Chapter 184: Denial(10)

Aether walked and kept walking, looking around. He saw the same fractures, as if he had not moved at all. He wondered if he had made any progress, if it was even possible, or if this thing was just infinite.

Maybe he wasn’t even moving at all, who knew?

Really, he knew he couldn’t continue this for long; if he did, Denial was going to find this place, and when he did, nothing good would come out of it. But what was he supposed to do… enter one of the fractures? That was a last resort.

Who knew what was inside of them, after all, these were places where the Abyss had stepped, and he could enter one of the fractured from his past. But he didn’t want to, not only because it would mean confronting his past again, but also because it would probably be easier for Denial to access them, since he already knew all his past memories and had control over them nonetheless.

So really, he was in a bad situation.

But that’s easy to see.

After all, he was running away; he had no actual idea of how to beat this damn monster, how to get out of the illusion. He really hated being in situations like this, where he was lost, lost walking on a path that only revealed itself whenever he stepped forward.

He wanted to have a plan to know where to go. To do where he was stepping, on where the wind was guiding him…

He sighed, looking around; all these fractures represented his past; they were a part of him. A piece of who he was, a fragment of his identity, it made him wonder what this place was… was it his mind, was it… him. He really didn’t know. But if it was the case, then why did he not know where to go, how was he lost inside his own mind,

Wouldn’t that only happen if, internally, he was lost, if, as a person, he was lost, if he didn’t have a stable identity that he believed in?

But he knew who he was, and he didnt think he was lost in any way when it came to it. He was Aether Moirai, Vessel of the Abyss, prince of the Caelurea kingdom, The Promise Child, and The Leader of the Second Rebellion.

And of course, he wished for… for… for…

“Huh?”

Freedom… right? He wanted freedom…

’No, that’s not right.’

He had rejected freedom, so of course he didnt want it. Well, maybe he did, but he wasn’t chasing it.

He had done so for revenge.

So he wanted revenge.

’But on who?

On Lilith, the one who had killed his rebellion.

’Only him?’

The whole of the Blue Rose, he wished for revenge on the whole of the Blue Rose for trapping him inside the Withered and making his life a living hell. For taking away his master and family. Just like he had wished to do when he was a child, to burn the place from the inside out.

’But why do I want that?’

It was simple; if he was able to get his revenge on the Blue Rose, he would be free.

’So… freedom?’

If he was able to get his revenge on the Blue Rose, if he could burn them from the inside out, he could go back to his kingdom. Back home to his family. He could be free.

’So I rejected Freedom for Freedom?’

…

Maybe he didn’t know himself that well.

But whatever the reason was, he wanted to get stronger, strong enough to make decisions on his own, to not allow others to shape the path he walks on.

’So… in the end it is Freedom… but not the Freedom I’ve been chasing as a Reader.’

He had lived inside the Withered with home that he could one day find his freedom, to finally be able to go back, but if he really thinks about it, that was more of something to cling onto, just like the people of the Frozen Crown had done. When he got the chance, he rejected it, just like they did.

In the end, the thing he wishes for isn’t revenge or freedom from the Blue Rose.

But Freedom from Fate itself.

He didn’t want anything binding him, controlling him.

Which was ironic, since he had to deal with the Abyss, which wanted to take control of him.

…

’To grow stronger… that was why I’m here, isn’t it?’

…

Aether stooped in his tracks, as in front of him, a being appeared; he almost didn’t see it since it matched the white room so much.

Denial had arrived, just in time, really; he was getting ahead of himself. Too caught up inside his own mind. But now that he was here, he had another problem: what now?

Since he was here, he probably had control over the place, so it was useless to stay here any longer; it was a question of where to go next. Was he going to enter a past memory of his? Or risk it and go inside one from the Abyss.

Both were bad options, and he has already said why.

So which one?

Aether glanced around, looking at the Fractures as the being was getting closer, and with every moment that passed, his time dimmed.

In the end, he sighed as he rushed toward a fracture, going through it.

…

…

…

Aether opened his eyes, and he found himself in a land of darkness.

Looking down at his feet, he realized that he was barefoot for some reason, actually. He was only wearing some seaweed wrapped around his waist; outside of it, he was completely naked… he had many questions. Like, where had he even gotten the seaweed, I mean, this darkness was made out of black sand.

He was in some kind of Desert of Darkness, there definitely wasn’t any water nearby, so where could he even find it? Either way, more importantly, looking up at the sun, it seemed… broken.

It had a black outline, shining with its remaining glory. It seemed as if it were a half moon, really. But it was a sun… so how had it even gotten like that? He had already noticed it while looking at the fracture, but he never got an idea of what happened to it. And neither did he have an idea now.

Aether decided to continue walking.

He knew this was going to happen if he entered a memory of the Abyss, but after all, it would have been useless if he had entered one of his own. Denial would have the same power; maybe he would be even stronger. But in a memory of the Abyss, he might not even be able to enter, though he doubted that, but at least it wouldn’t be easy to enter the memory of the Forgotten God.

The sand was cold under his feet, which, for a desert in daytime, didn’t quite make sense. And of course, he had to be barefoot; that way, he could feel everything, every little spec of cold rushing through his body.

He couldn’t see anything on the horizon, just the endless darkness, the same black sand repeating itself as if nothing happened.

What even was this place, and why had the Abyss been here? It was so weird.

Yet after a while of the same sand, he saw a small light buried deep.

He rushed over to it, not minding the coldness. If there was something important in this memory, it would be that small glow and what it was hiding. He needed to see what it was; he couldn’t let the opportunity go.

He started to dig it out, using his bare hands on the cold sand, yet even with his hands freezing, he didn’t stop, continuing to dig deeper without any stop.

And in the end, he found a small glowing stone. Whenever he looked at it, he got a weird feeling of familiarity, yet at the same time, of rage and sorrow. And… he felt his marks ache, like they were reacting to the stone.

His hand moved forward on its own, really; it was as if he was attracted by it.

And when they made a contract. He heard the Codex.

…

[You have gained a new relic]

…

[Character Codex: Sync Stable]

Name: Aether Moirai

Age: 14

Race: Human

Affiliation: Royal Family

[Path]: —Vessel of the Abyss—

> You were never meant to hold this power. And yet… the Abyss has chosen you.

Knowledge Rank — [Echo]

>576/2000- knowledge shard

Codex Class — [Reader]

> Sync Rate: 100%

Affinity — [Abyss]

> A slumbering void stirs within you. It gazes back.

[Affinity Bane]: —Stranded Resolve —

…

…

[Skills / Abilities]

Abyssal Abilities — [Shadow Speech],[Mask of the Fool]

Skills— [Echo Word]

[Relics]

—[Hair extension]

— [Cloak of Dread]

—[VoidPiercer Wound (Replica)]

—[Unwavering Paint]

—[Tear of Darkness]

***

…

…

[Tear of Darkness]-???

Category-Seed

Class-Sovereign

Knowledge rank-Fragment

Abilities-[???]

…

Aether blinked twice, starting at absolute bewilderment, at this insanity.

’You have to be kidding me.’

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