Prince of The Abyss

The Fallen was nowhere to be seen inside the Withered. He had searched for weeks, and there was no one. But if he wasn’t inside the district, where could he be? He would never go back inside the Blue Rose, as strong as he was, in a place controlled by the King, and with so many powerful people ready to be used, it was a dead wish.

So then... where had he gone?

The answer was obvious, but definitely not one he wished to say.

’The Wonderland.’

Cain was smart; he was never going to stay in the same place forever, plus, it wasn’t like he didn’t want to get stronger; after so much time of being locked up, he probably had a deep hunger inside of him for it, to just fight.

The bad part about this was obvious.

He had gone into the Wonderland; that was it. That was the bad part.

...

A place so big it would probably take the end of the world for him to get to the end. And only on one side... how was he supposed to find someone in such a large place? It was impossible to do so. At least alone.

That is why he had come to the Blue Roses anchor, so he could ask the people around if they had seen the boy anywhere; that way, he would at least have a clue. But after a whole day, he had no luck; no one had seen a boy that matched his description.

He wasn’t giving up, but it was scary... after all, it was like finding a needle in a haystack that is probably infinitely long.

"I’ll just continue tomorrow."

But just as he was about to leave, a voice called out to him.

"Lilith, is that you?" Iris said, laughing.

Freedom turned around with a smile on his face. "Iris? What are you doing here? Have you not entered a story yet, or have you already taken care of it?"

She nodded happily. "Yeah, just came back, got four sync from it, but it was more to get into shape, you know, practice. What about you? I didn’t see you when we were making teams. You said we would go together." She pouted, which made Lilith chuckle, ruffling her hair.

"I have some business to deal with, so I’m not actually taking part in it."

Iris’s eyes widened, but then she sighed. Recently, she had gotten used to it. She wasn’t even going to ask what the work was, since he would definitely not tell her, for whatever stupid reason.

"I also met Sena not too long ago?"

Lilith tilted his head. "She’s participating? Interesting, I know she still needs the sync, and while she can’t raise in rank that much because she doesn’t have any powerful abilities. It’s still good to get some, but still, she had skipped the last practice season if I remember correctly. Who did she team up with?"

Iris clapped her hands together. "I don’t really know, since I left before her, but I saw her and Aether standing together for a while, so if I had to guess, probably him." Then she got an idea. Raising her finger. "Speaking of it, what do you think of Aether? I think he’s a nice guy... plus It’s good to slowly unite the two districts."

...

’Aether... I see, I should have expected it, so she’s really that interested in him. Must be something really important about him that she wants to get to the bottom of; I wonder what it is.’

Lilith stared at Iris while leaning against the wall.

"You want to hear my thoughts about Aether?" He scoffed, a smirk appearing on his face. "He’s a... let’s say complex person, even for himself." There was a pause, a long and completely silent one, where Lilith’s smile faded.

"He’s... manipulative, cocky, selfish. I don’t like him; I can respect his abilities and strengths, but not him as a person."

Iris’s eyes widened, not expecting his answer at all. After all, with her, Aether had been really kind and never took any interest in using or manipulating her; after all, he had the opportunity when she asked him to join her inside a book, and yet he declined, distancing himself from her.

"Really? I think he’s a good guy; I don’t see where you got all that from. Maybe because you haven’t spent that much time with him, I spent enough in the Withered to know him a bit."

Lilith sighed, pushing himself off the wall. "I can’t deny that you’ve met him first, and spent more time with him... but you’ve never seen his true face...

...

I’ve seen Aether at his worst, and at his best. I know who he is on the inside better than he does. He’s selfish, extremely cocky; he took the weight of the Withered on his back, their revenge, and yet, instead of repaying it, look at him now, inside the Blue Rose, almost like he has completely forgotten."

Iris didn’t respond, after all... it wasn’t a subject she knew so much about, ironic since she thought that she would be the one who knew more.

"And he thinks the same about me. And I won’t deny it; I’m not some saint, but at least I know who I am, what I am. He doesn’t. I can see that since we fought, his mental health has improved, but he’s still not complete; he doesn’t understand himself. And others have to pay for him.

...

I despise him... if I wasn’t for the King and the fact that his powers could benefit me, I would not even hesitate to kill him."

Iris chuckled nervously, regretting she had opened up this subject... but she couldn’t have known that there was this much tension between the two of them.

"I see... You really don’t like him, huh... But maybe he’s changed, and if not, then he has time to change. And he’s in the best place to do that. The Blue Rose! So we don’t have to worry."

...

’But we do have to worry...’ Lilith thought. ’Aether has not yet found himself, so he can be influenced, shaped... but we’re not the only ones after him...

If Cain gets to him first... things won’t end well at all.’