After the stunt Xion pulled in the banquet room, Princess Kimiko made sure he understood one thing.
She was not impressed.
Not by the fake poisoning.
Not by the recordless heartbeat.
Not by the way he calmly sat in her bed afterward, as he had merely taken a refreshing nap instead of making everyone think his soul had packed a suitcase and left the ship.
Kimiko stood at the foot of the bed with her arms crossed, fox ears lowered, tails flicking behind her like angry white flames.
"You are insane."
Xion sat on the edge of the bed, holding a cup of water Vera had given him. His cheek was still faintly red from where Kimiko had slapped him.
"I've heard worse."
"That wasn't an insult. That was a diagnosis."
"Are you a doctor?"
"I'm royalty. I can hire one to agree with me."
Vera coughed into her hand, trying very hard not to smile.
Sean stood near the window, his silver pocket watch open, eyes lowered to the ticking hands. The rain outside had softened, but the storm still surrounded the cruiser. Water streamed down the oval glass in crooked lines, distorting the room's reflection.
Xion's reflection looked calm.
Too calm.
The red-black-haired boy had a small body, sharp crimson eyes, and an expression that made adults forget he was supposed to be young.
But Sean had seen what happened beneath that expression.
A child whose heartbeat vanished from time to time.
A Spiritual Authority Core tied to a forbidden Pathway.
Clock stabilized.
A False God Candidate who should not have awakened for another six years.
And now, marks on his left hand are hidden beneath a glove.
Regression.
Rejection.
Judgment.
Sean did not like any of it.
Which was inconvenient, because disliking the truth did not make it less true.
Kimiko jabbed a finger toward Xion.
"And you still haven't explained what happened to you. Vera said you had no pulse."
Vera nodded from beside the wardrobe.
"No pulse. No breathing. No normal mana flow. Your body was warm, but every ordinary method said you were dead."
"That sounds dead," Kimiko snapped.
"It sounds recordless," Xion corrected.
Kimiko's eye twitched.
"Say that again, and I'll throw you out the window."
Xion wisely drank his water.
Sean finally closed his pocket watch.
Click.
"The ability he used is called Clock," Sean said.
Kimiko turned toward him.
"His Pathway ability?"
"Yes. The 10th Array of his Pathway."
Xion glanced at Sean.
"You're actually explaining it?"
"To prevent you from explaining it badly."
"That is fair."
Sean tucked his pocket watch away and continued.
"Clock does not grant full control over time. Not at this stage. It allows Xion to perceive intervals, contradictions, timing gaps, delayed reactions, and flaws in cause-and-effect. In ordinary use, it can create small defensive hesitations, like the barrier he used at the port."
Kimiko frowned.
"So he can stop time?"
"No."
"Can he rewind time?"
"No."
Xion raised a finger.
"I would like to eventually."
Sean ignored him.
"At its current state, Clock does not bend history. It bends attention around moments. It lets him notice where time is thin and briefly apply pressure."
Kimiko stared at him.
"That sounds like stopping time with extra steps."
"It is not."
"It sounds exactly like that."
Vera tilted her head, ears shifting curiously.
"When he drank the drugged wine, Clock reacted to the poison and the blood fruit?"
Sean nodded.
"The drug tried to slow his blood and interrupt his nervous system. The blood fruit exaggerated the symptoms. Clock interpreted that state as an interval between life signs. His heartbeat did not stop in the normal sense."
Xion lifted his cup.
"Time just forgot to write it down."
Kimiko threw a pillow at him.
It hit him clean in the face.
Xion lowered the pillow slowly.
"Fair."
Vera's lips twitched.
Kimiko pointed at him again.
"Don't fear me. You scared everyone half to death."
"I said sorry."
"You said it like a criminal apologizing because the judge looked sad."
"That still counts."
"No, it doesn't."
Inside Xion's Spiritual Authority Core, Will Breaker gave a dry laugh.
[She is right.]
Xion's expression did not change.
