Prince of The Abyss

There were seven days left until winter came. Time really had passed faster than he would have ever thought. A big part of him didn’t want these days to end; even if he didn’t like the Academy life, he really didn’t want to do this expedition... at all.

He wasn’t able to get himself out of it, so he was forced to join; if he didn’t, Lilith was going to kill him. And he really didn’t want that to happen. After all, he had lots of things he still wanted to do.

And he couldn’t do them while dead.

He was going to force himself through the expedition and continue once he finished it, even if it was a huge waste of time for him; he didn’t have a choice.

Maeve had also not returned yet, sadly, so that means that he was probably going to have to meet her after he came back from the expedition... if she didn’t die inside the trial, that is.

He didn’t think she had died, but it was still a possibility, as hard as it was to happen. It was bad that he also hadn’t told her that; to get to his Anchor once she awakened, she probably had no idea what it even was. The only hope he had was that she somehow figured it out. Somehow, he had no idea how she could, since he didn’t.

And again, by a miracle got to his Anchor, since he had told Atlas about her, but the boy couldn’t go find her and tell her since he had no idea when she was going to come back.

Only if rumors spread and reached him, but he wasn’t sure that he wanted rumors to spread while he wasn’t around. And most likely, Maeve thought the same; even as a Seeker, she had no idea how to fight; it was better if he was with her to protect her.

’I’ll just have to wait and see. It’s not like I will be able to do anything when I’m inside the expedition, so am I even making so many possibilities inside my mind?’

Aether sighed, heading towards his bed, but as he did, he suddenly heard a knock on his door. He tilted his head, surprised at why someone was at his door so shortly after school ended for the day.

Yet, once he opened it, he found Sena standing there, with a cake in her arms. "Yo." She said with a straight face, as she pushed the cake into his arms.

"Happy birthday." She said, smiling.

Aether stared at her, confused about what she meant... but then he froze, realizing that... it really was his birthday. ’How did I not realize... did I forget my own birthday?’ The only explanation he had was that he had gotten too caught up in his mind, with all the things he had to worry about. And the expedition, that something as simple as his own birthday didn’t mean anything.

...

And yet she knew...

’Wait, but how? I didn’t even tell her.’

Aether sighed before smiling. "Thanks, I appreciate it." Taking the cake, he put it on a table before going back to her.

"I heard Lilith wants to take you on the expedition?"

"You know?" He said, walking back to her. "He does, and sadly I can’t say no, since he will kill me if I don’t. And he isn’t messing around."

She chuckled. "Then you better go. It’s an honor or whatever. Iris really wanted to go; I heard her speaking with her friends about it, and she couldn’t shut up. Kinda ironic, so the team chose her, the Vessel of Praise."

Aether’s eyes widened. "Really? But why? Isn’t she really powerful, I mean, in the sense of her buffs and healing?" From all he had heard throughout the Academy, Iris was considered amazing, one of the best people to have with you inside a story or anything like that.

Sena sighed. "True, but at the same time, she has no idea how to fight, and she is very vulnerable. She also has no survival experience in case something happens. The King also doesn’t want her to go because of how dangerous it is. She wasn’t very happy about it."

He expected her not to be, after all; Iris was someone who really liked trying. She wanted a chance; she put effort into everything, so of course she would want to participate and put her best in this expedition because of how important it was.

But at the same time, he was actually on Silas’s side. This expedition could be highly dangerous, so for someone like her, if she really couldn’t fight or survive on her own, it was a dead wish. Plus, in the long run she could also serve as a liability.

He could also see why Lilith wanted him so much, as his support or whatever; it wasn’t his actual supporting capabilities that attracted the Vessel, but his ability to survive, which has only gotten better now with Gravewalker.

"Either way, thanks for the cake, really. Want a slice?" He asked, but Sena quickly shook her head. "I have some stuff to do... annoyingly as it is. After all, with the expedition, a lot of the Kingdom’s most important forces will be out, so I also have some work of my own, apparently, to cover some of the spots.

She waved before leaving.

’Interesting, seems like the King actually really believes in Sena and her powers.’

Closing the door, he walked over to the cake again, sitting on his chair and staring at it.

...

"Seventeen."

...

"It’s... hard to believe, it really is... almost 9 whole years I’ve been away from home, that’s half of my life... and more importantly, 3 years since I started my progression seriously... have I even changed that much... I know I changed, but I don’t feel anything special, like I thought I was going to feel before when I thought about growing up.’

...

"I have only gained more responsibilities."

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