|Gift from a Fallen Comrade|

"…please?"

"No."

"But I heard your bubbles can carry a lot of stuff! If you could just—"

"I said no."

"But Chaos~chan is so cool we want to—"

"Your attempt on flattering me doesn't work Mr. Pirate. Please don't use me as a tool for your tardiness. If you continue I'll tell you off to my Papa." The cook flinched and then laughed nervously.

"D'awww you~! I was just kidding! Kid's these days are so hard to joke with! Hahahaha!" I rolled my eyes and drank the milk that he had given me earlier. My body still hasn't recovered yet but it is understandable because I had to exhaust all the sprites that I currently used. And I also used one of my seals… of course this little body won't handle it.

"Is there something wrong?" I snapped back to reality and then shook my head.

"My back is just hurting again." I faked a pout and then groggily jumped off the seat to go back to the room given to me by this ship's captain. It was weird though… since that giant called me his Son by mistake. But I didn't get bothered by it as much as Benn did.

"Awww, that's sad. I was planning to let you have the first slice of cake—" hearing that made me instantly get back to my seat and watched him with a straight look waiting for the sweets to come my way.

"…HAHAHAHAHAHA! I like you kid! Just give me a minute and I'll be back with your cake." well, I'll just help him later as an expression of my gratitude. It's been a long time I didn't get to eat sweets. I only get some sugar out of milk and fruits.

"Hey, it's not nice to eavesdrop on people's conversations…" the figure on the shadow emerged and then grinned to me ear to ear. Though he still looks very pale, Haruko is a pirate not to be underestimated.

"… Haruko the Mist Stalker." He chuckled and then sat in front of me while resting his head on the table.

"Cha~os~! Thank you for saving us, I really owe you a lot." I just sighed and then watched the man's every move knowing that he wasn't here just to thank me at all. I knew the look on his eyes, it's trying to pry me open.

"I have nothing to say…"

"It's fine… just please accept this." I was curious what he was about to give me but when he placed it on the table I was stunned at the unbelievable discovery.

"This is…"

"He wanted me to give it to you… you know… Claytonia. In exchange, he ate the ones I thought to be brothers… they were traitors." So… that's why he turned into that… no wonder…

"I see… did you know, once a fairy breaks the rules of their kind… they turn into an evil god?" the man looked down in both guilt and silence.

"One must not consume the flesh of man, for these beings are beyond the control of nature." The room suddenly went chilly while I mentioned that word. He seemed to have understood what it meant and then stood up from the chair.

"He who is beyond nature is beyond god. Those who are beyond god are beyond good. And beyond good is where the darkness lies…" he continued my words which were actually very surprising. He doesn't seem to have any intention to take the item he just revealed, so I took it whilst of the burning pain it gives when my skin got on contact with it.

"…this also means that Humans are evil right?" he asked while merging with the darkness.

"No… darkness does not mean evil at all…" I wore the emerald bracelet on my wrist and then looked at it with a sad smile

"One who has succumb to darkness is one with solitude. My dear comrade can't handle all of them so it turned him into an evil being… but in the end, the one who is evil is not him but me." silence flooded the room as I was there left alone with an item that had been preserved too well.

I have once again acquired a vessel.

"I got you your cake~!" the cook returned looking all goofy but then stopped to see me looking worn out.

"Are you okay little guy?" I made a bitter smile and then nodded.

"Nn… just a little sleepy."

|TO BE CONTINUED…|