Act 4: Trial of the seven islands - Chapter 3 (I)

Even after throwing up multiple times, the nauseating taste still lingered in his mouth, and if he didn't keep his mind busy with something else, he remembered the texture as well. He had the feeling that the entire room was filled with the stench of rotten flesh, even though it was only in his nightmare.
Kyusaku thought that he had never truly known what disgust was until this moment. This was way beyond whatever he used to think of as gross. If he closed his eyes, he could still see it, the image as vivid as it was in his dream; the discolored appearance of the fish giving it a sickly look, the maggots crawling everywhere as it rotted from the inside out – but that wasn't the worst part.
The dozen or so eyes squashed on its face, some melting together with distorted, lifeless pupils that merged into one yet still looked at him – that, he didn't think he could ever forget.

In the end, it wasn't until he had spent an hour on the terrace taking in the cold night air that he finally started to feel a bit better. He sat there in silence, not moving, sprawled on a chair with his head raised to look at the slowly brightening sky, the stars fading as the sun rose. He forced himself to keep his mind empty. No matter what he thought about, he couldn't focus on it and drifted back to the memories of his nightmare.

For once, he really, really wished he had slept with Miyaji that night.

Even if the creature who seemed to be targeting him in the previous case was frightful, it didn't take too long before he recovered from it. But this? This was going to haunt him for months. Forget getting an uneventful night of sleep – he might not even be able to sleep at all!

It wasn't until Miyaji emerged and found him that he forced himself to move.

"You're up early..." The redhead commented with a yawn. "No, actually, you look like you haven't been sleeping at all."

"It's those fucking dreams again," Kyusaku replied, annoyed. "Come to think of it, where were you last night? You always show up when I have a nightmare."

"Sorry, I had too much to drink last night and didn't hear anything... Next time, I'll make sure we stay in the same room!"

Kyusaku shook his head. "The sun is going to rise soon, let's go."

The two of them left the hotel and made their way down to the beach, which was relatively empty at this hour, safe for a few people who got up early to either watch the sunrise like them or exercise. It wasn't long until the sun appeared beyond the horizon, its warm rays revealing a faint shape in the distance, only noticeable thanks to the slight sheen of its outline. If Kyusaku wasn't an elf highly sensitive to magic, he might have missed it – especially with his poor eyesight. He had to squint to see it clearly. No wonder only a few people know about it.

"There really is something," Miyaji said, surprised, using a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he observed the almost imperceptible shimmer. "Is that the eighth island?"

"I suppose so. But just seeing this isn't enough for me to figure out which artifact or spell is making it invisible, or even how to get there."

"Well, at least we know it's a tangible lead!" Miyaji reassured him, ruffling his hair. "Go get some rest, we'll go to the second island in the afternoon. For now, we just have to put to the test those rumors about failing a trial."

"You're right, I guess that's the only thing we can do..."