Prince of The Abyss

Sena walked over to the railing, watching the night sky. "I still don’t understand how you can see so clearly. Is it an ability, something from a relic, or are your eyes just gifted?"

Aether shrugged his shoulders, chuckling. "Don’t know."

Sena sighed, turning back at him. "What? I didn’t hear what you said."

Aether opened his mouth, but then closed it. "That trick will work on me." He winked.

Who knew that ability was so easy to get around? Of course she heard him; she just wanted him to repeat the same lie, while she used her ability to make his lie a truth.

She laughed. "Whatever, it is pretty rude; you know a lot about my powers, and I know none. Only those chains, but I don’t know if they are your manifestation or an ability."

Aether walked over to her, flicking her forehead. "Not my fault you revealed everything on the first day we met, just because a string said I was connected to the future. Isn’t it obvious? When has the Vessel of the Abyss not taken a part of history? It wouldn’t have gotten covered up if it were unimportant."

Sena rolled her eyes, pushing him away. "That hurts, you know." She said, massaging her forehead. "And yeah, I get it, but then why haven’t I seen it connected to the other Vessels, not even Praise. And you still haven’t answered my question about what you think those things are."

Aether chuckled. "So we are fair; you didn’t answer my question about whether you knew about the Fallen." He tilted his head. "So why should I answer your question?"

Sena stared at him as if he had said the most absurd thing ever. "Because my question has benefits for both of us? Plus, my silence was an answer for you. You’re smart, so you can figure out the answer to a question even if it isn’t a yes or no."

Aether’s eyes widened before nodding. "True, I did figure that you have at least met him, but nothing else... so then I guess I can answer your question, but not explain. You’re smart enough to figure it out, right?"

...

"Yeah, I think we are the reason they appeared; what they are exactly, not sure."

Sena leaned forward on her toes, fixing one of the pins in his hair. "You’re annoying, but I guess it was never really a hard question to answer; I just wanted to test you."

She closed one eye and stuck her tongue out as she examined how the pins stood in his hair, before backing away.

"We walked for a while before and didn’t see anything like this, and since the original characters had also lived in the forest without dying even in their youth, and we know they would have been attacked by the monster because we were, the chances of that creature existing before killing the guardian were zero, at least in my eyes. And so it’s obvious killing the guardian made them appear."

Aether stared at Sena, satisfied with her deduction, before smiling. "Yeah, of course." He walked over to the railing, shaking it a bit, before it fell. Then turned back to Sena. "And by my guess, these monsters are subordinates of the voice."

"How do you know?" Sena asked, a bit surprised by his sudden theory, one that had no proof.

But even Aether was confused, not at his theory, but how Sena didn’t immediately catch on. "It’s obvious, Sena; we’ve read so many books in our lifetime; this isn’t the first time we’ve seen something close to this. The Guardians appeared to seal the voice again, so if these things appeared when one of them dies, then they had also been sealed with the voice, because they were evil. It’s basic logic to connect the two of them. Even without any proof."

Sena had opened her mouth, trying to argue with his logic, but she then closed it. "Makes sense actually. Just didn’t think about it that way." She scratched the back of her head.

"Because when Readers enter a book, we tend to try to think as much as we can as the characters, to put ourselves in their shoes, not as Readers, so naturally, we tend to overlook things that if we were reading the story as a book, we would have figured out easily."

...

"For example." He smirked. "The other regions won’t have these monsters. Do I have any proof? Yes, and no. The only thing I have is your deduction, where you said that the monster had appeared after the guardian died, so it means that since in the others they are alive, there are no monsters inside their regions."

...

Sena frowned, wrapping a purple string around his neck and strangling him. "You’re annoying. When did you get this cocky? You’re almost like a douchebag."

Aether’s eyes widened as he heard Sena’s words, slowly taking off the string from his neck. She never intended to actually strangle him, so it was easy to take off. "I am?"

Sena nodded. "Mhm. You’re acting like you know everything."

"Sorry, I guess..." He said, a bit confused about this whole situation.

Sena groaned. "Even your apology seems half-assed. Or maybe I’m just tired. " She smirked, waving. "I’m going to hit the sack." walked away, lying on the ground and trying to rest, leaving Aether confused.

He stared at Sena for a good while before turning to look at the forest. "I never had that told to me before, not once, weird... since I wasn’t even sure if I was a human, so how did I get called that now that I consider myself one..."

Aether grabbed his chin, trying to figure himself out once more.

[Mental Fortitude: 80]

Aether instantly turned to the Codex, confused. ’Huh, but from what...’ Had his mind really been touched by that... sure it had only gone down by a bit, but still...

...

’What kind of human am I becoming...?’