Chapter 17
The Goal
[Three Minutes Earlier]
"The intercontinental bridge collapsed?" Kaep asked, his eyes wide. His voice cracked mid-sentence.
The silence between him and his uncle felt heavier than normal. Laios didn't answer immediately; he drew a slow breath.
"More like…something fell from it," he finally said, his voice grave.
Kaep rose slowly, swallowing hard.
"The monsters…were they the other crew members?" he pressed, a hand going to his forehead. He shut his eyes for a second.
"Yes,"Laios confirmed. This time, his voice was flat, devoid of emotion, his expression pure disgust.
The memory hit Kaep like a physical blow.
"But what we saw fall earlier,from the hallway…" he stammered, staring at his uncle.
Laios lowered his head, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white.
"It seems another giant creature fell from the bridge.Which means there are two giant monsters in the water."
The following silence spread like a stain. The lounge's constant murmur seemed to die. Many who were listening didn't react at first, but upon hearing "giant creatures falling from the bridge," more than a few heads snapped up sharply.
"Then the cryptids I saw climbing and slipping through the ship's hull…" Kaep said, breaking the silence.
That was information impossible to ignore.
"What…?"The word escaped Laios, incredulous.
Kaep felt the immediate shift in the atmosphere. Several heads turned his way; people's eyes glinted with repressed fear. The air grew thick and dense.
"When I was hanging outside," he continued, his voice lower, conscious of the stares, "I saw dozens of those monsters climbing, entering through holes… like gashes in the ship's hull…"
His uncle didn't respond. No one did. The words just hung in the air.
A scream of pain tore through the silence from the other end of the room. The tension shattered into motion: some ran to assist the wounded, others settled groaning people onto makeshift stretchers, while a group hastily organized salvaged equipment.
To one side, the alchemist in the blue robe mechanically crushed ingredients, two others assisting him.
Then Laios spoke, suddenly, without taking his eyes off his nephew.
"Did they have six limbs?"
The question surprised Kaep. He took a second to react.
"No."
Laios's sigh of relief was immediate, so intense he leaned forward, covering his mouth with his hand. He hunched over as if he'd just understood something terrible.
Kaep watched him in silence, uneasy. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced again at the blue alchemist. He remembered the blue-robed man's proposal: to drink a potion he'd had no time to ask about. He almost stood, but something stopped him—the atmosphere of uncertainty, or maybe the fear of the answer.
That's when his uncle jerked his head up, eyes wide.
"This is horrible…"he murmured.
Kaep tensed.
"Why?"
Laios hesitated. He took a few seconds, as if each word weighed a ton. Finally, he spoke.
"You remember there's a city that runs the length of the bridge?"
"Yes…" the boy replied, though his voice wavered.
"People rest there because the journey on foot or by transport is so long…"
Kaep's expression changed immediately. He could feel where this was going.
"And therefore…"Laios continued, his voice growing heavier, like an executioner pronouncing a sentence, "...there are thousands of people on that bridge every day."
The color drained from Kaep's face. His lips parted, but he found no words.
Laios looked at him, his expression a mix of weariness and resignation.
"Yes,"he affirmed, confirming the magnitude of what they both now understood.
[Present]
"Uncle!"
The man turned calmly. He didn't seem surprised; his gaze said he already knew what was coming.
"I'm coming too," Kaep said, a firmness in his voice that only trembled slightly on his lips.
Laios sighed, tired, and instead of answering directly, he turned to the burly man as if he didn't want to give his nephew's plea any more credit.
"How many limbs did the creature have?" he asked.
"Six," the burly man replied, bluntly.
The impact registered on Laios's face. He tensed, inhaled sharply, was on the verge of shouting something… but the burly man cut him off, raising his voice with a wave of his hand.
"It's not the one you fought on the deck!"
The words stopped him cold. Laios closed his eyes, covering his face with his hand. For a few seconds, an expectant silence reigned, until a bitter laugh escaped his chest. It was a dry, brief sound that shook the room's tension.
Everyone looked at him, surprised.
"Then… there's more than one," he said, removing his hand from his face. His tired gaze seemed to turn inward. "No… perhaps even more."
At that moment, something glowed beneath his uniform, on his left shoulder. Laios's expression softened abruptly. He reached under the fabric and pulled out a luminous stone, similar to a decoration medal, shining with a warm tone in the dim light.
"You know?" he said, holding it up between his fingers. "When all this is over, I want to go to Nexoria."
His words floated in the air with an unexpected nuance.
"They say it's a very prosperous city. They call it 'the most comfortable city'…"
The lounge, busy with healing and organizing, didn't stop, but some nodded as they tended to the wounded, others watched him with curiosity. The mere name 'Nexoria' seemed to drag up memories and emotions.
Murmurs began, first scattered, then growing into a chorus:
"My brother came back from there with clothes better than a noble's, more… contemporary…"
"Mine brought back a mechanical animal,like a living pet made of copper…"
"My father insists we move there,says he'd never come back…"
"Mine…died on the journey."
That last comment swallowed all the others. Silence fell abruptly, harsh, uncomfortable. No one wanted to look at each other.
Some clicked their tongues at the last remark.
Yes, that ruined the chance to improve the mood, Kaep thought, turning his back on the now-dejected group.
