Chapter 81: The Fall of a Frozen World(16)

The Queen was coming to the Second Ring; everyone knew about it. And while the reason wasn’t confirmed, many speculated that her coming was related to The Fool, and the fact that four of her Knights had been killed by him.

It was a day to be celebrated, since everyone thought that she was coming to kill him. To get rid of the anomaly that has been corrupting their world. They believed that the world would finally stop changing.

The rat had to die; that was the only way, if he didn’t, they were scared they might start to consider the new world. They were frightened that they might soon start asking questions about how perfect the world was.

But the Queen didn’t seem to be here to kill. She hadn’t brought a blade with her. But, she might as well not need it.

She was a Breaker after all.

Aether palled the first time he saw her; her white hair was like a foggy memory he so wished to find. The way her eyes felt like they started right into his soul. The crown made out of needles… it was not the first time he had seen her.

’…What the heck?’

That time when he awakened somewhere in the Withered, she had somehow been there; she had called to him, by his path, Promise Child. But how was that possible? How had someone from a story exited? Even if that had happened, they would be stuck in the Infinite Library, so how had See randomly appeared in the real world? And how could it have known that someone would get this path? What if he had decided to do something else?

And there was more. On that day, he felt an unbearable feeling, from some chains, just like he had when he had gotten his blade. It was so strange, he hated it. Was he fated to enter Frozen Crown? If he remembered correctly, the shadows guided him to it, probably because the Abyss was alive inside of it. But he was also forced to go to it. There was also the fact that he had been tricked by hope to accept, just like he had been doing to the people of the First Ring, to feed his Sun.

Why did everything come full circle?

…

Just what was Frozen Crown?

…

“So you are The Fool, I expected something else to say the least.”

He was nervous; he knew that one bad mistake could kill him. She also seemed very disappointed, even slightly disgusted. To the point she didn’t even look at him anymore, but something behind him…

“But looks can be deceiving. Your marks, they are like the ones the ancient vessel of the Abyss had, so it’s strange seeing someone of Praise having them.”

She knew about his marks, then it was useless to cover them up. So he unsummoned his cloak, leaving them in broad daylight. The Queen had glanced at them, even seeing a sparkle of interest in them.

He had no idea what was going on inside her mind, after all, there was this random boy, who was apparently the first Vessel of Praise, out of all the Children of Praise at least, and had a mark that only the firstborns of the Abyss had. She wasn’t even one of them, so how did he have them?

…”I also wish to see your blade.”

He jerked slightly, which wasn’t left unnoticed; it made her smile, seeing how confused and lost he was by her knowing about his blade. But how had she even learned about it? The only person who knew about it was The Jack, so had he betrayed him and told her, it would make sense. J. can’t keep control forever. But he still asked.

“H-How do you know about it?”

…

“Isn’t it obvious, your shadow told me.”

…

There was a long pause, one that felt as if someone had stopped the earth from spinning, as if someone had taken out all the sand from an hourglass. He had no idea what to say. He had never thought about it, but it was obvious. Why would she ever need to ask J.? What other reason would she have to meet him?

She was the Abyss’s vessel, which made him think that she also didn’t have Shadow Speech; he had been stupid to come here. He never thought that his own shadow would betray him, since he was used to being the one who took advantage of them. It made him think just how loyal the one following him was.

The Queen covered her mouth with her hand, laughing behind it.

“What, cat got your tongue? Don’t worry, for whatever reason, when I was about to ask it about its power, it felt as if your shadow was silenced by something. I don’t know how, since you definitely don’t have such a power, and neither do I think Praise could pull something like it. But you shouldn’t worry about it, heck, you should thank whoever did it.”

His shadow had been silenced, but by whom? Who could have done something like it? Who had the power to go against the gods?

…Had it been his path? But just what kind of power did it have? What did it do to be able to stop the ability of a Breaker?

It was confusing, but everything in Frozen Crown so far had been that way.

…

“Let’s get into the real business, since I didn’t come here only to gain information… Leave the Rings.”

He tilted his head, but before he could respond, she spoke again.

“If you want to live, you have to leave the Rings. And don’t you dare decline my mercy. I’m only doing this because of those marks; if it wasn’t for them, I would have killed you a long time ago.”

His marks? That was what was stopping her from killing him. But why? What could they mean to her, or the Abyss, to stop her from killing him? He knew that they apparently belonged to the firsborns of the Forgotten; she had already told him this. But would that really stop her from killing him?

It was also startling that if it wasn’t for them, he would have died. It was scary knowing he had escaped death through the cracks of his fingers.

The Queen started one last time behind him, now knowing that she had Shadow Speech; she was probably asking his shadow something, without even talking, that was how advanced her ability was compared to his.

She sighed, getting up.

“You should take my proposition into consideration.”

And then she left, like nothing had ever happened.

But a question did linger in his mind. Was he going to accept her offer? He would normally, since he could save his life, and just live in the Second Ring, which was better than the Withered.

If he did, though, the original ending would happen, and his soul would be trapped to endlessly wander the void. So… he couldn’t accept, even if he wanted to.

It would also mean that everything he had done was for nothing. If he really wanted to live a comfortable life in the Second Ring, he would have done it a while ago, not now…

…

So in the end, he couldn’t accept.

…

But before he could turn to leave, he heard a voice he had never heard before, coming from behind him.

“Aether, it’s so nice to see you. I made your work easier by coming here. Well, if you won’t accept our majesties’ prosopition, of course.

If he had to guess, this was the Fifth, or one of the other Knights. Which meant he was probably here to fight him… but it seemed as if he wouldn’t do it before he declined her quest. It made sense; her word was absolute for them. But it was something he could use.

Aether gripped his blade, knowing that if he attacked and thrust it into his chest before now that he couldn’t attack him. He could kill him before he even knew what hit him. It was risky.

But it was worth a try.

He didn’t turn around, not until both of his hands gripped the black hilt, but when he finally did, his blade missed. It was as if The Fifth had moved before he even attacked, as if he had known that he would attack.

But how?

“How rude, did you really think a surprise attack would ever work on me. My senses have transcended the limitations of a human. I can sense attacks before they can get close to me. But I’ll give you one last chance, Aether. Do you accept her request?”

“No.”

The Fifth turned his head to where the sound had come from. It was a rock, but it somehow had his voice. It was loud… and not the only one.

They all started to repeat words, making it impossible for him to hear. Given how sensitive his ears were, it overwhelmed him and his senses. That was how he didn’t notice Aether thrusting his blade.

Piercing him in the chest.

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