Prince of The Abyss

...

Aether opened his mouth, then closed it again, trying to find his words, but he just couldn’t. As much as he tried, nothing came out of his mouth.

Seeing this, Avius laughed. ”Can’t make up an answer, huh? Is it because you think that anything you say will be false?” Staring at Aether, he watched his nervous expression with great amusement.

”You know, Aether... a lot of people think the same thing: that the Abyss is, in fact, not dead. And is inside the Blue Rose, studying as a student.”

Tapping the desk with his finger, Avius didn’t once take his eyes off him. ”I’ve met him, or rather seen him, the Abyss; you don’t look alike. He was taller than you were at that time; he had another color of hair and eyes, so I was against it at first. But I had my doubts; after all, there were many strings connecting you to him.”

...

”And then you just suddenly died and somehow came back to life. We joked about it, but that isn’t something just anyone can do... the only people I’ve known that have been able to do so, or be close to that, are Vessels of the very same God we’re talking about.”

He sighed. ”As much as fate and coincidences are funny, is it really just a coincidence?”

Avius leaned forward to be close to Aether. ”So come on, answer: what was the Abyss like? If it’s not you, then you can talk about him without lying, and have a pretty complete opinion from spending so much time together.”

Aether clenched his fist, trying not to show himself. He really did not want to reveal himself to him at all. Who knew what he was going to want to do with him if he really learned who he was.

”I...”

...

Aether relaxed his body, his back digging deeper into his seat, as his hand opened. He didn’t smile; he just stared Avius in the eyes.

”I hate the Abyss. With all my life.”

Avius froze for a second, turning to look and see if he was really telling the truth... and he was. That was the first time he had lost eye contact with him, and Aether knew what that meant; his answer hadn’t been in his plan.

Turning back towards Aether, he saw a smile on the boy’s face.

”You asked what I think of the Abyss, in all my time with him. That’s my answer: hate.”

Avius studied him for a second before laughing. ”I didn’t expect you to hate yourself, you know.”

”Who said I hated myself?” He smirked. ”I think at the moment I love myself more than I’ve had in a while. I hate the Abyss, not me.”

Avius quickly looked again to see if he was lying, but he wasn’t.

The wizard didn’t look back at Aether; he paused for a second, thinking of something. His plan had completely fallen apart, so now, he was trying anything to make another. He had tried to make him admit it without just saying it outright. But it seemed like he couldn’t, so he was going to have to go all out.

Turning back, Avius sighed.

”Aether, are you the Abyss? Are you its successor?”

...

Aether didn’t look away; he just stared into Avius’s eyes. There were no words between them. Just waiting for him to finally respond.

...

”I am no one’s successor but my own.”

...

...

Avius turned his head towards the man to see the verdict...

”It’s... the truth. He isn’t lying.” The man said, a bit hesitant, not knowing how this might influence him and his job.

Avius turned to him, just mindlessly staring.

”Now, can I take my leave?” Aether asked, clearly impatient.

Avius didn’t respond instantly; only after a bit did he come back to his senses. ”Um, yeah, go ahead, I’ll send you your blade in around 2-3 days.”

Aether didn’t wait any longer, getting up from his seat and walking towards the door, only stopping to look at Avius one last time before leaving.

The moment he was out, he sighed in relief. Clenching his heart.

’I really thought that was it.’

He had been lucky, really lucky. He wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but it had done exactly what he needed to. If Avius had asked a smarter question, he didn’t think he would have been able to get out of it.

When he asked the first question, he was terrified; he had no idea how to respond to the question... but then he remembered something. He had his opinion on the Abyss.

...

He didn’t consider himself the Abyss; while he knew that Vessels are seen as their Gods, he didn’t think so himself.

The Abyss for him was that figure that kept messing with him, the thing that he held nothing but hate for.

But while the first had scared him most, the second had been the hardest, since he had asked directly, and as much as he tried, he knew himself that he was the Abyssal Vessel; he couldn’t deny it, as much as he tried.

...

But what he could deny was that he was its successor.

...

That was the mistake he had made; he had thought that just like the other Vessels, his ideals and goals were the same as his Gods. But it wasn’t even close to that. He had no intention of being its successor.

He had responded truthfully to the question, but only to the second half. But since Avius considered both the same thing, he took it as an answer for the whole question.

While there was someone to tell if he was lying, there was nothing forcing him to tell the whole truth, or how to respond. And he took advantage of that.

’He still learned that I have a utility Affinity, but at least the important stuff I was able to keep to myself.’

...

’The less that know I’m the Abyss, the better.

After all, I don’t plan on keeping him dead forever.’