049 [even a luna bella hides behind the clouds (the water in me)]
Whatever this memory he's been flung into is...it may not be so bad.
Paladin is on a sailing ship--a large, fine structure, and the skies are blue, the wind brisk; the crew seems cheery and hardworking--were it not for a sinking feeling in his heart and his awareness of the dark armor he wears, it might be ideal. As it is, thought, he cannot discern what, precisely troubles himself in the past so--cynically he wonders if it is all related to the murders he's done--but he can follow his past self's surveillance of the ship and the surroundings.
Asides from the crew, he can see people he knows here--one is the huge, burly monk, the other the pale young blond man, both have figured in his previous memories. However, there is one person, familiar, but he is certain he has yet to see her in any memory: A young girl, probably no more than six, playing on the deck. She has vivid green hair, and there seems something familiar about her, her face and her manner--in his first memory, he saw a woman with green hair this exact shade. Was this her daughter?
Though he wonders about this, his past self pays it no mind, instead, he's approaching the blond man. Apparently this man hasn't his sea legs yet, for he looks even frailer and sicklier than he did in his original memory appearance.
"Are you cold?" The little girl is sharing Paladin's interest in the blond man, giving him a piqued look. "You're shaking."
"No, it's nothing," he says, his melodious voice low. Paladin has enough time to decide he doesn't believe him before the wind changes--the direction, the speed, and the temperature, now much colder. It's not natural--it can't be natural--and so Paladin scans the horizon, alert and on edge. He doesn't have to look far, though, for much, much closer than he would have found comfortable, something is happening.
"What is that?"
A ripple in the water rises up, and becomes a massive, sliding coil. A forked tail easily the length of the ship or more rises out of the water, slaps the surface of the sea. There is a moment of silence before everything explodes--the sky, the sea, and the crew entirely.
"The Lord of All Waters!"
"Leviathan!"
The panicked voices belong to the sailors, but further shouting is hard to discern--the sky, just moments ago soft and blue, is blackened and rain comes down in thick sheets. The surface of the sea is violent, with waves that tower over the mast--though the captain barks orders that his men obey, and keep the ship itself upright.
Mostly.
The rolling of the ship's deck has set the little girl staggering and falling--Paladin does not notice this until she screams, and he looks up from where he attempts to keep his own balance just in time to see her knocked overboard.
"Rydia!" The monk does not hesitate, but instead runs towards the railing, and jumps off, overboard, diving in after her.
"Rydia! Yang!" He can hear his own voice, hear the fear and horror in it--but seconds after that comes another sharp, sickening thump. He turns, and he sees that the young blond has been flung sharply to the deck, and that the prior impact was his head against the wood of the deck.
"Edward!" Clumsily, for the ship is still rolling in the tumult, he runs for the other man, but no sooner has he reached his side than something grabs his attention again.
The serpent has made a repeat appearance.
Its head and neck rise out of the water, dark, the water sluicing from the scales more than enough to drown the ship. It looks down at the ship, Paladin would swear with human or greater intelligence in its eyes, and makes a hideous sound--his memory fades to white as the massive creature lunges for the ship, jaws agape.