18 |War Criminal and Kane Nethers|

One month later, the fog dissipated. Jian was freed from his prison of frozen air. His body toppled to the ground and broke into intense convulsions. After a few hours of the violent spasms, his body returned to normal temperature. Taking this opportunity, Jian stood up once he regained the feeling in his legs. "What was that?"

The echoing whispers that dragged him into the darkest corner of his mind, made him frightened. It was as if someone tossed had forcefully shut his mind off. 'Huh?' He exclaimed while looking around frantically. The two women from earlier were gone and it appeared as if the room was frozen over. However, he did not feel cold at all.

"What happened here?" He climbed out of the pond and walked around the room. Jian made his way to the windows at the back of the room and took in the view of the ocean.

The warm breeze carried with it a faint song. It seemed like every fiber of his being resonated with the song even though he could not ever remember hearing it before. He couldn't stop himself, as he began to mouth the words. [Thig dhachaigh chun an fhearainn fon mhuir. Am fearann far am bi thu a 'coinneachadh rium. Thig còmhla rium]

"Boy... That's not a song you should be singing on land." A rough voice resonated from behind Jian. In fact, the elderly man appeared a few minutes previous. He stood in the doorway of the room waiting. But Jian had been too caught up to notice him. Now he was a few feet away from Jian the moment he spoke.

"I never sang- Ah!?" Jian was quite frightened at his sudden appearance and confused as to why he mouthed such a song, to begin with.

"Have you seen a spirit? I know I'm a bag of bones. But, I don't think I'm spooky am I? Oh! I forgot you're too weak to detect people... The explains it." The old man walked forward by a step and all his features became clearer while he spoke. A daunting scar diagonally bisecting his face, his eyes were a lipid blue and overall skin color was more of a tanned whited. Which, was normal for those who lived on the seas.

"They call me Kane kid, from now till you're dead or stronger than me I'll be your mentor. Excited aren't you?" He laughed at his own arrogance before moving to stand next to Jian and pointing out to the ocean. "It is always a beauty."

"Yes, it is. But can I ask why are you, my mentor? And who am I?"

Jian felt frustrated. He remembered never getting any of his questions fully answered by the Commander earlier. Now after who knows how long, he was stuck with another stranger. This was all getting on his nerves very quickly. It seemed like the sea god church was shrouded in mysteries.

"Oh, yeah I guess we have to do that whole, 'tell me who I am, thing', Well fine. Your name is Greed or well that is what I was told, you were to be called. Details pertaining to your past is confidential since your a war criminal and all kiddo... Oh, you don't know much about that, do you?" Greed nodded in response to his words and Kane turned to look at him before giving a deep sigh and continuing.

"I can't say much kid, all I know is you attacked the main shrine to our sea god in the human capital. That alone is a capital offense, apparently, you were hired by outside forces as a child soldier of sorts. After capture you were brought here and well... You know the old stick and club. It seems like you lost your memory after a few too many elemental force torture sessions. So, I was assigned to rehabilitate you. Hopefully, even add you as a loyal follower of our Lord. If you are willing?"

After learning about his past, Greeds' face paled. He was a simply a pawn to some random force? Used to attack the sea god shrine, then discarded?! Utterly useless. He couldn't accept it, yet he had to believe it. Why would the sea god church lie to him? Especially since they had already beaten him so badly he couldn't put one and two together anymore.

Indeed it was odd that everytime Greed tried to reach into his memories, it was like putting his hand in an empty bag. However, occasionally pieces of information that seemed familiar to him would appear in his mind as if it was always there. He felt those fragments were his past memories coming back slowly.

When Kane mentioned the attempted capital offense, there was a sense of guilt that rose from somewhere deep within him. After taking this reaction into consideration, then there is no denying it. He felt dejected, guilty, and even more ashamed than anything. There was really only one way to atone for the sins of his past self. Greed let out a deep breath before backing away from the window. He deeply bowed to Kane.

"Sir Kane, I am not deserving of such an opportunity. But, please guide me to the right path. I wish to become a member of the sea church and atone for my sins against it." His voice was unwavering and filled with assurance that his current actions were correct.