As Leonora stepped out onto the Main Deck, she paused to open her parasol. It was a frilly confection of pink embroidered roses on cream linen, and the frothy lace edge was trimmed with satin ribbon; it was a complete contrast to the fairly simple looking mage staff, which she carried in her other hand. It was made from gnarled walnut, burnished with age, and it was much shorter than normal, more of a sceptre than a staff. It twisted its way upwards, until it spiralled tightly at the top, creating a natural cage that surrounded a chunk of raw white quartz the size of a grown man’s fist, which had inclusions of rose quartz.

Many people had been fooled by the short unassuming mage staff, and the frilly parasol, which matched the mage robe Leonora wore proudly; and thought that Leonora was an easy mark. However, they should have noticed that although embroidered with roses, trimmed with ribbon, and showing ample cleavage, that the robe itself was a military styled jacket, short at the front with long tails at the back, a style favoured by battle mages.

Just as her mother Lavinia had gained notoriety as the 'Sea Witch' during the Centenary War, Leonora had her own notoriety, although for completely different reasons, as the 'Wind Rose'. Plus, En knew for a fact that the parasol contained a rapier in the shaft, which Leonora knew how to use to great effect, and she also wasn't above using her sceptre as a mace when the circumstances required it.

Leonora's eyes swept the deck, but failed to find the person she was looking for... this was because said person had ducked behind some crates stacked on the deck, as soon as Leonora had been distracted by opening her parasol. En swaggered over to the rail and leaned her hip on it, so she had a good view of both her aunt, and the man, who happened to be her lieutenant, and second in command, Javis.

Lavender casually started to polish her apple on her sleeve, and as she spoke she made eye contact with the big man cowering behind the crates, "If you are looking for Javis, he's here behind these crates... I believe he's stowing some ropes." Javis glared viciously at En from his hiding place, stowing ropes was his favourite excuse for ducking out to try to hide from her aunt, but En just grinned and bit into her apple, deliberately crunching it loudly, as Javis stood up sheepishly from behind the crates.

"Stowing ropes, you're always stowing ropes... do you really have nothing better to do?!" Leonora's tone was almost that of a sulky child, but her real feelings were betrayed by Lucy, who had flown over to Javis on silent wings, and was currently perched on his shoulder cooing, and rubbing her beak against his cheek. Of course, Javis was completely oblivious to this fact, as he was not a follower of Aria, and had absolutely no spiritual sense whatsoever.

This meant that En was also getting glared at by her aunt, not that En had any intention of spilling the beans to anyone. Sea voyages were often boring, and the twisted romance that flared hot and cold between the two, was often her greatest entertainment, and she often played devils advocate to get them back together... or should that be cupid, either way En thought that they were better together than apart, whatever the stupid excuses the two came up with why they were 'bad' for each other.

"Javis, come hold my parasol for me, whilst I prepare for the ritual." Javis gritted his teeth, and stomped across to where Leonora was waiting, and although he was scowling, he took the parasol from her with a gentle hand, and En knew that he would follow her faithfully until dismissed, adjusting the angle of the parasol as they moved, so that Leonora was never bothered by the dazzling glare of the sun.

"En, you can help chalk the magic circle." En had known that phrase was coming; Leonora had been getting En to do that job, ever since En had started her apprenticeship aboard The Sea Witch. However, today for the first time En had someone she could officially fob off... ahem, I mean delegate the job to.

"GEORGE" En yelled, and waved the teen over, "Auntie, this is George... he's a genuine weather sensitive, so he should be the ideal person to be your assistant. After all, I have absolutely no talent in that direction whatsoever!" Leonora sniffed, "Fine, follow me boy, and make sure you follow my instructions precisely."

Leonora started to climb up to the quarterdeck, and George went to follow, but En grabbed his sleeve, and spoke to him quietly, "Kid, do everything she asks of you, to the best of your ability. If you continue to work hard and impress her, she has the status to take you on as a full apprentice, and the knowledge to rank you up to a full blown weather mage... do you understand!"

George looked a bit shocked, as En's meaning sunk into his brain, just the possibility of becoming a full mage apprentice... It was something that seemed like a pipe dream for a poor kid like him, who came from a small dockside town in the middle of nowhere.

A look of resolve crossed George's face, and he bowed deeply to En, "Thank you, Sister." En reached out and ruffled his hair, "That's what family is for kid, now go wow her!" George gave her a beaming grin, and then ran quickly up to where Leonora was going to perform the ritual on the poop deck.

En could go and listen in to their progress on the quarterdeck, but that would be too obvious... so instead, with two short jumps En settled herself on top of the stack of crates that Javis had hidden behind earlier.

Even though Leonora kept all the ingredients for the magic ritual in a chest up on the poop deck, drawing the magic circle would take a few minutes, especially considering that George was an absolute beginner, so En finished her apple, and put the core in her waist pouch to give to Lucy later.

Lavender closed her eyes, and took a deep cleansing breath. As she breathed out, En relaxed certain filters that she kept in place even when asleep, and let her mind drift into shadow perception mode.

Shadow Perception was a dangerous technique; it opened your mind to the energies of the universe, let you feel the flow of magic in the air, see the colours of a person's soul... their strengths, and their weaknesses. It let you see things that were normally hidden, and people generally didn't like knowing that you could see their secrets.

It also rang a dinner gong to any evil spirits that might be lurking in the Realm of Shadows, the limbo world between this world and the next; that there was a tasty lump of high spiritual energy here waiting to be devoured.

Thankfully, En's mother Lavinia was well known for the power of her wards; so Lavender had been well protected when she was a defenceless baby, and her parents had soon realised that En was different from other children... even before En herself had been able to talk.

En could feel the strong rosy coloured vortex of Leonora's magic, and next to it there was a cloud of white and pale blue. Weak and wispy at the moment, but with encouragement and nurturing, George's magic would have the opportunity to grow strong. Even now it swelled slightly, as the ritual came to its conclusion, and En felt the localised magical wind form behind the stern of the ship, getting them under way once more.