To Fly the Soaring Tides

Cira was the first to land at the center of Green Pit, and she did so by simply stepping off the ship. The ground came quickly and she dismissed the ensuing cloud of dust, but didn’t think to muffle the sound of splintering earth at her feet. In an instant, pirates poured out of their respective huts holding some of the finest weapons Cira had seen so far. Repeating rifles and pistols that held six rounds upon inspection.

Many of them had swords at their waist or in their offhand, and while at least half looked they’d woken up in a drunken stupor, they weren’t falling all over the place or sweeping their aim belligerently like Wick’s men were. Cira was impressed.

Shores evidently raised a seasoned crew of weirdly religious pirates, but one man in particular looked tougher than the rest. Not a touch of drunken blush upon his stoney face and he walked in a beeline to Cira from a few buildings down without even a weapon. Wielding nothing but the expression of a man who found his next challenger.

He was at least a head taller than Cira, bridging a great distance with each stride as he simply walked threateningly in her direction. He wore the typical pirate vest, but his muscle-bound arms left Cira wondering if sleeves would even fit. The man was built like an ox, and on second thought, his face almost reminded her of one. His holy aura was perhaps the brightest of the bunch too.

The man had been sizing her up too, the whole way over, and now that he was right in front of her, he put his fists up. “Who are you?”

Cira, having appeared like a bomb in the center of their camp dressed like some pirate girl, smirked as she met his eyes. Her captain’s hat was floating somewhere far above as she hadn’t had the chance to enchant it for high speeds yet, and she silently tossed the orichalcum staff aside before putting her own fists up. It was a slightly awkward, unfamiliar position, but her father had indeed taught her some basic martial arts long ago. The training was an offshoot of hand-to-hand sorcery. For the sorcerer who runs out of mana but must still fight using nothing but their body. She was not good at it, and assumed to be less so after all this time.

This could be fun. I haven’t had an honest fistfight in years. Oh my, he’s imbuing his fists with holy light. What should I use? I can’t make it too strong.

She could tell the man was trying to figure out her stance—it must have been foreign to him, yet Cira could tell he was a trained fist fighter. There was even the sheen of a barrier glistening, so it was clear he wouldn’t turn to ash so easily.

Black lightning was in style, so that’s what Cira coated her own fists with. It crackled and flashed in the daylight, startling everyone except for her opponent. He just narrowed his gaze.

They each took their first steps before a rope fell between them, then pained screams rapidly approached from above. In seconds, Shores crashed against the ground, possibly spared a broken ankle or two by Cira’s assistance. He stood between them and held out his hands to either challenger, “Stop! What the hell is going on?!” He quickly pulled his hands back in and started blowing on them.

Cira chuckled, healing his rope burns too, “He looked like he wanted to tussle.”

He still did, in fact. “Gratos, stand down! You stand before the Saint of the Seven Suns!”

Countless guns clattered to the ground as if they had never been held with intent while their wielders’ knees plodded to the ground to turn her subordinates into a field of flowers weeping in the sun. Any mage within earshot spun around and wasted no time in sending their reverence through the ground. Cira watched whatever field of mana they were trying to force into the lake destabilize and held out a hand to pick up their slack.

Worship was one thing, but abandoning one’s sorcerous duties to kneel before another? How could she who was knelt before do anything but hang her head? They lacked common sense and discipline, but she could not blame them for never having received her teachings.

Hell, her own students hardly had, and they turned out great so far. Cira was going to be mildly disappointed if she didn’t get to see them fight before she left for her journey.

“Rise.” Cira’s voice carried throughout the lake. She crossed her arms and everyone tensed under her gaze. She eventually just looked between the mages who abandoned their post, and others had begun to follow suit. “Are you all ready to continue or must I do all the work myself?”

Their eyes shot open, and one even fell back to his knees in remorse until Cira made space wiggle around a lil’ bit. They all spun back around and continued their duties, the spectacle of which forced all the other distracted mages to uphold their tasks as well.

I am confident what they’re doing is completely pointless, though I could harvest all their wasted mana if I felt like it. Regardless, all who grasp mana beneath my banner need to hold themselves to a certain standard. This goes without saying.

“Tawny, pretend the lake is a mana capacitor.” Cira turned to her star student, as last she checked, “Go around to each mage and tell them what they’re doing wrong.”

“Wha—why me? Aren’t you about to discover Green Pit’s secret, like… right now? I want to—“ She flushed red as she realized she was going on an honest tangent, “I mean, I’ll deal with them later… For now, I will also explore Green Pit.”

Cira turned away slightly to give her a side-eye. She had to think about it for a moment, “Alright then… Have it your way. In that case, we will change course. You have until I’m done meeting Shores’ friends to tell me one secret about this lake.”

The man in question, Gratos, stood firm under her gaze, but she could see his eyes weaken.

