"The sunrise is beautiful."
Aaron's calm words faded into silence as a brilliant ray of light covered the burning shipyard ahead of him.
He was propped against a crumbling wall, right where he had collapsed, with Eleanor and Ocean's Bane lying peacefully by his side.
『Truly magnificent. A city that hasn't seen the morning sun in a century finally witnesses dawn at the twilight of its life.』
The glowing blade pulsed with a gentle cyan as it spoke to Aaron, who gazed at the horizon.
"I've been curious… How can you speak to me like you're a human?"
He voiced his question with no ill intent, not wishing to hurt the weapon's feelings, yet a sad response echoed through his head.
『I used to be a human. Celebrated for my beauty and revered across my world. I was the princess of the mightiest kingdom throughout the land. However, when the gods came, my paradise became my tomb.』
The blade's voice was slow and bitter, radiating such anger and hatred towards the Gods that Aaron could feel his chest stirring as if the emotions were his own.
Its words, though spoken in a familiar tongue, carried a strange accent that reminded him of ancient languages.
『One day, a god appeared in a fiery ball of destruction, vaporizing everything they touched like a heavenly messenger heralding the apocalypse. We tried to communicate with them, yet they showed no mercy. Everywhere the god went, they wrought destruction and despair, killing simply for amusement.』
The blade made a faint, sorrowful sound, almost like a sniffle, as it continued the story.
『I sent my most loyal knight, a man who bested even the strongest terrors. But all that returned to me was his flayed corpse, with a message carved into a block of gold foretelling my inevitable demise.』
As it paused again, Aaron felt yet another wave of sorrow and anger seep into his thoughts, leaving his mind in turmoil.
『The god arrived on the evening of the new year, breaking their way into the castle without any consideration for the innocent civilians obliterated by the mere sight of the divine. Then they came to my room, disguised as the very same knight that I had sent to slay them.』
The whirling wind sent fumes of smoke into Aaron's face, yet he didn't even flinch, listening intently to every detail the sword revealed.
『I tried to fight it with the only relic recovered from my most trusted man—a peerless sword imbued with the power of the Ocean Dwellers themselves.』
The sword released a pulse of violet light, rising and fading like a weary sigh that only the boy could understand.
『In my final moment, I summoned the sword to my side, slicing the deity's cheek and drawing golden drops of blood that fueled its horrific soul. It simply smiled at me, laughing at the feeble wound and mocking both me and my kingdom. They called us weak and pathetic. Unable to stand against a single god, not even one of the youngest of their kind.』
Drowsiness tugged at the boy's mind, dragging him toward a much-needed slumber; however, he fought to stay awake, unwilling to miss a word of his companion's story.
『I will never forget the malice I felt as he revealed his true form to me and ruthlessly ended my pitiful existence. It took him no time at all. I thought it was over, that I was finally going to pass into the Great Beyond, and that my story had reached its final page. Truly a foolish hope… As I drew my last breath, it sparked a surge of divine interference, and the god twisted that power to wrench my soul from death's grasp, imprisoning me within the very same weapon you wield.』
Silence lingered between them as the weight of the story sank into the boy's mind.
Rage on another's behalf bubbled beneath his calm exterior.
Aaron's eyelids drooped half-shut, his head heavy as he slowly articulated a response.
"What… what was your name…?"
His voice was barely a whisper, but it didn't matter since the weapon heard him anyway and flashed with a soft pink light.
『Penelope. Penelope Strauss.』
She spoke breathlessly, her sadness and grief flooding Aaron's chest as he drifted into slumber.
"A… nice… name…"
…
He awoke in a cold sweat.
Darkness surrounded him, harsh pressure digging into every nerve in his body except for his ruined arm, which hung lifelessly at his side.
As expected, he had returned to the world of the Old Man, but this time, unlike the previous visits, it was because of his success.
The mirror at the center of the void flickered, then stabilized, revealing an image of a man beaming with joy.
"Aaron, Aaron, Aaron! I always believed in you!"
The Old Man's unnerving smile somewhat frightened the boy, but he forced a wry grin so as not to offend him while getting praised.
All pain had left his body; however, the wounds remained as a reminder of the sacrifices he had to make to get this far.
"I completed your mission."
He paused, staring at the older man, who tilted his head in confusion as if to ask why he had stopped speaking.
"I-I know you only promised to revive Eleanor, b-but I was thinking…"
As Aaron fumbled with his words, the Old Man's playful expression stiffened, and he cut the boy off with a roar."You wish to steal my weapon? The one I asked you to retrieve, the one that once belonged to me?"
