The calm winds blew across the grassy plains as Aaron stared off into the vast sea that stretched beyond his view.
Two weeks had passed since he had escaped Sea Fallen, barely able to move and carrying a comatose girl who had encountered a deity.
News stories began to appear on shelves worldwide, recounting the heroic efforts of Lepaie Quinn in thwarting the terrorist plot.
They reported on how the city would be entering a period of abandonment as the Oceanic Association deliberates on how to exterminate the zombified creatures that roam the streets.
Aaron had been at the very epicenter of the disaster and even indirectly played a part in its creation, so as he skimmed the article, he scoffed at the blatant lies.
Clear the city? Impossible, unless you somehow enter that underground room and kill… that…
He paused as he remembered the horrific monster that had consumed Adam in the chamber, devouring his very being, corrupting his soul.
Nodding slowly, he flipped through the remaining pages, subconsciously expecting another major article relating to the Conference of Kings; however, only fishing records and weather reports were written in the ink.
Hmm, that's strange… Penelope had said she had seen Lord Quinn wreaking havoc through the city with an aura of distress emanating from him…
As he thought of the girl who had become part of his sword, he turned his attention down to the sapphire ring on his finger.
Once she had returned to him after seeing Alice off at the main port of Sea Fallen, a strange phenomenon occurred.
The ring upon his finger vibrated and buzzed with energy; however, as he reached out to touch the glowing surface, his vision blurred, and he collided with the hard deck.
Fatigue had finally dug through the layers of adrenaline coursing through his veins, leaving him with drooping eyes and agonizing pain stabbing through his arm.
According to Penelope, he had slumbered for four days and three nights after that, eventually awakening with the stars overhead.
The blade was nowhere to be seen; however, the girl's voice coaxed him to check the jewel that adorned his index finger.
Unlike before, the once silver band had turned pure gold with the turquoise gemstone in the center, fracturing into two separate pieces.
Testing different possibilities brought simple results that even Aaron could understand clearly.
On the right side of the ring was a darker, more sapphire colored stone that, when pressed, would summon Ocean's Bane to his side faster than he could blink.
The other was a familiar shade of turquoise that, like before, controlled the Ghostship itself, including its storage and disguise.
He had been happy at the time, but now, as he felt the rustling grass around him, he felt nostalgic for simpler times.
One day ago, he had arrived on an island north of Sea Fallen but still west of his homeland of Strava.
Refugee camps had been set up across the island, with Lepaie Quinn departing from the sites at the very same moment as Aaron's arrival.
It was a miracle for the boy, for if he had been spotted, it would've involved questions, investigations, and other things that he frankly couldn't answer even if he wished.
It should be safe now to go grab a meal… I haven't eaten since I arrived, and that was nearly twenty-four hours ago…
The sound of his stomach grumbling echoed through the empty field, bringing a light chuckle from Penelope.
Aaron didn't understand how she could hear or see while firstly being a sword and secondly being stored inside the ring, but he figured it would be rude to ask.
Slowly standing up, he turned around and began his walk towards the nearest encampment of civilians who were evacuated from Sea Fallen all those weeks ago.
…
"I-I'm telling you folks! He's really in here!"
The angry croaks from the old woman garnered laughs and murmurs from the audience, yet as they dissipated away into their own separate conversation, she sat down muttering to herself.
Listening to her dejected whispers, a middle-aged man with scars covering his body reassured her calmly while shooting glares at the other refugees.
"Lass, it's alright, no need to get whrked up by deir disbelief"
His words calmed the woman dramatically as she stroked a small glass jar filled with seawater that she clung to for dear life.
Aaron watched this scene from a distance before approaching the two and sitting down near them on a log.
In the middle of the small group was a campfire whose embers crackled and burned away at the wood thrown within.
The old woman looked up sadly as he appeared, speaking quietly while pulling the bottle closer to her chest.
"Boy… Have you come to mock me, too?"
Aaron frowned as he shook his head, denying her question quickly.
To her right, the brown haired man shifted in his cloak, revealing a scarred stub where an arm used to be.
His voice was gruff and firm as he smiled at the blond boy who sat across from him.
"Dat's good den... de name's Bjorn, what about you?"
He looked at the woman to his right before turning his attention back to the boy awaiting his response.
"My name is Aaron."
The man nodded as the woman to his left spoke without pause.
"I-I'm Muriel… This is my husband Lanney."
As she talked, she held out the jar in front of her, showing the two guys who watched her the water inside.
Internally, Aaron sighed as he figured out the reasoning for the laughs she had been receiving previously.
