Gun of Ashes

”That was truly a despairing moment; you’ve finally grown up, yet you’ll never have the day to raise the sails again.”

Another lightning bolt cut through the night sky, and Eve’s peripheral vision caught sight of the others, led by Wol, the crew busily working on the ship, silent and facing the storm.

”I muddled through like this for a long time, though aged, I could never forget the longing of my childhood, but alas, it remained just a longing, a bygone relic cast out by the age, with no place in the new era.”

”I didn’t marry and have children; I spent all my savings to buy the Silverfish and gathered a group of children who also held nostalgia for the pirate era to become my crew.”

With emotions full of either remembrance or grief, the captain slowly turned around, his weary body damp, scales like fish spread under his clothes.

”Child, do you know the feeling when, having dwelled long in darkness, you suddenly see light? That feeling of being pushed to the extreme? There’s no reason in it; as long as you can leave the darkness, it doesn’t matter if more dreadful things await beyond that light.”

”That’s how I was at that time.”

Eve moved closer to the edge of the ship, striving to minimize her blind spots, without being distracted by the captain’s words.

”What are you trying to say?”

”A pitiful person’s confession is all, someone needs to know all this, right?”

Murky eyes like swirling clouds, within them, dreams surged light.

”I’ve always hoped someone would know this, making my death, our deaths, have value. But no matter how I called, nobody responded, until you came.”

The eerie call had actually originated from this person before her, since the Radiant was forced to stop, he had been calling out to Eve.

Whether in fear or honor, Eve never expected that one day she would become a special case.

”So you called me here just to listen to your rambling?”

”Probably, people are like that; born in solitude, yet unwilling to die alone, even finding a heap of irrelevant people for a funeral to amplify their not-alone status.”

Firmly gripping the helm, the captain spoke slowly, marking the beginning of the tragedy.

”Everything started a few months ago when a person named Mentor approached me, saying he could give me everything I hoped for, like countless wealth, lofty status, or even that forgotten era.”

”He said he would fulfill each of our dreams, as long as we helped him salvage something.”

”Perhaps you can’t understand that feeling, when you’ve despaired over something, and someday someone tells you there’s still hope. Faced with such massive temptation, everyone loses their sanity, and this is where the tragedy began.”

The wind and rain quieted down, as if the entire world were listening to his words; he was the storyteller, doing everything only to not be forgotten, no matter whether the story was good or bad.

”You should be here investigating this matter, right? Honestly, when I first saw those monsters, I realized the world was so complex, that guy named Mentor made us take something we shouldn’t have, but by then, there was no turning back.

Three of my crew died at sea; they dragged that thing up from the deep sea. I don’t know what they went through; all three lost their sanity, became unable to communicate, then their bodies began to decay... it’s hard to imagine that feeling, people still breathing, speaking, even moving, yet their flesh decayed eerily, until twisted into a lump.”

His voice carried remorse and hatred, in the darkness echoed the sound of monsters wriggling. Eve turned to see that grotesque flesh crawling on the deck, the visual impact almost made her retch.

”I realized the mistake at the time, but that’s how people are; if we stop now, the sacrifices are meaningless. I stubbornly led all the crew towards the path of certain death.”

”In the end, this is what happened; we indeed attained what we wanted, but only in the dreamscape.”

The captain sighed leisurely, then laughed, as if mocking himself.

”Is this dreamscape?”

Indeed, just as Eve guessed, this was the bizarre dreamscape spawned by that huge source of corruption.

The captain nodded and said once more.

”These are all I wanted to say.”

”Just these? I thought you’d have some damn life’s philosophy.”

”Those things aren’t important; I just wished to speak to someone before dying and then end all this. Do you know dominoes? One topples another, one after the next. This is how a common person becomes mad; as long as there’s a tiny bit of temptation coupled with continuous mistakes, he becomes a crazed lunatic.”

The captain wore a bitter smile; this was his mistake.

”For my dream, everyone ended up like neither human nor ghost. I’m truly sorry.”

With these words, the world once again surged, endless storm winds and rains battered the Silverfish, as if it was the wrath of God Odin. The pitch-black sky was adorned with a fierce white, the thundering skyfalling like a waterfall.

Suddenly... Suddenly Eve had a strange feeling, she slowly lowered the gun in her hand as if she had seen through it all.

”You actually don’t want to pass down the story; you just want someone to confess to, right?”

