The shore of the beach stretched out in front of me as I turned to look around, an attractive scene marred by the wreckage of ships that lay scattered in various states. The gentle lap of the azure waves smacked the endlessly extending golden sands.

Marco squatted down to my left and began closely examining the pieces of wood that had washed up on the shore. The wreckage contained a variety of wood types, some of which had weathered and aged while others still appeared to have recently been torn from the unfortunate ships.

Cairo had sought safety under the cool shade of a large tree a little further down the shore. He made an effort to put together a fire, which was obvious. Twigs and dried leaves were arranged next to him. I also had my sword with me and could see the matchlocks warming up on a distance.

I moved toward Marco, who was engrossed in evaluating the salvaged wood, as I brushed the sand from my clothes and cleaned my ears of the tenacious remnants. Deniz, who was carrying a load of lumber on his shoulder, alerted him to my presence after he had failed to notice me as I approached.

Deniz dropped his heavy load and said, "Captain, Aries is awake."

Marco's eyes glowed slightly with relief, "Ah, that's good."

He handed me a pouch containing the liquid and said, "Drink some water here.

I drank and gave the pouch back. "Your bones feel okay, right?" Marco questioned.I stretched my muscles and gave myself a quick evaluation. I answered

"Yeah, doesn't seem like anything's broken."

I sat down next to the pile of wood that Marco had been looking over and watched as Deniz added his load to the accumulating pile. Marco gave a nod of agreement."This much seems fine, right?" Deniz questioned.

"Yeah, now it's time to gather some plant fibers."

I kept quiet as I watched them, still trying to process how absurd our situation was. It felt like a dream, and for the moment, I decided to remain silent.

Marco and Deniz got to work, expertly shaping the salvaged wood into a more useful shape as I sat in silence, my gaze fixed on the sea and the graceful seagulls that soared above.

Like me, Marco and Deniz kept quiet as they concentrated on their work. We briefly locked eyes as I cast a quick glance at Cairo's way. He gave me a simple "hi" and went back to grilling something on a stick.

Deniz eventually broke the tense silence after what seemed like hours. He spoke to me directly "You've finally understood our situation, right? This is not a dream, either. We shared the same emotion.

I finally said, "I have only one question," to break the hush. "That thing—Bahamut or some kind of sea monster... Was that real, for Real?"

Marco, looking up from his work, met my gaze and replied, "Seemed like it. We already discussed that when you were asleep there, Aries. Well, wailing here won't help,"

I breathed deeply to calm myself as I nodded. "What will we do on this deserted island, then?"

"Of course, make a raft and sail on. I've also been stranded on islands before when I sailed with the Impr..." he continued after pausing briefly, "I mean that I have experience in this," Marco said "The odd thing is that while I am familiar with every island in the Gulf of Astareen, I am unable to identify this one. Perhaps it's so small that the sailor didn't record it in his diary."

Marco continued "Still, my prediction is that if we go north from here, we'll most probably reach Eblistan's mainland. But if we go west, then most probably Ethiopia. We had to choose, so we chose Eblistan for the time being. It's not as hot as other Arab nations, and it's relatively safe for Cairo. It's also kind of easy to continue our trip from there to Acre."

"Why Eblistan, didn't they attack us before?" I asked,

Marco explained, "It was not us, they attacked Yang. I've been hearing for quite some time that they are trying to take back Ringsheer Island. It was originally Eblistan's territory, but with diplomacy and other factors, the Bramevaria Legion took control of Ringsheer, some southern ports of Eblistan, and the whole northern region in the past 20 years or so. Still, Eblistan remained relatively quiet because of the British Empire siding with the Imperial Legion in all of this. It's strange why they finally rebelled after losing so much of their power."

As Deniz's stomachache became noticeable, he remarked with a faint grin, "It's fine as long as we reach the mainland. My stomach's hurting so much; I want to eat great food."

Cairo, who had been busy putting together a straightforward meal for us, joined the discussion. "You're in luck," he replied, "because I've got something for you." He came over to us carrying skewers of grilled chicken kebabs. "Help yourself with these for the time being." Cairo said, "here."

Cairo received our thanks for the meal. "Wow, thanks a lot," said Deniz. "It's fortunate that I previously caught those chickens." Each of us took a skewer in our hands and took our time enjoying each bite.

When Deniz tasted it, he said, "Not salty but fine, I guess." After we finished, Cairo called out to me, "Now that you're awake, let's head into the forest. We've satisfied our immediate hunger. For the raft, we need to find plant fibers. I nodded in agreement and stood up too.

Marco cautioned, "Don't go too deep into the forest, just look around for any banana tree or vine plant, alright," and we decided on the strategy before advancing into the dense forest.

Compared to the forest in Ringsheer, this one was noticeably different. A rich and varied ecosystem was created by the various herbs, shrubs, and mushrooms that flourished close to the trunks of the enormous trees. I had to ask Cairo about it as we continued to move through the forest.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Cairo, you're typically the most logical person in the room. After all these surreal events, how are you still so sane?" I questioned and Cairo's response was thought-provoking.

