Cursed Odyssey

Humans are fickle creatures.

People think accepting one's fate is a complex matter, but in truth, it could not be simpler.

One who does all in their power to accomplish their goal, and knows they have done all that they could, would, in all likelihood, accept the injustice as a destined cruelty from the world upon them.

However, those who harbor regrets—things that were clearly in front of them, but they were simply too blind, proud, or ignorant to see—those are the people with the cruelest fate.

The simplest example would be failing an exam.

Those who studied with all their might, knowing they had done all they could but failed regardless, would simply accept that this path in life was not for them.

However, those who procrastinated, avoiding the opportunities clearly given to them, would blame it on themselves… They would always wonder, "what if?"—a regret they would harbor for a long time.

Such were Joseph's thoughts…

---

"What the hell was that supposed to mean!? Fireworks!? China!? What are you on about!?" The Warden roared.

"I see it's caught your attention…" Joseph grinned. "And I see that you have no idea what I'm talking about. What a pity…"

"Is that… the spirit possessing you speaking? What is this feeling!? Why does it seem like you speak the truth? Could it really be it!?" Her eyes blazed with sudden understanding. "Oooohhhh… Perhaps killing you would be a waste… Let's see if that hidden spirit will really come out now!!"

She charged once again, her aura somehow even more oppressive. He could almost feel his skin peeling from his flesh.

Joseph stared ahead as the Violet Specter approached, his heart calm yet threatening to burst from his chest.

This was the deciding juncture.

From the moment he began his plan, he had tried his best to foresee everything. Even this was within his expectations. He had gambled, placing his bets on pieces and cards he thought would aid him in survival.

However, life had a funny way of breaking the norm.

At this moment, more than ever, there was no guarantee.

For this was his final gamble—

"ZEPHYRRR!! ARE YOU OKAY!?"

His brain froze.

The tension in his body relaxed, and his jaw went slack.

The Warden was no longer charging. All he saw ahead was a back so broad it nearly covered his entire vision, with hair the color of roses blowing in the sudden chilling wind.

Slowly, the figure's head turned around… and he saw…

A bright smile, one that betrayed no nervousness, no hatred… so pure it was like a light at the end of a deep, decrepit tunnel.

"I'm glad I made it in time!" she laughed, her green eyes curling upwards from her cheeks.

Skylar…

The girl he had used, abused her feelings, ignored, all in order to fool Samsara and keep her suspicions low… Of all the people… she… actually…

"What's with that face? Weren't you the one that said you'd be where I see dazzling light? I was looking all over for you! Are you not happy to see me? You know, you're pretty unlucky getting targeted by the Warden like this… Also, are you with anyone else? Where are Arthur, Samsara, and Gwynn? I saw Rayah on my way up here, but she went somewhere else. She looked pretty angry, so I would watch out next time you see her!"

She's so calm… but so… nervous… Joseph thought, judging her speech pattern.

It was almost as though there was not a nuclear bomb in human form standing right ahead of her.

"WATCH OUT!! Why are you still here!? We need to leave now!! She's too strong! Just save yourself and leave me; I'm the only one she wants!! I didn't think you'd actually come like this!"

Skylar's smile didn't falter, but her eyes softened ever so slightly.

"Zephyr…" she began, her voice gentle. "Now, why would I run away and leave my savior?"

Joseph's eyes widened, and his heartbeat slowed.

Despite the screams of prisoners, the cries of guards, and the howling of the wind, there was a silent emptiness once again…

But then—

*Clap*

*Clap*

*Clap*

"Awww, what a heartwarming reunion… Now, you will have ample time to bond once I capture both of you. How does that sound?" Her violet eyes glimmered with a predatory gleam, and a twisted smile played on her lips.

"STOP BEING STUBBORN AND LEAVE WHILE YOU STILL HAVE THE CHANCE!! She's too strong!!" Joseph's screams were relentless, but Skylar did not budge.

She turned her head back around, facing the enemy, her shoulders and back somehow seeming even broader now.

"Don't worry… I know exactly what I'm doing…"

With those simple words, the battle began—

Like a gust of wind, Skylar blew from place.

Left, right, right, left, left, left, right—

Her movements were erratic and squirming, unpredictable, yet somehow easy to see.

Yet, the Warden simply stood motionless.

Her arms twitched at sudden intervals, her eyes darting from side to side like a ping pong ball.

She remained frozen, like a bound statue unable to move.

Until—

*Crack*

Bone snapped.

A fist made contact with a jaw, and the Warden's face snapped back, her body flying through the air.

Skylar's body twisted and turned, her feet barely touching the ground as she launched into a flurry of punches and kicks, each one aimed with pinpoint accuracy. The Warden, who had once been a figure of unstoppable power, was now on the defensive, her arms raised in a desperate attempt to block the onslaught. Each attack from Skylar seemed to land before she could even react.

