Wish

"Interesting…"

Deep underneath the ocean waves sat an old man shackled to the sea floor.

His eyes were focused on a small projection ahead of him, where he saw a truly magnificent scene.

"Unsealing the core was truly foolish. That foolish demon didn't expect my plans to exceed his own."

As he spoke, the water itself rippled with something stirring around him, bending reality to its will.

Watching the movement in the abyss around him, the old man laughed and murmured to the thing that stared at him from the darkness.

"Soon I will have what I need to be freed from your control, and he will be the key to it."

… 

"Finally, my legs are back to normal!"

Aaron smiled as he stood near the helm, watching the miniature crab steer the Ghostship towards Sea Fallen at breakneck speed.

They had made incredible headway in their short return voyage, with Aaron helping Mr. Crab in the ship repairs, allowing the crustacean to gradually regain his size.

I guess the stronger the ship is, the stronger Mr. Crab is… That's a good indicator, at least.

He sighed as he looked at the map he had taken from the cabin, noticing the crimson skull had vanished without a trace.

What? It was just there less than five minutes ago…

Furrowing his brow, he looked at Mr. Crab, who had jumped from the wheel to the bow of the ship in one leap.

Wow, he's pretty mobile even at that size.

Aaron admired his skill; however, he noticed the crustacean's expression was unusual from what he was used to.

Is he frowning?

Trying to discern the emotions of a crab, he turned his gaze towards the city of Sea Fallen in the distance, where Mr. Crab had been staring.

"There's nothing out there, so why are you so curious?"

He spoke calmly while looking at the approaching shoreline without much thought.

Shaking his head in dismissal, he decided to return to the captain's cabin to further study the changes to the map while also attempting to discern the meaning of the skull.

Well, someone must've solved the problem with the skull since it disappeared… I wonder what it ended up being? A rogue sea terror? No… The Ghostship would've marked it separately like all the others. 

Mumbling under his breath, Aaron nearly walked into the freshly repaired door while entering the room.

"Ah… Oopsie."

Laughing to himself, he reached for the handle before seeing something from the corner of his eye.

"Huh? Is that a rune?"

Engraved in the center of the deck lay a singular rune that glowed with faint cerulean light.

Looking at the symbol closely, Aaron carefully tried to decipher its meaning like Eleanor would have.

As he reached down to touch the engraving, two more runes lit up beside the one he had seen before.

More?

Retracting his hand, he witnessed the number of etchings increase dramatically until they nearly covered the entire ship.

W-What the? Even when that sea terror attacked, they didn't cover this much of the Ghostship!

Mr. Crab, who had been perched on the bow, simply turned towards Aaron and jumped into the air, vanishing without a trace.

Aaron watched his crab friend disappear in front of him before sighing to himself.

"Of course he vanishes when I need him most…"

The moment he spoke, the engravings began to ripple as if they were made of water.

Opening his mouth slightly in surprise, he stared at the runes that began to float in the air as they pooled together, forming a shape in the center of the ship that he was quite familiar with.

"A mirror, eh?"

… 

Eleanor stood shocked as the shards of glass around the chamber formed a large mirror that surrounded the core.

"W-What's happening!?"

Her voice was drowned out by the rumblings from around the mausoleum as what seemed like the whole world shook.

She watched as the silver-haired woman sprinted towards the center and to the other figure, whose arms had been ripped to pieces without any sign of them reforming.

Turning to her right, she saw Olivia shouting something at her

"Eleanor, snap out of it!"

Widening her eyes, Eleanor felt like her head was clouded with thousands of thoughts; however, she realized to her horror, these thoughts were not her own.

Covering her ears in an attempt to prevent the mental intrusion, a deep, gravely voice resounded throughout her mind.

"Freedom at last."

The rumbling of the room around suddenly ceased as absolute silence overtook the environment.

Eleanor looked around, realizing that the others had stopped their movements and covered their ears as if they could hear the voice as well.

Olivia ground her teeth, looking at Eleanor and speaking quietly.

"Something ancient has awakened…"

The silver-haired woman rotated her head away from her friend, who had fallen to the floor in an attempt to cover his head with the ground.

Instead, she faced down the two girls who stood behind her.

"What did you do, foolish girl?"

Her voice showed hints of fear with a shaky tone that told Eleanor everything she needed to know.

Didn't they cause this? If they didn't, then who did…?

As the thoughts turned inside her head, the inescapable voice resounded again with an amused tone.

"It's quite interesting that someone blessed with my aura is present here… It should be impossible for you to enter the World of Dreams without my permission."

Eleanor furrowed her brow in confusion at who the man was talking about before an idea occurred to her.

Something was concealing me from the silver-haired woman…

She shook her head in denial at the possibility before the voice spoke again with curiosity.

"Ah, so it's you. You are the one he saved."

The others in the room looked around in confusion, wondering who the voice was referring to; however, all of Eleanor's denials had been erased by a single sentence.

T-This man must be talking about Aaron saving me, right? But how would I be blessed with his aura? Unless…

With her mind wandering to an unusual belonging in her possession, the raspy-voiced man began to speak again.

"Well, he has taken a liking to you, then I must follow his lead. You may ask me one wish and I will grant it to the best of my ability."

With his words echoing throughout their heads, the freshly formed mirror lit up with a turquoise glow emanating within.

Eleanor watched as the injured man on the floor opened his mouth to speak; however, magenta light spewed from the mirror, striking him directly in the head.

The man's eyes rolled back before his body began to disintegrate slowly into sparkles of purple and blue.

"We can't be having mere insects interrupting, can we? Well, I won't be too harsh since you are those demons' servants; however, all of you except for her shall be ejected from the World of Dreams immediately."

Without another word, Olivia and the silver-haired woman's eyes rolled back as they fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Their bodies quickly vanished, similarly to the man from before, leaving Eleanor alone inside the mausoleum.

Her heart was beating loudly enough that she suspected that if the others had still been here, they could hear it.

"W-Who are you?"

She spoke quietly, careful not to offend the old man's voice.

Laughter echoed inside her mind as he spoke again.

"You should not be concerned with that knowledge; however, if I grant this wish for you, then you must help me accomplish my own."

Eleanor thought for a moment before replying to the man, choosing her words precisely.

"C-Can you tell me what I must do for you before you hear my wish?"

Silence resounded through the room as she waited for his reply.

"If you insist, then I must be a good host and explain. The only thing I wish for is for you to help free that 'Angel' you met before."

Eleanor's eyes widened at the man's words, confused by his intentions.

He wants me to help my savior? This isn't what I expected…

Pursing her lips, she spoke cautiously with hesitation.

"Is that all?"

As she spoke, the mirror ahead of her brightened with a figure being outlined within it.

Its appearance was blurry; however, she could make out a rough shape of what she suspected to be the man she was conversing with.

"That is all. Now for your wish?"

Eleanor noticed a slight hint of impatience in his voice as she was getting a better understanding of this man's character.

I can wish for anything I want, right? But wait… Do I trust this man not to twist my words like those genies from the storybooks?

Thinking carefully, Eleanor decided to wish for something that she believed was safe but also valuable.

"I wish for you to tell me who you are."

Speaking with confidence, she waited for the old man's response; however, silence engulfed the room.

"That is quite the dangerous wish, but if you must know, I shall tell you."

He paused before chuckling under his breath.

"I'm a god killer."