The Captain looked at the "The Bloody Doubloon", the ship of Lyonal "Red-eyes" Drake, from the deck, with her crew by her side. She bit her nails, her brow furrowed. The first-mate could see the cog-wheels in her wife's brain turning furiously.

'Honey! Don't', the first-mate took hold of the Captain's hand. The Captain gave her wife a thoughtful look and turned to the Oracle.

'Come clean!' demanded the Captain. 'Where did you learn about the map?'

'I am not saying!', came the reply. The ship quieted down at this. The only noise that could be heard was made by the waves lashing against the ship.

'Either you start talking,' the Captain said quietly, 'or I start assuming.' The silent glare was the only reply that ever came. 'Fine then. The inn keeper of the "The Exotic Hatchet" had some quiet moments with you, didn't he?' The Captain raised an eyebrow as the Oracle's eyes grew wide.

'You knew?' the Oracle gasped. Ignoring her, the Captain turned to the Quartermaster.

'Ready the ship and crew for a battle.' The Captain ordered. 'There will soon be a meeting with Red-eyes.' Turning to her wife, 'Help the Quartermaster and gear up.'

'Aye! Captain!' The First-mate and the Quartermaster hurried to obey their Captain's orders.

'You should also change.' The Captain told the Oracle. 'I do not think you would want to meet Red-eyes garbed in those clothes.' The Captain eyed the pants and shirt the Oracle had worn for their mission. 'And besides,' the Captain continued, 'I want my friend there with me.' The Oracle moved as if to hug the Captain. Stopping herself, the Oracle nodded once at the Captain left. Mentally preparing herself for a confrontation, the Captain ducked into her cabin to retrieve her coat.

The Quartermaster climbed onto the main deck to find the Captain reading a parchment by the daylight. She was dressed in her preferred choice of clothing - a long overcoat that hung till her shins, hiding the many number of weapons she carried : the sword and the dagger she wore on her belt, the obsidian daggers in her leather bracers, the throwing knives in her black vest and the exploding powder she hid in a pouch and the flint that she kept in her leather boots. She was stroking a red eagle that had evidently delivered the parchment she was reading.

'We have been invited aboard The Bloody Doubloon', the Captain said, handing the parchment over to the Quartermaster. He read the invitation :

I, Lyonal Drake, Captain of The Bloody Doubloon, invite the Captain of The Azule Phoenix for a brief discussion on a matter of urgency that concerns the high seas.

'High seas?', the Quartermaster asked.

'The tide jewels.'

'Ah!' Quartermaster said, giving the parchment back to the Captain. 'The ship is armed and ready, Captain. And... how did you know about the Oracle? I mean, about the map and how she came to know about it?'

'We had docked at the Devil's Cay a month back.' the Captain mused at the sky. 'The bearing for our journey from then on was given by the Oracle. Remember, she told about a buried treasure in one of these islands. The fact that the map was found exactly here could not have been a coincidence. And I have heard rumors about the inn keeper of that tavern. I just added all those points and it paid off. Oh! Also, the Oracle was preoccupied ever since our visit to The Exotic Hatchet.'

'She was?', the First-mate asked. She had joined the Captain and the Quartermaster on the main deck a while ago. The Captain aimed a small smile at her wife dressed in a padded vest, white shirt and a black ruffled skirt, her sheathed twin swords hanging on her belt.

'It was not a surprise', Captain said. 'Considering what she is going through and what she has to lose.'

Just then, the Oracle joined the trio. She was dressed in her traditional blue robe and cloak. A sapphire gem hung from a long chain on her neck. The Captain knew that the gem accentuated the Oracle's powers and that she never removed the chain.

'How are we going?' asked the First-mate.

'Portal-'

'Ferry-'

The Oracle looked at the Captain, 'Portal is faster'.

'Ferry is safer.'

'We are choosing faster.' The First-mate decided. The Captain turned to the Quartermaster. Dressed in black shirt and black vest and holding his axe, worry flashed in eyes behind his spectacles.

'Standby for extraction.' The Quartermaster nodded at his Captain's command. He shielded his eyes as the Oracle created the portal that transported the trio to The Bloody Doubloon.