The Fall Of The Sea

Aaron stood next to the helm, watching the illusory Mr. Crab rotate it towards the glowing city of Sea Fallen.

He had removed the disguise from the Ghostship, worried that the transformation into a fishing boat might also affect its speed, slowing them down.

Well, the aura was still there even when it was disguised. Maybe it keeps all its usual properties, and the fishing boat form is just a visual trick…

Brushing off the thought, Aaron turned his gaze to the teal waves crashing against the bow, noticing them growing larger and larger as the minutes passed.

It seems a storm is approaching…

In the distance, large bolts of lightning rippled across the sky, illuminating the darkness with violent blasts that clawed at the clouds.

The storm surged towards the city of Sea Fallen, its white lightning slashed with crimson streaks, a sinister sight that Aaron recognized all too well.

Isn't that the same storm from the Sea of Chains? What's it doing in the Sea of Dreams?

As he furrowed his brow in confusion, a sudden flash of turquoise light from the floor of the Ghostship brought him back to his senses.

"What the–"

Runes appeared throughout the deck, flashing with colors that drew Aaron's attention to the source.

To the starboard side of the ship, a slimy-green monster with scales that rippled in the moonlight surfaced, staring directly at the flank of the Ghostship.

One by one, its grotesque heads rose from undersea, revealing three serpent-like skulls that dripped a steaming black goo.

"T-That's the terror I was supposed to be hunting? This isn't a young sea terror at all!"

Aaron's mind was overwhelmed with fear as he thought back to the mission he had received, which had described it as a simple task.

"This ain't simple at all!"

The large creature began to slither above the waves towards the Ghostship, no longer repulsed by the aura, deciding that the vessel wasn't any threat.

To Aaron's right, Mr. Crab had vanished in a flash, leaving him alone to deal with the sea terror.

Dammit, nows not the time to panic… This ship is specialized for hunting these terrors, so let's try out some of the special weapons Mr. Crab left for me.

Sprinting down the short staircase onto the lower deck, Aaron mounted the right cannon and began to aim at the many-headed monster charging at the ship.

Good thing I loaded these in advance…

Lighting the fuse carefully, he watched purple light accumulate on the barrel of the cannon before solidifying into a solid mass.

Aaron covered his ears as the gunpowder ignited, launching the ghostly cannonball towards the terror.

The cannon recoiled backward, slamming into Aaron, knocking him to the floor; however, the shot he had fired flew through the air, landing on the monster with a fiery explosion.

Without even checking the damage, he reached to his right and grabbed another cannonball with great struggle.

This one's strange… The color is different than usual.

Pushing the thought aside, he readied the cannon again, finally looking at the results of the first strike.

"W-What…?"

The cannon had struck its centermost head, blowing it away without delay; however, as Aaron looked at the area, he noticed something impossible.

"I-It's regrowing?"

The middle head had been vaporized, yet where it once was, two more heads sprouted from the stump, changing the creature into something even more terrifying.

Aaron's mind whirred with the sudden realization as a single word resonated throughout.

"A Hydra."

The sea terror that was supposed to be something weak was, in reality, something that roamed the Sea of Curses with a bare minimum of a four-point magnitude.

How the hell is this a rookie mission? Did they mix it up? This is something that should be handled by a small fleet of ships or perhaps even by one of Sir Lepaie's trusted men…

Aaron's eyes locked onto the terror, which was only a short distance away, realizing how unprepared he was for something of this caliber.

Shaking his head, he continued loading the cannon in front of him with the strangely colored cannonball, lighting the fuse quickly.

The cannon fired loudly with the recoil nearly knocking Aaron to his knees again; however, this time, he caught his balance and watched the odd cannonball fly through the sky towards the hydra.

The slimy monster craned one of its four heads towards the incoming projectile as if it sensed danger.

In an attempt to defend itself, the leftmost head opened its maw, firing large clumps of steaming goo towards the Ghostship, aiming directly for Aaron, who had moved to the helm to prevent a collision with the terror.

