Prince of The Abyss

The storm continued, with no sign of dimming; heck, it was growing more spiteful with each moment.

Waves rose higher, crashing against with great force, checking to see where the boat’s weak points were, yet it had not found any. The wind howled across their faces, continuing to tear the ropes and cloaks, and salting the wood of the deck as if it were steak.

Looking at the dark sky, you almost got disappointed, how much you have endured until now, and all you could see was darkness, and without a sign of it stopping, even a little.

Lightning flashes right in front of him, reminding him just how small they were.

Yet, he didn’t pay it any attention; he remained at the center of it.

”Rotate,” he said, watching the strain on the crew hauling the bow ropes. ”Don’t burn yourselves out. Fresh hands every count of twenty.”

Yet gazed at him nodding before obeying his command, and for a good reason, he had been the reason they had survived this far.

And just when everything was good, a heavy crack echoed from below.

Aether didn’t flick; it had been inevitable to happen. ”Hull breach, lower starboard,” he sighed while saying. ”Seal it before the next wave hits.”

Aether eyes cut towards two people who were listening in. ”Now!”

And with his command, they ran.

And with that, the ship managed to climb another wave, hanging at its peak, then slamming down. Water surged across the deck to the point it was to the level of the knee, but only for a moment before draining away.

The mast groaned in agony, but the braces held. The ropes bit into the wood instead of tearing free.

’Good.’

Adjusting his stance automatically, his body moved with the deck rather than against it. They had to survive this storm, even if it cost them everything.

Lightning flared again, and in that white instant, he saw it clearly. Not the storm... but rather the pattern. The timing of the waves. The way the wind shifted just before the impact. Anger was commanding the waves and the wind, and so, seeing that they were getting through, it was growing louder and impatient.

He smirked.

’It’s becoming predictable.’

”Next one’s a double,” Aether said. ”Brace after the first hit, not before. If you lock up too early, you’ll lose your grip.”

The first wave struck, brutal and heavy.

Some staggered.

The second followed immediately, sharper, trying to catch them unprepared.

It didn’t.

Aether laughed out loud at their success.

The ship lurched, screaming in pain, yet it stayed intact, which was all that mattered. It didn’t matter in what condition it was, if in the end it got them through.

...

Minutes passed. Or hours. Time blurred into motion and command. The storm raged, but it no longer escalated. It had reached its limit.

Aether felt it before he saw it.

The wind lost its edge.

The waves had stopped climbing higher and higher, settling into something... repetitive, almost as if it had gotten tired. Lighting came slower now, thunder trailing father behind it, as if even the sky was running out of breath.

’Serves them right!’

Aether looked towards the people on the boat.

”Keep course,” Aether said. ”Don’t relax yet.”

They didn’t.

Another wave hit. Then another. Each one weaker than the last.

They were doing it... they were winning.

...

Finally, after so much time, the rain thinned. The horizon lightened, it wasn’t bright... but at the same time it was no longer pitch darkness, which is what matters.

The sea still moved beneath them. But not with the same violence.

The storm... was finally retreating.

When the last waves passed beneath the hull without impact, Aether straightened slowly. Looking at his hands, they were numb, and his body was soaked and arching, his wounds burning. But he had gotten a lot of salt in them.

The shit floated with them.

It was damaged and scarred, but still alive.

A smug grin appeared on his face as he looked out over the dark water.

...” So,” he muttered to the storm, but in reality, the person it was intended for was Anger. ”That’s it?”

The sea did not answer, and neither did Anger.

And for the first time since arriving, the illusion had nothing left to throw at him.

...

...

Before he could open his eyes, the first thing he felt was the cold water pouring on him. He quickly dashed out of the waterfall, rubbing his shoulders to warm himself.

He didn’t know how much time he had stayed there, or how he had even done so with the water being so cold.

How much he wished not get a cold.

But more importantly, he was back.

Yet looking at his hands, they were still numb, and his wounds still stung. He didn’t know what had happened. After all, what even was that place? Was it an illusion? But how had he made him enter, after all, Denial had to make him stare in his face. And this time his eyes were closed.

Was it just that Anger was that much stronger than Denial was? That he was able to put him in an illusion even without making him gaze into its face?

He would normally say it was frightening.

...

But now, he didn’t find it all that scary. He had been able to fight against the illusion, so what did he have to fear? If another came, he would just have to get out, and he didn’t even need Voidpiercer to do it.

Not anymore.

Looking at the sky, Aether noticed that the sun was setting, meaning he had to go back to the dojo... and probably explain to Kael why he ran out even if he had told him to rest.

...

...

Aether put on a fake smile.

He didn’t even get to enter the dojo as the old man was already there.

”Alright, let me-”

Kael stopped him from continuing, which at first made him think he was angry with him, yet looking in his eyes... it didn’t seem that way. He didn’t see any anger in his eyes.

”You don’t need to explain... actually, I think it’s my time to explain.”

...

Aether lay down on the floor, right as Kael gave him a cup of tea and lay down in front of him.

”So... I’m sure you found the cave.”

”The cave? You know about that place?” Aether tilted his head, surprised that the old man had known about the true face of the waterfall... and had still sent him there.

And then he started laughing, which didn’t help him understand.

”If I know about the cave?... I have lived inside it for who knows how much time.”

...

...

...

”What?” Aether stared, his jaw dropping slightly.

...

”The one who carved all those marks in the walls, it was me.”

...

”But... why?”

...

...

...

Kael took a sip of his tea.

You see, when I was just a student, learning from my Master, I was alone, no one else wanted to get his teachings, and yet he still wished to train me with all his heart. Until he overdid himself and died... I was never taught the way of the rapier fully, but I managed to get ahold of it by teaching myself... actually. The true style designed by the first master of the rapier was lost when my master died. I just designed a new one... one fit to my soul at that time.”

He put the cup down.

”I was angry at the world. At the people who had lost hope, and I made that clear, until I went too far.” He looked at his burnt hands. ”These wounds were caused by the Master of the Flame Will. And were given to me as punishment, so that I could never wield a blade ever again.”

Aether looked at his hands. ”But you still can, I saw you hold a blade in your hand.”

This comment howerever only made the old man laugh.

”True, you have, but even then, my hands were hurting like hell. Truly, if you were really there to kill me, I wouldn’t have even been able to try and defend myself, as much as I tried i wouldn’t have been able to fight. And while now I can live with it, when I was young, I couldn’t. I was filled with madness, so I locked myself in that cave to... and in the end I was able to get past it.”

...

...

He gazed at Aether, who was completely frozen from shock.

”I had thought that maybe, just maybe it would work for you too, that’s why I gave you all these jobs, I knew that your anger would grow with them, so I wanted it to reach its highest peak, then make you do what I did, that way you would realize what I realized.”

...

”Just that, only now I recognize that this would never work.”

...

”And why is that?” Aether asked.”

...

”Because the anger I harbor and the anger you harbor are not the same. Mine was towards the world, the people of this island.

...

While yours... is towards yourself.”