Ten cycles passed since he felt the taste of blood of the beast's throat. Ten cycles of pure silence, yet the weight of what came after slowly consumed him.
The ship still cut through an endless azure ocean, far from Mala, far from land, far from anything that could change him.
Malik stood near the bow, one hand lightly resting on the cold steel rail. He heard the name of a new recruit: Kaya.
The phantom sensation returned . . . one that he forgot. But, he couldn't quite understand it.
It felt like there was a bloody bayonet in his palm, but when he looked, there was nothing there.
His hands were pale, pure, and empty.
Maybe I'm just imagining things.
He never knew the grasp of land, solely the wave of a ship that has fought over a hundred forgotten battles.
He hadn't dreamed in years, only locked away memories he shouldn't remember. He remembered the beachside he longed to step on, as they took in a young girl a few days ago. Or has it been a week?
He remembered that the girl was accompanied by a variety of affluent looking men, but she looked distressed, as if she wanted nothing to do with them.
Abruptly, a voice ruptured his thought.
"Malik. I'm interviewing the new recruit today. Stay sharp. I heard she can read people like a book with just a stare." Rumbled Captain Cyrus.
Malik only gives a swift but respectful nod.
. . .
In a lower deck, Cyrus sat at a long desk, behind him another crew member sat. The captain's nephew, Lieutenant Samir.
In front of her, the rough captain stares at the recruit. "Name?"
"Kaya, sir!" she answered steadily but firmly.
A faintly light-skinned young girl, with short jet-black hair, slowly raises her head to face the captain. She stares with her dark eyes.
Kaya's resume and all her qualifications lay flat on a desk between them. It states that she is eighteen years of age.
He skimmed though it, one piece of information caught his eye.
It read: "Solythe Echo Status: Success from Harmony."
A Solythe echo's existence is normally locked to public awareness, however, of the many of applicants to the Messengers, there has yet to be a publicly successful echo status in years.
"I'll show you the crew members momentarily; however, there's something I'm more interested in about you."
Kaya leaned in, attentive to listen to the old captain's words. The Captain holds the paper firmly and reads it before making his remark.
"You're from the people of Ishkana—the realm of Harmony?"
"Yeah . . ."
Cyrus peered closely at her, ". . . Interesting."
He cleared his throat, "On your application, it states that you have a successful Solythe echo. That name is confidential by military personnel. Especially another name, Kolxayne. But you havent heard of that yet."
Kaya's eyes brightened as she heard that last word.
He cleared his throat, "I've heard that those that have completed such echo's in success cross a deep path that is beyond comprehension to my memory. If you have any of those, please demonstrate them to me."
Kaya tenses up and asks the captain after a second of thought.
"Well, Captain, think of anything, and I mean anything. I'll read your mind."
She adjusts herself back in her chair.
Captain Cyrus scoffs.
Hah, this little girl won't ever guess that I'm thinking of my favorite sport, Tagline.
Her eyes strained, slightly.
She composes, glancing with bright amber eyes, asking, "So who's your favorite Tagline team?"
He cackles as he could not believe what he has just heard at this moment.
"Welcome aboard, Private Kaya." He looks at her, her smile looks a bit wider than usual.
. . .
Later, they stood outside the captain's door.
The captain adjusts his posture and prepares to yell Malik's name but is stunned to see Malik right in front of him in a flash.
"Can I show her around?" Malik abruptly asks, almost awkward.
"Ahh Malik, yes . . . please tour this new recruit across the ship, she's one of us now ya know. So don't treat her any different." The captain mumbles as he slurs his words.
His eyes quickly widened in ambivalence at his son who had grown . . . different.
Malik instantly straightens himself and gives Kaya a nodding grin with shut eyes as he puts his hand out for a handshake.
Bending his wrist awkwardly. "I'm Malik, nice to meet you."
Looking at him, she saw a storm within his eyes. A swirling abyss within his pupils made of static and sharp edges. She almost didn't want to provoke it, but instead gave a gilded smile.
It alarmed her, but she knew what she had to do.
Kaya shakes Malik's hand firmly with respect. "My name's Kaya, also nice to meet you!"
"So uhm . . . oh yeah, let's explore the ship, rookie!" Malik asserts but playfully.
Kaya giggles and punches his shoulder.
Malik gives a wholesome smile as he points to the metal door leading to the main deck.
The door leads to a staircase. Below, two connected floors to the main hall, rooms scattered across them. The second floor could be reached by the halfway point of the stairs, and the bottom deck could be reached by fully going down the stairs.
In the the middle of the bottom deck, more stairs could prove as a shortcut to reach the second floor without voyaging back to the main stairway. Beyond the shortcut, lie a sealed metal door that demands attention.
Bright chandeliers light the grand room, welcoming them. High wooden tables sit across the bottom hall.
"Looks like a ballroom, right? I think Kamil is here." Malik affirms his point and dominantly steps in.
He then sits on the handrail and strides down to the bottom.
"You coming?"
Kaya swiftly slides down right next to Malik, mimicking him. Then, the two of them step into the middle of the deck.
"This is where the crew's rooms are, some on this floor, and some on the second. However, there are ten rooms, but there's an extra room that the captain strictly forbids us from ever entering." Malik adds.
He points to the eerie room. The door leaks a maroon aura, one that imitated a heart that refused to stop beating. On top of it, lay a screen.
Malik stared at it, as if he was a man looking at his own coffin.
The screen above it flickered, but it displayed nothing, only hummed.
Kaya feels intimidated by it, then stares at Malik with her piercing large brown eyes. Malik stares deeply at the room as if he were born in it.
He notices her long stare and the both of them make strong eye contact. Kaya's eyes glimmered amber-gold as she reached out into the abyss—using her mind-reading ability on Malik, as she still locks eyes with him.
Something is not right with that room . . . and he knows.
But, I can't read him. It's like there's an infinite number of thoughts fogging his head.
Suddenly, she audibly gasped, as she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Like a bayonet pierced her heart, leaking pools of blood.
But when she looked down, nothing was there.
Her eyes widened as her thoughts crumbled.
What is he?