Nestled amid the verdant embrace of ancient cedar trees,and the hushed whispers of stream from the water was a bubbling and glistening like liquid glass in the soft light of dawn, as if there was no one around. Quite a perfect pair to a beautiful canvas of pink and gold painted in the sky.
A place so serene that was the opposite of Khalid's mind. Drowning himself in the spring, just as his mind sank deeper into his thoughts.
Khalid walked across the hall, leading towards the prayer room, where he was welcomed by fluttering white butterflies and a big wisteria tree planted in the middle. The place was enchanting, yet it was odd that he shrugged his shoulders, turning his back as the main agenda for why he went into such a place was nowhere to be found. But to his surprise, he heard a familiar voice, soothing enough to put an irritated look on his face.
"Tskk- will you look at this."
"I can't believe my eyes are seeing this."
He scoffed, as Khalid could not believe that the saintess would show up after ghosting him for months.
"So you're showing yourself now after leaving all those people in vain with your curse?"
He sarcastically asked, staring at the floating, starlike lights in front of him.
"I think you are misunderstanding something. It wasn't me who put a curse on this land-"
"Do you think I'll believe you?!"
She was left silent for a while, then answered...
"..It does not matter."
She spoke, shaking her head.
"You don't even trust yourself, so how dare I expect that you'll trust somebody."
"Ha—what do you expect? Are you even worthy of my trust?"
Hearing it made the goddess frown.
"Hey!"
"You started it."
She then clicked her tongue.
"I'm silent, not until you showed up."
"You little—!"
She rolled his eyes, paused, and spoke with her hands clasped together.
*Clap!*
"Just when I thought that you'd be happy that I can give you answers to your questions."
The place was then covered in silence, with Khalid's face so gloomy.
"But if you ask if how you got here, I cannot answer that. It's not like I know either-"
Just as his face grew serious, his tone was low yet sounded like a freezing iceberg.
"Then tell me, how will I break this curse?...
...How can I die?"
Right now, Ophilia just felt a chill climbing her body as if it was suffocating her, strangling her neck until it breaks.
"A-as if...that's what you really want."
Stuttering, she answered, breaking eye contact, which made Khalid scorn.
But instead of quavering in fear at the sight of him, she just kept her mouth moving, but this time she was certain about the things she said.
"You don't have to hide it; you really just want to be saved, don't you?."
He didn't answer.
"You can't fool me when I can see right through you...Khalid..."
As his name whispered in his ears, a sudden throbbing headache made Khalid frown, as he suddenly remembered a scene in the forest where he heard his name being called by someone familiar, lingering in his ears as he remembered seeing smoke circling around his body, almost touching his hands when—
"Ack, fuck!"
The water bubbled as he was drowning with his eyes closed, yet he didn't try to gasp for air.
"Khalid..."
As the smoke continued to call his name as if playing with him, a thunderous voice echoed, shaking up the entire place.
"Khalid!"
Reinhardt called, pulling him out of the water like a fish gasping in the air.
"Oh, milord!"
Reinhardt shouted in grief as he took Khalid out of the spring, rolling him in a soft sheet towel like an eggroll before lifting him.
He then immediately ran with Khalid in his arms; a meter away before the big rock fell from where Khalid was bathing earlier.
"Phew...that was a close call, milord!"
Though his vision lagged behind he could hear Reinhardt's voice loud and clear along with the cries of his people in a chorus of despair echoing in the entire place as the gigantic armored sea monster appear creating a chaos with his hands.
*THUD!*
*THUD!*
*GROWL!*
"Now what?!..."
He thought as the monster let out a warbled demonic snarl enough to put the people in despair, staring blank at it seeing the kingdom he just started to build fall into ruin.