“Lady Saint, I am first mate to the Far Shore Pirates. Forever at your service. Please forgive my earlier transgression.” Cira resisted his attempts to kneel, and he just flexed more muscles, causing her to draw exponentially more mana. It was miniscule, but he was determined to show his faith.

“No need to apologize. I was just having a little fun, Gratos. I think I can begin to understand how you feel, but for you to kneel only troubles me.” For what it’s worth, he instantly stopped trying, standing up straight and offering only a slight bow. “I am very curious about this lake. Specifically, what are you hoping to accomplish by pouring mana into it?”

“I am also curious,” Shores stepped in, “Have you found a lead while I was away?”

He nodded to Shores and turned back to Cira, “Great Saint, a magician from the city fell in with one of our crews and has helped us make great progress in understanding the nature of Green Lake.”

I have my doubts about this magician. “Summon him immediately.”

“Hey, Tarrow! Where are you?!” he shouted behind him.

Roughly five seconds later, Cira watched a man who had been hiding behind a building since she appeared walk around the corner and make his way to the lake’s shore.

Cira subjected him to her inquisitively narrowed gaze, and she could tell the beads of sweat which formed on his face were high in salt.

“G-greetings, Great Saint!” He approached slowly, “So, you have called for me?”

He didn’t wear robes, nor did he wield a staff. There weren’t any rings adorning his fingers and his aura was incredibly mediocre. All ten of her mages had him beat by at least double. Hell, even Skipper had more mana than this guy.

“Tell me everything you have learned about ‘Green Lake’.”

“I, uh… of course.” He gave a nervous bow and stammered, “Green Lake, you see… it’s actually just a seal… We need to overwhelm it with mana, and then it will lead us to Paradise! The island of gold will be ours—I mean all yours!”

“Right…” He withered before her as each second passed. And she let more than a couple go by as she tumbled the right words around in her head, “Are you an idiot? How did you end up on my crew? It’s clear as day you’re not doing anything meaningful. I’m sure you’ve been watching the mana accumulate for perhaps weeks now. Or months? Tell me… what do you plan to do with it?”

The mage went pale, “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m only… trying to help you find Paradise! For the glory of the Saint!” He threw both hands up in false prayer.

Cira took a couple strides and knelt down at the water’s edge, placing a hand in it. It gave her a pretty clear view of what was going on.

“It couldn’t be…” Cira stood up. Took a deep breath, then snapped her finger. The flow of all her new mages mana was instantly cut off before balls of light in various colors rose from the lake’s green surface. A small ball of earth mana, a larger one of flame. Water seemed common as well, but there was even a glimmering orb of light mana. Holy, of course, was rather substantial, but there were others as well. A few uncommon ones.

A miniscule orb of lightning mana, nature, then another of outright wood, ice, and even blood. Cira kept looking around, elated to see such variety in her ranks, but had to finish her sentence, “You couldn’t be trying to absorb all this mana… right?”

“I would never!” He replied surprisingly quick, “Wh-what would I even do with all that mana? It’s all for the seal! For you!”

“I understand… So, tell me.” How long has this phony magician led my men around by the nose? The mana present is not insignificant. “Would you like me to convert it to aether first with the scraps on the side, or will you consume it as is?”

“Wha—no, you don’t get it!” He waved his hands frantically, thin hair bouncing around his skull. “It’s all for y—”

“ENOUGH.” Cira’s voice brought everyone in town to their knees, and the magician was no different. Even Jimbo and the crew who came with her fell back timidly. “I will not be lied to. We are beyond this. Now, personally, I think a magician such as yourself could use some more mana. Don’t you? That’s why you’re here, after all.”

The countless orbs of burning light all coalesced over the lake. Thunder roared as mist rapidly fell inward like a funnel from the massive pressure and the mana continued to condense until it encompassed a sphere no larger around than a gold crown—the currency, not Wick’s pretentious hat.

She heard the magician’s knees pop from the weight of being anywhere near it and waved her hand to alleviate the symptoms. Once he regained his footing, the magician looked between her and the effulgent pill of aether. He was speechless.

“Go on.” Cira urged him on, “Take it. That is the fruit of all your efforts, is it not? Perhaps the sky has decided you deserve it. So, it belongs to you.” He shook for a moment, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and reached out. “Oh, but be careful. That much mana will certainly kill you.”

“N-no… I’ll be fine. Y-you’re right! This… I have finally been rewarded for all my efforts! Thank you! Thank you, Lady Saint!” Tears formed in his eyes and his face fell into a completely unguarded, jovial expression. “This is truly the sky’s will!”

Hang on, is he really going to—

His finger touched the orb of mana and Cira could feel the energy sweep through the area in waves, surging through his body like wildfire. His veins lit up as it ravaged his entire being. This condition would be enough to incapacitate anyone if they hadn’t merged with a spring and inhaled clouds of prima salt beforehand, but by pure instinct, the magician’s truest will, his body was driven to plop the pill into his mouth and swallow.

