Chapter 11: The Mystery of Mi

Ten year old William Turner was enamored by the sea on which he sailed. It was magical and mystifying, beautiful and dangerous, and reminded him very much of his mother. He saw in her bravery and a fierceness that had never been there before. The mothering spirit had left her once the ship reached the open waters of the ocean and she became a woman of the sea, a captain of this great ship and crew and a force to be reckoned with.

His mother was strong, beautiful and respected by her crew. The men worked by her side, speaking in a language that the small boy did not understand but it was not a malicious tone that they gave off while working for her and with her. She worked along with them, not only the captain of the ship but busy working for the ship and by the ship and it was because of this that she was so respected. There was nothing that she would shrink away from, no job to taxing, no mess too foul, and no villain to strong that she would not defeat. They didn't meet with much trouble as they had set sail but there was always the chance of meeting with dangerous men at sea and though there were young, uneducated pirates that sail for the sake of being a pirate and pillaging without thought or worry of consequence they were always the ones to fall to the blade of the great Captain Elizabeth Turner. The unfortunate ones with little regard for the truth of the pirates' code or the understanding of those that were truly brilliant pirates were always easily defeated and sent away in need of much education in the ways of the Caribbean pirates.

It was by these encounters that young William learned what his mother really was. He saw her in action and saw the ruthlessness that dwelled deep in her soul. He saw in her the mother that he loved and the pirate that he dreamed about. He wanted to be just like her, to follow in her footsteps and to make his father proud of all the accomplishments he would achieve as a pirate.

William was in love with the ocean, with the crew and the ship but most of all he was in love with the adventure that had started to play out before him and Elizabeth was proud to see him thriving at the hands of her crew. They had adopted him as one of their own; put him to work aboard the ship and taught him as they became comfortable with the boy.

Few of the men, of the crew, actually spoke English, but the ones that did had attached themselves to the young boy and began to regale him with tales of the sea. He heard the stories of his mother, his father and the great pirates that made up the brethren court. They taught him with words and without how to live by the pirates' code. The men that could not speak to him in his language spoke to him in signs and movements and taught him to fight and to work and to listen. The crew was easily swayed to adopting the child because the man that had summoned them to the call of their captain had also attached himself to the small boy and though they trusted their captain explicitly they trusted the ancient man of the sea more.

William had also come to worship the old man. The stories and lessons that Mi taught him while he was aboard the ship were some of the most valuable lessons that the child would ever learn. They would not academic lessons but life lessons and lessons that protected him when unforgiving men boarded their ship. Even though Mi was old and wise he was still nimble, but did not appear to be. He could fight with the best of the men on the ship and though he refused to carry a weapon with him like the others he was always able to obtain one when it was necessary.

Mi began teaching William many things, many of which were lessons that the ancient arts that originated in Asia taught in legend. He learned to fight as a warrior, to yield a sword and to strike with silence and fearlessness but he was also taught about the earth and how to respect everything that was given to them by the earth and the sky. He learned to live by the code and though he had never seen the pirates code or even believed that it existed in a volume like a book; he could recite the lesson and began living as if he had been studying it for as many years and the pirates that worked and lived around him.

But there was always a mystery about Mi that no one on the ship would talk about. William wanted to know his history and everything that he had seen but he was afraid to asked the old man. Mi would sit silently meditating much of the time when the seas were calm and there wasn't any sign of danger and during these times no one bothered him. William wanted to ask him so badly but he was afraid. He would ask the men on the ship and they would get worried every time the subject came up and they completely avoided him for what seemed like days. He had learned very quickly not to ask questions about the old man but he could definitely ask questions of him and by this he had gained much of his new knowledge and experience but still he was curious as to the man's history and why he was so respected and feared by so many.

Many weeks into their voyage the mysteries of Mi were still plaguing the young boy as he walked the length of the ship, listening to the sounds of the waves, trying to hear what the sea was saying. He was met, a short distance from the bow of the ship by the old man himself.

"What are the waves saying to you today?" Mi asked as he began to walk side by side with the young boy.

