Syllian chuckled beneath the tide of ruin.
'What the fuck did I expect?'
The Trial of Ruin wasn't his friend.
The Net of Ruin wasn't his friend either.
Staggering beneath the heavy weight of the shield, Syllian held onto the wall; allowing him to stand somehow.
It was cruel, rightfully so.
His whole life had been cruel to him, so why did he expect any sort of salvation now?
'Maybe I'm just too tired.'
Facing the corridors of The Adler, Syllian noticed that only 4 people stood on the side of the innards, while the other 5 stood facing the door including Allen and Crude.
Dragging his body, Syllian walked up beside the line of dying men.
The person beside him didn't bother commenting.
Perhaps he was too tired to comment, or maybe he didn't care anymore.
And neither did Syllian, really.
He simply held the shield, braced himself with whatever droplets of energy he could muster, and stood behind the front line of shieldsmen.
Thrusting and slashing into the horde of Mutants, the few remaining men drowned in frothing black blood.
The cold air of the dark night had infiltrated their bones, slowing their movements.
Their burning muscles and tired minds synchronised, slowing their movements.
The death of their Captain and best friends lingered in their minds, slowing their movements.
And nothing was slowing the movement of the tide.
Everything flashed in front of Syllian in a haze; in a single, fog-like mirage.
'Am I in the city again?'
It was just like standing in that alleyway, gazing into the horde of humans hurriedly returning to their homes.
And he would stand there, staring in envy, jealousy, hatred, anger, pain, and desolation.
It felt so distant.
Yet so close.
'No... I'm not in the city...'
Splash...
Fresh blood splattered over Syllian's face, dousing his ailing mind awake.
The artery connecting to the brain was visible in front of him, and behind the veil of blood, another lacquered claw shot through, piercing into the decapitated throat.
Splash!
Ripping the man in two, dozens of frenzied faces shuddered in glee behind the veil.
Their squirming, worm-like flesh feasted on the corpse.
And now it was the next man's turn to take over.
10 remained.
The shieldman to the left had support behind him, but the one who was now in front of Syllian had no one except Syllian himself.
Syllian smirked as he spat away the blood that had entered his mouth at some point.
Making do with his shield, Syllian slammed down at an arm that attempted to wrap around the shieldman in front of him.
Crack.
Two claws shattered, but his attack was too weak to deal with the third.
However, it still helped.
Every time Syllian flimsily bashed his shield down, another claw was rendered useless and had to be replaced by another.
That second of respite kept them alive.
Looking through blurry eyes, Syllian found his vision covered in an enclosing wall of terrific black.
It encroached from both sides, slowly squeezing them at the centre.
Smash!
Slamming his shield down again, Syllian felt something burst but was too dazed to know what exactly.
'End...'
Smash!
Another crunching sensation wriggled through Syllian's arm.
'When will...'
Thud-
The man in front of him slid back, colliding with Syllian; pushing his shield into his face in one painful, rattling motion.
But, Syllian didn't feel it.
'End... When...? Sleep...?'
A smile rose on his face, a peaceful, relaxed smile.
He toppled backwards as he watched the ceiling grow further away, only a shower of dark blood reminded him of his situation.
An illustration of sparkling stars merged with floating, bloody worms in his eyes.
His relaxed smile strained, and in front of him; staring at him, from above...
He saw her.
Her tender smile.
Her illusory eyelashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly.
With each movement of its eloquently patterned wings, a wave of dust splattered down on him.
A tide of sparkling, glamorous...
Red dust.
'Oh... It's blood.'
BANG!
The final two shieldmen stood side by side, and on the other end, 2 more men stood.
At some point, only 7 remained.
Syllian tried lifting his arm, but it wouldn't budge.
Turning his eyes to the other end, he found Allen in a similar situation.
With blood dripping down every part of his small body, he lay on the ground barely breathing.
2 shieldmen on each side, 2 useless boys, and a terrified worker.
Allen looked at Syllian with his striking brown eyes.
Syllian looked back with his similarly striking dark eyes.
Their eyes were no longer innocent, a certain darkness brewed within them.
Syllian inwardly chuckled for a moment:
'Those bastards would be scared shitless if they saw me like this.'
Allen opted for an outwardly chuckle:
"You- Cough! -look like a scary bastard right now."
Smirking, Syllian was too tired to respond, but, if he had to, it would go something like this:
'You too.'
Listening to the clamour of the lady of death dancing around them, the boy with messy, long dark hair drenched from top to bottom in a mixture of red and black blood sighed.
SCREE-!
From beside one of the shieldmen close to Syllian, a Mutant with 2 missing arms and a leg slipped past.
Skidding over the slippery floor, the Mutant glared at the free prey lying on the ground in pleasant surprise.
It skipped over to Syllian under the eyes of the horrified shieldmen-
Pah!
-and then was slammed into the wall.
Gripping onto Syllian's shield, the terrified worker shivered as he gripped the item that he had picked up subconsciously.
