Prince of The Abyss

’This is...’ Aether swallowed as they walked through the street of the village, filled with bodies and blood; the whole town was painted red. Was this what Lilith had been doing instead of getting resources, like he said he would? Killing everyone?

But... what did it even get him? What did it help with? He knew that this was taking a toll on him; the whole expedition, every single grave, had an effect on him. Even if he said he was fine, he was not, not even close to being fine.

And now, seeing Harvey getting killed in front of him, he had lost himself even more and was going to continue to do so if nothing happened. Filled with rage, who knows what else he was going to do without any reason.

’Killing the people of the village will help the others avoid being killed by them... but at the same time, I doubt they were the ones who killed most of the Readers inside the graveyard; after all, Lilith took them all by himself and was pretty much uninjured.’

...

’But more importantly, when he killed everyone, his true intentions weren’t to help those who came stay alive, but rather revenge.’ But that was never truly going to help, which was why Lilith had yet to say a word. Because he was still filled with a deep and strong fire, burning hotter than ever before.

This was in no way going well, but at the same time, he had no idea what to tell him, since he didn’t think he would listen to him; he was definitely not in the mood for talking and hearing him out.

But at the same time, what could he do? Just let him continue like this. If he did, it wouldn’t lead to anything good; it would continue happening, even getting worse each time, and they would never get to their goal.

They would get themselves killed before escaping. And what then?

He sighed. "You know, I think it’s better if you calm down a bit; it’s not good for a hothead like you to get even hotter." Aether chuckled as he suddenly pointed out to Freedom.

Lilith stopped in his tracks, turning to him and tilting his head. "Do you want me to kill you? Since that’s really how it feels."

Aether frowned, but smirked through it. "Go ahead." He stepped up in front of the Vessel, staring him dead in the eyes. "Kill me, come on." He opened his arms; that way, he couldn’t do anything to protect himself.

"Do it, but that wouldn’t make you any different from them, am I right? In a sense, you would be the same, both having the blood of a Reader on their hands." He didn’t move; he stood still, completely defenseless and vulnerable; any weapon could easily kill him right now.

Lilith stared him in the eyes for a good minute before sighing. "I won’t actually kill you... You know that, but seriously, It’s not a good time." He gave him a reassuring smile. "I’m fine, and I will continue to be fine." He said, trying to turn back around and continue walking, but before he could, Aether grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"You are not fine; you are a dumbass. I told you already; you can’t save everyone, you have to accept that. Do you know just how many people die without us knowing? I mean, while we’re talking, someone from the expedition is probably being killed now.

So what are you going to do, go to another story and kill everyone inside because of it?" Yet, after those words left Aether’s mouth, Lilith’s marks started glowing, making him quickly back off. "What, trying to hurt me too? Will that help you with your anger?"

Freedom clenched his fists, walking closer to Aether as he kept backing away. "You seem not to care at all that people are dying. Why is that? Do you not value human lives? Any normal being would get mad if a human died."

...

"A dear human, not just any normal human," Aether said, standing his ground. "You said it yourself, Lilith; don’t you dare act like a hypocrite now. You said you cared for your people and couldn’t care less for the Withered. And you were right; I also care a lot more for mine than I care about the Blue Rose.

None of us care if just any human were to die, only if they belonged to the group we hold dear. And for me, he isn’t part of it."

Lilith didn’t respond; he stood frozen, confused by his sudden answer. After all, he had twisted his own words onto him, and at the same time, he was right...

"I knew Harvey." Aether continued. "I fought with him and saw him around the Academy. I don’t hate him, but neither do I care for him. I’m not happy he’s dead, but at the same time, I’m not going to cry about it and let my anger overwhelm me."

...

"You saw it yourself: what happens if you do, back when you destroyed my rebellion, when we fought. So why are you doing the same thing as I did?"

Looking at Lilith’s frozen state, Aether sighed, putting his hands on his hips. "I’ve said it before, and I will continue to say it. You can’t always save everyone. And you have to accept that and move on, to try and help those that you can, not mourn and try to get revenge for those you couldn’t. If you do, you will lose both."

...

"And I doubt you want that." He walked, bumping into his shoulder, stopping to look back. "So come on, are you going to keep me waiting, or are we going to continue searching for others? It was your idea to do so; that way we can’t prevent more from dying."

Freedom turned to him slowly, looking at the ground first, before his eyes rose slowly until they met his. "Yeah... let’s go," Lilith said, walking over to Aether’s side.

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