Black Sea

Vera stood at the edge of a half broken ship, barely functioning as a raft. It was a horrible series of events that haunted her.

As soon as Naren killed the Basilisk, there was only a minute of peace before the fleshy walls began to contract. Self contained and meticulous rumbling sent the the two surfing down the canal of the creature that Vera would much rather never experience again.

If the stench wasn't bad enough, the only thing they managed to salvage as they dove out of the creature's behind, were only loose pieces of planks, barely resembling even half of a ship. The only silver lining was the creature diving deep into the sea soon after.

Now Vera was left alone to her thoughts as the only other human nearby slept like a log. Her eyes drifted along the glistening black sea. Only now could she fully absorb everything that happened.

The slaves aboard the ship, the soldiers, even that subhuman Sergeant. They were all now floating around in the deep depths where light would never kiss their skins again. The last words of Boris, his face as he mangled himself to stay in control.

Vera's stomach lurked, her insides pouring out into the ocean secluding them. Wiping her mouth, her thoughts were scattered. Then she grabbed onto the most recent one she could think of staring at her hands. The stinging sensation of when Naren slapped her hand.

Staring over at the sleeping curly headed boy the words he said echoed in her head: "I'll take you home."

The thoughts of her mother, her family, her home came flooding back. Especially the very second her mother pushed her out of the way, falling into the infinte void below. But above all, the fear of it all came back.

'Why did I say I wanted to go home. I don't want that. What's wrong with me.'

The truth was she said it in the heat of the moment. Her surviving the Basilisk. No, it must've been before that. The matter of fact way Naren spoke about finding his sister.

'What's so wrong about not wanting to. I'd rather survive.'

"Naren...Sir, you must wake up."

She nudged the curly haired boy with her foot, his eyes springing open. Naren was perpetually tired, used to sleeping twelve hours a day at least, but he was easily woken up. And when he woke up, it became that much harder to go back to sleep.

The red-haired boy grumbled as his heavy eyes let in barely enough light to see Vera's figure over head. Immediately regretting it, Naren flipped over to his side.

Vera continued shaking Naren.

"Naren! You must get up! I-I'm famished..."

Her voice trailed off as her stomach's grumbles took over.

Naren sprung up, his golden eyes half covered. He shoved a hand on Vera's mouth.

"Mmmgg mmphm mhh."

"So loud. What'd you want."

Now that he was finally up, she didn't know what to say. In fact, she didn't even really know him. To her, Naren was a total mystery. Someone who popped in out of nowhere. With some magical abilities letting him teleport around.

In fact...He was quite scary.

Vera didn't even realize she was staring when she spoke out.

"Pardon my rudeness...but...what are you?"

Naren titled his head. A grim look in his eyes.

"I'm cursed."

Vera's face was shrouded in an unidentifiable emotion. Something like pity mixed with guilt. Even a bit of fear in it.

"Like a witch..?"

"Like my sister."

An uncomfortable beat of silence filled their dingy raft. Only the sounds of waves crashing could be heard. As well as the occasional bird.

"...your sister had cursed you?"

"Yup. Now people keep forgetting me."

The atmosphere was almost as murky as the water around them. Vera didn't know what to say and Naren didn't care to hear it. Suddenly, their little partnership seemed to be the furthest from being feasible.

Vera opened her mouth to speak, but their makeshift dinghy finally began to let out. Assuming it was just the poor engineering between the two, Vera waived her head over the edge. Her face immediately paling and pulling back.

"What's up?"

Naren followed suit, seeing Vera all shaken up and trembling.

His eyes narrowed as his face went pale.

"Where's the ground...?"

The black restless murky waters that had been carrying them for the past hour was suddenly dozens of meters under them. Suspended in the air, the dinghy was held up by a obsidian pillar of water.

And just as suddenly as Naren's heart dropped, so did the rogue pillar.

The dinghy came crashing down, slamming onto the ground, splitting the crude ship in two.

