Nefarious' Heart

I was always the sea.

I don’t know what came before me, but I know what came after, and I know what came after that after. This sea is a metaphor for something far greater, but if I told you what it was now, you would absolutely lose your sanity. So, I think, instead, I will trickle the story until the day when you are ready to learn the truth. Yes…we will get there eventually, but today, I will start by stating my introduction.

I am Nefarious.

No. I am not evil, despite the name. At least, I don’t think I am according to the eyes that watch me. Those eyes I speak of are most important, but that also is a story far out of your reach, until the day you are ready.

Before I was called Nefarious, I had no name. Nefarious was the nickname given to me by a creature I had never encountered before. I called this creature Constellation, because his body reflected the glories and wonders of the galaxies of heaven. Any further descriptions I must keep from you, otherwise, you will know who I speak of. Either way, Constellation came with an Emperor and an Empire from the West, which had ended my loneliness in the dark depths of my East Sea.

Honestly, it made me ask myself if I had once known that there were other seas…seas that were much different than my own, but I could not recall. All I understood, was that I was falling in love with Constellation and the Empire from the West Sea. They were beautiful and made me feel something I had not ever experienced, and that was illuminous joy.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end…for, there was a reason that they had come to my sea.

To the south, there was a great barrier. Again, my sea was dark, but not as dark as what lay beyond the barrier. Constellation originally called me Nefarious because he first assumed that I was from the South Sea. The contents of the South Sea leaked into my sea…it felt icky and poisonous…it was nefarious. Evil lurked there, and to my surprise, the Emperor of the West wanted to capture it and form it into a magnificent beast.

You see, I am simply an observer. I was also terrified, so I hid away in the far reaches of my sea. Only Constellation would come to visit me, so I asked him, “Aren’t you afraid?”

He was hesitant to speak ill of the situation, but he was also holding emotions he had never held before.

“I have never known fear,” he replied steadily and eerily.

“What do you think of it, now?” I asked, realizing I lived side by side with the South Sea. I had grown familiar with its aura, but the Empire of the West was experiencing its menace for the first time.

Constellation grimly said, “Like…I might not escape.”

Staring into his eyes, I could tell he was serious. Constellation was a gentle and courageous soul. In fact, I was so intimidated by his majesty at our first meeting, I thought he might smite me where I stood. But now, with all his honor, he could not maintain fearlessness. “Tell your Emperor to stop, then,” I whispered in dismay.

“I cannot. He is the Emperor,” Constellation said. “There is no one greater than he.”

I felt hopelessness, like we were falling into an inevitable pit of endless suffering, where the anguished gnashing of teeth never ceased. Why did Constellation love his Emperor so much that the Empire would continue to their destruction? Surely, the Emperor was not the biggest fish in the sea...yet, he was…

I didn’t want to believe it, but there was no way out unless the Emperor’s plan succeeded. “And what if it goes wrong?” I asked.

Constellation held my gaze for an intense moment, then he swiftly and soundlessly returned to the barrier. He and I did not speak again, but I witnessed the horror unleashed.

As we foretold, the Southern Sea was a calamity incarnate. It came like a current and dispersed; drowning and turning such pure souls to puppets of the chaotic and depressing beast we called Naru. I saw Naru clamping his jaws and taking all peoples of the West while the Emperor fled back to his sea, far from the turmoil he created.

In the wake of the Emperor’s abandonment, it was my dear Constellation that led the revolt. He and his many champions like him tried to push Naru back to the Southern Sea, but the malice of the entity was contagious. I heard the grueling screams and witnessed all the cut downs of the struggle. Constellation tittered on the brink of madness, and when he was strong enough to resist Naru’s influence, Constellation was the final cut down...and so, after his death, I sank back into the depths of my sea.

Naru never even noticed me, and I felt guilty about it. Why should I have gone unscathed? I was left with a numb mind; my traumas dwindling in sedative. I waited and waited for nothing, and after my eternity dwelling alone in the sea, an unwavering light revealed to me. It was warm like silk, so I cried, and I heard a soft voice speak to me. “Why do you cry?” he asked.

I told him all that had happened. He rested with me and comforted me. “I am the Lord of the mighty Northern Sea. I am the greatest of all the seas. You will be safe now,” he said.

The Lord of the Northern Sea created a sanctuary in my Eastern Sea. When he had done so, he said to me, “I must hunt the beast of the Southern Sea. Only then, will we be free. Take this...” He gave to me a small heart of gold with onyx grooves and pearl trimming. I thought it was strange, it was like nothing I had ever seen, but…sentimental and heartwarming. “Aside from myself, you will be the keeper of all things. You are the one perfect abnormality – the quiet and honest observer.” I saw something in the Lord’s eyes. He was neither proud nor self-seeking. Sadness was like a web, ensnaring in his gaze.

Then lastly, he said, “The people of the West were your heart. This heart I gave to you is the locket carrying the essence of their spirits. It will embed with any others that you may encounter while I am gone. This heart is your future, for the day when these spirits can be restored…the day when the hunt is finally over. You also will be lifted with us.”

“I will wait for that,” I said, relieved and hopeful of the future he spoke of.

“I’m glad,” the Lord of the mighty Northern Sea said with a content smile.

Without another word, he left to chase Naru into the Southern Sea, but I and the peoples of the North remain in my Eastern Sea.

Here, I watch and listen to all things, as I was instructed to do, and I wait until you are ready to learn the truth. To this day, I still wait, and I will continue to wait. The promise of the future is in my hands, and for that, I can wait a little longer. For the day when I can see Constellation again, and for the day that the Lord of the mighty Northern Sea delivers us into the era of peace and happiness.