After some time wandering uncertainly in the dark, Jonathan made it. He heard a sound that would guide him, like light in the darkness.

At first he thought it was the bell, again.

That it had somehow at last managed to penetrate all the way into the creature, or had simply resumed, considering that it didn't seem to be a "real" sound.

But it wasn't a bell. It was the beating of a heart.

A huge heart, of course. But a heart nonetheless. No matter how small his sword was, if it went through it all would end there. A human would die from a needle in the heart, after all. Even if his sword was like a needle to that monster, it would kill it.

The only thing that worried him was that one heart wouldn't be enough.

It seemed silly. There were many sea beasts, but most only possessed one heart like any living thing. There was one notable exception, however.

The Kraken.

The Kraken was also a hulking beast, with many tentacles. And it had three hearts, no more, no less. Three fucking hearts. One of the many reasons it was the scourge of the seas, the greatest fear of any pirate, not the law or the whims of the sea: storms, tsunamis, all that.

If there were three hearts... Well. What he was trying to do was hard enough.

If there were three hearts, it might well be impossible. Straight-up impossible altogether.

Jonathan shook his head, moving forward in the darkness with the heartbeat as his only guide. The beating of a single heart, but who knew. Even if he had several, they didn't have to be so close together for him to hear the rest just because he was getting closer.

Hopefully he was right and it was only one. Hopefully.

Too much trouble, otherwise.

And he had only thought as far as stabbing the heart. He had no idea how he was even going to start running away after that. He had the advantage that he couldn't die, so he should find a tide even if he got lost in this thing's corpse, even if it took him a long time, but....

No. Don't think about that, shit.

But of course.

Avoiding thinking about anything was completely useless. Like a vicious cycle, your mind just kept coming back to the same thing over and over again the harder you tried.

Fortunately, Jonathan was pulled out of his thoughts when he bumped into something.

A wall of flesh he hadn't seen coming

The heartbeat... They were coming from above. Jonathan raised his head unconsciously, though he was still completely blind in the dark.

And he was rather worried about being assaulted by surprise by another one of those creatures, which had somehow managed to survive in the belly of the beast, of course; one more thing to avoid thinking about.

I guess I'll have to climb.

Jonathan took a deep breath.

He knew it could be a lot worse. He also knew that while he might have managed to climb up and out of the creature's mouth, right now his situation wouldn't be much better.

Or it would have killed and devoured him, and he would be in the same position.

Jonathan nailed the sword to the wall.

He couldn't see shit, so he couldn't be sure there weren't better places to grab, but the sword would serve as a foothold, for starters.

And so it was, fortunately, he soon found better places to grab. Bones sticking out, lots of them, long and sharp. He guessed he was on the chest, where the humans had the ribcage. He supposed that as much as it was basically a giant fish it was possible it had something along those lines. It was after all something completely new.

He also latched on to other things he dared not name.

Things slimy and slippery to the touch. Disgusting. But footholds, after all.

Up, up, up.

The further he went, the more the sea beast's heartbeat became a physical weight pulling him down. It overwhelmed all his senses. When he was close enough to stab the heart, he might not even be able to stand up.

But he was managing.

Somehow he would manage, as he had always done.

He would kill the sea beast, find what the bell wanted him to find, and... and then what? And then what? He couldn't see a clear path to the future, the goal he wanted to accomplish. It was that big. Chaotic and ambitious.

But, as he climbed, his thoughts wandered and he began to wonder if he could see the point of it all in the first place.

That is, he loved his family...even though Jonathan had realized it too late for it to matter. So that he could have been there and prevented it.

Or at least that was what he preferred to think of himself. Even the worst pirate didn't want to think he was human trash.

Everyone was the hero of their own story.

But...

Even if that was true, what did it change? It was a cliché, but even if he made that monster pay, he wouldn't get his family back. He would get no reward other than to make him pay for it. Make it suffer.

But how long would the satisfaction last? A few hours? A few days?

Revenge was worth it when it was all you had left. But there would always be the problem of it being the last thing you had left.

