Autumn leaves fell from the trees with a moderate breeze blowing from the north.

Aaron glanced at his watch every now and then, somewhat nervously waiting for something while he burned time by walking aimlessly in the somewhat empty streets of Runa.

Why haven't you called me yet? Bro, you promised me. Scratching the back of his neck, only to find a few loose strands of hair between his sizeable fingers.

Shit… The waiting and the stress is killing me… Why does he have to be so fucking mysterious.

Recalling the phone call from his brother last night, he tried to ease his mind by thinking that nothing should have gone wrong.

After all, being an informant to the SDU practically guaranteed his brother's safety. At least for a time being.

Aaron paced nervously from street to street, glancing at the barred windows and doors from the businesses.

I don’t get why the shops here can’t open early… It would be nice to burn some time in some coffee shop or go window shopping.

Putting his hands in his pockets, he continued wandering the streets aimlessly. Trying to ease his boredom and nerves, Aaron went on to kick the stones in the streets like an innocent child playing games.

Again and again, the stone Aaron was kicking went further and further. Controlling his strength to not harm anyone with his game, he went where the stone landed.

While in a somewhat mindless state, Aaron stopped his ‘’game’’ and picked up his phone, only to see no new notifications and calls.

Dialing his brother, Aaron soon heard that the call could not be connected.

Clenching his fist, he could feel his blood pressure rise and his left eye twitching from the tension.

‘’Fucking answer me! Why won’t you keep your phone on, arsehole.’’

Feeling blood rush into his head, he turned to look at a few pedestrians with a somewhat embarrassed expression and waved that everything was all right.

Sighing with frustration, Aaron turned to look at the shop in front of him.

Reflecting back from the mirror was a large framed man, brown hair and a fierce expression that one could misunderstand as a long standing constipation or stomach ache.

No wonder the pedestrians were looking at me in a weird way… Aih, I gots to relax and not overthink shit. Hold up? The store up ahead is open… Antiques? Well…I have nothing better to do in the meanwhile so why not just browse some old shit.

Taking a deep breath, Aaron relaxed the tension in his abdominal muscles and his face was once again back to normal.

I gotta stop this overstressin, it wouldn’t even be funny to get ulcers from overthinking…

Placing his hand on the shop handle, Aaron opened the door with an accompanying sound of bronze bells.

A cold wind blew from behind Aaron, accompanied by dark, raspy, ancient whispers that seemed to echo in his head for eternity. ''Two keys to open your way…The crown of light…Only brings darkness.''

Startled, Aaron straightened his back and vigilantly looked around him.

Cold sweat formed in his neck and back, dampening his casual sportswear slightly. Raising his eyes, he met the curious gaze of the shopkeeper.

What the hell is going on here? Where have I walked into?

Mustering his courage, he greeted the somewhat scrawny and plain shopkeeper with a formal bow.

‘’Hello Sir. Don’t mind the little ol’ me, I must have come to the wrong place.’’ With a slight tremble in his voice, Aaron desperately wanted to leave this strange shop.

Just as he finished the sentence, another whisper resounded in his head. ''Your light fades; The twin stars…Perish. Two keys to open your way, power is his gift. Take it.''

The whisper seemed to burrow into Aaron’s mind, unable to process any information contained within.

Snapping out, he found out that the shopkeeper was standing in front of himself, seemingly disappointed.

Aaron watched the shopkeeper raise his hand and closed his eyes, hoping to live to see another day in a semi paralyzed state.

Seconds seemed to stretch further and further, but instead of coup de grâce, Aaron felt a warm pat on his shoulder.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

‘’Are you sure that you don’t need anything? You seem quite stressed out, have you been sleeping well in the nights?’’

Opening his eyes, Aaron saw the shopkeeper with a concerned expression on his face.

Does he know that I can’t sleep properly after bro turned coat to the SDU?

What’s more, the shopkeeper in front of him seemed to see through his very being with a simple question. Of course coincidences happen, but putting one and one together with the dark whispers, Aaron would not believe it.

‘’Yeah Sir, you are right… I have been under a lot of stress lately, so I wandered here absentmindedly...’’

Hearing this, Victor’s face brightened and walked to the shelves in the back. Aaron wondered what the man was trying to pull, but could not utter a word in rejection in fear that the shopkeeper would be offended.

He heard Victor muttering something about dream catchers, but shaking his head slightly and sighing.

''Paintings to the window of the soul. Insanity spreads, the black sea rages and plague consumes.'' Hearing the same whisper echoing in his head, Aaron got the clue what it wanted.

‘’Sir, can you show me the paintings here?’’ With some uncertainty in his voice, Aaron asked Victor browsing for something in his stocks.

Victor turned his head and showed a standard business smile while gesturing to follow him.

Walking to the backroom, Aaron held his breath as he saw antique clocks, old tribal relics, paintings and much more.

Only, there was something very wrong with many of them, but Aaron could not instantly place his finger on what it was.

Raising his gaze to look at the painting nearest to him, Aaron’s eyes almost popped out when he could swear the images were moving.

A typical painting of a noble holding out an expensive cup was slowly moving its arm to pour his drink on the peasant kneeling before him.

Averting his trembling eyes, he continued following Victor and in a quiet voice he mustered the courage to ask about the painting hinted by the voice.

‘’Sir, do you happen to have a painting of sea or maybe of something that depicts hard times, like plague?’’

Hearing this, Victor turned to look at Aaron and slowly revealed an innocent smile that concealed greed. ‘’Yes I do happen to have those articles, but I do think of them as masterpieces. Let’s have a look, shall we?’’

Victor opened a cabinet, revealing a magnificent oil painting depicting a majestic raging black sea. ‘’What do you think? Magnificent, right? I will bring the other painting, so you can observe it more carefully meanwhile.’’

Leaving the speechless Aaron behind, Victor quickly disappeared from his sight.

''One key in the hand, the way opens.'' Hearing the same whisper once again, Aaron knew that he found the right painting. Helpless, he could only see where this all would go with the paintings in front of him.

Hearing a faint gushing sound from the raging sea, Aaron observed the ‘'key’’ in detail.

A black sea twisted and turned endlessly, but like a mirage it all ended up like the initial picture depicted.

Trying to find out what was the trick behind the raging sea, Aaron moved his head closer to the painting, squinting his eyes to observe every little detail.

Like a loop, the picture changed with the same pattern over and over again, leaving him puzzled on how this was useful besides the novelty.

Absorbed in the observation, he could hear the shopkeeper's footsteps coming closer and closer, he still took one last, long look at the painting.

Tides turned again and again, and just as Aaron was about to stop his observation, he saw something different.

With eyes squinted, he faintly saw something moving in the tides and just as a huge tidal wave was about to sweep across the picture a final time before the loop ended, Aaron saw it.

A dark blue creature of immense size, a terrible, myriad mass of tentacles swirling in spiral shape and as if detecting something, or someone looking at it: The tentacles opened up like a morbid rose.

Great eye with crimson color focused its gaze on Aaron from beneath the tides.

‘’Beautiful, isn’t it?’’ Victor’s voice woke up Aaron from the trance.

Looking at Victor speechlessly while nodding, Aaron rubbed his eyes slightly before turning his eyes back on the still image of the raging black sea on the painting.

Just like a vivid dream, the vision of the creature beneath the tides left an impression of grandeur and majesty that could not be denied on Aaron.

‘’I’ll take this…Masterpiece. I might as well get something for my brother too, how much was this by the way?’’