"Fuck! What am I doing!"
Seeing this happen right in front of him, Syllian wanted to let out a hearty laugh but his burning lungs and sore throat prevented him from doing so.
'How many times have I been saved now?! Hahaha! That's funny!'
As the fight continued, Syllian continued laughing in his mind:
'Am I damsel in distress?! Puhahahaha!'
Somehow the worker disposed of the Mutant, one way or another.
And Syllian's laughter gradually died down, leaving his mind in silence.
An empty silence.
Devoid of all care.
The pool of blood beside him steadily rose.
Swish...
Flooding into his ears, drowning his silence in the noise of a;
Relentless...
Murmering...
Tide.
---
Outside The Adler, the fierce whirlpool slowed its rotation.
The endless thunderbolts lighting up the world eased their anger.
And once the tide of lightning receded...
Swish...
The whirlpool froze, stopping The Adler in its spot like a marooned ship.
Under the darkness of the undying storm, the whirlpool seethed in anticipation.
And:
Reversed.
The whirlpool the size of a large island started to flow in reverse.
Back inside The Adler.
Syllian felt the pool of blood smash into his body as it flowed into one end of the boat with violent force.
The other survivors lost their balance and cadence instantly; dropping to the floor like dying arrows.
On the other hand, the Mutants froze like children caught by their parents for staying out too late.
Looking at each other, the Mutants reluctantly lowered their claws.
And stood still.
It was like...?
They had surrendered?
But.
It was for a reason.
The dark waters surrounding The Adler churned; from the depths of the abyssal waters, it appeared again.
One massive, squirming tentacle ruptured the surface of the water, soaring into the air.
Then two more tentacles exploded outwards.
5 more.
10.
A hundred.
A blanket of tentacles exploded from the belly of the reversed whirlpool, and from each tentacle; a dozen more miniature tentacles exploded out.
Rumble...
The first miniature tentacle landed on the hull of The Adler.
Rumble-!
The second.
RUMBLE-!
And the rest.
Each miniature tentacle slithered across the hull, they weren't mindless nor aimless.
No.
They had a goal.
SPLAT-!
A tentacle plunged into the body of a Mutant and spread out from the innards of the Mutant like chains.
Splat. Splat. Splat.
Dozens of Mutants were pulled back into the dark waters, never to be seen again.
It didn't just end there either, the tentacles slid into the gaps of The Adler and entered the corridors as they searched for the hidden Mutants.
Inside The Adler, where the siege was occurring:
"What's going on?"
"A miracle?"
"No, that's not a miracle."
Crude shut down their dreams.
The survivors watched carefully as each tentacle ripped a hole into a Mutant, and brought it back into the waters.
Not even the dead Mutants were spared.
Crude remembered what the Captain said:
"Raise the sails when it's over..."
Looking at this appalling scene, it all made sense now.
If these were the same tentacles that attacked them for having their sails up before-
"Get ready to raise the sails."
-then when they were done with the Mutants, they would go for them next.
No one had any complaints while they watched the Mutants get dragged back into the dark waters like powerless babies.
This scene brought back a question they all had lingering in their minds a few days ago.
[Just how strong is the owner of the tentacles?]
Too strong, that's for sure.
Syllian and Allen observed placidly, especially Syllian.
He already understood that whatever that thing was, it was too powerful for them to even think about.
They were at its mercy whether they liked it or not.
'I lived.'
Syllian paid it no more attention and closed his eyes, letting his body fully relax.
He had no more roles to play, even if he wanted to do anything, he couldn't.
So he slept.
Right beside him, Allen similarly fell asleep with blood caked over his body.
-----
Some time later.
Flicker-
Syllian regained consciousness with his body screaming in pain.
"Agh-!"
Gritting his teeth, Syllian looked around, finding himself still sleeping on the floor of blood with Allen.
Taking one look outside he saw that the sails had been raised, and the ship was once again swaying side to side in the stormy, rainy night.
'It's really over.'
Turning over, a ripple of blood collided with the gently swaying waves of blood in the corridor.
Syllian very slowly sat up, spending over 5 minutes just to rest himself on the wall.
Relaxing himself on the wall, Syllian checked beneath his right sleeve first.
'Still there.'
Gently breathing to not agitate his lungs and chest injury, the boy sat and wandered.
Not to any specific thoughts but just about everything.
He was reminiscing yet not reminiscing.
Agonising over his actions, yet uncaring of his actions.
'Weird...'
He felt an odd sense of peace permeating his being.
Swaddling his fragile self with a sense of completion.
It was like some sort of glue had stuck itself in between his fragmented mind.
Peace.
'What an odd feeling.'
...But.
Why was he at peace?
It made no sense.
Syllian suddenly didn't feel at ease anymore.
He then realised why.
This sense of peace, he understood why it was so odd.
It wasn't peace.
It was the silence.
It was drowning him.