Chapter 205: Denial(30)

[Rhythm]- The breath of life, so splendid and magical. Yet in a world filled with darkness, only you can see it. The world of the Forgotten whispers the real world to you, and you are able to hear it clearly; the rhythm of their souls slowly beating. This ability allows you to see through the world of the forgotten, and helps you understand the way shadows follow their masters. In the end, it all comes to whether you will be able to handle such responsibility, to carry the hope of the Lost as you declare yourself as one of them,

For a skill? He had never seen this

long of an description. Even for abilities, the Codex tries to be short and direct, even more so when it comes to skills. I mean, the users already know what they did. After all, they mastered that exact thing.

But rhythm didn’t seem so focused on doing so.

The ending… it felt more like a warning than it explained to him what the skill did.

’Why wouldn’t I be able to handle it… and when did I even declare myself as a lost…’

By what he could guess, the Lost were the ones who used soul sense; it was the way they spoke and saw, they lived in the world of the Forgotten, or the world of souls.

…

There was something that made him feel a weird feeling stir up inside of him.

What was a human?

Someone with a soul? Well, all things have a soul in this world, he learned this a long time ago in Frozen Crown…

’Thanks Avrie…’

So if having a soul didn’t make a human what it was. Then what did?

It was a question that made him think of something.

What if the Lost… were just souls that never managed to fully become humans, only being able to grasp a little of what it means to be one? Only being able to stand behind one and act as if they were one.

It was terrifying…

To think that his shadow could have been an actual person… it had just failed to grasp what being human meant.

And it was ironic, since most, including himself at the moment, didn’t know either.

But he did know what the difference was between a living being and one without a ’life’.

Death.

All living beings have a start and an end; that’s just how life works.

If you were to shatter a rock, it wouldn’t die; it would just continue what it was doing, now in many pieces.

If you were to break a stick, it wouldn’t die; it would continue living in the two pieces it was broken into.

But if you were to stab a human, he will die. And that was it. They won’t be able to continue life.

…

Plus, the soul leaves the body after death…

That is what it means to be a living being.

…

Figuring out what being human meant, though… was way harder.

…

Aether stopped, looking up… as he finally saw the gate once more.

He remembered when he had left all those months ago, he had said that he would only come back after learning what Denial’s weakness is, but he had gone past it. Either way, it was nice to see it again…

He did wonder, had he changed all that much in his time outside the city? Was he still the person he was a few months ago?

It’s hard to feel how much you have grown yourself, as it just becomes your new normal, ironic when it’s so easy to tell when others change. ’Humans are really selfish beings.’

He chuckled, walking inside the city.

…There was one last stop he wanted to make.

That being the Inn.

Though… he didn’t wish to spend a lot of time on it, since if he just entered, he wouldn’t be able to leave for at least one whole hour… so instead he had decided to write a letter.

…

’This place is boring, I think I’m done living inside this place. You know? So I’m going to be challenging the trial again… and this time I’m going to win, for myself… and all those who wish to get their life back through me. I won’t disappoint you.

I will defeat Denial if that is the last thing I do. I will.’

Damn, he never knew how hard it was to make ideas for a letter, he had to give his respect to the Jack, since his were so much better than what he just wrote… the paper might also have been too small to sign out… and it might not even be paper. But it was enough for them. After all, they didn’t need a whole speech… hell, they didn’t even know what would happen inside the Trial.

If he comes out of it, they won’t know.

But even if he didn’t come out, they would think that he was able to win… so at least his death was for something good.

…

’Well theres no going back now.’

He said, standing at the gate of the palace.

…

…

Really, he couldn’t find his words at all; he was very nervous right now. Standing in the lift and waiting for it to finally reach Denial’s floor. The first time, he didn’t know what would be at the end, but now he knew, and he was aware of the monster that so casually lives in this palace.

Luckily for him, he didn’t have to clear the others’ floor, so he was coming in fully rested and ready… well, at least physically. Since mentally, he wans’t. He wondered if he had rushed things and if maybe he should have prepared more.

…

He scoffed.

’Maybe my old self wasn’t that bad… I’m sure if he were in this situation… he wouldn’t be shaking…’

He thought, as his grip on Voidpiercer trembled right between his eyes, but he tried to keep smiling. That was what his old self would have done…

Yet before he could get his fear in check, he had reached the end of his free ride.

Aether swallowed as he looked at the glowing throne and the white figure glowing on it.

He tried to continue smiling, but looking Denial face-to-face made him want to step back, to run.

But he stopped himself.

…

’Maybe … maybe being reckless isn’t so bad.’

…

…

Aether rested Voidpiecer on his shoulder, looking Denial straight into his eyes.

“Did you miss me? You bastard?”

Denial didn’t respond, but that was expected; he didn’t have a mouth, so he couldn’t ever speak. Plus, he didn’t know how to use souls to speak as the shadows did, so trying to speak to him was useless. But he already knew that; it was obvious after all.

He rose up from his throne, slowly walking up to him.

Which made Aether… excited? Really, it was a long time since he last felt like this, I mean, the Rebellion was still around, that was how long it had been… Which made sense, since his Rebellion self was the most confident and reckless of them all.

What an idiotic bastard he was.

Aether pulled out a bandana he had hidden inside his cloak and put it over his eyes.

While closing his eyes still worked well, he had to worry about not opening them accidentally and coming face to face with him and giving him a free heal up inside his illusion.

’Lets do this…’

Aether looked in front of him, where a figure with a glowing white outline appeared. He had to say, it was… close to his for some reason.

It made him waver slightly, but he quickly shook it off.

He didn’t move… after all, he needed Denial to punch him for him to even cause damage. But at least now, he could figure out where he was, where the attack was coming from, and when he should try and grab his hand, or feet, whatever he attacked him with.

And that was exactly what he did, he watched as Denial came to him with his face ready to hit his face, and then… waited until there were exactly ten centimeters, before slightly moving towards the side, not to dodge the attack, but to make Denial hit him with his head instead of his fist.

…Was the strike still fierce? Absolutely, he his were almost broke, but that meant that Denial had made contact with his head, and now… it was physical.

He smiled wickedly as he wrapped his arms around his head, before guiding his knee straight into his face

But… before he could continue with the second, he felt Denial somehow grow stronger, as it fought against his grip, he felt the guy slowly move out of his grip, as his face slowly rose up. He didn’t know what he was doing, but while he was focused on keeping his head in his grip, Denial’s hand came to his face… not to punch him, though, but rather to rip the bandana from his face.

It had figured him out.

…

“Shit.”

…

…

“Not this again.”

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