'You're supposed to be on my side.'
[I am on your side. That does not mean I must support your stupidity.]
'My plan worked.'
[Your plan made the princess cry, made the priest panic, and made your captain's future paperwork glow red in spirit.]
Xion paused.
'Audrey isn't here.'
[Somewhere, she sensed extra paperwork and became angry.]
Xion almost laughed.
Almost.
Sean looked toward him.
"Something funny?"
"No."
"You paused."
"I was thinking."
"That has rarely improved situations around you."
Kimiko pointed at Sean.
"See? Even he knows."
Xion decided the room had turned hostile.
He set the cup down and slid off the bed.
The moment his feet touched the carpet, he felt it again.
Lightness.
Not comfort.
Not simple strength.
A strange looseness in the world around him.
As if gravity had become a polite suggestion and his body had begun considering whether to obey. Clock's stabilization had not made him overwhelmingly powerful, but it had changed his relationship with movement. His steps felt sharper. His balance corrected itself before he fully noticed the imbalance. Tiny delays between intention and action became easier to catch.
Unfortunately, that meant ordinary objects felt fragile.
He walked to the door and grabbed the knob.
"Let's get some fresh air."
Sean's eyes sharpened.
"Wait, don't—"
Xion turned the knob.
The entire door came off its hinges.
For one second, no one spoke.
Xion stood there holding the door in both hands.
The room stared at him.
Kimiko's mouth fell open.
Vera blinked.
Sean closed his eyes as if praying for patience from a god currently unavailable.
Xion looked at the door.
Then at them.
Then back at the door.
"Oops."
Kimiko slowly lifted a hand toward her face.
"You ripped off my door."
"It was an accident."
"You ripped off my expensive royal room door."
"I opened it politely."
"With what, a siege engine?"
Xion carefully leaned the door against the wall.
"We can deal with that later."
Sean walked past him into the hallway.
"Yes. We have assassins to stop, a suspicious disturbance inside the ship's walls, and now a destroyed door to add to the list."
Vera followed with a sigh.
Kimiko glared at Xion as she passed.
"If someone sees my room without a door, I'm blaming you."
"That would be accurate."
She stopped.
He stopped.
Her eyes narrowed.
Xion added, "Princess."
She huffed and kept walking.
They made their way toward the upper deck.
The storm had passed faster than it should have.
When they stepped outside, the sky had cleared into a breathtaking blue. The sun shone across the ocean, turning the waves into sheets of silver and sapphire. Wet railings glimmered. Sailors moved across the deck, checking ropes and damage from the night's storm. Passengers had begun emerging from cabins, whispering about the poisoning incident, the sudden storm, and the strange knocks heard within the walls.
The cruiser looked peaceful again.
That made Xion more suspicious.
Peace after a storm often meant the next disaster was polite enough to wait its turn.
He walked to the railing and let the sea wind hit his face.
For once, a small smile appeared.
Real.
Brief.
Enough to prove he did, unfortunately, have emotions.
"Wow," he said softly.
Kimiko noticed.
Her anger faded by a thread.
Then she remembered she was still mad and folded her arms harder.
"Don't look happy. You're still in trouble."
"I can be happy in trouble."
"No, you can't."
"I'm doing it right now."
Kimiko materialized a small silver shortblade in her hand.
Xion immediately stepped behind Sean.
Sean looked down at him.
"Do not use me as a shield."
"You're taller."
"That is not consent."
Vera joined them at the railing, scanning the deck.
"So what is our plan of attack?"
Kimiko leaned against the steel guardrail.
"Yes. Since our tiny bodyguard decided to fake his death and traumatize the room, I assume he has a genius plan."
Xion looked out at the clouds drifting across the open sky.
"There's no need."
The three turned toward him.
Sean frowned.
"What do you mean?"
The breeze ruffled Xion's black-and-red hair.
His crimson eyes stayed on the horizon.
"The plan started the moment I drank the wine."
