After a brief and exhausting discussion involving a red spider, Cira was shown a place to rest and everyone retired for the evening. It wasn't long until they were all awoken while it was still dark by a loud banging on the door. While Cira and her crew hid, Kuja went to open the door and found none other than Reverand Shores.

“I’ve returned!” Cira heard him proclaim from downstairs.

“Will you shut up?” Kuja complained, “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

When Cira emerged yawning with a disheveled head of hair, Shores’ expression dropped, “I-I'm so sorry! Did I wake you, Captain?!”

“Of course you did. It’s better to get an early start on the day, but will you quiet the hell down?” She held a hand on her head like it was in pain. “We need to go look at the forge so I can send you shopping.”

In her half-woken state, Cira didn’t notice his smile diminish at her words. It likely wouldn’t be shopping, but he would be the guy to gather what materials they lacked—unless he had the wisdom to bring a small group of trusted men for odd jobs. Such an act would be the obvious course for Cira, so she didn’t think to mention it.

“What’s all the noise about?” Jimbo’s face was pallid and there were dark bags under his eyes. Cira noticed a book in his hands and almost felt a tinge of pride. “Some people are trying to read down here.”

“While I commend your efforts,” Cira praised, “it’s time for work. Do you have a running inventory of everything within my treasure barge?”

“Are you talking about… my ship?” Jimbo was left dumbfounded as his tired brain slowly worked through it. “I got an idea off the top of my head, I guess. Mostly gold and silver, but there are some things I haven’t figured out yet. Artifacts and such, but nothing crazy like the stuff lying around your house.”

“Any mithril?”

“No mithril… Or orichalcum for that matter. Whatever that green stuff you had in that coin purse—I don’t got that either.”

“Well, I still kind of wish we had kept it with us…” Cira lamented, but for all she knew their ship could have been crawling with shadow beasts by now if they left it in Archaeum. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. You brought mages, right?”

When she looked at Shores he nodded vigorously, “I certainly did! They remain on the ship, awaiting your orders.”

“Good. Does it have room for all of us as well?” She didn’t want to walk to Breeze Haven and back.

“It will be tight, but there should be room. When will we depart?”

“Before dawn breaks. Jimbo, rally the boys and find some torches.” Kuja looked a little uncertain and really tired. “Oh, I should be fine scrounging materials up around the house. You don’t need to come with us.”

“No need, child. I wish to see more of your home.” She wore a faint smile and seemed to be waking up, “Jimbo, would you be a dear and—oh…”

“I’ll get it.” Cira returned her smile and went to make tea in Jimbo’s stead.

Her whole crew was half asleep and by the time everyone was ready, Rocky was still passed out with his drool pooled up on a thin sheet of mithril. They decided it would be fine to leave him be so he could keep trying when he woke up and Cira made a mental note to bring back a stash of potions for him.

When they stepped outside there was a small ship hovering above with a rope ladder hung down. It was something of a schooner with short masts and extra wide canopy sails. Painted all black, it blended in with the night. Are they really going to make Kuja climb this thing?

She looked to the woman who seemed to be waiting for it, “I’m not so weary, child.”

“Noted.” With that addressed, Cira looked over her crew, “Skipper, Joe? You guys ready?”

They were the last two out of the house and the latter yawned with a thumbs up in response.

Shores ascended first, followed by James and the boys then Cira. Jimbo convinced Kuja to let him help, so he went up first and threw a rope down to tie around herself just in case. The old woman had surprisingly little difficulty climbing up though, and scolded Jimbo to respect his elders once she made it to the top.

“So where are we going?” Shores asked.

“Kuja, could you show him the way? I’d like to look over my images while we ship off.”

It was still dark and the dense morning mist made it difficult for moonlight to reach them. Once Jimbo had some torches lit and they started moving, Cira took stock of everybody on deck.

There were ten in total—four of which were clearly versed in holy magic. They wore silver and looked at her with reverence. “You five. What elements do you practice?”

There was one more, but Cira recognized her. It was quite the surprise to see she wanted to join, but that would be dealt with later.

“I cast fire, oh Lady Saint!” Cira groaned inwardly, but the next called out before she could correct him.

“My brother and I both cast water magic.” They took a knee when they approached.

There was another geomancer which was a blessing, because it was only then that she realized she would need one to reach the archive again. After that was a dual-caster who wielded both water and lightning.

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“Impressive… No wind, though?” He looked downcast when she said that, though she didn’t mean it any particular way. “Still, you should help Jimbo out in the coming days.”

“I promise I shall. By your will, Lady Saint!”

Okay, I have to say something. Now that the five mages had all kneeled before her, the ‘paladins’ got jealous and followed suit. She noticed a glint in one girl’s eyes who was upset at being forced to worship—even if that wasn’t what was happening at all.

“All of you, on your feet!” Her recruits shot up and looked at her with those blissful expressions. “I am no saint, and you shall not refer to me as such. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Lady S—” Smack! One of the paladin’s knocked the geomancer on the head.

“What did she just say?” Then he turned to her and offered a light bow, “My life, by your will, oh Captain.”

That doesn’t sound much better, but it’s an improvement. “And you, Tawny…” Cira finally gave the young mage her attention. “I did not expect to see you here.”

“I… My actions yesterday were disgraceful.” It was clear she really didn’t want to apologize to Cira in particular, but at least her words seemed sincere. “I never should have responded like that in the midst of battle. I have no excuse.” The last bit she spoke through gritted teeth.

“I am upset that you wasted so much mana on me when you could have been helping the crew,” She acquiesced, “but I doubt you could have put it to full use regardless. You are still very much an amateur. Are you aware of the other reason I’m upset?”

