Shadow of the Abyss

He'd changed. Syris thought glaring. It hadn't been obvious, but be it the way he spoke or the way he smiled and laughed, the grace with which he did so felt so wrong like it was a scheme to give him what he wanted.

"You're such a dick!"

Altair shrugged his shoulders, allowing a smile to rise across his lips. "Have I ever told you I quite like your eyes? They are like two pale blue sapphires. Peerless beneath the Heavens." he reached for them, curling a finger across her cheeks, brushing a strand of her silvery hair away.

"W-W-What are you saying! Dummy!" Slapping his hand away, Syris leaped back like a nimble cat, her finger reeling up and down. "You can't say stuff like that! I-I-I'll tell Ren!"

"Please do… Ren will surely have an interesting expression."

Syris turned red, her heart wrenching against her ribs. 'Bully!' she thought, snorting, and said," Don't go touching me whenever you feel! At least ask before—" Realizing what she was saying, Syris had never been more thankful for the darkness. Praying he could not see how red she had become.

Azura appeared like a ghost then, peering at the two with sullen eyes. "Enough flirting."

"You!"

"Azura, "said Altair with his usual crooked grin, "I take it everything went according to your plan?"

The Goddess of Rot stared at the young man, the mist obscuring her face, thickening even more. "You know it didn't," she said with a slight edge to her voice, glancing at Syris. "I'd hope he'd have forced you to remain. The faster we Defile your soul, the more leverage we possess against Soloman."

"The pride of every man is a sacred coven. He might have done such a thing if he hadn't had much expectation for me. But it seems he does. And it seems so, do you." he said, narrowing his profane eyes of his; he offered her a seat. 'Now. Can you get us the hell out of here?"

"Why? You don't like it? It was created after I observed the Outer Gods amidst one of their rituals." She said. "It's the only power in all of Heaven and Earth to rob you of the Holy One's blessing."

"It's abhorrent."

"Really?" Azura grinned. "You never seemed to struggle mentally. If anything, you seemed right home."

"I've become great at compartmentalizing."

'That word again,' Syris thought, sensing she might have overlooked something important. 'He… never broke down. Never showed great anger or sorrow. In nine years… has he ever cried or despaired?"

"compartmentalizing, eh? " she scuffed. " well before I return you to earth. There are a few regulations you should know about. One: Only Five years have passed within the Myriad Heavens. Time works differently here.

Two, you have forty years to complete your mission. Fail. And your souls will be defiled, and you will be killed."

Azura lifted a finger, conjuring a brand that imprinted itself over the two's shoulders in searing heat that made them flinch.

"Welcome to the Golden Crucible. This brand will mark you for all eternity. No matter if you flee to Arcadia or the Abyss, we will forever be able to find you. With the added function of teleportation, you to me. So don't try to run. As for the removal of the Brand well." Azura grinned mirthlessly.

"You can try, but the consequence will be catastrophic, to say the least."

"Interesting…" Altair casually said, not really surprised. He'd been wondering how they expected him to perform such a mission without fleeing.

"Is that really all you have to say?" Syris and Azura muttered.

"I'm not going to try fighting a God trying to make me a slave. Time will tell its tail. Of that, I am assured." the prince said, baring his fangs in a sickly smile. "Now send us back, dear sponsor."

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Azura paused. "So you figured that much out, eh? Well. I will contact you once more in a Month for an update." And with a snap of her fingers, they vanished, whisked away across space and time. "What a curious boy that one is… dangerous. And a mysterious background, too, booth.

Cain should know better than I that Tenebrae possesses more secrets than the likes of Mephisto. Yet he took in one of her children… Well… so long as it benefits me. What's it matter?"

****

BOOOOOOOOOOM~

Piercing through the ice top of mountains in the far east, Altair and Syris's bodies caught flame at the sheer friction of the winds and earth, piercing through ice caps like water. They stopped reaching the base of the mountain with blank expressions.

With hair matted by blood, they staggered to their feet, ignoring the several men and women hurrying over. They stared at the sun and moon, shaken to their core. Syris erupted into tears at the mere sight. While Altair stood there blankly, overcome by emotions he found difficult to express.

