To hell with it. Naren shrugged taking in the Sergeant's request — or was it an order. He was already eaten alive by some overgrown fish twice within the last week. What's the harm in a Scourge fighting a Plague.
Alice made sure to drill into him the three classes: Scourge(third), Plague(second), and Blight(first) of which make up only 5 percent of all shaman. From these lessons, the one thing she made sure Naren understood was the names.
They referred to how dangerous something was. Whether it be another shaman or a beast. It was nothing more than a cautionary title. Even still, it was made very apparent by her that fighting a higher class is nothing short of suicide.
There was a difference of not only strength but sheer brutality jumping from one class to another. And now staring Naren directly in his eyes, was a man saying he could tear that system down.
Yawning, he gave a half-hearted salute to his new superior officer.
"Just say the word and I'll follow, sir."
—————————
The plan was a simple one. The Sergeant had said his fable was Mirage Veil: Allowing him to create intangible illusionary images. He would use these fake images to lure out the Basilisk. When he does, Boris will position himself at the highest point atop the broken mast, making as much noise as possible.
The Basilisk will lock onto him, and slither up at him, to which point he'll jump down the mast. By now, Naren and someone else will scavenge for all the chains from the prisoners they can find, making a loop atop the mast for the Basilisk to slither through.
When it does, everyone uses their weight to tighten the loop around the snakes body, using the mast as a pully wheel. Once it's trapped, the Sergeant will slit it throat and everyone will live happily ever after.
Naren stood beside the Sergeant, making faces at Vera, as he told the other three the plan. Their faces were all struck with horror. Even knowing how strong a shaman was, nobody was crazy enough to think that they could take on a Plague.
"A-Are you crazy?"
Boris was the first to argue. But instead of giving him a response, the Sergeant only looked at him, silencing and putting him in his place. Bolka opened his mouth, but quickly closed it as well.
Surprisingly, Vera was the only one who actually kept talking.
"If I do this. Will you let us go?"
The Sergeant looked at Vera with the same warm look as he always held, then he looked at Naren.
"I hope you don't think I'm a bad person for putting these people through this. You see. These prisoners, they're all prisoners for a reason."
He pointed at a body jutting out of a splintered piece of wood. Then to another floating in the water. Then another.
"That guy over there, he was known to traffic children under the guise of an orphanage. He would routinely experiment on impoverished people, different chemicals that should never enter a human, in exchange for giving them the false hope of a few crumbs. He raped women."
Then he pointed at Boris, shielding Vera.
"He killed his own wife and children in a drunken rage."
The Sergeant took a deep breath, then patted Vera's head.
"But even so, I'll pardon you two, if you help me. Everyone deserves a second chance after all."
Naren watched closely, noting down the crimes of each and every person. Though, he was still most irked by the Sergeant himself.
'This fish is gonna get indigestion eating all this shit.'
Well, non of his business. Well maybe it was since he was a private now. A valiant soldier of the government or whatever. But that came later. Much much later. Instead now he only had one thing to focus on: Get to the Tomb of Atlas.
As his thoughts wandered, he ended up right next to the same girl that's been bothering him since he first got out of that prison cell. They were both tying the loop around the mast for when the Basilisk slithers through it.
Vera coiled up next to him, shivering, completely juxtaposing her earlier conviction talking to the Sergeant. Naren couldn't help but get annoyed. He flicked her forehead again.
"Don't you ever get tired of being scared?"
"I-I'm not scared."
"Yeah, I believe it."
"I'm really not."
Vera clenched her fists, a look of resolve filling her eyes. The same look she had every time she stared at the Sergeant. Naren didn't quite understand why, but he didn't mind that look. Maybe even liked it.
"Show me then."
Naren smiled.
"Go and kill the Sergeant."
Vera stumbled over her words, looking up flustered.
"H-how'd you know?"
"Come on, who wouldn't wanna oust someone so annoying."
Naren sat down, finishing their job. He watched as Vera turned to look around, clearing the area before leaning in closer to Naren.
"It's not that. It's..."
She leaned in to a whisper. As Naren leaned in closer, his curiosity getting the best of him, she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Naren fell back, holding his ears, clenching his jaws. He lunged out and grabbed Vera by the ear, pulling it.
"Ow, ow, ow. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
By the time Naren let go, her ear was as bright as a tomato. Pulsing in and out trying to calm itself. Vera sat, pouting, a scowl on her face.
"You're so violent and annoying."
Naren yawned falling back on the ground.
"Next time I'll rip it off clean."
Vera pulled herself further away from Naren at the threat. Only for him to giggle to himself. Completely indifferent to Vera's words. He couldn't care less of the words of someone else. As long as they weren't actively bothering him, they could curse his whole life for all he cared.
A beat of silence carried thick in the air, as the others got ready with their part of the job. Vera opened her mouth, looking off into the fleshy walls.
"Why are you going to Atlas?"
The answer was simple. To survive obviously. An Aspirant who never completed their own Marchen had only one fate: To be consumed by their beast's will. But Naren decided to humor himself. He was sure the little girl would die soon anyways, so why not let her know a little about himself?
"I'm looking for my sister."
Vera sat on those words for a second before they took on meaning. She turned her attention to Naren now, who was laying on the floor, stuffed into his scarf, eyes closed.
"Your sister?"
"Yes. My sister, a witch."
Vera shifted in her seat. Of course she did. Witch's were omens of disaster. Nothing about them was pleasant, not even the mere mention of them.
"So you'll really go?"
Naren shifted over and turned on his right side, his back to Vera.
"Yeah yeah, I already told you. Why can't you just trust a guy? And what's with your obsession with Atlas anyway?"
A stream of silence filled the air. Only muffled by the various digestive noises of the Charybdis. Naren thought she would just keep her secret, whatever it was. He got a bit impatient, it had really piqued his interest by now. And he hated staying curious.
"Because I want to go home."
Naren sat up. Now facing Vera, conviction back in her eyes, masking the fear the rest of her body possessed as it shook.
"That's why I can't be scared. That's why I have to be strong. So I can go back home. To Atlas."
A slight smile crawled it's way onto Naren's face. He couldn't help himself. He heard something annoying while working on the chain loop. A faint whisper that shouldn't have reached him:
"So you decided to tell the new private I've been to Atlas?"
"I just wanted to scare him."
"Well, great, there's no way I'll take him to Atlas. I'd rather travel through hell."
"It's a superior officer's duty to make sure an Aspirant makes it to their Marchen, sir. What will you do?"
"You take care of him. In here."
He was in a sour mood since hearing it. Plotting on all the ways to kill the both of them. But now, his mood just got a tad bit better.
"So you can take me there, shrimpy?"