Interlude 1 / Distant Dreams Are Filled With Mysteries

When I woke up, I found myself being embraced by a cold breeze. It was scented with salt, altered by the crashing waves of the ocean. I didn't know where I was and wherever I looked, there was nothing I could recognize from my memories. Surely, there should have been some connection to something here, but I couldn't even remember how I came onto this boat to begin with.

I found myself standing on the edge of the moving transportation, not knowing where this was taking me. Something told me it was for an important task, but it wasn't important enough for me to dismiss my own confusion.

Though, it didn't take much time for me to realize that I was dreaming again. It would explain the unfamiliar ship, but it would also explain the amassed group of people that were aboard. No names were able to be labelled on any of them and even as they walked past me, they paid me no attention as if I was like the dust on their shoulders. Even when I called out to them, asking them what was going on, no one bothered to stop and listen to what I had to say.

As if I was an apparition, invisible to the naked eye. I could still see my own body, my own flesh. How could it be that no one else could see it as well?

At the very least, the sights were something to behold.

There were so many people of different varieties, coming aboard onto the ship. A man of muscle, holding a giant battle axe over his shoulder as his long hair flowed down. A blonde, draped with a white toga-style outfit along with a green wreath wrapped around his head. A figure in dark robes too long for his hands to meet the light, covered even up to his face where a strange mask concealed his nose and mouth.

And yet, my eyes stopped when he finally came to a certain person. I knew her from somewhere, somehow. It was a woman, standing off by her lonesome, as if she was ostracized by the others. Now that I noticed it, she was one of the few females that were on board - if not, then the only one. With her slim figure and beautiful green hair, I found it hard to believe that she would be by herself, but the results spoke for themselves.

I wanted to approach her. I wanted to reach out to her, but…

"Give her some time alone. I already did my best at cheering her up, you know. It takes a lot of effort to crack that shell of hers, if you should heed some of my personal experience."

A sudden voice emerged from my right side, surprising me mentally, but my body didn't react the same way. It was as if the man's appearance was natural and expected, but I couldn't recall why I felt at ease when meeting him. In retrospect, I should have asked about how he was able to see me or if everyone else was purposely trying to ignore me, but none of those words were able to escape my chest.

All I merely did was accept his company without questions or complaints.

He leaned back against the railing. With his hair brushing along the relaxing seabreeze, his voice reached me so casually, but it didn't seem like it was reaching the other members of the boat. They walked by, not even questioning why one of their allies had stopped.

I decided to share the posture, perfectly intimating him without any due disrespect.

I couldn't explain it. It felt right to copy him.

"But… she sure is a beauty, isn't she? Oh, and I'm not talking about the boat, by the way."

"I didn't think you were," I responded. My sight returned to where it was originally kept. "You're talking about that woman. She's simply breathtaking in every way and my heart won't stop pounding every time I look at her. She's really beautiful." My hand clutched itself, holding it to my chest.

"You and me both, kid. I just want her to smile a bit more."

"She doesn't?"

"Take a good look at her. Do you think that she does?"

Now that he mentioned it, there was a certain air of pride that I could feel around her. Although, I could be mistaking that for stubbornness. Either way, it doesn't seem like she's alone for trivial reasons, but as I kept my watch on her, I started noticing the looks the other passengers were giving to her. Unlike how we were enticed by her appearance, they seemed to not care, show disgust, or a disgruntled mixture of both emotions.

"Mostly everyone thought that she wasn't worth taking along for the ride here. Our captain surely asked for such a grandiose task ahead of us and everyone is trying to take it seriously. They think taking a woman alongside this adventure was a bad idea, but I think they need to loosen up."

"Is that right?"

"Yep. Apparently, having a woman here brings bad luck. That's why they all believed they should have left her at the shore or even worse, throw her off board to let her fend for herself in the waters."

The works of sexism were strongly kept on this boat, making me disgusted with the others. My scowl showed up on my face, but it was for a different reason. I couldn't put my finger on it, but the fact that there was blatant discrimination didn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

It felt natural that there would be discrimination, so something kept me from holding it against the crew members of the ship. In that case, something else was causing my displeasure.

"She's only permitted to come along for two reasons. She was skilled with her bow, but that alone was not enough to convince the folks here. It's a tough crowd you have to please to overhaul superstition, even if she does pull up her own weight and worth!"

"It does seem like they still believe in it."

"And anything that goes wrong, some of them are blinded by the fact that she's on board. They immediately blame her for their misfortune. In reality, those incidents were either inevitable or brought down by our hands. Know the phrase of 'meeting the actions of our consequences'?"

"Then what's the second reason? It must be a good one if it's preventing people from harassing her so much about it."

"It's because our captain allowed it. It's as simple as that."

I glanced over to the direction he was gesturing to. At the center of the attention, there was a man with bright blonde hair and a flashy outfit. Despite his attitude, almost everyone enjoyed his company, so it wasn't difficult to say that he must have been the captain the man was speaking about. He was filled with charisma, even when I was tempted to say he seemed a bit cowardly.

"Jason was already on the fence about it, but I pleaded with him and begged him to take the woman along with us. Took a bit of time though, and the captain had to delay the travels a bit because I was so damn stubborn about it. It's a good thing he could think on feet, even if he acts like he can't be depended on."

"Ja… son…?"

My head pulsated when I heard his name. It hurt for a mere second, stinging like a heavy headache, but it was quickly resolved within the following time. Did I perhaps know that name from somewhere? Was that why it seemed so familiar to me?

"Keep it our little secret that our captain changed his mind. From the outside, he allowed the woman to board his own ship, the vessel that he himself built for his journey. Everyone thought it was a decision he made for himself, so no one spoke up against it."

