My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 164: Risen from The Grave

Raven sat to the side, deep in his own thoughts. He had no idea how long they had been trapped here, but it felt like months at the least. Sigrun had assured them that it would be fine and they were not in any rush. He had explained that time always flowed differently between the different realms and worlds. 

He had found that he never really grew hungry or thirsty while in this place, which was an odd experience, to say the least. Most of the time, he had been forced to go off on his own and explore. Since Sigrun was busy with training Josh. Raven did not know how he felt about this, sure it would be good if they could return because of it. On the other hand, though, Josh was getting stronger by the day.

Raven was even beginning to suspect that Josh might actually become strong enough to act as his shield from the wrath of Sonja. If he chose to escape with him when they saved the crew. However, his time spent in solitude with his own thoughts gradually made him reevaluate his relationship with Sonja. 'Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? It won't be exactly like before, but maybe we could make it work?'

This was the thing about old age. It makes people think about their life and all the choices that they ever made. It also made them wiser and more willing to let go of things that are not actually as bad as they made them out to be when they first happened. For example, when Raven was still a human child, his father had beaten him daily. 

He hated his father for that and eventually ran away because of it. Years later, he realised the 'lessons' that his father had taught him allowed him to make sound judgements of when to stay quiet around others. It was a sort of discipline and mindset that was being drilled into him that he did not understand when it happened. He could only appreciate it as he got older.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he looked back towards the towering figure of Sigrun in the distance. Raven was currently sat on top of one of the hills narthex beach since there was not much else for him to do. He was technically keeping a lookout since this was a personal habit whenever he was on land. You never knew when an unseen enemy would strike!

He looked around at the rolling wasteland, and a frown began to form on his face. 'Yeah, right! Who am I kidding? Look at this place! I doubt there's anything here besides us three and those poor souls!' Raven was feeling agitated was totally understandable.

Staring at the same scenery day after day with nothing new happening or even having a conversation would drive most people insane or into depression. At this moment he suddenly felt a surge of power from the beach. Within seconds several waves of an intense aura washed over him even across the distance that separated himself from Josh.

'I guess he's made another breakthrough?' Before Raven would become excited with each one. Hoping beyond hope that Josh finally had the strength to return him to the living. He had given up hope now with all the times that this fact had been denied over the months. 

However, something began to happen that made Raven's eyes almost pop out of their sockets. A soft green glow rushed from the beach out to the wreckage of his old ship in the graveyard. Smaller pieces of it began to rise to the surface of the Dead Sea. Making Raven wonder what his old officer was up to now.

The sea that surrounded the bones of his dead seafaring vessel began to churn and bubble. The shattered mast began to rise higher and higher into the air. Raven bore witness as the deck of his ship slowly rose from the depths. The sea parted way as the 'Freedom' rose from its watery grave. The process took around the span of an hour.

Once all the pieces rested atop the waves, they slowly began to fit together to give the ship its proper form. Although it was a glorious sight to behold and moved him emotionally, Raven also knew it was pointless. The ship had been thoroughly shattered, and they did not have the means to properly repair it. Or so he thought.

The green glow that presumably came from Josh began to take on the form of eerie glowing chains. These chains wrapped themselves around the ship, as though to hold everything in place. The water-soaked wood began to wail. Yes, it literally wailed like a banshee. Not just the groan of wood that was having too much pressure applied to it.

The scream was ear piercing, it forced Raven to grimace as he attempted to block out the sound. 'Do ships really have their own souls?' He wondered with his mouth hanging agape. It would truly be amazing for him to reclaim the ship that he had so many fond memories of. However, what would the cost be to captain such a resurrected vessel? 

Would Joshua have some kind of price for him to pay? For that matter, did Josh even raise it to give back to him? Or was Josh planning on taking it for himself? There were too many questions right now for him to make sense of what he was witnessing. Either way, his hope of returning to the world of the living found itself to be rekindled. Hopefully, the ship's raising was a sign that Josh was now powerful enough to take them back.

Thinking of this, Raven came to the realisation that he truly was looking forward to seeing Sonja again. This revelation was almost heartbreaking. He still loved her, but it was obviously a toxic relationship where he was the one that had been abused. 'My mind says no, but my heart says yes.' He sighed loudly as he contemplated it. He would never understand why his own feelings drove him into a corner like this. Sometimes you just can not explain it, only act on it

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