A brilliant flash of white light illuminated the lower deck of the Nomad and caused everyone there to shield their eyes. When the light diminished and the crew ventured to see what was left behind, they all saw a quietly elegant, elderly woman standing there, looking like she wanted to slap the Captain.
"Cairpra!" Sinbad called and moved to embrace her. "What's wrong? Why have you come?"
"My son, what do you mean, 'What's wrong?' The other half of your heart and soul has just gone to the depths of Hell and you stand there crying like a child."
The words stung Sinbad and he was truly confused by why Cairpra would reprimand him like this. "But Cairpra, Maeve herself said she couldn't bring three people back from Scratch's realm. There's nothing that I can do but wait."
"Child, you have always been both more intelligent and more naive than you look."
"What do you mean?"
"Sinbad, you sit here and cry while you could be helping the woman you love."
"How?" Sinbad cried, excited and angry at the same time. "I have no powers, no way of getting to Maeve, much less of helping her defeat Tallan-"
"Yes. You. Do."
"What!?"
"You heard me. Don't you remember the time in Tallan's dungeon when you thought you heard Dermott 'speak' to you? You have powers. You can help Maeve. If you don't help her, she will die. She's been through too much and is too weak to take on Tallan on her own and survive. You must help her."
"I don't know how! I didn't even know that I have any kind of power until you just now told me. How am I, a simple sailor, supposed to be of any help to a trained sorcerer's apprentice?"
"My son, power does not come from training. True, Maeve has more control over her abilities than you do, but your strength surpasses hers by far. Combine your strength and her knowledge, and no force could stand against you. You must only learn the basics of unlocking your power."
"But Cairpra, we don't have time for you to teach me while Maeve is fighting for my child's life and hers! If I am to help her, I need to know now!"
"Sinbad, the key to using your power is to focus on the task at hand. You must mentally see yourself doing whatever needs to be done. You must realize the importance of your cause, your very existence, before you can perform any sort of magic. Clear you mind of hate and past aggressions, search out the love and the light in you heart and soul, then, and only then, will you be free to do as you wish with your powers."
"If that's all that it takes, then why does Maeve sometimes have such trouble with her magic?" Sinbad sought to satisfy his curiousity.
"Maeve has had a very troubled life. Things haven't been good for her. She's been used, abused, her life has been endangered countless times before she even met you. It's a wonder that she has survived this long. There are many things that she simply cannot forget or forgive, and that hinders her abilities. It will take a great healing for her to be able to reach her full potential. Sinbad, you will be that healing force for her."
Sinbad stood in silence for a few moments to take all this new information in. "What do I have to do?"
"What I have already told you will do for an emergency such as this, but you will need to be trained if you ever wish to pursue your gift."
"We're not concerned with 'pursuing my gift' right now, Cairpra. I'm only interested saving my love and my child."
"Then go. Focus your thoughts on Maeve and your child. Envision yourself going to her, imagine that you are breaking down all the barriers that stand between you, and then see yourself at your destination. Concentrate on your love for her and the light inside you, Sinbad, and you cannot fail....." With those words Cairpra faded away, leaving only an echo of her last words. "You cannot fail..... you cannot fail..... you cannot fail....."
Sinbad looked to his brother, and to friends that meant as much to him as if they were his brothers. "Looks like I'm going, after all."
Doubar, with tears in his eyes, replied, "Aye. You watch yourself down there."
"I will."
The two brothers embraced and held onto each other for a moment. When they parted, Doubar said, "And you watch my little sister, and my nephew, you hear? I want all three of you back here, safe and sound, in time for dinner!"
Sinbad smiled. "I'll do my best."
After bidding farewell to the rest of his friends, the brave Captain-turned-sorcerer stood with his eyes tightly closed and his fists clenched at his sides. He visualized his child, then his beautiful Maeve, and finally he saw fire. Burning pits awaiting his arrival, wanting to swallow him whole... He focused on this image until he felt that he was being pulled from his body, when in fact his entire being was pushing through the barrier that separated space and time. After several minutes of shoving his essence toward what he visualized as Hell, he disappeared in a blazing flash of light, only to leave his crew and friends gaping at the power their Captain had just demonstrated.
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Cloudy Skies - Part 15