Shadow of the Abyss

And wondered, "What type of pain was necessary for pain to turn to pleasure.\'

"You shouldn\'t look, my lady," said her knight, Liana Sinclair, softly. She beckoned her inside, but Aria did not move.

Liana bit her lips. "My—"

"Big Brother sent me here… why?" Aria asked, her voice no longer childish. Her eyes were no longer innocent. She had grown these past few years, now bearing a womanly figure. Long silvery hair rand down her back while flame twirled along her calm yellow eyes. "What year is it now?"

"I lost track, my lady. Hell has no true concept of time," Liana said. Read the latest on m_v-l\'e|-NovelBin.net

Aria turned to her then. Her beauty was as stunning as the stars beyond the myriad heavens. "He visits me in my dreams every night. Kisses me on my cheek like a little girl. And every time he does, I feel like that little girl I once was." she laughed, shaking her head. "It\'s been over a hundred years."

"It\'s been longer than a thousand years, my lady."

Dry laughter slipped from out of her, much like the ghoulish wails of those embedded into the elements, embedded into the very space and time to be tormented.

"I hate him," Liana snapped. She hated that laugh. Hated it to her very core.

"Liar," she said, drawing in on her knight, took her by the hand, and stared into her flaming yellow eyes. "Tell me… my knight, what do you dream of?"

Heat came from the deepest reaches of her chest, images calm, enveloping into picture-perfect view within her mind.

She grinned then. The dream still hard in her mind. "It\'s only a dream, my lady."

"A wish," Aria corrected, falling back to the memory that brought back that innocence that faded within the Hells.

A knock echoed then, the door opening to reveal a young woman with bat-like wings and a long black leather tail with a sharp trident-shaped tip. Violet black scales coiled the stranger\'s arms and legs. Two Kudo-like horns bore out of the head, glowing a beautiful red.

"The Prince will see you now," she said, bowing cautiously where she stood. Her blood-red eyes poised on the ground.

"A new one," Aria said, with a deep scorn in her voice, marking the perspiration slithering down the young succubus. "How long will you last? Devil or Demon?"

"Devil, m\'lady," said the Young Succubus.

"Good. The last one I had was a demon. Foolish little thing, that one," Aria said. "And where might I find my Master?"

"Within the atelier."

"Of course he is. Liana trained this woman. The next time she opens my door without permission, have the Dungeon Master tear the flesh from her body. For now… I\'ll be content with an eye. See that it\'s done." Aria commanded before she made her way towards the atelier.

Devils, one by one, parted in the wake of her presence. Peaking stares towards the one the Prince deemed untouched.

The atelier of the Tower of Div was Astorath\'s favorite room. Though the tower remained her\'s, within the infinite rooms it held, the scent of old paint and books brought a sense of calm to the fallen.

He sensed her when she entered, almost managing a smile as their eyes crossed.

"Come here," he said.

Aria obeyed. Finding he was staring at the same picture once again. \'Canaan\' it was called.

"Is there significance behind this painting?" she asked, finding herself unable to see past the silver gates and the ocean of flames trapped behind it.

Astorath nodded. "Canaan was the first land my brother Lucifer conquered in his fruitless quest to overthrow his Father. Several of my brothers and sisters were felled then. Their souls plunged into the Endless Abyss of the Vale. The attack, the execution of it all. It had been so perfect I thought that perhaps Mephisto had aided him in the capture of Canaan.

No one saw it coming. Not even me. One minute, I was talking to Diniel; the next, his warm blood smeared my face red. The next thing I knew, his head was in my arms, and Lucifer was staring me down."

Aria exposed a look of surprise. "You… were not on Lucifer\'s side?"

Astorath chuckled, "The thought of betrayal had never crossed my mind until that day. Death, my dear disciple, was something completely new to us, yet the day Diniel died, a new Authority presented itself to the Heavens. Seized by Azazel, allowing him to become the Angel of Death. I felt true fear that day. But that fear quickly turned to rage as I fought back."

"Like a mad dog, I fought Lucifer with all I had. It was all so futile. I couldn\'t even cut his armor. He would have cut me down had Beelzubub not saved me. For some reason, he saw promise in me. Saw something no one else could gleam. Not even me."

Aria was hesitant to ask but did so nonetheless, \'Then when did you fall?"

"After the war, years after Lucifer was cast from Heaven. I, alongside many of my brothers, ran towards our Father to beg that he resurrect those that were murdered, To pull their souls from the wretched Vale. He refused. And in a moment of insanity, I tore apart our doctrine, the very Bible by which all Angels abide: The Law of Concordance. Yes… Quite a day that was. Quite a day indeed."

He shook his head. \'Honestly, I don\'t know why Father allowed us to keep living. He might have saved himself so much trouble if he killed us all. It would have saved everyone from our wrath. It was then I realized how little we truly mean to him. The mind truly opens when one loses everything."

"I don\'t understand," Aria said. "Why didn\'t he revive the dead?"

"He is God."

It was an answer that encaptivated everything she needed to hear while also leaving her confused.

Asteroth shook his head. "But enough of the old days. How has your training been with the Six Paths of Time? How many futures can you see?"

"Two. But I don\'t really understand how you can claim there are only six paths in a single timeline?" Aria folded her arms, thinking. "Why only six? Why not nine or Eight or Ten?"

"In the Lower Realms, there is an infinite amount, but in higher realms like this one, there can exist only six. These illusory paths are the foundation of all time. As you already know, most Seers or Prophets are capable of only gleaming a mere fraction of the truth. But most of the time, they are never wrong. With your eyes, you\'ll never misunderstand a vision.

In fact, if you get proficient enough, you\'ll be able to actively manipulate events in these illusionary timelines and merge them into our reality to make them true."

"Then why do you need me?" Aria finally asked. A cunning gleam glinted across her yellow eyes.

The question had been on her mind for the longest time, but seeing her master so lost in melancholy today. She felt that this might be a chance to probe for information.

Astraroth roared a mighty laugh. "How long have you been wanting to ask that question? You still believe Altair will come for you, my dear?" he shook his head, sneering at the very idea. "The day you entered the hells. I severed the link between you and Altair using the Concept of Severance. You are connected only in name."

And he thought, \'Why does she cling to that memory? Nearly a Cycle has passed since she entered my hands, yet the memory of the boy is still so fresh in her mind. How can that be? Must I take more drastic measures?\'

The girl did not argue with her master; she merely expressed indifference. There was no point arguing with him. Still… "Then you\'ve nothing to fear in answering my question. Why me?"

"What a cunning child you are," He rumbled in laughter. "Because I can only see five of the six paths in a single instance. Despite being its creator, capable of pulling life from that illusionary reality, I have not been able to tap into the sixth. The last one to exist, like you, Zariel Snow, murdered, going as far as to use the Weave to wipe him from existence.

No matter how I tried, his soul was gone."

"Is such a thing possible?" Aria carefully asked.

"Zariel is a special case. Most rules don\'t apply to him," he said, shaking his head. "Anyway. Your power is growing if you can reach the third level within the Six Paths of Time. I\'ll teach you how to reincarnate people from the future into the present."

"Eh?!"

"Hahaha. There is much to learn, little Aria. Much indeed."