Prince of The Abyss

How long has it been since he last left his Kingdom... quite a long time. Funny, but at the same time, this was an important meeting. He and the Caelurea Kingdom sure weren’t on good terms, after all, with their war. But with Wonderland acting strange, it was important to stay together, and their King, knowing they were losing, was definitely not against holding back the war and working together.

Though he had to say, the Kingdom... looked very different from what he remembered; it wasn’t so vibrant anymore, not as happy as it was before. It made him wonder: was it the war, or the so-called loss of their prince, and angel at the same time.

He knew how tough it must have been, losing his own son, and his Kingdom to lose someone they held really dear; he knew that if it had been Iris instead of Aether, he would have been in the same position, but at the same time, the war needed to happen, and he needed the best for him and his people. And it had worked.

Plus... Aether wasn’t dead. He was alive, and a student in his Kingdom, and hopefully soon, someone he could command, who knew that the boy would turn out to be the Abyss’s Vessel. He wasn’t even sure his dad knew.

’Losing your Wife and Son... you’ve had a rough time, huh, old friend?’

Silas Vaeloria walked slowly through the castle of the castle, only stopping once he reached the throne room. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open. Seeing his old companion yet again.

”Alar, how are you?”

The King of Caelurea stared at him, his emerald eyes staring into his own golden eyes. The tension was obvious, but Silas could only smile through it.

”I see you aren’t so ecstatic... You look quite bad. What happened?”

Alar looked to be in quite the bad condition; his eyes looked really tired, and he looked like he had aged a lot in a few years, something that for a Breaker wasn’t possible. Was it stress, was it depression? He didn’t know, but he looked rough.

”What do you think? What are you here anyway?”

Silas tilted his head. ”Oh, but you don’t have to be so mad, were partners now. And for why I’m here, well, I was thinking of taking these whole Wonderland expeditions more seriously. I’m going to be making teams next season and sending them inside, wondering if you are going to do the same.”

Alar sighed, waving his hand. ”Of course, of course.” He didn’t look so happy about it. ”I’ll just send one of my children or something.”

Silas’s smile dropped, before he frowned a bit, but hardly noticeable.

”So you really call them your children? These... kids you’ve adopted after losing Aether-”

Before he could finish, Alar summoned a dagger and threw it by his ear.

”Don’t even dare to say his name. You don’t deserve to say it.”

Silas didn’t react; he just stared into the eyes of his old friend.

After losing Aether, and after the war began, he had heard of the road Alar had gone to, lonely, since his daughter had gone to travel through the world to get stronger; he had taken concubines under him, women to fill his sadness with, and it wasn’t just one or two, but quite the number, and the castle was filled with their children.

He didn’t doubt that a lot of the women were using him, his sadness for their own children, and he knew that most didn’t even love their so-called father, only using his name and status.

That was why he called him out.

To call them his children, the same as Aether and his daughter?... He probably didn’t realize just how stupid that was. Aether, his son, he loved that much, the pure being he was, since he wasn’t oblivious to how the boy was before the Withered... to think he was on the same level now as these rascals.

”I’m just saying, Alar, and don’t take it as disrespect towards your deceased son, but don’t you think he wouldn’t have wanted this? You adopting these... I don’t even know what to call them.”

Alar smiled. ”Maybe he wouldn’t have wanted, or maybe he would; he loved his sister, so he would have probably loved them too. But at the same time, it’s not like we can ask him, can we...” He turned serious. ”And whose fault is that, huh?”

Silas sighed. ”I wonder, by the end, will you regret this? I get that I’m not in your position; both my children and Wife are doing fine. But I knew that the Alar before would have hated what you are now, what he had become. But it seems like there’s no convincing you; the old you really is gone. And I guess it is my fault, so the only one to blame is me.”

He waved. ”Farewell, Alar; see you next winter. Hope you don’t forget it, since I know that around that time you will be mourning the death of your son, Aether.”

...

...

...

Aether sneezed, wiping his nose.

’Is somebody talking about me or something? I’ve been sneezing a lot.’ He shrugged as he listened to the melody of a bard nearby. The Merchant Ward was actually quite fun... even if he could only watch, because he had no money...

’Well, summer is close at least... but still, don’t they give money to their students?’ Aether stood for a second to think. ’But then again, their students are nobles... with rich families, so why would they pay them... but I’m not, couldn’t they have made an exception?’

As he continued to walk, looking at the many shops, his nose caught the smell of something he couldn’t let go of, so he followed it until he was met by a window... and beyond it stood a beautiful desert he hadn’t seen before. It looked to be a boiled sweet cheese dumpling made from fresh cottage cheese smothered in a layer of sour cream.

...

How he knew all this, he had no idea. It just came to his mind randomly.

But it looked really good... too bad he didn’t have any money-

”H-Hey..”

Aether turned his head around to see a girl standing behind him. Looking at her clothes, she was also wearing a uniform, with a Blue Rose on it, of course, meaning she went to the Academy and was probably around his age. She had blonde hair just like him; if she also had blue eyes, you would have thought she was his sister, but no, she had brown eyes.

She looked nervous, like hesitant to approach him, which made him think she was either from his class and had been scared by his introduction, or just a shy girl from the Academy who might not even know he was from the Withered.

’I actually hope it’s the former; the latter would be worse because I would have to see how she reacts to me being from the Withered.’

Aether turned with all his body towards her, revealing the Withered Rose on his uniform, but the girl didn’t seem that surprised. ”You are Aether, right? From... class? You remember the one where you introduced yourself... and threatened the teacher... even if it was your first day and first class?”

’Maybe I did go a bit overboard if I think about it... eh, not like I can go back, no, can I?’

Aether nodded. ”That’s me... so um...” He stared at her. ”What do you want?” He said bluntly, which only seemed to make the girl even more nervous.

”W-Well, I saw you staring at that desert... do you want to buy it? Do you... have the money to buy it?”

Aether tilted his head, confused by her question. ”Definitely not. I probably have some money somewhere, but they are Withered money, so not enough to buy this.”

The girl’s eyes lit up a bit. ”Oh... then I can buy it for you if you want?”

Aether’s eyes widened, confused. ”Why on earth would you ever want to do that?”

The girl staggered a bit... ”Well, I wanted to be a friend... I saw how the other reacted, and I know you must be lonely... plus you are kinda pretty...”

He would have declined... but not now. Not only did he need to make friends for the summer so he had someone to team up with, but at the same time... he really wanted to eat this dessert... like really wanted to eat it.

”Um sure... if you insist.”

The girl smiled, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the shop.

He sat at the table while she paid for the dessert. It was a bit embarrassing, but still. She looked to be paying two bronze Blue Rose coins... which is twenty Withered bronze coins.

The girl put the dessert in front of him, and as she did, he instantly began eating.

She watched, standing in front of him, before she randomly asked.

...

”So um... do you have a girlfriend?”

Aether dropped his fork.