Abyssal Awakening

Swallowing her saliva nervously, Ayla kneeled in front of a figure with sweat running down her back.

Her heart beat against her chest as the fear of death gnawed at her mind.

Only the man in front of her could invoke such fear, the man who prodded and poked within her body.

The man who created her from the blood of the original.

"You lost… 7 of my precious Hybrids. And two of my proto Lords? All for the Capital to be safe and sound. All for the culprit who killed one of the Hybrids and learned of your existence to still survive to this day?" He asked calmly.

Yet it was this calm that shook Ayla.

Biting her lip, she didn't dare look up and nodded her head slowly.

"Did you learn nothing of value? Or are you here just to disappoint me?" He asked as Ayla could feel the man's gaze narrow.

"Ah! Tha- I discovered something that's- of gre- great interest to you!" She stammered as the man stood up and leaned over her.

"I don't believe I created you with a speech defect. So why are you stuttering?"

"I'm sorry!" Slamming her head against the ground, Ayla tried her best not to tremble before this man.

"Don't bore my ears with words of apology. Tell me the information you got and pray that it's enough for me to spare you of punishment."

Hearing the word punishment, Ayla's pupils constricted as her shoulders trembled.

Each part of her body itched as she wanted nothing else but to just run away but she understood that it was futile.

"The original lives! I heard news of her in the North!"

"!!!" Pausing in surprise, the man was silent as he stood up straight.

Ayla sighed in relief inwardly.

"The original… lives... you say? And she's in the North? Do you have any proof of this matter?"

"Yes! There was a woman, a traitor of our kind. Not quite a Hybrid but had traces of the original's blood. She turned herself into a Hybrid by ingesting the blood of two subjects and when she saw me, she questioned if I was 'Alice' or not." Ayla reported.

"A little lacking to call it proof but regardless, it gives your claim some foundation to work with."

Scratching his chin, the man walked past Ayla.

"If it's truly the original, then we must utilize everything to get her back. But if it isn't… And you simply used it as an excuse to justify the loss of resources… I'm sure I don't need to explain the rest to you." The man chuckled.

Clapping his hands lightly, Ayla widened her eyes as she threw up a mouthful of blood. Join us at m v le mpyr now

Her flesh beneath her skin began to writhe as spikes pierced out.

Clutching her chest, she gurgled on her own blood while tears formed in the corner of her eyes, mixed with the blood seeping out.

She wanted to tear apart her skin, to dig out whatever was crawling inside of her so that the pain would stop.

Around her neck, a 'Sigil' appeared as veins bulged around her body. Her wounds began to rapidly recover only to be torn apart once more.

"ARGGG!!!"

Letting out a cry as tears rolled down her face, Ayla squirmed on the floor, stuck in a constant cycle of recovery and destruction.

"Tears only from this much… truly a failed copy of dear Alice. Even at the tender age of 13, she could handle this much pain with ease and even try to fight back." The man shook his head before waving his hand.

The writhing of flesh stopped as Ayla was finally given a break.

Her body twitched while her vision blurred.

"This should suffice for a light slap on the hand."

Leaving behind the failed product, the man left the room with an unrestrained smile on his face.

How long has it been? How he dreamed of torturing that body again with his own hands. These new subjects simply couldn't compare to the resilience of Alice.

The way she squirmed, the way she glared at him with a defiant gaze as he broke her down bit by bit. The climax as he finally saw the light in her eyes fade along with her resilient will!

After all this time, she must've regained the will to live once more.

Meaning, he could experience the joy of breaking her apart again!

A clue had finally been found and he will not waste this opportunity! He MUST track her down!

To feel the height of his joy once more!

###

Listening to Caera's lecture on how she could create a 'cure' to the curse, Alice found herself feeling distracted.

She didn't know why but she couldn't concentrate at all today. Which was rather strange considering she never had issues with concentration.

"Perhaps we should take a break." Caera suggested as Alice nodded her head.

