Prince of The Abyss

’Alright, calm down, Aether, it’s not like your dangeling from a height that could kill you...’

Aether smiled nervously, looking down at his feet, seeing the distance between them and the ground. He had fallen from many heights, like that time with the staircase in Frozen Crown, or just recently with the end of the world inside the desert.

But both were infinite; this wasn’t.

It wasn’t like he was going to have time to find a way to survive while he was already falling. So he needed to think of something.

But he was... out of ideas.

What could he use...

His ability was useless; it wasn’t like speaking to some shadows and learning the exact height was going to help him in any way. He also couldn’t use any skills, since how would making a rock repeat his words help?

He could make it repeat his scream, for when he feels that way, it was more dramatic, but it was better if he didn’t fall in the first place.

So it came down to relics.

And... he didn’t have many actual helpful relics.

His cloak wasn’t going to help him anyway. I mean, it could mask his face, and it couldn’t be stained. The last time he checked, none of those helped someone survive a fall. The least it was going to do was make it so his clothes were stained by the blood, and also hide his face so people didn’t know who the dumbass who fell from the palace was.

He also had a brush so he could... paint the palace while he fell or something. He could leave a trail so people know exactly how he died. In what direction he fell and stuff.

Then he had a... rock.

’Yeah, I really do want to cry right now.’

A rock of the highest class in history, a rock that shared the class with humanity’s strongest relics, which, as I said, you could count on one of your hands, and still have fingers left, and I mean fingers, not finger left.

Now, on how a rock could help him, no idea, maybe he could throw it at the ground to see how much time he would be falling. Or something.

Then he had Voidpiercer.

Who could be useful... but he wasn’t sure of it.

The blade had already helped him survive the initial fall, so maybe it could also help him get down. He had an idea of how, but it was not only very dangerous, but also really, really long.

And he didn’t think his body was going to hold.

Either way, the last relic he had was one that made his hair extend.

Normally, he would say it was useless, but it was the main thing that saved him just now, I mean, what was he holding on to for his dear life, yeah, his hair.

So really, it was actually useful.

He had a plan on how to use it, but it was sadly the same plan he had with Voidpiercer, so just like he had said, it was very dangerous, a last resort, but at the same time it wasn’t, since it required a lot of power, so he had to decide if he was going to do this.

The idea was that if he pierced the wall, maybe it would be enough for him to break it and be able to enter the tower again, yet he was scared it might trap him inside. The walls lower down looked stronger, so it was scary. He wasn’t sure he could break them. So another plan would be to pierce the wall, but not break it, leaving Voidpiecer deep inside the wall, where he would grow his hair and wrap it around the blade, and as it grows, he could slowly lower himself. It was just that... the blade would probably cut the hair, so it probably wouldn’t work.

Then what was he supposed to do, just hope he could survive the fall?

He frowned, looking down again.

’Damn Denial.’

He would be dreaming of the day he killed him, when he dug Voidpiercer deep inside his throat.

...

It was times like this he realized just how useless his abilities and relics were, I mean, he only had a blade, he didn’t even have armor! Just a cloak that didn’t really offer him any protection, there was no difference from protecting himself with it and a towel, if it was the same class as it.

I mean, he was weak and vulnerable, shouldn’t the first thing he got be an armor? That way, he could actually protect himself.

But no, instead of having an armor. He had a blade, a rock, a brush, a cloak, and a relic that made his hair bigger.

He knew that he was able to manage with them until now, but I mean... for how long did he have to live with the bare necessary? I mean, if he hadn’t gotten Voidpiercer, he wouldn’t have anything to fight. And it wasn’t like he was like Lilith, where he didn’t need a blade; his body wasn’t already a weapon like his was.

If he survives this and is able to become a Seeker, the first thing he will do is buy armor; he didn’t care if he got it from the Withered, the Blue Rose, or the marketplace of the Codex, but he was going to buy one.

Probably from the Withered, since he wasn’t allowed in the Blue Rose, and since the prices in the Codex’s marketplace were... let’s say inconvenienced for some like him.

But enough of if he survives, he actually needed to survive this.

He sighed.

”Do you have anything useful to use...”

Aether waited for a response...

”You talking to me?” The Abyss responded after a whole minute.

”Who else!” Aether said, gritting his teeth

”I mean... I could try something, I just don’t really know if it would work because of your power... You could just give me control, and that way, I can get us down easily.

Never again.

He wasn’t going to give him control of his body; he wasn’t stupid. Even if he got them down, the guy wouldn’t stop until they were out. I mean, last time he gave him control, he killed a whole religion!

But at the same time, he had to admit there was no wait of him to get down any other way.

...

”What about partial, just like that time with Lilith?”

...

”You want to use that form?”...

”Yes?”

Was there something wrong with that form? I mean, he wasn’t really concentrating on it when he was fighting with Lilith; all his focus was on killing the guy, not seeing what happened to his body.

”Is there something wrong with it?”

”No... forget it. Let’s do it.”

Aether took one last breath. ’Alright.’

...

Abyssal matter started to run up his body, wrapping around his legs and arms, spreading like the branches of a tree. It covered his neck, stopping at his black eye. It wrapped around his chest, making a circle near his heart...

And... soul, yet, suddenly, as the Abyss met his soul, something started to grow inside.

”What are you doing?” Aether said, confused.

The Abyss didn’t respond instantly, but after hearing the panic in his voice, he knew something was wrong.

”Nothing! I have no idea what is happening.”

Aether paled as the light slowly started to grow bigger and bigger.

”What do you mean you don’t know? This is your power!”

”I know!... It’s like, a force is reacting to me, a power close to mine.”

Aether clenched his chest as he started to feel a deep pain coming from his soul, an unbearable pain. One... he was very familiar with.

’Soul attack?...’

But how, the Abyss didn’t appear to be doing it, and neither had he stabbed himself with Voidpiercer.

Aether’s mind slowly started to blank, yet, before he blacked out, he could feel his arms let go of the hair, making him fall.

...

...

Aether awoken in a white room, he gasped for air, as the pain from earlier lingered inside his mind. Even now that it was gone.

And not only that, he let go, he was falling at the moment!

’Damn it-’

Aether stopped, looking in front of him, seeing a being standing there.

It wasn’t Denial.

And it wasn’t the Abyss, nor Voidpiercer.

It was something else.

Aether’s eyes widened as he stared at the being...

”Who... who are you! And what do you want from me!”

A being made out of pure shadows, with wings hanging at his sides, and two horns on his head. With two white glowing eyes.

It also held a blade in its hand, a rapier.

Looking at its hands, it saw that they were chained, the chains being attached to something up, but looking at the ceiling, in the distance, everything became black, so you couldn’t see the end.

...

’A power close to mine...’ Aether repeated the Abyss’s words.

...

”What are you?”