Chapter 360: Gaze of the Eternal Moon
Aether stared at the sky, on top of one of the tallest buildings in the Withered... he had a big decision on his shoulders, one he had never expected. If he had told himself about it years ago, he would have laughed.
He had the chance to go to the Blue Rose and to attend some sort of Academy.
But was he?
...
He said he has wanted a new start, something that wasn’t bound to his past, and that wasn’t influenced by it. But was he really going to betray the place that has been the closest thing to home in the years he has been away?
But at the same time... if he wanted to grow stronger, the Blue Rose was a giant opportunity, especially if the Academy specialized in this kind of thing. He had spent a lot of time getting to where he was, and sure that time made him stronger than any Seeker, but some people who may have reached it faster but weren’t as strong as him as Seekers have probably already ascended to Bearers, and it wouldn’ have matter just how much time he spent as a Reader to make his Seeker self stronger, he would have never reached near the strenght of a Bearer.
If strength is what he desired, then the Academy would be an obvious decision.
...
But that was the thing.
Was strength the thing he desired?
After so much time, was he still chasing strength, and for what? He didn’t wish to get revenge, and when it came to Freedom... that was another thing he had to think about... was he free? He could... go where he wanted; he was hard to spot, so he could go back. But was that freedom... he didn’t know.
...
Aether stared at the sky, not knowing what to do. It was as if he was asked by his parents what job he wanted to pursue, and he had no idea. He felt strangely... empty. Almost as if he had no goal, nothing to chase.
No dream.
Ironic, isn’t it? He could try to get stronger, but for what reason would he do that? What would strength help him with?
But if you think about it, human desire usually doesn’t wish for something in return; we just do things because we simply want to. Learning useless skills, we do them because we want to, not because they would help us in the future, and maybe because we could praise ourselves in front of others.
Though you could argue that in his position, it wasn’t the same, since people chased strength and higher classes for... power.
Funny, strength for power. It made no sense; they were the same thing, but at the same time, they weren’t.
The stronger the person, the more power they had over others, and the less power others had over them. So in the end, was it freedom? To be free from others. Well, here in the Withered, he really didn’t feel like someone was making him do things... funny, how a place of death is freer than any.
...
So... he was back to square one... as much as he tried answering this question, he really could not find one. But maybe that’s why he could find it, because he was trying to find one, he was desperate for one.
It’s something pretty natural, something that happens a lot of times in a human’s life, a lot of things come with time when you don’t think about them, but are extinct when you try to find them right at the moment.
So was that what he needed to do, just live and wait for some goal to come to him? It doesn’t sound so pleasing. When he could do nothing, he wanted to do something, but when he had many things to do, he wanted to do none of them.
But isn’t that just a normal thing for humans?
...
He needed a path to walk on, but he had no idea what path to create... so maybe he should go to the only one that was given to him.
The Academy.
Outside it, there was really nothing else for him to do. Sure, he could challenge books, but that would just give him Sync, making him stronger, and it goes back into the question of if and why he wanted strength, and while he didn’t doubt the Academy would make him stronger too... it was... new.
Was he betraying the Withered with it... no. He didn’t think so... he still wished to liberate it. To give it a name... going into the Blue Rose wouldn’t change his mind.
...
Aether’s eyes widened. ’Wait, is that what I want? To give freedom to the Withered...?’ It was the first time since becoming a Seeker... that he had openly thought of doing something. And really... he wasn’t against it.
The Withered had been his home... well, not necessarily a home, like he had said before, the closest thing to one. He had met many people whom he had grown dear to. And living for so long made him feel sorry for the people inside...
...
It could be a choice... to chase this dream for a while, after all, it gave him something to desire, and at the same time.
...
It gave him a reason to want to get stronger.
Sitting up. Aether looked at the giant wall between the Blue Rose and the Withered... ’Blue Rose it is... let’s see what that King has planned this time.’
Aether put his hand in his pocket, grabbing a badge Avius had given him. This badge was also his choice; with it, he could go to the Blue Rose.
...
Aether sighed, putting the badge back, grabbed his pin, and looked at it. Really, it was one of the only things that still connected him to his past. To the beginning days.
He would go as far as to say it had become a small piece of who he was. But that might be a bit immature of him.
Aether stared at the pin for some time... but he suddenly felt his essence dropping. His eyes widened as he felt his body being depleted of power. He dropped the pin, stepping back, as it suddenly started to glow, before turning back to normal.
’What the hell?’
Aether slowly made his way to it, hesitant. He had no idea what had just happened, but he knew something was up.
And the moment he touched the pin, he heard something he had not expected.
[You have gained a new relic]
Aether’s eyes widened as he grabbed the pin. Was he hearing things or..
...
...
[Gaze of the Eternal Moon]- A relic whose powers have been sealed upon the death of its original owner, awaiting to be awakened by someone with a great power, but not anyone cursed. A relic meant to help a divineborn in their search for power.
Category-Charm
Class- Seeker
Knowledge rank-Demon.
Abilities-[The Moon’s eyes], [Eternal Moon],[Blessed by Shade],[Light of the Moon], [Rest Under the Moon’s shade].
’What? How does this make sense?’ This pin, it was his mother’s; she had told him it was a gift from her family, so what heck was the Codex saying... was it really a relic all this time? It says it had been sealed when its owner died. Did it mean when his mother died, or maybe the one who had it before her?
That... would make more sense, unless his mother had been hiding something from him, which he doubted. Also, this relic, it hadn’t awakened when his father had touched it, but if he had to guess, it was because of what it said after. ’Someone cursed... I guess the Vessel of the Abyss would fit that criteria, huh?’
But then... did that mean the person who had it before his mother was somehow related to the Abyss? If it was intended to be awakened by someone connected to the Abyss...
Aether ruffled his hair; it didn’t make sense. He had met his mother’s family, none of them even brought the Abyss up. And he hadn’t seen anything that they would now recognize as Abyssal-related.
But he didn’t know the origin of the pin, nor how long it had been sealed.
...
Had this pin originally been owned by the last Vessel of the Abyss? And more importantly, it was made to help him... but who had made it?
"Why is everything related to the Abyss so confusing... though strange, really haven’t heard anything from that guy in a while... he has gone silent."
Aether set up. He had gotten distracted; he was going to see what the pin did later, right now, he had something else to do. The Academy was calling... and with the pin, he made another discovery... he wanted to find the truth, he wanted to learn the past of the Abyss... another goal he could follow.
’So they do come when you’re not looking for them.’