Vera's gaze sharpened.
Then the pieces clicked together.
The fake poisoning.
The public collapses.
The assassin was watching from the banquet room.
The female waiter slipped away.
The black-suited man was forced to believe Xion was either dead or a rival assassin who had failed.
The direct move that would come next.
Vera's tail stilled.
I don't believe it.
He moved them from the start.
Not perfectly.
Not cleanly.
But enough.
He made the assassins think they had lost control, forced them to abandon the subtle method, and turned himself into the target they would need to confirm.
He's not just a kid.
He's a boy who will one day play against gods.
The thought chilled her.
Not because Xion was evil.
Because he was learning.
And a child who learned to move people like pieces could either become a savior or the kind of monster history buried under seven seals.
"His plan was already set," Vera said softly.
Kimiko looked at her.
"What?"
Vera's golden-brown eyes remained on Xion.
"The moment he drank the poisoned wine, he made them believe they had to change tactics. The assassins will move directly now. They cannot trust poison anymore."
Kimiko slowly turned toward Xion.
"So dying was part of your plan?"
"I did not die."
Her foxfire sparked.
"You looked dead."
"Recordless."
The silver shortblade in Kimiko's hand flashed.
Xion stepped back.
"Princess."
She stepped forward.
"Do you know what royal punishment is for making a princess worry?"
"I'm guessing it's not a medal."
"Correct."
Xion glanced at Sean for help.
Sean looked at the sea.
"No."
"I didn't ask yet."
"I know your face."
Vera raised a hand.
"Should we stop her from killing him?"
Sean shook his head.
"Unless you want to deal with an angry fox princess, be my guest."
Kimiko lunged.
Xion ran.
"Someone please save me!"
The entire deck watched in confusion as the third princess of the Northern Domain chased her own bodyguard around stacked cargo crates with a silver shortblade while he screamed like a doomed village boy in a bad stage play.
A sailor lowered his pipe.
"Is that part of royal security?"
Another sailor shrugged.
"Rich people are weird."
Vera covered her face.
Sean pretended he had never met either child.
Will Breaker spoke inside Xion's Core, sounding far too amused.
[You deserve this.]
'Betrayal.'
[Correction. Judgment.]
⸻
By sunset, Xion had been punished.
Creatively.
He dangled upside down over the side of the cruiser, tied by one ankle with a rope fastened to the railing. A sign hung from his neck.
I will never fake dying again.
His coat fluttered in the sea breeze.
Blood rushed to his head.
Below him, the ocean rolled dark blue and endless, waves slapping against the hull with a sound that became less comforting the longer he stared down at it.
Xion's face remained bored.
"Can someone pull me up?"
No one answered.
Kimiko sat nearby in a deck chair, sipping tea.
Vera stood beside her, trying not to look too entertained.
Sean leaned against the railing, reading a small notebook as if this were all normal.
Xion sighed.
"This feels illegal."
Kimiko lifted her cup.
"So was making me think you died."
"I apologized."
"You're apologizing better upside down."
"That seems biased."
"Correct."
Xion closed his eyes.
He could feel the sea below.
Not just water.
Territory.
The cruiser had entered a region sailors feared, though most only knew the surface rumors.
The White-Eyed Devil Snake's waters.
Old maps called it the Venom Moon Trench.
Northern Domain sailors called it Kitrawr's Sleeping Coil.
Church navigators preferred the colder term: Restricted Sea Beast Zone, Class Four Divine-Origin Threat.
Very poetic people, those Church navigators.
The region belonged to one of the ancient Sea God Beasts, creatures tied to the old Tempest authority before modern classifications became polite. According to Kiryuu's memories, five great water creatures once ruled the seas beneath the greater Emperor of Sea and Storm.
Tsunami.
Ocean.
Vortex.
Ice.
Moon Water.
Kitrawr belonged to the Moon Water branch.
The White-Eyed Devil Snake.
