Prince of The Abyss

The King walked through the darkness, a small smile on his face, as he entered the dungeon. How long had it been? He didn’t remember, but he did hope it wasn’t going to take much longer.

Around him, there were many nobles, generals, and guards- important people who weren’t Celestials, but at the same time people who wouldn’t question him. This was the first step; then he was going to continue with even more important people.

It was all part of his plan, to get the nobles accustomed to his idea.

They seemed frightened for some reason; he didn’t understand why, though; what was there to fear?

”What’s wrong? What is there that you all fear, even with me around?”

The nobles next to him tensed; he feared both what they were about to meet, but also the King, so it was quite a hard question to answer... ”Well, Your Majesty... we are about to meet the one and only Vessel of the Fallen... I mean, that’s not something that happens every day. Plus, we have heard of his massacre when he was captured; we know what he is capable of.”

The King chuckled, of course. Cain’s name was known by most, one of the most dangerous and scary creatures in a long time. After all, a Withered born that managed to ascend to almost a Breaker in hardly any time. And more importantly, a Divine Vessel. And his God was the enemy of the one that protected them. Praise and Fallen had never been good friends in history; even if it is said they had worked together, before the Abyss they were enemies.

Only the Abyss could ever make two opposites work together.

”I know his strength, and I know all of you do. But at the same time, do you not know our strength?” The King questioned.

”Every time a thread was born in the Withered, we took care of it, no matter what it was. Even the gods couldn’t stop us. After all, tell me. What happened to the Abyss?”

The noble sighed, a bit calmer after the King’s words. ”The Abyss was defeated by Lilith, alongside his rebellion.” He said the last part with a smile on his face.

The King nodded. ”Exactly, the Abyss, if not even he could stand against us, you think the Fallen could. We are strong, and we have Divinity of our own, three of them. And one had taken the life of a danger that has been killing the worlds since it had begun... so what is there to fear? I see it as an opportunity.”

After walking down the dungeon stairs for a while, they had reached the door.

Opening them, it was darkness; that was how he would normally speak to Cain... but now...

As he snapped his fingers, the lights turned on. Revealing the Fallen in all the glory it had left. Chained to the wall, his dark hair had grown long, getting in his red eyes. Though, if you were to stare into them, you would notice just how lifeless they were. After so much time of getting tortured, the weeks were when he wouldn’t eat. It had all caught up to him. His will was almost broken. And he knew this; he had already tamed him. The... second strongest Vessel, as Lilith has overtaken him recently.

It was great news, but what was better was that he was going to have both. He was almost certain that Cain couldn’t hold on for much longer; that was why he was slowly showing his state to nobles, so they would accept the idea of taming him... it was better if they agreed; even if they didn’t, he wouldn’t care, but it was better if they did; it was one less headache.

And once he was tamed, there was only one left... and he would have all the Vessels under him.

The only one remaining was the same one he had told everyone that they had eliminated, so how he was going to make everyone accept him, he didn’t know. But at the same time he didn’t care.

Having the Abyss in his hand, to command... that was a dream. No one in the history of the world had been able to do so. However, it was true that the last Vessels... weren’t the brightest. The glory of the first makes the more recent ones shine; most didn’t even reach Bearer rank.

Maybe because, with time, as the Abyss slowly lost its powers, the Gods gave less and less power to their Vessels.

...

But this only made things stranger now. The Vessels now not only showed great potential, but were already strong, and close to being stronger than most recent ones.

... So what did that mean for the Abyss?

’Was Aether its last hope?’

But no, he wasn’t here for the Abyss; he was here for the Fallen.

Smirking, he turned his head to his people.

”Do you see the state of the one you fear?” He got closer to Cain. Poking his face. ”He isn’t even moving, trying to stop me. Chaos has fallen from glory, from what it was known to be... he is now someone who would listen to his superiors, am I right, Cain?”

The boy didn’t move; he didn’t have the power to.

Which made the King laugh even more.

”So tell me, do you still fear this creature?”

The guests looked at each other, not sure what to say, which had made the king a bit mad, but it did give him an idea.

Putting his hand in his pocket. He got the key for the chains that bind Cain out. And put it in his face.

”See this? This key holds your salvation, your freedom. Do you still desire it?”

Cain didn’t move, didn’t respond; he just stood still. Like nothing was happening in front of him.

”See? He is completely broken and ready for us to tame and use!” He looked back at Cain. ”Open your mouth.”

The Fallen obliged, slowly opening his mouth, which shocked everyone in the room; had the mighty Chaos really listened to their King? And so easily... was it really possible to tame a Vessel? They knew the King had the other three under him. But at the same time, one was his daughter, and the other two were children of Celestials, so it hadn’t been that hard to make them listen to him.

The King turned to his guest, for one last act. ”Watch, as he seals his freedom to us.” He said slowly, putting the key on Cain’s mouth. And with a serious face, staring in the boy’s blank eyes, he ordered. ”Swallow.”

...

...

Cain swallowed the key.

...

No one dared say a word, just staring... before a loud cheer erupted. It was a big step for the Blue Rose to tame such a beast; it was unheard of.

After his show, the King slowly led his guest out of the dungeon; they looked happy with how things had played out. And there was no doubt in his mind that he had convinced them. After all, how could you not believe someone is tamed when they swallow their own freedom?

The Fallen was no more. He was just a toy for him and the Blue Rose to use. And everyone will soon know that.

After the guest left, Avius approached him. ”They looked quite happy; I guess everything went to plan, huh?”

The King chuckled. ”Of course, what? Did you think that after so long, he would still have a fighting will? That boy swallowed his last hope like it was nothing. It’s done. The last Vessel is ours.”

Well... in reality, it wasn’t done; he still had the Abyss left, but only he and Lilith knew that, and he planned on keeping it that way.

...

...

...

The stairs of the dungeon were illuminated by the small light of a lantern, as a maid slowly made her way to the place the Fallen rested. Before, she would have been scared, but after hearing from the King that Chaos had been tamed, and from recent experiences, feeding him wasn’t so scary anymore. She had also heard from the King that the lights inside the dungeon were going to be on from now on, which was great. Really great.

And she probably wouldn’t have to do this for much longer, which was even greater.

Once she reached the doors, she put on a smile on her face, trying to act confident.

...

However, once she opened the doors, the smile she had put on would fall just as fast, maybe even faster.

...

Cain was nowhere to be seen.

The maid stared, confused, as the chains that used to bind the Fallen had been opened...

There was nothing around, nothing to show that he had managed to get out.

The only thing here was... a small patch of vomit, just in front of the place he was kept.

...

...

The Fallen had escaped.