"What's your name? You never told me." I wasn't attempting to change the topic, but talking to someone without knowing how you should address them was always something my parents deemed as a little rude.
"Auquenis, you?" He replied.
"Names Isaac."
Auquenis nodded in understanding. After a few seconds he sighed heavily and hung his head. "I'm sorry I attacked you, I really am. You see—I was scared and confused. One of your friends shot a gun, another person died and threw up something, I was just so stressed I fled the scene. Then someone else tackled me and I stabbed them." Auquenis said quickly.
I nodded at the scaled-man in solemn understanding. I suddenly looked towards the blue-scaled man and noticed how old he looked. Auquenis looked like he was about 30 years old. I've never seen a 30 year old act in such a way, but I figured it's either a genetic defect in his species or it's just the way he is.
"I get stressed and scared too, y'know?" I said softly.
Auquenis looked up, his lips parting slightly. "Really?"
I nodded at the amphibian. Yes, doesn't everyone get scared or stressed at one point in their life? It's what makes us human, it's why we're able to live and breathe and overall enjoy our lives."
Suddenly Aquenis's eyes flickered, gaining a vulnerable edge. He gave a shaky breath as he slumped in his chair. "But I'm not human, I'm Neridian. I was born and raised underwater my entire life until my parents sent me off to live here and live among the human children."
Aquenis's voice gradually lowered as he spoke. "I'm treated badly while I'm up here. I haven't seen my parents in years, I don't know why they abandoned me. Everyone runs from me when they see me because of how I look, even if I don't want to be feared. I just want someone who understands me…"
I felt an immense pang of empathy upon hearing Aquenis's story. Growing up I was bullied too, except it wasn't for my physical appearance or how I talked or anything. It was merely because I was too nice to people, I was stupid, I was a fool who believed everything others would tell me. Eventually, it got to a point where I almost took my own life because of how people would always take advantage of me.
"I know how that feels, Aquenis." I said with a shaky voice.
"I remember being treated like shit all my life. Even though the last time I visited the doctor's office I was diagnosed with amnesia, I still remember what they said about me, all the terrible things people would do to me."
"Why haven't you hid?..." Aquenis asked softly.
I looked up, confused by his question. "What?"
"Why don't you hide yourself? You look weird too, you have horns on your head."
I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the hard and rocky texture of the horns that protruded from my head.
"It's because I don't know who exactly I am in this world. You see—I'm the Apocalypse, or I'm destined to become the Apocalypse. I never wanted to hurt anyone, not even you. I'm always asking myself what I can do to change my destiny, who and what did this to me? Is there even a god?"
I suddenly chuckled dryly. "I don't hide myself…because if I did, I know damn well I would have killed everything by now. If you hide too, you won't be any happier, y'know? Just don't go and treat people who treated you like shit like they treated you; that won't get you anywhere. It may seem very, very stupid…but just be nice to people, it could save a life, even yours." A small smile tore at the corners of my lips.
The Neridian man's expression grew, and his eyes widened with astonishment. Suddenly, he leapt at me and wrapped his arms around me, crying into my chest. I froze on the spot, awkwardly rubbing his back.
After a few moments he let go and took a few steps back, smiling brightly, in an almost inhuman way.
"How old are you?" I asked, wanting to confirm my suspicions.
"I'm 13." Aquenis replied.
I was dumbfounded. Did the Neridian species have a different gene pool that caused them to have different aging properties? I wonder that toddlers look like, they're probably still Neridian nut, heh.
"Well, I'm 15." I replied, still brushing off the feelings I experienced while Aquenis hugged me.
"Oh yeah, they patched up your neck." Aquenis said as he pointed to my lower neck. I looked down and saw the stitches going across my neck and sighed in relief. I haven't noticed the slight change in my voice when I spoke, it made my voice sound slightly raspy.
"Well, my gratitude to the doctors." I chuckled.
I suddenly looked out the window and noticed that it was dark out. "What time is it?" I asked.
"It's about…uhm…9 PM." Aquinas replied as he closed the wool curtains.
"You should sleep, it's how you can feel better." I heard his voice recede along with his footsteps as the amphibian left the room, leaving the same amount of slippery, semi transparent goo as he left.
"Yeah…I should." I mumbled softly as I looked towards the counter in my wing, seeing the nightwear the nurses had left me. It certainly looked better then the current vest I was wearing, which was drenched in water and blood.
"Hey…that you?" I heard a raspy voice call from the other curtain. Even with its major change, I could still recognize Jake's voice. I quickly changed and left my booth, putting on some slippers and following Jake's voice.
