The shops and alleyways of One Blue came alive at night. Shop keepers struggled to clear the large crowds whom gathered to purchase their wares. The canals were full of small boats, some heading to Town Square, others filled with couples intertwined. The moon above hid under a great dark cloud, but hovered street lamps kissed the cobblestone with yellow light.

It was amazing for Cookie, the lover from a far off island, to see a place bursting with culture. The countless times she'd stare out at sea from the window of her room, all those nights she'd cry herself to sleep, it was all to one day visit a town like this. She even loved the fireworks the children set off on the street, just before they scurried off down the alley like rats. Cookie looked up and smiled, her face tinted from the glow of blue and red fire.

"I love this place!" Cookie turned to Holly, her blue eyes dazzled as much as her smile. "You're so lucky to live here, Crescent Island is nothing like this."

"Don't you think you should take it easy there?" asked Charlotte, smacking mosquitoes from the leopard tattoos on her arm.

Cookie had been a bit loose with the bronze diamonds they had left. Her Secreto allowed her to pull a cart the size of a motorcar behind her. The shopping bags were full of clothes, wine and a few appliances for the ship. The citizens of One Blue gawked at Cookie, as the girls walked back to their Dragun, and wondered how such a tall beauty could possess the strength of several men.

"Ah, what's the big deal?" Poppy playfully retorted.

"Yeah," said Holly, she turned her head to smirk at Charlotte. "The Chancellor wants you to personally find his daughter. What does it matter if you spend a few diamonds? Julius is going to make you rich if you bring her back alive."

Poppy and Holly completed the sister trio that lived with Mother Merla. They were both fans of trouble, and a few years older than their naive, jolly, eighteen year old sister, Daisy. Poppy's skin was tan from the kiss of the sun, her brown eyes peered beneath long bangs of black hair. Holly looked almost identical to Poppy, though the two chose different dresses to wear, Holly wearing her favorite blue laced dress, and Poppy wearing a dress made of green spider silk.

"You talk about it like it's so easy," said Charlotte. "Blackbeard isn't some drunken pirate, you know, that man's a monster."

"Yeah, I've heard stories," said Holly, her tone was dismissive, her crimson nails shined brightly, as she waved a hand in front of Charlotte's face. "They say he's a monster, that he can turn into a beast when he wants. That he's one of the few who awakened his Secreto, but the guy is still human, so I'll just aim for the head and..."

Holly took her pistol and shot the head off an imp in the sky. The body hit the ground, Charlotte stepped back and was ready to feel pity, but the body erupted into hundreds of smaller laughing imps. The miniature imps scurried away like scarabs into the sewers below. Holly laughed as she put her pistol away, amused by Charlotte's face.

"The scary part is that Jayden joined him." said Poppy, her fingers brushed the bangs from her eyes. "Facing him again won't be easy. He's a tactician. Now that he knows what your powers are, he'll be ready for you."

"Hold on, you know him?" asked Cookie, her head turned to Poppy's startled face. "I've been trying to get my Captain to talk about him, but she keeps brushing me off."

"We both know him," replied Poppy, her head quickly tilted to her sister. "He grew up here, Mother Merla was the one who taught him how to fight."

Cookie couldn't hide her disbelief. Sarah had told them Mother Merla was a close friend, but failed to mention anything about her connection to Jayden. It was amazing to know that Sarah and Jayden shared the same trainer, it made Cookie wonder, what else Sarah had decided to keep to herself.

"He's changed a lot since he became Captain, though," Poppy reached into one of Cookie's bags, and held up a green straw hat in front of her face. She stared between the spaces of the green straw and sighed. "I don't blame that girl for not wanting to talk about him, Mother Merla told us he tried to kill her."

"I don't believe it." said Holly, she snatched the hat from her sister, and happily wore it over her black hair. "Jayden's a good guy. He'd always donate some of his share, and send food to the islands without. He's defending the Red Sea from the Seas beyond. They see us as the weakest of the seven and he's protecting us from them, why would he just fall from grace and do that to your friend?"

"He shot her in the chest," said Cookie incredulously. "I saw the wound! Trust me, I think you're letting your feelings cloud your judgement."

"No I'm not," replied Holly hotly. "You're just starting a Caravan, you've only ever been on the island you're from. You're still rookies, trust me, this world is a lot bigger and stranger than you think. There's no telling what kind of game Jayden's playing."

The girls reached Kyla by the port, the Dragun was in deep slumber, her blue slippery head rested comfortably upon the boardwalk. Gizmo paced around the main deck, with the map Sarah stole in his hands. The teddy bear grunted and folded the map, unable to decipher the Magi's riddle. His brown diamond eye flashed with Cookie's reflection. The freckled beauty walked onto the ship, with her first twenty shopping bags in hand.

"Dang," said Gizmo, as he pressed back his fuzzy ears. "Did the Chancellor give us an advance?"

"No," Charlotte leaned against the mast with her hands folded. "Cookie just figured she'd spend our diamonds early."

"Technically we raided the ship before you joined, so I'm just spending my fare share," Cookie stood triumphant, with her hands at her waist. "Besides, at least I spent it for the good of the Caravan. In my book, that's a great and productive day, right girls?"

She turned toward the boarding ramp, her eyes followed Holly and Poppy, as they stepped aboard with their share of bags.