Her husband died, and she went off the deep end straight into the plunging depths…
Bjorn seemed to realize it as well at the same time as he gently patted the woman's shoulder, showing respect to her sanity.
"Loss, eh? Back what? Maybe ten, no, fifteen years ago, I lost my arm in a fray with a sea terrhr, leaving me with this medal av honhr dat I wear proudly!"
Ripping off his cloak, he paraded his wound around the group, gathering a gasp from Muriel and a surprised expression from Aaron.
He was a Hunter? Incredible that he only got away with that damage in a sea battle…
Sighing to himself, he remembered how he had nearly died after his first fight against a sea terror.
The other two faced him in waiting, allowing the boy to assume they wanted a little bit of knowledge about him.
"I was born a little to the East of here on Strava, but I visited Sea Fallen after I…"
He paused as he thought of an excuse, yet figured out a perfect one a second later.
"I visited the island after deciding to join the Hunters' Guild."
His response immediately garnered praise from Bjorn, who boomed with laughter as he sized up the boy.
"Yooehr little shrimp body is goeng to be a Hunter? Have you even taken—"
The man stopped himself as another person sat down in the circle.
She was completely covered with a heavy brown cloak, only revealing her face, which glowed a pale white.
Her brown eyes were pointed at the tips with her eyelashes blinking together while being directly trained on the blond boy across from her.
Not a word was spoken between the original three speakers as the new woman opened her mouth to speak.
"Hello, I was just looking for a place to sit. Feel free to continue talking, I won't interrupt."
She was talking to Muriel and Bjorn; however, not even for a moment did her eyes leave Aaron, who matched her gaze curiously.
D-Did she come here because of me? W-Wait, don't tell me she…
As a teenager, Aaron commonly had misconceptions about everything around him; however, this time, while he was off the mark slightly, he wasn't completely wrong.
"Alright, Miss... Anyway, Aaron, you got unlucky to be on de old Sea Fallen w'en it fell. Usually a beautiful city, but after de attacks, it has been reduced to not'eng but rubble… This mhrneng I 'eard de death count skyrocketed to nearly two thousand after those zombies came…"
With the mention of the death toll, the boy paled, thinking about each body he had come across as he traversed the city.
Not a single soul escaped their grasp other than me…
From the side, Muriel could be seen tightening her grip on her glass while the other woman who had joined spoke up quietly.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, even after saying I wouldn't, but I was curious about the events of what transpired on the island… I wasn't on Sea Fallen when it fell, but I heard something about a 'Divine Light'?"
Her tone conveyed the intent of a question, but her unyielding stare felt like it was digging through Aaron's very soul, disheartened him to the idea.
"Ahh, you mean dat flash in de night befhre, simply incredible… Nobody knows w'ere it came from, but I could've swhrn it was in de nhrth."
Bjorn answered her as he pondered deeper about the inquiry.
Across from him, the boy was sweating rapidly; however, he was just managing to stay calm enough not to give away his secrets to the mysterious woman.
Inside his head, Penelope whispered details about the cloaked figure, yet none stood out other than the fact that she had a deep curiosity lingering within her.
I should use the excuse that it's getting late to remove myself from this conversation before she asks something else…
Smiling, he started to stand, pulling the gazes of all three adults who stared at him, confused.
"I'm sorry, but I really must retire for tonight. The nightmares tend not to rear their head if I sleep early, so I must depart now."
Tipping his head slightly, he watched as Muriel quietly nodded her head, waiting for Bjorn's final message to him.
"Nightmares, eh? Oh, shrry boy, but you might have de right idea… I should be retireng as well."
Similarly to Aaron, he stood up, bowing his head to both the new woman and Muriel, who followed suit, since without them, she would be alone with her murmurings.
The cloaked woman watched carefully but didn't move, still warming herself by the embrace of the fire.
In the next few minutes, the group dispersed with Aaron walking slowly back to the disguised Ghostship, which waited off the coast of the island.
It took him half an hour in total to make his way all the way back since he repeatedly stopped checking his surroundings to make sure he wasn't followed.
Penelope alerted him once along the way that something was ahead; however, it ended up just being a small hare that bounded along the grass.
As he arrived on the deck of the Ghostship, he released his pent-up stress with one hearty sigh before collapsing on the deck.
He wiped his hands across his face, shutting his eyes and muttering under his breath.
"That was close…"
Groaning, he sat up, opening his eyelids slightly, where he saw a strange-shaped barrel in front of him.
Rubbing his eyes in a confused manner and checking again, he froze as he realized he wasn't alone.
For sitting relaxed on top of a small stool that had never existed before was the cloaked woman from the firepit.
"What was so close, Aaron Grimstall?"