Iberia used to have a sea. That is, until a catastrophe called the Stillness swallowed all that water whole.
All that's left now is a desert of white salt and bone. And beneath it, something still swims β something where the line between what was once human and what was once beast has blurred beyond telling.
In this desert lives a drifting swordsman caught by pirates. A man who claims he's never wanted anything β but by the end of this story, there's exactly one thing he wants, more than anything.
1. Escape Attempt No. N, Failed Every Time
Isidro is held captive by Juana, captain of a pirate fleet. He keeps trying to dig his way out through the floor of the camp, but Juana always scoops him back up without breaking a sweat.
The fleet includes the chef Javier, the boatswain Titch, and a mysterious creature Juana picked up somewhere called 'Nene.' Everyone just calls Isidro 'the kid.'
When a sailor mutters that Juana is a 'crazy old hag,' Javier chokes him quiet on the spot. Isidro only learns later that Juana took in young Javier and raised him after he lost his mother.
If you want out of here that badly, fix the compass.
β Juana
The root of it all was an old gold coin Isidro carried. Juana recognized it instantly β the token of a long-vanished school of alchemy.
Isidro swears he knows nothing about alchemy. But every night in his dreams, a man teaches a young boy how to swim and how to practice alchemy, together, by a lakeside.
2. A Fortnight Earlier: Came to Learn Swordplay, Got Bitten by a Monster Instead
Rewind the clock, and it turns out Isidro is actually the Rhodes Island operator 'Thorns.' Ignoring every message from his colleagues, he'd been wandering Iberia alone in search of a legendary swordsmanship said to withstand the raging seas.
Near the uncharted 'Pale Sea,' he's rammed head-on by a massive Brinescale. The one who finds him unconscious is Pascuala, a thieving girl fond of picking through corpses.
Because of something Pascuala lifted from Isidro's pocket, a newly appointed Enforcer of the Iberian Tribunal, Anastasio, holds a blade to her throat. Isidro, barely conscious, intervenes with a broken sword and saves her.
In the village, Anastasio is trusted enough that everyone greets him with a handshake. Tending wounds and preaching gently, he earns the villagers' genuine gratitude.
The two fugitives hitch a ride on a passing Brinescale's back and flee to Aaron Village. The villagers, seeing Isidro β whom they call an 'Γgir person' β just look frightened and slam their windows shut.
An old man in the village tells them the swordsman who created that style quietly returned half a year ago, and died. If they want to know his last words, he says β half-joking, half-not β they should go dig up his grave.
3. Turned Grave Robber, Turns Out to Be Famous
Curious about the swordsman's dying words, Isidro digs up the grave β and gets caught red-handed. The village magistrate Silver tries to have him hanged, alongside Pascuala.
Which do you want to keep, your right hand or your left? Choose.
β Javier
Just as they're marched to the gallows, Javier leads a pirate raid to rescue them. Only after leaping off a cliff and landing on Juana's salt-ship sail, spread out like a parachute, does Isidro find himself back in pirate hands.
Meanwhile, in the village, Rhodes Island operators Elysium and Weedy are searching for the missing 'Thorns.' Silver quietly threatens them, claiming he's colluded with bandits and stolen villagers' corpses.
Seeing the bandits' bodies hung from a pole outside the village, Elysium falls silent for a moment. Realizing he'll die whether he stays with the bandits or returns and is framed as one of them, he finally leaps alone into the salt desert.
4. Hired as an Alchemist, Assistants: A Thief and a Best Friend
Juana becomes certain that the old coin and swordsmanship Isidro carries closely resemble those of her former student, 'Aulus.' In the end, Isidro is put in charge of the fleet's shipboard alchemy workshop.
Elysium, who'd slipped into the village, comes to find him, and the two reunite. They're the kind of friends who call each other 'brother.' Pascuala, meanwhile, pushes her subordinate 'Redfur' in as his assistant, instead of herself.
It'd help if your fingers were as thin as a probe needle.
β Isidro
As it turns out, boatswain Ruth secretly asks him for a favor: just cause enough of a ruckus during alchemy sessions, fail on purpose, and get Juana to give up on it.
Isidro doesn't answer, but his expression grows complicated. Even he doesn't quite understand why he chose to stay instead of running.
5. Hunting a Brinescale, and a Wound No One Saw on the Captain
The largest Brinescale in the fleet's history is spotted. Juana insists on personally disembarking to command the hunt.
Boatswain Ruth was uneasy about this hunt from the start. A Brinescale that size, she warns, is always the leader of a pod β for one to appear alone is an ill omen in itself.
Right before dying, the Brinescale goes berserk and drags Juana far away on its back. Everyone assumes she's dead, but the next day she strolls back in, ribs broken, cool as ever.
The crew's all on edge lately. I can't afford to look weak in front of them.
β Juana
On the way back, Tribunal forces led by Silver and Anastasio lie in ambush. A scuffle breaks out over the hunted Brinescale, and Javier refuses to side with the Tribunal.