"The sea is so calm today that it is hard to tell if it is trying to say anything or not, but I am feeling very uneasy by it," William said as he turned and looked at the old man, "the crew tells me to never trust a calm ocean because there is always trouble on the horizon."

"That is very true," Mi said, his grin hidden behind his long grey mustache and beard, "there is much uneasiness beneath the calm."

"What can possibly be stirring beneath the glass like surface," William asked feeling the angst of the day and the want to know more, not about the sea, but about the old man.

"You feel that you are not privy to knowledge that you wish to obtain and so it makes the truth that you have already learned hard to understand. You know that there are creatures and spirits and magic below the waves. You have seen what the magic is about and yet you do not believe," Mi said as he looked deep into the dark eyes of the little boy.

"I believe that there are forces at work here that I do not yet understand but I do not understand why people want to keep from me knowledge that may help me to understand," William said with a sigh.

"What knowledge do you wish to know?" Mi asked as he sat down in the point of the bow and looked back at the rest of the ship that stretched out before him.

"I want to know about you and your history as it pertains to the sea," William said as he sat down facing the old man and blocking his view of the ship.

"I will tell you some, but not all, as some is more important than most," Mi said as he shut his eyes.

"I'll take what I can get," William said a hint of excitement on his voice.

"Yes I believe that," Mi chuckled, "what is it you want to know?"

"I want to know how old you are," William said.

"I am younger than some but older than most," Mi said.

"Older than Davy Jones," William asked.

"Much," Mi answered.

"Older than Christ," William asked.

"Much," Mi answered.

"Older than time," William asked.

"Younger than time itself," Mi answered.

"Are you immortal, like my father?" William asked.

"Yes," Mi answered, "but I believe I will last much longer than even him."

"Wow!" William gasped, "That's old!"

"I like to think of it as experienced, rather than old," Mi chuckled.

"Are you magical?" William asked.

"Magical in what sense," Mi asked.

"Not like the magicians I have seen in the city port who use slight of hand and illusions to steal peoples money but magical like the sea," William said.

"I am the father of the sea," Mi answered.

"The sea has a father?" William asked confusion written on his brow.

"As does the sky and the wind and the sun and the clouds," Mi said motioning all around him.

"And the earth," William asked.

"The earth has a mother," Mi answered.

"Are you married to the mother of earth?" William asked.

"I am not, but we work together in such a way so that the earth and the sea and the sun and the sky all work in harmony by the rules of the great creator," Mi answered.

"So is the ocean from Singapore," William asked.

"No," Mi Laughed, "I am not of Singaporean descent myself. It is only the form I chose to appear in and a place that I have learned much from. I am most comfortable with these men and that country but I am from everywhere."

"Ok, I believe what you are saying," William said as he looked to the sky, "but why then should we worry about the sea and its dangers when you are the father of the sea?"

"Because I do not have control over the sea and all she does, nor do I have control over any of her sisters," Mi said, "they speak to me and they will not harm me because I am their link to the creator, but mankind has done them many wrongs and they are angry and vengeful. The sea and her depths had been held captive for many, many years and she has become free of those captors and is seeking revenge. Her sister, the sky, is still being held by an immortal man and they have vowed to be free together. Little do you know, but you have ties to the captors of the sea and the sky and they have planned many evils against you."

"What have I done to make them angry?" William asked fearfully.

"It is not what you have done but what your parents have done," Mi whispered, "the magic of the sea pulses through your veins. You are not only a child of human but of inhuman. You are a child conceived and born of the magic of the sea and the captors that hold your fathers immortal soul. You were never supposed to exist and yet the creator has blessed your parents with a human child with the sea in its veins. And that is why I am here with you, my son. I believe you have a very vast and enchanting future ahead of you."

"Should I be afraid?" William asked.

"Are you?" Mi asked.

"No," William answered, "I am intrigued but cautious. I have more questions than I did before," he said.

"I am here for you, you may ask me anything you wish to know," Mi smiled behind his grey beard.

"For now I would only like to listen," William said as he sat facing the old man, "I want to know the stories of the sea and the sky and how they came to be captives."

"That will be my pleasure to tell. It is a thrilling tale," Mi said and with that the stories began.