INTERLUDE 1 - The Start

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Another one… one more candle perished, pushing more ashes and smoke into the air.

 

“...”

 

He knew. Those who were destined to live, lived. Those who were destined to die, died.  No tears would come out of his blindfolded eyes.

 

Those who followed this line of work were destined to die. It was expected of them to follow their mission until the last man.  That was the way of the sect. The Mistress had conditioned them well. 

 

Inside the red, circular pentagram, sat a person. His robes, smooth and black. If it was not for his one-eyed platinum medallion, one could easily confuse the Great Master for a saint. 

 

As the blindfolded man embarked in his quest through the astral plane, hot candle flames all around him danced in the dark. He paid no attention to the mission nor the candles that surrounded him. 

 

But as his soul was in the process of passing through the 9th Gate, a disturbance appeared. It was difficult to ignore. Something or someone had made its move.

 

It had begun.

 

The candles … Collectively began to lose their flames. Years of preparation and training completely gone in an instant. No trick, force or spell could ignite the soul candles again. They were forever damned to stay dead.

 

Only a few of the candles remained. The room had gone dark like a cave, the scene resembling the early humans huddling around a single fire inside a cave.

 

Among the survivors, there stood a silver candle twice in size as the rest. This flame belonged to a very special man. One of the maggots favoured by the Mistress herself. In terms of hierarchy and standing, it could very well be that he was only a singular rank below the blindfolded man, thus implying that he was his superior.

 

But the candle soon found itself alone as the candles surrounding it began to extinguish themselves. Most of them without a fight. As if they did not know what hit them. 

 

‘Idiots ...’

 

The blindfolded man thought.

 

Unlike the rest. The silver candle stood firm. This would be a fight. Its flame doubled in size and turned pitch dark like charcoal. Violently, the flames shook and the dance began. For this particular disciple was willing to protect its flame to the bitter end and then some more.

 

But something was wrong. The dark flame shone brightly, it shone bravely. It was the most brilliant fire that had ever stood in the presence of the blindfolded man.

 

‘However ...’

 

However no matter the struggle, no matter the pain. The blindfolded man could tell that the flame was scared.

 

Fear. It was impossible. Even the mana surrounding it was afraid. This was no ordinary opponent. 

 

‘What the mistress had predicted seems to have gone to pass ...’ The blindfolded man finally confirms, nodding his head in disbelief.

 

As he paid attention, the shadow dancing reached its final stage. The flame did not relent. Like a drowning man grasping for air, the flame struggled against the darkness to the very end.

 

But this did not matter. The game was rigged. The great assassin was destined to fail. For no ordinary man could defeat a demon lord.

 

With one last bang, the candle light grew bright like a star then … vanished. Not without first leaving a malicious demonic aura. It had been consumed. And along with it, the rest of the candles died. Their souls, devoured. 

The room was now covered in total darkness. He only one thing.

 

“... I see.”

 

Standing up, he made his way to the door. Leaving all of the unlit candles behind, and he left the  room, he murmured;

 

“Thank you for your work, Sebastian.”

 

When the door closed. The room was filled with nothing but darkness. The battle had just begun…

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“Is ... it truly over?” Uruka asked herself, clearly unable to relax.

 

She looked at her hands, still trembling and still in a bit of a shock considering what happened just moments ago.

 

The atmosphere on the deck of the ship had a terrible blend of an assortment of emotions wafting through the air.

 

Worry on the aspect of what happened to everyone else in the palace, those of higher status to the knights on board, specifically the royal family, fears and despair accompanying it closely.

 

Had a demon of gluttony been on board, it almost seemed as if it would even be able to smell the emotions because of how surreal it all was. 

Uruka herself however, seemed to be relatively calm and seemed to have next to no trouble holding it all in.

 

To the untrained observer, it might even see that way. However, Uruka was afraid. Very afraid.

 

She kept staring at the island, as it slowed faded within the horizon. She thought about Rei. Then about all the horrible things that Rei would do to her for simply leaving because it was dangerous.

 

‘Should I ... try and get these people to turn back ...?’ She thought about the issue deeply, weighing the possible pros and cons, though her fear of Rei clearly causing the scale to be more biased on the aspect of more radical choices.

 

Soon, her thoughts were interrupted by a handsome young man.

 

“Hero Uruka, might you be alright?” He asked, kneeling down as a sign of respect as well as to meet her eyes.

 

Uruka only nodded. It was a lie. She just wanted him to go away.

 

“If you need anything. I am here to serve you my lady.” The blonde knight said, smiling radiantly.

 

‘Bright ... it’s too bright ...’ Uruka thought, almost using her hand to try and shield her eyes from the fictional radiance of the escort knight she had been assigned to originally.

 

‘That’s right ...’

 

This was not a fairytale.

 

The knight attempted to make small-talk, however Uruka simply pushed him away, too engrossed in her feelings of deep anxiety and fears, her stare deeply fixated in the in the still-visible, yet clearly distant Maltha.

 

‘No wait ...’ Uruka reasoned with herself.

 

Rei wasn’t there as of that moment, it wasn’t as if she could simply teleport in order to punish Uruka, right?

 

Sure, she may be destined to be killed by Rei as soon as she’s seen by her, but that wasn’t really her problem, and instead she delegated the issue to the future Uruka.

 

‘That’s right ... there’s no use in spending what could be my remaining moments riddled in so much anxiety ...’

 

Just for this second, did she relax. For the danger was at last be gone as she thought.

 

...

 

But she was wrong. For the disaster was yet to come. 

 

For suddenly, and without warning, a thunder-like pillar of red and black light shot upwards into the sky. For a second, the day turned into a night. Then, the direction of the wind changed.

