Shrouded Seascape

Sobbing sounds reverberated throughout the room.

Lily was sobbing softly; her eyes were slightly red from the crying, and her fur was soaked with tears. Tear streaks could be seen on her furry mouse face.

She was confined in a dimly lit basement, and the only source of light in the room was an oil lamp hanging on the wall.

The room appeared rather peculiar, with the walls having uneven surfaces and covered in fingerprints. It was as though a giant hand had crudely molded the room out of clay.

Suddenly, a tremor coursed through the room. A purple light illuminated the space as the entire room split into two. Then, the Pope entered through the fissure with a large bundle on his back.

The moment he entered the room, he waved his right hand, and the room sealed itself back together. Darkness engulfed the room once again.

"God, please forgive me. I took some time to shake off a few tails. Are You hungry? I brought You some food," Lylejay said as he opened the backpack on his back and took out a variety of canned foods and staples.

Metal cans were no different from paper in the Pope's hands. With a gentle pry, he effortlessly tore the lids open and neatly arranged the cans in front of Lily.

Naturally, Lily had no intention of showing any hint of gratitude toward her kidnapper. Her eyes burned with fury as she glared at Lylejay before turning away and hugging her tail, presenting him with her back.

The Pope picked up a can of luncheon meat and repositioned himself to kneel in front of Lily. Offering it with deep reverence, he pleaded, "God, please eat something. The feeling of hunger is horrible. If there's anything worse than death, it's starvation."

Lily ignored Lylejay.

Lylejay proceeded to scoop a bit of the meat with his fingernail and offered it to her.

"I don't want it! I hate you! Get lost!" Lily shouted furiously as she stood up and pushed Lylejay's finger away with her tiny paws.

Lily's refusal to eat caused a hint of anger to surge within Lylejay. He grabbed Lily and tried to force the meat into her mouth.

Lily shut her eyes tight and shook her head from side to side to avoid Lylejay's finger. However, her resistance was futile before him. His strong finger pried her tiny teeth apart and shoved the meat down her throat.

Lily started crying in desperation, but her sudden reaction made the shoved meat enter the wrong tube; it went down her windpipe, and Lily erupted into a coughing fit, choking from the meat.

Lylejay panicked as he tried to help Lily breathe properly again. When Lily finally spat out the meat and was crying like a broken doll on the ground, guilt suffused Lylejay's face as he looked at the golden mouse.

Without a second thought, Lylejay pulled out a knife and stabbed himself in the abdomen before twisting the hilt.

The physical pain coursing through him slightly eased his guilt for hurting Lily. "God, I deserved to be punished for defiling You. But You must really eat something."

Still trembling, Lily struggled to stand up. She glared at him with tears in her eyes and cried out, "How many times do I have to repeat myself?! I am not your god! I am not!!"

The Pope reached out a trembling right hand, but Lily jumped out of his reach.

"No," Lylejay retorted. "You are my God. Your soul has already merged with the Green Light. I know that.

"I also know that it will be hard to return the other six lights to their positions. But it doesn't matter; I have plenty of time.

"If I can spend a hundred years saving you from that darkness before, I can certainly spend another hundred years bringing you back. I can definitely do it!"

A look of fanatical devotion appeared on Lylejay's visage. However, it looked majorly unsettling on his ten-year-old face.

Clearly, Lily disagreed with Lylejay's words. "There's no hundred years! In two years, at most, the entire Subterranean Sea will be flooded!"

Pope Lylejay shook his head with a faint smile. "Whatever happens to the humans has nothing to do with us. Their deaths will not hinder Your return.

"The great Ancient Ruler never needed humanity. You chose to bring them away with You previously out of Your own kindness and compassion. And that is something that is unheard of from the other gods.

"Humans may be important to You, but I know that with a single will, You can easily destroy them, and just as easily, you can bring them back to life. The fate of humanity lies with just a single thought of Yours."

Lily's pupils trembled upon hearing Lylejay's words. She suddenly recalled that the light that had wiped out so many people before was this madman's doing. Of course, Lylejay wouldn't care even if mankind was annihilated.

"You… You're crazy! You murderer!" Lily screamed and pointed at him with her tiny paw.

"Yes, You are right. I am. But until You are fully resurrected, I cannot die," Lylejay said. He then lifted a fingernail worth of meat mush and brought it toward the terrified Lily.

That evening's dinner lasted for a long while. Eventually, Lily gave in as she realized her resistance was futile. Even if she choked, this madman would just stab himself, apologize, and then repeat the process.

Exhausted from all the crying, shouting, and struggling, Lily was fast asleep that night. When she woke up the next morning, it was already ten o'clock.

She opened her eyes and realized that she was not in the strange stone room the day before. Instead, that crazy boy was holding her in his hands and was walking down the road. Lily could see a city up ahead.

Lily wasn't sure where they were, but from the ascending and descending airships, she was certain that they were near one of the human outposts on the surface world.

"God, we're heading back to the Subterranean Sea now. I know you don't like this place. Neither do I," Lylejay said softly as he quickened his pace toward the city.

"Once we are in the city, please stay quiet for a moment, alright? You know it as well as I do that even if You cried for help, they would be powerless to stop me."

Lily pondered for a moment before looking up at Lylejay. She then flashed him a big, radiant smile. "Sure."

She knew she couldn't resist him head-on. Thus, being the clever mouse she was, she decided to find another way to escape.

Draped in a gray cloak, Lylejay didn't infiltrate the city directly. Instead, he waited for an opportune moment and jumped onto a train billowing with white smoke.

After all, in a place like the surface world, walking solo from the semi-desert terrain straight into an outpost was as good as a dead giveaway of his identity.

When Lylejay stepped off the bustling train, his short stature made him blend seamlessly into the crowd. However, he deliberately kept his face hidden under the cloak and avoided the soldiers patrolling the streets.

His wanted posters were plastered all over the city, after all.

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