Trails of Intertwined Stars: Chapter 74 {Part 2}

~Chapter 91: Black Water Pass~

Before Leora's foot could touch the surface of the water, Jiu urgently tugged her back. Leora stumbled into his chest, wide eyed, his arms instinctively wrapping around her tightly; his expression strained in worry. Leora snapped out of her daze, glancing at Jiu, startled.
"Don't go there," Jiu stated, firmly," It's dangerous."
Leora glanced at the rock, realising it spread across the whole bit of the ocean, separating the murky waters from the light ones; neither water being allowed to penetrate another.
"What...what is this place...?" Leora whispered.
Jiu grimaced, holding her tightly, scared she'd walk out there again," You remember how I'm a Devastation Level Ghost? There's only three others after me?"
Leora nodded.
"This is the domain of Black Water, or his actual name is Mavros Thymono this place is called Black Water Pass, it's his domain."
Leora's eyes widened, looking back at the still water. If that was true, why did it feel so familiar to her? She glanced nervously at Jiu, concerned as she saw he couldn't stop staring seriously at the waters, that his expression seemed darker, like he remembered something himself; his grip never wavering.
"Is he a bad person?"
Jiu shook his head," He's actually the only Devastation Level Ghost I can tolerate. He...helped me, in the past...I am indebted to him, deeply. No, what troubles me is this place. It's past. The dangers."
"What is this place?"

"Black Water Pass is a prison," Jiu gripped Leora tighter," The worst kind of prison; submerged under this waters, with no hope to ever escape it. And Mavros is the warden. But that's not the only issue, it's the water itself surrounding the prison. It's dead. Any wood will sink if it touches it, the only wood that will suffice is coffin wood. That's why the water is so cold, so...still. And in these waters, is his pet; a beast. A giant, skeletal fish that attacks people, controlled by Mavros; whilst I may be on okay terms with him, if I stepped foot in his domain, I'm certain he'd attack me no matter it, I can't imagine what he'd do to you. Not to mention, there's little ones two, with mossy teeth that are lethal."
Leora shivered at the idea that a massive skeletal fish was probably slinking nearby, hearing their every word. By that logic, wasn't Black Water too? Did he know everything he needed to know about them already? Then again, if he was somewhat nice, maybe that wasn't an issue.
"The prison is called the Nether Water Manor," Jiu continued," It's a gloomy place, filled with misery and isolates people from the world they knew. When you're there, Black Water Pass is the only world you'll ever know."
Leora clutched Jiu's arms. If that was the case, why did she recognise this horrible, cold place. Suddenly, her head surged in a sharp pain, she gripped Jiu tighter letting out a groan between her teeth; she would have collapsed at his feet, was it not for him holding her beforehand.

"What's wrong?" Jiu asked, concerned.
"Headache..." Leora muttered.
Jiu led her back to the other side of the rock, worriedly, sitting her down and stroking the hair back from her head.
"The air is too still there, and you've probably inhaled too much sea water," Jiu murmured, getting her comfortable," Just rest for a bit, okay?"
Leora grimaced, massaging at her temples, before glancing weakly at where the seals had been, trying to change the subject.
"They left, they probably went back to swimming."
"Probably," Jiu muttered, absently, though Leora could tell he wasn't really thinking of the seals at the moment.
Leora watched him, weakly, for a few moments; feeling the throb of her headache lessen gradually as she took deep breaths of the fresher air.
"I wonder if Mavro gets headaches like that frequently..." Leora smiled weakly, attempting to joke.
Jiu glanced at her, and forced a weak smile for her sake," Probably, he's always been very grumpy and cold. He's a shut-in; a darker version of Pouvoir, I suppose."
Leora laughed weakly, trying to imagine that; a Pouvoir that was more grumpy and darker? That was hard to imagine.

"You should invite him...after all of this..." Leora mumbled," Maybe he'll appreciate it...you do owe him..."
Jiu raised an eyebrow, rubbing the back of his neck," I don't think he's the type, he rarely leaves Black Water Pass. It's only in recent years he's started to do so more. I think you're just saying it because you're curious what he looks like."
"Guilty as charged, you caught me," Leora giggled, raising her hands in submission," Though, I'm interested. You said he's only recently started to leave more? How come?"
"Monitoring state of affairs," Jiu yawned, bored just thinking about it," He's probably worried about some kind of threat; most likely from the Underworld or Heaven."
Leora's eyebrows raised," Worried about Heaven?"
Jiu nodded, thinking about the best way to phrase it," It's hard to summarise, but...do you remember how Yang Yun and Wang Qianjin felt about me? You see, Gods place themselves above all. They already don't adore Generals of Calamity, as they see them as lesser, but they can respect that they monitor the Underworld so Gods don't have to and can focus on the living. The reason they respected me less than, let's say Kaolin, for example; is because I'm also a Devastation Level Ghost. There's no order in that role, it's about bringing destruction, going against Heaven for your own reason. Gods don't like us for that reason, and will constantly spy on us out of fear of order being disrupted. It's likely a God has gotten on Mavro's nerves, and he's just up to something to stop them. He has a poor temper."

Leora hummed, thinking about it, she supposed it made sense; if she was a Devastation Level Ghost like Jiu or Marvo she'd probably also get really annoyed having a high and mighty God constantly pestering her.
"It's getting late," Jiu glanced at the sky, frowning," Let's swim back to shore, Maru should be back soon. Here, get on my back."