The captain’s figure froze, and in an instant, the whole world fell silent. The massive thunder froze in mid-air, countless water droplets splashed at the edge of the blazing white, each raindrop reflecting everything in this world.

No, this wasn’t the captain’s true thought. At this moment, he was like Eve’s father, Duke Phoenix. No matter what mistake Eve made, he would forgive her. Everything was for her; that wasn’t even paternal love anymore, he too was confessing, as if ensuring Eve’s safe life was his greatest penance.

”You made the wrong decision, resulting in the wrong consequences. Everything you do now is only to repent, to slightly alleviate your guilt.”

This was the captain’s thought because all those young people had died. Even if they hadn’t, being involved with demons wouldn’t lead to a good end.

He had been seen through, and the dam of emotion finally burst, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Eve watched that frozen world; this was his dreamscape. If nothing unexpected happened, this captain would be the bizarre source of pollution, the center of all the dreams, the mysterious Dream Builder.

The world was agitated by his emotions, with thunder and rain becoming even more intense.

”So, you’re punishing yourself, aren’t you?”

The captain was the Dream Builder, the source of all this. In the dreamscape, he was like a creator. If he wished, these storms would vanish in an instant, but he didn’t do so. Instead, more trials descended.

”Perhaps.”

He whispered as the Silverfish rode the winds and waves. Suddenly, infinite sunlight burst out from behind those dense clouds. It was the land bathed in light. The Silverfish was just a step away from it, but then a massive tide fell, completely blocking its progress.

Eve could only feel the ice-cold and heaviness of the seawater. When her vision cleared again, the Silverfish had been destroyed into two pieces, the seawater gradually engulfing the poor vessel. Eve shouted anxiously.

”What are you doing! Didn’t you want to sail to a new era?”

This was his dreamscape, yet now it was dying. The captain was destroying everything.

He looked at the girl and shook his head.

”This is the gift he gave me, a beautiful dream. Here, I can achieve everything I want, but the price is too high. Even God Odin would be ashamed to have a progeny like me, and the doors of the Heroic Spirit Hall would close tightly on me. I drift in this chilly ocean like a solitary cloud, a wild ghost.”

”I am a relic of the old era, and the new era will not accommodate an old relic like me.”

With an expression of sorrow, this time Eve suddenly understood the captain’s meaning. He was not only confessing; this was also redemption. He was dying. This vast, dreadful dreamscape was disintegrating. With the sinking of the Silverfish, this would all come to an end.

”This is the last thing I can do, hoping to slightly atone for my mistakes.”

So, in that real world, the girl’s body was controlled by the dreamscape like a bizarre ritual. Her feet stood firm as iron nails on the ground, mobilizing her entire body in a way impossible for ordinary people. Like a zombie, she moved over to the Red Falcon, also caught in the dreamscape, and picked up the burning aluminothermic rifle.

The Eve in the dreamscape perceived it; the connection between dreamscape and reality was strengthening. She could feel her physical body moving, doing something. In reality, after a long climb, Eve finally reached the place that had been calling to her. This was the captain’s ultimate goal. He needed someone to end it all; this was his repentance.

It was a mass of twisted, hideous flesh. The man’s cheek was sleeping within the scarlet flesh like he was immersed in a beautiful dream. So, under that force’s control, the girl raised the aluminothermic rifle in her hand and pulled the trigger.

This was the end of everything. The pitch-black everything would finally come to an end. The sea seemed to boil, heated by the sun. The captain stared straight at the place where the light rose. His bitter face finally showed a trace of delight.

This was a beautiful night. Before him was the captain of the Silverfish, who, due to the power of demons, became the mysterious Dream Builder and created this vast dreamscape. He spent what could be counted as a happy night here, made his confession, and atoned for his actions. He fulfilled his years-long wish, raising the sails on the tumultuous sea.

Even though it was a flawed dreamscape, a self-deceptive story, he still accepted it. It was the darkest yet the best day of his life.

The Silverfish eventually sank into the sea along with the captain. When Eve awoke, she held the aluminothermic rifle with an empty magazine in her hand. Before her, the massive, twisted flesh had been burned to ashes. The dreamscape that governed the entire area ended, and so the endless demons seemed to be commanded, surging from all sides toward this solitary lighthouse.

But none of that caught Eve’s attention. She watched that burning flesh, the blurry face within showing an expression of liberation. Then the flesh connecting to the walls disconnected one by one, finally falling into the deepest darkness of the lighthouse, the light vanishing in an instant.