19. Worries
Zael couldn't believe it.
The island was moving. He felt the land rumbling under his feet as he looked out towards the sea. He stood on one of the high balconies of the castle now, taking a deep breath. It seemed that all the rest of the Gurak in the castle retreated, likely aware that Zael took over and could do nothing to stop him. Even the automatons that still functioned and remained, once foes, were now allies.
One of the automatons floated towards Zal and stared at him, expecting an order. Zael shook his head, and the automaton left him. He heard footsteps, and he heard Asthar's voice.
"Are you alright, lad?" Zael looked towards the deceased General, noticing the other's furrowed brows.
"I'm fine. Kind of. Conflicted, actually." Zael confessed. He turned to fully face him, trying to make sense of the new memories in his head. "I remember my friends. Mirania, Yurick, Lowell, Syrenne…Dagran." He swallowed, thinking of Calista. "When we get there, to the fortress…do you think our friends' ghosts will be there?"
"I have no doubt about that." Asthar frowned, before looking out towards the sea. They were getting closer to the fortress. "The only one I can think of still being alive, Zael, is Lady Calista. She's been keeping Zangurak back this entire time."
"I know. I just…" Zael gritted his teeth. He tried to think back to the last moments he had before he woke up a hundred years later, but it was still a painful blur in his skull. "I just wish I stopped Zangurak before he could…"
"Calista gave you a second chance. All of us, really." Asthar offered him a weak smile this time. "We just have to make sure we make the best of it."
Zael gave Asthar a full look-over, realizing how tired Asthar looked. Even though he was dead, it didn't deter from the fact that he had something else weighing him down. Wasn't the General a man that was once so jolly? Optimstic, despite his seriousness? Zael vaguely remembered that.
He remembered dueling Asthar, once, as part of a final trial. The way their swords danced in the air as they clashed against one another. It was thrill that chilled and excited Zael down to his bones. He thought of Therius. Had he dueled him yet? He had a feeling that he hadn't done so.
Maybe after dealing with Zangurak was over, he and Therius might have a chance to do so.
"How's Therius?" Zael asked.
"He's coping as well as he can, considering the circumstances." Asthar managed, shrugging lightly. "I know he'll pull through. I tried my best to put him up to speed with what I remember before dying, as well as what you and the Count told me about what happened after my death."
"Did I ever duel him?"
"Not to my knowledge." He noticed Asthar smile more genuinely this time, happier. "Unless both of you snuck off and did so without me at some point. A shame, if that's the case. I would've loved to watch."
A soft chuckle left Zael at that. "If both you and Therius are still around after we're done handling we have to do, maybe we can have a rematch. And I can challenge Therius to a proper duel, too."
"Maybe."
Zael looked out towards sea, and then towards Asthar. A sigh left him as he thought about the journey they still had to go through. He remembered this castle being a floating fortress before, heading across the sea and towards the Gurak, but for different reasons.
"We're not going to hurt any civilians, are we?"
He noticed Asthar's eyes widen. "Not…no. Why?"
"I remember being there when the knights raided. They…" Zael swallowed. Chained up Gurak. Families, children, mothers…all those that couldn't fight, captured. Beaten. Sometimes killed. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "We hurt them. You weren't there, and Therius was angry."
He remembered Therius yelling in his face. Are these the knights you so aspire to be like!?
Asthar looked just as uncomfortable as Zael felt, judging by his clenched jaw. "I'm sorry." Asthar muttered, eyes looking away from Zael's own, briefly. "I'm sorry you got caught up in that. And I'm sorry that it…happened. To them."
"They're people just as much as we are." Zael ended. "That's why I think there has to be another way. And I think there was."
"You might have a point."
"What?" Zael raised a brow, dared to look Asthar in the eye. "What do you mean?"
"Miss Mirania and I did some research together on the being that granted you your power. The Outsider, that is." Asthar cleared his throat, looking out towards the sea. "The Gurak Continent and Lazulis Island are fueled by both halves of the Outsider. That's how Zangurak and you both earned your power."
"If the Gurak Continent is basically a fortress thanks to Zangurak having the power, does that mean…?"
"We have to defeat Zangurak in order to stop the Gurak from being able to hurt Lazulis any further. That's the first priority. But…" Asthar looked towards Zael, swallowing. "The other is dealing with the whole Outsider itself."
Zael remembered a sorceress speaking to him once. To him and Calista, specifically, where Therius held back other non-stop automatons. "I remember now." He breathed. "Calista and I…and Therius…we found a secret chamber once. A sorceress told us the Outsider was a…world seed."
"A seed?" Asthar's eyes widened, but Zael nodded. He searched his own pockets, and the familiar metal feeling in his hand came to him as he held out a medal.
"This was yours. You gave it to me and said it was the key to the castle's secrets. So we found them."
"So you know we have to get rid of the Outsider, then." Asthar breathed.
Zael nodded. "It's the only way to end this once and for all, between both the Gurak and Lazulis. Even if we take down Zangurak, the Outsider will still drain this land and the Continent of life if we don't get rid of it."
"Then you understand." Asthar stated. 'We get rid of Zangurak first. Once we do that…"
"Get rid of the Outsider."
Zael knew it wouldn't be an easy task. But he also knew that it was what he had to do. He just hoped that he could do enough to actually save everyone, at this point.
