“ This Was Nothing Compared To My Burden . ”

The Carnelian warships gathered in the distance, quicker than any ships they had ever seen but they had one thing the enemy did not.

The ocean was on their side.

The knights snapped to attention, awaiting their orders.

Nerune eyed the border at the ship's bow, trying not to show the feeling of dread piling up inside him once more. He had been completely out of it for the previous months, much to his dismay. But today, he swore he'd be back to being King

The border had split in two, and while it hadn't been obliterated, it was wide enough for a fleet to enter. He sighed, the waterfalls weren't in his control, he could neither mend it back together nor command parts of the sea around it.

For him to use his blessings, he'd have to wait for the right moment until they were in his domain. He looked across at his fleet; Natiya was on the ship beside him, and so were several other knights from the academy. Some appeared a little young. Sneaked into the ships while no one was looking perhaps? Regardless of his orders. But they were here now so there was no turning back.

They were getting dangerously close now.

On cue, each captain of the ships raised their hands and with their Syneisfoira, created a massive wave before them, sending it directly to the oncoming fleet. It was fast and it would be a miracle if they were to move away in time. The wave had successfully crashed on the ships, some had toppled over (which the knights all cheered) but the larger ships remained afloat, piercing through the wave as though it was paper.

It was fair, that was just the start. The knights had once again, all together, conjured up another wave, bigger and faster this time. But as it almost made contact with the large ship upfront, the wave had split as though it was cut, then turned into vapor, unsettling the crew.

King Nerune looked beyond the dispersing vapor, it was a child. No older than sixteen he reckoned.

"Pitiful," he simply said.

With the third wave, the Knights were growing tired, they weren't used to putting so much force into a single shot, three consecutive ones at that. He doesn't blame them at all; he had only lately shared his blessings with them. But to conjure up a wave without much time to practice was nothing short of astounding and he felt a swelling pride in him.

(He cursed himself as a thought crossed his mind, quickly pushing it away.)

But just like the second one, the third wave had once again evaporated but not before toppling a few of their ships. There were lots of Carnelian men in the water, hanging on the debris for dear life.

Every knight raised their hands, and soon their ships propelled forward.

It was dangerous to move closer but they had to. The less distance for them to cover, the less tired they'd be after using their blessings. However, the riskier it would all be.

Nerune sighed as he felt the prisoner in the bilge attempt to escape the seal, so he gripped the waters around him before eventually settling down, not wanting him dead just yet. Another problem they must deal with. He moved the pacing of his ship faster than the rest.

And just as he did, the warship with the child on the bow surged forward, even Nerune could feel the engine thumping against the waters, only he, among the knights, could. But that can only mean one thing, they were closing in on his domain.

The waves beneath his ship swayed power towards him, a familiar sensation he had always cherished, but now it felt like a burden. He closed his eyes, forcing himself into a calm and attentive state. The Stone beckoned out to him, but he ignored it; he would not allow anyone—or anything to interfere once again, but he knew that ignoring the Stone would result in catastrophe; after all, they detested being ignored.

Taking a deep breath and focusing on the thumping of the engine, he targeted the right moment to strike. Using the waters surrounding the warship, he crushed the hull and the keel until it exploded. There were screams in the distance, and the child up front was nowhere to be seen.

His gaze flew about, taking in the large explosion and the black debris flying out from the smoke. The vessel of the Carnelian couldn't have died that easily so Nerune remained on guard. He wasn't about to take any more risk. So ordering the other ships to sail behind him, he kneeled and touched the wooden surface of the deck, feeling the power of the sea underneath everything.

He summoned a large portion of his dominion and commanded them to move in his will, his face reddened at the force he was carrying but he didn't stop. There was enough to cover the entirety of the remaining Carnelian fleet.

As the massive tsunami loomed above their heads, they attempted to withdraw in time, but as it passed over them, everything appeared to be a triumph for the Tanzanites. But he didn't rejoice amongst his knights, this wasn't over yet.

"STOP!" yelled out their prisoner from behind, it seemed the seal had broken. Before the knights could apprehend him, Brytos landed right next to him and Nerune couldn't help but glare, however, he didn't bother tying him back again, he gestured for his crew to stand down. Brytos pleaded, "Please, he's just a boy in need of help."

"Then persuade him to stop," he warned. But then on instinct, he stretched out his hands to summon another wave as he saw the small figure emerge from the smoke.

"I will!" shouted Brytos, before leaving the deck.

Nerune felt a spike of resentment in him, he should've killed him when he had gotten the chance at the bilge. The dark thought felt sickening, since when did he ever want to hurt someone this bad? But with what was left of his emotions, he restrained himself.

