Vanished [ATEEZ]

gods

Nothing.

Endless darkness.
Just the feeling of the end. The pain attenuating. The sounds of the abyss coming to his ears, just as muffled cries of desperation, coming from the inhabitants of the sea. Crying his lost. He did not fought back the gravity, letting his body fell deeper and deeper. Waiting patiently for the moment he would finally graze the seabed, resting on it for the eternity. Being at least the saviour of the inhabitants of his now forever grave. That his remains could feed the starving lives and protect the little creatures living out there.

A sudden white flash made his eyes widened. He was nearly there.
The once completely dark water was now clear and bright, just as the ray of sun had succeeded the reach the abyss. This cold and threatening place had changed for something warm and beautiful.
His eyes rested on something, coming for him in the distance. Than another smaller, and another bigger...
He heard them again and the tiny points soon were close enough for the young boy to understand what they were.

The inhabitants of the sea.

Fishes, stingrays, sharks, dolphins, belugas, whales...
They were all coming beside the young man. Suddenly not feeling the urge to attack each other. Forgetting the laws of the nature. Encircling him, turning around him just as a beautiful waltz. Creating an unassailable shied, protecting their brother.

The young boy stopped sinking, just as stopped in the water. His eyes adjusted when some other silhouettes joined the other. A fishy tail but a human face.
Those where mermaids.
The waltz continued, faster and faster. The young boy couldn't even distinguish the silhouettes anymore. The current became faster than ever, but the young man still didn't moved. The water soon transformed into a giant maelström.

The rulers of the seas were furious.

The speed increased, it looked like the entire ocean was now a giant whirlpool.
Suddenly a huge blast echoed and just as an nuclear bomb had exploded, the water formed a sort of tank. The water stepped aside, letting the body of the young boy rest on the sand who was now completely dry.
The boy was surrounded by the water, just as a giant wall. The inhabitants of the sea were still in the water, patiently watching the young boy, just as humans admiring animals behind a glass.
The boy stood up, completely astonished.
Did the sea just saved him?

He walked on the dry sand, silently observing the gigantic walls of water around him. The spectacle that took place beside him leaved him speechless. Mouth slightly opened, he reached one of the border of the "dry zone". He softly grazed the water, watching with so much respect the lives behind it.

When he turned around, his feet started to walk on their own free will, directing the young boy in the middle of the circlet. His eyes widened when their finally caught this silhouette.

In the middle of the circle, floating in the air, an heavy white smoke filled with a little bit of water dripping on the ground, was looking at him, just as it was waiting for him to see it. The smoke slowly and gracefully moved, taking the form of an human... several humans, sitting on what looked like thrones. Their faces wasn't really distinguishable. But one of them stood up from the majestic throne he was sitting on, raising his eyes toward the young boy. Instinctively the boy kneel down in front of them, head lowered.

"Raise... son of the seas"

The young boy stood up. He did not knew why his inner self kept on telling him that the "people" in front of him were way more than simple mortals.

"Now son, what happened?"

The young boy did not even had the time to open his mouth that a incommensurable pain took his head. He fell on the sand, hands holding it as if it could by any chance mitigate the pain.
The flashes of what happened earlier came to his mind, like a movie at full speed. Unfortunately the imagery slowly began to blur, and soon they disappeared, carefully grave in his memory. The pain slowly faded away and the young man finally could look up.

"I see... betrayal. The only thing worthy for the mortals huh?" His tone was sarcastic.

-My apologies, but... who are you? Talked the young man.

The persons had a small laugh before they looked at the chosen one, true smiles on their faces.

"Those who your parents probably had talked to you about when you were a child. Those who embody hope and punish the traitors. Those who rule the seas while the mortals rule the lands as their wish. Those who unlike them, don't care about wealth and power. Those who called you..."

-Y~You?

"Yes son, we are the one who unfortunately and fortunately saw all the battles, all the betrayals, all the newborns, all the love stories, all the friendships that took place on the seas..." the "man" smiled warmly at the young boy in front of him. "Look around you boy"

The young man obeyed and turned on himself, observing everything that was surrounding him.

"See? See all those priceless lives? All of those souls that populate our seas. This is for them that we're fighting. As much as you're fighting for the ones above. You fight for the lands while we fight for the seas. But we are linked... You come from here boy. And by the will of your dear father, you are our protégé. You're the chosen one. You're the one who link the underworld to the world above. You're blessed... just as your seven friends now."

-How are they?! Exclaimed the young man at those words, suddenly remembering the fate of his friends.

"They're alive." Those words came naturally in the mouth of the "man" but this was all the young boy needed to hear. "Our common enemy has a step ahead. Find the sage, boy. He will tell you everything about the prophecy we've told years ago"

-But, why can't you just tell me now? Asked the man politely.

"We can't boy. It would be easier for everyone but that's how prophecy works. Find that man, that's your goal right after you'll succeed to find your friends."

-But how? The man was lost, discouraged. He was in the middle of nowhere, with nothing and no one. He had no clue where his friends were... he had nothing to hold on.

All of a sudden, the water came closer and closer from the boy. The "walls" were slowly closing on him. The lives behind it swimming far away from there, becoming nothing more than image in the memory of the man.

-What's happening? He questioned, looking at the entities facing him.

"Let me explained to you a last story boy, before we meet again..." Their eyes were looking at the boy just as their own very self child, "When our first protector and his beloved ones lost life, saving the eight sons of the piracy, the gods decided to hold their part in the construction of the prophecy. We decided to reunited our forces. All together we created the future in the past. We trapped the future in it, waiting patiently for the eight sons of the piracy to come back, to finally free the future."

The walls were now nearly touching the boy. The water surrounding him once again, just as a goodbye embrace. In a second and final blast, a majestic and stately ship suddenly submerged from the abyss. The ship was gorgeous, a pirate flag raised in the air proudly. The crew aboard actively working as if nothing had happened.

"Kim Hongjoong, Captain of the Aurora, swim and join your forever crew aboard. Find your friends, find the sage, and bring back the narrow peace that once ruled our world. Until our next meeting, let me remind you something Captain...

...a true captain goes down with his ship."

The water came on top of him, trapping him under it. Hongjoong put his entire strength, swimming to reach the surface. The ray of the sun began to come for him, testifying that he was coming closer and closer of it. In a last dash, he got out of the water, his lungs finally filling with something else than salty water. He was right beside the ship that was rapidly moving forward. But sudden voices came to his ears and he looked up, finding some of the crew members standing against the rail.

"Captain at the sea!"