Chapter 187: Denial(13)

So what now? What was he supposed to do at the end of the road… well acutally at the end of the world, but you get the idea. Where was he even supposed to run anymore? Denial had to be close to getting inside the Fracture, so where was he supposed to go now?

Really… as much as he didn’t want to say it… he was getting quite annoyed. After what happened with the Rebellion, wanting to grow and survive, only to die and come in this hellhole, I mean, what was he even doing?

Running around like a child. How did he even lead a Rebellion if all he does is running?

…

He knew it was his fault, all that happened that day; he doesn’t deny it anymore, that it did happen, and that it was his fault.

And only his fault.

’So give me a break already…’ He stared into the darkness at the other side of the world.

…

Why did he have to relive the memories, these… false words where everything goes right, where his rebellion had not fallen, why did he have to see them?

To deny the reality? Well, it was doing nothing but angering him.

Because he knew that whatever he did, he just couldn’t let go of those memories.

’Im done… I can’t anymore.’

He had done enough, these little illusions that he is forced to play inside, to see just how well another version of him was doing.

He clenched his fist.

What was it all for?

What did he need to say?

What did he need to accept?

He already accepted that he was a murderer.

That the fall of the Rebellion was his fault.

That he’s a bastard. So what else is he supposed to do?

And now his own blade is keeping secrets from him.

What was this damn rock? Why was it so damn important?

…

He was done with just… playing in the hands of others as they laugh at him.

Walking closer to the end of the world, he leaned towards the darkness.

…

He was done running away, he was done choosing the ’safest path’. This was the end of the road for them; there wasn’t anywhere to run.

Aether didn’t move, leaning over the end of the world.

And… he pushed forward with his foot, falling off the end of the world.

…

Crossing the line that would have stopped him before.

…

…

…

Falling into darkness, and only darkness. The wind blew in his face, but at some point, it stopped, as if it didn’t exist anymore. As if he had fallen below the earth.

Yet, inside this darkness, he could see… faces?

And looking up, he could see a gleaming light, falling, as if coming towards him.

’Denial…’

He frowned…

’This shitty bastard.

He gritted his teeth.

What on earth did he want to know? Why was he showing him these faces…

He recognized them all…

Riven, his right hand, the person who had trusted him most, the one who had put his life in his hands, and when his hands were cut off, his life had passed with them. His face stood out among the others; his and Lyra’s put Denial was focused more on him.

Because he was one of his only real friends, the one he could fully trust. Yet he had failed him miserably; he couldn’t fulfill his wish for revenge, and got him killed instead.

What was it trying to make him deny that it was his reason that he died? Did he think he didnt know that? That if he hadn’t met him, he would still be alive.

Well.

He did.

Alright?

He knew better than all.

And what was he supposed to do? Huh? Change the past?

What is done is done; denying it won’t get him anywhere.

…

He’s learned to realize that with these illusions.

That if he just… ran away from the truth, making… these false worlds inside his mind, it won’t lead anywhere but insanity.

He won’t get anywhere with what-ifs.

And it definitely… won’t give them salvation.

…

The faces began to stop.

But Denial was still there, slowly following him.

…

’When the heck is this going to end already?’

The fall had gone on for too long.

I mean, was he just supposed to continue falling as this little shit was mocking him with its little tricks?

What even was this place?

I mean, this was a memory of the Abyss.

So how on earth had he returned if the world had an end?

Was this in some kind of book or something? I mean, this couldn’t be Earth.

Last time he had checked earth didn’t have a giant black sand desert and a fractured sun.

And why were the Abyss’s memories even here? He got that he was his vessel, but still, if his theory was true, and this, the white place with all the fractures, was in fact his mind, what were they doing there?

He’s his own person; the Abyss doesn’t get to get his share of space inside his mind.

Not when it’s so useless.

It has done nothing for him. You could argue that he had saved him sometimes, but at the same time, he had caused him more harm than good. And plus, if he was so powerful, how did he fail to beat Lilith?

It acted so high and mighty, with his little deal.

That oh, if he helped him now, he was going to have to do something for him, and then he proceeds to fail.

Like what the heck?

…

…

’I’m done falling.’

It won’t lead him anywhere; he wasn’t going to deny it. Did he admit that he was wrong in thinking that it would, and that it was a good idea? He did, but at the same time, what the heck was he supposed to do? Ge knew it, and he wasn’t going to try to argue that he wasn’t

But now he was done waiting around in hope that something would happen.

’Come on, breaker of worlds, let’s see how mighty you are. You seemed really confident when we talked, so let’s see how you do.’

He said, while Voidpiercer slowly made its way from his mark and into his hand, throwing the blade into the sky. Seeing, as the darkness cracked, with a small light shimmering through the crack.

As he pulled the blade back, the crack started to get bigger, until the whole sky started to fall, turning from darkness to white, with denial blending into the light.

And soon, it wouldn’t be long until he would find himself in the same room he was before.

The same white room, no blinding, not bright, just a white room. It was hollow when it came to emotions and purpose. It was the lazy white that didn’t bother reflecting the light back.

Looking down, there still wasnt a floor, and neither was there a ceiling, yet the space felt enclosed, as if the world itself had decided where he was allowed to exist.

Looking at his hand, Voidpiercer was gone again, well, gone is a strong word, it just hid back into his mark.

Yet what was different was the fractures; he could see them.

His memories, like Frozen Crown, the Tides, the castle he used to live in, and… of course, the Withered.

And all of the other memories of the Abyss, yet the fracture with the dessert was gone; he couldn’t see it anymore. And that wasn’t the only thing wrong.

The fractures seemed as if they were shaking and moving, and the image inside sometimes flickered with green and blue lines. As if the image was glitching.

He started to walk through the fractures, on the same road he walked before, yet this time, as he walked, the ground began to flicker, the same as the fractures. As if this whole place was even more unstable than it was.

But… as he said, if his theory was correct, it was his mind.

So what the heck?

Was it trying to say he wasn’t right in the mind at the moment?

’I very well am.’ He said while kicking the ground with his foot, yet there was nothing to hit.

Since there wasn’t a floor in the first place.

Yet as he was walking, he saw something.

Denial, who had this time ended up in the same place as him, sitting in front of him, not fully aware he was here, he noticed because when he looked at him, its head mixed with the white of the room, but now it didn’t.

Seeing this, Aether summoned Voidpiercer in the flash of a second, trying to impale the being with the blade, but just before it was about to hit him, Denial turned around and then completely disappeared before his bare eyes.

Only to appear further away on the path, gesturing for him to come.

…

Aether blinked twice.

After he decided to stop running away.

This guy was making him run after him.

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