When Tawny returned a blank stare, Cira was starting to get irritated again. Noticing this, Jimbo decided it was a good time to cut in, “Captain, let me handle this. I was just reading about it… Chapter Nine: The Sorcerer’s Burden.”

She was taken aback—that was exactly the source material she intended to loosely quote, so she gestured for him to continue.

“You’re as weak as they come, Tawny.” The girl deflated at hearing those words from one she cared so much about. “Even if you meet someone with no magic, you can’t disparage someone just because they’re weaker than you.”

“’Disparage’… Impressive, Jimbo.” Cira commented.

“Thanks. I learned it this morning.” He turned back to Tawny trying to hide a dumb grin. “Now do you know why our captain here is pissed?”

“Are you saying… I should have just hit her instead of using magic?” To be fair, it wasn’t a bad guess.

Cira let out a long sigh, “Let me put it this way. How would you feel if the moment my aura reformed, I deigned to drop this island from the sky by turning it to molten lava just because a bunch of lessers like you live on it, hmm? Going another route, I could have cursed you for your impertinence, were I such a sorcerer.” Melting an island would require a great deal of time and ridiculous quantities of mana, but if Cira truly set her heart on it, she didn’t think it would be impossible.

Her eyes went wide, “The… the whole island?” Then she looked at Jimbo in horror, “curses…?”

Of course, he had nothing to say. His expression was one of distress as if he could see his home melting away already.

“There’s no such thing as a ‘lesser’.” Cira continued, “Even those born without an aura can attain one through proper effort, and with the right guidance Jimbo here will surpass you in a matter of months.”

The girl was at a loss with nothing further to say. She looked like she was being scolded by her parents as her head hung down. “I… I’m sorry…”

“Why did you come back anyway? I can’t imagine my well-being motivated you. You realize these mages have gathered here to fight mysterious creatures for me, right?”

“The sooner you’re better…” The girl trailed off, “the sooner you leave, right?”

“Pfffff—” Cira tried to stop herself from laughing but the degree of offense etched onto the Far Shore’s faces was too much. Even Reverand himself whipped his head around with a look of shock which only intensified when he saw how hard Cira was busting up. She held her sides and eventually got her breathing under control after just a couple minutes, “Phew… That was good. Maybe you’re not so bad after all, Tawny.”

Now the girl was mortified—that was the last reaction she expected, and she had no idea whether to take it for face value or not. Before she got a chance, Cira walked back over to the edge and gazed out over the black sea.

Shores was scared to enter once they reached Archaeum’s shroud, calling it the cursed valley and complaining left and right. Eventually Jimbo told him to stop being a baby and they descended again.

Admittedly, it was much scarier this time. Their torches didn’t give off half as much light as Breeze Haven, and Prismagora was back at Kuja’s stuck in the dirt to soak up sunlight whenever that decided to arrive.

It was no longer possible to see one side of the ship from the other and each torch only lit a few feet around. Cira found herself subconsciously gripping the railings as revenants swam around them through the shadows just out of sight—around the hull and all across the deck. She could hear them and their faint whispers.

I sure hope Kuja can get us back to Breeze Haven like this. There was a very real possibility of crashing the ship. She had no idea how they were navigating in total darkness and everyone on deck was audibly pissing themselves.

Cira had never heard so many grown men cry. She almost went to find the helm herself so she could at least see death coming ahead of time when a spot of light appeared in the darkness.

Relieved to see a familiar sight, she heard Kuja directing Shores to land next to Breeze Haven’s shining barrier.

“What the hell is that?!” All the unacquainted members of the Far Shore had their jaws on the floor as the light only grew larger. Before long they could see a lush garden beyond the shroud and Cira took the liberty of sliding down the rope ladder again.

“Everybody meet me out front!” Cira shouted as she descended.

Oh boy, it sure is dark down here… she didn’t have a torch with her and while she could see her home and the ship above, she was standing on the desolate peak of the necropolis, swallowed in darkness. Cira wasted no time in clinging to the edge of her barrier and when she turned around a small group of revenants floated there, staring into her eyes unmoving. The mana in their gaze bore down on her with an indescribable pressure.

”Come on, guys… I’m just a travelling sorcerer. Nothing to see here.” She slowly crept her way over to the gate and breathed a sigh of relief once she was finally on the other side of it. “Well, that was nerve-wracking…”

They still didn’t feel hostile to her, but being weak sure changed her perspective on things.

Cira ran inside and filled a bag with boarding passes. It was a hassle, but the security was top-notch. No one could enter without, and those wearing one who felt malice would be either marked or ejected depending on the severity. Of course, if she had her mana, she could register someone as a guest after they entered wearing a pendant, but there was no use getting upset about it.

This was far beyond the number of guests she felt comfortable hosting, but Breeze Haven sure was lively if nothing else. James and Jimbo worked together to wrangle everyone together on the lawn and Shores busted out some ale to quell their desire to explore. He and his crew evidently never travelled without a barrel or three on board, even on stealth missions, so it was interesting to watch them lower one after another down on a rope.

“Hang on, guys.” Cira protested, “We’re not going to be here that long.”

“Then two’s plenty!” Jimbo called up the way, “Pull it up and get down here!”

Cira left him with a pendant for when the last man made it to the gate, then went downstairs to assess her stores with Kuja.

“Before we start working down the list,” Kuja asked, “Do you mind if I meet the spider you mentioned?”

“I suppose that would be best. He may have some insight.” She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to bring such dangerous variable into the mix, but it was a better choice than if she got ahead of herself and botched the reforging process.