Chapter 61: Maggots
Spade came once again to disturb Serenica's smoking.
"I checked the stars, they're in the right positions tonight," he said.
"And that means you want to use bloodsight with me," Serenica said. "I guess I can't refuse. What more are you even going to seek? We know Kinley uses corna."
"What we don't know is how well versed she is in offensive magic," the captain said. "We want to look for any items at all that would suggest she can use spells that instantly affect the target. I am not worried about the city watch. They're just buffoons with guns. My buffoons are much more useful."
Serenica agreed.
"What I am worried about is the fact that both of us are better with slow witchcraft," Spade continued while gently leading Serenica towards his cabin again. "I am worried about us not being able to summon balls of fire out of thin air."
Serenica snorted. The choice of words and the mental image made for an amusing thought.
"No one can actually shoot balls of fire out of any element," she explained. "Witchcraft is subtle and slow."
"Subtle, yes, and perhaps I used a poor example. But slow? Hardly."
"Show me what you are capable of, then," Serenica said.
"Yes. Not here, though. Aye, you'll have your demonstration. First we spy!"
Now the pull on Serenica's sleeve was getting more forceful. She followed her eager captain.
The preparations for bloodsight didn't scare her quite as much as on the last time. She was just starting to relax and get into the unholy scrying process, when she saw something with her eyes closed.
A form of a human being in the darkness, fuzzy and unclear, yet becoming sharper, more defined.
Serenica looked at it. It didn't seem to be Kinley. It wasn't the Dreamer, yet something about the pale outline was very much familiar.
As the image became clearer and clearer, she saw it was a female, with enviable curves and a waist that was much like the slim midsection Myorka sported. It was't the bookkeeper, though. There was something wrong with the lightness of the woman's skin. It was almost as if her skin was too close to bone white, and it was almost as if...her skin was moving.
The female disappeared, making Serenica squint. She realized her stupidity. When scrying, squinting didn't do much good.
Nothing happened.
She felt frustrated. It was clear the image was somehow significant, and now she had lost access to it.
The woman appeared right in front of her, now with more depth in her figure, and Serenica saw the maggots eating what little flesh was left on the lady, they were in her beautiful long hair and the veil that was torn and flowing in the wind. The slimy maggots were almost greenish in their moist glimmer, wriggling as they feasted on the Mother of Worms.
The Mother raised her hand, beckoning Serenica to come closer, and as her once beautiful mouth opened up to reveal a horrifyingly large sectioned maggot that had taken the place of her tongue, the pulsating morbidity got too much for the healer.
Serenica opened her eyes and screamed. She sprinted towards the bowl of clean water and washed away the blood on her eyelids. She didn't pay any attention to the shocked captain, opting instead to run on the deck.
The night was clear and warm against her skin, but her sweat was cold.
She had gone too far. She had intervened in the matters of the hereafter. Now she received her punishment. Things would only get worse. She was doomed, cursed, and if a single event had left such a mark on her, there was no hope for Spade.
Hands trembling like never before, she barely managed to fill her pipe in the glow of the lanterns.
"You do look like you have seen a ghost. Of course, that isn't the case, is it?"
She turned to see one of the very few people she considered safe. The Admiral was crouched over a bag of what seemed like some paw mixed with a lot of the leaves of the good shepherd.
"Unsurprisingly, our captain was involved," she said, trying to return to a steadier rhythm of breathing. "Are you aware that he has been cursed?"
"Really, you believe in that stuff?"
"Especially in that stuff." Serenica pointed towards the mixture that the first mate was apparently preparing for smoking. "Should you be doing that?"
"Aren't you going to partake? Freshens up a heavy heart when used in moderation. Enhances feelings of safety. You look like you need to self-medicate."
"All right, then, but don't complain when I throw up," Serenica said and woefully explained what she had seen.
"That sounds awful. How is Spade?" the Admiral asked when she was finished mumbling.
"I didn't tell him. I reckon he's doing fine. He always is."
The long, ornate pipe received a dose of the mix and they started to enjoy the secret, forbidden pleasure of that pungent smoke.
"Oh, dear gods," Serenica sighed. "I have grown so old in five minutes. Can you see my roots getting their silver? I am an old woman. I am so tired."
"Don't talk like that," her friend said. His voice was soft, but his speech was a command.
"You'll succeed if you put in the work," he continued, but Serenica heard nothing.
The words flew right past her, almost visible, like fireflies in the dark, and she knew she was going insane. She was hallucinating.
She looked up to the stars, and they moved.
The stars changed places to form the outline of a woman.
Serenica looked back down towards the deck. She didn't have the guts to look at the sea. Who knew what horrors the element of death had in store for her, if even the stars up above betrayed her?
"I am hallucinating," she said with great effort. It didn't feel good to admit her insanity. "I am not doing too well. I need your help."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone