Prince of The Abyss

The island wasn’t large compared to the others floating around it, but it was alive in a way the rest weren’t. It had human life, actual souls living on it. And a big amount of it. It was where the souls rested.

Buildings filled almost every corner of it. It was probably one of the most packed islands, if he had to say, which said a lot. People loved coming to this place; they loved the sky, never wanting to go down. Though, was it only the qualities and everything it gave to the people living inside, or something else?

Houses stood packed beside one another, their designs uneven and mismatched as though each had been built during entirely different periods of time. Some were made from dark stone, others from wood reinforced with metal plates, while a few looked almost luxurious, with glass windows reflecting the pale light of the sky above.

Uniqueness, here, you could see it everywhere your eyes looked. You found a new design each time your eyes looked around, every time it made eye contact with something, that house had a unique design.

Bridges connected rooftops together just as often as the streets below did. It was an interesting layout, making it so you could travel from house to house, through the sky, which helped with traffic, and on an island that was filled with buildings and hardly had space, it was a great idea.

People moved everywhere, and it wasn’t an overexamination; everywhere you looked, and wherever you were, you were shoulder to shoulder with someone, as well as behind someone. It was surprising just how many people were around.

Travelers, merchants, mercenaries, Beast Humans, humans, races Aether couldn’t even recognize at first glance. It was very surprising. He hadn’t expected it at all, but at the same time, the island didn’t care about it being only humans or anything like that. If you had the money and you paid for the things you got, then you were more than welcome to stay, no matter who or what you were.

Voices blended together endlessly, creating this constant noise that never fully disappeared. Arguments, laughter, negotiations, footsteps, the rattling of carts dragging supplies across stone roads.

Aether sighed, covering his ears with his hands. This island, really, was a loud one; he almost missed the other one.

The air smelled strangely warm despite the altitude.

Food stalls lined parts of the streets, smoke rising from grills, while vendors shouted over one another trying to attract attention. At the same time, he didn’t want to waste any money, and plus, it wasn’t like he wanted to buy food from a stranger, someone he had never seen, and had no idea of what he did. But it did look good; the smell is more of the reason he was so drawn to it.

It smelled better than he ever expected some street food to smell.

Bright cloth banners hung between buildings, moving softly in the wind coming from the endless sky surrounding the island.

And near the center of it all stood the inn. The building they had been looking for all this time, and probably the most important place in the whole island, home to who knew how many people.

Larger than most nearby structures, it was built directly near the island’s edge, where people could overlook the ocean of clouds beneath them.

Honestly...

The whole place felt less like an island and more like a city, somehow refusing to fall from the sky.

’I just don’t trust anything in the sky...’

Aether chuckled, waving for the others to follow him inside the Inn... where the rooms were a bit different when it came to cost, ten embers each... he didn’t like it, but at the same time, he had expected a lot more. I mean, with everything he had seen, living in this place was worth more than ten embers... so it made him wonder if it was intentional, to make people want to stay longer in this place... after all, everything he had seen until now, just told his gut that this place didn’t want them leaving once they arrived.

Additionally to the room, since it was the first time they booked a room, they were given some usual clothes on the island, the same he saw everyone else wearing... which made it feel strangely like a cult, or something else.

But if it was some sort of trap, he was just going to have to see for himself. As he decided to put on the clothes. He didn’t have a reason necessarily... he just didn’t want to stand out, which was a massive thing. If he wanted to get inside the tower, he had to become as least noticeable as he could, and wearing his mantle was definitely not going to do that.

Yet as he was making his plan, he heard a chuckle.

”I think this is one of the only rare times I see you without your mantle.” Kade laughed. But at the same time, it was true. Ever since getting the mantle, he hadn’t really taken it off at all, but only because he had no reason to do so. It kept him warm when it was cold, and it kept him cold when it was hot. It also didn’t get dirty, and it almost protected, so what would he get for taking it off?

”For me it’s the first.” Lucien raised his hand to say, letting out a small giggle after.

Aether rolled his eyes, continuing to dress himself, until the only thing that was left... was the handband... it was the thing he was hesitant to put on, after all, he felt as if it just had to have some importance, it couldn’t just be an accessory, it was too good to be true. It had to be something, just like the mark on his hand had had a very important role in the Reader Titan book he had finished.

In the end, he had decided to put it on, even if he really was against the idea.

Rummaging through the bag with money, Aether took out around one hundred embers and gave them to Kade. ”Go get something for us to eat today, just not from the street, buy some meat or something like that, and then we will go down to cook it and come back up.” But before he continued, he looked at Lucien. ”We can do that, right? Go down and up whenever we want.”

But the boy shook his head. ”Going down is possible, and also coming up again, but you have to pay again.

Aether sighed. This place really wanted to stop its people from going down ever again.

”Fine then, Kade will just cook it here with his Will... is that a problem?”

The book shook his head. ”No... but why can’t we get food from the people on the street? Do you not trust it?”

Aether nodded, ”I don’t trust anything in this place.”

The boy chuckled, knowing his master well. Taking Lucien with him, they left, leaving Aether alone... well, not really alone.

”Don’t you think you’re being too cautious? Not every place you go to has to have something wrong with it. You trust your gut too much, and it leads you to believe in crazy things.”

The Abyss was also here.

Aether sighed, lying on the bed, staring at the sky.

”I say it’s my gut, but it’s not really what drives me; it’s everything I know. It’s just who I am to overthink these things, and most times I have had success, so I won’t stop trusting myself. I just don’t consider standing still when you feel like something is seriously wrong to be the correct idea. If everyone thought like that, then the world would fall.”

The Abyss walked over to his head, leaning over him, staring into his eyes.

”Big words, don’t you think, Aether? What evidence do you have to even consider that something is wrong with this place? It doesn’t want people leaving it. No civilization wants people leaving; they could just be taking it a level higher, in a humane mode. The Tower... it could just be an illusion, or just the design that made it feel alive, moving when the wind hit it. You say that it’s everything you know that makes you think that something is ’wrong’, but what do you really know?”

Aether stared at the ceiling for a good amount of time before responding to the Abyss.

”When I was referring to everything I knew, I wasn’t talking to this city... but rather my life, every single one of my experiences, that’s my proof. In theory, every weird thing has an explanation in this situation; you could argue something for everything happening on this island, but what you can argue about is what happened. And I see a connection between many other situations in my life, which all lead to something bad. When a chapter is open, you can edit it however you want; everyone can give their opinion and continue it however they want.

But when it’s close... it remains close, to be helpful in the future.

So that’s what I’m doing, when I say everything I know, I am talking about every closed chapter in my life.”

...

”And it’s all telling me that something is going to happen.”