"What… in tarnation is that?"
In front of her was a circular clearing as no building was in sight, it seemed more like a crater than an opening, although it did not appear to be made by the impact of anything. It looked more human made than natural.
Even from where she was standing, she could see the centre of the crater. In the centre lay a human figure, or more like a humanoid figure. It had four long arms and a long muscular body, and it was using its arms to play what seemed to be a harp. She could not tell from this distance, she could not make out any other features than that, but the fact that she could make out what its body looked like meant that thing was pretty huge.
Aside from its features, the being seemed to be tied in chains, four chains wrapped around its wrists and two linked to its legs, and a chain around its neck, making it a total amount of seven chains. They were familiar golden chains, and as she traced them to their origins, she noticed they were also linked to the giant obsidian pillars in the distance.
She observed a little more, unsure how to proceed. She was sure that thing was a nightmare creature, it had to be. Nothing human had four arms, but the origin of that voice was definitely coming from it. She had never known of a nightmare creature that could speak or communicate mentally with others.
They were known to be unintelligent compared to humans, beasts that only sought the destruction of the human race. Yet this one was singing.
"Oh mother, why don't you love me…"
Suddenly the music stopped, its hands halted mid-strum. She saw its body move and turn around, and she suddenly had the feeling that it was looking directly at her.
"Come here, child of the sea…"
A sweet voice rang inside her mind. Suddenly she felt a strong desire to obey, and before she knew it her body started to move on its own.
'Stop… damn it, STOP.'
Not knowing what was happening, she tried her hardest not to listen to the command and kept repeating those words in her mind, hoping her body would respond. After struggling for a while, her body finally stopped. She was using all her willpower to resist the voice. Slowly, she managed to turn herself around, attempting to walk away. She was not staying a second longer next to that thing.
"…oh child of the sea… I mean you no harm, I apologize for that, it has just been so long since I talked to anything, my will must have leaked."
Again the voice resounded in her head. She was now convinced that thing was not human, although she doubted it was a nightmare creature either. Whatever it was, she had a bad feeling about it. She needed to get away.
"Listen to me, child of the sea… I truly do not seek to cause you harm…"
She tried her best to ignore the voice in her head as she was walking away from it before she stopped in her tracks. What was she doing? She had come all this way to seek clues about how to end her nightmare, and she was running away because that thing got a little dangerous. If she kept doing that, how would she ever end her nightmare? She gritted her teeth. Fine, she would play at its game.
"What are you? A nightmare creature?" she asked, she hoped the answer would be no, if not, she had to kill it somehow.
The voice was silent for a moment.
"A nightmare creature?… oh, I assure you, I am not a corrupted one, far from it."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Again it was quiet.
"I am… Rethen, one of the musicians of the gods, more specifically, the musician of the goddess of the black skies," the being called Rethen said, although it answered her, it seemed to be hesitating a bit.
Elizabeth was taken aback by the other part of the information. She had not expected to find anything related to the gods in her nightmare. In the dream realm there were six gods, the War God, the Beast God, the Sun God, the Storm God, the Shadow God, and the Heart God. According to the history awakened managed to extract from the past, the gods were ancient and powerful beings who existed during the golden age of the dream realm.
No one knew what happened to them because they no longer existed in the dream realm. They disappeared, and from the clues many awakened gathered, it appeared they died somehow.
Nightmare trials seemed to be the only way to learn about these powerful beings and what they were. This was the reason why she was surprised, the being at the centre of the crater said he was a musician of the goddess of the black skies, another name for the Storm God. She was slightly skeptical about its claim, but had no reason to doubt it. It was said that nightmares were recreations of the past after all.
Now that his identity was revealed, more questions bubbled inside her.
"If what you say is true, what are you doing here?"
What would a musician of the goddess be doing here on this ship, chained at its centre?
"Uh… well… I am being punished. The goddess chained me here. I was supposed to be freed after learning my lesson, although she never returned. Apparently there is a war going on, a pretty big one since she is involved, and she is too busy to come back."
A war? She wasn't well versed in the history of the dream realm, but she knew something monumental must have happened during the era of the gods for them to disappear and remain silent. A war… that would actually make sense.
"What are you being punished for?"
The voice was silent for slightly longer than before.
"…I committed a grave sin. I… let's just say I insulted the goddess."
'Wow.' That was surprising. Still, for the punishment to be this severe, the gods must have been deeply offended.
Finally she had one last question.
"What happened to the people of this ship?"
After a few moments of silence he replied.
"Oh… the guardians of the ship died protecting me from… let's say, a dangerous being…"
Before she could question the being that attacked, the voice came through again, although it sounded weaker.
"Come down here, child… I do not think I have enough strength to keep talking to you mentally."
With that the voice in her head went silent, and the being at the centre of the crater remained motionless for a few seconds before turning around and continuing to play its harp, although this time no sound came out.
For a moment, Elizabeth remained still, then sighed and walked toward the crater. She knew this was definitely connected to her nightmare trial. She had a feeling all her questions would be answered if she spoke to it a little longer. That was the clue to her nightmare, and if the worst happened, she would fight him.
When she arrived at the opening of the crater, she looked directly at Rethen. She still could not believe the sight before her. The being before her looked like a statue, a giant living sculpture, it was at least 7 meters tall. Aside from his four arms and height, the most noticeable feature Rethen has been its beauty. It had long flowing white hair, a face sculpted in immaculate perfection without a single flaw, and a body shaped like a work of art, almost like one of the ancient Greek statue brought to life. Everything about it was beautiful.
Rethen turned its hand slowly toward her, its hands continued to play the harp, and its eyes widened in surprise.
"You… are mortal?"
Elizabeth was too mesmerized by the beauty of the being in front of her to truly register what it said. She had never seen anything so beautiful. Even her brother, whom she considered to have been the most attractive awakened she knew, was like a toad compared to this being.
"Hey, no need to insult me," a voice protested loudly in her mind. She ignored it.
"Child of the sea…"
She snapped out of her trance and responded.
"Y… yes?" Her voice sounded shaky. She really needed to snap out of it. She was trying hard not to admire it despite it being naked she tried extra hard not to let her eyes wander around, this being before her could be an enemy.
"What is a mortal like you doing on this ship?"
Her mind refocused immediately. She could not tell him this was an illusion created by a spell with the sole purpose of testing her, and her being on this ship was really not her will.
"I… don't know," she said.
The being observed her quietly. It's stone like eye was piercing, and she felt it was looking thought her instead of at her.
"You don't know?... To power the ship again… what a strange and powerful soul you have… how alluring." A shiver ran down her spine at those words.
'Please don't tell me this is one of the things seeking my insides.'
Her hand tightened around her dagger. Noticing this, the being suddenly smiled.
"Child of the sea, I mean you no harm, angering the goddess's favoured creation, a child of the sea, would only make her punish me even more… although I have one request."
Elizabeth frowned a bit at his response before she nodded.
He extended one of his hands toward her, showing the golden chains wrapped around him.
"Free me from this prison. I must go help my goddess in the war."