Chapter 1

The usual shrieking of the rooster interrupted my sleep or probably the whole neighborhood too. I had no choice but to get up from my bed before I slack off and sleep again. The light glow of the sunrise peeped through my window, telling me it's around six in the morning already.

I went to the bathroom to take a bath. After ten minutes, I get out and dried myself with a towel. I stared at myself at the mirror: I have deep-set smoke-gray eyes. Luxurious, straight, obsidian hair is worn in a style that reminds me of a mysterious mask. I have a muscular build and my skin is slightly-tanned.

My parents told me that I look like a dignified swan, or so they believe. I get some clothes from the wardrobe and pick up the best outfit I got. My wardrobe is sexy and odd, with mostly blue and green color scheme.

Looks like I'm ready for the entire day to do my own task, that's when my mother called me from downstairs. I went down the kitchen and instantly smell the sweet aroma of my mother's cooking which made my mouth drool; braised beef and egg's benedict. My all-time favorite.

"Troy, could you wipe your saliva, its pouring out of your mouth," says my mother.

I put my hand over my mouth and sure enough there was drool dripping out of the corner. I wiped it with a napkin and headed to the table. Before I sit down, my father appeared inside the kitchen and greeted us good morning. Father kissed my mother's cheek and he rubbed my hair with his right hand. Together we sat down on two chairs on each side of the table, while waiting for mother to finish her cooking.

Father's routine on the other hand is that he would buy and read The Morning Times newspaper every day. I noticed the headline on the front page saying: A Deadly Mistake Uncovered on Ethereal Ocean And How to Avoid It.

It says that the military convoy discovered something near the Ethereal Ocean. Missing ships were sighted off the coast of Strit Landing. They claimed that the ship named The Catherine was one of the missing ships that have been spotted there. It was the largest ship ever built by man and its last sighting dated back from fifty years ago. The government tells the public to stay away from the Ethereal Ocean to prevent miscalculated directions.

"Honey, will you please stop reading that rubbish or else I'll get it by myself," ordered Mother.

"Sorry, dear," as Father set aside the newspaper on the nearest

pile in the corner.

Mother put some food onto our plates and we start to eat in silence for three minutes, then my Mother began to talk to my Father.

"Honey, how's your morning today? Is it good?" asked my Mother.

"Yes it is, and sorry about a while ago that I kind of zoned out on the newspaper. Its just . . . I couldn't stand it to see my business going down after those cargo ships failed to deliver stocks yesterday 'cause the cargo ship went missing again. To go bankrupt is the last thing that I want to happen right now," Father quaked miserably.

"Oh, honey I'm so sorry," Mother consoled him while gently rubbing his back in sympathy.

Silence filled the entire kitchen.

You want to know what my father does everyday? Well, he's been collecting and selling a lot of antiques back when he was in his mid-twenties. And now he has an antique store right in front of our house. My father started a lot of business transactions by the sea. His business began to slow down, due to strange events on the Ethereal Ocean.

Some people are afraid to cross that ocean because some survivors lived to tell the tale and it wasn't pleasant. They saw unusual, frightening sea creatures that people on board of their ships escaped. Some were captured and some were never seen again.

I shook my head as an attempt to remove the filthy horrors of what I just heard and continued eating, until I'm done with my breakfast and asked permission from my parents.

"Where are you going ?" asked my mother.

"To go and see Ruby Sharpe." I answered.

"Okay, send my regards to Ruby."

"I will."

I got out of the kitchen and headed out for the front door.