It wasn't that she didn't want to make the cure but something was keeping her distracted and she didn't know what. She couldn't process the information at all.

Reading yet not reading. Listening but not listening.

Alice felt out of it.

"Oh actually, you should probably go visit Sigurd. He's been… preoccupied with the contract that you've given him." Caera paused as she remembered seeing Sigurd reporting back to Verona.

"Alright." Nodding her head, Alice glanced at Egil and Selen briefly before stepping out.

Currently, they were in Caera's personal lab situated near the centre of the capital.

Taking a few slides, she made her way to Sigurd's forge.

On the way there, she could see the people trying to salvage what they could from their homes.

Families reassuring their children that it's going to be alright.

Mournful wives, husbands, mothers and fathers.

The light of despair in the eyes of children who lost their parents.

Even though the capital reacted fast with the deployment of the Hounds and guards, they couldn't avoid casualties.

Yet this was the 'better' outcome.

Had it not been for Selen dealing with the Hybrids and her holding back the curse, they wouldn't even be walking around right now. The entire capital would be submerged in despair.

But the danger isn't over yet.

Just the fact that she left a mark of her presence here meant that the Zenias must've caught wind of it.

Subconsciously, Alice reached for her own neck. She could feel a creeping itch as the desire to scratch it dominated her mind.

Taking a deep breath, she held herself back and took the lift down.

She didn't have a token like last time but Sigurd did tell her to come back after a while for her gauntlets she so used that as the reason for visiting.

Descending into the bowels of the earth, she could sense the presence of her violet flames.

The power of these flames were a little weaker than during the night they made the contract since the important catalyst of her blood was missing. During that night, the curse drifting through the air along with the cure was composed of her blood, acting as fuel for these flames.

Without it, it'll no doubt be highly taxing for Sigurd to manifest it.

"DAMMIT!"

Hearing his shouts of frustration, Alice shrugged her shoulders since it was as she expected.

Reaching the bottom, she saw Sigurd sitting on the ground with sweat across his head.

A spark of violet flame flickered in front of him but judging by his expression, this was far from what he wanted.

"Having some difficulties?" Alice called out as Sigurd glanced over.

"What the f*ck is wrong with your fire? How the hell does it take so much energy to make???" Sigurd questioned.

As a Lord, his capacity for Energy far surpasses Alice. Even if it has been reduced by a certain amount thanks to the curse, it's still something that should surpass Alice.

Yet a spark was the best he could do.

On top of the exorbitant energy cost of using this fire, maintaining it drained his reserves like crazy! Using everything he's got, maintaining this spark was his limit.

"If you don't give it the proper fuel of course it's going to drain the sh*t outta you if you try to make it." Alice remarked, making a small blood orb and flicked it into the spark.

*BANG!!!!

The moment her blood orb came into contact, the spark detonated into a maelstrom of flames that Sigurd had to quickly restrain before it burned down his forge.

"See? Right fuel and it doesn't cost that must energy now does it?" Alice smirked, finding a crystal for her to sit on.

"Can't help but feel like I got scammed now. Trading a small piece of my soul for fire that I can't even use properly." Sigurd's smile twitched.

On the night, there was no doubt regarding the fire's effectiveness. The way the living shadows reacted when these flames cancelled out their abilities. He understood that if he used this to fight his enemies, they'd struggle to use their Sigils.

He simply couldn't understand why Alice was able to use these flames effortlessly.

Was it something to do with the blood?

Furrowing his brows, he tried to use his own blood as a catalyst but it was futile. Once again, the energy cost shot up.

"I wouldn't say scammed. In fact, wasn't the contract the reason you managed to survive long enough for Caera to help you?" Alice shrugged her shoulders with a smug grin.

Sigurd's smile twitched as he wanted to smack that grin off her face this instant but he knew that light in her eye.

"Tch, tell me what you want. I'll consider it." Sigurd leaned against his forge in frustration.

"How about another contract? This time I'll offer you the fuel you need to use these flames." Alice narrowed her gaze.