Prince of The Abyss

Chapter 345: Fractured Mind

Aether staggered awake from his slumber, clenching his chest. He patted his body to see if he was still alive. And he was, his body was real, it wasn’t a nightmare.But then what had happened? He was alive... what had he done before, though? How did he get here? Yet, as he was trying to figure out what had happened.

A woman walked in. She had beautiful, long blonde hair, falling down to his shoulders. The woman had those red lines on each part of her face. Yet he couldn’t recognize what they were saying, or who she was.

The woman leaned forward, checking his forehead, before sighing and clapping her hands.

"What is your name?"

The woman asked, not bothering to even smile. Aether looked at his hands, then at the women. "Aether."

The woman smiled weakly. "Well, Aether, I’m Kresis. I saw you dead on the field, and decided I wished to treat you, as I could still feel something among all the other corpses. A fire... meaning somehow.

You were both alive and dead at the same time."

Aether froze for a second, almost as if the woman’s words had triggered something, something that caused his memories to come back to the surface. She finally remembered what had happened... yet he really wished she hadn’t.

Aether put his head in his hand, frowning as he remembered everything...

"I’ll let you think this over... I’ll be in the other room if you want more information and more stuff related to what is going on." She said, getting up on her feet and walking out of the room, letting Aether alone, yet again.

He stared at the wall for a good second; everything felt fake for him for whatever reason, as if he was living in a fake world, one that was a creation, with a creature. Well, there was a big chance this world was one created, after all, it was part of the Infinite Library, it was his trial.

...

Aether got up on his feet, trying to make his way to the door, but when he tried, he fell to the floor, rushing back against the bed. To spend some more minutes just staring and then trying once more. Like a small loop.

He sighed as he put his head on his shoulder.

"You seem pretty upset. Why?"

...

Aether frowned. "What do you mean by why? Are you retarted or something? Isn’t it damn obvious why I am sad!" He quickly said, turning to the Abyss, as if it had been all his fault, as if he had been the one to stab everyone in the Tides. But he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to think rationally at the moment.

"I get that you’re mad, you lost a lot, but this won’t-" The Abyss tried saying, but was caught up by Aether, who looked to not take his advice pretty well.

"Shut up! Genuinely, just shut that big mouth, I don’t want to hear anything that comes out of it."’

The Abyss sighed, not liking how things were going at all. "You don’t have to be rude to me, you know. I wasn’t the one who killed them. Just stop, and think for a second, it doesn’t make sense why you would go after me."

Aether stood silent after the Abyss’s statement, before he let out a chuckle.

"Do you think I care? I’ll let you know that I really don’t care about it anymore at the moment. I’m done."

The Abyss sighed, putting his hand on Aether’s shoulder. "Be reasonable for a second, if you get stuck on characters in a book, you won’t survive."

Aether quickly pushed it away. "I don’t fucking care if I die, then so be it. I’m done with everything." He said, putting his hands on his head, "I’m done with everything. I really can’t do this anymore; my mind is in a state where I don’t even know my own emotions, who I am, or what my goal is."

He chuckled. "And what if they aren’t just characters in a book, as you call them. What if they are more, since they sure feel like humans to be, who can feel emotion and choose for themselves, heck, some seemed more human than I am."

This time, the Abyss didn’t reply; he knew it wasn’t the moment.

"How the heck can I get the rebellion back, or avenge them, if I can’t even protect the others around me. If everyone I met just dies, what reason do I even have to get stronger? What does it fucking get me?"

He let his hands fall to the side. "I’ve fought for so long, trying my best, but I really don’t know what for anymore. What can I do? What do I want to do? I’ve bargained with myself for so long that things would change if I just continued and tried to get stronger, but just how long do I have to wait?! Everyone will die before I get strong enough, so what even is the point in trying?"

He clenched his fists. "When I lost everything either way, why should I try? But at the same time, what else do I know to do? I’ve chased the same things my whole life, not even knowing what I truly wanted, and I still don’t. Wouldn’t it just be easier to end things here? If I just cut my own head off, I won’t have to worry about anything else, right? Why shouldn’t I do it now, when I have nothing?"

...

The Abyss sighed, crossing his arms. "It’s all your fault, everything that has happened, it may be all your fault. Their deaths, the fall of the City, everything that has happened as a Reader. It’s all your fault... but what if it is? If you were to just kill yourself now, what the heck were all those sacrifices for? Don’t tell me you’re that much of a pathetic coward, to just let all down all the people that have given their lives for you."

Aether stiffened for a second, but the Abyss didn’t give him time to respond.

"I get it, Aether, your mind has been under constant strain for such a long time, the time where it finally broke was going to come, and that time was now. Every single bad experience of yours that you have kept inside of you is just pouring out. All your traumas, insecurities, and regrets, all at once. It’s a lot to handle, and I don’t doubt most would have done the same thing in your place.

You may think you’re mature, or at least that you consider yourself older, more responsible, and someone who has to take initiative in every group, carrying everything on your back, but as you see, this only makes things worse for you. You need to understand that not only does the body need breaks, but also the time. And also.

You need to learn to enjoy life."

The Abyss jokingly flicked his forehead.

"That cold and solitary personality of yours, you really need to get it out of your system. I gett that if a defense mechanism of yours, one that doesn’t allow you to make relationships easy, to make yourself less enjoyable for others, that way they don’t attach to you, in fear they may lose their life because of their connection to you. You think that not having anything is better than losing something. But at the same time, you need to understand that the ending is not the only thing that matters. Sure, as tough as it is to lose something, the memories and good moments you make with them are the thing that helps you get over grieving."

The Abyss walked over to his, standing shoulder by shoulder. "The world is harsh, everyone knows that, most likely you try to get away from everyone else, trying not to let the world break them, not realizing they’re breaking themselves... good line, that woman really knew her stuff." The Abyss chuckled after repeating one of the lines Abygail had told Aether in their talk.

Aether looked down, playing with the ring on his fingers. His eyes were quieter, there wasn’t anger... but also not anything burning inside, they were as hollow as they got. "I’ll... need time. For everything."

...

Aether took the ring off his finger, throwing it at the wall. Which made the Abyss smile. ’Done binding your soul to the dead? Finally letting them rest, alongside letting yourself be free?"

He didn’t respond. With how much was on his mind at the moment, and the condition it was in, it was hard to think. He didn’t know what he wanted to do, what his goal was. All he knew was that he needed to finish his trial, and he would sort everything out after.

He slowly walked over to the door, his hand lingering on the wooden knob, before he opened the door.