Wrath of the sea

The bathhouse was a tumour clinging to the eastern pier. The wood was rotten and slick with sea slime, and the air hung thick with the smell of sulfur, steam, and unwashed bodies. Aki pushed open the heavy, water logged door and stepped inside.

The world dissolved into a hot, dense fog.

Through the steam, he saw them—large, scarred, dangerous looking men. They were sailors, pirates, and mercenaries, their bodies covered in faded tattoos that spoke of a hard life at sea.

A few of them turned to look at him, their eyes cold and assessing, before dismissing him as just another stray dog.

This was a place where deals were made, and secrets were kept. The mild nudity of men in loincloths did nothing to lessen the palpable sense of danger.

He scanned the room. In the largest of the hot pools, sitting on a stone bench like a king on his throne, was a weathered old man.

He was lean but wiry, his skin tanned to leather by a lifetime of sun and salt. A massive, faded tattoo of a kraken covered his entire back, its tentacles coiling around his scarred arms and chest.

His hair was long and Grey, tied back in a simple knot, and his eyes, even from across the room, were sharp and intelligent. He held a small, carved wooden whale in one hand, which he was polishing with a rag.

The other men gave him a wide berth. This was him. This was Kiro.

Aki walked to the edge of the pool, his footsteps silent. The old man didn’t look up.

“You’re a long way from the forest, kid,” Kiro said, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. “You reek of pine needles and fresh blood. Smells like trouble.”

“I was told you sail to the cursed island,” Aki said, his voice cold and direct.

Kiro finally stopped polishing the whale. He looked up, and his eyes met Aki’s. There was no fear in them. Only a shrewd, calculating curiosity.

“Mad? Or just expensive?” Kiro countered. “The Aqua mire Strait doesn’t give up its dead, and it sure as hell doesn’t give safe passage for free.”

“I need to get to the laboratory,” Aki said.

Kiro let out a harsh laugh. “The Doctor’s playground? You’ve got a death wish, boy. I don’t sail for suicidal idiots. What makes you think I’d take you?”

“I can pay.”

“I doubt it,” Kiro said, his eyes scanning Aki’s worn tunic. “My price for a trip like that starts at two thousand keto. Cash. Up front.”

“Shit.” Aki maybe had a few hundred.

Aki reached into a pouch at his belt.

He pulled out the object he had taken from the dead soldier captain—the ornate, glowing alchemical compass. He held it out.

Kiro’s nonchalant expression vanished. His eyes locked onto the compass, his pupils dilating slightly. He knew what it was.

“A Royal Guard’s Soul Tracker,” Kiro breathed, his voice suddenly serious.

“Where in the seven hells did a piece of shit like you get that?”

“From a dead man,” Aki said. “It’s worth more than your fee.”

Kiro stared at the compass, then back at Aki’s cold, determined face. He saw the bounty poster in his mind’s eye.

“This was the kid. The monster who had wiped out an entire squad of the King’s elite. This wasn’t a death wish. This was something else entirely.”

A slow, dangerous smile spread across Kiro’s face.

“This was the most interesting thing to happen in this shithole port in years.”

“Alright, you little bastard,” Kiro said, standing up from the pool, water streaming from his scarred body.

“You’ve got yourself a captain.”

Kiro’s ship was named the Sea Serpent. It was an ugly, stubborn looking vessel, its hull covered in scars and patched up timber. It didn’t look fast, but it looked like it had been to hell and back and was ready to go again.

“She ain’t pretty,” Kiro growled as they boarded.

“But she’s tasted a kraken’s beak and lived to tell the tale. More than you can say for most poor fuckers who sail these waters.”

The journey began. Kiro was a master at the helm, a one-man crew who moved with an old, familiar grace as he adjusted the sails and guided the ship out into the vast, Grey expanse of the Aqua mire sea.

Shika, who had been hiding, poked her head out of Aki’s tunic. She looked at the endless, churning water and let out a terrified telepathic squeak.

“It’s… wet. Everywhere. And it moves! The ground is supposed to be still! This is wrong, Aki! Make it stop! "

“It’s the sea, Shi. Get used to it.”

For hours, the only sounds were the creaking of the ship, the snap of the sails, and the cry of the gulls.

An unnatural fog began to roll in, thick and cold, swallowing the sky and the sun. The sea grew calm. Too calm. The water turned black and still as glass.

Kiro’s cheerful, gruff demeanor vanished. He sniffed the air. His hand rested on the hilt of a large harpoon that was strapped to the ship’s railing.

“This calm…” Kiro whispered, his voice grim.

“I’ve felt it before. Ten years ago. Ran a smuggling crew back then. A beast… a monster from the depths… it took my ship. Took my entire crew. Dragged ‘em all down to hell. I was the only survivor.”

He looked at Aki, his eyes burning with a decade of hatred. “It lives in this fog. I’ve been hunting the motherfucker ever since.”

