The next hours were spent with Dave and his friends singing and dancing to the music. They forgot about the game, about Dave's troubles, about anything and just enjoyed themselves for the rest of the day. This was one of the rare moments where Dave had let go of everything and was just himself.
He loved it this way, this fun, this extraction from reality and this peace. It calmed him and made him grow. He had been in dire need of letting go, and once he did, his mind was at ease.
Much too soon the sun came down, and it became late evening. Rob, Tom, and Sven had to go first as it was getting late. The next to follow was Caitlin who took Ralph with her after bidding Dave goodbye, leaving Zoe and Dave alone.
The two stared at each other for a long time, neither one spoke. They didn't need to. Both of them had known about their feelings for each other, yet not one of them had had the courage to convey it. Thus they remained staring at each other under the dim light of the room.
Dave was the first to break the silence, "Zoe… there's something important I have to tell you."
Zoe smiled, "Yeah, shoot."
Dave took a deep breath, "There's no need to beat around the bush. I like you!"
Those three words felt like they had been as heavy as a mountain, but the moment Dave spoke them, he felt relaxed. It was as if an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
He didn't even care what Zoe's answer might be… after all she was the daughter of a prestigious family, while he was a mere nobody. A big part of him didn't consider himself to be worthy of someone of such great importance as he still felt that Zoe Silvana was someone way out of David Ruster's league. Nevertheless he chose to still tell her what's been on his mind for a long time now.
Zoe's smile grew wider and a light blush had settled in. "Well, it's about time for you to say it. Any longer and I would have been the one to tell you."
Dave snickered and laughed, "Yeah, that would have been interesting to see. So wanna go out with me? From now on?"
Zoe chuckled; "Who wouldn't want to? Yeah, Davey, I'd love to."
Under the dim light of the room, the two of them got closer to each other. There was no need for anymore words between them. Their feelings were mutual and all that was left to say could be felt instead.
Dave's hand rose and slowly caressed Zoe's cheek. His heart was thumping loudly. For a moment he felt that Zoe might hear it. Still he tried to maintain his cool. He pushed her purplish hair back, revealing a red-faced yet daring Zoe. Her eyes were sparkling as she looked into Dave's eyes.
Dave couldn't resist such an alluring face, his heart started beating even faster, and he didn't even think about what he was doing anymore. Slowly, Dave pulled Zoe's face closer to his. Zoe didn't resist and took the initiative to get even closer to Dave.
Dave smiled and kissed her on the lips.
It merely lasted for a few seconds, but it had felt like an eternity to the both of them. Zoe's full lips were wet and had an addictive taste to them. It made Dave's palpitating heart beat even faster.
The two parted and began laughing. But Dave still wasn't satisfied, he leaned in again for another kiss, to which Zoe responded. The two of them were entangled in an embrace for several minutes.
Sadly, all good things have to come to an end eventually. Zoe's phone rang. She frowned, annoyed at whoever was disturbing her time with Dave. But seeing the number, Zoe took a deep breath and apologised, "It's daddy. It's late, and I gotta go home."
Dave was about to object. He didn't want Zoe to leave right now. Yet he also had a lot of respect for Dante Silvana and had to agree this time. "Alright, then. Let me at least walk you downstairs." Dave suggested and stood up.
Zoe held tightly on Dave's arm and giggled, the two of them walked out. Dave's face had turned a light shade of pink. He wasn't exactly used to the company of such a beautiful girlfriend.
The two of them stood in front of the elevator and waited for it to go up. Zoe was cutely kissing Dave's shoulder, while he looked at her with a tender gaze.
The elevator's door opened. There was a woman standing inside. At first, there was a surprise in her eyes. Then it turned into confusion then lastly into a sad smile.
"Vanessa," Dave said, regaining his senses.
"Hey, Dave, Hey Zoe. Guess I was late for the party." Vanessa said, her voice cutting as she spoke.
She handed Dave a basket of fruits and a bottle of wine before she continued, "I'll have to go now, sorry." Vanessa pressed the elevator's closing button.
"W-wait!" Just as Dave spoke, the elevator door had closed. Nevertheless before it had fully closed Dave spotted a single teardrop falling down Vanessa's cheeks.
"Ah fuck," Dave uttered in a depressed tone.
"I guess Lady Slayer Dave can feel a bit of remorse," Zoe said in a chuckle.
"Not cool. You and I both know Vanessa has had a crush on me since high school. I should talk to her," Dave replied and pressed the elevator button.
"Aren't you being a Casanova? No, you should stay here. Let's face it you won't know what to tell her and might make things worse. Let me be the one to talk to her Davey. You can go back. I'll take it from here," Zoe did not leave room for objection.
"Are you sure?" Dave asked knowing that what she said was true. He had never exactly been the emotional type as his long overdue confession could prove to anyone.