He really had nothing. Nothing and no one.

Trying to pursue revenge, he had been betrayed by the man he had thought of as a brother. The one person he had truly trusted his whole life, which was suddenly feeling very long. He had trusted him more than himself, you could even say that.

And with him he had also lost his ship, his crew.

He couldn't go back to sea. He couldn't go on with what he had been doing. What he was good at.

Starting from scratch was a possibility, but....

So lost in thought was he that his hand slipped and Jonathan fell down. Fortunately, it was just a scare, he was able to grab hold of the wall again driving the sword into the flesh. It was just a scare, but I had to focus.

Resuming the climb, and what he thought before came true. The more you tried...

The less you could stop.

Jonathan believed in the gods, what he wasn't sure about was the afterlife. Assuming there was an afterlife, could he even look his wife and daughter in the eye? Could he be with them?

What did he expect?

To be able to say: I killed that man. I avenged them. I... I redeemed myself?

Is that what it had all been about from the beginning? The absurd idea that he could redeem himself for simply... not being there? For not caring enough? It wasn't as if they had suffered just once because he wasn't there. When they'd somehow come to the Count's attention it had been the worst, certainly, but he'd left them practically abandoned for years.

That was cleaned up with blood? Just like that?

He didn't think so.

Even if he could return to his family in the afterlife, he wouldn't be able to reunite with them. So what was the point of it all? He shouldn't think so, but he couldn't help but wonder, maybe the stench inside this thing, the utter darkness and despair were clouding his judgment.

No. No maybe.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Jonathan was in the stomach of a strange creature, in a life or death situation (it was still true no matter that he would be resurrected shortly thereafter). He couldn't waste time on nonsense and ramblings.

Once again, a new sound in this oppressive darkness served to rescue him from his own thoughts.

That sound was...

The flapping of wings?

That thing had come back to screw him?

It didn't make any sense. It had been and still was blind as a bat, but if it had had wings, it would have used them to get away from him. It wasn't like it hadn't had plenty of opportunities.

It had to be something else. Something else surviving in the stomach of this horrible monstrosity.

Somehow. Maybe from the remains this thing was devouring.

Maybe.

More than ever, he felt fear. He didn't want to end up like them. Just another ghost, forever wandering in this darkness, unable to die. Literally unable to die. Even if he refused to eat like them, death had no claim on him.

Forever.

Forever.

Maybe this was the hell he deserved, but eternity was too much.

Where was that fluttering coming from? If he was right, then it could only want to devour him. And the winged creature would obviously have all the advantage here. He didn't want to fall.

But neither did he want to go down, to undo the path he had climbed so far.

Slowly and carefully, with the sound of fluttering wings still nearby, Jonathan tried to stand on top of those bones. He had found too many bones by the wall of flesh, he was sure now that he was climbing up some kind of rib cage.

The bones were wide enough for him to stand up. Albeit barely.

And Jonathan had to stay low, just so he wouldn't hit the next one. He knew because one brushed his head, pushing his hair aside. It wasn't ideal, in many ways.

But it was what he had.

He had to somehow manage through this.

Jonathan took a deep breath.

"Come here, you son of a bitch!"

Straight at him.

As soon as he heard his breath, whatever was flapping in the darkness lunged for him like a cannonball. He could feel the wind, cold and dead, lifting its wings as it came faster and faster.

He bit his lip hard. Drawing blood.

The flying creature crashed into him, crushing against the bone behind him. However, at least he had managed to keep his balance.

It was risky, but Jonathan didn't cling to the wall like a castaway to a piece of a storm-wrecked ship. He sought to cling to his enemy, instead.

It might have wings, but its form was humanoid as well. At least he brushed its face, its shoulders, checking it as thoroughly as he could, before clinging with all his might.

Pulling it back.

But the previous creature had possessed enormous strength and so did this one. He quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to win the struggle. So, he supposed he could pull the thing towards where it wanted to go.

Forward.

Toward him. It gave in with surprising ease.

As if he thought his prey was giving up.

