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Chapter 7: Darkest Of Times II

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He just allowed it to sail, letting the wind guide him into whatever destination it desires.

He didn't have much choice. His only hope was for the wind to take control, and let the ship sail endlessly until something comes in sight. Anything, even another desolate island, a sliver of hope was all he needs.

"Wow, like wow... Hehehahhahah!" The laughter of happiness resonated throughout the emptiness of the ocean, its source was a lonely odd boat sailing slowly along with the wind.

Well, to be specific, it was the person on board, "I guess all it took is a day from each other to make it happen."

Yovan looked up at the relatively clear sky, and calm wind, but enough to push his boat forward.

He expected it to rain at least a little, but his actions seemed to stop the worst-case scenario, "I'm a genius. If I left Zeus and Poseidon in the same room, I would be swimming alongside the sharks and whatever monstrous creatures lie beneath."

It's been three whole days of nonstop sailing, and it hasn't rained once which was odd, to say the least.

He of course brought the Olympus gods with him. What is a friend? Someone you can count on to look after you when worse comes to worst, just like Yovan has been doing for the past months, so he wouldn't leave them behind.

"I just hope things don't get worse from here on." The way he says it, it's like, can you stop poking Murphy with a needle? He'd bound to feel it at some point, and you won't like the outcome.

"Then again, how bad can it really get?" If a needle wasn't enough, Yovan used a fucking sword as he shrugged while shaking his head, eyeing the ocean with undeniable passion, "It's gorgeous. Everything is gorgeous, and I wanna explore it all."

There are many places he still wanted to explore and venture into in his past world, but he was sure it would never be like this miraculous glop of oceans.

So naturally, his passion was starting to burn bright at the future possibilities, only to be extinguished a few hours later by the sudden embrace of darkness, and the sound of splashing water.

Yovan looked up, and that's it. He just stared up speechless, "Why though?"

The darkness approached, giving the adventurer an even clearer look at its appearance. It was a colossal dinosaur-looking thing, its green eyes seemingly bulging out of its triangle head.

Its green tongue was handing out from its mouth, dripping saliva seemingly with hunger. Its pale blue color would've made it blend in with the ocean if not for its monstrosity, making it impossible not to notice.

Yet the way it silently moves through the depths only to surface right before its prey. Yovan had no way to deal with that.

'Stop, calm, think... This is a sea king, right? Ok, no stop then.' Yovan's thought process was as quick as he took a very slow step back, slowly backing away.

The Sea king was acting strangely. It didn't seem to intend to eat him, but more like playing with his ship as it continued to push it around, sometimes colliding with it.

It seemed confused, seemingly testing something as it made the ship its bitch, all while Yovan gulped in nervousness as his hands reached out for a fruit in a barrel.

He noticed the colossal creature acting more aggressively though his attention was still on the boat, so he hastily picked up the fruit and ran towards the edge of the ship, jumping out just as the Sea King crunched it down after noticing the tiny figure's movement.

It latched at him with surprising speed, almost taking his head off. Thankfully, the Sea king's teeth were extremely sharp because if not, Yovan would've been caught for reason even he had yet to notice.

He was drunk on adrenaline, sweating profusely though he did cool down a bit once he dived into the water, but he didn't have the luxury to let a sigh of relief because the creature was eyeing him.

Yovan did his best to swim down. Indeed, he swam down into the depths because he knew the alternative is suicide. The only hope of survival was down there, but also potential death.

He found it extremely hard to swim down with his usual speed for reasons he started to notice but chose to ignore. He just made sure to hold onto the devil fruit while moving his legs to the best of his ability.

He kept eyeing the surroundings without looking back until he found what he was looking for, a ravine of sorts. He didn't think much as he directly swam into it.

The irregular structure of ravines should allow the existence of large caverns, he hopes at least. he went on to swim deeper until he found a tight grotto which he delved into without hesitation.

Yovan was focused despite his anxiety, so the first thing he did once inside was to eye the sea fish around, none of them were threatening.

He stayed deep in the cavern, uneasy, slowly starting to tremble, forced to deal with the fact the entirety of his left arm was missing, hell, even a bit of his left shoulder was nowhere to be seen.

'I am in shock...' Yovan thought, forcing himself to calm down because he felt no pain at all. He kept his mind clear and hoped the stats shown by Limitless will have an effect.

Well, at least willpower is showing its effect because he was making the best out of the situation as he took off his shirt in a controlled manner. 

He bit on one end of it while attaching the other end to the wound with his remaining hand. 

He then stopped biting on the shirt, catching it with that hand, and tying it around him as tightly as possible, maintaining pressure on the wound. He even went on to increase the pressure with his hand, hoping to stop the bleeding.

All the blood spreading throughout the surroundings was making him seem like a delicious meal, especially when creatures such as that monstrosity exist.

He also made sure to keep the devil fruit close by lest some swift fish take a bite out of it because as far as he remembers, that's enough for it to take effect.

He remained there seated for what could be assumed to be more than a dozen minutes. Luckily, he trained to increase his breathing capacity for the past months to a monstrous degree, mostly thanks to the illogical Limitless.

Yovan remained tight and motionless, trying to slow down his heartbeat which in return will slow down his blood circulation. 

This has two benefits, it allows him to use less oxygen, thus staying in there for a longer time, and it will limit the bleeding.

'I don't think I'm faster than a Sea King which means The creature didn't follow, else I would be dead. Perhaps it's enjoying my arm at the moment? And all the meat in the shi... Wait, what about Athena? Poseidon? Zeus?'

Yovan closed his eyes, his eyelash quivering for a minute or so, 'It's okay Yovan. It will all be alright. You do not need them. You are your sense of reason. You are your own hope. 

The only thing stopping your wings from spreading is you. You are the light of your world, and nothing can change that.'

Nearly eight whole months were spent with Zeus and Poseidon, and seven with Athena. He grew accustomed to them because they were what was keeping him together. 

Oh how much he wanted to go wild and fly past the horizon because that's the kind of person he is. Staying in a prison was torture he wouldn't usually be able to handle, but perhaps Limitless helped.

The three gods kept him at bay, rational but hopeful. They kept him from taking risks that weren't worth it, but now he was confronted with his new reality, faced with death.

'My dad once said that even Monkeys fall from trees to which I responded with isn't that why we use our minds? To create and get rid of that possibility? 

We weren't alike at all, he had much more acceptance of mistakes than I am, and I told him many times that most fall by their own hands, one way or another, something they did or didn't; led to their fall.'

Yovan wanted to chuckle but he couldn't. He wanted to scream because the pain was catching up to him, but he couldn't. He could only continue to distract himself.

'He thought my way of thinking to be unrealistic, a description of the perfect, and we're no perfection, not in the slightest... He was right because my mind was having an existential crisis, and it was my doing. Then again, what was the alternative?'

Yovan opened his eyes, not because he thoroughly got himself together but because he has to leave. 

His oxygen tank was running low, so he didn't hesitate much in picking up the devil fruit and a relatively sharp rock to the side before swimming out of the cavern, finding himself faced with...