rall curiously.

"Hmm. As you know, when I returned to the Empire, I searched for any way possible to reunite with my Veronica. During my research, I found a tale, a legend from the people of the Northern Tundra. It told of a demon coming out of the Fog bearing gifts. It said that the demons knew the way to the Deep North, that they could be bargained with..." again, Conrad sighed. "At the time, I was desperate enough to try anything, but no matter how far I sought them, I could never find a demon."

While talking, they reached the bridge. A few lanterns, powered by an alchemical compound called luminium, fought off the darkness of a moonless night.

"What did you want to show us?" Asked Tui, eager to return to her training.

The Admiral just smiled mysteriously, then turned to a couple of seamen who were playing dices on the deck. "Yo! Stop slacking off and turn off the lanterns. I want to show our guests the view."

"Aye, Cap!"

One at a time, they reached each lantern and turned the knobs on their bases all the way counterclockwise. The light on the ship dimmed. At the same time, both light mages lowered the intensity of their Fairylights' radiance.

Instantly, Rall noticed a change in the sky. It was a shade of deep dark blue, decorated by a sea of countless stars. Then, a strange green hue appeared, moving in waves like the fire of a candle in the wind. The more he concentrated on the apparition, the more vivid it became. A free-flowing sheet of ethereal green light. The image reminded him of something he had once read in a book. Something his imagination had greatly underestimated.

"Is that... an aurora?" Rall's face was now in awe.

"A what now?" Asked the mermaid.

"An aurora. A natural phenomenon created by the magical energy of the Sun impacting the energy field around our planet," the boy recited from one of the books he had memorized in the Ancient Code.

"An aurora it is," said Conrad with his eyes fixed on the spectacle in the sky, "though we sailors of the Empire call it Gren'Markio. In the old language of the dialect of the Northern people, it means the green sign over the sea. It signals that we are getting close to the Deep North. Ships usually keep away from the aurora, using it as a reference point in the distance. Those who ignore it risk facing the Fog's assault without having enough time to evade it."

"It's a gift from the Amalia, lads," added the quartermaster who was listening to their conversation. "The sea Goddess of the Sea tells us where we are not welcome, which waters we should not trespass. And now look at us, passing through without heeding its wisdom. My mother would kill me if she knew!"

The Admiral nodded with a chuckle. "Then we have to surpass Amalia's expectations! And your mother's, of course. Although, I don't know which one would be the hardest!"

That last comment was enough to raise laughter on the bridge, some crewmates joining in with a couple more jabs to the quartermaster, who returned them with some blows of his own.

Rall ignored the bantering crew. His mind focused on the beautiful green cape flowing elegantly through the sky. That color was the same of his eyes, that of the purest emerald carved by the best dwarven craftsmen.

"Beautiful..." a soft voice escaped Tui's mouth, as her figure shone mystically in the light of two Fairylights and the green phenomenon. The boy turned towards her stupified face, and, for a second, Rall didn't know which view he preferred. When he caught himself staring at the mermaid for too long, his gaze hurriedly returned to the sky. He thanked the many different-colored lights for hiding his reddened cheeks.

However, he could not hold his eyes away for long.

She started singing. It was an enchanting melody. Every word and every note tugged at the souls of everyone present, silencing them in awe. It was a song foreign to their minds yet familiar to their hearts. The song of a mermaid was infamous for its magical effects. However, at that moment, no one cared. They stood and listened as Tui's voice danced in the air imitating the rhythmic waving of the aurora.

Many rough and tough seamen started weeping uncontrollably with a profound nostalgia that they subconsciously suppressed daily. A feeling that sailors knew all too well, one they felt whenever they left their houses, their families, their children. When Tui stopped, the whole bridge was speechless.

After several seconds, the mermaid got out of her trance and noticed what she had done. Quickly, she lowered her head in shame

"I am sorry. My emotions got the better of me..."

For a moment, no one answered. Tears streamed down Rall's face. Tui's song had evoked many happy moments of his childhood. Every interaction he had shared with his father, every instance of warmth now lost in the past.

Conrad was the first to break the silence as he wiped his glossy eyes with the back of his right hand. "That was... a cathartic experience. Thank you, Tui." Then he turned to the rest of his crew and officials, most still under the mermaid's 'spell'. "I think yall have rested enough, no? Go back to work!"

His shout woke the rest of the sailors up, who quickly returned to their stations. "Aye aye, Captain!"

The following day would be stressful. However, that night, Rall did not experience his usual nightmares.