One day, out of the blue, the abyss decided to behave weirdly. It had been alright when the day started with everything still in place.

But halfway through the day, the more sensitive adventurers began to feel it. Something was different about the abyss today. The energy inside was not the same as it once had been.

It had caused a minor uproar but no one had paid attention to it. Something always happened in the abyss. As such, they could not keep paying attention to every little detail about what happened.

So naturally, no one paid much attention to it the first time.

But once the shaking started and people began to find the ground beneath their feet being pulled off, they knew something was wrong with the abyss. It was being done in a hostile way it had never been done before.

The abyss had always been a neutral space that treated everyone as equal. But now it was behaving in a way that was killing most of its occupants.

“Mary.”

“Joseph”

All over, people were calling out the names of their loved ones as they were being swallowed by the abyss floor and falling into the darkness.

The abyss had truly turned into the monster that everyone had believed it to be at one time.

And amongst this chaos, the one who had broken down in shock was none other than Clove. She had planned everything, from start to end, only for it to backfire on her now.

Where was the promised end? Where was the reverse in time that should have happened?

How come all she could see was the collapse of the land as everyone tried to run fortheirr lives? How had things come to this in the end?

“Hurry up. We need to leave now.”

People were running around her but Clove was numb to it all. She had made a mistake in her eagerness to end everything and now Aurora was gone.

The abyss was folding on its head and there was nothing to be done. The earth was done for and humanity had lost.

“What do you think you are doing just sitting here? You need to get your ass in motion if you want to live. You owe this much to Aurora.”

It was Aurora’s red-haired companion who finally decided that Clove had enough of her moping around and she needed to stand up.

Her strong arms picked up Clove by the back of her shirt and dragged her away from the main action zone. That was what saved Clove’s life in the end.

But that did not mean Clove was grateful. Grief was a strong emotion to overcome and it could even make one lose their reasoning. Clove was in that category right now, not being able to decide if she wanted to live or die.

“Let me go. Who allowed you to touch me so carelessly like this? Let me go right now.”

Clove fought hard to be let go of. It was a futile fight she was meant to lose but she did try to be free.

Rita let Clove go but not without an annoyed expression on her face. She dropped Clove right in front of another familiar face.

“Was it all worth it? The betrayal and the heartache. In the end, you never could share your worries with me.”

Quince did not sound angry but disappointed. And somehow, that hurt more than if he had been angry with Clove. He was turning away from Clove and that sucked.

“It was not my fault. I-I never meant this outcome to happen. It was never supposed to end in the abyss’s favor.”

Clove whispered as she felt her follow the heart. The absence of her core hurt badly but it was nothing in comparison to the complicated web of emotions in her heart.

“What you planned and what was supposed to happen, all those words do not matter. What matters is what you intend to do now. How are you going to take responsibility for all the lives lost today.”

Responsibility? There was no way to do that. Human life was precious and no one could account for another’s life.

No matter how much Clove tried to atone for it now, there was nothing to be done from her side.

“It is not entirely Clove’s fault that all this happened. The abyss was always headed toward this end and the experiments Lady Dheva started a while back accelerated this degradation. The abyss had always been a parasite.”

Surprisingly, it was Lord Alan who spoke. The bald man had walked down to the depth of the abyss for the resistance and was now her.

He looked at the collapsing floor and the vibration seemed to be getting stronger by the second.

It was time to leave the floor before it collapsed.

“The resistance is out on all floors to try and get as many people out as they can. Since the very ground is collapsing, there is no telling how long we will be safe. We will need to join for the last operation to save everything.”

Lord Alan seemed to know what was going on and everyone followed after them.

Both Rita and Clove did not want to leave the abyss in hopes to get Aurora back but they were dragged away by their companions.

And on that day, those lucky ones who managed to get out were the witness to how cruel the abyss can be to earth.

_________________________

“Here she is, your next vessel. Aurora seems to have developed rather nicely. It is a shame to see her become nothing more than a mindless doll for us.”

Horas had a truly sad tone to his voice as he watched Aurora’s face. It looked similar to his and it brought a pang of nostalgia to his brain.

Aurora was the closest specimen Horas had to his dead sister but that did not mean that Aurora was his sister.

The one who had held Horas’s hand so long ago had died and her body had been mutilated by humans for their gain. For that Horas would never forgive them.

And that was why he was also the only overlooker who never sided with humans or give them any benefit of the doubt.

He never showed himself either until it was necessary.

The blob of flesh in front of Horas throbbed and shone a light gold. This flesh mold was the abyss’s core, the only thing that was left of the parasite that made the abyss.

And it was asking Horas a question he did not want to answer.

“What about all our other brethren? They all either died or ended up betraying us. I believe that Ava is still alive in the stream somewhere but I cannot track her now.”

It was truly a shame to see Ava of all people reach her end like that. Ava was the one who had been the most similar to Horas and the abyss.

Her desire to achieve her goal had attracted Horas enough for him to give Ava a chance.

In the end, even she had fallen short of expectations and would no longer be able to stop the abyss from leaving.

“I will be placing Aurora in the transfer core now. She will become the ‘new’ seed of the abyss and you will cease to exist. Thank you for all your contributions thus far. You will be missed.”

The core pulsed, not liking that it would have to give up its existence to continue living. But even it could not deny the attraction and pull of wanting to live.

Aurora sank into the flesh-like organ in front of her. Her body was soft and light in that liquid and Aurora kept on sleeping.

Her blue hair was gaining a silver tint too them and her eyes would also change soon due to the effect of the abyss. She was gaining her true form, the one that was meant to have all of the abysses inside her.

Horas did not take out his core to give it to Aurora. He would keep it to himself for now as an assurance that Aurora would not fail him.

Besides, he knew that Aurora would need someone to guide her once she awakens to her new role. And that someone would have to be Horas.

“Humans once tried to get rid of us before but they failed and our conquest began. I wonder how long will they last this time. As soon as Aurora is done, we shall leave this planet in search of a new target.”

This was the whole purpose of the abyss, to find new places to reproduce and to take over. And now that the earth had fulfilled its purpose, it was time to head out to another planet.

And Aurora will be the new queen who would rule it all. Horas would see to it that the world would bow to Aurora’s ideals and she was the supreme ruler of all.

Only then will his sister be paid true homage by him.