The waves lay still under the sunlight. In the small fisherman boat stood Lucid, Arthur, and Valen. Ayame had decided to remain behind, trusting Arthur to look over Lucid from what he had managed to catch from her look.
'They think I'm some new born to be looked over,' he thought bitterly, the life jacket was uncomfortable around him.
But Lucid didn't mind it if she wasn't present. Quite frankly, he didn't like seeing her in much pain, though the fact that direct sunlight was something she particularly hated he didn't know. Then again she quite literally bled randomly, so maybe the sun could cause problems.
"Hey Lucid, you are doing it wrong."
He glanced back. It was Arthur.
"Oh, so you know how to fish? Do please enlighten me."
Valen spoke up. "Give me that."
He brushed past Lucid and took the fishing rod from his hand, starting to pull it up. He looked at the bucket where Lucid had his golden fruit bought.
"Hey, you didn't even put the bait!"
Lucid stared at the fishing rod with complete disinterest.
"Well obviously you can fish without bait. Plus your bait also kills people. What's to say we might not poison the fish and it might kill us instead?"
Valen clenched his hand, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "You idiot, it's not for consumption!"
Arthur broke in between them. "How about I do it?"
Arthur took the fishing rod, fitted the bait with practiced ease, and cast it over in a smooth motion. The two of them watched the way he handled everything with quiet efficiency, as if this was neither his first nor his second time doing it, but something repeated often enough to become instinct.
The line arced through the air before landing cleanly over the water.
The tip of the rod, where the bait had been secured, plunged beneath the surface, breaking the calm with a soft disturbance. Small ripples spread outward in widening circles across the sea, briefly disturbing its stillness before slowly fading back into calm.
Valen and Lucid stared at the water like a pair of hungry predators.
They waited.
They waited.
And they waited.
Time passed and patience was wearing thin. The gentle heat from the sun had now started to leave their skin, replaced by the slight cold of the sunset breeze.
Arthur yawned.
It would seem Lucid and Valen as well had rested their heads atop his shoulders while he held the rod. Valen started to drool on Arthur's shoulder meanwhile Lucid's head was just heavy, pressing down with dead weight.
Arthur took note of both of their states and something sparked inside of him. He punched both of their heads with his metal gloved hand.
"Hey! You two! Either you help me out or we go back!"
"Ouch," Lucid muttered, rubbing the spot where the metal had connected.
Valen supported himself over the edge of the boat. A couple of seconds later, a sound of something wet hitting water could be heard.
He was throwing up.
Lucid and Arthur observed him with mild interest. Valen still hung over the edge and said something in a shaky voice.
"I'm seasick."
"It was your idea!" Lucid yelled while Arthur stood watching with a patient expression.
Lucid supported Valen over his shoulder. He faced Arthur with a tired expression.
"I think we will head in for the night."
The sun had started to set, casting long orange shadows across the water's surface.
Arthur nodded. "Sure."
"But how will you get back?"
Lucid summoned a pair of glowing chains that mended with a spear at its end. The spear of the pierced spine and the chains of envy from the Chain of Heart trait manifested in his grip, glowing faintly in the dimming light.
They were not too far off from the shore, so Lucid could probably get there if he swung enough or lengthened his chains to reach solid ground.
Arthur nodded slowly, processing what he was seeing. "Oh, okay then."
They waved at each other.
Lucid carried Valen and his hungover state over his shoulder, swung with golden white chains over the sea.
***
Arthur looked over the horizon. The sun had fully gone under now. It was dark. He had an oil lamp but it did little to cut through the encroaching shadows. He yawned as well. After all of this, after everything he was here. The thought took him back to what he had gone through and what he had to do to land here. He scoffed at the memory.
He looked up. The moon was not its usual color for some reason. The other moon, Morwen, shone far brighter than Sellenia, which was not normal.
It was the Blood Moon. It came twice a decade, a rare sight to behold, but also said to drive people mad if they stared at it for too long. Of course, Arthur now was awakened. He had some resistance against the Moon's ushers.
The same could not be said for Ayame. She seemed to be entirely unawakened.
As he sat there, visions and screams of his old victims came back.
He shook his head. He wasn't there anymore. No, he had good companions now. A kingdom to protect, better than the last. He needn't regret, for was it even his fault? He did his job.
He was naive, but no amount of crimes can atone for murder.
He gritted his teeth. He clenched the rod. Despite all of that, Lucid accepted him. Despite it all, he saw through him. He smiled at the thought.
Something pulled at the rod.
Arthur looked up in surprise for a brief moment. He stood up quickly, the boat rocking beneath his feet.
He clutched it with both of his hands. He pulled.
To say pull was an understatement.
He was the one getting pulled. Arthur, with a quick moment of fury and adrenaline, pulled back, facing away from the sea. The water started to ripple violently, spreading outward in concentric circles.
Each pull he made, whatever lurked beneath that water pulled twice its strength in return.
The boat started to rock dangerously, tilting side to side.
"Huh," Arthur muttered, his eyes widening.
"So I see how it is."
Without much of a thought or a moment's hesitation, he gathered fate essence and imbued it to the rod so it wouldn't break. He gritted his teeth, muscles straining beneath his armor.
He was awakened after all. He might as well use his powers to their full extent.
He pulled.
He pulled with every shred of his being, his boots bracing against the wooden planks of the boat, his shoulders burning with exertion.
It resurfaced from the water.
A huge gigantic fish with scales of minerals broke through the surface, water cascading off its massive body. It seemed to have the same characteristics as a dolphin, sleek and curved, but dolphins were extinct he thought. It struggled and thrashed around in the water, its tail slapping against the surface with enough force to send waves crashing against the boat. Arthur pulled and pulled. It was beautiful indeed, twice the size of the fishing boat he used, its mineral scales catching the last remnants of sunlight and refracting them in rainbow patterns.
He looked at it, mouth slightly open.
"No way," he breathed.
He had managed to catch a rare sight, and no one was there to witness it.
With a smile spreading across his face, he took the huge fish-like being by its characteristics. It was considered an unfaithful, however it was still fit for consumption. Well, that's to say what Valen and Lucid planned to do with it. He took a rope and started tying it sideways to the boat. He was at the tip of the boat now, securing the creature with knots he'd learned years ago in a life that felt like someone else's.
He started to row.
He paddled with all his might, the added weight of the massive creature making every stroke feel like moving a mountain.
"Oh, they are going to love this!" he said aloud to the empty sea, grinning like a child who'd just found treasure.
He paddled and paddled, the oil lamp swinging gently with each stroke, casting dancing shadows across the water. The shore grew closer with agonizing slowness, but Arthur didn't care. He kept rowing, kept pushing, the thought of Lucid's reaction and Valen's shock fueling his tired muscles. The mineral-scaled creature bumped gently against the side of the boat, its weight a constant reminder of what he'd accomplished.
The stars began to appear overhead, pinpricks of light in the darkening sky, but yet also two moons have started to show themselves, one red and the other brilliantly white illuminating the seat with its gentle mix of red and white. The waves lapped against the hull in a steady rhythm, and Arthur found himself humming an old tune from his previous life, one he'd thought he'd forgotten.
For the first time in a long time, he felt genuinely proud of something he'd done.