Prince of The Abyss

”The army, eh?” Abygail chuckled. ”Why do I feel like that’s the most obvious thing fate could have come up with?”

Aether groaned. ”What does fate have to do with this? It was my decision, no one else’s.” But the woman didn’t reply; she just winked at the boy, pouring another drink for a customer... a drink that was just water, just like before.

”Sure, a decision everyone expected.” Aether’s eyes widened. ”Really?” He asked, curious. Had he been that predictable, he didn’t think so, if he was in their place he would have never though that he would come back to help them... ironic, but if he was one of them, and he saw himself come back to help, he would think that he was stupid, and say that if he was in his place he wouldn’t have done the same thing, and yet he had done just that.

It was weird, and he didn’t understand... he didn’t understand himself.

”I won’t stop you from joining. I know what you are capable of. Even if the enemy is stronger than you, you won’t win, but you will survive. But after all of this, no matter what happens, be sure to take a break, alright?”

She said, giving a drink to one of the customers, waving as he left for his table.

”A break?” Aether asked, confused. Crossing his arms, as he leaned back into his chair. ”No, thank you, I don’t see a reason why I should do that, my body is in perfect condition, what do you think I cannot take on Denial because my body will be injured from the war?” Aether scoffed.

Abygail raised one of her eyebrows as she rested her elbow on the counter. ”When did I say the break was for your body?”

This only made Aether more confused. What on earth could she mean then, if not the fact that his body would be injured? ”Elaborate, please?”

The woman chuckled, flicking his forehead. ”Your mind, it’s clear to me at least, it isn’t in the best shape. You’re young, it shouldn’t be this damaged.” She stood up, flexing her arm. ”Maybe when you’re old yet still strong like me, you can allow yourself to have a more messed-up mind.”

Aether rolled his eyes, but also let out a chuckle. ”Are you trying to say that I should act more like a teenager? If so, you aren’t the first, and I’ve tried just that. No hobby really was that much to my liking, maybe... fishing, ironic, since I hated it before, but it was still probably the best out of those I tried.”

Another man approached the counter, ordering some drink for himself and his friends, nudging Aether to join them, but he dismissed him, which saddened the man, but only for a second.

Abygail started pouring some drinks, but her focus was still on Aether.

”That’s to be expected.” She says, pushing the first drink towards the man. ”Let me ask you this: if you hated fruits for your whole life, you never were fond of them, you thought that they didn’t have any use, if you were to try some, do you really think your opinion would change? It’s rare for a human with a strong opinion and mindset against something to change their mind.”

Abygail turned to the man for a second. ”Are those two drinking?” She asked about Kade and Lucien. The man shook his head. ”They haven’t even touched their drinks, and they’ve hardly said a word; they’re pretty shy, eh?” He said while leaving with the drinks, after Abygail finished the last.

Aether waited for them to finish before continuing to talk.

”Is that supposed to be a comparison to my situation?”

The woman nodded, heading to him. ”It is, your head is in a mess, it’s not hard to see when for how much time we’ve spent together, actually, just today, if anyone saw you, they could see.”

Aether tilted his head, not impressed. ”How?”

Abygail chuckled. ”When you came in, you were pretty happy, weren’t you, more outgoing than I’ve ever seen you, and now here you are, cold and solitary, I mean, you let your friends go alone and have fun while you came to me. You isolated yourself from them and everyone else. You’re bipolar, almost like you want to have fun, but your body just naturally pulls out all its defences and takes the fun out of you completely. And if I had to say, it’s caused by past trauma.”

...

...

”That’s why I said you needed a break, your mind needs a reset, it needs time to heal. If you continue to fight over and over again, you will ruin yourself.” She reaches forward to touch his hair. ”The world is harsh, everyone knows that, most, just like you turn cold, do everything alone, that way the world can’t break them, not realizing they are breaking themselves.”

Aether looked at his hands for a second. ”I’ll think of it... after the war.”

She leaned back, stretching her back. ”If you say so, though I doubt you would listen to an old lady like me, since I just don’t understand why the younger generations do it? I haven’t been through what they are going through.” She winks.

Aether smiled, ironic for her to say that, when so many people listen to her. Though at the same time, she was right, most people going through hardship tend not to listen to others, especially those older than them.

”Now, do you know how I joined the army?”

The women chuckled. ”There is no army kid, anyone who fights against the monsters when they attack, is part of this so-called army. There are groups of people from the civilization from the outside world, from Veyr, and all the other islands, especially from Stromfell, but it’s not like you can join them.”

...

”Oh,” Aether said.

Then sighed, while smiling.

”At least I won’t have to listen to anyone’s orders or work with idiots.”

”At least I won’t have to listen to anyone’s orders or work with idiots.”

...

Aether’s eyes widened as he glanced at the women. ”What? You’re easy to predict.”

He frowned, wanting to get up, but as he did, there was some sort of tremor, making him have to clench the counter so he wouldn’t fall.

”Looks like another wave of attacks.” The woman said more seriously this time.

Aether’s eyes widened as he quickly turned to Kade and Lucien, who also understood what was happening.

Aether rushed out of the building with his companions following behind him. He gripped his blade as he saw the chaos outside; the whole of the city was in ruin.

He had never seen monsters like these. The sky was filled with these little squids that moved through the air, spitting dark liquid everywhere. And on the ground, there were a lot of monsters, killing people. Just now in front of him, a man was being eaten by a pack of small, palm-sized insects, their bodies fully black and with many eyes. They bit through his body at a fast pace, going through his eyes and mouth; it was a disgusting sight.

”Damn it.” Aether passed him, climbing on one of the houses, watching over the city. The amount of the street was overestimated.

Aether looked back at the Inn, where Abygail had also left the building. ”Is this normal?”

She quickly shook her head. ”No, this has... never happened before.”

Looking back, Aether saw others trying to fight, some he remembered, like those from the Harbor, or Veyr. But there were also Beast Humans, and many others that had probably come individually, but they couldn’t do anything.

The monsters were beyond strong.

The smaller and weaker ones took care of the humans, working in massive packs to kill them. There were these skinless hounds, they lacked any fur, and their stretched muscles exposed like wet red ropes. Their jaws opened wider than they should’ve, almost like they were completely broken, and their eyes... well, they didn’t have eyes, their sockets were empty.

But they weren’t the only thing dominating the ground.

Things like humanoid creatures with hunched postures and metallic bones just growing from their spine, the chains fused in their flesh, not attached, but fused, like they were one. And things like massive plant-flesh hybrids, with their bodies looking like tree trunks fused with muscles, bark layered over their skin, making natural armor. They had roots hanging from their limbs, cracking the stone as they dragged them on the ground.

There were also these small bone rats that climbed and ate bodies whole. And speaking of bodies, there were none, since they got eaten by these cockroach-like creatures that ate the whole body, including the bones, in a second.

Though, while humans had to deal with these, the stronger and bigger monsters were destroying the city

And among them stood an old friend of his.

The starved sentinel that had almost killed him on his first day in the Tides.