Calming Sea

I

Aida ran to greet the investigator with a hug. She could feel the man's steady heartbeat. Nazeir slowly raised his hand and embraced the masked woman. He knew who the woman was behind the mask, he had feelings that couldn't be denied.

Aida let go of her arms and separated themselves. She removed the mask, revealing the face that had changed since then. The man was confused about what she wanted to show, it wasn't until Aida took off some of her clothes.

"I got this because I chased you into that cave. Everything is full of wounds, thank goodness Tabot and his medics saved me."

He touched a wound on Aida's body, the woman held back the pain. When he saw the projection of the woman's face, he immediately pulled his hand back. He sat on the edge of the cliff, and Aida sat beside him with her legs dangling from a height.

II

"It's beautiful, is it true?" said Nazeir looking at the sun.

"It's beautiful."

"Life is certainly beautiful from all sides. I have a wish when the contract I am working on is finished, that I will sit wherever I am and watch the beauty that the earth gives."

"Life has its downsides, Nazeir. Just like the whole Spearhead's feeling watching you sleep in that tube, worried that you will not wake up."

"And now I'm here. Healthy and well," his smile touched the golden rays of the sun. "Never look at life badly, Ada. Look at the earth like a gift from the gods."

"Yes... the gods. And which god are you talking about?"

Nazeir shook his head, shrugging his shoulders.

"Anyone. If you pray to Ukodottir, then he is the one who gave your life this journey."

"You certainly have a unique way of thinking, Nazeir," the woman's smile widened. "And at first you said that life is barbaric."

"Not that I want you to be a pessimist, Ada. If I could give you a better life, then I would. And honestly, I want that too."

"Being an investigator has passed your standards?"

"No, life has changed its standard. So, listen to what I have to say to you. Plant this in your... heart. You're still young and have much time, try to fill it with things that are meaningful to your life before you grow old. "

Hearing this made Aida look at Nazeir with a beating in her heart.

"And you?"

Nazeir smirked.

"I may not die because of age. That is the natural path of investigators, Aida. Age is not what pick us up to be brought to the after life, steel does."

The woman leaned over to the investigator, both looked at the setting sun. A memory came to the girl.

"Nazeir," she called. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing happened, Ada."

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Then?"

"Before all this mess... what happened in your life? Jurko and Tabot said that you weren't a natural investigator. But an ordinary person, caught in complicated circumstances. Your past is grey. Do you remember it?"

"Do I remember it?" Nazeir looked at the sun which was setting slightly. "Yes, I remember it."

"But no one knows about you, your history. Who are you."

The man was silent for a moment.

"The last time the person I told about my past died, you know why?"

Aida felt her head on Nazeir's shoulder shaking her head.

"I killed him. He was an old man, a general in the duchy of Imens. He made camp with his soldiers in a place called 'haven'.

It was originally a normal contract, but everything changed when I talked to that person. We exchange stories from different lives, learn from each other's mistakes. When everything was done, he gave me his neck. I slashed him, and I burned the entire camp of the army he led.

The cold and dark night instantly changed as the fires I lit went crazy. Tents that are close to each other make it easy for the inferno to jump up and down. Their screams, their ugly screams make my ears want to bleed.

Who set the tent on fire is unknown, because I wasn't caught. Therefore, the duchy of Imens had their own answers. The myth is made of a man in battle armor walking in the heat of the fire. Someone they say is a devil from heaven."

"So, you're not comfortable talking about your past life?"

"No, I don't want to forget it. I'm a relic of my old self, a ghost, and that's because I still want to reach for my past. I'm a corpse that breathes and moves because it holds onto its faded past. My previous life wasn't as bad as it was. I may have had a mediocre twenty years, but what happened next was hell for my life. I was as young as you were, and life was a real ordeal."

"What happened?"

"I joined the war, it's easy to understand. Volunteer to join the army. I train like any other soldier, and fight like the soldier beside where I stand."

"Sounds bad," her nose touched Nazeir's shirt. "I've seen the conditions of battle at the sorcerer's mine, and what I saw was one of the worst things in my life."

"One of the worst things. What about the worst thing in your life?"

"Seeing my little sister being taken away by the orphanage, thought that I couldn't take care of him. Do you remember my story? She was taken to the city, and I want to find her. That is my ultimate goal."

"The love of a family members, I feel it. I also have a half-sister. And I want to meet her."

"Is that the big goal of your life?"

"Yes," he lowered his eyes. "I want to go back to where I came from, back home. Meet my family, and she's one of them."

"When was the last time you saw your family?"

"I lost count. It took too long. I became like this when I was young," Nazeir raised his own hand. He saw a mutant, but not a single trace from his previous life.

"And you still look like a..."

"Thirty? I've forgotten my age," he grinned, shaking his head. "All I know is that I am very old."

"Old?" Aida stopped leaning and looked at Nazeir's face. "You are quite young for a person who has lived for hundreds of years."

