Aether ran a hand through his wet hair, taking the pin out, as he shook his head.

The rain was pouring heavily in this place. Thunder kept striking the earth, as if a god had cursed this place. Putting the pin back in, Aether sighed. ’This is it?’

Aether narrowed his eyes.

Far beyond the rain, standing at the edge of the broken coastline, the lighthouse rose from the darkness. At first glance, he could see clearly that it had a very intimidating presence, one worthy of being a pathway to the world of the King of this story.

A thin path of black stone connected it to the land beneath his feet. It was barely wide enough for a single person to walk across, and every few seconds the sea swallowed it completely. ’And I’m supposed to cross this? What were they even thinking when they made it? How did they even make it?’ Well, he doubted it was even made for people to cross; its intention was probably only to be some sort of false hope for the people who had reached this place.

Waves crashed against the rocks with enough force to shake the ground itself. If one crashed against it when he was walking on it, he was going to have to put in some good effort to keep his balance on it. Since it was clear the sea didn’t want anyone passing. Almost like a last defence, though he doubted it was the last.

To say the ocean was furious would be an understatement.

Towering walls of water rose from the darkness, almost like small tsunamis, smashing against the cliffs surrounding the lighthouse. White foam climbed its ancient walls, while seawater spilled onto the narrow path before retreating back into the abyss below.

’There are also algae, which will make crossing harder, since they are slippery.’

Thunder roared overhead. Aether covered his ears as the sound pierced his ears... it was loud, really loud, it had to be close. And it was clear that this really was the way nature wouldn’t go as far to protect something like this if it wasn’t important.

For a brief moment, lightning illuminated the entire landscape; it was as if the sun had suddenly come up, and turned the night into day, but no, it had not, and this quickly went away before he could even blink.

But it was enough for him to see what he was here for.

The lighthouse stood alone.

Its stone walls were cracked, covered in dark moss and centuries of salt. Maybe because of the constant waves crashing against it, but that was just an overly obvious theory that could be proven in hardly any time. The upper windows had long since shattered, leaving empty holes that resembled hollow eyes staring into the endless sea. ’With how rough the storm is, I would have been surprised if this thing even had any windows. It’s hard to believe it’s even standing. The lantern room at the top still turned.

Slowly. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Silently, it reminded him of the people of the Tides, trying to imitate whatever they did whenever they were alive. The tower was doing the same; it was turning, however...

No light emerged from it.

Another wave crashed.

The water surged over the path, reaching Aether’s boots before flowing back toward the ocean. Aether frowned, lifting his foot and pushing off the algae that had been brought upon him by the storm. The rain had become so heavy that the horizon itself had disappeared. Sea and sky had become one endless gray void.

’It’s hard to see the difference, but not impossible. They have different feelings... both rageful though.’

The wind screamed, making Aether put his hand on his hair, specifically his pin, so it would not fall. Not now...

Funny, how this little thing was still with him, when most things that weren’t relics were gone the moment he died and came into the Tides. ’Yet it is still here after two visits. Surprising, but why?’ He was going to have to figure that out another way; for now, he just had to relate it somehow to the fact that his Father was a Breaker and had kept it with him for a long time.

Though it was annoying, how rough the wind was, it wasn’t howling.

Not whistling.

It was screaming against him and against the lighthouse walls, passed through the broken windows, and echoed from within the tower itself.

As if something inside answered it.

Aether adjusted the pin in his hair so that it was deeper into his hair, and would not fall when he was crossing, since he couldn’t keep it safe then.

His wet clothes clung to his body, and cold water ran down his face, yet his gaze never left the distant structure. His mantle was keeping his body hot, so he didn’t have to worry about anything outside his face getting cold.

The lighthouse seemed impossibly old.

And despite the storm surrounding it, despite the sea trying to drag it beneath the waves, it remained standing.

Waiting.

...’ I guess there is no delaying it, let’s do this.’ He sighed, walking over to the small road, raising his arms in the air, as he took his first step. He could instantly tell this was going to be hard, but it wasn’t like he didn’t expect it to be hard.

He tried balancing himself as his other foot left the ground. He took small steps, waiting for the tides to hit. He wasn’t going to be caught with just one foot on the ground; if that happened, it would be too much, and he would most likely fall

He was never that good with these kinds of things, maybe because he had never tried it, but he was surprising himself; he was doing better than expected. Actually, it had been easier... than he expected. As he reached the other side without being that close to falling, he had some close calls with the algae, making him slip a bit, but never to the point that he was a moment away from falling and being carried by the rough sea.

Which would have definitely not been a good thing...

Aether stared at the door of the lighthouse, walking over to it, he noticed it didn’t have a knob, which would have maybe proved things difficult if he had come many years ago, but now...

He just pushed his weight against the door, forcing it open.

Inside Aether saw two pairs of doors, one that went up and the other that went down. By what the humanoid had told him, he needed to go down; that was how to get to Layer 3... he was this close... it almost didn’t feel real... though, if things hadn’t gone how they had gone, he would have been sad that he hadn’t gotten the time to explore everything this world had to offer. There were many; the main island of Veyr, he hadn’t fully explored that, not even close, even Stormfell, he doubted he had seen even a quarter of it. The Tides he knew quite well, but he didn’t think he had seen all of it. And then there was Layer 2, which probably had many cool things inside.

But he wasn’t going to waste any more time on exploring; he wanted to get out of this world as soon as possible,

Yet... before he could take his first step, someone stopped him.

Turning his head, he saw a familiar yet quite distant face, one he hadn’t seen a lot. "Kresis..."

The woman frowned. "Knew I would find you here, there was no doubt in my mind that you were going to go and try to challenge the Demon of Dread... that’s why I came to stop you..."

Aether tilted his head, calm. "Why? I mean, I either die or kill that guy, what does it matter to you? If I die, nothing happens to you or your people, but if I win, then it’s also a win for you."

She scoffed. "Do I have to get something in return for wanting to save someone’s life? Aether, you will die, you’re a Will-less, how can you beat the Demon of Dread... just turn back..."

Aether sighed. "I think you should know this, but once someone has made up their mind, there is no way they will reconsider, as hard as they tried. I know that my chances of dying are beyond high, but at the same time, you have to understand, I have already been dead... and alive at the same time, you were the one who told me that. I don’t care if I did... it would just give me peace, since I could finally take a break from my own goddamn mind...

I won’t turn back ever, not when I’m this close... and I’m sure you won’t force me to."

Kresis opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t for a good minute; she just stood silent.

...

She groaned. "Just be careful... and a little advice, you’re not facing the person you think you’re facing."