"Because I believe there's a third person involved in it," he said, leaving me puzzled.

"Who, and how can someone make these things happen to us?" I asked, seeking to understand his perspective.

"Let's go through this point by point," Cairo continued. Jerich first. "I'm positive he once stated that if your name was called during recruitment, he had a backup plan. I have no idea what it is, but he claimed that by using the same strategy, he could also save Other people on the island. He didn't use it, though, and sent you off on your own. If he had been acting normally, he would have safeguarded you at all costs, but this time he wasn't. I first sensed something was off at that point."

What Cairo said was true, Knowing Jerich he was always super protective over me, but why haven't I realized it earlier?

"Second point," Cairo continued, "I know that before someone's name is on the list, he or she is reminded a year or two before that. But for Aisha, it was all so sudden. When you were lying there in her house after the rowdy stunt you did at night in the forest, I reached there early in the morning and saw a guard giving her the letter and saying that she's selected for the recruitment. And I saw her eyes looked possessed while receiving the letter. I noticed that Aisha didn't show any expression either; she just took it and went to the kitchen. But after some time, I heard the sound of something dropping from the kitchen. I hurried to her and saw that the letter was open, lying on the table, and a bowl was broken on the floor. It seemed like the possession over her was removed, and she realized the situation in shock."

"After that, how could it be possible that we unconsciously went to Salim's house to find him lying down and knew that Aisha was kidnapped by the guards?" Cairo questioned. "Now, think about it. The way to the port was straight ahead from the main gate, but we took a left into the alleyway unconsciously. Maybe the third party wanted you to know that Aisha was kidnapped so you could go and save her. I tried to stop you because I felt the same thing there. That the third party might want to kill you. But no, he was just setting pieces of some sort."

I couldn't help but think back on what Cairo had described. It became apparent that a calculated plan had been in motion,

Cairo continued, "Then you fought and won. That thing is still a mystery because after you won, things went exactly the same way they would have if we hadn't saved Aisha. Maybe at that point, something failed in the third person's scheme. From that point on, I alerted myself and didn't mention all of that to you because I felt we were being watched. Now, the Wilhelm guy, he came up on the deck completely fine, and I saw him too for a moment. His eyes went lifeless, and he turned to us like he was being possessed. I observed the change in his demeanor closely, how he approached us, and started playing a game with us. It was evident that he didn't plan to do it when he was sightseeing the sea, but something clicked in his mind."

"After that, I believe the whole attack thing was done just to make you suspicious of Wilhelm. Let me explain. As I know Eblistan, and as Marco also said before, Eblistan would never attack Bramevaria, especially knowing that the British backed it up at some point. But it did, maybe to set in motion all the events that have happened until now. Perhaps the guards on the island wouldn't have gone wild and kidnapped people if Eblistan hadn't attacked us there. Maybe you wouldn't have found out the secret about Wilhelm if Eblistan hadn't attacked us. The whale incident is still a mystery, but then the Bahamut event and Wilhelm killing Yang—it's all so random that it feels like it's written by a fictional writer. The point is that Wilhelm activated the event of the Bahamut destroying the ship. I believe most people might have died in that, but how lucky can we be that we survived that attack and, by chance, all four of us ended up on this supposedly nonexistent stranded island, as Marco says."

"Yeah, you know what now that explains everything, after the attack of the sea monster I found myself falling from a great height, that thing might've not been a dream if what you say is true, then something like a shooting star came towards me and I woke up here."

Cairo looked at me surprised, "You said a shooting star??"

"Yeah,"I confirmed

Cairo kicked the ground in excitement, "Yes! I knew it, Listen I too saw the shooting star, after the attack I opened my eyes and I was deep in the sheep, ony mood could be visible in that darkness, I thought I was gonna die but I too saw the shooting star and after that, I woke up on this island with you guys."

Aries, "Right, right something supernatural is involved then that's confirmed, But why us, what does we have to do with all this."

"Not us but you, I think," Cairo said calmly

"What? But how, wait Zaid is involved in it"

"You stupid or what? Not Zaid, Okay do you know what's the name of Previous's Eblistan sultan"

"Ah, no," I said

"Its Orion, Orion Ozbek point to be noted that he had green yes alright, His mother was from Europe some book references that but I am not so sure."

"Alright but how does that Answer anything," I asked

"The wife of the sultan, A lahaj's queen, Jade Lahajmudin. The Lahajmudin dynasty is infamous for there pure red-haired descendants."

"Okay and then"

"15 years ago, they were attacked, the sultan and his family are said to be deceased in an accident"

"Hmmm"

"Don't Hmmm, me look at yourself at mirror, Green eyes, red hairs with some patches of blonde hair, and when you were first brought up in the orphanage a name tag was on you naming Aries."

"Yeah, I know that."

"Orion, a star constellation, and his father's name was Gemini another start constellation, And now your name is Aries, isn't that also a star constellation?"

"Wait, you don't say!"

"It's mentioned in very few books but even one mention solves it all, the name of the sultan's deceased son is..... Aries Ozbek."