The ship rocked beneath him, slow and steady now that the storm had passed. The waves lapped against the hull, quiet, almost reverent.
Akira sat on the deck, his back pressed against the mast. His fingers trembled where they rested on his knees. The air smelled of salt and something colder, something ancient. The presence that had loomed over him, vast as the ocean and relentless as the tide, was gone.
Sedna was dead.
Not by steel or flame, but by will. By defiance.
She had tested him. Pulled him into her own mental trials. But he had not drowned. He had endured. And now, he had taken her power as his own.
His body felt wrong. Too full, too heavy. He exhaled slowly, watching his breath mist in the cold night air. His thoughts pressed against him like the tide; he wanted answers, but he knew the one with the answers was dead.
The sea stirred beneath his ship. It did not rage, did not weep. But it watched, as if recognizing its new king.
Akira ran a hand through his jet-black hair, damp with sea spray and sweat. Strands clung to his forehead. His deep blue eyes, once sharp with defiance, now stared blankly at his trembling hands. Around his neck, the small black pearl necklace he always wore pressed cool against his skin.
He had won. He was alive. And yet, for the first time, he was something else entirely.
The wind whispered through the sails. The waves carried him forward.
Japan's first Campione drifted home.
Akira sat on his ship, staring at the palms of his hands in disbelief. "Gods are real? And why did she choose me?"
He couldn't wrap his head around it; no, he refused to come to terms with it. If there are other gods in this world, are they good? Evil? Or neutral?
Akira screamed his lungs out, letting all his frustrations out. "What the hell is going on!"
The waves rippled outward. The ocean, silent moments ago, stirred. Then, the water shifted, rising like a living thing until a shadow loomed beside his ship. A kraken.
Appeared next to his boat. It looked at Akira, surprised, but quickly regained its composure.
"You are now the king of the ocean. And yes, gods are real. Most gods want to fight to alleviate their boredom, but there are others that just enjoy killing and testing humans, like the previous queen of the ocean that you slew."
Akira hadn't seen the huge kraken appear, but when it started speaking, he felt its words telepathically appear in his head. He just stared at it for a while, too stunned to move.
Akira's mouth opened, but no words came. His mind scrambled for an explanation, hallucination, exhaustion, or dream. Any answer except the truth. He clenched his fists. "No. This isn't real." His voice was hoarse, but the command was clear. "Leave."
'I must be going crazy, Gods? Talking to a kraken? Hell no, I'm just having a way too realistic nightmare.'
The kraken was surprised by the king's command, but he obeyed it nonetheless. Diving back into the ocean.
"You can't run forever; at some point, you will have to come to terms with it." His parting words echoed in Akira's mind, leaving no room for doubt.
***
As the sun began to rise, Akira guided his ship into the harbor, the familiar scent of salt and fish heavy in the air.
The worn wooden planks creaked under his steps as he secured the ropes, his movements automatic despite the weight pressing on his mind.
He slung a net of freshly caught fish over his shoulder, a small comfort of routine in a world that had just changed forever.
Without a word, he stepped onto the dock and made his way home, the steady rhythm of the waves behind him a quiet reminder.
While walking home, everything that just happened kept racing through his mind; still refusing to acknowledge it, he tried to ignore it, but that was easier said than done.
"Why is it so light?" he muttered, looking at the sack of freshly caught fish he was carrying.
"Eh, it's probably nothing." With that, he arrived.
"Mom, Dad, I'm home. Is Grandma doing okay?" He shouted while he entered a three-story house.
Inside were three people seated at a dining table, looking at each other somberly. Seeing the atmosphere, Akira quieted down.
He put down the sack with fish on the kitchen counter and took a seat next to his older sister.
"Akira, we have some bad news. Granny's condition has been worsening fast. So someone has to go to Europe to purchase the medicine." said his mother.
"I'll go; I don't mind, but Grandma will survive, right?" He asked, his eyes darting around the room.
"Yes, she should survive if you get the medicine fast enough, said the doctors, replied his mother.
Akira heaved a sigh of relief. "So? When will I be leaving? It sounds quite urgent, next week maybe?"
Sarah twirled her hair while looking at their parents, urging them to tell him.
"We bought a plane ticket for tomorrow afternoon," stated Ina, looking at David.
He cleared his throat loudly. ""We know it's sudden, but the doctors said that the faster we get the medicine, the better her chances are. So we decided to send you as soon as possible," his father said, holding Ina's hands tightly.
Akira looked at his parents with a tender smile. "That's fine with me; everything to make sure Grandma gets better. I'll go say hi to her and start packing my bags." Akira replied.
His parents both heaved a sigh of relief; they knew Akira was a gentle soul but were still unsure how he would take the news.
"See, I told you he would be fine. Stop worrying so much; he also wants to help as much as possible to improve Grandma's condition." Sarah said sternly, but she couldn't hide the huge smile on her face.
While she knew Akira would likely be okay with it, if he had refused, she might have had to give up her internship to go to Europe for the medicine.