ocean-life Chapter 1: Awakening
Chapter 1: Awakening
Chapter 1: Awakening
"...Karyl, Karyl!"
He slowly opened his eyes at the voice calling him. The blurry vision gradually became clear.
Light...
He turned his head, gazing at the shifting scenery outside the window as the sunlight shone through the trees.
"Are you nervous?" said a man, looking at him with a worried expression. "Don't worry."
Seeing Karyl staring back at him, the man rubbed his face with the back of his hand, probably wondering if there was something on it.
It was a face Karyl hadn’t seen in a long time.
Father...
When was the last time Karyl had seen him alive?
Thud—
His seat trembled for a brief moment. Realizing he was inside a carriage, he let out a sigh of relief.
Karyl remembered now. It was the scene he had longed to see—the moment he wished for. Everything was as he had planned.
"How long did it take..."
The huge tower that used to make him shiver was not in sight.
He was certain.
It was before the Oracle War.
Karyl couldn’t hold back his smile, and the man looked at him in puzzlement.
Of course, no one could truly understand Karyl’s feelings now. He felt as if that leap through time had brought him a whole eternity back.
Finally, he let out to himself the words he had been holding back.
I'm back.
*
"You can resent me if you want," the man said to Karyl as the carriage stopped. "Your tribe is gone now, and you are the only survivor. Perhaps that anger will make you stronger as you live."
They were in the borderlands, and the splendid mansion they had just reached did not seem to belong there.
His gaze wavered, and he closed his eyes.
Memories of fighting with them to uphold the Prophecy of the Oracle flooded back.
"..."
The eldest, died with his heart pierced by demons in Maron Canyon; the third, turned to ashes in the bleakness of the Kivell Battle; and the fifth, torn apart by the fangs of demons... But now they were all looking at him with vibrant faces. Among them, the eldest, who would die most miserably, reached out to him.
Big brother...
With a sense of nostalgia, Karyl looked at Martte. His brothers appeared innocent before his eyes, and none of their faces reflected the trauma of the battlefield. They seemed young. No, they were young, children even.
Karyl truly felt that he had returned to the past.
He suppressed his emotions and shook Martte's hand with a calm look on his face.
Kuwell gently pushed Karyl's shoulder and spoke in a low voice.
"Alright, let's get in."
"Yes, father."
The children followed him into the mansion.
"..."
As Karyl stepped on the last stairs, he stopped for a brief second. Then, he slowly looked up.
"What are you doing?" called Martte MacGovern, beckoning Karyl.
"Nothing," responded Karyl, turning his head away with an awkward, ambiguous expression on his face.
He was not looking at the ceiling, but rather through the ceiling, as he recalled a certain someone.
Are you watching, Yula?
Karyl muttered the name of the Goddess. Soon, the dreadful ordeal she was about to impose would begin, and the nauseating stench of blood would fill the nation as the War of Oracle unfolded.
If you are not, then watch carefully. I will change everything from now on.
The carpet beneath his feet felt soft. When was the last time he had felt the sensation of soft shoes instead of rigid armor?
He had climbed the hellish tower and returned to the past. Not by chance, but by his own will. And by his own will, he would make his wish come true.
I will change the future.