While Cira got the most out of her meager food stores, her crew worked hard to clean Breeze Haven up from its month of neglect and night of debauchery. She wasn’t upset to have missed most of it, and having someone to clean up in her leg’s absence was a real blessing.

Cira watched one of them expertly remove a stain from the ceiling with a damp rag, “You know, I didn’t expect pirates to know how to clean up after themselves, but they’re not doing a half bad job.”

“These ain’t just any pirates, Dreadheart.” Jimbo tried to look smug as he wiped a windowsill with his hand to reveal not a speck of dust, “You could say they learned a lot after we took Don’s hideout over. The man lived in a pile of trash and piss, don’t get me started on his boat. Took us days just to toss it all off the side so we could leave that heap o’ salt.”

“Now that you mention it… His hideout in the deritium chamber was rather barebones,” It was people sleeping on the ground and barrels everywhere, with the odd hole in the ceiling for water to flow down.

“You just beat him up, stole his rock, and left. I’m sure its still a dump if you went any further back.”

“Oh…” I think I incinerated all the trash, didn’t I? I hope nobody was coming back for that stuff. “Nevermind that, where the hell is Rocky?”

They had paced Breeze Haven back and forth twice over and there still wasn’t any sign of the frightened mage. The archive was silent when she poked her head in, and the workshop didn’t have anywhere to hide.

“Didn’t that creepy spider say something about a training hall? Either that or he left in the night.”

“Hey, you’re right.” Can it really see everything on Breeze Haven? That makes me very uncomfortable... “That’s the only door that doesn’t lock on its own.”

They went back down the hall and pushed open the door to broad training room lit by the late morning light from the windows above. At the very far wall a man could be seen sleeping huddled into a corner. It was a wonder he found this place, but in his panic he probably opened the first door that let him and simply ran inside.

“I’m surprised he didn’t leave, honestly.” The two walked down the tiered stone floor and back up the other side to reach him.

“You promised him quite the payday.” Cira convinced Jimbo to only nudge him awake, “Now get the hell up and do your job!”

He nudged him with a foot and the man woke up screaming. Pushing his feet into the ground, Rocky tried to back further into the corner and started to gather mana in his hands, “Stay the hell away!”

His eyes weren’t quite coherent, and it was clear he had no idea where he was, but rocks formed in front of each of his palms. Even if he was a novice mage in her eyes, one shot could injure Cira or worse depending on where it hit. Seeing the crazed look on his face and spit flying from his snarling face, she had no choice but to jump out of the way as he sent them flying. They clattered against the floor behind her and broke apart before dissipating.

The impact put a lot of pressure on her stump and Cira bit her lip from pain, trying to rub her thigh to make it sting less. “You idiot!” She could hear the rocks pelting off jimbo followed by a hard smack before Rocky joined her on the floor. “There goes your bonus pay.”

She watched a wad of spit land on Rocky’s forehead as his eyes went wide in realization of the world around him. “J-Jimbo…? Where am I?”

“The same hole you crawled into, moron!” He gave him a kick to the gut, “You almost hit the captain!”

“That’s not my fault!” Rocky noticed the wounded sorcerer wincing in pain not far away and glared, “I’m not the one with a sealed god in my basement!”

“He isn’t a god and that’s not a basement!” The brash claim left Cira appalled “I told you to open a door, not enter it! Talk about unprofessional.”

“You think I give a damn about professionalism?! What even happened to me in there?” He turned red with anger and shivered from the memories.

“Your aura and soul are weak.” The answer was given factually as if offered to a child, “The eight-legged bastard probably tried to take over your mind completely, or maybe bend your soul to his whim, but realized he didn’t have enough power—at least not while trapped within the bell jar. That’s the type of spell that hurts both parties when it fails.”

“The… the hell kind of spider casts magic like that?! And why is it stronger than me?” Rocky went through the fear all over again and Jimbo as well looked pretty uncomfortable.

“I intend to study it once my soul stops burning away, now could you seal that room up for me again—”

“I ain’t goin’ near that damn thing!” They had both stood up off the ground and he backed away nervously.

“I’ll be needing your help, Rocky…” She stared at him with an inquisitive gaze, trying to pick the right thread to pull to hold his attention. It’s obviously money, right? “I can offer you one coin now and another before I leave Lost Cloud. How’s that sound?”

“…both mithril?” The tone in his voice was cautious but very enticed.

“Of course. Jimbo, toss him one.” At her command, he opened the pouch and pulled out a pale blue coin before flicking it over to the rock mage. “Someone like you should be able to check if its real, right?”

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“Right… Of course, I can do that.” He squinted hard at the coin and nodded thoughtfully before shoving it into his pocket. “Checks out.”

After suppressing a grin, she waved everybody on, “Great, let’s get this show on the road. I’m tired of getting nothing done. Go work on that door and meet us upstairs.”

“Y-you’re not going to watch to make sure nothing happens…?” There was a spark of fear growing in his eyes now.

“I came to an agreement with the spider so he shouldn’t bother you. You’ll be fine, probably.”

“Probably?! B-but what if I’m not?”

“Captain says you’ll be fine,” Jimbo gave him a cold look, “So you’ll be fine. Faster you get it done, the faster you can walk away.”

Rocky wasn’t too happy about it, but they left him at the hall and went back upstairs. Her house was now spotless, and nothing was out of place. She got some more tea now that there were cups to put it in and went out to the garden to catch some fresh air.

Her crew had stumbled upon the shed at some point and even started filling in holes or patting down the gashes in her lawn. The grass would grow back naturally and she might have smooth over some bumps with magic later on, but she felt more at peace with one less thing to do.