"Jurko, Tabot and I are all old. Thanks to our mutation."

Silence deafened both of their ears.

"So you want to see your family and friends back?" Aida leaned back.

"If that's what I can do, then yes."

"And what can you do, Nazeir? What are you going to do to find your home?"

"I need someone, and the irony is that he's a sorcerer."

"Sorcerer, who is this sorcerer?"

"A friend. I need the skills of this man, he's an elf from a continent far from here."

"Why him and not the other sorcerers?"

"He's a gate or explorer. People who have unique magic skills, might be called dangerous. An explorer has skills that can open this world to another world."

"You know that other worlds certainly don't exist, Nazeir," Aida laughed.

Nazeir gave the girl a serious face.

"I know that where I come from there are no people who fight like this, with swords and arrows. We have already passed that time, our knowledge is higher than yours. Where the war here is still at close range, we start wars from a distance. Where stupid people can use weapons and kill people with a single click.

All this knowledge has an impact. The brave will dare to face the enemy, the one who does not... die. And the worst part is they will break apart, physically and mentally."

"Is the place you come from that bad?"

"Imagine you are standing on a dirty and cramped trench, where you and your thousands of brothers are ready to storm the enemy stronghold. You know the sound of explosions? Picture yourself listening to loud explosions randomly in front of you thousands of times. Dirts and stones fly into the air then fall to your head, some will kill and some will only injure.

Beside you there are people who are shouting and must be held on the ground, he is rattling not wanting to rush forward to the battlefield. The person who was pressed to the ground was mentally broken, afraid of death. He called his mother who was far away from home, praying for her son to be strong and safe in the war.

Those who saw that person rebelling immediately began to wonder if they wanted to die for this. But everything was written, they knew that there was no option to back out.

When the explosion stops, you see a band of soldiers starting to play their instruments. The composer uses the sound of the music as a thundering war cry as you and the others scream under the trench with weapon in hand, mustering up the mental courage to storm the enemy guarded in the fort.

The whistle blows, and you and thousands of other soldiers get out of the trench and run across the vast dirt field to where your enemy is. They fire their ammunition, just imagine you running towards thousands of arrows who want to kill you, and it shoots fast and repeatedly. Your friends are going die, and maybe you too.

That's how my war works. The number of soldiers who took part in the war was a lot, but the corpses were no less numerous in the end. Many who came home from the battlefield became different people. When they leave they give a smile, when they return they give a look of horror."

Aida looked at Nazeir who started to explain his life seriously.

"But we have the science that helps people get out of the hospital. We have organized doctors, far more advanced science, to even hygiene. No one has to die of a trivial disease, Aida. My life is the magnum opus of the world of science..."

"Then," Aida was speechless. "I hope you find what you are looking for, Nazeir."

"You too, Ada."

The sun was setting, and they were still there sitting together.

A knock sounded, the attention alarm sounded. Aida stopped leaning against the investigator and put on her mask.

"Come on, Nazeir. There's an alarm!"

The two immediately got up from their seats and ran back to the camp. Afraid of something, the investigator ran past Aida in front of her. In front of him was a door that separated the two halves of the fort, the outside and the inside section. Nazeir tried to open the door which was locked from the inside. When Aida came she saw the investigator trying to open it.

"What is it!?"

"The door is locked!"

Hurriedly, Nazeir stepped back and kicked the door down. A loud crashing sound was heard, the people inside the camp were alerted to hear it.

The investigator was in shock, everyone in the camp seemed not to panic at anything, but him knocking down the door. Aida standing behind the investigator jumped when she saw the large door collapse. Everyone turned their eyes to Nazeir, he stood there confused as to what had happened.

From the camp crowd came slow clapping directed at the investigator. There was a man walking in beautiful clothes like a noble. His hair that extends back with a bald haircut on both sides of the temples.

"What a welcome, investigator!" cried the Hukoleener King who was walking towards Nazeir.

Behind him is a woman wearing a kebaya, the princess Tribuana. And beside the princess was a white man carrying a book. His clothes are neat, from hats to shoes. Both of them accompanied the king who came to see the investigator.

"You woke up! A few days ago I saw your body still soaking in the blue water," Rakai raised his hand, and the two shook hands.

Behind Rakai came Lukasz and the princess, they bowed to the investigator.

"You..." Nazeir pointed at Lukasz. "I remember you."

"Well yes, you saved me while being swarmed by the sea demons."

"Sea demons, right," Nazeir tried to recall what had happened. "And princess. How are you?"

"Never been better. Neighboring to the two investigators certainly feels safe here."

Nazeir was silent, creating uncomfortable silence in the crowd.

"Good," Rakai put his arm around Nazeir and his sister, leading them along.

They walked to the beach, away from the crowds at the campsite. The masked woman was brought along, along with Jurko and Tabot. The seven of them sat on the beach sand facing the sea. The fire swayed madly as the sea breeze came toward the shore.