Chapter 78: The Fall of a Frozen World(13)

It was his ninth birthday, yet it was like any other day; nothing had changed. But he had to understand, his family was poor, so they couldn’t to buy him any gifts. Even more since it was also his twin brother’s birthday.

He knew he was being selfish, but for once, he wanted to dig his mouth into a big cake like all the other kids did. How much he envied them. He wanted to play with them, but they never accepted him; he was the weird kid that no one played with.

But it wasn’t his fault. He was nice, everyone told him that. But his brother was a manance, and since they shared the same face, people always mistook him for his brother.

He hated it so much.

If he had to count on his fingers how many times he had gotten judged because of his twin, he wouldn’t have enough fingers even if he had two more arms.

It hurt, it really did.

But there was something that still kept him sane. A girl he liked. He was young, yes, but he couldn’t help but like her. With her beautiful smile and eyes. It was impossible for him. And today they were meeting at their usual place.

They always came here to watch the stars; it was their favourite thing to do. Of course, he watched her more than the stars.

He could look at her all day, without batting an eye. But one night, he was late. Only a few minutes late. But when he arrived, he found her crying heavily. Her cheek bleeding. But when he went to see what happened, she pushed him away.

“How could you do this to me? I trusted you!”

He had never seen her since that day, and he never learn what had happened, why she was crying, why her cheek was bleeding, and why she had pushed him away.

What made her end her own life…

Since that day, he had never seen the world the same; he felt as if he had a hole in his chest that would never be filled again by anymore. He wanted to cry, but he didn’t have the power to do so.

The day when she pushed him away replayed in his mind over and over again. What if he wasn’t late? What if he insisted? Could he have found a way to save her?

He had only found the truth after a while, from one of his brother’s friends. Apparently, his brother had gone instead of him and had stolen the bracelet left by her dead mother; she had resisted, and he had ended up hurting her. And since he had never told her about him, she had thought it was him who had done it.

He also had bad timing as he came just when his brother left.

Whenever he learned this, he couldn’t just stay quiet. He confronted his brother…

…

“Listen, I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking. But I am sorry, I didn’t know the whole situation, and just wanted to make a joke.”

As much as Eros wanted to believe his brother, he couldn’t; his heart could never beat like it did before. He couldn’t look in his eyes without feeling disgusted.

“I should have told you, I know that, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it… I’m sorry, I really am. But, please, forget about her; if you don’t, you will be stuck forever. I don’t want that to happen to you, brother!”

…

Liar, he was such a liar. He didn’t show any bit of remorse, of guilt. How dare he lie to him like that? How dare he call himself his brother? He was no brother of his; he was a monster, he was in no way a human.

Eros walked closer, his hands wrapping around his brother’s neck subconsciously.

“Eros? It’s hard to breathe, you know?”

The reason he wouldn’t see that smile anymore, he was the reason he couldn’t stare in her eyes anymore. It is all because of him.

“Eros, come on, let go.”

How dare he say he was sorry? Did he think that saying sorry would make things better? They woudnt! No words can bring back the dead.

“Hey, come on, I really can’t breathe.”

If he were really sorry, he would have considered his feelings all this time. Did he not realize what he had gone through until now because of him? He has been judged, mocked, and beaten up without any reason, just because they mistook him for his brother.

“Eros, let go! I.. I can’t breathe, please, let go! Eros! Brother, Please!”

Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar. Nothing but a liar.

…

As Thanatos’ body fell to the ground, Eros finally realized what he had done. He had strangled his own brother with his own two hands, and he hadn’t even realized that he was doing it.

Was he any better than he was?

…

From that day, his family didn’t speak to him, almost like they were scared of him. They look at him with disappointment and anger. To the point that not long after, he had been kicked from the house, forced to wander the streets.

His life on the streets wasn’t any better; his sins still haunted him, as not only had people learn what he had done, but the blame for the girl’s death was also thrown on him. No one gave him food, money, or water. They threw things at him and beat him up.

…He wanted to die. This world… he couldn’t live in it anymore.

…

“The world will change.”

Eros quickly turned his head, preparing to be attacked, but instead, he saw a boy, a little older than him, standing on the edge of the bridge that was near him. Dropping down, he could his him better. His blue eyes were captivating, like a pool of crystals. And his blonde hair was just like his, which made him feel more open to him.

But he didn’t trust him. Not with that strange Fool mask on his face.

“Eros, right? Aether, it’s nice to meet you… Do you want to live in the new world?”

He blinked twice, completely confused. A new world, what did that mean?

“Right, I should explain. This world will end soon. As time is going to stop, and people like you will be frozen with it. But I can help you. With my help, you can become someone. So what do you say?”

The boy extended his arms to him, offering to shake his hand.

But Eros didn’t know if he should take it. He didn’t know what Aether was saying, and it all felt strange. But… why should he decline? Would he even lose anything?

…

“Why me?”

“Call it a hunce.”

Eros laughed, shaking his hand… but the moment they made contact, he felt some sort of weird feeling surging through him. As he started to hear words of Praise all around him… it was strange, really strange.

…

[You have gained a path]

[You have gained an ability]

…

Aether clenched his hair as those memories poured into his head. panic washing over him. He had been there, before the world froze; he had known about it before anyone did. So why didn’t he try to stop it? It didn’t make any sense!

Why had Praise not tried to do anything to prevent it? Why did I give up and start to prepare for when it did happen? It made no sense.

“Do you remember your past, Aether?”

The Jack said, gripping the hilt of his sword, and swung his blade towards him.

Aether deflected the attacks, still trying to make sense of the truth.

After he had arrived outside, J. was standing there, waiting for him to test his strength, to see if he had a chance to hurt him. But in the middle of their battle, he told him to look into The Two’s memories. Did he want him to find something within them? But what?

He also didn’t seem to be trying to fight that much; he barely put any speed or force in his attacks, to the point that he could deflect them without any training with his blade.

“I…I don’t get it! What was I supposed to see?”

He clenched his fists, thrusting his blade right into J. chest, but he hadn’t tried to evade it… why? Didn’t he know about the poison!

…

Yet it never seemed to come.

Jack gripped his blade with his hand, slowly drawing it from his chest as if it did not affect him, and tossing it aside, together with Aether.

“How disappointing, you’re still weak. Do you really think such a simple trick would work on me? It won’t, and neither will it on the Queen. Soul attacks belong to The Abyss; you could never defeat it with its own creation.”

He didn’t say anything else, leaving Aether behind, without batting an eye.

Aether cursed; he never realized it until now. After his recent success, he had completely forgotten it.

He was still weak. Too weak.

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