Evidently Skipper’s rallying call wasn’t that strong, though, as James and Shirtless Joe were hitting their swords together against a misty backdrop by the fence. The metal clanged with each vicious strike and Cira almost couldn’t tell if they were serious or not. “I would think they’d be more careful. They can’t just heal themselves after each cut.”

“Pfft, you’ve been livin’ a life of luxury, haven’t you?” With an expression like he was looking at a strange beast, Jimbo chided Cira, “Most folk can’t do that, you know? Larry ain’t cheap, but we fight each other all the time. No one gets hurt enough for it to matter. You’ll have to join us when you get used to the wooden leg.”

“I need a sword, come to think of it.” Cira had a hand on her chin in thought. Many of my swords are too large to be wielded without magic, or far too flashy. Among all these pirates, I’d stick out like a sore thumb with my ruby claymore or adamantine gladius. “I have some inside, but They’re not really on-theme, you know what I mean?”

“I… guess so? What happened to your cursed blade? Thirst Quencher, was it?”

“It was Tide Quencher, for your information, and I made it up on the spot. Conjured the whole thing.” Cira could only shrug.

“Some more of your pirate magic then, eh? Well, you don’t want to look stupid around Hangman’s Cove, that’s for sure. People’ll mess with ya.” They watched James deflect an overhead blow and kick Joe’s leg aside before quickly bringing a blade to his neck. “We got swords back at the hideout. You should probably show your face around there while were in town, and we can get you whatever you need.”

“Ahh, yes. I forgot about that…” The deritium went all the way up the chain… to here. I may not be capable but I am obligated to follow up on it. “There wasn’t any deritium left when you arrived, was there?”

“Nope… I tried lookin’ into it. ‘Glowstone’, they called it. The shipments never lasted much more than a day once they made their way up here. Not even Don knew who the buyer was—you usually don’t in this business—but there were a couple regulars who smuggled it to and fro. I already beat up the one’s still around and turned up nothin’, but the quartermaster can tell you more.”

“Okay, I guess we’ll stop by there today. What else do we need to do?” I think that’s all the important stuff, but there was something else I’m forgetting—“Ah, yes. Did you decide what kind of magic you want to learn?”

“I think so…” The look on Jimbo’s face said he was torn. It was clearly something he thought a lot about, which was good to see. It’s not like his decision today would change anything in the long run. The second volume even advocated to consider trying out a few before settling on a primary school of sorcery. Still, he hesitated as if it were an incredibly important decision. “Lightning magic.”

“Oh? Lightning sorcery is powerful, but difficult to control. Versatile and fast. An excellent choice.” Cira too wanted to harness the power of lightning early on in her path, but Gazen vetoed it because her reasoning lacked merit. ‘It goes BOOM and it's crazy fast! Lightning is the COOLEST, Dad!’ It sure saved me when I had to get between a witch and the infirmary in an instant, so it has its utility. “Why lightning, Jimbo?”

“I thought a lot about this, and it will really make up for my speed. I’m quick, but I ain’t as quick as I was on two legs. I can zap people from afar and mosey on over to give ‘em the stick. I think I can use it to give me leg knife a little extra oomph, too. Besides, lightning’s cool as shit, ain’t it?”

“Aye, that it is.” His reasoning was admittedly far above her own as a child. “There’s just one problem.”

He frowned like he had somehow given the wrong answer, “What is it?”

“How much do you know about lightning? Namely, how it works?” A grin crept onto her face to see his in a fluster.

“Not much… Is it, like, holy power? Angry gods, or somethin’?”

She chuckled at his ignorance, although she had made some great crossover spells. “No, it’s a completely natural phenomenon. They don’t teach you about the weather here?”

“We only ever hear thunder through the cloud. I’ve only seen lightning when I’m away, usually tryin’ to climb the Boreal.”

I suppose if you never saw lightning until you left your home and it was in a storm that never leaves, one may think its nature dubious. “You know what clouds are, right?”

“Course I do! Water ‘n’ stuff.”

“Well, just water, for all intents and purposes. Water vapor specifically. Think of it like this mist.” She gestured to Lost Cloud’s veil.

“I already do, Jackass. I’m not that dumb.” With a mildly embarrassed grunt, he turned away, “What`s that got to do with it?”

“When the clouds become denser—accumulating more water—they grow darker and become storm clouds. When they rub against each other in the wind, they generate static electricity. That’s lightning…”

She thought it was an easy to follow one, but he looked helpless, “You're tellin’ me lightning is water?”

“No, no, no…” To tell him he couldn’t pick lightning would be a lie, so she picked her words carefully, “Without an understanding of what you’re trying to produce, it will never happen. The best thing to do when you lack comprehension is to reproduce the phenomenon yourself.”

“But how do I do that… if I can’t in the first place?” To the layman it may sound like an impossible dilemma, but it would be a learning process.

“Your first step will be to produce the clouds. We’ll start there.” Cira had found her way to a chair but got up now to find some paper and stretch out her leg. The others had just about run out of stuff to do and Skipper approached them now.

“Hey, Cap! We’re all finished up over here.” There was sweat streaked down his face in dirt and his breathing was labored, “When we headin’ into town?”

“I just have to write this spell down and go check on Rocky. I’m hoping to make this a quick trip, too, so we can meet Kuja by sundown. Do you have your shopping list?” He damn well better, she thought, because her pantry was cleaned out overnight.

“I do, but um… I don’t got any money…” His voice was timid, like he was asking for some great favor.

“That’s right… Jimbo, can you cover it? I can’t get in the treasury without my aura so the only money I have is the mithril in your pocket.”

“Sure thing,” He tossed a bag of presumably silver and gold crowns into the young pirate’s hand, “Don’t disappoint me, Skips, or I’ll have to stick ya.”