Keith expected this accusation this time. After all, Oryath and Perseus have history not only that but he and Hyacinth are strangers who carry over the feelings of irritation to this life. Still, it irks him. They have things to do! Tiamat must be biding her time and recovering after being sealed so long. If they dally then…
A dark look appeared on his face. The water spike inched closer. The sharp point brushing against his skin in deadly promise.
“Fine. If you don’t trust me, you don’t have to. In fact, you’re welcome to wrap some water around my neck, if I betray you this time, you can use the water to kill me.”
Leonith looked at him in shock, red fading to blue at this statement. Hyacinth, for his credit, only nodded his head.
“The situation on the island is dire, that’s the only reason why I’m letting you off so easily.” Hyacinth justified, more to himself than to the people present as water wrapped around his neck.
The water is cool, and carries a salty scent with it, giving off a refreshing aura. As the water wrapped around, he can’t help but liken it to Fenrir willingly letting himself be bound. It’s quite ironic. Much like the myth of Fenrir, he too made a pact and allowed himself to be bound though he knows the results will be different.
Fenrir must have liked me so much to willingly share a piece of his own story. Keith thought in amusement.
“What are you laughing about, Traitor?” Hyacinth scowled.
“Nothing. Only amused by the turn of fate. So, are we leaving or what?” Keith asked with a grin.
And if his grin is a touch too sharp well… It’s not his problem. Leonith, for his part, is calming down as his eyes bled back to blue and his hair faded back to blond. It’s a bit odd, like watching a timelapse. The now blond haired man noticed him looking and gave him a reassuring grin.
“Come along beside me, do not worry about the water, I’ll control it.” Hyacinth directed, gesturing at the water platform beside him. It even had railings to stop them from falling.
How considerate. His tail whipped back and forth in ridicule.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Not a splash. Instead it only held soft ripples, like a leaf falling onto the top of a lake.
He bent down, knocking on it like a door. It rippled, the water’s surface tension quivering but never yielding.
Wow! He glanced at Hyacinth with shock. This control is ridiculous! The platforms didn’t even splash.
Just as he was about to test it further, lifting his hand up in order to slap it, something cold touched his shoulder. Looking up, he realized it was the flat side of Hyacinth’s spear. As for the owner? He had a dark expression on his face, his eyes glaring daggers. He was even gripping his spear so tight his knuckles turned white!
“Refrain from playing around, mutt. We’re going to be passing around the whirlpool and I might slip up and drop you.”
Keith’s ears drooped as he stood up and crossed his arms. “I was checking the stability of the platform. Can’t trust seafood to be careful with people other than themselves.”
Hyacinth glanced at Keith’s tail, scoffing at the sight of it standing up straight. “Liar. You were playing with it.”
The beginning of a growl was threatening to spill from his lips at this. As if knowing, Hyacinth shot him a goading look. This smug piece of seafood-! He glared.
Leonith cleared his throat. “Hyacinth, we’re ready to leave now.”
At this, the water began moving.
It’s like riding a motorboat. Keith thought as the wind brushed against them. His previous irritation was forgotten as he focused his attention to looking around.
The last time he ever rode on a motorboat was when… he took them on vacation to go island hopping. The memory was enough to sour his mood and turn away. Recently his memories have turned to that man, as if to remind him of what he had left behind. Still, his dreams only showed bits of their relationship, not the name, nor the face of the person he had loved in the past.
In order to distract himself, he poked at the water around his neck. It’s not tight but still touching, like it was only an ornament rather than deadly fail-safe. The water was smooth to the touch and cool. It smells strongly of sea salt, if it wasn’t for the purpose of possibly killing him, he wouldn’t mind.
With the stable control of Hyacinth, they managed to pass around the whirlpool. Looking at it, it looks not as deep as it appeared to be, only a bit wide. It’s probably part of Seipodon’s security system. He thought as they eyed the whirlpool. It’s not deep but it’s wide enough to make him drown if he fell in that.
Soon, they managed to reach Seipodon, which shone under the light of the ocean sun.
