Chapter 515: Another Misfortune

Hitting the ground, Aether groaned, putting a hand on his back as he got up on his feet. Looking up, he saw the old man looking at them with a wide smile on his face before closing the door.

Aether sighed, putting his hands on his hips. "Should have expected it when I heard him ask that question... damn it." He looked back at Elise, who looked slightly hurt just like him, but more uncomfortable than anything.

It was nowhere near tall enough to kill or hurt a Seeker... but for a Reader... it was a pretty hard fall, which was why Isak had not gotten up yet. Aether frowned, quickly running to him. His heart was beating, but he was bleeding, and worse of all, it looked like he had fallen on his head... which was horrible news.

’Shit... and we can’t even access the Codex’s shop to buy something to heal him... we have to get out... and then try to find help.’

He got up, turning back to Elise. "He’s not dead, but he probably will be if we take too long. Any idea on getting out?"

"Not really, never been in a situation like this before. I don’t have anything to help me climb up a completely vertical wall." She said, crossing her arms, as she approached one of the walls. They were made out of concrete...

And... she really couldn’t ignore it: the awful smell of the dead... There probably had been others who had been trapped in this place, which made their situation even worse. She really had no idea how they were supposed to get out; after all, this wasn’t dirt, to be able maybe climb out with your hands.

"What about you?" Elise asked, turning to Aether.

"I..." He smirked. "Have a few."

He said, as a rapier appeared from under his mantle. Voidpiercer. ’Good thing Readers don’t lose their other blades when switching from them... still, I do think I could have gotten out even without it. I could have made a rope with my hair, or if Elise had a blade herself, I could have climbed out with them.’

Gripping Voidpiercer was a familiar feeling... one he quite enjoyed... even if it was mostly just pain filled with memories.

Taking a deep breath, he brought the blade back before throwing it into one of the walls of the hut. With his Abyssal matter, climbing onto the chains, he sealed the hole; that way, whenever he tried climbing it, Voidpiercer wouldn’t just fall back down.

Looking back at Elise, her mouth was wide open, but she was more confused than impressed... and really, he understood her. This wasn’t a normal thing people do with their blade.

He didn’t know any other person with a blade attached to their arm... well, actually, one that is inside the arm. So it was safe to say he was the first person with such a blade.

"What? Never seen a Celestial do something like this with their blade." He asked, joking around.

The girl sighed. "Of course not... What even is this? What kind of blade is that? I’ve never seen you use it... Actually, I think I do; you used it when we first found you, or was it another." She scratched her head, trying to remember, but such a small detail that she didn’t pay attention to was hard for her to confirm; it has been quite a long time since the place fell.

"It is." He said, as he walked over to the wall, put a foot on it, and prepared to climb up. "I’ve had it for a while now... It’s quite special, much more than you would think." He pushed on his leg, his hands gripping the chains, as he slowly started climbing up on the hard concrete.

It wasn’t the worst thing, after all; he had climbed onto a moving owl that was hitting him with sharp feathers while he didn’t even have any place to put his feet.

Slowly, he climbed until he reached the wall where he sent Voidpiercer through; sadly, there was still some distance between him and the door... so he was going to have to figure another way to get there...

’Or that would be what I would do if I didn’t think.’ He chuckled as he pushed himself off the wall with his feet, and then swung right into it, breaking the weak wood. Getting on his feet, he looked down at Elise and Isak, who was still on the ground. "Which method do you want: fast, but maybe not the most comfortable, or longer, but you feel better?"

The girl sighed. "Let’s just get this over with."

Aether chuckled as Abyssal matter raised itself from his feet towards her, climbing on top of her. She was surprised at first, but she decided to trust it, since she had seen him use his manifestation before. As it wrapped around her, it suddenly turned into chains, holding her tight.

’Alright...’ He took a deep breath, preparing his muscles, before putting the chain on his back and pulling it, trying to walk as he pulled her up.

He gritted his teeth as he pushed through it until Elise was finally up.

"You didn’t lie when you said, ’ Uncomfortable, look at my skin." She said, opening her arms, where the marks from the chains holding her tight were bright red and clearly visible.

Aether rolled his eyes. "You chose; it’s not my fault." He shook his hands before looking over the edge again at Isak, who was still standing there, not moving. ’And... I’m going to have to do this again. He turned to her as his chains wrapped around the boy’s body. "You’re pulling with me this time."

"Damn it." She said, sighing, as she gripped the chains.

It was much faster and easier with two Seekers, but it was to be expected. As Isak’s body reached the top, Aether knelt before him, putting his hand on his heart.

...

But it had stopped beating.

...

Aether didn’t say anything, getting back to his feet as he stared at the dead body. It felt... so soon. They haven’t even been together for that long, and he was already dead? And more importantly... from a decision he had made.

Yet again... someone lost their life because of him.

"Let’s go." He said, turning around and starting to leave. Not even telling Elise anything, who was now staring at him, confused, not understanding what had happened. "What? Why? What about Isak?" Elise asked, not moving.

Aether stopped, sighing. "He’s dead... let’s just go...

And next time, listen to me when I say I’m cursed."

Elise clenched her fists, looking at the dead body... "Fine... but what now? What are we supposed to do... are we really going to continue walking... I’m really just getting tired of everything."

Aether sighed. "Me too, but what are we supposed to do?" He turned towards her. "I want to get out of this place as much as you do."

He stared at the girl..., but as he did, he saw something behind one of the trees, behind them... a person. Squinting his eyes, Aether recognized it to be the old man from before. "Bastard..." He said, as he summoned Raven, rushing over to him.

Elise didn’t understand at first why he suddenly switched directions, but after noticing the man, she followed him.

The man ran deeper into the trees, where a forest started. And, interestingly enough, he had ditched his cane and was running at quite a decent pace, which angered him even more... he had let his guard down and had gotten tricked badly by whoever this old man really was. If he even was an old man.

He dashed through the forest, trying to cut corners; both of them were faster than the man, it was clear, but the bad part was that the forest was very dense, filled with trees, and the man definitely knew the forest way better than they did. He didn’t think this was the first time he had to lose someone inside them.

Frowning, Aether tried to fasten his pace and predict the turns he was going to take, since if he continued as he did, he was never going to catch him, but this failed miserably, as he completely lost him.

"Damn it!" He said, gripping his head.

Elise soon followed him. "We lost him... didn’t we?"

Aether sighed, nodding... they had failed to avenge the innocent Reader... not only had he failed to protect him, but he had also failed to take his revenge.

"Let’s just go; we will never find him in this place. He’s probably far away already." He said, turning to leave, but as he did, he suddenly heard a branch snap, catching his attention, quickly focusing on Eden.

...

He noticed that there were... a lot more than one outline around them.

They had fallen right into a trap yet again... they were cornered.