Helping, basically.

But he wasn't, of course. He had no right to surrender. Jonathan lifted the unknown winged creature overhead... and brought it down hard behind him.

Sounds confirmed to him the right place. Skin and flesh being pierced. Blood spurting everywhere.

And, above all, his scream.

It was to be expected, wasn't it? But since the creature from before hadn't made a sound, it took him by surprise anyway. Jonathan panicked and backed away unconsciously. Not much, to tell the truth.

But enough to lose his balance in his precarious position.

A bone snapping.

There was pain, but it wasn't his own bone.

That was the sound of a piece of the sea creature's bone snapping, sending both the winged thing and him hurtling into the void.

——

When he woke up, his mouth was full of blood.

It took him several seconds to remember what had happened to him. And several others to realize that he was probably safe. For one very simple reason, he couldn't hear the flapping of his enemy's wings.

He got to his feet, with the help of his hands resting on the wet ground.

Jonathan had fallen. He had died with the fall, losing who knew how much time. But at least his enemy had too. If it had presumed him dead, then it would have chewed him up instead of just walking away. So it must have died in the fall.

And now he'd have a clear path. More or less.

Until something else came along.

To think of how many creatures could survive in this creature's entrails was tempting fate, but, seriously, it couldn't be many more, could it?

Maybe not even one more.

Jonathan picked up the sword from the ground, it wasn't very far away. And resumed climbing from the beginning, again. It took him what seemed like hours, whole hours, but in the end he made it to the top. And by then the heartbeat of this beast was so loud he thought he would soon stop hearing it.

Yes, because at this rate his eardrums were going to burst.

The sound of the bell had been even more overwhelming, but that wasn't a "real" sound; it wasn't coming from anywhere in particular, it was in his mind or something. Those heartbeats were very real, though.

He walked about ten more yards, turned the corner... and there it was.

Definitely there it was.

Because he saw it with his own eyes. The first thing he'd managed to see in this impenetrable darkness. It wasn't because his eyes had finally gotten used to the darkness, but because there was finally some light.

It was emitted by the heart itself.

It gave off a kind of red energy as the heart expanded and contracted. At first he thought it was some kind of optical illusion, just the flesh of the organ, but no. It was definitely energy.

A barrier?

Jonathan gritted his teeth, so what? He'd come this far... There was nothing left for him to do but try this.

He took a step forward.

A misstep, as he almost ended up falling head first to the ground. He barely managed to break his fall with his hands in front of him. Yes... He had been right, after all. He felt some blood slide out of an ear and trickle downward.

He must have ruptured an eardrum.

And it had affected his sense of balance, how could it not? He'd had experience with this before. More or less. The occasional gunshot, too close. Not to this point, but it had left him a little off balance.

It didn't matter if he fell, he'd win as long as he could get to the heart.

He had come too far to fail now.

He lunged forward, on all fours. He lunged like a panther. He could still hear the heartbeat, but no louder than ever, for he had lost one ear. It was a sound like... ghostly. A sound like what you might hear in a dream. Almost wasn't sure if it was real or not.

Jonathan wished this was all nothing more than a bad dream.

But, at last, he got his victory.

Jonathan got to the heart, in other words. He hadn't won yet, but if he had made it this far, his victory was inevitable.

Inevitable.

He hit the heart... and failed to stab it.

The red energy barrier stopped him.

It didn't push him back, but it stopped the blow.

Fuck.

Yeah, he'd expected it, nothing was wrong.

But fuck.

"There is nothing but annoyances and obstacles in my way," he said, his voice barely coming out.

Jonathan struck a second blow. With the same result. That is, none. The same with the several blows that followed. As he missed, he clenched his teeth tighter and tighter. His jaw trembled. It might be silly, but something so simple was filling him with rage.

But maybe rage was the only thing keeping him on his feet.

After a dozen more blows, the sword snapped in half and a piece flew out behind him, lost in the darkness beyond.

But at least he had won a small victory. A crack in the barrier.

"I got you, you son of a bitch!"