An ancient beast whose scales were said to resist magic, whose eyes could paralyze sailors with visions of drowning, and whose venom could rot the spiritual connection between a Pathwalker and their Authority Core.
In the current system, those who inherited scales or relic fragments from the sea beasts could awaken Beast Pathways beneath the Tempest pillar. They were not Divine Tempest Pathwalkers. They did not walk toward the Storm God's throne. Instead, they followed Sea Beast Origins.
The lowest recorded Array of many sea-beast branches was called Fishman.
At the 10th Array, a Fishman could breathe underwater, withstand pressure, swim faster, and manifest faint scales along the body. Useful, but not legendary.
Higher Arrays were where things became terrifying.
Kitrawr herself was said to be far beyond ordinary Pathwalkers.
Some records placed her near the 4th Array: Neptune's Law, a state where a sea beast could impose rules upon water, pressure, poison, and moonlit tides.
Naturally, she had not appeared in sixty-five thousand years.
Which meant, by Xion's standards, she was definitely about to appear today.
Because the universe loved comedic timing with apocalyptic seasoning.
The rope above him shifted.
Xion opened one eye.
The black-suited assassin crouched near the railing, cutting the rope with an old western-style knife.
Xion stared up at him.
"What are you doing?"
The assassin's face twisted.
"You lied to me, kid."
Xion blinked.
"I lie to many people. Be specific."
"You ruined the plan."
"Also vague."
The assassin pressed the blade harder against the rope.
"Since you got in the way, we're getting rid of you first."
Xion looked unimpressed, given that someone was dangling above certain drowning.
"You are very dramatic."
"You're about to fall."
"Still dramatic."
Will Breaker stirred.
[He is unstable.]
'He's also cutting the rope.'
[You noticed.]
'Helpful as always.'
The assassin sawed through another strand.
Xion sighed and looked down at the ocean.
Then his expression changed.
Far below the surface, something opened its eye.
Large.
White.
Cloud-white, with a red slit pupil.
It stared at him from the deep.
The color drained from Xion's face.
"Ah."
The assassin snarled.
"What?"
Xion looked back up.
"Bad news."
"For you."
"For everyone, actually."
The rope snapped.
Xion fell.
Kimiko shot up from her chair.
"Xion!"
Vera moved.
Sean's eyes sharpened.
The assassin smiled.
Then the sea exploded.
A massive shape rose from beneath the cruiser, forcing waves outward in a violent ring. Passengers screamed. Sailors dropped ropes. The ship tilted hard enough to send chairs sliding across the deck.
From the water emerged a serpent.
No.
A Sea God Beast.
A colossal snake covered in hardened night-black scales, each scale glimmering with faint blue-green light beneath the sun. Its body was massive, coiling beneath the ship like a living reef. Its head rose above the deck, long and elegant, crowned by horn-like fins and trailing whiskers that shimmered like moonlit water.
Its eyes were cloud-white.
Its pupils have red slits.
The White-Eyed Devil Snake.
Kitrawr.
She was enormous.
Two hundred and thirty feet long at least.
Maybe longer, since most of her body remained beneath the waves.
Her presence silenced the cruiser more effectively than any cannon.
Sean stared upward, genuine shock breaking through his usual calm.
"This is impossible," he whispered.
Kimiko's ears flattened.
Vera's knees bent slightly, her body instinctively preparing to defend the princess despite knowing defense was a decorative concept against something like this.
The assassin looked into Kitrawr's eyes.
His face collapsed.
Whatever he saw inside those white eyes stole the strength from his body. He dropped the knife. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Kitrawr did not attack him.
She only looked.
That was enough.
The assassin screamed and fell backward, clawing at his own face.
Xion fell toward the sea.
He flapped his arms in panic.
"I would like not to drown!"
A massive tail rose beneath him.
Xion landed on it with a heavy thud.
The surface was hard, cold, dense, and slick, like armor grown by something the sea had personally failed to kill.
He groaned.
"Thanks for the save, Kitrawr."
