"When exactly had her mind been taken over? When she entered the tower? No, she still had clear memories of stepping inside. At that time she was still herself. But after that, everything faded. All she remembered was falling into a cycle of pain. She only started to regain her senses after she arrived here, but what had happened before that? Why did the voice she heard after destroying the sun sound so familiar? Why was she in this state?
It wasn't until fragments of memory resurfaced that she began to understand.
Right after entering the tower, she had heard a heartbeat. But unlike what she remembered, the pain didn't strike instantly after it. Instead, a voice spoke to her.
"What brings you here, child of the sea?"
A deep, soft voice resonated through the darkness. For a second she thought it was Rether, but the tone and depth were different. She immediately went on guard, expecting to be attacked at any moment, but nothing happened.
She remained alert for a few more seconds before her sword suddenly began to glow.
'Huh… why is it glowing?'
The voice reacted as well.
"…Child of the sea, are you here to free that abomination?"
'Abomination?' She took note of the word before stepping forward. Again, her senses twisted in confusion.
'Am I really going forward?'
"Do not be deceived by him, child. That abomination deserves to be chained, releasing him will only bring your doom."
She took another step forward. If this being wasn't attacking her, then she would go straight for the heart. She needed to end her nightmare, but curiosity started to gnaw at her as the being spoke.
"Are you calling it an abomination because his mother chained him here for being a weird creation of Nether?"
"…You know what it is, yet you still wish to free it?"
She paused to answer before she sighed and stepped forward again. The strange sensation washed over her once more.
'Gods, this is still weird…'
"Look, I have nothing against… whatever you are, but I... just want to go home, and this is the only way."
Suddenly, the heartbeat thundered louder, and a gale of wind shoved her backward or forward, she couldn't tell.
"I cannot let you go any farther, child of the sea. Should you free the embodiment of disaster, doom shall descend upon you. It is using you, the fact that it sent a mortal here proves its desperation."
'Is this the guardian of this place?' she wondered before she moved forward again.
"Desperate?... I mean, I guess. He said he wanted to help the goddess in a war, hence why I am here... to free him."
The voice remained silent for a long time.
"To help the goddess…? Child, you are wrong. The goddess has already fallen."
When she heard that, she suddenly froze midstep.
"Fallen?... as in she is dead?"
"…Do you not feel her, child of the sea? Even as a mortal, you should have noticed that her blessing upon your kind has weakened considerably."
"What?"
"…What a strange child you are. Tell me... do you hear her voice any longer? Do you feel her power course through you?"
She stared into the darkness, confused.
"What are you talking abou—"
Suddenly her eyes widened.
'Wait a minute.'
She summoned her runes and checked her aspect.
'Ocean Maiden… a being that tends to the ocean, protects the ocean, lives for the ocean, hears the voice of the ocean, and is the voice of the ocean.'
"How strange the world has become… for a child of the sea, raised to be her prophet, to not know their origins. How far the world has fallen already?"
'What… did it just say?'
Confusion tangled her thoughts. A prophet? Of who—
'The ocean…'
As if her mind cleared in an instant, the pieces connected.
'How… had I not realized this?'
Maybe she was too focused on ending her nightmare to think clearly about this matter.
She looked again at her aspect.
'A being that tends to the ocean, protects the ocean, lives for the ocean, hears the voice of the ocean, and is the voice of the ocean'
But the ocean wasn't a living being. How could it speak? How could it be protected?
She had been thinking of this incorrectly all along.
The ocean… was a god. The goddess of the black skies, to be precise.
'Seriously, how did I not think of this sooner?'
Maybe because she never expected her aspect to be that crazy due to how cryptic it was.
The goddess of black skies was known as the goddess of storms, depths, night, oceans, darkness, stars, travel, guidance, and disaster, meaning she was the ocean itself. And the voice's words now made sense. This body had been raised to be a prophet of the goddess of the ocean, aka the goddess of black skies.
If the aspect meant anything, an Ocean Maiden was someone able to converse with the ocean, live for it, and be its voice. A prophet.
Was her aspect some sort of blessing? Was that why she never grew tired, because she was created to carry out the goddess's duties?
'How is one supposed to protect a god anyway!?'
"It seems you were not raised knowing your origin, child of the sea… but it matters not. Turn back. The one you wish to liberate is nothing more than the embodiment of disaster. He has tricked you."
She stopped. Was freeing Rether really the way to end her nightmare? According to this voice, she had been lied to about his true intentions.
'What… what am I supposed to do?'
Should she free him anyway? Would her nightmare really end? Just what did she have to do? What if she freed it, and her nightmare didn't end, and she was killed because of it?
"…Child of the sea… I believe destiny brought you to this ship, to fulfill a duty the goddess can no longer perform."
She snapped out of her thoughts.
"A… duty I must fulfill?"
"Correct. This ship was created by the goddess to imprison that abomination. She used her blood to contain it. Our duty as giants was to watch over the sorcery she left behind. She tied that magic to our concepts, to my brethren. But after her fall, her blood was never renewed. Slowly, the ship weakened. The people who lived here made it their mission to guard the abomination as the sorcery decayed. But one day, it shattered. We had no choice but to use our own souls to contain him. Yet the brief moment between reinforcing it was all the abomination needed to slaughter them... When our souls fade, we knew he would be free. We lost all hope… until the ship's sorcery surged anew."
