Abyssal Awakening

Alice exhaled softly.

The memory distorted after this moment.

Fragments and brief glances at the destruction that followed.

She didn’t need to see the rest. After all, she had already experienced it herself when she witnessed Feris’s rampage in the memory she had accessed previously.

Turning her gaze away from the memory, Alice glanced at Feris who’s eyes lingered on Noah’s final expression before he disappeared.

Just as she was about to speak, she froze.

Feris stared back at her with a pair of dark eyes.

Deeper than any ocean, darker than the night. Just staring at them felt like they would consume her whole.

"Before I knew it... Ciel was gone. Erased from this world. I left scars upon this land, I felt a new flow of energy in my body. But this emptiness in my chest only got bigger." Feris mumbled.

Alice subconsciously took a step back, to distance herself from the darkness in Feris’s eyes.

"So tell me, what is your choice? Are you going to kill me like I suggested and put an end to this farce. Or are you going to tell me to live in this pain? I’m not normal like others." Feris revealed a bitter smile.

"When I get attached to something, I can’t give it up. Separating myself from it will only cause the pain to get worse. And now... the very thing I got attached to disappeared from this world. Can you imagine how I’ve felt all these years?" She asked, fingers tracing Noah’s face in the memory.

"I tried to look for him. I tried to look for the others as well. But there wasn’t a single trace of them left in the world. Haha... Even if it’s recycled, even if it’s not the same... I wanted to see them again you know? To know that their souls are still around." Feris clenched her fist.

"But there was nothing! Not a single trace! Not even scraps!" She shouted before losing her energy.

"So go, make it quick. At least if I ’sleep’, I won’t have to deal with this anymore."

". . ." Alice took a deep breath and sighed.

She sat down next to Feris.

"I don’t even want to begin to understand your pain. Not even a little. Because I know that is the worst thing I’ll ever feel. If I had to see Allura and the others die before me, I might be the same as you. Only more destructive." Alice admitted.

She didn’t want to lie to Feris. Not when that lie could be easily seen through. She was no saint, she was no hero.

She’s just a girl who had a series of unfortunate events.

Killing? She had no qualms about it.

Dragging in innocents? She hated it but if her worst enemy was in front of her, a few sacrifices shouldn’t hurt. By all means, if that means someone else’s child will one day come to kill her they are free to try.

Those who aren’t prepared to die shouldn’t be taking other people’s lives.

Alice didn’t want to die. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t prepared for others to try and take her life.

In that sense, she was just like Feris.

And since that was the case, she had to help Feris find a solution.

Right here, right now.

In this moment, she needed to resolve the core issue.

She had a hunch that if she didn’t do this, something dreadful could happen.

Something that would cause her to regret.

Alice closed her eyes.

She couldn’t hear Alyss, she couldn’t here Cayla.

She was alone in this moment with Feris.

This silence allowed her mind to think.

Strangely...

Alice wasn’t panicked.

Ideas formed in her mind. Whether they are Yvael’s ideas or her own didn’t matter.

"Do you trust me?" Alice asked Feris.

"No." Feris shook her head.

A helpless smile formed on Alice’s face.

"Well aint that just a shame. But I wasn’t really asking for permission in the first place. I was just seeing how you felt." Alice shrugged.

Feris creased her brows but in the next second, Alice grabbed her hand and brought it towards her mouth.

"!!!" Feris winced from her finger being cut then in the next moment, a furious blush spread across her face as she felt Alice’s tongue brush against her skin.

"Wha!?"

Before she could finish her complaint, Feris felt weak in the legs as she fell backwards, collapsing against the ground.

Heat drained from her body. She could feel her energy growing weaker.

She could feel what little remained of her soul being consumed from the edges.

Ah... So this is how her fragment felt.

When she became the Realm Ruler, she had ’consumed’ her other half. Assimilated even.

A kill or be killed moment in which she came out on top.

How cold...

So this is ’death’.

’In the end... After everything she said, Alice was still going to kill her.