The serpent's great eye moved toward him.
Xion froze.
Strange.
Kiryuu had imagined Kitrawr as a beast that hated humans.
An ancient sea monster who drowned fleets, poisoned harbors, and slept beneath moonlit trenches where even prayers sank.
But the creature looking at him now did not feel hateful.
Cold, yes.
Ancient, absolutely.
Judgmental in the way a mountain might judge a pebble.
But not hateful.
Kitrawr lowered her tail toward the deck.
Xion hopped over the railing and landed beside Sean.
The moment his boots touched wood, Kimiko grabbed him by the collar.
"Do you enjoy making me think you're going to die?!"
"Not intentionally."
"Liar!"
"I am improving."
"Wrong answer!"
Kitrawr's roar cut through the deck.
The sound shook the sea itself.
Passengers clapped their hands over their ears. Sailors dropped to their knees. Windows cracked along the upper cabins. The ocean around the cruiser vibrated violently, forming rings that spread across the water.
Sean remained standing, though his face tightened.
A flicker of wisdom shimmered in his eyes, like a wise owl assessing the world.
Xion gritted his teeth.
Will Breaker's voice echoed inside him.
[That roar carries Moon Water authority. It is not sound alone.]
'Can you translate ancient snake yelling?'
[No. But I can judge its attitude.]
'And?'
[Possessive.]
Before Xion could ask what that meant, Kitrawr began to glow.
Her enormous serpent body dissolved into blue-white light. The night-black scales scattered like fragments of glass. The sea rose around her, wrapping her shrinking form in spirals of glowing water.
The passengers watched in stunned silence.
The light condensed on the deck.
A woman stepped out of it.
She was tall, ethereal, and almost too luminous to feel real. Her skin carried a cold blue glow, as if moonlight had learned how to become flesh. Long white hair flowed down her back like a waterfall under starlight. Her eyes were pale blue, with a sleepy, distant look that somehow made her feel more dangerous, not less.
Behind her head hovered a crown-like halo of blue flame, shaped like curling serpents. Her clothing resembled an elegant, revealing ceremonial robe in shades of aqua and white, flowing around her body and hanging like water banners. Black ornamental patterns wrapped around her waist and collar, giving the outfit a strange balance between shrine maiden, sea goddess, and executioner.
She looked exactly like the kind of woman ancient sailors would worship right before being dragged under.
Kitrawr stretched both hands forward lazily, as if waking from a very long nap.
Then she looked down at Xion.
Her sleepy expression softened.
A smile appeared.
Not seductive.
Not robotic.
Not worshipful in the simple way.
It was more like a cat finding the one person in the room it had decided belonged to it.
"There you are," she said.
Her voice was smooth, airy, and amused, carrying the faint echo of waves inside a cave.
Xion stared.
Kitrawr leaned closer.
"You are smaller than I expected."
Xion blinked.
"People keep saying that."
"It is true."
"That doesn't make it less rude."
Her smile widened.
"Cute."
Kimiko's foxfire sparked.
"Excuse me?"
Kitrawr's eyes moved slowly toward the princess.
"Oh. Little fox royalty."
Kimiko's tails bristled.
"Little?"
Vera immediately placed a hand on Kimiko's shoulder.
"Princess."
Kitrawr ignored the tension and turned back to Xion.
She lowered herself into a graceful bow, sleeves spilling like glowing water across the deck.
"Greetings, Master. I am Kitrawr, the White-Eyed Devil Snake of Moon Water. I was sent to serve as your guardian."
The entire deck went silent.
Then the passengers erupted.
"MASTER?!"
"THE CHILD?!"
"THAT THING CALLED HIM MASTER!"
"WHO IS HE?!"
"WE'RE DEAD!"
Xion stared at Kitrawr.
Then at Sean.
Then at Kimiko.
Then back at Kitrawr.
"What?"
Kitrawr tilted her head.
Her halo flames curled.
"That was clear, wasn't it?"
