Prince of The Abyss

Aether sighed, his hands gripping the shovel as he cleared the snow around the dojo. It was a tiring job, one that made his arms and back scream. Even if he was young, if he continued to do this, he was going to have some back pain.

And yet he knew he couldn’t decline the order from the old man; if he did, he wouldn’t be respecting their deal.

He knew that for the time being, he was fighting so that later he could learn and be stronger, yet at the same time, he questioned if it was worth it; after all, he didn’t know how long this was going to take.

Sighing, Aether put the shovel down and lay down next to it, on a spot he had cleared the snow from. The ground was still cold, but still, he was too tired to keep standing. His breath was heavy, ragged, almost as if his lungs couldn’t get up.

He didn’t know why, but he didn’t feel all that well.

The color of his skin was paler than ever, as if there wasn’t any blood flowing in his body, except there was, as his nose and ears were bright red; he really felt like a certain randeer at the moment.

His lips were blue, which reminded him of his past when he ate a lot of blueberries, except he hadn’t eaten any at the moment.

The muscles in his body felt weaker, almost as if they had completely exhausted every inch of their energy, as he felt unreasonably hot, even sweating; he didn’t know if it was because of the effort he had put in, or because of another reason, but even when touching snow, he felt hot.

His eyes didn’t see all that well, he didn’t know if it was because of the white snow, or just because he was tired, but his vision was a lot blurier then usual.

...

His body wasn’t normal, and he definitely didn’t feel well.

His skull felt as if it was burning, as if someone had lit up a fire inside of it.

...

He felt as if he was slowly losing himself.

...

...

When Aether awakened again, he was standing in his bed. He wondered what had happened; had it all been a dream? Had he not actually woken up and shoveled the snow away from the dojo... was he really going to have to do it again?

Yet as he was about to stand up, Kael stopped him from doing so, putting his hand in front of him.

Aether glanced at him, and the man smiled.

”You just woke up, and you already want to get back. Do you hate sleep or something?” Kael chuckled.

But Aether in no way did he find that joke funny, maybe because he still didn’t feel that way, hell, he felt worse, he had many blankets over him, and yet he felt unreasonably cold, as if he was standing in freezing water. So, of course, he wasn’t in the mood for jokes.

He frowned, slapping the old man’s hand away.

”That hurts, you know? My burns haven’t fully healed.”

Aether rolled his eyes, preparing to stand up, but Kael stopped him again.

”You’re sick, so just stand down; if you push yourself, it would just get worse.”

...

Sick?

Had he... ever been sick before? He didn’t remember getting sick as a child, maybe because he had many maids to help him avoid catching a cold, with their affinities healing him. Plus, it wasn’t like he was walking out in a t-shirt and putting in a lot of effort. He also surprisingly didn’t catch a cold in Frozen Crown, but maybe it was because for most of the time he was standing near a sun, and he also had Praise healing him.

And he never got sick in the Withered... or he did... one time, but he had, just before he met his master, but that was because of how much he had cried. Not because of something like cold weather.

But I guess he has been overdoing himself lately, quite funny, that doing normal chores got him sick, and fighting didn’t. I mean, he didn’t get sick when he fought the Queen of Frozen Crown, a damn Breaker, but he did get sick from shoveling some snow and cleaning.

It made him respect the maid who took care of the castle more, how they did all of this in a place much bigger than the dojo, and were still able to stay healthy, for all he knew.

Aether sighed, lying back.

”I guess it’s also my fault.” Kael blurred out, which surprised Aether. ”I should have known not to put a young boy who just got back from the Tides to do all the jobs around the dojo. So im sorry.”

An apology had not been what he had expected, I mean, if he were in his place, he wouldn’t have apologised, and he didn’t think Kael would do it, so it was safe to say he was surprised.

”Apology... accepted?”

He wasn’t used to people saying sorry, after all, in a place like the Withered... apologizing felt like it was forbidden.

Kael stood up with a gentle smile on his face. ”Well, I’ll leave you to get some rest, you’re going to need it. And don’t push yourself for the next few days.”

...

Not to push himself... that was easier said than done.

Aether closed his eyes, looking around the room through the world of the soul. Using Rhythm, after all, he was going to be able to do anything when he was sick in bed, so he could at least try to get to his goal of seeing the world of shadows, even with his eyes open.

This time, he tried holding one of his eyes closed while he kept the other open. But even now, it didn’t work; he could only see it with the eye that was closed.

But why.

He didn’t understand it; he had been trying everything, but it just didn’t work... but why?

Why did it work when his eyes were closed?

That was a question he felt was important to answer... and really, the only answer he had was because it helped him concentrate on the souls, but at the same time, he was able to also concentrate when he had them open, so it wasn’t because of that.

Rhythm allowed him to gaze beyond the physical world, and into the world of souls and shadows... to have that world whisper the real world to him instead of him seeing it.

When he got Soul Sense, he got it as a way to get rid of the real world, to be able to see without it, not with it. So was that why? Because until now, he was trying to use a world that was supposed togheter with the world it was trying to replace?

Then what was he supposed to do?

...

What if... instead of using Rythem as a way to replace the real world and all his other senses, he instead used it as an extension of his vision, instead of trying to see through both worlds, instead of trying to make them two different beings and wanting to use both of them, instead he used the real world, and the world of the shadows a way to strenghten it. It made sense.

After all, that way the two worlds stop clashing with each other, instead of Rythem whispering to him the real world, and it helped the real world speak to him.

...

Aether turned his head, where he noticed a shadow standing in the corner, it titled his head as it saw him staring at it.

Not knowing that at that time. He saw it, but also its soul, with a white outline marking it clearly in his eyes; it was impossible for it to hide from him, even if it stood in the darkest places.

He had finally... done it.

[Your skill {Rhythm} has evolved]

[You have gained a new skill {Eden}]

To think that after getting Soul Sense, it would evolve two times and in such a little time. He wouldn’t have believed that he would go from finally getting a second skill after so much time to evolving it twice.

[Eden]- A perfect world, one where you see everything so clearly, a world where you are its soul master, nothing shall hide from you. Your eyes are absolute, and you can choose what you want to see and what you wish to be oblivious to. This skill shall allow you to see both the real world and the world of souls at the same time.

And the name... was it a coincidence? He didn’t think so. It had to be related to the Abyss’ thrid name, the one he had given to him. Fallen Eden.

It made him wonder, to have that name, wouldn’t it have to be a skill newly created?

But if that was the case, did that mean that not even the Abyss had it?

...

Since the Abyss showed him the true power of Soul Sense, he made him close his eyes.

...

So not even the Abyss held this skill.

[Eden] huh...

A skill I created.