Even with tears held tightly behind his eyelids, the blond boy stood proud, the wound at his hip freshly burned by imbuing flame magic into his blade and then pressing it against his flesh.
That hurt like all hell…
Muttering curses to himself, he finally took the time to observe the space around him, the unknown room, and the ceiling—two varying things that caught his attention.
Due to him, there was now a gaping hole in the roof where one could see the steep eighty-meter drop that he had fallen from.
"So that's what that was…"
Noticing rows of the very same spikes that he had pulled from his hip, he groaned loudly, their true use coming to mind.
To prevent the very same vultures that the barrier at the top of the castle was meant to ward off from creating nests on the roof, they had installed anti-bird spikes on the top of the buildings.
When he had fallen, one had torn straight through his body and embedded itself half into his hip, and the other into the floor.
Who knew sliding your own body off a spike would be so painful…
Shaking his head, he brought his gaze downward and to the room that expanded out around him, now coated in a fresh layer of dust.
It was perhaps the most opulent room that the boy had seen, yet, with the caveat of looking like a scientist's dream.
While the brilliant red velvet carpets were now covered in dust and debris, and the master bed now carried a boulder the size of a person, chalkboards surrounded nearly every wall of the chamber.
Each board had a single formula scrawled across its surface; a spiraling knot of runes and numbers was repeated on every one.
Different iterations seemed to spread around the room, each one more frantic and smudged than the last.
To most, the room would seem like nothing compared to the room of the King of Souls he had seen earlier that week; however, there was one thing that set this one apart from the rest.
Only a couple of meters away from where the boy had broken through the roof and landed like a meteor onto the floor, a hanging cage rested from the ceiling.
Black wire formed a sphere that floated weightlessly above the bed, the object inside it murmuring quietly.
"That's a…"
The words couldn't even come to his mind as he observed the thing within the cage of iron, his cheek twitching with horror as he heard the sound of the door unlocking.
"Your guess would be correct, Aaron Grimstall. That is certainly what you believe it to be."
The blond boy's head whipped around faster than he could think, the sight of a face he so desperately wished not to see appearing before him.
Cauron J. Thorn, the King of Mystery, or more commonly known as The Immortal, now stood before the turquoise-eyed boy with a frown.
The child tried to open his mouth to speak; however, as a wave of nausea overcame his figure, he was reduced to a groan.
Watching the interesting scene before him, the orange-haired King adjusted his glasses, continuing his comment from earlier.
"You mustn't have seen me in the lookout tower, as you were so rude as to not wave as you fell…"
Trying to lighten the tense mood, he sighed as he followed the boy's gaze back up to the iron cage where a being sat still, muttering under its breath.
"W-why is there…"
Aaron's voice was shaky and wrought with concern; the barriers that settled over his mind further drove him into dismay.
"You've crashed into my oldest wound, boy. The least you could do is listen to the scar tissue."
Cauron's voice was thick with irritation but also an odd emotion that the boy couldn't place, his next words beginning an elaborate story that echoed throughout the room.
"As you know, thirty-five years ago, the Plague of Despair spread throughout the world without mercy."
The King paused, his eyes glazing over as he noticed the fifteen-year-old boy's gaze shift towards him.
"Curing it was simple, yet it still killed nearly twenty percent of the population of all seas, leaving the global totals to a near-extinction level. When I released a viable medicine that counteracted its effects, I made my wealth and grew my prestige widely."
As the blond boy observed the Sea King quietly, he noticed his face was paler than usual, his eyes shaky, and his overall appearance disheveled compared to his normal state.
"It was never revealed to the world, and it never will be; however, during that time, I was also newly married, a child on the way."
Aaron took a step backward, his brow furrowing in confusion, the dots beginning to connect in his head.
"During the turn of the century, that very same plague that I sought to end took its revenge on my family, mutating into something… Inhuman…"
Within the boy's mind, the timeline of events began to connect to one another, a historic day only a few years before his birth coming into view.
"The Zombification Crisis of 3099. You've heard of it, yes?"
There was no doubting it now; the only possibility for what the boy had seen was now clear in his mind, a look of pure horror wrapping around his face as he realized it.
"My wife was in the middle of that disaster… The infection spread quickly, and without a cure, the only fix was death itself."
His eyes drifted around the room, glancing at each chalkboard as if examining the formula that he had spent decades attempting to complete.
A single solution that would perfect his cure, the only equation separating him from what rested in the cage above.
Nevertheless, there were certain expectations that existed for the Sea Kings that governed the mighty seas.
They do not yield, do not relent, do not give up, and most importantly, do not show any sign of weakness.
Those were the tales that Aaron grew up hearing from the moment he was young enough to stand, yet, in the present day, he watched as the oldest of the Kings, a man marked by the passing of time itself, collapsed in a silent sadness.
While not a single tear was spilled, the child could tell that he was beyond the point of loneliness and sorrow.
He wasn't looking upon one of the mighty Great Sea Kings, but rather a widowed old man of the deadliest disease in history.
And as the man continued on, one could tell that he could barely think straight, the memories of that day taking over as he stared blankly at the floating iron cage that murmured quietly.
"I told the Council that I would exterminate the remnants of the disaster to prevent the spread of the mutation, their knowledge of my wife's state making them hesitant to allow it. Yet, regardless of their opinions, I massacred all but one."
He ceased his speech, instead staring up at the cage that seemed far more lonely than when Aaron had first witnessed it.
Aaron's hand, which had been unconsciously pressed up against his hip, fell slack to his side, his own sharp, singular pain feeling trivial compared to years of longing.
And as he stared up at the cage one final time, he truly saw what was within it, absorbing the sight to the deepest crevices of his mind.
Sitting in the very center of the sphere was a woman with long white hair that fell down past her shoulders.
Even with her rotten flesh and lifeless eyes, ripped and matted hair, peeled skin, and broken body, the boy could tell that she was beautiful.
Nonetheless, she was a zombie, one who was considered dead to the world and, in all meanings of the word, would never return to life.
Pursing his pale lips, the blond boy turned around and faced the Sea King, meeting his gaze with his own sad eyes.
He spoke quietly, like in a whisper, the words coming out slowly.
"Why did you tell me this…"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he heard an echo from the cage above his head, the sound of broken words coming out quietly.
"Hush… my tide, the stars… are near…"
Aaron watched as the Sea King's body stiffened, his lips parting as if he wished to sob but simply couldn't.
The scene didn't make sense to the boy, and perhaps it never would; however, as the next words left the man's mouth, he could at least understand one thing.
"I told you all of this because I think we can help each other."
He paused, turning his gaze towards the floor as the woman in the cage continued muttering words beyond the boy's comprehension.
"In the Vault of Nautilus, I remember an item that could cure all ailments regardless of their severity… If you could enter the Vault first and claim that item, then perhaps…"
Cauron stopped himself, the clear connotation of what he was going to attempt coming off clear to the boy.
He, though, could only sigh hard at the idea of another request from a Sea King; the implications of choosing the King of Mystery or the Kings of Souls and Dreams were easy to imagine.
"What would I tell Lord Droskyn and Lord Quinn then? I've already turned down their proposal, and if I were to accept yours, I wouldn't even be assured that you would reward better than—"
The blond boy was cut off before he could even finish his sentence, the man chosen by the God of Life speaking fast.
"If you choose me, then not only will I guarantee your safety, but I will also give you my entire fortune, empire, and backing in the Trials of God. All I ask is for you to bring back the woman who lives in that cage."