Elizabeth felt her stomach drop.
'Why did I believe it?'
Why had she believed that something attacked the ship and the people sacrificed themselves to stop it, leaving Rether intact?
'Why didn't I question it?'
She fell silent. She didn't feel betrayed, but she was furious with herself for being fooled.
"I do not blame you, child. It is a being who embodies disaster, confusing is what he is best at."
She clenched her fist and stared into the darkness, "…This duty you mentioned… what exactly is it? I don't fully understand why you told me this story."
Though she asked that question, she had her suspicion. She remembered when the ship had reacted when a droplet of her blood touched its surface earlier, was that what powered the ship? If so, how? She was no goddess.
"You are a child of the sea," the voice replied. "Beings created by the goddess herself, made with a portion of her blood. You are a descendant of such beings."
She understood now.
"You want me to be the blood source of this ship… to keep that thing locked up?"
"Yes, child... Power the sorcery left by the goddess. It is your duty."
She stared at her sword for a moment, then into the darkness, her gaze cold.
"…I refuse."
"…What?"
She stabbed her sword into the ground, leaning on it.
"I will not become a blood bag for this ship. I have places to be."
"…Do you wish to ally yourself with that abomination after everything I've told you?"
"Of course not." Her voice sharpened, icy. "But I do have a solution. It's simple really. He's weakened right now, so weak he's practically dormant, which means… I won't have to power this ship to keep him chained if there's nothing left to chain."
The voice hesitated before it spoke again.
"…What are you saying?"
She blinked. Was it not obvious what she was implying?
"Uh… it means I'm going to kill that thing and be done with it."
For a moment there was silence. Then laughter exploded through the darkness—deep, thundering.
"You? You wish to kill the embodiment of disaster?"
The laughter continued, but Elizabeth remained calm.
"Listen, child," the voice said. "Even weakened, it was once a sacred god—herald of disaster, creation of Nether, demon of destiny, prince of the underworld. Even now, its soul is close to divine. You cannot kill it. Especially not as a mortal. It's not possible."
A small smile tugged at her lips. Something in her very being screamed that this choice, this path she was thinking of taking, was the right one.
"It's not possible?" she murmured. "No… it's necessary. And I have a plan."
She had to kill Rether to end her nightmare, now she was sure this was how to end her nightmare.
"…Child of the sea, you have earned my respect. I am Koven, king of the giants, my true name is Guardian of Disaster. You have reignited a passion I lost long ago... such bravery! You remind me of our goddess... I wish you luck."
Hearing his name, she felt an odd sense of connection to it, although a moment ago she had come here to destroy its heart.
"Thank you… Can you lead me outside?"
Two golden handles appeared before her.
'Let's go kill a god… Tessie would never believe my nightmare is this insane.'
She grabbed her sword and walked toward the door when she suddenly heard music.
"Huh… do you hear that?" she asked.
"...I hear nothing," Koven replied in confusion.
'What? How could he not hear—wait… it's in my head.'
Her eyes widened.
"Child of the sea…" a familiar voice whispered.
She knew it was not Koven because she knew this voice.
"Why… must you make everything more complicated?... You forced my hand."
The music swelled in volume, the melody dripping with dread. She then felt something claw at her mind. A stabbing pain tore through her skull and she screamed.
"...Child of the sea? Are you okay?"
"My… brain… hurts. Rether… found out…"
Koven was silent for a moment.
"The abomination? How did he enter my soul?"
Her sword suddenly flared brighter than before.
"Is that...?.... Child of the sea… what have you done? Why did you bring a piece of that abomination here? THROW THAT ARTIFACT AWAY!"
But it was too late. Something had crawled into her mind, she could no longer feel her body.
'No… not like this. I can't die like this.'
She had underestimated Rether. No, she had been too careless.
She felt herself losing her senses one by one.
"…Child… free…" she heard a sound before she was suddenly deafened.
She couldn't hear Koven anymore. A faint heartbeat echoed, and for a split second, her mind cleared. The music still pressed in her mind, overwhelming her.
'I...refuse to die!'
Desperate, she tried something reckless. The music was consuming one of her minds, but she had two. She had always found it odd that she could control both simultaneously. She theorized that something connected the two consciousnesses, and her true consciousness sat between them.
So she made a choice, she let the corrupted mind go.
She tried to sever its connection to her body, isolate it, protect her true self.
It failed, and she was consumed.
"Thump"
Again her mind was cleared, and she tried it again, only to fail.
"Thump"
Again
"Thump"
And again, it failed.
But each time she faltered, a heartbeat sounded, Koven was trying to force clarity into her mind with the last scraps of his soul.
She didn't realize the chance he was giving her, she thought she had simply been conscious the whole time.
Not until her body, controlled by the corrupted mind, walked to the center of the darkness.
Only then did she succeed... partially
But Koven had exhausted everything. He couldn't free her one last time.
And in the end, he died… by her hand… before she could fully reconnect with her body.
'Urg… I was so stupid. I was so stupid!!! How could I have trusted it…? Rether… I will kill you.'