章 5: Worth a Shot

-What whale? Are you blind?- The voice asked Lian back.

"What do you call that, then? It seriously looks like a giant whale... well, a whale that flies," Lian answered.

-Sigh... that's not a whale.-

"Is that so? So, what do you call it?"

-No idea.-

Lian's eyes twitched a bit after that. "A flying whale it is, then." Other than the fact it had scales all over its body and a few extra fins, it was very similar in appearance to one. It's just that Lian couldn't tell why it was flying.

"Wait!" Lian noticed something. "Why did you ask me to hide if you don't even know if it's dangerous? I thought you were someone from this place."

-Me? I only came into existence when you were born. Well, in fact, when your soul was born and you were still in your mother's womb. How would I know anything about this place?- The voice replied.

"So you really are my crown, huh?" Lian pointed out.

-What? Did you think I was some spirit that happened to be passing by?-

Lian shrugged his shoulders in response before pointing outside. "There's a flying whale right there, so I won't doubt the existence of spirits."

-Well... that's true.-

"So? Why did you ask for us to hide?" Lian asked the same question again.

-Because of the energy coming from it.- Lian's transparent crown explained. -How can I say it? It's... it's dark... it just feels... dangerous...-

Lian sighed in response but didn't doubt his crown. So far, he only survived because of it, after all. Not to mention that he wouldn't go out to check the whale before having more information.

Duran, who was on his side, finally took the chance to ask, "So... what did your ghost friend say?"

Lian looked at him after that. "You believe me?"

"I might joke about it, but you're the most rational person I know. You might have heard it wrong before and thought someone was talking to you. However, since you keep doing it, I doubt you're making it up. You're the last person I think would really go crazy." They haven't known each other for so long for nothing, it seems.

Lian nodded, saying, "It's hard to explain, but there really is something like a ghost talking to me. I would let you listen as well, but I have no idea how to do that. The ghost itself has been talking a lot, so it's obvious only I can hear it." At the same time, he thought, 'Well, I'm the only one who can see the crowns, so it makes sense.'

"So, what did the ghost say?" Duran asked once again.

Lian pointed at the flying whale outside before replying, "He said that thing coming in our direction is dangerous. However, he doesn't know why. From the looks of it, this ghost or whatever it is was born the moment we arrived in this... world? Place? Is this even Earth still?"

Duran shook his head, telling him, "I don't think Earth has flying whales." Sure enough, Duran couldn't see the crowns. Everything else he could see and hear, and that included the whale. "Let's observe."

The so-called flying whale eventually stopped above the lake before opening its enormous mouth. Soon after, something that looked like a black hole appeared inside its mouth, sucking everything around inside.

*Wuuuuuuuuuu!*

"Shit! Hold on to the rocks!" Duran and Lian quickly held themselves on the rocks, trying to prevent themselves from being dragged by the suction power of the whale's mouth. Fortunately, they were under the gap of the rocks, and the rocks themselves were very heavy. Otherwise, the rocks would have flown up together with everything else.

"Ahhh!"

Carol, who was a little deeper into the gap, also held herself. She was a lot lighter than Lian and Duran, so her body was more easily affected.

At the moment, all three of them had their legs pointing in the exit's direction, using their arms to hold themselves in there. Duran and Lian almost lost their concentration for a moment, though. Since Carol was deeper inside the gap, her legs were hitting their faces, making it quite hard to hold. Not to mention... they were still all naked, so her... private parts... kept appearing right in front of them. Then again, Lian and Duran's little friends were also dancing with the wind, so they couldn't say anything.

Lian then tried to look outside while holding the rocks inside the gap for his life. 'That!'

He could see that from the bottom of the lake, the bodies of several people began to fly in the direction of the whale's black hole. Some were in the middle of disappearing, while others were still intact, which meant that they were alive.

In the end, the lake was indeed a good place to fall from the skies. Those people there were being sucked into the whale's mouth were the proof that they were lucky enough to survive... although it was useless now.

*Wuuuuuuuuuu! Wuuuuuuuuuu!*

Together with many trees, stones, and even some of the lake's water, the people's bodies disappeared inside the whale's mouth.

*Thud, thud, thud...*

Soon after, Lian, Duran, and Carol finally fell to the ground. Fortunately for them, the whale only did that for a few seconds. If it had continued for long, their arms wouldn't be able to resist the force.

Lian's group then took a peek outside, looking at the whale in the air. For some reason, it looked quite satisfied. "Is it enjoying the people's lives?" They couldn't say for sure. But in any case, none of them could do anything about the whale, so they stayed hidden under the rocks.

*Wuuuuuuuuuu...*

Eventually, the flying whale began to move away. Once it got far enough, Lian and the others stepped out to check where it was going. It didn't take long before the whale stopped somewhere in the distance and repeated the same thing it did a moment ago in another area. "Let's not pay attention to it for long, or it might notice our presence."

"What should we do now?" Carol couldn't help but ask.

Lian pondered over it for a bit before asking the crown. However, before he said anything, the crown talked to him first. -You don't need to speak if you want. As long as you will it, I can hear your mind. Otherwise, others might think you're really going crazy. In fact, it would be better if you told your friends that the ghost decided to leave you because it didn't want to stay close to the whale. Just say you have no idea where it went since you could only hear it to start with, not see it.-

Lian was taken aback for a moment but decided to give it a try. 'Why?'

-Yes, I can hear you.- The crown answered before continuing. -You know that very well. It seems like other than you, no one else can see their crowns. In order to keep this secret, it's better to not take any chances. We don't know what such knowledge could cause.-

'Alright, I'll do that. I'm used to hiding this secret anyway. But first, where do you think we should go? Do you have any idea?'

-Hmm... when we were falling from the skies, I felt the presence of a lot of crowns coming from the central sun's direction- The sky in this world doesn't have one, but three suns. -Perhaps there's a city or something like that there, or perhaps those were crowns from more people who came from Earth. In any case, I think it's worth a shot.-