The harsh words slammed into Aaron, making him wince as the weight of his rash decision finally hit home.
"I can read your thoughts, boy. You cannot hide anything from me. And you shall pay for what you have done."
Aaron braced himself for whatever the man had in store for him, coming to terms with the consequences of his actions.
His pulse quickened, every muscle tightening as the silence pressed down on him ominously.
Then, without warning, booming laughter caught him off guard.
"AHAHA! You should've seen your face! It was all—I've accepted my fate… Goodbye, world!"
Another fit of laughter from the man shook the darkness, leaving Aaron confused and a little scared as he watched him double over.
"Haha… Truly one of the funniest things I've seen in the past few hundred years. But seriously now, boy, have I told you nothing? How do you expect to get that weapon to the Abyss at your level?"
Aaron fell deep in thought, coming to the only logical conclusion he could draw.
"The plan was… y-you were going to let me keep her from the start?!"
Relief washed over the boy, releasing the fear that had plagued him ever since he made the promise.
"Honestly, I didn't expect you to solve the puzzle so easily… You surprised me by picking up on the hints left not only by me, but also by your predecessors who built the chamber."
The compliment made Aaron blush, but he brushed it off and answered humbly.
"Not at all. I was going to die either way, so I just prayed it would work."
His smile quickly faded as he noticed a sour expression form on the Old Man's face at the mention of prayer.
"Answer me honestly, boy. Who exactly did you pray to?"
Every trace of the man's excitement and enthusiasm vanished, replaced by a flat look of disappointment.
"I-It was just a figure of speech… M-My family isn't religious—"
He froze as the realization struck him: a new memory of his family had surfaced in his mind, despite the lapse in his concentration earlier.
Ahead of him, the elder sighed deeply, stroking his beard.
"Good. Had you prayed to a deity to resolve this situation, the consequences would have been catastrophic."
As he spoke, tiny cracks spread along the edges of the mirror, signaling that their meeting was nearing its end.
"Sir… I beg you, can you please revive my friend?"
Making sure to address him with the utmost respect, he bowed and pleaded with the Old Man to honor their pact and fulfill his deepest desire.
"Oh, yes, that… Bringing her back is as simple as snapping my fingers; however, what comes after is the tricky bit…"
With that, he snapped his fingers, and thick tendrils of turquoise light unfurled through the void.
The strands wrapped around Aaron's body, slowly fading into translucent threads that covered him from head to toe.
"Your friend, Eleanor—lovely girl by the way, I spoke to her once and I must say, very well mannered and thoughtful… Anyway, she encountered something even I cannot fully fix in my current state."
He paused, glancing around as if to make sure nobody was watching.
When he spoke again, his voice was quieter than ever before.
"I have restored her body to pristine condition; however, her mind is fractured, and her soul is trapped in a limbo between the Great Beyond and your dimension. Not to mention the state of her core. Normally, bringing her soul back would be as simple as forging a tether similar to the Soul Pact we made. But in her case, she witnessed a deity's true form with her naked eye…"
Aaron's eyes widened as Penelope's story echoed through his head.
"A deity? I-Is there any way to save her?"
His panicked words flowed out of his mouth like a leaky faucet, and even the Old Man grimaced as he answered.
"I am unsure of anyone in the present time who knows human anatomy well enough to fix this, but if you somehow found such an individual, it might be possible."
This sliver of hope rekindled Aaron's motivation, a new goal taking root within his battered body.
Someone who understands human anatomy at a high level…
He couldn't recall a single person who would match that requirement; however, there were still millions of people alive in the world, even after it sank beneath the waves.
"Thank you once again, sir. I don't know how to repay you for your generosity."
The blond-haired boy bowed even deeper than before, and the Old Man answered by cracking a small smile.
"You shouldn't be thanking me. If I were you, I would hurry back to reality before a gruesome scene unfolds there…"
Aaron froze as the words sank in, realizing that something terrible must have been going on in reality while he lingered in this false realm.
"Yes, yes, it's quite the fiasco… That blade of yours seems to think a child and a crab are on the menu for dinner. Quite unfortunate for them… Still, they lived well enough. Especially that shelled crustacean…"
His eyes glazed over as if lost in thought, leaving the boy perplexed but also alarmed by the sudden mention of Mr. Crab, who seemed to be in conflict with Aaron's new companion.
The cracks in the mirror deepened, distorting the Old Man's form as it slowly dissolved into the darkness.
"Before we depart, remember to stay far away from the w—"
SHING!
An explosion of glass shards shook the void, collapsing it as fast as it had formed and hurling Aaron's conscience back to reality, once again, even more shaken and worried than before.