"Oi! Are you alright?"

"Little lady!"

"Are they covered in flesh? Gods, they smell like rotten fish!"

The two ignored them, feeling the icy winds of the east billowing across their faces. They stood there before exchanging glances, erupting into laughter. Their laughter turned crazed, alarming those around them as their Spirit lashed out; dozens dropped and died as their terrible soul bore its fangs to the world.

Mana spiraled into their bodies at a rate that drained most of the eastern islands in the blink of an eye, stretching towards the mainland. For nearly an hour, they stood there absorbing the mana that had been absent for nine years.

"We're out…" Syris wept, falling to her knees, letting loose a galeful cry. "WERE OUT!!!!! ALTAIR WE ARE OUT!!!!"

Like an unending black hole, the mana whirled into Arcs of Lightning crackling across the skies, attuning itself to nature; it whirled, spreading far and wide, alarming mortal man.

[Dimensional Rift]

Conjuring a portal before the local police appeared, Altair lifted Syris into his arms as she wept uncontrollably, entering his land.

Summer billowed against his nose as he stood along the outskirts of a kingdom beyond his wildest dream. Structures seemingly forged by Gods of Beauty stood erected below twelve Suns and Moons.

Altair gasped, drawing in a long breath of refined mana so pure he nearly felt his Circles quiver. He staggered back, overwhelmed by what lay before him.

"What happened?"

"ALTAIR!!!!!!!!!" Came the furious voice of Hilda, shrieking out from the city gates, barreling through the winds in a long red ribbon; she crash landed with her axe, missing Altair by a fraction of a centimeter.

"Y-You dodged that?" Hilda muttered when he saw Altair and Syris's eyes roll to the back of their heads, collapsing onto the ground. "Well, shit! Five years! Then you just appear only to faint!" She lifted her axe, biting her lip as she lowered it. "You're lucky I'm nice. But why do you two smell like hot dung?

Hells, you two need a bath!"

Gathering a few locals, Hilda brought them to the Palace of Stygian's medical center and laid them down. She sighed, giving herself a sniff. She winced. " Gods, now I smell like them. Yuck!"

"Hey! Hilda are they back!" Shouted Vaiga, hurrying in. Her eyes nearly popping out at their dreadful appearance. She covered her nose. "What the bloody Hell happened to them? Did you drown them in the sewers?"

"Tsk. I wish. They just appeared and then fainted."

"They… just fainted?" Vaiga repeated, narrowing her eyes. "You didn't attack them, did you?"

Hilda looked the other way. "Well, I might have, but Altair dodged before that. I—"

"Minor Damage to the soul and psyche has been sustained. Estimated time of awakening: 72 Hours." The A.I. Ava explained.

"Where have they been? Can you tell?"

"Unable to Determine. However, due to the withered state of their meridians, they were likely within a realm without any Mana," Said Ava in the affirmative.

"Three days, and they'll finally be able to get us the hell out of here! Thank the Stars! I'm sick of this place!" Hilda exploded, cartwheeling around the medical center.

"No idea where you've been, but I might have had the best five years of my life," said Vaiga, glancing down at Alair. She smiled. "Honestly, I'd love to live here all my life. The Mana is extremely pure… nearly 200 MP. That is unheard of back on earth; that's barely at ten. Shit, the highest world that I visited was Genisis which had zones based on the Grade of MP.

I entered a 500 Mp Zone. Breaking through almost immediately. Two hundred is perfect."

"Not for the locals. Mana Poisoning is on the rise. This year alone, we had a hundred deaths."

"Twenty less than the year before. They are adapting. What more can you want? It's kind of a perfect system to breed the strong. How much has your Mana Attribute grown these past few years? Sixty points?

That's unheard of for us humans. If we can make a deal with Altair in allowing entry to various high-value men and woman, we might… we might be able to create a powerful new generation back on earth."

"Tsk… whatever. I don't really care. I just want to go home and watch TV. I've got to catch upon all the K-Dramas."

"... Honestly, do people that know you seriously call you the bloodstained Hilda?"