Brytos flew over to face his brother who was covered in coal and dust, they stood over what was left of the deck that was half submerged. He grabbed his shoulders tightly, which sent shivers down Baco's spine, but Brytos didn't notice "Let's stop this now! We've already lost so many men, please, Baco, this isn't you. You've got to fight the Stone and do the right thing!"

Baco scoffed before laughing violently, digging his nails into Brytos's hand. He wheezed through every breath before glaring at him, "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME? AFTER YOU LEFT ME AGAIN,"

"I didn't leave you because I wanted to! I was thinking for the best. Their king is giving us a chance to stop this whole thing, let's take it and start over."

"SHUT THE F*CK UP! YOU'RE NOT THE BROTHER I KNOW. AVIS WOULD NEVER RUN AWAY FROM A FIGHT! I WOULD NEVER—"

"Please, Baco, don't let the Stone take over!"

But Baco pushed his magma-filled hand against his chest, he winced as Brytos let out a scream before clutching the burn, heaving at the pain, however, he turned away and glared at the King, who seemed ready to send another attack, from the distance.

"My dear brother, you should've died a long time ago. Why did I ever let you live?" he said.

Then at that worse moment, Brytos's head felt as though it was breaking apart. His father was there, and he was back in the chamber. He was a small child. The only fire that could hurt him was… Now is not the time!

"Baco…" he croaked, but the pain was too much. "I'll be beside you, I swear,"

Brytos knew that his brother pretended to not have heard what he swore, he knew better. He cursed himself, never had he felt so fragile, except for that moment when he had woken up on the table. He wished he knew what to do to help him, but instead he felt stuck and there were no right answers.

He watched in searing pain as Baco floated up in the sky. What to do? He thought hard through the massive headache. He groaned, annoyed at himself. What the hell do I do?

The deck he was lying on toppled over, pushing him under the sea. He fought both the searing agony in his head and the torrent that was dragging him down. He shook the water out of his hair, worsening the headache.

He managed to emerge from the surface, grabbing onto the same deck that toppled over him. He spat out the saltwater and saw just in time to see the Tanzanite King launch a cannon-like water spray at his brother, who countered with the same, slightly smaller, ball of magma from earlier. As they collided with each other, covering the sea in thick white steam, which blinded both sides.

Brytos lifted himself heavily on a floating platform, squinting through the steam. "BACO!" He called out, although he was sure it was nowhere near him. He tried to balance on the swaying deck, conflicted about what to do.

'Think about what you ought to do and choose to do it.' The Alumnus's words rang in his head.

"I have to decide now," he heaved, then nodded to himself, although not quite sure what he was agreeing with. "I've already decided," he muttered to himself before spreading his wings and taking off.

-

Sweat trickled down Nerune's neck as he took off his robes, but his helmet and armor remained. The heat from the steam was unbearable and so he had ordered his men to stand down and retreat to the clearing. It was only him at the ship, him and the Carnelian vessel, surrounded by the hot steam that never seemed to stop appearing. But despite that, he could feel every vibration of his dominion, lots of men at the water, but he paid them no mind, targeting a specific one. One he'd been trying to catch for a while now.

He didn't think a Carnelian could use an Azurite spell to make them fly but when you're possessed by the Stone, anything seemed possible.

He dodged an oncoming spear of magma, it barely grazed his shoulder, although it doesn't mean he didn't feel it. Having silver armor doesn't help with the heat at all. He felt it weighing him down, as well. But he persisted, this armor could not simply melt in magma, The Alumnus (bless the man) and the blacksmith had made sure of it.

He breathed through the steam, letting it turn back into droplets of water, with the steam in the air, he could slightly feel the on and about in this blinding maze, just as he did with the sea. But with the heat, he had to admit, it was difficult. He used a whip of water and lassoed it towards where he felt movement. Then he felt his whip grab hold of a limb before it was cut once more with intense heat.

He perked his ears up for any sound, focusing on any slight movement, it was difficult to accurately locate where. He heard a swift on the side, he threw a spear in its direction.

There was a painful grunt followed by a laugh, "I've met your wife, you know, gave me a little prick in the eye" said Baco somewhere in the covers.

He felt himself freeze.

"A pity, she would've lived if she hadn't saved your useless son,"

Nerune whipped into where the voice was but it simply went through as though there was no one there. He turned more steam into droplets but it seemed like more and more were coming, and it was becoming difficult to breathe under the helmet.