"Yup." said Holly cheerfully, examining the fresh red paint on her nails.

"Best day ever!" Poppy exclaimed, a sweet aroma filled her nose, as she took and sniffed a blue rose from her bag.

"Guess we're killing pirates with nail polish." Gizmo mumbled.

Charlotte watched Gizmo walk toward the front of the ship, with the parchment still clutched in his hand. She left the girls as they continued to unpack, and enjoy all that Cookie splurged on. The front of the ship was calm, the gurgling waves pressed onto the boardwalk, the sound of the sea breeze blowing into her ears, Charlotte felt comfort with it all.

"I'm glad you made it onboard, kid," said Gizmo. "Sarah wouldn't have gotten far without you."

She looked down and saw Gizmo leaned against Rocky. The grey wolf was fast asleep, with the Oracle resting his head on Rocky's furry belly.

"Your names Gizmo, right?" asked Charlotte.

"Not unless I owe you something," replied Gizmo, his mouth stretched into a smile. "What's up?"

It was strange for Charlotte to see Gizmo speak. His lips seemed sewn shut, but would open with every word, and showed strings lined like teeth across his mouth. She knew Oracles to be the trapped spirits of former Captains, perhaps this one would have an answer for her.

"I was just curious," said Charlotte, massaging the back of her neck. "Since you were once a Captain, have you ever heard of awakened Secretos?"

Gizmo looked up from the Magi's riddle, the coin for his right eye flashed from the moonlight.

"Yeah, I've heard of em," replied Gizmo. "Though it's rare to find, not many can do it. According to the atlas, theres over a billion people across the Seven Seas, only about a thousand have Secretos, and only five have ever awakened them."

"Only five?" She felt her amber eyes widen behind her black glasses.

"It's a hard thing to accomplish," said Gizmo simply, shrugging his tiny shoulders. "Some of the best Captains I've faced had never done it. Still, I get why you're curious about it, your mother awakened her Secreto, didn't she?"

"Yeah," She darted her eyes toward the blue moon, and let out a sigh. "She passed her Secreto on to me, but she was killed long before I could ask her anything."

"What happened to her?" asked Gizmo. "If you don't mind me asking."

A flash of memories swept through her mind. She remembered running with her mother by the shore, baking cakes from their red brick stove, and falling asleep to her lullabies of the sea. She remember her kind face, her glasses and amber eyes, her straight brown hair. The image of her was then slashed in half, by a dark shadow with flames near its face.

"Blackbeard," her left eye twitched from her speaking the name. "She was in a Caravan of her own, though they didn't respect her enough to be Captain, even though she was the most skilled person on their ship."

"Disgusting," said Gizmo. "I treated lovers on my ship better than that." Gizmo waited for a laugh, but never got it. He gave her a shaky smile and extended his paw. "Sorry...go on."

Charlotte shook her head at Gizmo and returned her gaze toward the night sky. The blue moon had now fully emerged from behind the massive dark cloud, its bright moonlight tinted Charlotte's face blue.

"After she awakened her Secreto, they told me she had become unhinged." Charlotte's eyes narrowed, as if she spotted something on the moon. "She was practically convinced she was being followed, claimed that she'd seen something she shouldn't have."

"What did she see?" Gizmo blurted out, he was no longer smiling. The eager Oracle set the riddle aside and leaned forward, eager to hear the end of Charlotte's tale.

"I never had the chance to ask," replied Charlotte, her face looked slightly frustrated. "But somehow her Secreto got Blackbeard's attention. He raided my home island, spared the pirates, and slaughtered the commoners. My father managed to bribe the pirate who found us, and escaped to bring us here."

She stared over One Blue, and could see the homes of Town Square in the distance. Her eyes darted back and forth, recalling a younger self, weaker yet much more pure, as she innocently asked her father...where's mommy?

"He told me Blackbeard killed her...but...he never learned why."

Gizmo said nothing for a moment. The silence between them was intense, interrupted only by the girls giggling below the deck. The teddy bear thought of Charlotte's tale and tried to process it the best he could. After she awakened her Secreto...she had become unhinged...claimed that she'd seen something she shouldn't...

He recalled that Charlotte's power to teleport was shared by her late mother. Every Secreto has a weakness...it was a phrase he embedded into all who served his Caravan, to ease their minds when they faced men with the powers of a god. The weakness of teleporting, Gizmo reasoned, must be the places Charlotte couldn't go. He remembered reading her bio in the atlas. It described her Secreto as the ability to teleport anywhere within eyesight.

An awakened Secreto would be an enhanced power, Gizmo thought. Charlotte could teleport to places she can see, and so it was only logical, that awakened, she would be able to teleport to places she can't. It was all frustrating for the Oracle, who prided himself as a knowledgeable Captain, to have been stumped so hopelessly. What could her mother have seen to make her go insane?

"I don't know what to say, kid," the Oracle placed the parchment on his lap and sighed. "Maybe we should just focus on solving the riddle, I don't think these girls can even..."

His voice escaped him and vanished into nothing. What stood in front him was no longer a person. The sassy Vice Captain was silenced, under the rays of blue light from the night sky. Charlotte had become a statue, her stone face tilted up, and her blank gaze fixed upon the bright blue moon.