"Yeah, it'll be better if we girls settle this between ourselves first. Now go. We'll talk later" Zoe commanded and pushed Dave back toward his apartment. She hopped onto the elevator and pressed the button to go down. He watched his girlfriend blow him a final kiss goodbye as she disappeared.
Dave smiled at Zoe, but there was a sense of sadness in his heart. He never planned for Vanessa to see the two of them like that. He would have preferred to have told her directly and to tell her of his feelings. It was true that Vanessa had always been nice to him. He even knew from Ralph that she used to like him, but he never had the guts to talk or confront her about it.
His infatuation with Vanessa had disappeared long ago after numerous incidents, but apparently she never forgot about him. And this made Dave sigh.
He went back to his penthouse and went upstairs. He took a quick shower and went to the gaming room. He had one of the latest gaming capsules installed in there. It was late in the evening, and he wanted to sleep.
'Aight, let's get in and see how far in the sea are we before I go to sleep.'
Dave got into the capsule and logged in. He was met with the Conquest logo and welcoming message. Waving them away, Dave entered the game.
He was still in his Captain's Cabin, but the creaking and churning of the sea swayed the whole boat. Dave moved between the idle avatars of his party and got to the deck. The sky was dark, and the sea was roaring. Waves as large as mountains were moving past the Leviathan. The massive ship looked like a speck of sand in the vast sea.
"Captain! Welcome back!" Gafgar shouted. Both his hands were on the ship's steering wheel as he guided it through the waves. The Leviathan may look small compared to the sea, but it still coursed through the huge waves with agility and finesse.
"Is it already night time? That's strange. It's still 13:00. Why is it so dark?"
"We entered the Turbulent Sea. There are all sorts of clouds here, it's not uncommon for this are to be dark all year long," Gafgar explained. He didn't look too worried about this 'Turbulent Sea' which comforted Dave.
"Did we encounter any difficulties during our travel?" Dave asked as he moved to the ship's bow.
"Nothing so far Captain. Most Sea-Beasts fear Ghost Ships. And so far we haven't met with anything that could threaten our journey, rest assured Captain."
Gafgar was looking straight ahead as he talked.
"Good, how far are we from our destination?" Dave asked.
"We should get to the marker in less than a day. As soon as we leave the Turbulent Sea we should be able to see land," just as Gafgar finished speaking Dave spotted an opening in the dark clouds. Blue sky and light from the sun was chasing away the dark clouds of the sea.
"Oh, we're already out," Dave mentioned surprised.
"No!" Gafgar shouted, "HEAVE STARBOARD! SAILORS! THE DEAD SEA IS AHEAD!"
Gafgar spun the tiller as fast as he could. His orders echoed on the ship, and all the undead began working the ropes and moving the sails.
"What's going on?" Dave asked. He suddenly realized that it was not they who were approaching the opening in the dark clouds, but it was that opening that was expanding.
"Damn it! We need to run away from that area!" Gafgar shouted, he had spun the tiller all the way to the right and turned the ship around, he used the wind to push them away from the closing opening in the sky as much as possible.
But it was useless, the clouds were pushed away, and the churning sea had calmed down. The blowing wind had died down, and the flag ceased its fluttering.
There was not a hint of wind where the Leviathan was. It was as if everything stopped. The sea was as flat as a mirror.
"What's going on Gafgar?"
"We've been trapped. This is really bad. We'll probably die here. Damn it, after so much effort we'll be sent back to the Dead Realm," Gafgar took a deep breath and slumped down.
"Can you please explain to me what's going on?" Dave asked worriedly. He didn't like the feel he was getting from this calm sea. It was dreadful. Maybe the undead don't fear, but Dave was a human, and he felt that there was something very bad and dangerous in this dead sea.
"There will be no wind, no waves, and no life as one enters the Dead Sea. This place has been the end of many sailors. None who fall into the Dead Sea ever walk out alive." Gafgar said.
"Why is that? Just because there is no wind doesn't mean we can't leave. I mean I can just use the Great White and the Torab Serpent to pull or push the ship for us." Dave shrugged as it did not seem to be the real problem.
Gafgar smiled ruefully and asked, "Do you still sense the Shark and the Serpent, Captain?"
Gafgar's question brought Dave back to reality. It was true, the Shark as well as the Serpent had disappeared, and they were also greyed out from his summonable undead. If they had died to something it would have been strange but not impossible yet all of his other summonable undead were also grayed out. Naturally this included Tiny the Grave Lord as well.
"Now this is really fucked up," Dave summed it up perfectly.
"It wouldn't have mattered even if they were here. The Dead Sea isn't in the material world. This is a trap used to feed an ancient sea disaster. And now we are nothing but its food."
"Hang on, you mean, there is a creature living here that feeds on wandering ships."
"Yes, and I fear it just woke up," Gafgar he pointed forward.
In the distance, the calm water rippled and revealed an enormous pink membrane. This membrane was very noticeable with all the suction cups on it.
"Kraken…" Dave muttered
"Yes…The Kraken. The Sea God."
