Abyssal Awakening

It didn’t take long for the food to be ready. And once it was, Noah begrudgingly sat up from Feris’s lap and went over to eat.

Though... After doing so, confusion struck since Feris didn’t follow.

The reason?

"Erm... My legs are numb." Feris smiled awkwardly as she couldn’t put any strength into her legs at all.

And the moment she stood up, static followed.

So much so that just a gentle gust of wind was enough for her to groan from the ’pain’.

Noah couldn’t even offer to help as moving her around wouldn’t help with her issue at all.

All they could do was move the meal over to her while she recovered.

###

Noah wasn’t sure what time it was but everyone was tired after dinner. With the stress of what’s coming tomorrow, they all went to sleep.

Except himself.

Waking up in the middle of the Night, he let out a soft sigh before stepping out of his tent. There he saw another who couldn’t sleep.

Feris sat near the edge of the pit, her eyes staring deeply into the jaws beneath them.

She wasn’t close enough to be dragged in by the pull of the jaws. Not yet.

But even then, this was far closer than Noah was comfortable with.

"Couldn’t sleep?" Noah asked, sitting down next to Feris.

Even though he wasn’t comfortable with this distance to the maw, he wanted to be there to pull her out if anything was to happen.

"Not really." Feris shook her head.

Usually she would be able to sleep without any issues.

But today? She couldn’t do so no matter what.

"Stressed about tomorrow?" Noah asked with a soft smile as Feris hesitated before nodding.

"I don’t know. I just feel like... Something might change tomorrow. Am I just being nervous for no reason?" Feris sighed, leaning on Noah’s shoulder

This made him jump slightly as he hadn’t expected such a thing.

Scratching his cheek, Noah shook his head.

"I don’t think it’s unfounded. The others are also nervous you know? I think we could all feel it."

It’s why tonight’s dinner was more effort than usual. Why Rika had her talk with Feris.

Everyone had a slight inkling that death might happen.

"Sorry..." Feris glanced down. She understood that everyone was here because of her. So any dangers they face would also be due to her.

"Don’t be. We all came here because we wanted to help you. Ever since leaving the pit, we’re basically family." Noah reassured. "And to us, family means not leaving each other in their time of need. When I needed help, the others and you were there. When they needed help, we were there too. It’s simply your turn to be the one who needs help."

Pursing her lips a little, Feris had an idea and stood up.

Pulling Noah with him, she started to jog away, confusing him in the process.

Yet no matter how he asked, she wouldn’t tell him where they were going.

But as they kept walking, it was soon abundantly clear where she was taking him.

And in that moment, it felt as though his body had shrunk back to the way it used to be. When the two of them were children.

"Mnm... It’s a bit abandoned but the rocks are still there." Feris smiled happily as she found her old favourite place.

The boulder she would sit on to observe the night sky while everyone else was sleeping.

And every time, Noah would check in on her to make sure she was okay.

Standing on the rock, Feris tilted her head back before creasing her brows.

Clouds loomed overhead, blocking the view of the night sky.

If this was still the past, she would simply give up for the Night after hoping things would change for a couple of hours.

But now?

Rubbing her hands together, Feris narrowed her eyes.

Void energy converged around her hands as she aimed for the sky and slashed.

*BOOM!!!

A deep echo rang out as the clouds were parted in an instant. A slash carved into the very sky itself, exposing the stars that shimmered above.

"Much better." Feris nodded.

While she may not have the same infatuation as she did when she was young, the sight of the stars from this angle was still breath taking.

Enough to the point where both of them stood in silence for a moment, simply enjoying the view of the sky.

Feris sat down and laid on her back.

Noah did the same.

"Do you regret any of it?" He couldn’t help but ask.

Even if he knew the answer, a part of him wanted to hear it from her mouth.

Had she stayed behind, she could probably dig out more fragments, gain power then excavate the core without much issue.

Instead, he took her with him on that day and Feris loved no different to a corpse for a period of time.

Feris thought about it for a moment then shook her head.

"I think... I would’ve always said yes." She admitted.

She loved the stars and the Void. That couldn’t change.

But she also lo-... She also liked Noah enough where she wanted to follow him.

Now that she was directly comparing the two feelings... She couldn’t tell the difference?

Feris could strangely hear her heart beat against her ears.

In an instant, Noah’s presence next to her had become extremely noticeable and even her face was turning hot.

She couldn’t even focus on the stars anymore, sneaking the occasional glance towards Noah.

###

"What’s wrong Feris? Did you not sleep well? We can delay things a bit if you had some trouble." Rika asked with a slight frown but Feris shook her head.

"It’s okay, we don’t need to delay things."

After watching the stars with Noah, they had gone back to the tent where Feris then spent the next couple of hours tossing and turning in bed before finally sleeping.

Unfortunately, this was also 2 hours before everyone woke up.

Not being convinced, Rika snuck a glance towards Noah to see if he was the cause. But unlike Feris, he looked perfectly fine.

’So it wasn’t a case of last minute wrestling arrangements.’ Rika thought to herself.

In the end, she simply accepted the excuse of being nervous. No point digging further.

"Let’s simmer down now. Get the annoying things sorted out before we can have some fun okay?" Noah clapped his hands, grabbing everyone’s attention.

With all eyes on him, he brought out an old map of the pit and make some adjustments to reflect the current state of things.

"As we all know, that thing in the middle is our main goal. It’s the last fragment that Feris needs. Unfortunately, it’s not a simple case of just teleporting over and grabbing it.

"And even if we did, we won’t be able to take it with us regardless. Feris’s preliminary scans revealed that there are several tethers connected to the main ’core’. Unless we resolve those tethers, that core will remain suspended in the air."

Drawing three circles on the map, Noah leaned back.

"Suffice to say, I think we all know that this is a double trap. The first belongs to the factions stalking around the place but not making a move.

"Yama found some of their traces yesterday and they’re far away from the main structure in case anything was to happen, but also they’re close enough to respond if someone else tried to one up them."

"That being us right?" Tobi sighed as Noah nodded.

"Feris has made several portals around the pit. They can be used for us or for them. When they enter, she’ll modify it to keep them in the Void or alternatively, to transport them elsewhere."

It was a safety fail safe that Feris had put into place since direct combat was off limits. With just the few of them, there was no way for them to fight against a huge group and win.

" What about the giant mouth on the bottom them?" Rika pointed at the middle of the map.

" Unfortunately that’s trap two. The moment we undo the tethers keeping the fragment suspended, it can be safely assumed that it’ll probably plummet into the mouth. Whatever is in there is also Void in nature and probably competing with Feris for the fragments." Noah answered.

" And our counter will be for Feris to be focused on the main fragment while we resolve the issue of tethers. Provide support while also keeping enemies away, it’ll be rather stressful." He smiled apologetically.

In response, Feris shook her head.

" I can handle it. I’ll also give you guys some help if something happens."

" We’ll move as one group first. Evaluate the dangers of each tether. If resistance from the other groups prove to be too strong, we’ll back off and regroup. But if it’s doable, let’s then split into two teams to quickly resolve the other two tethers. Teams will be Rika, Yama and Tobi on one, I’ll take the other. Feris will focus on giving me assistance unless you guys run into trouble."

" If you want some private time you could just say so." Rika revealed a smug grin as Noah coughed awkwardly.

But their plans were quickly confirmed and each of them prepared to move out.

Weapons were sharpened.

Armour was checked.

There’s nothing else to do except recovering the final fragment of the Void.

Taking a deep breath, Noah led the way forward.

In the distance, a certain butler and lady watched in silence.

She brought the teacup to her lips with anticipation in her eyes...