Sol's Shine and the Kingdom of Water

Chapter 7 What Doesn't Kill You

Brook was in that dream again. This time the dream felt different. He was no longer deep underwater. Instead he was high up in the clouds with rain pouring down and lightning flashing all around him. "Am I dead now?" He said to himself. He wanted to look down but the clouds blocked his view. "You need to have more faith than that." A familiar voice called out to him and the winged creature suddenly appeared when she spoke. It was the same one that tried guiding him to the Kingdom of Water on Khenari's behalf. "What's with the change of scenery?" He asked her.

"We don't have much time. This environment doesn't look familiar to you because I'm contacting you with my own free will, not Khenari's." "Did something happen?" Brook's voice grew concerned. "I'm disobeying her orders because we came to a disagreement. She'll most likely find me and I'll be executed." The one before Brook said that without hesitation. "She can't do that!" Brook knew he had no reason to but he wanted to defend her. "Don't focus on my well being. There is something I must tell you."

"I'm listening." The least Brook could do was hear her out since she was going against Khenari's word. "The three headed-monster that took you away is currently keeping you safe. That is the Piercing Hydra." It took a few moments for Brook to process what she just said. "I'm sorry. I thought you just said that monster was the trident." "Because it is the trident. Khenari took desperate measures when Inti tried reading the Hydra's mind. The hydra and Khenari herself are deeply connected."

"So if the trident is no longer in Inti's possession, does that mean the kingdom is no longer in a drought?" "Unfortunately, I wish that were the case. I consulted Khenari about this issue and she refuses to change the weather due to the Shining Giant still being in Inti's hands." Looking at Brook's so-called dream, the ongoing storm around him made more sense because his astral projection would usually be in or around the ocean which is where the ongoing storm currently is that holds the Kingdom of Water like a cage. Nothing has changed except for the trident's whereabouts and that Sol lost his sword to another demon.

"I insisted that it wasn't a good idea. The atheras of this kingdom had suffered long enough. The hydra is going to keep you safe but I cannot wait any longer for you to wake up." "What do you plan on doing?" Brook asked. "This is the part where Khenari would want me dead. I'm going after Inti myself and Khenari doesn't want me to do so because if he can read my mind then that would lead him straight to her. It almost happened with the hydra in its weaponized form."

Something about this made no sense to Brook. "Is Khenari scared of Inti or something? She's a goddess, I'm sure she can easily take him out." "That's not the point but I wish we could talk longer. You're about to wake up. You'll need some time to recover after that and take things easy." "Wait! There is still more I want to know!" "Good luck. The trident belongs to you now." That was all she could say before Brook violently woke up from his slumber. He was greeted by the three-headed beast staring straight at him. Before he knew it, the hydra was transforming back into the trident. The weapon slowly lowered itself into Brook's wings and just like that, he became its new owner.

Brook now knew that there was something about Khenari that she didn't want Inti to know. The athera was determined to figure out what that something was. Brook originally figured that if Khenari really wanted to, she could do something about the trident being stolen by a bunch of mere lowlifes in a cult. The fact that she is acting dire, messing up the weather, and this cult keeping a hold of the trident for a long period of time says a lot about what she can or can't do. "Now that I recall, If Khenari was able to turn the trident into a giant beast then why didn't she before?" Brook said to himself. But as soon as he said that he realized that there was a simple answer to everything he just thought of, something he remembered about Sinnel.