Calponia thought she was done being overwhelmed by the flying ships of Oceanus but apparently there was one last 'wow' in her. Ravelock's ship nestled beside the Aurai's Breath. It dwarfed Eleni's humble vessel, a sleek gleaming deck manned by the familiar crew who drank a least a barrel of ale a night in the tavern. The sight of them nudged aside the lingering shadows of the bête noire, though she could still feel it hooked on the underside of her skin. She didn't realize she was shivering until Eugene's hand settled on her shoulder.

"Calponia?" Sparks of red continued to flare across his brown eyes, worry creasing the fine pale skin between his brows. She reached up and smoothed it away. He froze, a living statue. Only his eyes tracked the movement. His fingers twitched. There was a held breath of building anticipation and possibility when a feathered plume suddenly rose up between them. Calponia was still trying to figure out what she was seeing when Ravelock wrapped an arm around each of them, lifting both off their feet in a rib crushing squeeze.

"Dove! So happy to see you! You keeping this rascal in line?" He grinned in her face, all teeth and joy and an all too knowing glint in his eye that caused a blush to burn the back of her neck. She opened her mouth but stopped, puzzled by the faint buzzing sensation that prickled along her skin where the pirate touched her, like a fine tracery of static electricity. She looked at him, trying to puzzle out the sensation and caught the naked relief in his expression. Her gaze flickered between the Captain and his ship.

For all its grandeur, Ravelock's vessel bore the marks of several battles, scorch marks and slashes and mystery marks that marred the hull. There was a deep gouge running up the deck, right past the steering column, pieces of the wheel snapped clean off. She wondered how many Krakens he'd fought off in the missing month. Too many; there were missing faces in the crew, and all bore the unrelenting exhaustion of a hard fought war without end. Calponia slipped her arm around the Captain's waist and leaned her head on his shoulder, ignoring the buzz.

"Happy to see you too, Ravelock," she said. He brushed his lips along her crown, the gesture purely friendly and affectionate, though she could have sworn she heard a growl. Ravelock drew back with a wink and clapped the vampire on the shoulder.

"Allow me to get the lot of you settled and up to speed on the Nephele," he said. Eugene watched him go, the muscles in his jaw far too tight. Ravelock started up a conversation with Mack and Eleni, the latter speaking in furious whispers and pointed gestures to her listing ship.

Calponia cleared her throat, glancing back at Eugene. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," he said through his teeth, stalking off. She watched him go with a frown, tapping her chin. What would cause the vampire to react like that to his old drinking companion?

"'Ey girlie," a voice grunted. Calponia looked but didn't see anyone. There was a throat clear, like someone garling gravel and salt. She looked up, smiling at the Munch perched in an altered crow's nest, nothing visible but his horned skull helm, dark beady eyes and beard. She swore the man was mostly beard, since he barely topped five feet in height, and half as wide.

"I see you found a new roost," she grinned at him.

The Munch gave something that might have resembled a shrug, causing the bones of his armor to click. His rifle rested beside him. 

"You shot the Kraken in the eye," she said.

"Nasty big ponce," the Munch sneered and spat, nearly hitting one of the sailors below who responded with a colorful string of curses.

It was indeed. An involuntary shiver rippled through her at the memory of it hovering over her, massive and alien and encompassing the whole world, but that wasn't the worst part. No, the worst was the feeling, the knowledge that she could end it. She felt it flare and rise inside her, burning through her veins, the dark temptation to open herself to the brimming power and let it swallow the world. She swallowed, rubbing her arms.

"How many have you fought off?"

The Munch's dark eyes studied her, but he said nothing of the distress she wore like a cloak, sucking on his teeth as he peered out at the streaking stars. She'd thought the sight was due to the movement of the ship but even now they flew across the sky. She'd find it wondrous once she stopped being so freaked out by how close she came to coming apart at the seams.

"This world is swarming wit 'em," said the Munch, his fingers tracing the crevices of bone that comprised his rifle. "Tis been...interestin'."

Calponia didn't know a great deal about the Munch for a man who spent nearly twenty four seven in the sanctuary of the Edgewise. Cesario once told her he was a soldier of some sort, with a price on his head that had every bounty hunter in his realm dogging his steps. He spent most days snoozing in the corner but now, despite the circumstances, the Munch almost appeared thrilled.