’If that was how she’s going to be, she should’ve just been upfront about it...’ Feris thought to herself and closed her eyes.

Yet the grasp of death didn’t arrive.

Questions appeared in her mind as she saw Alice rubbing her tongue against her sleeve.

"Pui pui! Blergh! Eurgh what the f*ck. I’ve never tasted something so sh*t before." She had a look of disgust on her face as she glared at Feris with indignation.

As if it was Feris’s fault that she had to suffer something like this.

"Alright, I think I got everything I need." Alice gave her body a stretch as she stood up.

"What are you talking about?" Feris frowned.

"You want to find Noah and the other’s right? Since I’m going to take over the Abyss, why not take advantage of my authority a little and tap into things a little earlier." Alice grinned.

Regardless of the questions flashing through Feris’s eyes in this moment, Alice focused up and clapped her hands together.

Based on what Feris had said, their soul went missing after the battle.

No matter where she looked, she couldn’t find anything. Even going as far as to ask for certain favours across multiple regions.

She simply couldn’t find where their soul had drifted off to.

But Alice was different. Not only could she trace back history using Revenant recollection, but thanks to the Abyssal Relics, she could also tap into the library of contracts.

Thus, with all the tools at her disposal, Alice had one idea.

Flip through the entire history of the Abyss and find out the exact moment Noah disappeared! Once she had that, she’ll be able to track down exactly where they disappeared off to.

*RUMBLE!!!

And since she had just drank a bit of Feris’s blood, her capabilities had been boosted to a level beyond normal.

It wasn’t simply a case of having nine Sigils.

No.

With Feris’s blood, she had temporarily reached the level of a Realm Ruler.

*Kacha~

"Hm?" Alice furrowed her brows.

She felt like she heard something turn for a moment but couldn’t see what.

Though, she had a slight hunch that it was probably the Cogs. After all, she had just made her choice on what she wanted to do for Feris.

*RUMBLE!!!

The crown spun to life above her head while her heart pulsed with energy.

Her eyes shifted and a tether shot through the world of memories, establishing a connection with the Abyss.

*Clap clap clap~

"And here I thought you were going to try and open an access path towards my place. Are you that scared of me?" The Will’s voice echoed out along with a series of clapping.

However, Alice couldn’t see where his true form was.

"You scared? But last I recall, you told me to be careful with opening a path right? I don’t want this place to be destroyed yet." Alice shrugged.

The Will was a nosy one. Always keeping an eye on the movements of the world towards an unseen goal.

Each action they made seemed to be within his control.

"Certainly. I just didn’t think you would take such effort to properly evade me. What if my attention was elsewhere? I might not even have noticed." The Will chuckled.

"So what do you want? I doubt someone like you would just show up for no reason. Every time you appeared, you’ve always wanted something. Or perhaps... Is it to push me in the direction you want?" Alice narrowed her eyes.

Her guard wasn’t down but she didn’t bother with being wary of an attack.

The Will wanted her alive for his purpose. And with things reaching this stage, he didn’t have time to wait for another vessel of her calibre.

Therefore, Alice was going to take advantage of him if she could!

"Your words, your actions. They’re always laced with deceit. If your reason for being here isn’t to help me achieve my goals then I’ll block your words out without care." Alice warned.

With so much energy rushing through her body, waiting for a command, the Will wouldn’t dare to stop her.

Who knows what kind of damage stopping her here could cause.

The Will fell silent for a little while before letting out a slight laugh.

"Alright, fine. Since you’ve been improving at a steady pace and even thought to do something like this, I suppose a little reward is in store. So go on, browse the Library as you wish. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

"And before I forget, a hint."

For a moment, Alice could imagine the devious smile on the Will’s face.

"I would turn my attention to the tower situated in the middle of the capital. You see, a certain woman had her hand in creating that Tower. Or at least, at one point in time. A certain woman who could see fate."

Without letting Alice say anything, the Will removed his gaze.