Chapter 527: At the End of the Pack

As the walk continued, Sofia took charge for some time. As Keres retreated slightly to the back, it was her choice to allow Keres to rest for a little while, without having to worry so much about what to do next.

In this time, she handled everything, like morale and their resources, and she had done a good job, nothing amazing, but enough, maybe even more than enough. Keres, meanwhile, took his time resting at night, instead of staying up at night to plan, and during the day, he stood with many different groups.

Yet today... he interestingly chose to stay near him, at the end of the group.

Aether was surprised to see him walk towards him; he wouldn’t have expected him to just come to him; they weren’t... that close... even if he felt like their relationship had gotten better ever since joining them in this exploration. ⅇ𝒃𝚗ℴ

"You know what you remind me of?" The Harbinger said, laughing, as they let the group get away slightly, creating a gap between them that would make it so they wouldn’t hear anything Aether might not want them to know.

He hadn’t even realized this at first; Keres had done it even without asking him. He just knew it was something he would have wanted; he either had started to actually care for him, or knew that this was going to make him talk more.

"What?" Aether asked, intrigued by what comparison the prince was going to make now.

"Those guys who always say the leader is always at the end of the pack."... Or rather, in reality, he just wanted to make fun of him; that was the true reason he let the others get some distance, so this comparison would make even more sense.

"Shut up, you’re annoying."

The Honored Bastard laughed, pointing at his face, finding his reaction amusing.

Aether frowned, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Whatever." He crossed his arms, looking away.

But Keres pushed him slightly, still managing to almost make him fall because of his pure strength. "Come on, can’t take a little joke. Plus, it wasn’t the main thing I came to you for, so don’t worry."

He lifted a finger. "I think It’s something you would find interesting."

Aether turned to him with his frown still on his face, but seeing that the Harbinger just didn’t care, he let it go. "What is it?"

"This route, you want to know why I chose it, right? It’s because I myself found a book in my early days in this place, speaking about there being a forest here, one that holds the dead and allows you to talk to them. It is a bit dangerous, since it can be deceiving and even trap you, but it’s definitely something we have to check."

’A forest of the dead... how interesting, but is it really? And if so, would it even work?’ By its name, it talks of the dead from all around the Wonderland, or rather suggests it, but it would make a lot more sense for only those that died close to it. Since there’s no way all the dead would have space in a forest.

That is, if there were any dead in the first place. ’Keres makes sure to specify that it’s deceiving and that it traps those who want to enter it, so who says that it isn’t all an illusion?’

Human’s are creatures that rely a lot on their emotions, it controls them a lot, and one of the moments when they feel the strongest emotions, is death, whenever they lost someone. An emotional state can stun a human for a short time and make them forget about a lot of things, which is why this whole talk-to-the-dead facade could work.

’Everyone would want to talk to their dead loved one; it’s normal to grieve.’

Aether thought about it before smiling. "You know, a big part of me doubts just how true this forest is, and I have a feeling you are also aware of that."

Keres scoffed. "Of course, it’s most likely fake, more of a monster than anything."

"So then why? Why do you want to go there?" Aether quickly accused the Harbinger, trying to see his way of thinking, since at least for him, there was no reason to go to such a place. ’Even if it is true, I doubt they would know how to get out, so what would this even help us?’

...

"Why not?" Keres said simply. "It’s better to try and fail than not try, and for that path actually had been the one that got us out. You never think about it, just how many times we make decisions contrary to this, and the thing is that we can never know; it’s quite ironic, isn’t it?"

He hadn’t thought about it that way... and neither did he like the idea that much. In many scenarios, this rule can be weird; after all, for example, in a book, there are a lot of ways to change a story, you make a lot of choices, and who knows just how many of those could have created an ending.

’A lot. But at the same time, this isn’t a book; we don’t even know if there is one way out, definitely not as many as a book has, so I guess my thinking can’t apply here at all... It’s not like if you miss one of the chances you will have a lot more.

There is only one way out; if you pass by it or decide not to go to it, you will never find it.’

"But you are risking the lives of many for this little chance." Aether continued, not accusing the Harbinger anymore, since he understood his point and had actually taken a liking to it, at least in this scenario.

"Sure, maybe I am. But then again, if I don’t risk anything, then we may as well live our eternity here, getting killed one by one by the Wonderland. I can protect everyone I know that, and I’m not alone, so I’m sure that no one will die."

...

"I’m not going to give up, just throw in the towel, never. I’m not going to accept living in this hellhole. And I’m sure that a lot of the people here think the same.

I have forced no one to join me; I’ve also not judged anyone who hasn’t, and yet look how many have come and still are here. There’s a reason for that. Humans are creatures that actively wish for freedom, always."

Aether stared for a good while at Keres... the more he talked to him, the more he started to understand just what kind of person he was... and he was definitely different from his first impression, true, his true first had been when he tried to kill him.

More specifically, he first thought he was stupid; after all, he and Avius had been running after him for a long time, and they hadn’t been able to find him. He did find it funny how Keres kept saying he wasn’t affected by fate, and if he had to make a guess about his ability, it was probably related to adaptation, and he still wasn’t able to adapt in time to his relic’s powers.

He wondered why... was it a limit his affinity had, his bane, something else? If he was able to adapt to the monster’s acid that fast, why not to his relic.

’But he isn’t stupid, and definitely a lot smarter than I thought he was.’ He didn’t know if he should give himself credit, or just mourn over the fact that Lilith destroyed that very same relic.

’It could have been a lot of help along my journey, really helpful, actually.’

Aether fastened his pace. "Yeah, alright, you’re a great leader or whatever. Then let’s see this forest, or rather, let’s get there, and you get inside, since I have no intention of getting in." With his mental state like this, it was probably not the best time to go into a place that probably takes advantage of exactly his situation.

"Either way, you weren’t coming," Keres said, sticking his tongue out as he passed him, moving further into the crowd of people until he reached Sofia, taking back his place after some time, as the leader.

His sister looked relieved and quite tired, which made him wonder how Keres did it so easily.

’Who knows what kind of abilities that guy has; he never seems to have any problem, never hungry, never exhausted; it’s like he’s not human.’

Aether closed the gap between him and the others, but kept his distance from them. He had yet to get close to anyone; he wasn’t that mad about it. It was more of a choice. He wasn’t sure if getting close to them was... the correct thing to do; after all, he still considered his curse to be real.

...

’Forest of the dead... wait, is Sofia also going in... if so... then what will she see?’