"This is a vacation for you, isn't it?"

"I like shootin'," he said.

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "And you are quite proficient at it."

The little man ducked down into his armor, ears turning bright red as he mumbled something she couldn't catch.

"There you go making him blush," said Ravelock, leaning against the mast beneath the crow's nest.

Calponia blinked, the fine hairs on the back of her neck standing up, because she knew for a fact the wily Captain was still engaged in deep conversation with Mack and Eleni. She could see the outline of him from the corner of her eye.

"Don't yell, I am quite certain the Way Keeper is aware he is speaking to a virtual facsimile," said Ravelock.

Calponia released a breath. "Virtual facsimile? Like a hologram? That's straight out of Star Trek."

Ravelock pursed his lips, perplexed by her statement. He glanced up, sharing his confusion with the Munch, who shrugged.

"Oh, for the love of, it's a show. Entertainment? Pretend?" Calponia crossed her arms, sulking. "Why are you using a hologram anyway?"

The Munch pointedly cleared his throat, looking out to the stars while the Captain scowled up at him. "Some help you are," he muttered. He raised his hands in a helpless kind of gesture. "It's been a long month. Perhaps I simply didn't want endure Eleni's personal grilling. Besides, the facsimile will pass on the pertinent information they need to know. And it has a much better bedside manner than I do." His smile was full of mischief but his eyes were blank, devoid of emotion.

Calponia looked at the deck under her feet. "What are we up against? We've already run into a couple of those awful beasts on the way here, but Mack hinted they could be attacking Infra in force."

Silence met her question. She glanced up to find the Captain staring at the passing stars. In the silence she noticed the too smooth features of his face. Mack and Eleni weren't the only ones talking to a fake Ravelock.

"Tell 'er, Marcus," said the Munch. Calponia blinked; she'd never heard the Captain's full name before.

"We saw the Krakens appear. They came through the tear in a torrent of primordial evil, dozens of them flooding here, the inbetween space. The Krakens are overwhelming in size and presence, but they are technologically stilted. They never had to reach beyond what they were. What they are would have decimated Calais in a matter of days. But Infra, Infra could hold its own for a time."

Calponia felt a tightness growing in her chest. "You led them to Infra."

Ravelock sighed, a gesture that caused the image to flicker, only for a second, but it confirmed her suspicion. "A terrible choice, with terrible consequences," He glanced at her, eyes as turbulent as the blue green waters of Oceanus. "And I'd make it again."

Calponia looked away, half listening to the arguments around her. Eleni didn't want to abandon her ship, but was curious about their destination. Mack urged them to act, that time was running out for both halves of Oceanus. She believed him, though how he planned to send the Krakens scuttling back to their own realm was a mystery to her. The Inquisitors only left Arden after the mystery figure did. Was he here now? Lurking in some dungeon or crevice, setting another trap for them? And what of the mystery picture up her sleeve? It was enough questions to make her head hurt. Her gaze strayed to the deep gouge along the deck, following it to the broken wheel.

"Captain, where's the real you?" She looked back as the fake Ravelock vanished, an after image of the smirking Captain burned into her eyes like sunspots. She looked up at the Munch, quiet and questioning, who sighed and pointed his rifle across the deck to the ramp that led below.

"Yer a perceptive lass," said the Munch, "Brace yerself."

Eugene followed the scent of blood. As if that cut rate electrical mirage would fool his senses. It didn't take him long to locate the Nephele's medical bay, the ship's layout strikingly similar to the Aurai's Breath. Though, it made sense if Ravelock was straddling both cultures, his ship would have to convincingly look like part of the Calaisian fleet, even if the Nephele possessed a few hidden upgrades.

He paused outside the medical boy door, the scent of blood thick and cloying enough for him to lift his shirt over his nose. The doors soundlessly swept open, staying open as the hallway light illuminated the dim setting of humming machinery. The figure on the bed was barely recognizable, face battered and swollen. His sea green eyes were bloodshot, little more than listless slits that gazed up at Eugene. Dark blonde hair lay in matted clumps around his head. But it was the wound that drew Eugene's appraising gaze. It should have been a fatal one, cleaving the pirate from shoulder to navel. It was Infra technology keeping him alive, barely at that. The wound was bleeding through the heavy swath of bandages, likely jostled by the recent fire fight.

"Look your fill, vampire?"