Joseph's breath caught in his throat. He had seen Skylar move before, but this… this was something entirely different. Her movements were like she was following a rhythm only she could hear—dancing to the beat of some unseen music, her body responding to cues invisible to everyone but her.

Anytime the Warden went for an attack, she would hesitate, then halt, and before she knew it, an attack had reached her.

No longer glowing purple, her body glowed a shade of light blue, healing each of her wounds and bruises.

A slight grin poked at Joseph's lips. Through the confusion, he saw it all clearly, just as expected—

Still, if she could fight like this, why was she scared in the mines? She was so powerful; why was she so timid? Why had no one else known about this?

As soon as the questions arose in his mind, he immediately knew the answer.

Abruptly, Skylar's onslaught finally ended—

She took a step back, taking on a defensive stance directly ahead of Joseph, who had been strutting ever closer to the ships.

To an onlooker, this felt so random, but to all who were present, it all became clear…

Her lips curled in realization.

"YOU… YOU CAN SEE THE FUTURE!!" The Warden laughed.

She figured it out— As soon as she thought about attacking Zephyr, Skylar moved. Every time she went for an attack, Skylar adjusted to all of it.

But Joseph had already predicted this outcome. Skylar was unusually slow, even her speech patterns were odd… and most people assumed that was simply her nature or some kind of disability… But Joseph saw deeper… Without her ability, the eyes that Skylar saw assumed her reality was still in the future.

For example, when she reached for a handshake, she would reach to where his hands once were, not where his hands currently were, because her brain still thought what she saw was still the future.

When in conversations, her responses would be late because she assumed the words she heard hadn't happened in reality, so she's wait for a 'natural response'.

For normal people, such an idea would be absurd—

Just simply touch what's in front of you, that is real!

Only they could not fathom how one's mind and motor function worked.

She was most likely born with such eyes, and thus it became her reality.

Just as a normal person could not fathom eyesight where all they see ahead has yet to even happen…

Joseph understood her true power better than anyone else… his final gamble…

"ALL OF IT!! YOU CAN SEE IT ALL!! MARVELOUS!! MARVELOUS!! THE LORD WILL BE SO PLEASED!!! To tell him that Morganth's Prodigy was actually captured within the walls of my prison!! Oh, MARVELOUS!!"

Morganth's Prodigy…?

"H—How do you know the name of my master?" Unconsciously, Skylar took a step back, her eyebrows lifting into slight wrinkles.

"How couldn't I!? Morganth Aracna, one of the most powerful Arcanists to ever live, and once a close friend of mine in Magia Academy! She once told me she took in a small child who could see the future, but I never expected it to be you!"

Skylar did not, could not respond, so the Warden pressed further.

"You left her, didn't you? The only person to show you true love in this world, and you ran away!"

"SHUT UP!!!" she screamed, like a little child, as though to make her stop talking.

In the blink of an eye, as though she teleported, Skylar disappeared from place.

But then, suddenly, she reappeared… unable to move…

She was like a frozen statue in the middle of the battlefield.

Slowly, her fists shrunk limp, and her mouth grew open as she stared at the Warden, almost gawking.

Joseph knew this would happen…

Every future she saw where she attacked, she saw death. Sliced in half, ground to dust, decaying from the inside.

In truth, what use would seeing the future have if one is physically unable to dodge the attack they predicted?

All at once, the Warden's speed, power, and durability all multiplied. She had been holding back before…

"I can see it in your eyes, young Skylar… You regret what you did, don't you…? You want to see your master again… and you don't want to die now… Unlike Zephyr, who is simply using you for his own gain, Morganth genuinely loved you… I promise on my honor as Warden, I will reunite you… all you have to do is join me…"

"I… I…" Skylar stuttered.

"No need for words, they're too hard right now… Just capture Zephyr for me to prove your loyalty, and then I'll handle the rest…"

"I— I can't…" Her hand trembled, and she looked away.

Her tears flowed like a river, falling from her face like rain forming patches of wet grass. "Out of everyone… Zephyr is the only one I could never…"

"Do you not realize that he's been using you? Why else would he signal you here if not to save him? To sacrifice yourself as a distraction while he flees? Surely you're not so naive, dear? I can see your entire history written on your face… Zephyr has been ignoring you… but you don't know why…"

Skylar gulped, and the Warden's smile almost broke into laughter.

"To gain Samsara's trust, he purposefully ignored you… perhaps even abused you… He's pretending to be nice to you just because you're protecting him… What's the use of protecting such filth? I've never once told you a lie… I will reunite you with Morganth, I will spare you and help you grow, I am willing to put an act 5 solemn vow on this claim… But first… prove your loyalty…"

More than ever, Skylar stood as a shaking statue, her tears flowing faster and faster.

The battlefield around her had not yielded, yet the outside seemed nonexistent. A new battlefield had spawned within her mind, a bubble tugging and threatening to be ripped apart.