There's an old rumor among the crew β that Juana once struck a deal with a sea monster and got a long life in exchange. A story half of them don't want to believe.
6. The Seaborn, and a Hundred-Year-Old Goodbye
Juana takes Isidro to a cave and shows him a truth she's kept hidden all this time.
The Seaborn trapped inside the cave is actually 'Cruz' β Juana's old captain and lover. He sealed himself in here a hundred years ago after fighting other Seaborn, and Juana, unable to bring herself to kill him, has kept him locked away alone ever since.
Juana asks Isidro to perfect his swordsmanship and, in exchange, end Cruz's life in an honorable duel. Listening to her request, Isidro recalls his old fear β that any relationship, in the end, only devours both people in it.
In the end, Isidro grants her request, and hands over Cruz's sword as a keepsake.
May your soul be freed from this salt desert, riding the clouds and rain back to the sea. Farewell, my love.
β Juana
7. A Trusted Lieutenant Draws His Blade
As the compass repair drags on, Javier's faction decides to finally hand Pascuala over to the Tribunal. Desperate, Pascuala grabs everyone and begs for just one more week.
You have a compass β why not chase real fortune like your ancestors did? You call yourselves pirates, but none of you have even seen the sea!
β Pascuala
The promised week passes and the compass still isn't fixed. In truth, Isidro, afraid of damaging the original, had deliberately been building only replicas β and failing on purpose.
Even if the odds were one in ten thousand, I'd have bet everything on that single chance.
β Juana
Hearing of the failure, Javier finally crosses the line. He strikes a deal with the Tribunal β hand over the compass and the fleet's location, in exchange for Juana's freedom alone.
But Anastasio never intended to keep his word. Before negotiations even end, he raids the fleet, burns the ship, and captures Juana. Watching the flames rise from across the salt desert, Isidro turns back without a moment's hesitation.
8. The Frozen Ghost Ship, and a Second Chance
Isidro, Titch, and Elysium return, rescue Juana, and flee aboard the hundred-year-old wreck, the Conquest's Declaration. With no water or food left, they all huddle under a single blanket to survive the night.
Even then, Isidro keeps working on the compass. Juana, for the first time, tells him a true story about the sea, and asks if he'd like to come along.
As punishment for their betrayal, Javier and Ruth are forced to cooperate with the Tribunal, tending to injured missionaries. Javier, once a chef, refuses to go anywhere near a kitchen anymore, saying he doesn't want to cook a single thing.
Meanwhile, in the village, Silver β killed by his own subordinates' betrayal β mysteriously walks out again. Thanking Anastasio for making him the Tribunal's collaborator, Silver quietly reveals his own ambitions.
Elysium quietly makes the rounds through the village, gathering a communicator, vitamins, waterproof boots β one item at a time. She says nothing to Isidro about it, just slips everything into a single bag.
9. Skull Canyon, a Man Who Judges Himself
The Conquest's Declaration flees the Tribunal's pursuit into 'Skull Canyon,' a place no one is said to have come out of alive. As Juana risks her life at the helm, Isidro tries to finish repairing the compass belowdecks.
A grenade round sets the alchemical device off, and Isidro grabs the Corasonics bare-handed. From that moment, the compass fuses to his arm, becoming part of his flesh and blood.
Inside the canyon, Pascuala, carrying an injured Titch on her back, ends up alone before the pursuing soldiers. Once dismissed as 'just a petty thief,' she now picks up a blade herself and fights back.
In the middle of the canyon, Anastasio reappears for one last duel. He asks Isidro what he truly desires β because only by knowing that, he says, can a man resist death with a clear mind.
Fine, I'll admit it. I want to go out to sea. I want to see it with my own eyes, and conquer it myself.
β Isidro
Meanwhile, aboard the ship, Juana and Javier fight their final duel. Javier, admitting defeat, begs to be killed β but Juana only smiles, offers him her congratulations, and lets him go.
Afterward, Each to Their Own Sea
Javier and Ruth sell off the fleet's remaining salt-ships, split the proceeds among the crew, and scatter to build new lives. Javier plans to open a restaurant somewhere, and Ruth decides, for the first time, to think for herself about where to go.
Pascuala takes a small fortune and slips in among a crowd of strangers dreaming of striking it rich in Columbia.
Elysium and Weedy return to Rhodes Island. Weedy, tempted by the Conquest's Declaration's structure, stays behind a little longer to help with repairs.
The Conquest's Declaration raises its sails again, with Isidro as its new captain and Juana as first mate. Following the direction pointed by the compass fused to his arm, the crew finally sets sail for the true sea.
To that distant place.
β Isidro
Just then, Nene β thought long dead β finally swims up and climbs aboard. Juana hugs Nene as it licks wildly at her cheek, delighted that they can all go together after all.
And somewhere beyond the salt desert, the headless remains of Anastasio still twitch. Nothing left in it but the desire to live, tangled together with the remains of a Seaborn, doomed to wander the land forever.
On land that was once a sea, someone still struggles to want nothing at all. And someone else, wanting something with all their heart for the very first time, sails on toward the horizon.