“Wow!” He exclaimed at the sight, eyes wide as he took it all in.
Seipodon truly lived up to its name as the Pearl of the Sea. It resembled a kingdom on the sea rather than an island. White marble with gold highlights, columns and classical Greek Architecture that made one think of Olympus, he can see gliders in the air, boats lining the port, and the casual use of white and gold.
Large towers of carved marble with swirling designs as the ocean water playfully splashed against the side of the city. It’s so large that Keith couldn’t figure out which to focus on first.
Keith spun his head this way and that, absentminded as he followed after Hyacinth. Leonith for his part, had carefully guided him so that he wouldn’t end up bumping into anything. The scent of the sea blew its way through the town so much so that he could taste it. As they began to pass through a market, he winced at the noise of the crowd. They must have arrived during a midday rush hour.
He shivered. His ears flattening against his head in hopes of muffling the sound a bit.
Hyacinth glanced back at him and noticed his shuddering. “Too loud?”
In response, he gritted his teeth and kept quiet only to flinch at the sound of a cart accidentally hitting the stall beside them. Nothing happened beyond a loud scolding of ‘Be careful!’ but it’s enough to give in. Nodding his head, Keith whined, his tail swinging around anxiously.
“Come over here, I’ll bring us over to somewhere quieter.” The man said, turning to them, the gold gleaming with his actions.
Leonith moved to help Keith, blocking and separating him from the crowd. He tossed the other a grateful look. As expected of the reincarnation of an older brother, even after all these years he still has the moves of one. He glanced at Leonith again, realizing that the man relaxed enough as his black hair turned light once more and the thorn marks around his neck subsided.
Eventually they drifted away from the market onto a less crowded street. He has to hand it to Hyacinth, he may be an irritating ass, but he at least pulls through with his word. He took a whiff of the new street, wrinkling his nose at the mixed scent of seaweed and blood.
As he covered his nose, he recalled that Seipodon gained its nickname due to a medicinal seaweed called the ‘Pearl’ seaweed. Pearl seaweed is a medicinal and magical flora that thrives only in one specific type of water: a halocline. Seipodon is rather blessed because the island is located on top of a halocline so propagating and farming the seaweed is easy to do. Because of this, Seipodon is often visited or traded with in order to get this valuable resource.
It would make sense that Seipodon would focus on using their miracle medicine seaweed in order to treat this disease, yet he can’t help but find it fishy.
“Hyacinth, how long has Seipodon been dealing with this disease?” Leonith inquired, His eyes roaming around, as if tracing something they couldn’t see.
“… About two weeks. We only closed the border of Seipodon today however, as we realized the sickness was getting worse.”
“And this sickness, what is it exactly?” Leonith continued to prod, his eyes scanning the alleyway, glowing a brighter blue.
Hyacinth glanced at him and shook his head. “We’ll continue speaking in the King’s Palace. Come, we’ll be gliding the rest of the way there. For now all you need to know is that it’s called ‘Aimesis’ disease.”
At this, Keith realized that they were now standing in front of a tall marble tower. He glanced at one of it’s corners, where the scent of blood is strongest. Right around the corner, hidden in the shadow of a nearby building, is a puddle of blood that stood stark against the marble white tower. He turned his head away. The blood wasn’t fresh by any means but it was still strong enough to make his hair stand on end.
What exactly is this disease? Keith asked himself as he followed them up the spiral stairs of this gliding tower.
The author has something to say: Keith playing with the water is a mood and I wish I could go and splash in water in a sunny place (minus the fact there’s a disease and the fate of the world part) 😛 Ehehe, with Hyacinth now in the story, I’m pretty happy!
Even thought they don’t get along well, Hyacinth still is considerate of his ears. That’s pretty cute. ☺ I’m pretty curious what’s up with Leonith. His alter ego is pretty cool but Mercy seems to be a caring angel. 🥰 I really love your Charakters. They are pretty detailed fleshed out and all handsome boys. All that a girl needs. 😍