The bronze Compass, streaked with gray-green rust, floated in midair. Its curved magnetic spoon creaked as it turned across the smooth disk. The handle glowed dull red, as though heated through by coals, and sent faint ripples through the air.
Ahead of the spoon's handle stretched an endless expanse of white mist. This mist was what allowed the Mist to roam the four seas and travel through space and time. It was also one reason the ship bore its name.
According to legend, a mighty demon known as the "King of Sea Demons," who stood above the four Great Sea Demon captains, had refined this precious mist from above the River of Time and poured it into the Mist.
Because the "water" of the River of Time naturally held something of time's essence, the mist possessed certain mysterious magical properties.
It could connect to the underworld below and the stars above, while reaching across the seas in every direction.
Raise the mist, choose the right direction, and follow the Compass: the Mist could reach any world and any corner of it.
Even the Black Prison.
The mist also contained a world of its own, capable of holding far more Magical Creatures than anyone might ordinarily imagine.
"Aoooh!!"
"Aoooh! Aoooh!!"
The long calls came from deep within the mist, interrupting the conversation between Captain Mist and Sir Ulrich. A faint stir ran through the deck behind the two Great Demons. Here and there, crimson eyes quietly lifted to peer beyond the rails, hoping to catch a glimpse of the creatures making those calls.
But all they could see was mist, white as cotton and rolling like waves. Now and then, the oily green light of a Ghost-killing Wind Lantern used to signal between warships flashed past like a will-o'-the-wisp in a