He condensed a massive portion of the steam into droplets, seeing Baco afloat, he whipped to grab hold of his small neck and whizzed a spear of water directly at his head. Baco grabbed hold of that spear and turned it into steam. But no matter how hard he tried, the lasso would not let go of his neck.

Baco squirmed as he tried to escape the lasso, but he could neither hold it nor use his heat to turn into steam. "Damn it!" he yelled out. Nerune forced him to the ship's deck, crashing him against the hardened floor.

"Was it you who killed my wife? Burned all those villages and innocent people?!" he demanded, his blood boiling from months of agony.

When Baco didn't respond, the lasso tightened further around his neck, tears ran down his eye as his face turned into a shade of unsightly purple. Then his eye flickered from maroon to bright red.

"Answer me!"

But something changed, this monster in front of him looked pitiful. Its small figure hunched down on the ground, choking and crying. No, it didn't make a difference. He destroyed his family and ruined his kingdom. He deserved to perish. Nerune looked into that pitiful eye, that was about to turn lifeless, but it was too much. Much too cruel on his part.

'What am I doing?' After a few moments of fighting his judgment, Nerune loosened the lasso but remained it on his neck. Baco coughed as he struggled to breathe in, the purple hue turning into its usual paleness.

"What am I doing?" he asked again, muttering under his breath. "It wasn't your fault. It was the Stone who forced you. Fooled you. You're just a little boy who didn't know any better."

Heaving, he grabbed the ledge for support. Feeling the dread pile up, even more.

"Me? The fool. No, it's you. You could've killed me but didn't," Baco said, although his tone was solemn. "Are you a f*cking moron?"

.

When he couldn't bear it any longer, Nerune lifted his helmet. He inhaled the steamy yet salty air, which was, to say the least, pleasant, despite the horrid hint of coal.

"Let's stop this at once…" he said, letting his helmet fall on the deck with a clang.

But Baco didn't share his sentiments, "Stop? It was tiring to have taken down that border, but I'm feeling better now."

He giggled, completely out of his mind. His bright red eyes burned into maroon and a chain of curses turned the lasso on his neck into a pile of steam. Then threw a needle of magma, hoping to pierce through Nerune's head but it was quickly evaded.

"Remember my name, your highness, Zemus Alkyone, your next King," Baco stepped on the cooled magma, admiring the scenery of watery vapors at the side.

Nerune backed off at the ledge and stood on the surface of the water, watching as the magma eat up his ship. Even if he put the fire out, the ship would've been unsalvageable. Baco flew above him, staring down at him with hatred.

As the magma had once again made contact with the water, it created a large heap of steam. But Nerune was quick to disperse it.

Nerune built a mountain of spears and thrust them all toward the impending spears of magma that were geared at him. Every strike produced a cloud of steam, and the molten lava then dried into planks of cooled magma. It wasn't long before the sea was filled with these things.

Baco released large volumes of magma into the sea and everywhere he went. As more of the magma touched the water, more of the surface was covered into the hardened dark earth. It was unsightly and horrid, as did the vapor that erupted from it. The ocean looked ruined.

"Beautiful. The ocean had never looked so stunning," stated Baco, feeling humorous.

"BACO!" yelled from afar above him. He looked up to see his brother, who kicked him afar.

"This has to stop," said Brytos, standing above him. Baco shook his head, his blood boiling at the interruption. "Listen to me."

"No, you listen to me," gritted Baco, standing up on the dried magma. "We're so close to getting what the Stone wants. After that, it'll be over,"

Baco placed his hand on Brytos and burned him, pushing him out of the way and trapping him into a wall of magma.

The fight ensued. And Baco cheered as the magma melted on the armor of Nerune's arm, but he showed no signs of pain. It did, however, burnt a large area of his skin.

'This is nothing compared to my burden,' thought Nerune. He used water to cover up his wounds, easing the pain.

"Why hasn't the Tanzanite Stone lent a hand?" Baco said, looking down at him. "Or did you actually think you can defeat me without the Tanzanite's help?"

"I am not idiotic enough to accept the offer, unlike you. A young child as its massacre puppet, there is blood on your hands now."

But Baco didn't react to that, he knew that already, he accepted the offer for his selfish gains and where did he end up? There was a faint twinge of pain inside of him, but the desire of the Stone had once again taken over immediately. It seemed it wasn't done yet.

He conjured up a whip, planning to slice Nerune's head off, once and for all.

But Nerune was right in front of him, a blade glistening against his neck and it was like everything had slowed down. And for sure, he thought his head was going to roll off his body and sink down at the bottom of the ocean. With no one to save him.

To his surprise, it wasn't his head that was torn off.