Chapter 394 - Mysterious Silence

After the sighting of the colossal whale, the black seas died down as a serene near-silence filled the luminal time on the moving ship. 

"It seems we shouldn't have to wait much longer," Fedrin said, stepping down the steps from the helm. 

Jae-Seong and Ren remained on the main deck, sitting on the damp floor to wait out the time to reach the gargantuan island that now sat closer than ever. 

"Is it a good idea to leave the wheel like that?" He asked, looking up at the elf. 

Fedrin smiled a bit as he sat himself on one of the umber crates, "...It's a bit embarrassing, but it seems my handling of the ship didn't really make a difference. It's approaching the island, without my assistance." 

He could only chuckle wryly at this information, looking up at the fluttering sail as the abyssal wings pushed it. 

"I guess that's their way of telling us there's no avoiding going to that island, is there?" He muttered. 

Jae-Seong yawned, stretching his arms out as he stood up, looking at the island that sat in the near distance now. 

"I don't think there's any avoiding a place that damn big," Jae-Seong commented. 

The words from the curly-haired man brought him to join in his gaze, looking up at the colossal walls of mountains loomed over them with such size that it made his stomach flicker with a slight, unnerving tickle. 

"We're going to have to climb those mountains, aren't we?" He asked, already knowing the answer. 

Jae-Seong folded his arms over his chest with a smile, "Climb? I bet we'll have to fight our way up them."

"...I'd say don't joke like that, Jay, but you're probably right," he sighed.

"Jay? Is that a new nickname or something? Guess I kinda like it," Jae-Seong smiled. 

All three stood at the forefront of the ship as it sailed over the still, black sea, entering through a zone surrounded by moderate bodies of land that acted as the corridor to the behemoth of an island. 

It was only then in the abundant darkness that clung tightly to the atmosphere of the hopeless realm that it was seen; larger than any he had seen before, a tree of unmatched size reached up from the seeming center of the unseen bowels of the island. 

Unlike the white-leaved trees, it also bore magenta lights that danced around the glowing, white livelihood of the immense cedar. It's many, leaf-clad limbs stretched over the height of the island, creating a ceiling that made it seem all the more imposing to enter. 

"The Stretch of Dread; that's what it was called, right?" He said as his eyes were locked on the gate of forest-clad mountains that reached into the depths of the abyssal sky. 

"I'll assume it's a fitting name," Fedrin added, "...I'd advise you both to think the same; thinking of this trial as anything less than the bottom of hell is the last mistake you may possibly find yourself making." 

Entering through the corridor of sky-reaching mountains, laden with ashen trees that sprouted only leaves of an ominous white, a rainfall began to descend. 

It started with a slight trickle that caught their attention, then a shower of abyssal rain, falling upon the somber ship as it traversed the narrow passageway to approach the island. 

"Black rain," He commented. 

As he slid his glove off, he stuck his hand out to feel the cold, dark water fall against his pale skin with a refreshing briskness. 

"Does everything have to be so...black and gloomy here?" Jae-Seong sighed, looking up as the shadowy rain ran across his pale skin. 

Fedrin laughed a bit, covering his mouth to maintain himself, "My friend, look at where you are; we stand in the very place darkness itself calls home." 

"...You got me there," Jae-Seong conceded as he ruffled his own curly locks. 

If there was one respite from the gloomy nature of the isolated world of darkness, it was the glowing, white leaves that bundled the branches of the many surrounding cedar, supplying a close light in tandem with the faraway lights of the distant, colossal trees that inhabited the sea. 

While the ship passed under protruding foliage from the walled-in, non-sentient leviathans of stone around, he looked up at the ceiling of looming nature as his white locks became damp by the rainfall, sliding his glove back over his hand. 

It's weird. I've been in the darkness of Purgatory for so long now that...it feels like home. It's peaceful; serene...the luminal darkness, devoid of anything, it's relaxing, he thought. 

It was a soothing scenery; no longer surrounded only by the vast stretch of black waters as the homely, natural walls guided the ship through the narrow path. 

"You think everyone made it?" Jae-Seong asked with a hint of a somber tone. 

The question struck him as he nodded, "After everything we've been through, a little water won't stop them." 

Fedrin smiled as if agreeing with the young man's sentiment, holding his staff close to his body, "I agree. If anything, they're worrying about us. That little tussle with the crew of this ship likely put us in last place." 

