“(The pirate is a metaphor but also still a person.)”

This aside points out the duality of being both a metaphor and a character. The pirate later proves to be the Keeper, who is also Time, making this an apt description. This duality also holds true for several other characters and ideas within the story. 

“Far beneath the surface of the earth upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories. Stories written in books and sealed in jars and painted on walls. Odes inscribed onto skin and pressed into rose petals. Tales laid in tiles upon the floors, bits of plot worn away by passing feet. Legends carved in crystal and hung from chandeliers. Stories catalogued and cared for and revered. Old stories preserved while new stories spring up around them.”

This first description of the Starless Sea sets the tone for the ultimate setting and confirms the novel’s magical realism. The Starless Sea is a place where stories are kept and where they originate.

“And so the son of the fortune teller does not find his way to the Starless Sea. Not yet.” 

This last sentence in the third story describes the end of a significant moment in Zachary Ezra Rawlins’s life. When Zachary reads this sentence, it puts the rest of the plot in motion, prompting him to investigate Sweet Sorrows and ultimately find his way to the Starless Sea.