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"Oh know that one, he caused quite a few problems in his time." - Great God of Loss
Well I don't know if I should be proud of that or not, but that sure does explain a lot.
1
The graveyard, turned battlefield, was now quiet, as it was before. There were still only the three of us, Jupiter, Europa and I, the rest were just small flames of those long gone, reignited by my own power. With the final one standing in front of me, he was a greenish hue, and more defined than the others, a clear memory. But I did no know him.
With the spirit walking off silently, I started to feel the strain the magic had taken on my body, and doubled over. My muscles were tense, but some were torn, and all of them were aching, I could even feel some internal bleeding, it seems like the forceful repair of my body tore itself in the process.
Before I succumbed I made sure to keep track of all the places in my body, sort the wounds, attend to them later, after every harsh battle came the new challenge of surviving till the next, before, I always seemed to recover just in time. But this was different, magic wasn’t something you should overuse, and I had never practiced it, as far as I could remember.
My eyelids soon became heavy, and… "Jupiter... I did it..." With that, my body went limp and my mind faded once again, into unconsciousness, once again I found myself in a place I didn’t recognize, in my own mind.
2
Around me, were dozens of faces I didn't know, all swirling in a vortex, from all sides all I could see was magic, the shifting tides of multi-colored lights danced around me, taking new forms before crashing down into the deep, deep waters, but soon it all subsided and calmed.
Next I was in a lake, a small boat under me and an oar in both hands, I was rowing without thinking and I didn't feel like stopping. The water felt still, no movement inhibited me, it was a gentle place, but one that was lonely. I simply continued, aimless, the glow of the lake, dim, barely there, it felt like the light might disappear at the slightest movement, but it always flickered.
A slight rocking in the boat was caused by small waves in the vast expanse below, peering into the water off the side of the boat produced no reflection, instead the water began to glow more intensely, the same light of magic, but this time it was of many. The dancing lights were back, but they only followed me, with no path of their own, a few pushing the boat from behind and others trying to stabilize the rocking.
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Swirling around my boat I felt no malice from them, only a discord amongst them and by extension, the whole sea. "Oh lord of the Sea, we hear your call, in your strength we all rise" hundreds of voices pierced my head, the sea began to grow restless. "Etch this into your very being, struggle, fight, grow, in your strength we all rise, Oh Ferryman, covet strength, covet souls, the world is in your hands.”
The hands of spirits fell on the oars beside me, the boat was no longer so small, the passengers were all trying to pull their own weight, we began to move faster, ripples in the water trailed after us, the sea began to move…
This ship had a name, and somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I knew what it was.
That’s right.
The Ship of Theseus.
3
Hot… something hot… “Ow! ow ow ow!” There was a very real fire under my ass, and I jumped, slapping at the flame enough to put it out quickly, the culprit was a girl standing over me with her arms crossed, almost like she was disappointed…
"Finally you're awake" It was her, Eruopa, which meant I was back in the real world, but… “Hah! I told you that was too much for him! What would you have done if he died!?” She seemed to be reprimanding Jupiter, which was an uncanny sight. This small girl forcing this hulking man on the backfoot, I couldn’t help but laugh a little.
At that, Eruopa turned back to me and scoffed. "Humph! well at least you’re feeling good enough to laugh, if you can do that at least pick yourself up!" She stomped her foot and yapped, Jupiter added. “You should listen to her, she’s scary when she’s like this.” He seemed to be attempting humor… although his tone was so dry and his voice too deep, it did not land.
I took a good look at the two of them, I don’t know how long I was out for, but it felt like ages since I saw them. Jupiter, a knight that stood taller than anyone, armor large to be a building, all of it scarred raven black from battle, most prominently a melted right faceplate where I assume his eye would be. Nothing about him looked heroic, down to the sword, which looked more like a cracked obelisk, although despite all appearances he never betrayed an ominous intent, in fact, I didn’t feel any sense of danger around him, almost unnaturally so.
"What's wrong Elias? Don't worry we are unhurt" He reassured me, kneeling slightly to meet me at head level. "Sorry for burning you, you just wouldn't wake up when I started shaking you!" A smaller voice sprung from beside Jupiter. Europa was not wearing her glasses right now, her eyes shone brighter than ever, colors swirl around in them, reminding me of the Sea. Didn't she look smaller than most people? Still she looked capable enough, I doubted the usefulness of a sickle in combat, but as long as someone could use magic, it should be fine.
"What do you see?" I couldn't help but ask, I was rude before but I couldn't help my curiosity now.
“Something incredible! a few people started to wake up! not too many, but it’s a start, it feels like everything is starting to finally move, It… kinda hurts to look at but I can see all of it! The whole world! All the magic!” She ran past me and towards were the dawn was starting to break, apparently I had been out all night, wisps and the flames that come off spirits started to appear around her.
At first I panicked, thinking she would disappear, or that she died, but Jupiter held me back. She clasped her hands together, the flames burning brighter, as the sun rose.
It was beautiful.