He grinned, a feral, terrifying expression. “Looks like it finally decided to hunt me back.”

“Alright, kid,” Kiro said, his voice a low whisper. “Whatever fancy shit you do with that magic of yours, get ready to do it.”

Aki formed his long katana, its Grey metal a stark contrast to the white fog. “What’s coming?”

Kiro’s smile was grim. “The fear.”

The first tentacle was as thick as a tree trunk.

It erupted from the black water without a sound, a column of glistening, sucker covered muscle that slammed down onto the ship’s deck with enough force to splinter the thick planks.

Shika screamed in Aki’s mind. “What is that thing?! It’s huge. "

“Hold on!” Kiro roared, fighting the helm to keep the ship from capsizing.

Another tentacle rose from the depths, then another, and another. They were surrounded. A massive, beaked head, larger than the ship itself, broke the surface, its single, malevolent eye, the size of a boulder, fixing on them.

“Kraken!” Kiro bellowed, grabbing his harpoon. “You ugly motherfucker! I sent your brother to the depths ten years ago! Looks like you want to join him!”

A barbed tentacle whipped towards him. Kiro didn’t flinch. He expertly ducked under the blow and thrust his harpoon deep into the flesh. The monster roared, a sound that shook the very air, and thrashed wildly.

Aki was already moving.

He ran along the railing of the tilting ship, his balance perfect despite the chaos.

A tentacle swept towards him, aiming to crush him against the mast. He leaped, his katana a blur of motion.

He sliced clean through the appendage. It fell to the deck with a wet slap, a writhing, dying thing. Black, viscous blood poured from the stump.

The kraken roared in pain and fury, its single eye locking onto Aki.

“You’ve pissed it off, kid!” Kiro shouted, wrestling with another tentacle.

“Good,” Aki thought. “Come for me.”

He stood on the bow of the ship, a lone figure against the monstrous beast, his weapon held ready. It was a battle against a god of the deep. He felt a familiar, exhilarating surge of battle rage.

This was a language he understood.

The kraken focused its entire fury on him.

Two tentacles shot out of the water, not to crush, but to grab. Aki dodged the first, but the second was too fast. It wrapped around his leg, its powerful muscles constricting, its suckers latching onto him with agonizing force.

He was being dragged towards the edge of the ship.

“Aki!” Kiro yelled, unable to help, pinned down by two other limbs of the beast.

Aki gritted his teeth, the pressure threatening to snap his bones. He swung his axe down, burying it deep in the tentacle wrapped around his leg. The monster shrieked, its grip loosening for a split second.

It was all the time he needed. He freed himself, stumbling back.

The kraken’s massive head surged forward, its beak, hard as obsidian and sharp as a razor, snapping at the air where he had just been. It tore a huge chunk out of the ship’s bow, sending splinters flying everywhere.

Too close.

“The eye! " Shika screamed in his mind. “Its thoughts are all about its eye! It’s the only thing it feels! "

“Kiro!” Aki shouted over the roar of the monster. “I need a distraction! A big one!”

Kiro, having just hacked himself free, grinned like a madman. “A distraction? Kid, I’m the best goddamn distraction you’ll ever see!”

The old captain grabbed a barrel of lantern oil. With a grunt, he heaved it overboard, directly in front of the kraken’s face. He pulled a flint and steel from his pocket, struck a spark onto a piece of oil soaked rag, and threw it after the barrel.

The oil slick on the water ignited with a loud WHOOSH , creating a wall of fire directly in the kraken’s eye.

The monster roared, a sound of pure agony, and thrashed blindly, its tentacles smashing wildly against the water and its own body.

“Now, kid!” Kiro screamed. “Hit the bastard while he’s blind!”

Aki didn’t hesitate.

He ran across the deck, leaping from the broken bow of the ship directly onto one of the flailing tentacles.

The appendage was slick with blood and seawater, but he found his footing. He ran up the length of the massive limb like it was a bridge, his katana held ready.

The heat from the wall of fire was intense. The stench of burning flesh and boiling seawater filled the air.

He reached the kraken’s head. The massive eye, temporarily blinded and searing with pain, was thrashing back and forth.

He had one shot.

He leaped from the tentacle. For a moment, he was suspended in midair, a small, defiant figure against a primordial god.

He raised his axe high.

And brought it down with all his force.

The axe plunged deep into the kraken’s massive eye. There was a sickening, wet squelch, and a gush of thick, gelatinous fluid erupted from the wound.

The world went silent.

The kraken’s roar was cut off, replaced by a low, shuddering moan. Its massive body went limp, its tentacles uncoiling from the ship.

It began to sink back into the black, silent depths, leaving behind only the burning oil, the battered ship, and two exhausted survivors.

Aki landed hard on the deck, the adrenaline leaving him as quickly as it had come. He was breathing heavily, his body bruised and battered.

Kiro stared at him, his mouth agape. He looked from Aki to the sinking corpse of the beast, then back to Aki.