"I would say that you were lucky it worked out for you, but…"

"But Jason was that type of person. He listened to me and took me seriously when he watched me get onto my knees and bow my head down to him. In that regard, there was no way that he couldn't refuse my plea. Was that what you wanted to say?"

The strange sensation replicated its phenomenon, but it was amplified in its momentary pain.

"Would you have done the same thing for her? To throw away your honour for the woman you love?" He gazed at some of his allies, passing by without even noticing him. "To some people on this ship, they couldn't think about throwing their honour away for anyone, much less for a woman."

I didn't understand what he was asking. We looked over to the woman at the same time as each other as she walked up against the opposite side of the ship. Her nimble hands held against the railing, watching the ocean before her. It was a beautiful sight, seeing her curiosity extending beyond the grounded world she was accustomed to.

I found himself taking a few steps away, wanting to stand by her side to enjoy it together. It was depressing to see her alone, so I wanted to do something to help her ease that soul of hers. The soul that she closed off with a promise of chastity, along with a scar of memories.

"She's not incapable of smiling. In fact, she's done it many times, but I've never seen her do it wholeheartedly for the sake of her own happiness behind it. She was never given the chance to find out what that meant. What would you do to see her smile like that, kid?"

He didn't stop me physically, but his question caused me to falter.

"How far will you go to make sure that she is finally happy? How much will you do in order for her to find the peaceful rest she always wanted, but was denied by the world, by her peers and ultimately, by herself? Will you even challenge fate with your life on the line?"

"I… want to stand by her side." That was why I answered honestly, without trying to figure out if there was truly a correct answer. "If she had someone that she could lean on whenever she's feeling defeated, I think that would…"

There was no method in saying anything for certain. I was only human on a boat filled with people that could be deemed as heroes, rather than the mere crew members I formerly referred to as. I didn't have any natural strength behind my arms and legs, nor did I have the resilience to stand up against all my opponents to survive through my battles.

And yet, if there was something I shared with the woman, it must be stubbornness. Even if my wish was impossible within my reach, I wanted to try to stand by her side every step of the way through her journey. Sometimes, all it took was a hand to get back up when they fell down and if I could be that hand, I would say it was worth going through trial by fire for her.

"Could a weak person like you be able to withstand the forces that go against her? Do you have the hands strong enough to pull her out when she needs you the most?"

"I don't know. I just don't know."

"Then if you were lent some power, would you have the courage to?"

His hand clenched to a fist, as if grabbing onto whatever strands I could catch.

"Without a single doubt, I would. Someone like her deserves to smile with her own happiness, right?"

"Even if you don't know who she is? Even if you don't know what her true name is?"

"I know. It sounds ridiculous, going this far for a woman I don't even know much about. It's hard to convince myself that I've fallen so hard in such a situation, but it's what I feel. That's what my heart is telling me, so that's what I'll strive to do."

The man stood in silence, but some laughter started to suddenly erupt. I turned my head around to see him ease up on his outburst, only to walk forwards with a smirk on his face.

"You really are a lovestruck idiot!"

His arm hung around my neck like an old friend.

Have I… met this person before? Was that why I was so accepting of his actions?

"But that really makes the two of us. Doesn't it?"

"Huh? The two of us?" My gaze couldn't separate from the mysterious man, only to realize how mysterious he had actually been. "What do you mean by…?"

His eccentric pale blonde hair was a bit wild, but it kept to a formal style. It complimented the gear he wore, as if he was supposed to be a prince who enjoyed the nature of hunting and war. It was ragged from its few recent battles, yet collected and organized to be able to present himself to the gods without losing face. Such was a complex tidy mess of contradictions in his appearance, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from meeting his green eyes.

It only stood to reason that I immediately concluded that I had no idea who I was talking to.

"Wait a minute. Who exactly are you?"

"Seriously? Is that what you ask now?"

"Obviously. It's even weirder than I didn't ask yet."

"Then if I were you, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You have more problems to deal with beforehand." He broke from his grasp, patting me on the back a few times. "For example? I still haven't approved of you, so maybe it's better like this. Despite your wish, you really don't have what it takes to stand by her side. Weakness or not."

"I… I don't have what it takes…?"

"It takes more than desire, but that is always the first step. I know your emotions are genuine, so perhaps you might be able to come closer to cracking the mystery of what you need to make your dreams a reality."

His last pat was stronger than the others, pushing me forwards. My foot stumbled into a walk so naturally, as if that man was controlling my movements. Despite that slight displeasure, I didn't mind it since deep down, I knew he had the same wish as I did.

"Although, I guess the mystery is a bit flawed."

"... Huh?"

As I got closer to her, a light started to engulf my vision. My hand raised up, reaching into it in my attempt to get as far as I could. With my steps echoing in the sudden void, she slowly turned her head around. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good look at her face before everything faded away, leaving a lasting echo behind the dream.

"You already know who I am, so that hurts my message a bit."

I tried to ask him what he was going on about, but my voice started disappearing. All I could do was walk forwards without looking back.

No, I couldn't look back. I won't look back. I have to keeping moving forwards.

"I'll be watching you closely. If you want to stand by her side, you have to prove that you are worthy to do so. Not just worthy in my eyes, but worthy in her's."

The space around his voice started to feel hot and before I knew it, his body was catching on fire. Though, I didn't turn around to know that was what had been happening. Even with an accepting tone through my perplexed reaction, he chuckled.

"Make her smile for her own sake. Keep being as stubborn as she is and show her what happiness is, even if she refuses to see it for herself. Only then, I'll approve of you. You got that, kid?"