UNKNOWN 

"How could you? Joan!" a young boy ahead of me roared, pointing his sword towards me.

His short, dirty blond hair waved with the wind while his cobalt eyes burned with hatred.

"How could you do this to us!" He roared again.

"Brat, I did what I did to live. I killed those who opposed me and even my family... Our family, Benji." I coldly retorted.

Benji's face contorted to one of disgust. "Why did you have to kill everyone? The citizens had nothing to do with our family. Why did you have to kill them?!" 

"The reason I killed the citizens was that I liked it..... The rush from killing them was like nothing I have felt before!" I picked up my sword and licked the blood off its edge. It was sweet. "The rush wasn't the only thing I felt. The fear and desperation in their eyes was exhilarating. After kidnapping and torturing the first family in our dungeon, I knew I couldn't stop!" I felt myself drooling. I didn't care; all I wanted was that rush again.

"Y-You monster! Why did you spare me?" Benji's knuckles whitened as he gripped the sword's handle harder.

"Let's just say your sister is quite resilient," I said disappointedly. 

Benji looked at me in disgusted confusion.

"What did you do to my sister?"

I let out a light chuckle. "Why should I tell you what me and ro-" 

Benji interrupted me. "Don't say her name."

"Why can't I say ro-"

"DON'T SAY HER NAME!" Benji charged at me with his sword above his head.

I sighed and deflected his attack. "Where's that good-natured boy I know so well?" He swung again, and I deflected it again." Benji, you are testing my patience." I deflected several more blows before swiping up, cutting his right arm off.

His right hand still gripped his sword as it hit the ground.

"AHHHHHH!" Benji screamed in agony as I grabbed his other wrist and threw him across the ground.

Benji bounced several times across the ground until skidding to a halt.

Benji's first attempt to stand failed, but he kept trying, and when he finally stood, it was... beautiful.

He dragged his right leg with him as he walked toward me. Blood flowed down his face, dripping onto the ground, but what excited me the most was how the blood poured out from his arm.

"Yes, that's it! Come at me!" I cheered, licking his blood off my blade, but spat it out as it was foul.

Once he got close enough to where I was, he swung his left fist toward me, hitting me with no force. I leaned down and whispered in his ear. "Poor Benji Clark couldn't even get revenge for his family," 

"I'll kill you,"

"What was that?" I questioned, leaning back up.

"I'll kill you," Benji barely spoke in a whisper.

My heart raced after hearing him say that a second time. "Good boy! That's what I have wanted to hear!" I grabbed his wrist and lifted him to be face to face.

His eyes were dull. I willed fire mana into my palm and cauterized his wound. "Come find me again when your older brat!"

I threw him at the building behind me, and the wood wall cracked and bent until it snapped.

Benji hit the second wall with a loud thud.

Did I throw him too hard? 

Nah, he will be fine. Clarks are resilient.

I willed wind mana into my legs to lift me from the ground. 

I flew up and took another look at my hard work, my most beautiful creation, the burning city of Krymo.

It was so beautiful that I couldn't help but smile.

BENJI CLARK

I felt myself flying as I stared back at Joan.

Joan's crimson hair flowed down his sides while his golden eyes shone ecstatically.

I felt myself break through something.

The world around me faded into darkness.

 ********

My eyes slowly opened to a dim ceiling.

Am I dead? The agonizing pain I felt proved me to be alive. 

Mom... Dad..... Rose.

I wanted to cry and scream, but it hurt even to breathe. Each raspy breath hurt more than the last, but I must get up. There could be survivors. I grabbed a long, broken plank and forced myself onto my legs. 

My right ankle was hurt, but nothing was broken. I hobbled out of the wooden house and into the sun outside. Since I was younger, I loved the outside world and its green life, but now I was met with ash, death, and destruction.

The reality of my situation had really set in. Only rubble remained of the once great nation I lived in. Smoke filled the air and burned my lungs as I inhaled.

I walked down the streets towards the city's center, my home. With each step I took, my heart dropped more. There were so many bodies. Some were so burnt they were unrecognizable, some cut in half with their organs spilling out, and some were crushed.

I felt nauseous at this, stopping several times to vomit. Once at the place where castle doors stood, I walked into the place I called home.

The garden, where countless blossoming flowers used to be is nothing but ash. The fountain in the middle of the garden was smashed into pieces, and broken archways lay in the path, numerous knights's bodies littering the area, most of whom I had known since I was a kid.

Memories of this place before all of this death and destruction flashed into my mind. 

I pushed myself past the bodies and into the castle. 

I kept pushing myself until I reached the throne room, being greeted by my parents' body. Their heads and limbs were all detached from their body and lying on the ground next to them. My father was on the floor while my mother was on her throne. 

My vision blurred as tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to collapse and not get up, but Joan's words rang in my head. 'Rose'

I rushed out of the room and toward my sister's room. I busted open her door to be met with a more gruesome sight than my parents. Countless swords stuck out of her body, and the only part of her body that was sword-free was her face. Her white bed was now stained a dark red.

Without thought, I leaned over her bed, letting the wooden stick fall to the floor. My tears rained down on her face as I gently pushed her head against my chest as if shielding her from the horrors that surrounded us.

"I'm... sorry..." my voice cracked, the words a feeble attempt to apologize for a life stolen too soon.

"I... should have....been stronger. Strong enough to.... protect mom, dad, and you." The weight of guilt and grief bore down on me.

The room seemed to close in around us, a suffocating darkness that mirrored the abyss in my soul. My soft cries morphed into a low growl, a guttural sound born from the depths of pain and fury. A fire in my chest burned hotter, an inferno stoked by the injustice of their deaths.

This feeling.... is hate.

At that moment, as I cradled my sister's lifeless form, a single person dominated my mind: 'Joan' I lay my sister's head back onto the blood-soaked pillow. 

A resolve born from the depths of my despair coursed through my veins. I rose from the bedside. I wiped the tears from my face with the back of my hand, and as I left the room, I carried the weight of my grief and newfound hatred.

I stepped outside into the silence of the night. The darknIess outside seemed to converge with the shadows within, merging into an indistinguishable tapestry that mirrored my soul's chaos.

My journey was unknown, but there was one sure thing... Joan would die by my hand.

This is my abyss.