Turning the wheel hard to the left, Aaron rotated his gaze up at the incoming volley of liquid that rained down on the deck, with some landing atop his skin.

Searing pain burst through his body, with his skin steaming from the acid.

Aaron collapsed in agony, understanding that he had been covered in a deadly toxin that hydras produced that could paralyze and kill prey within thirty seconds.

His vision blurred as blood pooled around him, with the smell of burnt skin emanating through the air.

Suddenly, the burning ceased with Aaron's arms healing as if they had never burned.

What the…

Aaron's eyes widened in confusion before remembering his conversation with the Old Man in the Abyss.

"So this is what poison resistance can do, eh? This isn't weak at all, Old Man."

Standing up quickly, Aaron ran from the helm back to the cannons, witnessing a strange sight from the hydra.

It had caught the oddly colored cannonball in its mouth; however, purple light was bursting from inside, burning the creature's head slowly.

"A magic cannonball?"

Grabbing another colorful cannonball from the pile to his right, he prepared to fire another at the hydra, intending to create a chain reaction.

The one he loaded into the metal tube was a forest-green colored stone emitting a strange smell that repulsed Aaron deeply.

"Fire in the hole!"

As he yelled, the cannon burst, sending the projectile directly at the torso of the hydra, where it shattered immediately upon impact.

Flames spewed out from the orb, covering the body of the terror and boiling the water around it.

The hydra roared in agony, accidentally crushing the other orb he had previously fired inside its jaw, finally releasing the magenta light that so desperately wished for freedom.

"Nothing happened?"

Aaron watched the scene, confused about what the purple ball did; however, the moment he uttered the words, a flash so bright that it turned the night into day exploded from inside the hydra.

His gaze was focused directly on the light without any intent to look away until a small blue light materialized beside him.

Mr. Crab jumped from the void onto Aaron's head, covering his eyes from the flash, knocking him to the floor as a shockwave that shook the ocean itself burst from the creature.

Aaron's vision blurred as a wave of fatigue overwhelmed his body, with the last thing he saw before passing out being a dark blue shield wrapping around the Ghostship, protecting it from the magnificent light that overwhelmed the world around him.

…

"Aye, e've made it t' land, matey!"

Adam spoke to Arianna, who merely rolled her eyes at his imitation of the pirates that the master employed. 

The two figures stepped off their raft onto the soft sand, looking up at the bright lights of Sea Fallen.

Suddenly, they felt the overwhelming aura of death encompass the world, making them draw their weapons in fear.

"W-What the hell was that!"

Adam shouted nervously at Arianna, who was in the same amount of shock and fear as him.

"I-I don't know!"

She looked around nervously, noticing the sky brighten dramatically as if the sun had risen.

Adam held a blade that radiated bursts of flames while Arianna herself was holding a small flintlock that glowed with a crimson hue.

She composed her thoughts and spoke carefully.

"I-I've only felt that powerful of a presence once before, and if that 'thing' is in this city, then we have no hope of returning alive, much less completing our mission."

Adam looked at her, narrowing his eyes in thought.

"Y-You don't mean that an ape–"

His voice was cut off by Arianna, who hushed him loudly.

"You fool! If it truly is one of 'them' in this area, then 'they' will hear you."

Adam blinked before sighing and mumbling under his breath.

"So this is what Master warned us to be wary of, eh? He wasn't joking if it is truly what we suspect…"

The silver-haired woman nodded carefully before holstering her weapon against her waist and speaking.

"There is no use thinking about it since if it is truly one of 'them' then we have no hope. We must pray to the deities that it is not what I assume it to be, but we must be ready to die if it is."

Adam nodded at her glum remark before placing his blade in an illusory space in his arm.

"Then we must continue to the mission with utmost caution."

Arianna nodded and began to walk carefully along the small stone path that led to the city of Sea Fallen.

Under her breath, she mumbled out a prayer, watching the sky return to the dark cover of night.