Shadow of the Abyss

No. But it is something that can either make you a demon or devil."

Altair's mind spun as premonition once against stirred his subconscious. He shuddered, bringing a cold gleam to the Monarch's chilling eye.

'The Realm of Spirits is… ' The Monarch ssed, choosing not to bring up such an ability. It wasn't something the boy could handle now.

"What is the differce betwe a demon and a Devil?" Altair inquired, clching his fist.

"Both are ruthless and without humanity. They are one of the cruelest tities within the Myriad Heavs; however, if we talk about mtal acuity, One represts Order, the other Chaos." He said, shaking his head. "I foresee you becoming a devil in nature with your mischievous personality, but who knows? Demons represt chaos and the Devil's Order. But make no mistake, Order doesn't represt Good.

It merely represts structure. A systematic order of laws that can bring about a type of chaos only the Souls of the Damn could understand."

The Prince touched his chest as a sinking pressure weighted itself over his heart. He gulped. " Tell me."

"Are you sure?" Arse warned, narrowing his eyes as Altair nodded in the affirmative. He sighed. "Tebrae… your Mother is dying."

"Eh?"

"Giving birth to you…" He stopped trying to find the words to convey to his son. "Giving birth to you, Altair, wt against Tebrae's tire nature. We don't know what wt wrong during the formation of your bloodline in the womb, but you ate at Tebrae's Body and Soul. Each day, her aura grows—"

"Liar… Liar!"

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Arse closed his eyes as the tears gathered in his child's eyes. "The only time I lie is wh I smile. And I'm not smiling now." He told him, oping his eyes to his trembling shoulders. His voice grew hard. " Tebrae is going to die. I've no idea what you did… But Te willingly fed herself to you.

She—'

"SHUT UP!!!!!" Altair roared, clching his fist so hard his transluct image grew more corporeal. "It's not true! Its… not… True…"

The Monarch of Darkness harded his heart and spoke in a icy tone. " I'm not lying. She will die. And it will be a true death. The only reason she lives now is due to what she represts. She is Darkness.

The Primordial of Darkness. However… in but a few cycles, perhaps a few years, the Night will perish to be forgott like many of the Old Gods."

"How… How do I stop it?" Altair demanded, striking his father with a chilling eye that brought a proud smile to his lips. "You wouldn't be telling me this if there wasn't hope right!"

Arse raised two fingers. "You can give her your heart. But she will refuse. She'd rather die than see you perish. The second…" And the Monarch smiled. " Well… I'll keep that a secret for now."

"You!~" Altair raged, clching teeth so hard the tang of copper traced the tip of his tongue.

"Easy. I'll tell if you do me a favor." Arse coldly said. "This is life, my boy. We might be family, but I will not hand you everything. If you want to know how to save your Mother… Th you must pay a price." He lifted his eye towards the crackle of thunder bellowing over the Nine Hells as ash scorched the skies in an abyss of night. "Are you up for it?"

"What do you want?" The Prince demanded with haste.

"I want you to prove yourself to be my son. While you cannot carry the Snow name, I wish for you to create a power that holds the pottial to rival my own family." He said, lifting his lips into a cruel arc. " No need to look all feisty. It'll only remind me of a kitt bearing its fangs. This is merely a prerequisite in saving your mother."

"A prerequisite? "

Arse nodded. "Yup, If you can't ev achieve such a feat. Saving Te is but a dream."

"ARSENE!!!!! FUCKING!!!!! SNOW!!!!!!!" a thunderous boom crackled over all of Hell, sding tremors throughout Arse castle.

The Monarch sighed, "Fucking Beelzebub. I swear dealing with Fall Angels is growing to be a pain in the ass." He shook his head and stared at his son. " That'll be it for now. I truly hope to see what you'll do now, Altair." He said, pressing his fingers betwe Altair's brow. " Say hi to Luna for me."

…

…

…

Snapping his eyes op to the familiar roof of the breeder's factory, Altair released a painful cry as his left eye brimmed with scornful hate as the burn of his tattered body faded with his wrath. He stood up, finding Luna sitting across from him.

"Is it true? Is Mother dying?" He asked, hopeful that it was all a lie.

"Your father truly is a heartless bastard," Luna conveyed. She shot the boy a calm, measured stare, taking a momt before she said: "Yeah. It's true. My sister Mithra, Myself, and the Tower of Babel are keeping her alive. But she is fading relatively quickly." She sighed, noticing globs of tears poor from the boy's eyes, and sighed, taking him into her arms.

She said nothing as the Prince cried himself back to sleep in her arms. Luna merely comforted him as her heart grew soft.

"I understand why you did it, Arse. But my God. He is still so young." She shook her head, kissing his forehead. She cradled him gtly. "Are we doing the right thing?" she wondered and glanced at the sleeping Ria by his side, "A gus can change a few hearts, but a man with ough resolve can change the world. You two now both have that.

I merely hope it'll be ough."

She trailed her fingers through Ria's dark blue hair, carrying strings of scarlet, and smiled. "You'll know what he is going through in the years that follow. I hope you can assist him on his journey. He's going to need all the help." She shook her head and straighted her spine. "But this is where everything begins."

Luna's eyes swelled with might as she oped her palm, forming an illusionary image of the Serpts Outreach. "Wh you wake… Everything will be differt. Everything. The Trial of the Moon begins here."

…

…

…

"So we lost contact within the Serpts Outreach?" Ser Liaway said, carrying a hiss in his tone. Liaway was a thin knight, having reached into the realm of three circles. He had a thin face with droopy eyes and a beard the color of fire, bearing the mission of returning Altair to the Aros Estate.

"Yes, Ser." Tunan, his assistant, confirmed, bearing similar features to Liaway. " I spoke with the Slave Knight, Kirr, two days ago. He said that the drones were destroyed by what appeared to be a sword. We suspect it was Altair. However, nothing has come through since."

At his desk within his tower, Ser Liaway frowned, picking at his ear. " How many assets do we have within the Serpts Outreach?"

"Net? About Sev Million Sols. We profit about three hundred thousand Sols annually due to the low maintance of the Slaves. It's nothing great, but it's something." Replied Tunan without much expression. He lifted his glasses with his palm with precision. " Are you concerned about public image?"

"Indeed. From our last report, The Boy destroyed Three Mk- 90's. That's a spectacular feat, considering age and skill. He's quite an asset himself. Ev if the family considers him an outsider, nevertheless, we can't allow our family to be connected to slavery." Liaway chuckled, sliding his droopy eyes to his assistant. "Sd in one of our elites to retrieve him.

And scrap the project."

"Male or Female?" Tunan said with a smile. "We are talking about our breeding facility, after all."

Liaway chuckled. "Sd a woman. The Aros m will put their cock in anything. Also, sd word to the patriarch. It's best he knows what's going on. We wouldn't want to destroy a perfectly good asset like Altair.

He'll be a good candidate for our conditioning program."

Tunan formed a smile wh suddly alarms began to resound through the room, turning their expression pale. Panic, he connected his neuro-link to the main Aros System via the USB port on his temple to Laiway's computer. His expression turned dark. "Sir… The Serpts Outreach has begun to evolve. The Portal Color is… Red."