The alchemists continued their work, not looking up, as if words were a dangerous distraction. The smell of reagents filled the air while Körper remained unconscious, watched over by a white-coated attendant monitoring his breathing with patience.
In a corner, a young woman with tired eyes stared fixedly at Laios's luminous stone. Her fingers stroked her own, hanging from a choker resting against her neck. Her lips trembled slightly, and she stood up slowly, as if gathering strength to speak.
But Laios's voice cut through the air before she could say anything.
"You can't come," he said to Kaep without looking at him, cutting off any attempt.
The boy opened his mouth, incredulous.
"What?But…" He stopped himself. He knew the answer.
The unspoken words hung in the air. Kaep clenched his fists, frustrated, because he understood all too well: the six-limbed monsters were stronger than his uncle. If he, with barely half his strength, joined… he'd just be a hindrance. Or he'd die in his place.
Laios made to leave, but first pointed toward Körper.
"You look after him now.It was going to be me, but… ironic, isn't it?"
Kaep lowered his gaze, unable to respond.
The burly man clicked his tongue and muttered:
"Him look after Körper? Seriously?"
Laios turned to him for an instant, his expression serious, almost sharp. He touched the burly man's shoulder as he moved toward the door, alongside the officer and the burly man.
"Not really. He's not at the level to help. But it'd be worse to leave him with nothing to do," he said in a low voice, crossing through the doorway.
As the three exited, the officer closed the door.
"And Jenna…?" asked the officer.
"We got separated in the engine levels," the burly man said, pulling on a pair of gloves.
"I see…" Laios frowned, his voice hardening. "That thing was capable of tearing Körper apart. And there's more than one…"
The officer was thinking as he removed a torn piece of his uniform, then looked at the other two.
"Hey, I have a theory," the officer interrupted, raising a hand.
Laios and the burly man looked at him immediately. The first arched an eyebrow, expectant; the second, curious.
"Earlier I thought it was a coincidence that we didn't transform into those things," said the officer, measuring his words carefully. "But now I have no doubt after observing everyone in that room carefully."
The three exchanged looks laden with tension, as if they all sensed what he was about to say.
"These stones…" he continued, holding his up. The stone was now dull, but with an illegible engraving. "...It's likely they're what prevents us from transforming."
The silence was absolute.
Laios thought for a moment. Then he nodded slowly, seriousness hardening his face.
"Now that you mention it…on the deck, only those who didn't have one transformed. Besides the people in the room, I think none of them had it."
"Exactly," the officer affirmed firmly. "Everyone who's still here… is carrying one."
The burly man let out an incredulous snort, as if he'd just understood something too obvious that had escaped him. He looked at his own stone inside his uniform, tracing the relief of the piece with his fingers.
The three men nodded almost in unison.
"That means…" the officer concluded, "...that surviving isn't enough. We can't be separated from these stones."
"But nothing can stop them from falling off in a fight or another situation," commented Laios.
"Besides, we're still about three days from land," added the burly man.
"In the middle of such a journey, there's no guarantee anyone will help us, especially since this was supposed to be the maiden intercontinental voyage for the new ships," added the burly man.
"As great as it would be for getting to Nexoria more easily. And now we're in this situation, but the worst is the possible situation on the bridge you hinted at, Laios," commented the officer.
"Yes. It's possible the people living on the intercontinental bridge have transformed. And those giant things that fell from it are likely ravaging the city on it."
"And… what if they destroyed it?" asked the burly man.
"The city?"asked the officer, puzzled by the question.
"No,I mean the bridge."
Both the officer and Laios looked at each other, then back at the burly man.
"I don't think so," they responded in unison.
"I know what you're thinking. That bridge is ridiculously big to have a city on its sides, but think about it. If something so large you could see it from this distance fell from there. It wouldn't be because it was too big for the brid… forget it, thinking about it, it couldn't be. Besides, that bridge isn't like normal bridges; the fact it holds between two continents without supports is amazing enough," the burly man said.
Screech.
Suddenly, a grotesque screech tore through the air from the hallway. It wasn't a human scream: it was sharper, wetter, a sound that clawed at the ears like twisted metal.
The three tensed instantly. Laios spun toward the source of the noise, muscles rigid, his fingers already seeking the hilt of his weapon.
"New weapon?" the burly man asked in a thread of a voice, trying to rationalize what he was hearing.
"Yeah. Found it in a transformed's room," Laios said, not taking his eyes off the end of the hallway.
The screech repeated, louder, closer. This time it was accompanied by uncontrolled footsteps: wild, irregular, hammering against the hallway's metal like a storm. The echo resonated off the ceiling and walls, making them vibrate.
"Hey, instead of fighting, let's run. Lure that thing away from the lounge," said the officer.
The three looked at each other. Nodded.
"Buy time. It'll be an endurance challenge," said the burly man with a forced smile.
"Three days, or more exactly, 120 hours," commented Laios, readying himself in the opposite direction.
"Let's wait for that thing to see us and get its attention," said Laios, sending a thread of fire from his fingertip.
It illuminated the length of the hallway.
Until it made the creature visible. The three tensed.
The monster was coming. And the three simply prepared.
120 hours is the goal, the three thought, their confident gazes illuminated by the glow of their stones.