Prince of The Abyss

The desert wind blew faster than it had in any desert; the sand flew around everywhere, getting in your eyes. Also because of the speed, it sometimes brushed against the skin hard enough to cut even a Seeker. That was why Lilith had covered himself.

After all, he knew this desert quite well; many did, because a famous Anchor was nearby... and luckily he knew the owner quite well; he was from a Celestial family really close to him, so he had no problem coming here whenever he had heard that Cain had been seen around the place.

The bounty had worked... at least, in a way. At first, many tried fighting the Fallen, not knowing who he was or his powers, but whenever they did, they lost, and the battle wasn’t the only thing they lost, but also their life.

It was also ironic, but at the same time, worth noting, that almost everyone who had found Cain had been a Seeker, even if there were Bearers and maybe even Harbingers searching. It made him question if something was going on...

’It just doesn’t make any sense...’

As these rumors spread, people stopped trying to find him themselves, and just told Elise about the places he was noticed. They knew they would only get the money if he was actually found near that spot later when they searched that place for him, but still, it was better than losing their life.

’This desert is where he was seen last time. I have no idea just what he wants to do. But I know that I have to find him... now.’

Even if fall had barely started, and Winter was still pretty far away, he had wasted all of summer searching, so he hadn’t even gotten the people for his party for the Wonderland Exploration... he was going to have to give up near the end of Fall, as much as he hated the idea. But the Expedition was more important; while there were many others that could search for him, not everyone could be the leader of one of the expedition teams.

True, the Kings had decided to scale up the whole thing, so now he was the only Seeker team leader. But still, he had been chosen when the only leaders were Harbingers or Bearers.

It was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, honors he could have been given.

’The place we are exploring has never been entered by anyone else... because it isn’t meant to be entered...

The Wonderland is infinite; it has been for hundreds of years. Whole generations have explored it without finding an end... and yet, now there was something to call the end, at least for humans.’

When it had been first discovered, people had been very skeptical; after all, it made no sense for there to be an end, after all, if the Infinite Library that was searched every day by who knows how many people never had an ending found, how could the Wonderland, that was infinitely bigger than it, have one?

’We are just going to have to wait for Winter to come and see just what that place is.’

Now he had to focus on finding Cain.

...

...

...

Lilith walked a lot through the desert; luckily, he had prepared himself with supplies, since if he hadn’t, he didn’t know if he could have gone this far... though he was losing hope. After all, after so much time, Cain was nowhere to be seen; it was as if he had never been here in the first place.

But... as he was losing hope, close to just leaving and waiting for more news, he found a story in the distance... and there was a human next to it...

He hastened his steps, as the body and face of the figure became clearer and clearer to him, until he finally identified him. ”Cain...”

The Fallen was just standing there near the story, as if mocking him, ready to enter any moment. So he started running, until his marks charged, and once the distance was small enough, he unleashed a punch filled with energy.

...

That Cain just caught with his bare hand. The energy burst away the majority of the muscles from the bone, and painted him in blood. But he made no sound, as if he had not felt anything... and staring at his hand, it slowly started to regenerate.

”You’re insane,” Lilith said. Trying to pull again, but Cain somehow held on, not letting him leave.

”Come on, you spend so much time chasing me, and now you want to get away? How rude.”

...

”Say, Lilith... would you mind challenging a story together?” The Fallen said, laughing, while his other hand moved onto the story, but not entering it yet, waiting for his answer.

Freedom gritted his teeth, staring into Cain’s eyes. If he didn’t enter with him, he would be letting him get away again; who knew how much time he was going to spend inside that thing. He didn’t have the time anymore to just wait for him; he had already made that clear.

But at the same time, if he entered with him, while he could fight him inside, he was just going to make him stronger, something he wished not to do; after all, Cain was already too strong.

Lilith bit his lip; it was a hard decision to make, but at the same time, one he needed to do...

...

He smiled. ”Let’s see just how good you are at finishing the book then; you seem pretty confident.” He had no idea what Cain was planning with this whole thing, but he was going to give him a very hard time inside.

”You would be surprised, also. While it’s not that hard of a story, don’t mess it up; it’s my last one until Enlightenment.”

Lilith’s face fell when he heard, but at the same time, it was too late; they were already entering the story, so there was nothing he could do now.