Miyazuki's scream died in his throat, the sound swallowed by the oppressive darkness surrounding him. It was like being submerged in thick, cold water, every movement sluggish and weighed down by an unseen force. His chest tightened, panic clawing at his mind as he reached out into the void, but his hands grasped at nothing.
"Where... where am I?" His voice echoed weakly, lost in the vast emptiness.
There was no response. No sign of life. Just the relentless darkness pressing in on him from all sides. His heart raced, the sound of his own pulse pounding in his ears, but the rest of the world felt eerily still, as if it were holding its breath.
Suddenly, a whisper brushed past him—barely more than a breath, but sharp enough to cut through the silence. He froze.
"You're not alone."
Miyazuki spun around, eyes wide, though he could see nothing but black. His throat constricted, and his hands shook. "Who—who's there?!"
A deep, resonant voice responded, this time clearer, reverberating from every corner of the void. "You've crossed into the Abyss, young prince. And I have been waiting."
Miyazuki's mind raced. The Abyss? Prince? His head swirled with confusion, the weight of the words pressing down on him, unfamiliar and foreboding. He swallowed hard, trying to steady himself. "I don't understand. What are you talking about? Why am I here?"
The voice chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that sent chills crawling down his spine. "You are here because you were chosen. The moment you crossed the threshold, your fate was sealed."
"Chosen? By who? For what?" Miyazuki's voice cracked, frustration and fear mingling in his chest. His hands clenched into fists, though it did little to ease the tremors running through him.
The void shifted. He couldn't see it, but he felt it—a disturbance in the stillness, like the air was vibrating around him. And then, out of the darkness, something began to take shape. A faint, ethereal glow, barely visible at first, but growing steadily brighter.
Miyazuki's breath caught in his throat as he saw it—a massive figure, cloaked in shadow and mist, materializing before him. Its form was indistinct, shifting like smoke, but its eyes... its eyes were unmistakable. Two burning orbs of molten light, piercing through the dark, locking onto him with an intensity that made his skin crawl.
"The Abyss," the voice continued, now clearly belonging to the towering figure before him, "is not just a void. It is a realm of limitless power, but also of endless peril. And you, Miyazuki, are to inherit its throne."
Miyazuki's legs felt weak, his knees threatening to buckle beneath him. Inherit? Throne? He shook his head, backing away instinctively, though there was nowhere to go. "No… no, you've got the wrong person. I'm no prince. I'm just... just a kid. I don't belong here."
The figure leaned forward, its presence overwhelming, like a great storm pressing down on him. "Do not mistake my words. The Abyss does not care for titles, nor for lineage. It cares only for strength. And the moment you died, you became bound to it."
His heart skipped a beat. *Died*. The word echoed in his mind, cold and hollow. He remembered the truck—the screeching tires, the blinding lights, the feeling of weightlessness as his body was hurled through the air. But he had never really processed it. Had he... really died?
The silence that followed was suffocating. His mouth went dry as he tried to speak, the words barely more than a whisper. "I'm... dead?"
"Not entirely," the figure replied. "You have crossed between worlds, to a place where the living and the dead converge. The Abyss claims all who are drawn to it, and now it has claimed you."
Miyazuki's mind raced, every thought tangling with the next. He wanted to deny it, to wake up from this nightmare and return to his old life, but deep down, he knew. The darkness around him wasn't a dream. It was real. And so was the figure standing before him, with eyes like twin suns burning into his soul.
The figure straightened, towering even taller, as if its presence was expanding with each passing moment. "You have been given a rare gift, young prince. To ascend the Abyss is to wield power beyond comprehension. But it is not a path walked lightly."
Miyazuki felt the weight of those words settle heavily on his shoulders. "What… what do you want from me?"
"I want nothing," the figure said. "But the Abyss? It demands. It tests. And you, Miyazuki, have been chosen to undertake the greatest trial of all—a quest so perilous, so unforgiving, that it has claimed the lives of gods and mortals alike."
Miyazuki's heart thudded painfully in his chest, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He could barely think straight, his mind reeling from the sheer enormity of what was being said. "A... quest?"
"Yes. A quest to unlock the true power of the Abyss. To claim the throne that has been offered to you."
Miyazuki's throat tightened. He shook his head, stepping back even further. "No. No, I don't want this. I didn't ask for any of this!"
The figure's eyes blazed brighter, casting long, eerie shadows across the formless void. "It is not a matter of want. It is a matter of fate. The moment you stepped into the Abyss, your destiny was sealed."
Miyazuki clenched his fists, his breath coming in shallow gasps. "I... I don't even know where to start."
"You will learn," the voice rumbled, ominous and cold. "But be warned. The Abyss is not kind. Every step you take will bring you closer to either unimaginable power—or to utter annihilation."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence. Miyazuki could feel his pulse pounding in his ears, his chest tightening with a mix of fear and disbelief. He wanted to run, to scream, to break free of the oppressive darkness, but there was nowhere to go. He was trapped in this strange, terrifying place, with no way out.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him trembled. He staggered, reaching out for balance, but the darkness around him shifted again, rippling like the surface of a disturbed lake.
"What's happening?" Miyazuki gasped, panic rising in his throat.
The figure's glowing eyes narrowed, the voice dropping to a low, guttural rasp. "The Abyss stirs. Your journey begins."
Before Miyazuki could even react, the ground gave way beneath him, and he plunged into the void, his body spiraling downward into the endless darkness. His heart raced, terror gripping his mind as the figure's final words echoed in his ears.
"Survive, Prince of the Abyss... if you can."
And then, everything went black.
---
Miyazuki's eyes snapped open. He was lying on something hard and cold. The air was different here—stale, oppressive, like a heavy weight pressing down on him from all sides. His fingers twitched, feeling the rough, stone-like surface beneath them.
He sat up slowly, his head pounding, his vision blurry. As the fog in his mind cleared, he realized he was no longer in the endless void. But where was he? The world around him was dimly lit, the shadows stretching out like long, grasping hands. Strange, unfamiliar symbols were etched into the walls, glowing faintly with a sickly, green light.
A chill ran down his spine as he took in his surroundings, but it wasn't just the cold. It was the unsettling, gut-wrenching feeling that something—*someone*—was watching him.
Miyazuki swallowed hard, his voice barely a whisper as he muttered to himself, "What… is this place?"
And then, from somewhere deep within the shadows, something moved.