As our ship pulled into Dreknoght Bay, we saw the bustling activity of the large coastal town. Even in the middle of the night, several fishermen sat at the edge of the harbor catching and reeling in large carp, either for sport or a meal for later.
Overall, the town appeared lively, no matter the time of day. Admiral Kaelin directed the ship into the harbor as he positioned it between two cargo freights that carried large boxes that contained weapons, food, or imported goods.
After we all left the ship, Admiral Kaelin directed all of us toward the large wooden building at the edge of the dock.
After rapping on the door for a few moments a young man opened the door, he had messy gray hair and eyes that reflected the moonlight. His gray hair didn't reflect his age, for he only looked like he was in his mid twenties.
"Admiral, what brings you here? I thought you wouldn't be back for a while…" The man said while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I looked at the man's outfit and noticed how dirty and unkempt it was. He wore a white collared shirt with a few missing buttons, allowing tiny portions of his frail chest to peek through. His sleeves were dirty and torn, and he had a pair of overalls that were a lot bigger than he was.
Admiral Kaelin sighed, dodging the man's question. After smacking his lips quietly for a few moments he spoke up.
"Well, you don't look too well Paxton." Admiral Kaelin examined the man's appearance.
"Well, when you're a fisherman you're supposed to get up early and get to bed late. Since I'm of that occupation I was trying to catch some z's until you came here and woke me up." The young man complained groggily.
Admiral Kaelin rolled his eyes and said with a smile. "Well, how bout I ask your boss for the next week off? If he doesn't agree I'll bribe him with my stuff. Anyways, we need to stay at your place for a while, hope it's not too much of a hassle."
"Really, you would?"
Admiral Kaelin nodded.
Paxton's expression softened as he stood up and stretched, his back cracking like a whip, making him groan slightly upon the sound and the pleasurable sensation.
The large area in which Paxton was sleeping was actually a large restroom facility, with numerous toilets and sinks situated inside the wooden building. It was quite common for people who worked near the docks to need to defecate or urinate while on the job, so the island built numerous of these facilities across all the major ports and areas of primary workforce.
"A fisherman's salary isn't enough unfortunately. My Papa made me take the job due to family tradition, but I've always found myself wanting to bake things, or just do anything else in general…" Paxton grumbled as he started to walk through the crowded streets.
"Well, I hope your new week off will help you with such things. Quitting a job suddenly is something bosses don't really take fondly, but if they're prompted with enough dough they'll let you off easy."
Admiral Kaelin said as he nudged the latter in the elbow playfully, making him wince in pain slightly and rub the spot.
"So, how did you and Paxton meet?" I asked, approaching Admiral Kaelin.
Admiral Kaelin suddenly stopped walking and sat down on a nearby bench in front of the bakery, the heat of the inside leaking outwards, hitting his back. His eyes softened as he looked into the sky and sighed softly.
"It was well over 30 years ago. The war had ended about 10 years prior, so I had no idea what to do now since I'd call myself retired. So I decided why not start exploring the world with a crew of mine, an attempt to find some purpose to my actions rather than sulk and complain mundanely, ya hear?"
"You're making it sound like you liked fighting in the war." I joked, the corners of my lips curling up slightly.
Admiral Kaelin looked towards me, his expression slightly unreadable. "Those aren't times I reminisce about, kid. I've seen all these people die, get injured, lose friends, lose family, tears, blood, sweat, it was a painful thing to see."
"I only wanted purpose after the war was because I did some pretty messed up things. I killed people, lots of them. I needed to do something to get my mind off my struggle…"
After saying that, Admiral Kaelin sighed softly, his voice gradually lowered as he spoke.
"I met Paxton on the field, where he was one of my troops. Since I was an admiral I didn't want to show favorites. One day, he saved my life and took a bullet for me, luckily he survived."
"Then why didn't he join your crew? Isn't he your friend."
Admiral Kaelin frowned suddenly as he looked at the ground.
