A King of the Sea…
Aaron mouthed the words breathlessly to himself as he checked the ship's anchor, certifying that the vessel would not float away when he went ashore.
In doing so, he felt a sharp pang in the back of his head as a memory pushed its way to the forefront of his mind.
This specific one, though, appeared in the form of a book that he had read in his youth about the various seas that made up the world.
While a vast majority of their water-covered home remained unexplored with unknown dangers lurking deep beneath the waves, they weren't entirely helpless.
The deepest we've ever gotten was…
He paused, biting his inner cheek as his memory-induced headache intensified.
3,200 meters… Found with an anchor by accident…
Reminded of the near-failed experiment that had taken place in the Sea of Dreams, he looked out into the ocean again, feeling a newfound sense of dread at its calm surface.
If he was within the borders of that sea, he would be grateful, regardless of how deep the depths were, though, as out of all ten oceans that covered the world, it was by far the safest.
Even when ruled by the weakest of the Sea Kings, Lepaie Quinn, who wielded the largest Ghostship, it was still far from a threat to most sailors.
In fact, if his memory served him correctly, which it likely did not, it was the only sea with a large population of open-ocean swimmers.
I think I'd pass on that…
Frowning as he imagined a massive shark leaping from the waves and devouring him whole, he slowly descended from the bow of the ship with his heart racing.
Sprk!
His boots were instantly submerged in the thick sandy mud that surrounded the shore of the island, and even though he could stand, that did not stop him from rushing to the beach.
Careful not to attract any monstrous gazes from beyond, he clawed his way onto dry land and let out a sigh of relief.
That exclamation, though, was short-lived, as only a moment later it was replaced by confusion laced with awe.
Dense vegetation made up most of the area he could see, and the only regions not being the sand-covered beaches that seemed to go on for kilometers.
In itself, a tropical setting was nothing unnatural; however, one outlier amongst those trees was by no means normal.
Is that… snow?
Back in the western parts of the world, snow was common knowledge, whether it be the youngest child or the oldest elder.
Knowing of its existence, though, did not correlate with having actually seen such a phenomenon.
I lived in the south… Yeah… It would be rare if the temperature even dropped close to freezing…
Rubbing the side of his head as he continued to grow accustomed to the memories that settled within him, he noticed that a few patches of the white powdery frost had begun to thaw, dropping droplets onto the peaceful plants below.
Could it be fresh…?
Without any gauge on how long he had been floating, he did not know what season it was anymore, but he at least knew that the temperature around him now was certainly not freezing by any means.
It's almost too hot…
Debating inwardly about the unusual climate of the mysterious island he had luckily stumbled upon, Aaron suddenly flinched from a noise in the shrubbery.
"E-eh?"
Not one to risk death for his own morbid curiosity, he practically leaped behind the nearest tree, attempting to conceal himself the best he could.
Crunch. Crunch.
The sound stopped, causing the boy's breath to hitch, even the thought of exhaling filling him with incomprehensible levels of dread.
I-It wouldn't just be a squirrel, would it…?
Closing his eyes and swallowing hard, he held his place for a few more seconds before forcing enough courage through him to take a look at what had scared him so badly.
With the utmost caution, his turquoise eyes peeked out from the tree and out into the short shrubs, which, unlike before, now were occupied by something inhuman.
Short black and crimson wings with the texture of leather, gleaming claws covered in blood and longer than his fingers, and lastly a sharp, pointed tail unlike anything he had seen on any animal before.
Its body was similar to that of a lion, or perhaps even a bear, yet even that wasn't its most striking feature.
At the very front of its body, a grizzled and rugged human male's face stuck out among the animal features.
He had bright blue eyes that reflected the terrain around him and a dirty beard hiding many wrinkles that told Aaron that he was at least in his late thirties.
The body of a beast, the tail of a scorpion, the claws of a bear, and the face of a human… What kind of hybrid is that?
Disgust welled up within his body, but whether it be fortunate or unfortunate, a memory cut that sour emotion off.
With great difficulty and an intense amount of pain, a single word from an ancient fairy tale that he had read as a kid returned to him.
"Manticore…"
Of course, compared to the nicely edited children's book carefully written for a younger audience, the thing that stood before him was an abomination.
Its cold and calculating eyes scanned the surroundings, looking for prey even with the traits of a human.
So absorbed was Aaron in cataloguing its bizarre features that he failed to notice its appearance in detail.
That was a mistake.
Before he even realized it, those sky-blue eyes were locked straight onto the place where he was hiding, their two gazes focused on one another without either moving a centimeter.
His heart hammered against his chest as it moved a single paw forward, crushing the dead leaves beneath it in another spine-chilling crunch.
I-It's going to eat me!?
A thousand ideas rushed through his head in a flash, all of them ending in the same conclusion: run or die.
But yet, even with the clear correct choice being there, his legs wouldn't move; he was frozen in place in total fear.
The manticore did the same, merely observing with cold, calculating eyes that had no place for warmth within them.
Then, though, it flicked its tail and turned towards the deeper regions of the forest, vanishing within the shrubs before the boy could even realize what was happening.
