As Captain John turned round, something strange began to happen. Kenzo was suddenly shining a bright yellow. 

Everyone on the deck stopped and covered their eyes as the light got even brighter. After a few seconds, the light burst outwards—creating a strong shock wave. 

Somehow, this caused the surrounding night sky to brighten for a brief period of time. It however quickly became dark once again, being only lit by the moon.

The light emitting from Kenzo eventually faded, revealing an unexpected change underneath.

His worn out clothes and baggy hoody were nowhere to be seen. Instead, they had been replaced with a new set of stylish clothing. With new shoes, a jacket and sash around his waste, Kenzo was barely recognisable to the mentally conflicted boy from earlier.

The next few moments were ones of instinct. Kenzo wasn’t sure where they came from, but they came naturally.

He flicked back his new jacket, revealing a sword on his side—somehow knowing it was there. Kenzo then grabbed it and pointed it toward Captain John.

But even with this new change, the sword was still shaking like before.

Captain John looked Kenzo up and down, clearly confused on what just happened. But even so, he lifted his sword and attempted to knock his weapon down.

But he missed, as Kenzo moved his sword away at the last second.

The captain attempted again, but Kenzo easily moved his sword out the way again and continued to point it at him.

“What sort of trick is this?” Captain John asked. “Who are you?”

But with him now distracted, the small girl bit down on his hand as she tried to wiggle free. The captain yelled out in pain and let go of her, dropping her to the ground.

She then ran behind Kenzo and held onto his jacket.

“You’ll pay for that!” Captain John said.

“Enough!” Lady Social yelled.

“Don’t move!” Jetta shouted, but Vic had walked between them and stood in the way of her sword.

Jetta pulled back her weapon—showing a clear hesitation to confront him as he continued to stand his ground.

“What a disappointment this sea has been,” Lady Social said as she suddenly stretched out both her hands to her sides. 

“In the end, you’re all the same.”

Lady Social’s hands suddenly started to glow—with a mist of yellow light forming around her open palms. Slowly, a violin morphed from within the mist into one hand and it’s bow into the other. 

She swiftly got into a playing position, and said the following words:

O’souls within, heed my call and let our story begin.

And then, she began to play a song.

To Captain John’s side, the two opponents he was previously facing suddenly fainted and fell to the ground.

Deciding to get in an early strike, the captain impatiently ran toward Lady Social. However, he stopped as something had grabbed his leg. He swung his sword downward to free himself, but nothing was there—apart from one of Lady Social’s men unconscious body.

Then, something slowly emerged from the body.

It was the same man, but in a ghastly yellow form. Suddenly from the bodies of the fainted, a legion of ghastly hunters came forth onto the deck. Their misty yellow glow and distorted appearance strongly resembled that of ghosts.

Captain John and Jetta had tried to hit some with their weapon, but every attack passed straight through each one. By the time they knew it, they were surrounded by these ghastly figures—with Captain John being cornered to the edge of the ship.

“What sort of evil is this?!” Captain John yelled.

Jetta raised her sword. “I don’t know what this is, but you’re mistaken if you think our crewman will let you get away with this!”

Once Lady Social had finished playing her song, her newly materialised violin softly faded away—leaving a trail of yellow mist behind.

“Am I now?” Lady Social responded, as she then clapped her hands twice.

Suddenly, more ghastly figures emerged but from below deck. They all carried the appearances of the two other crews onboard. 

The doors to the cabin also abruptly opened. “Come,” Lady Social said.

Walking out from the meeting room was Captain William and Theo—with their normal bodies.

They joined Lady Social by her side and remained silent, but with a faint yellow glow in their eyes. Theo’s slowly looked down at Bron, who lay still. There was barely a reaction, apart from a misty tear that fell from his cheek and evaporated.

Jetta lowered her weapon and gazed at her comrades with disbelief. 

“But…how?” she said.

Briggs walked through the horde and stopped a few steps away from Lady Social.

“So what I read was true,” he said, as he gazed in wonder. “The drinks wasn’t to get us drunk…but to do this.”

Lady Social walked up to him and delivered a harsh slap across his face.

“That’s for not helping the girl,” she said.

However, she grabbed the other side of his face and softly touched it.

“But, you can still make it up to me—for there is now an available role for you to play,” she said, as she looked over at Captain John who was still swinging his sword but to no avail.

“Farewell old friend.”

One of the figures then stabbed Captain John, causing him to stumble and fall off the ship—into the sea.

They then subdued Jetta with the help of Vic—who then brought her down to her knees.

“How are you doing this? What is the purpose of such witchery!?” Jetta yelled out.

“For years I wished for a way to unite this fractured world. And after so long, I have finally been gifted with the power to do so,” Lady Social replied.

She then took her hand off Briggs face and turned toward Jetta.

“There is a seat in the realm of hunters that will help me to achieve what I want,” she said. “And it is currently occupied by the man your captain serves.”

Jetta’s eye’s widened as she stared at Lady Social. “You want to become Hunter Lord!?”

Lady Social didn’t respond and her attention instead turned to Kenzo who had backed up to the side of the ship with the small girl still behind him.

“Thank you for helping her Kenzo. Come Emmy, it’s okay now,” she said.

But the girl looked at the ghoulish figures surrounding the ship and hid behind Kenzo.

Lady Social waved the horde to stand back. “Kenzo, bring her here.”

Kenzo looked back at the girl who shook her head sideways. He then looked at Lady Social and her army of ghastly hunters. His answer was a subtle head shake, denying her request.

“Kenzo!” Lady Social shouted, as anger filled her face. “Bring her here now!”

But he held the girl back and denied her request once more.

Lady Social took a deep breath in and out. She then began to approach him.

Not knowing what to do, he pointed his sword at her but suddenly began to feel dizzy. It seemed the alcohol was now starting to affect his vision again. Lady Social then easily moved his weapon to the side and got extremely close to him. 

With a smile, she held his face in her palms. “Poor Kenzo, seems the adrenaline has run it’s course. You can barely focus your eyes on me now.”

She then caressed both his new clothing and sword. “I know you must be scared and confused. After all, you’re just a stranger alone in a world unknown. But I promise that everything you saw today is the beginning of a better world.”

She then took her thumbs and forced Kenzo’s frown into a smile. “It’s time to smile for the future Kenzo.”

However when she removed her thumbs, his frown returned.

She then looked down at the small girl and then back at Kenzo. “I do wish things could of played out differently. However just like me, it seem’s you’ve chosen your path.”

Lady Social then let go of him and turned around—taking two steps forward before stopping.

“Unfortunately, there can only be one hero in this story.”

Suddenly, she turned round and delivered a kick to his stomach—pushing him off the ship. As he fell, he noticed the small girl had been pulled from behind him to the side by one of the ghastly figures.

With the sea approaching behind him, it began to feel like time was slowing down. As he watched Lady Social look down at him from the ship, Kenzo noticed there was a necklace around his neck as it hovered in-front of his face. At the end of it was a yellow jewel, shining brightly.

Then, a piece of paper in his pocket suddenly flew out and unwrapped itself mid air. It read:

With the sound of the waves right below him, Kenzo closed his eye’s before impact. But then, something happened.

He woke up.