As his smile widened in euphoria, his body started breaking down into fragments of light. Like dust on the wind, it began to fade away. In seconds, there was no trace of the magician A violent twister of mana sprouted from what he was incapable of consuming and Cira quickly turned it back into an orb in the sky.

“What…” Shores’ voice shook as he stared at the mound of obsidian on the ground with the outline of the man’s feet formed into it. “What just happened?”

Cira looked at him, then an equally baffled Gratos, and swept her gaze over the countless nearby pirates who looked the same. “Can nobody here explain what just happened?” She was not amused for once.

“Yeah, I can.” Tawny boldly stepped forward. “Looks like some fraud of a magician has been fooling pretty much everyone on Green Pit—Captain Shores’ crew—for a month or two. I bet they’ve been working day in and day out for that guy under the guise of helping you find Paradise. Isn’t that something?”

She said it jeeringly and Shores hung his head. Many of the pirates present looked ashamed or in disbelief, looking to Cira for answers.

“That’s exactly right. It sure is something… But magicians can be deceitful. Nobody here should blame themselves.”

“Thank you for your understanding, my Lady…” Gratos bowed again, “But how do we proceed?”

“It’s simple.” She turned to Tawny. “Now tell me what secret you have discovered about the lake?”

She was completely off guard even though she had received plenty of time to think about it.

“The first one didn’t count…?”

“Of course not.” Cira clicked her tongue. “That man’s lies were no secret to a sorcerer, right?”

“Right…” She nervously laughed then continued, “Well, I feel a strange resonance in the mana coming from it… but I have no idea what it means. For some reason, the spatial element gets weaker towards the water. Reminds of a storage ring, like it’s holding the element within—is something… stored inside the lake?”

“You got it.” Cira gave her student a smile. She was happy to have gotten a correct answer. It didn’t alleviate anyone’s confusion though—especially not Gratos’.

“But what, though?” Tawny asked. “It’d have to be pretty big.”

“Not hard to find, either. Even assuming you’re not talkin’ about just dumping stuff in the lake, it’s not small. You could put a boat or two down in it.” Jimbo agreed, “What would someone possibly try to hide inside a lake this big?”

“Centuries of you morons looking for it, and we only found it today?” Cira mused, “What do you think is hidden in there?”

His eyes went wide, and everyone else slowly fell into shock as they either figured it out or were let in on the secret by those around them. Hushed whispers of “Paradise” or “Shangri-La” slowly turned into ceaseless chatter of the excited crew.

“So… are we gonna go in there?!” Shores looked almost the most excited to make a great discovery with his beloved Saintess, but Cira already had this worked out in her head.

“Sorry, the only one coming with me is Tawny.” They were understandably disappointed, but the girl herself wore a face marred with doubt. “What? Have you changed your mind?”

“N-no! of course not! I’m ready whenever!” She looked around to the masses of disappointment. “Why only me…?”

“You are the least weak among my students. It will be troublesome to protect more than one person if it comes down to it.” To their credit, all the bummed out mages were still looking at her for what to do, “The rest of you, prepare learning materials for all the other mages. I want to knock this out, so all my other responsibilities will wait until I return.”

I have hundreds of women in children just up the hill… Something needs to be done about them. And perhaps I will request a spar with Gratos. If this works out, I’ll be coasting on free time until I decide to fly away. How wonderful… I feel as if Fount Salt is finally coming to an end.

It really was the job that kept on giving. She tossed out countless treasures, even destroying her own soul, but all she received as payment was responsibilities and trouble. Irritation, disappointment, and self-loathing along with a great many memories she found difficult not to think about.

“Yes, My Lady…” Shores led his men away with their heads hung low, Jimbo chuckling behind them.

“Hey, give me my flask back before you go,” He requested.

“No. I don’t think I will. Sober up, you dumb bastard. If you can’t make a mist clone of yourself by the time I return, I’m shipping you back to Fount Salt to wash dishes for Milty.” There’s no way he’ll succeed, but maybe he’ll think I’m serious in his current stupor. The guy’s been drinking so much I don’t even know if he could stab the broadside of a barge.

“What?! But—my flask!” Shores put his around Jimbo’s shoulder and gave him a comforting pat.

“Come on now, brother. You’ll be alright. You know what’s better than booze? Faith in our Lady Saint—”

Cira stopped listening before she could fail to control her laughter and the man was ushered away.

“Well?” Cira turned to her student whose face was a mixture of excitement and fear. “Shall we continue where Captain Cloud failed?”

The mithril ring at her back shined brilliantly as the lake glowed with power. She took Tawny’s hand and pulled her off the edge as the girl shrieked in surprise and they both fell through the surface.