Chapter 9: A Shadow Wrapped In Wire

As the darkness sorrowed, his eyelids slowly opened only to be met by the shadows once again. How long had it been, and more importantly, what had happened?

He blinked slowly, his body defying his will to stand up. Aether shrugged.

It wasn’t just his body that was betraying him, but his conscience too. He felt as if someone was drilling a screw into his skull.

He took a deep breath, letting the cold air enter his lungs… but it didn’t leave, instead it settled inside, with no intention to leave.

With only the ability to use his sight, he examined his surroundings, only to realize that he didn’t recognize where he was.

He frowned. ’Damn it, just what happened?’

Aether knew he was still in the Withered district, just that by dumb luck, it wasn’t somewhere he remembered.

His eyelids dropped as they slowly tracked the movement of a shadow in the darkness of the street. “Remind me to never play a game that involves luck.”

But as the shadow turned to him suddenly, he realized he had spoken that out loud.

The shadow stared at him, it seemed scared. He probably didn’t understand how the human was speaking to him. The poor guy was probably dumbfounded.

It wasn’t the first time something like this happened. Actually, it was quite common with shadow speech.

His pupils flared. ’Wait, that’s it. I can use shadow speech!’

“Hey, you,” Aether said, using all his powers to raise his head at the shadow. “Where am I?”

The shadow continued staring at him, then pointed to himself, as if unsure the boy was talking to him.

Aether frowned at the shadow. “Yes, you! Who else? And use your mouth, goddammit!”

The shadow continued to stare into its eyes, then crossed its arms, not fond of Aether’s behaviour.

’This damn brat.’

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. But truly, he was only acting this way because he was paranoid. He had just woken up in an unknown place, with no idea of what had happened, and without the power to move.

“Alright… I’m sorry.” His cheek blurred red, as he looked away from the shadow out of embarrassment. “But could you tell me where I am…. please?”

The shadow continued to stare at him, only this time it was different. It seemed happy, nodding its head in approval. Then it finally spoke. “I don’t know,” the shadow said with a grin that didn’t belong on anything real. Then it vanished, like smoke refusing to explain where it had come from.

Aether watched as the shadow left, dumbfounded. Then he let his head back on the stone ground, admiring the sky.

The same starless grey wall, the same drops of rain fell near him, and its familiar sound ringing in his eardrums.

’I need to get up, as much as it will hurt. I can’t stay here any longer.’

Aether closed his eyes, taking a deep breath,

the last he would take for a while.

And not before biting his lips, he jumped up.

A dreadful scream was suppressed deep inside him, as his legs violently shook, trying to keep his balance. His eyes were bloodshot, and his vision was slowly blurring.

Had he overestimated himself?

He had thought getting the pain done all at once was the better idea, but he didn’t consider the fact that maybe his body couldn’t take it all at once.

The agony he was feeling inside could be seen in his eyes, as his skin became even paler than ever.

If anyone saw him, they would misinterpret him as a ghost.

His ears rang, as blood gradually started flowing from inside.

He felt as if his own bones were being pulled from his body.

[Menta-

The sound of the codex speaking appeared in his head…but only for half a second, as the pain quickly corrupted his ability to think clearly.

The pain showed no sign of dimming, and to make it worse, every time air followed through his body, he felt as if a dozen sharp needles were countlessly stabbing him from the inside.

His teeth dug more and more into his lip, as blood started bursting from it.

But interestingly, he didn’t feel cold anymore.

But the cold wasn’t the only thing he couldn’t feel anymore.

As the raindrops fell on his dying body, he could feel the irony coming from the eyes of the shadows watching him.

He had spent his six years in the withered district hiding in the shadows, and now, he was going to die alone in the same place.

With all the pain going both outside and inside him, the worst of the worst was coming from his hands.

He rubbed at his wrist. A dull pressure pulsed beneath the skin, like something wrapped in wire and too afraid to scream.

It wasn’t like the others; it also had a sort of pattern to it, like marks. Maybe if the point wasn’t so excruciating, he would have minded it more.

But soon, he finally felt like it was ending. Not the pain,

but his life.

….

And yet, he moved. Not because the pain was gone. But because his body no longer recognized it as pain. Only survival.

Aether slowly stepped forward, his body was completely numb, and yet he could still somehow feel the pain.

He shrugged. ’This isn’t normal.’

As his exhausted body slowly walked the lonely streets, the shadows backed away, horrified, as if they were looking at someone who wasn’t alive.

He, of course, still was…

or was he?

Hell, who could know?

[…]

For how long has he been wandering the streets now? One day, two days… heck, it felt like a whole week had passed. Even the pain had grown tired of him.

The withered district was massive, covering the majority of the kingdom, but after traveling for so long, massive had to be an understatement,

for his sanity, it had to.

’How did I end up here?’ He frowned, looking at the fog that swirling inside the dark alleyways.

The last thing he remembered was going on a trip to find another possible victim. And then boom, he woke up here.

Was he missing something…

Aether bit his finger as his steps accelerated. Glancing at the shadow around him, and occasionally asking them for directions.

He tried not to rely on his ability, as not only could they lie and send him in a circle, but they lied more than they spoke the truth.

That was why he chose to go in the opposite direction of the one they spoke of.

’Shadows are one absence of light, a replica. One that sits behind his master not to show respect, but to be able to stab him in the back.’

Aether glanced behind him with the corner of his eye, where dozens of shadows were following him, but when he stopped, they hid.

He chuckled, turning back to the road, letting the shadow follow. He wasn’t scared of them, no, why would he? They’re the least frightening thing in the district.

Not even of his own was he afraid, quite the opposite. The shadow was his own replica, and who knows you best than yourself?

If his shadow was going to attack, he would have already known, because it would just mirror what he would have done.

Aether continued to wander, but suddenly stopped. Looking ahead, three different paths opened to him. Except it wasn’t a good thing.

He sighed.

He looked to his side, where a lone shadow resided against a wall. Its eyes were closed, only opening as Aether got closer.

Aether already didn’t like the guy, he had an aura to him, one that…

“What is it that you want, commoner?”

…only nobles had.

Aether scowled. If dealing with a normal shadow was hard enough, then dealing with one with such pride would be a nightmare.

He approached the dignified shadow, preparing himself for the worst.

“Which one of these is the right way?” Aether asked with his finger crossed that he had just judged the shadow wrong.

It looked at him as if bewildered that this lowly human would really speak back to it, even if it was the first to speak.

It didn’t respond; instead, it pointed with its finger to the alleyway in the middle, with a smile curling up on its face.

Aether looked at the alleyway. It seemed like the least dangerous. The fog inside it was dim enough to even see from his position…

There was a long silence after that, one as thick as the darkness around them.

Aether gave it a smug look.

“Are you lying?”

Indeed, the fog was the least dense in the middle, but the fog was exactly what was protecting him from anything or anyone that was watching him.

His shadow’s smile dulled as its hand fell, staring at Aether’s eyes.

Then, a horrendous grin appeared on its face, one even more terrifying than his own.

“Maybe I am?”

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