Nothingness. That is what Death is. In a world of Darkness, how does one navigate through the shadows, when the source of light has been lost?
For just like light is needed to navigate through darkness, darkness is needed to navigate through light.
The one always leads to the other.
Birth – Connections – Development and Growth – Love – Fear and Despair – Death and Acceptance.
That is the natural process of life.
**👑**
North West of Tartarus, within the confinement of the continent’s foggy sea.
Some of the moonlight escaped the cracks of the cloudy and misty sky to shine down on a vessel making its way through the calm waves.
The Galleon Ship known as Ariada was vigilantly sailing a straight line westward back to headquarters after having made its routine stops.
However, this time around, it had quite a few bountiful treasures on board.
And one of them was a boy just short of being of age. Although he was seated, he was completely passed out with his shirtless body leaning forward, held only by the chains around his arms to restrain him to the wall.
His disheveled black hair was lacking more moisture than his dried up skin. His lips were cracked and about to bleed from dehydration.
The only thing that aided his survival so far were the occasional droplets of water leaking through the window to the side above him as the waves crashed against the ships’ side.
And just when it was time for another droplet to make it through, a black entity covered by a pink and green hue blocked its trajectory as the little creature forced its way inside.
It continued to flap its little wings and flew over to the prisoner, only to land on the bridge of his nose.
“...”
Just then, Lawkey began to slowly open his emerald green eyes to meet the tri-colored butterfly in front of him.
Noticing the calm and peaceful awakening, he had immediately realized his little companion was around. Although it only appeared every once in a while, it always brought a sense of tranquility with it.
On their journey so far, it had at least made some of Lawkey’s nights pass without his usual struggle.
It had been a few months now since Lawkey left the Kage Clan and ventured forth to seek the Leviathan that took everything from him. He followed the clues his mentor had given him, but he had made no progress so far.
Just when he was about to reach the small island that supposedly came into direct contact with the giant beast, his misfortune struck again and ultimately led to his current situation.
At the very least, he was grateful that his little companion had been safe and could still appear to him from time to time.
The corners of Lawkey’s mouth began to curl up, but the sharp feeling of his dried lips cracking quickly stopped him.
And then…
“Quickly! Catch that butterfly, rookie! It’s worth a hefty sum!”
“!!”
A deep and gruff voice quickly ran out, alerting both Lawkey and his companion.
“I got it, captain!” A boy that didn’t seem much older than Lawkey hurriedly ran forward with his arms stretched out to catch the tri-colored butterfly.
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“Like I’d let you!”
Even though his body was chained to the wall and was on the verge of giving out again due to either dehydration or starvation, Lawkey did not hesitate to kick the rookie’s foot back, forcing him to lose his balance.
“Ah!”
As the rookie felt the world around him go sideways, his trip downwards was quickly interrupted by a follow up headbutt to the face.
“Ugh-!!”
The rookie was sent tumblings backwards, covering his face and rolling around from the pain.
Seizing the opportunity, the little companion quickly flew out the window again.
“What are you doing, rookie! It’s gone now!” The deep and gruff voice criticized as its owner walked forward and passed the rookie still squirming on the ground.
Hearing that, the rookie quickly gritted his teeth and sat up, ignoring the striking pain in his nose.
“I-I’m so sorry, captain! It was-!” The rookie’s apology was cut short as his superior continued to walk toward the prisoner.
“...” Lawkey narrowed his eyes as he glanced over.
In front of him, he saw the one that was being referred to as captain. His appearance suited the title as well.
He was of medium height with broad shoulders and big arms. His black hair was short and rough, complimenting his wide forehead and thick eyebrows. The orange pupils went well with his bronze-like skin color too.
At first glance, his outfit was simple, spanning a tight black and white shirt with brown pants, but it was all topped with multiple brown thin cloth around the shoulders and waist.
In comparison, Lawkey only had some pants on, still managing to retain some of his dignity. For that, he was somewhat still grateful.
After sizing each other up with their eyes, Lawkey could pretty much guess what was going to happen next.
It was all too standard.
Here we go… Lawkey sighed inwardly.