She simply wanted to disappear…

But then, a voice broke into this bubble, disrupting the balance…

"Ha…. ha… ha… hahahahaha!! Was that supposed to be convincing?! Don't make me laugh!!" It was Joseph. "Yeah, you're right! I did use her! I did make her out to be a traitor to fool Samsara!"

Zephyr… how… could— Skylar's heart pounded so hard she could feel it in her brain.

"BUT SO WHAT?! I did what I had to escape! For a better life, away from execution, rotten food, and endless labor, it was all worth it. I wanted to give all of us a better life! Especially you, Skylar, the only person who's ever been genuine to me… I used her, but none of it was genuine! Our bond isn't so weak! So once again! DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!! We're used to this stuff! After all, we were slum rats together!! YOU'D NEVER UNDERSTAND OUR WAYS!!"

…

Skylar's bubble popped, and the world reemerged before her, tinted an infernal red. He knew… He said that… No way he… actually said that…

"What a sweetheart!" The Warden snickered. "But you can't talk your way out of this one… we both know all you are doing now is playing with her heart. Put that rat out for me, but make sure not to kill him, even though I know how much you'd want to…"

Skylar's tears fell like shattered glass, her sobs a storm raging within. Her breathing grew ragged, and her hands instinctively grasped her chest. Slowly, her breathing calmed, and she wiped away her tears.

Suddenly, in that tempest, a spark seemed to ignite. Her eyes sharpened, fierce as a blade, and with a cry, as if she released what she had held locked inside… she exploded from place, the target of her unfiltered emotions a single figure—

"ZEPHYRRRR!!"

Joseph had no time to react. Skylar was suddenly in front of him, her hands pressed against his chest.

"LIVE!! I WANT YOU TO LIVE!!"

With all her might, she pushed, his body thrown mid-air like a leaf in a storm.

Those words… were they?

His mind raced faster than he could ever remember, as his body fell suspended. His mouth was agape, looking ahead… There he saw Skylar…

Her face was stained with tears, her petite figure trembling, yet through it, she smiled—a broken, bittersweet, sniffling smile that shook in between her reddened cheeks.

!!!!!

Suddenly—

The ground beneath him seemed to quake, a loud rumble as if the very earth was going to be split in two.

It was like the whole world was on the verge of explosion. The feeling of unease would not leave his heart… Something was coming…

Cracks, thin as spiderwebs at first, spread across the stone… This was the precipice…

And in the next instant, he saw it…

The earth exploded outward, showering rocks and debris. Wind blew past his face, and a dust cloud the size of a storm manifested… And ahead, through that cloud… as though it had swallowed the very ground, there was a… monster…

It rose out of the prison grounds, as though it was a shark jumping and swimming through water.

A grotesque head poked out, the color of bruised plums and larger than a blue whale, pierced through the swirling debris. Its scales, thick and obsidian-black, shimmered with the colors of death.

Two jagged horns, each as tall as a skyscraper, protruded from its temples, catching the moonlight and glinting like sharpened blades. Suddenly, its maw gaped open.

Its mouth was an endless abyss, lined with hundreds of rows of razor-sharp teeth that seemed to writhe in the shadows.

There was an immediate stench—a nauseating blend of rotting flesh and something bygone, something inherently wrong. Joseph's stomach churned.

And there, above its maw, was Skylar… her tears were like a river, her smile no longer as vibrant, drooping down as she reached out her arms as though trying to grasp something, eyes locked onto Joseph for one last time…

"I… I don't wanna die…"

In an instant, the beast's massive jaws closed around her. Her scream was silent, swallowed whole by the monster's ferocity. Her cold, severed arm, still outstretched in desperate hope, spun past Joseph, brushing against his cheek.

Skylar was swallowed, eaten by that thing that seemed to eat the ground and spawn out of thin air…

She had saved him… Sacrificed herself, her life for him… A monster beyond one's nightmares simply appearing from thin air…

The monster kept rising, rising—it was so long it felt nearly endless, each segment the height of a cell tower and the width of a football field.

Wind with the strength of a hurricane whipped against Joseph's face—

"What is that!?" His senses screamed at him.

Was it a summon by the Warden!?

His brain and heart threatened to explode out of his body.

The momentum from Skylar's final push had finally begun to disappear, but as Joseph fell, he realized there was no ground for him to land on. The very earth was shattered to pieces; all that was beneath was an endless expanse of clouds…

He was out of Ki, out of Arcane energy, out of tactics, out of ideas, out of gambles… Was this truly how it ended for him? After how far he had come?

Of this whole world, he never even overcame his first simple hurdle, the prison that kept him shackled from exploring the truth…

But then again, how could he have predicted some ancient Leviathan monster was going to show up out of nowhere, eating half the island to kill them all… He had done his best for all that he could have…

His mind went blank, complete and utter white—

In the end, this was simply fate… Perhaps he and Nina could meet in the next life, or that he could once again be given a second chance at life in Sanctum. Only the ticking timer of death separated him from the answer…

But it seemed fate had not chosen to forsake him yet…

!!!!!

"R— Ra—"