Skylipso - Fantasmical '23

High Fantasy

A blue sky overhead and the perfect amount of wind to navigate the Mediterranean skies, Skylipso enjoyed the spectacle of white sails hurtling up the masts, nasty bit by nasty bit as they were pulled up the rigging by a crew of light-footed sailors.

Once the sails were fully unfurled, the captain spread her arms and broke into a run.

"Hi Dad," she whispered as the zephyr hit her back and scooped her from the deck, "the ship as well, please." The deep rumble of her father's laugh billowed in the wind as he indulged her. Being the daughter of Zephyrus, the God of the Westernwind, certainly had its perks. Within seconds, 'The Ocean Breeze' took to the air.

"Whereto?" he asked.

"Surprise us," she ventured to say, feeling adventurous as they currently were without cargo and assignment, and unsuspecting her dad would carry her into an unknown realm, a place far beyond the rocks of Gibraltar and not included in the markings on any of their charts, but her suspicion rose when the ship effortlessly glided from clear blue skies into enigmatic darkness.

"Where have all the stars gone?" Bo'sun Marjorie leaned over the railing. "The moon?"

Skylipso swallowed hard, realizing she might've jeopardized the —already short—mortal lives of her crew. She wanted to turn to her father but she already knew he was gone. Being a child of the Gods had its downside too. As a rule all Gods were fickle as hell.

"There! A light." The ship's cook, Phaedra, pointed to a faint light floating miles ahead of the ship's bow. As they approached carefully, it appeared to be a red lantern drifting on the clouds. Phaedra fished it out with a boat hook and placed it at her captain's feet. Immediate warmth radiated against Skylipso's legs and when she hunched down to study it, a flame burned within.

"By the gods, what took you so long?" A voice coughed from within, the flame flickering with every word.

Skylipso blinked a few times. "There's a tiny lizard inside." She reached for the little fellow. It scurried back, cramming its tail and butt up the side of the lantern. Next, it took a deep breath ... and burned her hand. "Six heads of Scylla, what did you do that for?" she screamed while attempting to shake the hurt from her hand, her skin already blistering.

"Bucket of water for the captain!" Marjorie bellowed, knowing her body's ability to quickly heal itself when submerged in water.

The lizard squinted its eyes to slits and puffed smoke from its nostrils. "Lizard? Please! Didn't he tell you? Don't you have eyes?"

She looked at her burnt hand and back at the beastie. "Are you a ... a dragon? And who should've told me?"

"The wind that brought me here."

Dad? Could it be? Skylipso shook her head, the stool Marjorie shoved behind her knees not coming a second too soon. She sunk her hand into the accompanying bucket and closed her eyes for a moment as her skin healed. Praise Zeus!

"It said it would send transportation as soon as my sentence was served," the tiny dragon hissed, "but that was ages ago."

"Long sentence, what did you do?"

"I no longer wish to discuss. My dues are paid. Now if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if we could hurry home."

"And where is that? We're not familiar with this realm."

"I can show you the way."

Skylipso ordered an extra stool for the quarter deck and put the lantern up there so the dragon could guide them. The darkness lifted soon and before long, the rock of Gibraltar became visible in her spyglass.

As their surroundings became more familiar, breathing became easier again, although she was still confused about her father's motives. Even more confusing was the itinerary the dragon insisted on. She knew where it was going but no ... that couldn't be. They were not going to ...

"Are you sure about this, dragon?"

"Is the ocean black?"

"Uhm ... I'm not sure."

"Well then ..." the dragon said, confusing everybody around him, but whatever the dragon meant by his words was no longer relevant as the island they accosted was well known to her: Ogygia, her mother's home.

While they were mooring, annoyance at her father's pranks growing in Skylipso's belly, a cheerful Calypso came running down the beach. "Skylipso dear, what a surprise! I was just saying to your father the other day it has been ages since you visited your silly, old mom."

Skylipso groaned but melted into her mother's warm embrace all the same. "Hi mom."

"Is that?" Her mom let go of her and lifted the lantern from the stool. "Mushu ... darling, so good to see you! Where have you been? It's been ages since you set fire to the gazebo. You can't think I'd be mad at you for that long? Oh this day is full of lovely surprises. Come follow me, all of you! We have baklava and wine. Do you like calamari?"

Skylipso's crew waisted no time accepting the generous invitation, so their captain trotted along, muttering some curses to the wind while carefully allowing that long overdue feeling of coming home to settle in her chest.