Eugene looked up at that quiet, hoarse voice, meeting the Captain's gaze. "How long have you been like this?"

Ravelock's head lolled to the side. "A week, maybe more. Time passes differently in the bowels of the ship."

The vampire placed his hands on either side of the man's booted feet. They must have been in a hurry to get him wrapped if they hadn't bothered to remove the man's boots. "Why haven't you returned to Infra for medical attention?"

Ravelock's eyes slid back to him.

"Ah," said Eugene, "The city is under siege then?"

"We distracted a few beasties," wheeze Ravelock. "Tis been a merry chase."

"I bet it has," muttered Eugene, coming round the table. He needed tools for this, and he was unfamiliar with the gadgetry and tech of Infra. "I might have to do this the old fashioned way, gauche as it is." He made a face as he rolled up a sleeve. The scent of blood made him light headed when his shirt dropped off his face. Coupled with the Captain's unwashed odor, it was enough to make his eyes water. He compensated by shoving wads of gauze up each nostril. Better to sacrifice his dignity than do something he'd regret. As if he wasn't already about to perform a stupid stunt for the sake of their mission. At least a scalpel was a scalpel, no matter how many fancy curves and grooves it had.

"What are you doing?" The Captain's gaze was wary.

Eugene ignored him, slashing a vein. He grabbed the Captain's face in a firm, but gentle grip, the man too weak to fight him as he brought his bleeding wrist to Ravelock's mouth. "A couple swallows ought to do it," said the vampire with obnoxious cheer, taking his wrist away to hold Ravelock's mouth shut as the man gagged. He answered the Captain's glare with a maniacal grin. "Didn't your mum teach you to shut up and take your medicine."

Ravelock jerked out of his hold, clawing at his chest. Eugene stepped back, dabbing at the wound on his wrist as it closed. "I would have distilled it in whiskey for you but I doubt your body could handle the alcohol in its present state."

"Kraken's balls," Ravelock snarled.

"Of which you no doubt have seen up close and personal," said Eugene.

Ravelock glared at him, gaining enough mobility to scrub at his tongue with a swatch of gauze. "Ack, that's nasty. You bloody pain in the arse," he muttered between scrapes, "what did you do that for? The Way Keeper is on deck!"

"Yes, he is, and he needs all the energy he can muster to deal with our Kraken problem. Or do you simply disprove of me being your healer on this occasion?"

Ravelock spat and winced, peeling back his bloodied bandages to reveal a rapidly closing wound. "Gods, does this mean--"

Eugene snorted. "Please, that was not nearly concentrated enough to force your body to mutate. You'll burn through the effects of my blood just fixing that wound. At best you'll be 'temporarily enhanced'." He rolled his eyes.

Ravelock sighed and ran a hand through his scraggly hair. "My ship for a bath," he muttered.

"Consider yourself lucky, you don't have my sense of smell," said Eugene, tugging his sleeve back down. There was a twinge of hunger in his gut but it wouldn't trouble him, yet. Healing a cut was nothing. It was the other wound, the hidden one, that worried him. He slipped around the Captain, putting his back between them as he unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it away. He had to bite back a wince at the burned flesh on his chest. A spreading area of charred skin, centered beneath the metal cylinder hanging round his neck. Each time the  bête noire flared, it took longer for the burns to heal.

"Guess I owe you one, your majesty," said Ravelock.

Eugene froze, glancing over his shoulder. "What did you say?"

"No need to go all scarlet eyed on me, vampire," said the Captain, easing into sitting position, mindful of his own still healing wound.

He frowned at the man. "How long have you known?"

Ravelock raised an appraising brow. "When the Blood Empire came sniffing, you didn't think we'd sniff back?"

Eugene grimaced. "You never said anything."

"Goodness, why would I? The Edgewise opened its door to you, same as me. We all hide a part of ourselves there, do we not?"

The vampire sighed, setting his clothing to rights. He blamed it on distraction, on wounds and accumulated exhaustion that he missed the scent, at first. He did catch the small intake of breath, sharp and feminine, from beyond the open door. His stomach sank at the sound, wondering how long Calponia had been listening. Obviously long enough.

"Bugger," said Eugene, inhaling deep. That was when the smell hit him, stale, moldering, and familiar. His head snapped up, nostrils flaring. "He's on the ship."