"Gods damn it—does he ever give up? What did you do to piss him off so much?" Cedric shouted as they reached the docks.
The harbor stretched before them, filled with towering vessels—marvels of wood and steel. Some were so tall their sails seemed to scrape the sky. Carvings of waves and mermaids danced along their sides, glimmering faintly in the morning light. The ships' upper decks shone with polished brown timber, but below, the hulls darkened with layers of blackened oil—used to repel both sea beasts and the deep's stench.
James said nothing, his eyes fixed ahead.
"That one—over there!" Cedric pointed toward a ship with vast, dark sails.
It was a grand galleon, sleek and formidable. Its prow jutted forward like a blade, its stern sharp and narrow. Upon one sail, painted in pale white, was a phoenix—wings spread wide. A sword pierced its chest on one side, while from the other, a flowering tree rose, blooming despite the wound.
"Stop right there, Arcturus!"
A sudden gust sliced past James, narrowly missing him and tearing through the ship behind.
"Ahhhh!"
Screams erupted across the docks as panic spread. Sailors scrambled to untie moorings and push off, shouting over each other in confusion.
"Bring the rudder around!""Hoist the sails—take to the sea!"
The air was chaos—wind, fire, and shouting blending into a single roaring storm.
A woman clutching an infant stumbled through the panic, desperate for shelter. Her foot caught on a broken crate and she went down.
"No—my child!" she screamed as the baby rolled across the planks.
"New… new…" the infant wailed, then fell still. For a moment the world paused. The woman crawled forward, hands scrabbling over wet wood while people surged past—some shoved, some stepped on her, some kicked to clear the way.
"NEWWW… NEWW…" the sound cut off; the child was silent.
"No—Arthur! Arthur!" the mother's cry tore through the chaos, forcing heads to turn for a heartbeat before the crowd's roar swallowed the moment again.
"See what you've done, boy," Laplace's voice slithered through the press, finding James's ears and striking his heart. "Your very existence brings death. Wouldn't it have been better if you'd stayed dead? Now innocents die because of you."
James skidded to a halt. Veins stood out in his hands, his face flushed with a hot, dangerous anger. He drew his sword.
"Is that so?" he snapped.
Laplace only laughed, the sound cold. "Yes—come on then, show me what you've got." With a careless flick he removed a purple bracelet. The band stretched and elongated in his hand, reshaping itself into a blade that gleamed with a faint, otherworldly light.
"Look." He drove the sword down, cutting through a boy no older than twelve who had been trying to flee. The child slumped without a sound.
"Don't you want to tear me apart and be the hero?" Laplace mocked, voice soaked in venom. He flung James's ideals back at him like trash. "Ideals mean nothing if you lack the will to fight for them, boy!"
With that he lunged—sword raised, the edge pulsing with a purple glow.
James gripped his sword—not to strike, but to cut. The blade sliced across his palm, and drops of blood spattered the ground, glowing faintly as they formed intricate sigils beneath his feet.
Then he drove the sword into the earth."I call forth… Hesar."
The air shuddered. James turned away, his cloak whipping violently in the rising wind.
Laplace's sneer curled into disbelief."You dare show your back to your enemy?"
He lunged, his blade extending in a purple arc——but before it could reach James, a massive hand burst from the ground and caught it.
James spoke without turning, his voice low and resonant:"They say two wrongs don't make a right. The priests preach forgiveness, yet they forget punishment. They call vengeance unholy, but only because it threatens those in power. For no man requires forgiveness more than the rulers who command it…"
He stepped forward onto the deck boards, blood dripping from his palm."Well, I say no longer."
Cedric stared, confused and alarmed. "What the hell are you talking about mate? You're not making any sense!"
James stumbled, dropping to one knee. "Go on then… face yourself," he hissed.
Behind them, the hand took full form—a figure rising from the sigils. Its shape solidified from the sand into an exact copy of Laplace, eyes cold and gleaming.
Laplace staggered back, horror twisting his features."Damn you! You've doomed us all, you cr—"
He never finished. The copy moved first—its blade slashing upward, grazing Laplace's chin and drawing a thin line of blood.
Cedric rushed to James's side. "Are you alright?"
James coughed, crimson spilling from his lips. "That… that's Laplace," he rasped. "What he is… and what he'll always be. A future version of himself."
"Well, whatever—let's get out of here. Release the sails!" Cedric shouted, helping James to a corner of the deck.
At once, the sailors moved into position. Footsteps thundered across the planks as ropes were loosened and sails unfurled. The ship groaned as it tore free from the dock, its hull creaking under the weight of the waves.
The sky darkened fast. From the north, rolling clouds gathered—heavy and bruised gray. The wind howled, dragging the ship deeper into the open sea.
Crack!
A bolt of lightning struck one of the nearby ships, igniting its sail in a burst of flame.
"What the hell—weather doesn't change like this," Cedric muttered as the first drops of rain spattered against his skin.
Behind them, the sound of clashing blades echoed faintly over the storm. Laplace and his double fought amidst the chaos, the clash of steel like thunder.
"Ahhh!" Laplace screamed as the copy's blade sliced off his ear.
"Yeah… that's just terrifying," one of the sailors said under his breath."Can you imagine fighting someone who looks exactly like you?" another muttered.
"It's best they don't follow us," Cedric replied. Climbing onto the ship's railing, he took a deep breath and exhaled.
The air rippled.
Behind them, the sea blurred into a thick white fog, swallowing the burning ships and the screams along with them. Within moments, even those who had set sail beside them vanished into the mist.