“As for this one…” The captain said as he took one step back and held his clenched fist to his side, “you need to teach them respect when they don’t know their place!”
“Argh!!”
In a split second, Lawkey felt the punch dig deep into his gut, leaving him gasping for air and spit leaving his mouth.
“That’s an obsidian butterfly you just let escape, you moron! Do you know how rare that is?!” The captain proclaimed as he continued to barrage his rebellious prisoner with punches left and right, making the keys on his side rattle with every move, “It’s worth more than the bounty on your head!”
“Hah… hah…” Lawkey could only gasp for air as he tried to catch his breath. After a second, he managed to let out a question, “bounty…? Is that why… you have me chained up?”
As the captain walked away, he let out a grunt, “You should be grateful, brat! Your misfortune caused your boat to capsize and leave you stranded, but we still found you alive! So, behave yourself until we reach land!”
“...” Lawkey stayed silent, taking it all in.
As he watched his captor from the back, he could finally see the mark on the back of his wrist. A mark he immediately recognized. A circle containing what seemed like a clan logo inside, but with a cross over it.
It’s the same mark those people who helped Kojiro back then had… the golden whatever guild… Lawkey assumed.
Although his first question had been left unanswered, he was at least able to connect the missing dots in his memory. His boat had been hit by some wild waves, as if a storm suddenly erupted, and after fighting back for a while, he had passed out, only to wake up moments ago.
My amazing luck strikes again… to think I’d be captured by these guys too… Lawkey thought with a self-deprecating smile, so much for reaching Sweet Scylla and meeting some mermaids.
Sweet Scylla, the small island to the north of Tartarus, and the home to the Undine Clan. Although it had not always been an island, for the past six years, it was forced to adapt to its current situation.
That had been Lawkey’s destination before his boat capsized. Although he had his reasons to go, he couldn’t deny his innate curiosity to experience everything he had heard himself.
Too bad… Lawkey lamented inwardly.
Having reviewed his situation and feeling some of the pain in his body subside, the prisoner raised his head again. Every single piece of information he could gather now could be detrimental to his situation.
“On your feet, rookie!” The captain’s deep and gruff voice rang out again, “back to what I was saying.”
“Yes, captain!” Shouted the rookie as he quickly stood back up. He dusted his simplistic adventurer's outfit off, fixed his dark blue hair and trailed behind his superior.
“You see that small wooden cage in the back there?” The bronze-skinned man asked and pointed to the far corner opposite to Lawkey’s wall, “don’t you ever go near it for any reason whatsoever, do you understand me?!”
“Y-yes, captain! But may I ask why?” The boy with the broken nose was slightly taken aback by the order.
After all, the wooden cage was clearly empty.
“...” Lawkey narrowed his eyes from behind them and then thought to himself, No, it’s not empty…
Although it was faint, he could sense an invisible presence within that cage.
“There’s a pretty nasty Hyking inside that thing.” The captain explained with a chuckle, “It can even turn invisible and mess with people’s heads. It took almost the whole crew to capture it! The nasty thing has been causing the guild problems for months now.”
GULP!
The rookie couldn’t help but take an instinctive step back and swallow his breath as drops of sweat tickled his cheek.
“Don’t shit yourself, kid. It’s been weakened enough to be practically harmless.” The captain assured with a scoff, “you’ll be fine as long as you don’t go anywhere near it. Understand?!”
“Yes, captain!”
“Good! You better, ‘cause I’m not going to come to your rescue if it gets you!”
“Heh.”
“!!”
The two immediately turned back when they heard a chuckle come from behind them.
“What’s so funny?!” The captain asked his prisoner as he glared at him.
Lawkey flashed his emerald eyes back at him and forced his usual smirk despite the pain from his cracking lips.
“Don’t mind me, I was just wondering if your mother forgot to teach you responsibility, or if you’re just a coward.” The prisoner delivered his provocation with a smug attitude.
Hearing that, the captain’s pupils suddenly constricted into tiny marbles.
As the captain of the ship, he needed to make sure his prisoners fell in line.
Especially a disrespectful one.
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]