Prince of The Abyss

Aether walked back inside the main room of the dojo, where he was waiting for him.

”Looking good, eh?” The man said, giving Aether a thumbs-up. Of course, he would praise him; after all, it was his own work he was wearing, so he was technically praising himself.

”Yeah, yeah, calm down with the compliments, you might fall in love with yourself.” Aether chuckled, walking up to the man.

”You sure you want to leave so early? You can stay a little longer if you wish.” Kael put his arm on Aether’s shoulder, speaking with a more serious tone.

Aether shook his head. ”I made my decision already, I’ve already wasted too much time...”

...

The old master sighed, taking his arm off his shoulder, and walking away to the same chest where he had taken out the mantle he had gifted him.

From inside, he took out some sort of compass.

”This will help you. The rapier had a very strong connection to its master, to the point where its wielder always knew where it was, and so I built this compass that shows you where the pieces were. I was unsure if I wanted to do this, since it required a fragment of its master... but I knew that there was no way you would find it any other way.”

Fragment of its master? What the heck did that mean? Did Kael take a piece from the dead body of the original master of the blade and put it inside the compass... so then was he technically holding a dead body part?

’This place never stops to surprise me...’

Aether put the compass into his pocket... and smiled.

’This mantle is the best...’

Before, with his cloak, he had nowhere to put things, so he was so happy that Kael had put some pockets on this thing; it made things so much easier.

”Thanks, I won’t disappoint... but if you mind, I have a request...”

The old man tilted his head, surprised.

”Sure... what is it?”

Aether glanced at his wrist, where the bracelets gripped him like a curse.

”In my time in the Arena, I fought a boy my age, and of course, since I’m still standing here, I won our fight... he had these on his hand.” He raised his arms to show his master the bracelets. ”His family must have put a lot of effort into making them. So I wanted to give them back, but I don’t know who they are, where they live... I wanted to ask if these names rang a bell.”

Kael stepped closer, taking a good look at the names written on each bead of the bracelet. If there was someone who would know who they were, it would be him. Truly, if this didn’t work, he was going to have to carry these with him until he found them.

The old man smiled and backed away.

”I do.”

...

...

...

The house was small.

Not the warm kind of small. The kind that felt temporary, even if it had been standing there for years. A home that housed people who weren’t lucky in life, who hadn’t gotten the same privileges as others.

The walls were made from uneven wooden planks, each one a different shade, like they had been taken from other broken things and forced to fit together. It was clear that the house was made for them to survive, instead of looking pretty.

Some boards didn’t sit flush, leaving thin cracks where light and cold air slipped through without resistance. He couldn’t imagine how their winter was.

The roof sagged slightly in the center. A few tiles were missing, replaced with dull metal sheets pressed down by stones. It looked like it had survived many storms, not because it was strong, but because it refused to fall.

But what mattered was that it survived, not how well it had worked, or how pretty it looked afterward; that isn’t what you care about when you are barely getting through.

The door was thin and worn, its surface scratched and faded. The handle hung just a little too low, like it had been repaired more than once. It didn’t look like something that could stop anyone determined enough to push.

A small window sat to the side. The glass was cracked in one corner, lines spreading across it like a frozen web. Instead of replacing it, someone had carefully patched it from the inside.

There was no fence.

Just a narrow patch of dirt in front of the house where a few stubborn plants struggled to grow. Not enough to feed a family. Just enough to try.

’Well, there’s no going back now.’

Aether stepped forward, knocking on the door gently, since he was scared it might fall if he knocked too hard.

And he waited for a while; it almost seemed as if the house had been abandoned, but after a while, someone did open it.

It was an old woman who had a bright smile on her face as she opened the door.

Yet as she saw him, her smile fell, completely, all the enthusiasm she had before this, completely vanished as if her hope had been completely broken. Her eyes also felt hollow, like anyone in the lowest island, but hers had light before this.

He knew why this was.

She probably thought it was her son, after all, who else would be here, knocking on their door other than their son; that was why she had been so happy, but when she saw that it was someone else, her hope had really been crushed.

Aether sighed.

”My name is-” But before he could introduce himself, the old woman cut him off.

”Just... tell me. Is he dead?”

Aether clenched his fists. He had known he would have to tell them the truth, but really, how easy it would be to lie right now, to tell them that he was, and just leave.

...

”Yes, I was the one who killed him.”

...

...

...

The woman’s eyes dimmed further as she sighed.

”Don’t worry... I don’t hate you... A part of me already knew he was dead since he didn’t come home when the whole Arena fell. Plus, I knew that it was a possibility that he was going to die when he decided to go. You have to kill or be killed... so you don’t need to apologize.”

This... had not been the reaction he had expected, but at the same time, it made sense. The woman was right, if their son was really alive, he should have come home after everyone else went home, when the Arena lost itself.

Really, his coming here only killed the last part of her that still believed that her son was still alive.

...

”I am sorry.” Aether looked at his wrist, taking off his bracelets. ”I also wanted to return these.”

The woman’s eyes widened as she saw them, the last gift they had given to him. Her eyes started to tear slowly.

”You didn’t have to... they were a promise, that he would stay alive... so it means nothing now.”

She didn’t mean it; he knew she didn’t. The tears flowing from her eyes, he knew she was trying not to break down; he knew that they mattered a lot to them.

”Still, I want you to have them.”

...

”Thank you...” She said, closing the door behind her, but from inside, he could hear her true self... the crying, the grieving.

Everyone had a different reaction to death... take him for example, most of what he was doing now was because of the death of his rebellion.

And the thing is that you can’t choose how to react, no matter how much you try.

Yet, as Aether was about to leave, he heard someone call out to him.

It was a boy who looked just a bit younger than him, like just a month or two, if he had to say.

With black strands of hair getting in his ruby eyes, he could see a flame burning inside of them, shallow, but with great potential to burn with might.

”Are you the one who killed my brother?” The boys said, breathing heavily, as if they had rushed to get to him.

”I am.” Aether blurred out, turning to face the boy.

...

...

”Then please take me with you... I beg you, please train me. I promise I won’t be an inconvenience.”

...

”I just want to get stronger... that way I can protect my family and provide for them, that way none of my siblings have to sacrifice themselves while I do nothing.”

Aether stopped moving, caught off guard by the sudden situation he found himself in. He expected to be cursed out and threatened, but instead... someone was asking for his help, for his teaching, was he even worthy of teaching someone else?

”If I do nothing, then everything will stay the same. I don’t want to see my family keep struggling...

So please... let me be your disciple.”