"No."
"I bowed. I introduced myself. I used the word guardian."
"You also called me Master in front of an entire ship."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because that is what you are."
Xion opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
Nothing came out.
Will Breaker broke the silence inside his Core.
[This is troublesome.]
'You think?'
[She is ancient. Powerful. And attached.]
'Attached?'
[Like a sea serpent around a drowning empire.]
'That does not help.'
Kitrawr's pale blue eyes shifted slightly.
For one brief moment, her gaze seemed to pierce straight into Xion's Spiritual Authority Core.
Will Breaker went still.
Kitrawr smiled faintly.
"Oh. Judgment is awake too."
Xion's blood chilled.
Will Breaker's voice became razor sharp.
[She can see me.]
Kitrawr lifted one sleeve politely.
"Do not glare, little key. I have no intention of biting you unless you become annoying."
[Try.]
Xion's eye twitched.
'Do not start a fight inside my soul.'
[I am not inside your soul. I am bound to your Spiritual Authority Core.]
'That is worse.'
Kitrawr giggled.
The sound made several sailors look as if they had just heard a lullaby at their funeral.
Sean stepped forward, his expression controlled with visible effort.
"Kitrawr."
Her eyes moved toward him.
"A little owl."
Sean stiffened.
Xion glanced at him.
"Little owl?"
Sean's jaw tightened.
"Do not repeat that."
Kitrawr smiled lazily.
"Wise Owl branch. Fateweaver pillar. Good eyes. Soft bones."
Sean looked deeply offended.
Kimiko whispered, "Soft bones?"
Vera whispered back, "Do not laugh."
Xion whispered, "I'm laughing internally."
Sean's glare promised future consequences.
Kitrawr lifted her hand toward the black-suited assassin, who was still curled on the deck, shaking and mumbling.
"That one tried to drop my Master into my sea."
The temperature fell.
The sea around the cruiser darkened.
The assassin looked up, tears streaming down his face.
"No… please…"
Kitrawr walked toward him, bare feet touching the deck without making a sound.
"Humans are funny," she said. "You cut ropes, pour poison, whisper in hallways, and call it clever. Then the ocean looks back, and suddenly you remember prayer."
The assassin tried to crawl away.
Kitrawr crouched beside him.
Her expression remained gentle.
Almost bored.
"Who hired you?"
He shook his head violently.
"I can't—"
Kitrawr's eyes brightened.
Moon Water Authority spread.
The assassin's shadow became liquid.
It rose from beneath him, wrapping around his throat like a black-blue serpent.
Kitrawr's voice stayed soft.
"Wrong answer."
The man gasped.
"Southern broker! I don't know the real buyer! The order came through the Iron Gull! The waiter has the second token! Please!"
Sean's eyes sharpened.
Iron Gull.
Vera's ears twitched.
Kimiko's face darkened.
Xion watched carefully.
Kitrawr released the assassin.
He collapsed, coughing.
She stood and turned back toward Xion.
"See? Easy."
Xion stared.
"You tortured him."
"I asked a question."
"You used his shadow as a snake."
"It wanted to help."
"No, it didn't."
"It did after I told it."
Xion did not know how to respond.
Kimiko pointed at Kitrawr.
"Hold on! Who sent you?"
Kitrawr looked at her.
"The Twin Numina."
Silence fell again.
This time it was colder.
No one on deck seemed to recognize the title.
No one except Xion.
Sean noticed.
Of course he did.
His eyes moved toward Xion.
Xion kept his face blank.
Kitrawr smiled.
"They told me the little Creator would need help. They did not mention he would be dangling upside down with a punishment sign."
Kimiko coughed.
Vera looked away.
Sean closed his eyes.
Xion slowly removed the sign from his neck and tore it in half.
"Let's pretend that part never happened."
"No," Kimiko said.
"I wasn't asking."
"I'm making it a historical record."
"Cruel."
Kitrawr drifted closer to Xion, her sleeves glowing faintly in the sunlight.