He continued to strike with the broken sword.

Widening the gap.

Jonathan howled victoriously as he delivered the final blow. His sword penetrated the heart, finally. Nothing more than a small needle for this massive beast that could reduce entire buildings to ruins just by passing through, yes. But enough. Enough.

Because he heard it shriek, felt it shake, like a fucking earthquake.

And its shrieks were music to his ears. Of course. He'd let his "brother" get away, the Count was too far away and only the Gods knew when he'd get the chance to get his hands on the bastard, but at least he'd been able to pull this off.

Unfortunately, Jonathan's celebration was also cut short rather quickly. Suddenly he was swept away by the tide.

He'd only given it a small cut. His sword was like a needle stuck in the heart of that monster, especially now, split in half.

But a small flow of blood for a monster as big as a house and more could drown any human being, as if they were an insect.

Jonathan struggled.

To keep his bearings, as he was pushed away from the red light of the barrier and back into the darkness.

To keep his head above the "water" and not drown, not die miserably again in the bowels of this beast. He hadn't thought about how to escape after he managed to kill it. He had not been able to think; otherwise indecision would have paralyzed him.

And now he couldn't think. It was too late.

He waved his arms, looking for anything to hold on to, not necessarily to keep himself there, but to give himself some time to think. It was the only way he could get it, yes, he could only stumble blindly. Because he was again.

He tried stabbing at a wall as if he still had a sword.

He supposed a sword split in half could be called a knife. Whatever it was, he had left it in the creature's heart. So much blood should have made it fly, but now it was lost, he would never find it again, it could be of no help to him even to get out of here. It would be too much to hope that it would float to him.

His life wasn't like any fucking fairy tale. It was a nightmare.

And he was right. Nothing but terrible things happened to him. He couldn't hold on to anything, couldn't find any way to save himself. And he couldn't even keep his head below the sea of blood.

Sooner or later he would drown.

Sooner or later...

——

It hurt oh gods how it hurt

his lungs were expanding and

Like balloons they were like balloons expanding endlessly too full of air on the verge of

about to explode about to explode

I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe gods I can't anymore

——

He woke up under a mountain of flesh.

Buried.

But at least he could breathe. He remembered little. The panic, the feeling of not being able to breathe, mostly. That's why he was relieved even in such a situation. That's why he didn't mind too much knowing that....

That he was weaker than ever, and had lost the sword, and had no idea where to even start to get out of this death trap.

Jonathan simply rejoiced that he could finally breathe.

Badly, yes, but at least he wasn't drowning.

He felt something wet slide down his cheeks. Blood? Fluids from this thing? No. Tears. Without realizing it, he had started to cry. At least no one could see him. How has my life gotten so out of control in such a short time? How the hell is that possible? That was all he could think about.

He wasn't a hero. He wasn't even a decent man.

But.. did he really deserve this?

Slowly, without realizing it, he lost consciousness again.

——

When his eyes opened again, the first thing he saw was some light in the darkness. Some light. At last.

The mountain of flesh in which he was buried had been ripped wide open. And, on the other side...

Elizabeth, unbelievably. His eyes widened.

"I thought you had abandoned me." But his weak voice didn't reach much beyond his lips. He wasn't sure, but he didn't think Elizabeth had even heard him. Though perhaps that sardonic smile was an answer.

A smile, as she extended a hand towards him. It was a completely selfish, mutually beneficial relationship, on both sides, but....

Gods. What a relief.

"Come on."

He took her hand. And the woman pulled him out of the darkness.

Out of the darkness and back into the boat. The monster had only overturned it, not wrecked it. Jonathan still couldn't quite believe the nightmare was over. He had a feeling he had spent a lot more time inside that thing. Years, perhaps.

But it was undoubtedly real.

Because he heard the bell again. Calling him to... To...

To reclaim what was his.

"I can't believe you killed that thing."

Jonathan turned around to take one last look at the creature's corpse. It completely blocked the view of the city from this angle.

"Neither can I. Let's get... Let's get moving."