"Well, Paxton had a family. A wife, and two sons. I got to see them once, his family is truly special. But he couldn't join me due to him being their sole financial backbone." He explained.
"That's pretty sad. But I suppose supporting a family comes first over adventure." I said with a chuckle.
Admiral Kaelin looked down at me and gave a self deprecating chuckle.
Suddenly, Paxton approached us, pushing the gray hair from over his eyes. "Cmon, my house isn't too far from here. My wife's probably making dinner."
"Making dinner at this hour?" Mr. Westy asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.
Paxton chuckled. "Yeah. Due to my extremely long shifts my family is used to being up late. But luckily we get our Wednesdays and Fridays off; someone fills my shift in on those days."
We eventually came to an older looking building with one floor. The outside was made of wood and had windows with the curtains drawn. The lawn was uncut, but lots of colorful flowers bloomed amongst the tall grass.
On the small trail leading to the front door there were numerous cracks where moss and foliage grew from, giving the house an older and almost abandoned feel to it.
A brown cat suddenly scurried by, making Paxton take a small step back.
"Bastard…" he grumbled as he approached his front door and opened it.
"Honey, I'm back!" He called out from the front door.
A young woman suddenly walked from the kitchen, an apron tied around her neck. She was holding a pot filled with steaming stew and emanated a warm and homey smell.
She suddenly raised an eyebrow as she looked past her husband and eyed us, her eyes narrowing in an unwelcoming manner.
"Don't worry. You remember Admiral Kaelin, right? These are his friends; they work on his ship."
After he said that, his wife sighed softly in relief as she took a few steps back, putting the pot of stew onto the stove.
"Well, come on in…" she said, her voice gaining an inexplicable warmth.
We all took off our shoes and entered the establishment. The inside of the house was cheap but comfortable looking. There was a fire in the living room and a large bookshelf.
Suddenly two boys walked down the stairs, looking about my age. One had a mop of black hair and sunken eyes, while the other had long brown hair and freckles.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce my sons. These are Isaac and Johnson."
Isaac gave us a polite wave while Johnson rolled his eyes before heading back upstairs.
I saw Isaac look towards me, parting his black hair. I looked back at him and gave him a small smile.
"Hey, what's your name?" Isaac asked me.
I suddenly took a deep breath and said with a smile. "The same as yours." I replied.
Isaac suddenly chuckled and sat down on the couch. "So your name is Isaac too?"
I nodded, sitting across from him on the couch. Isaac fell silent for a few seconds before speaking.
"Your outfit is quite fancy, you're probably not from around here, right?"
I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing a single breasted black jacket with a red and black vest underneath.
"Well, I'm from Seraphis Kingdom up north. I came here from there for matters I don't want to bother explaining."
Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Why can't you?"
Before I could reply, I heard Isaac's mother announce that dinner was ready.
…
After we had our dinner I was feeling especially tired, so I crashed on the couch while staring blankly at the ceiling. The ticking of the analog clock in the corner of the room echoed through my ears, serving as a makeshift lullaby to send me to sleep.
When I woke up I was inside the living room. I could tell it was late at night, or was it early? We did get here around midnight, does that mean I only slept about an hour? Wouldn't the sun have risen by now?
I stood up and rubbed my eyes before approaching the widow, looking outside. My eyes widened and I felt my guts move inside of me when I saw that the usually white moon had turned a malicious shade of emerald green.
When I blinked, the moon was back to normal. I froze for a few moments.
With the reason I was sent here; to destroy the Primordial Demon King's Mausoleum, could it have been a reason why the moon had turned this shade? Izuku Midoryia's armor was a green color just like his hair…was it "them" influencing the outside world from within their vessel?
Before I could contemplate the color I suddenly felt something on my leg. It felt like tiny needles digging on my skin, and I immediately looked down only to see a small black scorpion similar to De-Taylel.
"Deliver me the characteristic…" an ethereal voice echoed in my head.