"I like her," she said, nodding toward Kimiko. "She bites with words."
Kimiko blinked.
"I… thank you?"
"Do not thank sea gods too quickly," Vera murmured.
Kitrawr looked at Vera next.
"And a cat maid with knives in her sleeves. How nostalgic."
Vera's polite smile froze.
"There are no knives."
Kitrawr's sleepy eyes curved.
"Three in the left sleeve, two in the right, one in the hair ornament, and a thin garrote hidden beneath the collar ribbon."
Vera said nothing.
Xion looked at her.
Vera smiled sweetly.
"Security reasons."
"Remind me never to borrow your hair accessories."
"Wise."
Sean stepped closer to Xion and lowered his voice.
"You know what this means."
Xion looked at him.
"More paperwork?"
"Worse."
"International incident?"
"Also worse."
Xion glanced at Kitrawr.
The ancient sea beast had turned toward the ocean, arms extended slightly as if feeling the currents beneath the ship. Her blue flame halo curled behind her like living serpents.
Sean continued.
"A 4th Array Sea Beast Origin personally appearing and declaring herself your guardian will not remain secret. Every faction with spies aboard this ship will report it."
Xion sighed.
"So my first mission is going well."
Kimiko snapped, "Going well?"
"I found one assassin."
"Kitrawr found one assassin."
"I was involved."
"You dangled."
"That was tactical."
"It was punishment!"
Will Breaker gave another laugh inside his Core.
[She has spirit.]
'Everyone has too much spirit.'
Kitrawr suddenly turned her head toward the lower decks.
Her expression changed.
The lazy amusement vanished.
The blue flames behind her head thinned into sharp serpent shapes.
"There is another scent."
Xion's pocket watch artifact clicked in his coat.
He pulled it out.
The single hand spun once.
Then pointed downward.
Toward the ship's interior.
Toward the walls.
Toward whatever had knocked from inside the structure earlier.
Sean's expression became grim.
"The second assassin?"
Kitrawr's eyes narrowed.
"No."
The sea wind went cold.
Her voice lowered.
"Not human."
Xion's smile faded.
Vera stepped in front of Kimiko.
Kimiko's foxfire ignited in both hands.
The passengers began backing away.
From somewhere beneath the deck came a slow sound.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Like claws dragging through wood.
Then a wet knock.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Kitrawr looked at Xion.
"Master."
"Don't call me that in public."
She ignored him.
"The thing inside this ship is wearing a human shadow, but it does not have a human soul."
Xion's crimson eyes sharpened.
A Lost Soul.
Or something close.
His first mission had started with poison.
Then assassins.
Then a sea god beast.
Now something inhuman crawled inside the cruiser's bones.
Xion slipped the pocket watch back into his coat and flexed his gloved left hand.
Regression.
Rejection.
Judgment.
Clock.
Will Breaker stirred within him.
[Careful. This one may be connected to the trial fragment.]
Xion's gaze darkened.
'Pride?'
[No.]
The ship groaned.
Below them, something laughed in a voice that sounded like water filling a coffin.
Will Breaker's answer came colder.
[Gluttony.]
Xion looked toward the stairwell leading below deck.
Kimiko moved beside him, still angry, still scared, but refusing to step back.
Sean opened his pocket watch.
Vera drew one of the knives she supposedly did not have.
Kitrawr smiled with slow, ancient hunger.
The White-Eyed Devil Snake stretched her glowing sleeves outward.
"Good," she whispered. "I was beginning to think this era had become boring."
Xion stared at her.
"You and Audrey should never meet."
Kitrawr tilted her head.
"Who is Audrey?"
"A problem."
"Wonderful. I enjoy problems."
"Of course you do."
From below, the scratching grew louder.
The first mission was no longer just protection.
It had become a hunt.
And as Xion stepped toward the stairwell, the ocean around the cruiser darkened again, as if even the sea wanted to watch what would happen next.