The dreams only became worse once he buried his father. He was assured time and again by the Priest that the dreams would abate once all was taken care of and his father was placed into his proper eternal rest, but the oppostie was true. The dreams became more terrifying and heart wrenching with every passing night. It was getting to the point where Donghae no longer wanted to sleep. Behind closed eyes, trapped in his own hell, he'd see his father being devoured time and again. Begging him for help and accusing Donghae of abandoning him to the demon that plauged him. The demonic dragon itself took its own role, tormenting Donghae with his failures. Gleefully telling him how much it enjoyed devouring his fathers soul and would relish doing so for an eternity. His neighbors noticed his changing physique: the dark bags under his eyes, pale skin, limbs constantly wracked with tremors, and began to pull away. He didn't blame them. How could he when even he knew he was cursed?

Help didn't come from the priests, rather; it came firs in the form of an old woman. It was on one such morning; yanked from his dreams by another nightmare, where he found himself walking the empty roads, trying to exhaust himself once again; when he, or rather she, chanced upon the other. She had stopped in her tracks and made the sign of the cross over her before she approached Donghae. "You've a demon on your door." she hissed softly, eyes darting around, and Donghae had snorted at her, seeking to waver her away. She clutched his wrist, boney fingers digging into his wrist. "Hear me," she hissed, eyes boring into Donghae's. "It won't ever stop. Not till he drives you mad. It's you he wants, and it's you he'll be getting. You're on your way to the grave, and he'll take your soul."

"Who?" Donghae asked, as he tried to yank his wrist free, unable to do so, "A dream? You spout nonsense!"  he snarled. The woman only twisted the wrist in her hold, unrelenting not stopping until she'd forced Donghae to his knees. 

"Not a dream boy: a vision. A warning. He's done it before, he'll do it again."

"Who? What are you talking about?"

"The Demon king of the sea. If he wants your soul, he'll have it. Drive you to madness if he has to do it to, he will. He got my brother that way...he'll get you too...Your father...is just a means to an end."

Without another word, she released Donghae's wrist and began hobbling away. "How do you know these things!?" he screeched, tearing back to his feet, "Who are you to say such things?!" he roared. "How do you know about my father?"

The woman paused then, turning to glance back at Donghae over her shoulder, "How could I not? How can anyone miss the sign of a marked man and what is entailed?" she drawled, leaving Donghae standing alone on the dark road, fading away into the early morning.

A demon? A Sea King? Donghae thought to himself, could it even be possible?