"Yeah, it's me." I whispered.
I slowly opened the curtain of Jake's booth and his expression changed when he saw me again.
"What the hell happened to you?" He asked grimly as he pointed to the scar around my neck.
I simply shrugged it off, not bothering to explain it. "Just an injury I got from the fight. Your shoulder doesn't look that good." I said as I pointed at his shoulder, which appeared slightly elevated under his hospital pajamas.
"Well, I dislocated it after that blue bastard stabbed it." Jake said with an annoyed voice, glaring at the wound.
"He's not a bastard, he's actually quite nice." I said as I sat down.
"I wouldn't believe that for a hot minute." Jake replied.
I sighed in disbelief. "Well, don't just judge people before you know them, ok?
Jake groaned softly as he sat up in his bed. He then changed the subject. "Anyways, we lost the Black-Ember Charm because that son of a bitch threw it into the air after Usagiyama snagged him." Jake huffed.
"Admiral Kaelin had ambitions of retrieving it, how do you think we'll find it again? The Harvest Gathering ended so Kaelin's only guess has lost fruition." I said.
"It wouldn't be a bad guess to say that they potentially left Dreknought Bay following the attack, but I'm sure they'd attract lots of attention by doing so."
I suddenly got an idea. "I know where one of them is, and I can ask them." I said.
Jake raised an eyebrow. "Really, how?"
I sighed softly before saying. "One of the members of the Errican Gang died following the effects of the Black-Ember Charm on their body, almost like it was suicide. If I could divine them and speak to them I could interrogate them on the Errican Gang's location."
"How would you do that?" Jake asked, cocking an eyebrow.
I parted my bangs, revealing the Apocalypse sigil on my forehead. "I'm a Seeker?"
"W-were you the one who defeated that Kraken?" Jake asked, shocked by the sudden revelation.
I nodded. "It was me, yes."
…
I was too lazy to change, so I just put on my single breasted coat and left the hospital, using a map to locate my current position and find the dock from there. The walk took about 20 minutes, and the frigid, salty air of the dock didn't make the experience any more enjoyable.
When we approached the dock where the Harvest Gathering was previously held, I approached the spot where Usagiyama had shot the man, hoticing there was still a tiny drop of his blood that hadn't been washed away by the rain that was currently falling.
"Strange…" I mumbled to myself as I knelt down and stuck some to my finger.
I suddenly closed my eyes and dragged the two of us into my Divine Protection. When Jake noticed the change in our surroundings, his eyes widened and he stumbled in disorientation.
"What is this place?..." Jake asked in astonishment and fear.
I turned back to him and replied. "This is my Divine Protection; every seeker gets one after they encounter some sort of danger, it's almost instinctual."
At this point I had gotten pretty skilled at divining objects or even people from history, but something in my gut told me due to the charms anti-divination characteristics it would lead to something more dangerous if I attempted to divine him back from the dead.
I reached my right hand out and envisioned the man carefully in my head. An illusory black tendril stretched from my arm and gathered in a particular spot in the room, gathering and stretching into the form of a human.
Soon enough, the man dropped into the throne room, looking around confused. He didn't react in any irrational way because he was merely a historical avatar with the same characteristics as the previous person, so acting irrational after death was something he simply wasn't used to at the moment.
I took a careful step forward and knelt down.
"Where is the Errican Gang located?" I asked in a low voice.
The man fell silent for a few moments, his breathing slow and steady.
"I don't know…" he replied in a stuttery voice.
I raised an eyebrow, now confused by his statement.
"You don't know where they are? Aren't you a member of the gang?"
The man nodded. "What gang?"
Upon hearing the man's words, Jake took a heavy step forward and grabbed the man by the collar, his face unchanging even if his face was inches from his.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Jake asked, his teeth half gritted.
Before Jake could enact any acts of violence, I looked towards him, then towards the man.
"He must have had his memory wiped right before his death. The Black-Ember charm was something he did possess, maybe it's designed to do such a thing before the user dies." I said carefully as I examined the man's dull eyes and overall doll-like expression.
"So you're telling me this man is useless?" Jake asked, dropping him to the ground.
I nodded. "Pretty much."
I then waved my hand, and he disappeared, leaving only the two of us in the throne room. Suddenly, Jake's eyes softened as he looked back towards me.
"You can create people from history, like you just did…yeah?"
"Only people I've seen or known about, unless it's some sort of amplification that would allow me to do more."
Jake took a deep breath and said in a low and hesitant voice.
"Could you possibly divine…Damien?"