 

It wasn’t just a flash of light that would have appeared as a blast that would have at most, damaged the whole palace, but rather, the entire island of Maltha, as far away as it was, was visibly engulfed in the helix of violent raging lights.

 

Screams, accompanied by expressions of deep horror could be witnessed all across the ship. Their little moment of experiencing the influx of the delusional feelings of safety had quickly faded into obscurity. Their state of uneasy calm had reverted into full panic, and finally horror.

 

Booom! A singular loud sound forced everyone on the ship to cover their ears, with Uruka being no exception as she was forced to cover her ears lest she suffer permanent eardrum damage, the damage being minimized as it left her ears severely ringing to interfere with her senses, almost rendering her down for the count.

 

The people on the ship were not even given a chance to fully render the severity of the situation into their heads, as another, more urgent and relevant crisis went into play.

 

Fwoooosh!

 

The water became erratic, significantly and vastly several more times so than what it usually was, as a result from the impact of the rising pillar of red and black light.

 

Uruka herself dropped to her knees, she knew everyone was going to die. 

 

“It’s a tidal wave!” One of the knights within the ship screamed out, pointing towards the massive incoming wall of water, fear clear in his eyes as it rapidly approached the ship.

 

“Everyone brace!" Another knight howled, his voice quickly being snuffed out by the rapidly raging water, knocking everyone back into their senses as they grabbed onto something.

 

Uruka, paralyzed by fear, her ears still ringing, did nothing.

 

‘!?’ Noticing this, the young knight from before, pulled her into his arms.

 

‘Everything is going to be okay.’ His lips said.

 

It wasn’t just consolation, hearing—or rather, seeing this, Uruka felt the fear escape her body, seeming to be the effect of magic with how forced it seemed to be expelled, quickly being replaced by ...

 

‘You ...’

 

Pure annoyance.

 

“You damned lia—!!“ She yelled out loud, unable to even finish her sentence as the tidal wave came crashing down onto the wooden ship, and with a violent force, it capsized the vessel, its waves strong enough that it even straight up crushed some of the solid wooden and metal parts of the ship, thereafter plunging all of its passengers several dozens of meters deep into the darkness of the sea.

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Some hours later, and in another place in the Mediaterran Sea ...

 

“Mmm ... this is inconvenient ...” Alfonso twirled the end of his wet beard.

 

Booom! Another large wave of water made contact with the bow, splashing upwards and once again wetting his prized beard.

 

“These tides are quite more vicious than usual ... however it isn’t storming at all ...?” 

 

“Might we be in the midst of a storm ...?” One of Alfonso’s men came up, anxiety clear in his voice as he asked for confirmation.

 

The water was rowdy. Dangerous wages and whirlpools formed, threatening to swallow anyone who fell from aboard. 

 

“No. There are clearly seagulls and other birds in sight, this will be nothing more but a minor issue.” Alfonso noted.

 

“Besides, any storm strong enough to change the tides like this … It would be seen even from miles away.” He ended.

 

“But Maltha … sir.”

 

“You see any dark clouds in the sky? Because I do not. Besides, Maltha should be nearby. We will take shelter in the Royal port. For the moment, go and throw a barrel of rum into the sea, let the gods be in our side as we make our way into safety from the storm.”

 

Alfonso’s tone was firm. He knew the crew was superstitious. Appeasing the gods, was more like appeasing his men. 

 

And besides, his superiors would not take kindly to a transaction being carried out late, much less to one that hasn’t at all arrived.

 

“As ... you command captain.” The crewman’s voice faded near the end, a sign of clear dissatisfaction, but not enough to be significant enough to warrant attention, at least not for the moment.

 

Alfonso himself went back inside to his quarters, to dry himself off and gather his thoughts, waiting for them to arrive at their destination in scheduled time as the ship rocked heavily.

 

Yet, hours passed. The gods would not help Alfonso or his crew.

 

They sailed at sea for almost half a day. But Maltha was nowhere to be found.

 

“Sir….”

 

Alfonso knew. His men… They were getting desperate. 

 

“We will reach a shore. Malta should be nearby. The map and the compass do not lie. We are in route and within the right latitude.”

 

That was a lie. According to the compass. They should already have reached the Royal port, hours ago. But it was nowhere to be seen. 

 

While Alfonso thought of a plan of action… 

 

“Sir!”

 

“God’s damn it all, now what!?” He responded in anger, frustration clear in his voice as he turned around to meet the faces of the crewmen who called out to him.

 

Was it a mutiny? 

 

“Sir, a mermaid has been spotted!”

 

“A mermaid, my ass!” 

 

Alfonso knew that sea creatures did not dwell in shallow seas. 

 

Upon reaching the wooden deck of the ship, he saw that most of his men were crowded, staring into the horizon. Worried about a mutiny. Alfonso held tight the hilt of his sword.

 

But upon seeing the beautiful girl floating within the tides of an invisible storm… he could only wonder.

 

‘A mermaid ...?’ He thought.

 

But this thought did not last long. The closer the girl got into the ship, the more apparent become that she was no mermaid.

 

‘A Traveller ...?’ Alfonso thought, seeing the weird clothes as well as the notable colour of the hair.

 

Although not all Travellers possessed black hair, only Travellers would only have such black hair.

 

‘But ...’ Did he really have to?

 

Travellers weren’t exactly looked upon very kindly in Yuropa, being essentially aliens from several other worlds and dimensions typically tend to have that effect.

 

‘Mmmm ... crap.’

 

“Hoist her up!” Alfonso commanded, much to his dismay, he was still a human being albeit a bit corrupted at heart.

 

He couldn’t leave someone simply drifting around as such, and the girl might even have some clue as to what exactly what was going on.

 

 

“Well? What are you waiting for!? Bring her aboard lads!”

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