Chaos' Heir

"It all started around a hundred years ago," Hughie announced. "Or so they say." Clifford hid his face behind his metal cup while Hughie zoomed in on a particular planet on the star map. The leader clearly didn't like the direction the meeting had gone, but he couldn't change it now that Khan had expressed interest. "So they say?" Khan asked. "Well, this information is old," Hughie explained. "No one really knows how everything started or from whom. We just know it works. Sometimes." Khan glanced at Clifford, only for the leader to slouch deeper on his stool. Hughie looked quite the airhead, and Clifford didn't want anything to do with him. His body language proved as much. Nevertheless, Khan didn't mind it and uttered a simple order. "Continue." Needless to say, the order surprised Clifford. Khan had sounded quite bright during the meeting, so Clifford couldn't understand why he was interested in that topic, especially after his reaction and witnessing Hughie's character. Still, Khan had his reasons. He knew how exaggerated stories could get in those environments without specialized personnel. After all, he had lived in the Slums for eleven years and had tasted that ignorance first-hand. However, chances were that Khan could uncover something interesting due to his unique expertise and connection to the Nak. He didn't hold much hope in that seemingly ridiculous legend, but it was better than checking every junkyard in the area. Khan would still do that if he had no other options, but hopefully, the situation didn't get there yet. "So," Hughie resumed, pointing at the zoomed-in planet. "Rumors say a crew of explorers landed on Coravis. Well, I said landed, but the planet has no real landing spot. They probably just left their ships to hover above the sea." Khan had data about Coravis from Nott Station. The planet was more than unassuming, only consisting of a boundless blue sea. According to past inspections, nothing lived in those waters. Actually, that liquid wasn't water in the first place, but the Global Army had deemed it useless. The color in that description had earned a second look at the data, but not everything blue was necessarily connected to the Nak. Besides, polluted waters couldn't be interesting after Khan had spoken with actual Nak's corpses. "These explorers ended up getting stranded," Hughie continued. "Huge waves crashed on their ships and submerged them. They begged for their lives while floating endlessly on the sea until the sea answered." "The sea?" Khan questioned. Clifford had completely lowered his head by then. He stared at the bottom of his empty cup, not daring to refill it on his own. Clifford felt so defeated he didn't notice the absence of any sarcasm in Khan's tone. Khan's interest had increased as soon as he heard about talking waters. "Yes!" Hughie exclaimed. "The sea responded, bringing the explorers' intact ship back from its depths. Maybe it was a different ship, but I like to think it was the same the waves had destroyed." "It's just a legend, Prince Khan," Clifford reminded. "A story people living here tell to themselves to ignore their condition. It's like one of those old religions." "But there is proof it happened again, Boss!" Hughie argued. "Where?" Clifford snorted, raising his head to shoot a mocking look at his subordinate. "On the network you and the other fanatics write for?" "Let him speak," Khan ordered. "I want to hear." Clifford finally realized that something was off. Khan's cold face didn't reveal anything, but Clifford had a good nose for those situations. The Prince seemed to care about that useless legend, which made it priceless. "Hughie, you heard the Prince," Clifford exclaimed, his stance making a U-turn. "Tell him about the proof in great detail." "Sure thing, Boss!" Hughie excitedly announced, clueless about the strategies at play. "It doesn't always happen, but other people have traveled to Coravis and swam in their waters, expressing all kinds of wishes. The sea fulfills them at times." "What kind of wishes does it fulfill?" Khan questioned. "All kinds of wishes!" Hughie declared. "The friend I spoke about earlier asked how to get rich, and the sea told him the future results of his favorite game in his favorite gambling den. "Another story was about a man in love. He asked how to get his crush, and the sea told him everything he needed to do to succeed." Hughie kept speaking, mentioning all kinds of wild stories. Some involved scientists stuck at a bottleneck with their research, which the sea solved. Others talked about missing people or uncatchable criminals, which Coravis' waters seemed to have no problems finding. Clifford began to lose that naïve excitement he had started to feel. The more Hughie spoke, the more ludicrous the legend sounded, so Clifford didn't believe Khan would fall for it. However, the Prince was surprisingly focused, immersed in unreachable thoughts. On the surface, the stories had no pattern, but Khan's perspective was broader than anything Clifford could conceive. He had seen many strange and inexplicable arts. Jenna had even predicted the future in Milia 222 so Khan could come up with explanations. Still, he needed more details. "These stories," Khan eventually interrupted Hughie. "Did the answers the sea give all concerned these quadrants?" "What do you mean?" Hughie asked. "Ah, Prince." "The missing persons," Khan explained, "The gambling den, the labs, the love stories, and the other stuff. Were all of them happening in this area?" "Now that I think about it," Hughie muttered, crossing his arms in thought. 'It might be similar to Jenna's predictions then,' Khan considered. "Oh!" Hughie exclaimed, suddenly recalled something. "But the sea isn't always magnanimous. People don't come back from Coravis at times. It's why we started to believe there was something, an entity governing the sea. A being that demanded a price every once in a while." "How often do people travel to Coravis?" Khan questioned, hiding the fact that he had already made up his mind. "Not often at all, Prince Khan," Clifford revealed. "The planet is quite far away, and with no checkpoints nearby. It's an expensive trip, which many can't afford, especially if they plan to fly back to inhabited areas." "I see," Khan nodded. "Hughie, get your notes and complete the map. Your leader and I will discuss the price in the meantime."