..."Damn it"

Avius smashed his glass on the table, breaking it into pieces and making a giant crack in the table. He was very furious, and everything around him had to face his wrath.

"Just what do I have to do to find ONE person?"

He got up from his seat, kicking his chair into the wall, and resting his arms on the already cracked and barely standing table.

Catching the Abyss had proven to be the hardest capturing mission is probably all of the Blue Rose's history, or at least, in the time he was here.

And it wasn't like the hard part was capturing him, of fighting him, like it had been with Cain, the Vessel of the Fallen.

"But finding him!"

The mission to capture the Abyss was much harder than the one to capture the Fallen, and very... different. Both had hidden from the Blue Rose before, but interestingly, the Abyss had shown himself to the Blue Rose rather than being found.

But while the Fallen had kept quiet, after it was found, it was the exact opposite. He went on a killing spree, showing no mercy to anyone who came to capture him.

It took a lot of men and the King to personally come and immobilize him to make sure there weren't any further losses.

But the Abyss... it went in the exact opposite direction, hiding itself. He had to plead with the King to get this many scouts, and they were being killed left and right without any information.

What else was he supposed to do to find one person?

"Do I have to bring people with affinities related to light. Do I have to buy relics that make light? Just what do I have to do!"

The Abyss's most powerful weapon was the shadows, so if he got rid of all the shadows, it would be easy to capture him. But the thing was that he had to do just that.

It wasn't easy to get rid of all the shadows inside a District. Even the Blue Rose had shadows, but to make things worse, the clouds never let the Sun show its beauty in this cursed place, and the endless rain made it a realm of shadows and darkness.

It was going to be impossible to get rid of them all.

Were they going to have the King step down and come himself? He had done it to save his people before, but you could argue that if this continues, more will fall than they did with Cain, and scouts and people with scouting and tracking abilities in the first place weren't easy to find, so they were burning precious resources.

Yet, he didn't think the King could do that much. After all, he had Keres with him; he was a Harbinger. If something happened, he could take care of it; he had the power. The King would be overpowered. They didn't need more people to help when they found the Abyss.

But rather to find it in the first place.

And yet he had gotten more people than he could have ever thought.

"And still nothing."

He had no idea what to do....

...

Going outside to take a deep breath, he felt the cold air of the Codex. It reminded him of the past. He had forgotten how it feels to live here. What you need to do to survive, he had no idea anymore, and he could never feel it again.

It was better now that he had the power and reputation, but for some reason, those days didn't come as bad in his mind. It was strange; he hated living in the Withered, and yet, he felt at home.

He knew the difference between the two districts.

And more importantly, the difference in its people.

Becoming a Seeker in this cursed place, almost unheard of, while in the Blue Rose, you can get it easily if you have the money.

But there was one thing for sure.

They weren't the same; there is a massive difference between the two seekers.

A Seeker from the Withered is untemperately stronger than one from the Blue Rose. Yes, if you put the relics that a Blue Rose might have bought, the one from the Blue Rose might be more powerful.

But that doesn't mean they will win.

Winning as the underdog is something every person from the Withered has to deal with. Take him, for example, he had killed a Seeker noble from the Blue Rose after his awakening, to protect his mother.

And he had sold most of his relics to get money.

So how had he won...

"Cheap tricks."

It actually made him laugh. But it was true.

And the Abyss was probably also using cheap tricks to hide. Plus, Iris told them that it was an earring that was messing with their memory, making them believe that others had the mark.

'A relic... we were being tricked by a relic.'

...

He sighed, trying not to get angry.

It was just humiliating...

...

"Hm?"

In the distance, he saw a boy standing in a dark alleyway, just in his vision. He was wearing a large cloak, one he felt a very weird familiarity with. But there was one thing: his hood was off, letting him see his face.

He watched as the boy unsummoned his cloak, meaning that it was a relic...

...

And revealing a very familiar mark on his arm, but just as he regained himself from the shock and wanted to do something, they made eye contact, and the boy quickly hid in the shadows. It was strange; the moment he entered the shadows, it was as if he turned to one.

Or rather, that the shadows themselves hid him. Not letting anyone see him.

...But while he had escaped, it wasn't for long. Now he knew how he looked.

"So the Abyss is a young boy with grey eyes and hair. Unexpected, if I must say.

...

...

The next day, Avius had sent most of the other scouts home, since now, he didn't need people trying to find him. The moment they heard from the main scout that the Abyss was in range, they were going to rush through the shadows, trying to find a boy with grey hair and eyes.

Keres was the fastest, so he was going to carry the scout; that way, they didn't waste time, since sadly, while he had a great affinity, his other qualities, like strength and speed, weren't the brightest.

...

And it had worked. After the scout announced the Abyss was in range, they dashed all over the place until he finally saw a cloaked figure, one that looked almost identical to the Abyss that he had seen the day before.

He couldn't help but keep his smile as his vines wrapped around his limbs, keeping him in range.

They had done it, they had captured the Abyss.

...

And yet, after taking the hood off, the figure... was a boy that looked younger than the one from yesterday, shorter also.

And to not point out the obvious, how he had blonde hair and blue eyes.

And while those two could be changed, things like height and appearance... he doubted the Abyss would have relics that could do this much change to those two.

So then what the heck, Iris had confirmed before that the earring wasn't being used, so... um.

"Alright... this is a confusing situation. The lantern that is supposed to be owned by the Abyss leads us to you, but you look nothing like the Abyss..."

He glanced at his arm, rolling up his sleeve, and to his disappointment, there was no mark.

'Just what is going on... did this lantern not belong to the Abyss, then where was this young man each time they were close to the target?'

But as he was deciding what to do with the boy, Iris stepped forward.

"Aether?"

Avius instantly looked at her, utterly confused about how the young girl knew him.

"Iris, how on earth do you know him?"

The girl laughed at her teacher's reaction.

"He helped me get to the Marketplace when I sneaked into the Withered, plus, he's one of my friends who helped me reunite with you guys... when I got lost."

Friend? He hadn't thought she was joking the first time she had said that she made friends, or that maybe they were imaginary. But... she had really made friends in this wicked place.

"Speaking of it, the day we met, you did have a lantern almost identical to this one, but the next time we met, you didn't have it."

The boy chuckled, a little embarrassed by the truth.

"I lost it, I don't know if I left it and just forgot where, or if it was stolen, but it has been a while and I haven't been able to find it."

...

Avius put his hand on Iris's shoulder.

"Iris... and why am I now learning about this!?"

The girl slowly turned to her teacher; she was frightened, knowing that she wasn't going to be left unpunished.

Avius sighed, releasing his vines.

"All right, you can leave now, and thank you for helping Iris."

The boy nodded as he left.

Yet, he wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a little smile while he turned away.

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