He let out a long, low whistle.

“Holy shit, kid,” he said, his voice filled with a newfound respect.

He was quiet for a long moment, watching the last of the beast disappear into the depths. A heavy weight seemed to lift from his shoulders.

“You did it, you little bastard,” he said, his voice thick with an emotion Aki didn’t recognize. “You actually did it.”

He walked over and clapped Aki hard on the shoulder, a gesture that was both congratulations and a thank-you.

“I’ve been hunting that motherfucker for ten years,” Kiro said, his voice a low growl. “That thing took my crew. My friends. I never thought I’d see the day.” He looked at Aki, his eyes strangely clear.

“Thank you, kid. You just put my ghosts to rest.”

The rest of the journey was quiet. The unnatural fog began to thin, and the sea returned to its normal, choppy state. The Sea Serpent was battered but afloat, a testament to its stubborn refusal to sink.

Aki stood at the bow, staring into the mist, while Kiro expertly guided the damaged vessel.

“So,” Kiro said, breaking the silence. “You’re looking for your sister and a girl.”

“Yes.”

“And you think the Doctor has them on that island.”

“I know he does have information about their whereabouts.”

Kiro was silent for a moment, tying off a rope. “That’s a tall order, kid. That island… it’s the heart of the King’s power. It’s a fortress. Going there alone is suicide.”

“I’m not asking for your opinion.”

Kiro let out a harsh laugh, a sound like rocks grinding together. “You’re right, you’re not. You paid me to get you there, not to give you advice.”

He squinted, his eyes scanning the horizon. “Still, it’s a damn shame to see a kid with balls of solid steel go on a suicide run.”

A feeling of frustration began to bubble up in Aki. They had been sailing for hours since the fight, and there was still nothing but endless water and mist. He spun around to face the captain.

“Do you even know where we’re going?” he demanded, his voice laced with accusation. “Or are you just sailing us out here to die?”

Kiro didn’t get angry. He just smiled that same, maddeningly confident smile.

“Of course I don’t know the ‘exact’ location, you moron,” he said, his voice dripping with condescension.

“What?!”

“The island is warded by magic!” Kiro shouted back, his good humor finally breaking.

“It doesn’t stay in one place! You don’t find it by looking at a goddamn map! You find it by surviving its guardians. Furthermore, you prove you’re worthy of entry!”

He pointed a gnarled finger past the bow.

“And we just did.”

Aki turned. Through a final, thinning wisp of fog, he saw it.

A dark, jagged island had appeared on the horizon where nothing had been before. It was a spike of black rock, crowned with a single, unnaturally modern tower that stabbed at the sky like a poisoned needle. It radiated an aura of cold, clinical evil.

The Aqua mire Laboratory.

They had arrived.

Kiro expertly guided the battered ship toward a black, metallic looking shore. There was no dock, no welcoming port. Just a sheer cliff face with a single, ominous cave opening at the waterline.

“This is as far as the Serpent goes,” Kiro said, his voice grim. “The rest is on you, kid.”

Aki nodded. He looked down at Shika, who was trembling in his tunic. “It feels cold, Aki. Like the Doctor’s thoughts in your dream. "

“I know. Stay close.”

Aki leaped from the ship, landing silently on the strange, metallic shore. The ground felt wrong, humming with a low, latent energy.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the island came alive.

VREEEEE!

A piercing alarm blared, echoing off the cliffs. Hidden panels on the rock face slid open, revealing a dozen automated turrets. Red lights, like predatory eyes, locked onto him.

“Shit!” Kiro yelled from the ship. “It’s a trap!”

Beams of super heated energy—lasers—lanced through the air, incinerating the spot where Aki had just been standing.

Aki Stood still.

He didn’t just dodge. He moved with an impossible, inhuman grace, a whirlwind of motion dancing between the searing red lines of light. He flowed across the shore, the laser bolts always a fraction of a second too slow, leaving scorched craters in his wake.

He formed his katana, the blade a streak of Grey in the chaotic light show. He leaped from the ground, ran vertically up the cliff face for three steps, and then pushed off, twisting in mid air.

He descended on the turrets like a hawk on its prey.

In a series of impossibly fast strikes, he sliced through the armored casings of the weapons.

One by one, they exploded into showers of sparks and shrapnel.

Silence.

In the aftermath, a large screen on the face of the tower above flickered to life. The smug faced scientist appeared, looking down at them not with anger, but with the detached curiosity of a researcher observing a particularly interesting specimen.

Aki stood midst the wreckage of the turrets, his sword pointed at the screen.

“Here I am, Doctor,” Aki said, his voice cold and clear.

“Nice to meet you again.”

The Doctor on the screen just smiled, a cruel, evil laugh echoing from hidden speakers across the island. He spoke into a comms unit, his voice calm and clinical.

“Alert all units. The asset is on site.”

He paused, his smug smile widening.

“Initiate Protocol 1481.”