The initial tension from Dust and Zenith's interaction had lightened a little, which at the very least allowed Dust to stop fearing for his life. Dust saw a brief flash of respect in Zenith's eyes, though it was gone as quickly as it came.
"So what happens next?"
Zenith calmly walked around Dust and pointed off into the distance making sure to never relax his noble posture.
"About 2 miles from here is the boat I arrived on. I'll be happy to answer your questions when we get there."
Answers do sound nice... but I don't particularly want to give in to him that easily.
"And if I say no?"
Zenith offered a polite smile that hid a quiet malice behind it.
"Then I knock you out and take you there myself. Now personally I'd love it if I didn't have to do that but ultimately, that's your decision."
Dust grimaced.
Fuckin' asshole.
"Fine, but let it be known that I'm deeply opposed to this."
***
Roughly an hour later they'd reached the boat. Dust was tired from the long walk and his still unquenched hunger was beginning to make his body feel heavier. Still all that anguish couldn't distract him from the beautiful ship that lay before him. Its wood was covered in a rustic vermillion paint that made its other features feel more gentle. A searchlight sat upon the ship's mast and illuminated the smoothly flowing waves below it.
Zenith and Dust approached the ship. Zenith hopped in without breaking a sweat, Dust on the other hand was struggling a little more. Noticing this, Zenith reached out his hand and helped Dust onto the ship.
"I'll grab you some food before we talk."
The idea of food gave Dust the ability to keep moving. He walked into the open cabin and plopped himself on the nearest piece of furniture. Zenith briefly entered the cabin then quickly left to grab something.
"I'm going to grab some food. Just wait there and don't touch anything."
Dust sneered. He got up and looked around the cabin. It was filled with soft blankets and comfortable furniture that helped soothe his weary body. The cabin was far cleaner than the world of dirt and struggle he was used to. Dust continued exploring and saw a large picture up on the wall of the cabin. The picture depicted a man wielding a beautiful golden sword, standing before three monsters five times his size. Just as he was about to touch the painting to get a closer look, Zenith entered the room.
"Ahem"
Zenith glared at Dust and pointed at a chair in the center of the cabin with a demanding attitude.
"Sit."
The desire to be petty and annoying ran through Dust, but was quickly killed by the smell of food and Dust's desire to eat it.
Both Dust and Zenith sat down. While Dust made himself comfortable Zenith stared daggers at him from the other side of the table.
Guess he doesn't like having his stuff touched.
Zenith pulled out a can from his pocket and placed it on the table. He pulled the lid off the container and pushed it over towards Dust.
"Eat it."
Dust stared at the can of liquid and noticed the chunks of yellow floating around inside it. He was hesitant to eat it, the possibility of poison was ever present especially while sitting next to a lunatic whose every action suggested he liked watching people suffer.
"Do you honestly think I'd poison you. After all the trouble I went to to get you here, you honestly think I'd use poison to kill you."
Dust eyes shifted from the food to Zenith. He couldn't muster up the energy to speak without timidness cloaking his words.
"It's worth considering. People that don't think about that stuff die pretty quickly in my experience."
A villainous smile rolled across Zenith's face.
"Well see... I was under the impression that death didn't bother you. Or were you just lying earlier when you said you had nothing left to live for?"
Rage churned inside Dust. Though for the first time since meeting Zenith he didn't have the energy to restrain himself. He raised his hand and attempted to smack Zenith across the face. Zenith caught his bony arm with ease. That emotionless glare that Dust had seen when they first met filled Zenith's eyes yet again.
"Eat the food before I lose my patience."
Not out of fear but instead to shut Zenith up, Dust took the can and drank from it. The chunks of yellow mush fell into his mouth gently and burst with a flavor he'd never known from food before. The liquid made his throat feel warm and it greatly complemented all the rest of the food that came alongside it. Before he knew it the can was empty and Dust was left with his body in a state of complete satisfaction.
Zenith continued to radiate hostility but in this moment Dust hadn't even felt the need to respond with pettiness or aggression back at him. He simply felt thankful that he was able to experience something so filling when most of his life was spent on the verge of starvation with nothing to supplement that except nasty sand-root. Dust looked at Zenith with gratitude in his eyes.
"What was that stuff?"
Zenith loosened up a little understanding that Dust clearly wasn't feeling as hostile now.
"Soup. It's a pretty common meal where I'm from."
That masterpiece is COMMON?!
"I want more food when we're done talking."
Zenith got up from his seat and grabbed the empty can. He walked to the corner of the cabin and dropped it in a perfectly clean trash bin. He then returned to the table and sat down again.
"Deal."
Dust was feeling rather comfortable and he showed it by leaning back in his chair with a light smile streaming across his face.
"So... the big question. Why put in all this effort to get a random desert-dweller onto your ship when you've made very clear you're not doing it for charitable reasons. You want something from me, the question I would like to know is what?"
Zenith stood up from his seat and placed his hands elegantly behind his back.
"Well the answer to that is going to come at the end of a very long story. See, I've been informed that "desert-dwellers" don't know much about this world's history and that happens to be very bad for me since I cannot adequately explain how important you are without a little history lesson."
Dust rolled back in his chair and stared at a piece of crusted wood poking out of the ceiling.
Sometimes I question this guy's sanity. I can't imagine a world in which I have any connection to history past being a percentage.
Dust got up from his chair and moved back to the couch he was lying on earlier. He made himself more comfortable in preparation for what was surely going to be an unnecessarily long story. He nodded his head signaling Zenith to start speaking.
"Our story starts approximately 1000 years ago. Across the world, three vast holes tore open in the earth. You'd probably recognize these holes as one of them was the very same that you jumped into not too long ago. These pits that we now call "gates" spawned three massive beasts that would then wreak havoc across the world for just about a century. I'm not particularly fond of the names they were given but historians like to call them "The Envoys of the Apocalypse." You need a break?"
"No. Feel free to keep telling your fairy tale. Though if you wouldn't mind getting to the part where I'm of any significance, that would be great."
Zenith's lip quivered slightly. A tell-tale sign of annoyance.
"Well then... as I was saying, there were three holes that appeared around the world. One appeared here in the desert, though I feel the need to mention that where I'm from it's called the Farlands. The other two appeared in the place we now call Stormveil, and another in the Warring North. I'd imagine you haven't heard of those last 2 places so don't worry about them for now. They aren't terribly important. Like I said earlier, the envoys brought chaos around the world for a century. But what's interesting is that for some reason unknown to me and many others, those monsters simply returned to the gates from which they came and left humanity to deal with the aftermath."
So the envoys just left? Did they get bored or something? He could at least try to make it believable.
Dust looked back over to the painting he was examining earlier. It looked incredibly similar to what Zenith had described in his story. But still it was... different. A man with a golden sword stood before those beasts in the picture, quite a different story than Zenith's assertion that they just left of their own volition.
Why would he lie about that though? Actually... whatever. I just want him to get to the part where I'm involved.
"Ok... I ask again, how does this connect to me?"
Annoyance vanished from Zenith's eyes and was instead replaced with a childlike excitement.
"Well the answer to that lies in one specific envoy. This is the envoy that came out here in the Farlands, the one that is regarded as the most deadly and feared even now despite the 900 year respite since those monsters left us. Its name is Izzuria... Izzuria the Conqueror."
Zenith moved close to Dust's face. His eyes shone brightly with a gleeful light so powerful it felt as if it was pulling Dust's face into a smile.
"That fearsome monster made itself a nice home inside your body Dust. That's how you fit into this. You, my dear friend are the vessel of Izzuria the Conqueror"
...What?