A frail-looking boy sat on a rusty bench, gazing into the depths of the abyss. His dark hair framed a thin face, and his black eyes were filled with a haunting emptiness. In his hand, he clutched a slice of bread, its surface dotted with green mold, and beside him lay a cup of muddy water, as if he had scooped it from the ground. This paltry meal was a feast for Aeron, the best he had seen in weeks.
As a homeless orphan, he had learned to find joy in the most meager of offerings. Today, he savored the bread, a sad smile creeping across his face.
"Ah! How long has it been since I had bread?" he murmured, his gaze drifting over the decaying morsel.
He hesitated as he reached the last piece, pondering the unfairness of his existence. "Why couldn't I have been born into a normal family? I could have eaten all the bread I wanted and drunk clean water to my heart's content."
His eyes turned to the abyss, anger surging within him. "If it weren't for the abyss, maybe I would have had a family."
A sudden, intense pain shot through his side, causing him to gasp. "Ah! So it has begun to spread again, huh?"
Around him, people cast disgusted glances, retreating as if his very presence was a contagion.
"Stupid abyss sickness! Why did I have to get it?"
The Abyss Sickness was a terrible infection, gnawing at its host, blackening their skin and releasing a putrid stench. Once the sickness took hold, it would consume the body, leading to a slow and agonizing death. The only chance for survival lay in the depths of the abyss itself, where the elusive Leaf of Life could be found. But the abyss teemed with monstrous creatures that made such a quest a fool's errand. Only the blessedâthose known as Abyss Walkersâdared to venture into its depths.
Aeron rose from the bench, clutching his side, staring into the abyss with a desperate thought. Perhaps if he leaped into its depths, he might find the Leaf of Life and heal himself. Maybe he could become strong like the Abyss Walkers and feast on bread as he wished. But he quickly dismissed the notion; he was too weak to fight the horrors lurking within the abyss.
"Why was I even born? Nothing good has happened to me in the eighteen years of my life."
Turning away from the abyss, Aeron trudged back toward the city, searching for a place to sleep for the night. But his path was abruptly blocked by a group of men.
"Hey, you! Kid!"
"Huh? Are you talking to me?" Aeron exclaimed, pointing at himself, confusion etched across his face.
"Who else would we be talking to? Do you see anyone else around?"
"Sorry, I was justâ"
Before he could finish, the men surged forward, surrounding him. They shouted, "Die, you infected scum!" They began to beat him mercilessly, and Aeron fought back as best as he could, but his strength was fading. Each kick landed on the very spot where the abyss sickness festered, amplifying the pain until he was lost in darkness.
After what felt like an eternity of suffering, they lifted him and hurled him into the abyss. The moment he fell, reality twisted into chaos, and Aeron screamedânot just from fear, but from the agony tearing through his body as the sickness reached his face.
After a long, disorienting descent, Aeron splashed into a body of water, submerged in an all-consuming darkness.
"Where am I? Why can't I see anything?"
As he flailed, he eventually found solid ground beneath him. "Huh? Is this⌠land?"
He stood, wringing out his tattered shirt and pants, then began to wander. Eventually, fatigue claimed him, and he collapsed onto the cold, hard ground.
"Seems like I'm really in the abyss, huh?" he whispered, despair washing over him.
"Maybe this is how I dieâkilled by an abyss monster."
As he sat in silence, two voices echoed around him, a disembodied conversation that sent chills down his spine.
"One more sick one has fallen, abandoned by the world."
"It seems so. I wonder how he will survive?"
"I wonder, too."
Aeron's heart raced as he called out, searching for the source of the voices. "Who is that? Where are you?"
But his cries were swallowed by the void, leaving him alone in the darkness, a mere whisper against the abyss.