Naren's eyes bulged our of his face as he watched Vera being taken away. He scampered towards the other half of the dinghy, the little girl still cowering from the initial shock.

He managed to grab hold of the edge pulling back using it all his strength. Trying and shaking as the rough waves continued to ellipse all around them. Oscillating into large pillars of pure black geysers.

"Shrimpy...Do something!"

The waves came crashing down next. Coming from angles that shouldn't have been possible, like there were no currents in these black waters. Naren's grip began to dwindle as he finally decided to abandon his half of the dinghy jumping onto Vera's.

He looked onto the sea as his previous vessel got sent into an upwards ascent at least thirty meters into the air, before coming back down and splintering into a hundred pieces.

He grimaced as he tried shivered, all wet and cold.

"Why's the sea so mad?!"

As the words left his mouth, the dinghy flipped, swallowed up by the sea. The rough waters seemed to pulling them down, a short water spout materializing, wrapping itself around Naren's legs.

He panicked, grabbing onto the free little girl, who let out a little screech as they both began being drawn deeper into the depths.

However, as quickly as it had appeared, the sea had let out just like that, pushing the two back to the dark murky surface in a tranquil calm. As if the sea got bored and decided to let them live rather than them surviving.

Naren quickly grabbed onto a stray plank, hugging it as he lifted himself up. Vera surfaced quickly after, spitting out water as she coughed up in anger:

"How could you pull me into that danger?!"

"Huhh, I would never. How could you even accuse me of something—"

Naren's voice trailed off as his eyes fixated on a fishing boat floating right behind Vera.

He grew excited at first before fixating on something else. Right by the ship, something was floating. Bobbing silently in the water was something brown.

It wasn't until it got closer that Naren realized what it was.

A man...drowning.

"What the hell..."

Naren watched as the lifeless body of a man drifted along the murky waters before him. For a second he blanked, but then his gaze redirected on the ship behind the man.

Sweet. If this was the guy's ship and he was here drowning, then it's free for the taking.

Just as he formulated his plan, a sudden burst of laughter sent him falling off the plank they'd salvaged.

"Puhahaha...What a nice swim."

Naren bobbed out of the water, spitting out the mouthful he drank by accident.

"What the hell!"

The man tilted his head, his long strands of black hair parted down the middle, plastered to his forehead from the water.

"How long were you two here?"

Naren slapped the man on the head.

"Who the hell're you?!"

The man grimaced as he rubbed his head. His arm covered with bandages in every part that wasn't sheltered by his sleeves.

"I was just going to ask you two if you wanted a ride but—"

Naren immediately straightened up.

"Of course we needed a ride oh great lord. Don't mind my insolence."

The man laughed before helping the two onto his fishing boat, drying off his coat. His body filled with bandages at every exposed point but his head.

"Yeah. It was a perfect day for a swim...Nice weather, pretty skies."

"Your a choo man."

Just then, the boat hit something solid, giving the brief bout of hope in Naren's mind that it was land.

But it wasn't.

Before them, was a collection of several platforms lashed together with thick braided rope. Each varying in size, from one that could barely fit two people, to one that was at least ten meters in length. Each swaying rhythmically along the waves.

On it, houses and community structures were built for survival instead of comfort. Low hanging structures, reinforced with steel to combat the dangers of the black sea. Jars of quite wisps of flames hanging from poles, casting an amber glow along the floating city.

Fishing nets were draped along at every crevice, always cast.

However, the most bizarre part was how it stayed afloat. Massive blowfish were tied to each ends of the platforms, creating a congregation of natural floaties.

Easily three meters tall, their rough puffed bodies were covered in a greyish yellow hued molted layer of skin. The almost leathery texture, covered in small bumps scattered about with no particular pattern.

As captivating as the entire site was. It was just as strange. With the exception of the fisherman, there was absolutely no other person present.

The sky above flickering, interrupted only by the deep gruntle of thunder.

The man stepped atop the platform after Naren and Vera got off, blocking off their view of the boat. He spoke in a gentle matter of fact tone:

"So why should I let the witch live?"