He playfully sighed, shrugging his shoulders, "...I really hope Macheo doesn't lord something like that over me." 

They shared in soft laughter as the somber rain continued to descend in surplus, filling the once stagnant air with a briskness that settled a slight, obscuring fog around them. 

Even with such partial joys existing, they only persisted for moments before the unsettling aura traversing the air returned to him an unplaceable, somber feeling. 

I can't shake it. This island...I don't have a good feeling about it at all. After going through the first and second floor, all of that pain, suffering, and fighting...this island is the apex of Purgatory--this is where it all culminates. 

If it's the peak of hell, then just what is waiting for us past those mountains? He thought. 

Looking up at those mountains shrouded by foliage and dark, looming clouds that solidified the heights he would have to traverse, his heart thumped with a bubbling anxiety. 

The slight veil of mist coalesced, growing thick enough to the point that the black waters around them became difficult to view. 

"Mist? I don't like this," he muttered. 

Fedrin shared the same thoughts as he raised his staff, "Illuminate!"

A radiance emitted from the tip of his aged staff, parting the dense mist that gathered around them, allowing a view of their immediate surroundings to return. 

"I don't sense anything around us, we should be fine," Jae-Seong assured, standing at the vanguard of the ship. 

"Better safe than sorry--I'd rather not release my vision to Purgatory," Fedrin replied. 

"Fair point," Jae-Seong waved his hand. 

While the two men spoke, he peered over the railing, feeling the chilly air that came with looking over from such a height, though the air was only bolstered in its coldness by the mixture of rain and mist. 

"Looks like we'll be docking soon," Fedrin stated. 

He turned around to see the high elf extending his illuminated staff over the end of the ship, revealing an enigmatic dock in the distance. As he joined the two at the front of the ship, he noticed a pair of dinghies already stationed at the fog-laden port. 

"There's two boats already there, looks like some have already made it," he said. 

"Seems we were indeed the last if it's three to a ship," Fedrin added. 

A smile came over his lips that soon faded as another question came to his mind, "But...where are they? I don't see anyone at the dock." 

Even as he asked this, there was a possibility in his mind that was answered by Jae-Seong, "Look how dense the mist is over there--we wouldn't be able to see them past the first few feet of the port anyways." 

What he heard was Jae-Seong's nice way of telling him to keep calm and stay patient; which he complied to as the ride on the ship would reach its end within a couple minutes, he guessed.

As the ship passed the almost claustrophobic passageway of rocky mountains, a dense domain of nature awaited; thick, length vines strewn across the moss-covered walls of the colossal walls of natural stone. 

After a couple minutes of taking in the rather unexpected layer of nature within the territory, the ship naturally stopped itself at the dock. 

"...Here goes," he said, looking down over the side of the boat. 

Jae-Seong took the initiative, hopping off the side of the black-clad ship as he landed on the misty dock. 

"Really, man?" He looked down at Jae-Seong for his impatient, almost reckless behavior. 

"Come on, slowpokes," Jae-Seong waved, "we've got to meet up with the others, right?"

That was enough to make him follow along, tossing himself over the edge of the dreadful ship as he landed on the clammy, wooden planks of the dock beside his companion. 

Fedrin followed in the next moment as his lengthy robes fluttered from his jump. 

As they stood there for a moment, surrounded by the claustrophobic mist, he turned to the high elf. 

"I hate to ask you this, but…" He began to ask. 

Fedrin shook his head gently with a small smile, "It's alright, I was about to cast it again anyway: Illuminate!"

Once more, the elf summoned a bright light to his staff, taking the vanguard of the trio as they followed closely behind the man wielding the mist-parting light. 

There was a peculiar, sweet scent that greeted his nose; like fresh, honey-like pollen. 

It smells...nice? He thought. 

Though he shook his head, bringing his focus back as his thoughts lingered to what was paramount. 

"As I thought...doesn't look like they waited at the dock," he said with a worrisome tone. 

The old, wood-built docks they traversed creaked with each step of their boots, embedding them in the enigmatic area as they slowly walked. 

"I don't see any reason why they wouldn't wait for everyone to arrive before moving…" Fedrin added in with a furrow of his eyebrows. 

"I've got a guess," Jae-Seong added, placing his hands into his pockets. 

The silence that fell over the small group placed the wordless attention of the other two onto the frizzy-haired man. 

Jae-Seong looked down as the rain continued to dampen the wood he walked on, "I think the only possibility of them moving along would be that something forced them to."