"Phew…"
Letting out his second sigh of relief in less than an hour, he stared blankly out into the forest as if to make sure it hadn't decided to turn back and finish him off.
"I almost died to a weird monster already…!"
Nearly laughing at the absurdity of his own words, he stepped out of the shrubs he was hiding in and faced a different direction into the forest than the beast took.
It's risky to go deeper, but if there are people here, or at least food…
Salivating at the thought of fish, he pushed ahead of fear and made his way through the bushes at a mild pace, one quiet enough not to attract animals that wished to turn him into their dish.
...
After a little over an hour of mindless walking, he stumbled into a moderate-sized clearing filled with the ruined remnants of a town.
Moss covered the stone structures while the wood beams that held them together looked old, frail, even to the point where he wondered if touching one would cause the whole building to collapse.
A heavy smell of death hung in the air, causing the boy to gag and then quickly pinch his nose in dismay.
P-please don't be the scene of a murder…
Preparing himself for the worst, he made his way through the village slowly down the old dirt road that was still in decent condition.
Albeit, various tree roots and broken pieces of stone from the nearby houses cluttered the desolate street; however, it was clear enough that he could make his way around easily.
Everywhere he looked, it was like observing a gray-scale portrait: every structure the same, colorless material that left much to be desired.
Other than that, most of the buildings appeared to be regular homes with their height not exceeding even a single floor.
Throughout the whole town, only one building even had what he could see to be an attic, which was as close to a second floor as one could get without having one.
A town hall maybe?
Pursing his lips as he noticed the cracked walls that littered the foundation, he couldn't help but fear it would collapse on him if he pushed through the wooden door that separated him from the interior.
I mean… What's the worst that can happen? I get hit in the head and become an amnesiac?
Chuckling at his own joke, he made a silent prayer to that tiny crab that he had met earlier and turned the doorknob.
Creaaaaaak!
As the door opened ominously, Aaron quickly passed through the rickety frame, not trying to test his luck with the rotten wood.
Breathing lightly as his heartbeat began to slow, he assessed the room around him, noticing a few standout details.
A bunch of junk… A closet… A hole in the floor?
Stopping at the sight of the last one, he took a step closer and angled his head downward, trying to see what was within it.
Maybe a basement is—
His thoughts were cut off as he saw what resided within the pit, his entire body freezing in sheer terror.
And in that brief moment, that putrid smell, the one he had been smelling the entire time, intensified dramatically.
Floating lifelessly in a puddle of dark, muddy water was a complete skeleton with a hole through its skull.
W-what…? H-how…?
Dropping to his knees, he felt his stomach churn, and then, turning away suddenly, he began to heave.
With nothing in him, though, it was nothing more than immense discomfort and spit that fell to the floor, his entire body trembling from the terror that coursed through him.
Gradually, though, he began to compose himself.
Telling himself that he had seen things like this before back at home, he took one more look at the corpse, still extremely unsettled.
Without a doubt, it was a human body, and from the shattered hole in the skull, he could presume it was a gunshot that had done him in.
W-was it a murder? Or a suicide?
Trying to distract himself in any way he could, even if it involved detective work, he soon saw one other thing engraved onto the person's head, one that sent a shock through his own forehead.
A mark…
All humans were born with one, a tiny engraving usually hidden by hair a little north of the temples; however, each one varied depending on their sea of birth.
As he was from the Sea of Dreams, his own mark was that of a humanoid skull with plants growing from its eyes.
Such items weren't just benign features, but rather offered unique abilities that became almost like specialized traits belonging to each sea's peoples.
With this, I should be able to get a good idea where I am…
Squinting as he leaned closer, he tried to determine what this person had engraved onto them, yet as he did so, he suddenly jumped backwards in shock.
I-It's…
With the designs of all marks being grade school knowledge, he knew immediately what he was seeing, and that was the horrifying part.
There was no room for error, and as he traced the image of a mythical creature with tentacles wrapping around a chest made of shackles with his mind, his heart dropped.
It was unmistakably the signature mark of a sea full of pirates and criminals that not even the Sea Kings dared to rule over.
A sea that had previously sought to control all others through overwhelming force, only to be stopped by a coalition of the Sea Kings with a hero from the North.
The Sea of Chains, one of the three ungoverned oceans of the world.
I'm going to die.
Aaron finally realized the severity of where he was; one of the most dangerous places on the high seas, and he had been mysteriously transported here.
As thousands of panicked thoughts flooded his mind, he suddenly heard a cracking sound coming from the floor.
His eyes shot down to the corpse again, almost afraid it would suddenly reanimate and attack him.
"What the…"
Mumbling out the words in total confusion as he stared at the empty pool of disgusting liquids, he quickly scanned the room, trying to see if anything had changed.
To his surprise, nothing else had moved in any way, shape, or form, leading him to believe that something had taken the body when he wasn't looking, or it had sunk beneath the foggy water.
Questioning whether he should bolt from the town hall as fast as he could and return back to his ship before any other horrors could ambush him, he heard a gentle rasp from the door that had shut itself behind him.
"Knock, Knock"