Awareness

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Warning

The following novel contains material that may be harmful or traumatic to some readers.It contains graphic descriptions of murder, violence, and other unpleasant text.

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* images in "Characters" section are AI Generated Images and serve as inspiration and may not fully represent the author's vision. *

For a better experience, I recommend opening the Characters section so you can visualize the character as accurately as possible. The descriptions here will not be very detailed.

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Somewhere in the Ghetto, A few hours after in the Saul's House

Celestis Calendar : Day 10, Month of Raphaelis (3/9)

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I'll be sitting in darkness for hours now, tucked away in one of the abandoned alleys, on the outskirts of the Ghetto.

On the northern side of the wall, where the gate to the Forgotten Woods remains perpetually open.

This part of the city is even more deserted than the rest... The air here is thicker, suffused with the overpowering stench of burnt flesh.

It's because of those damned woods.

I hate being here, but no one will look for me in this place. Synn, the all-powerful force within the Ghetto... Even her men wouldn't dare step foot here.

I just hope I won't regret this.

But the most important thing... is what happened in that house.

Saul was dead.

I set aside the fact that I felt nothing from his lifeless body—except that disgusting stench.

Only now, as I recall the scene, certain details begin to come into focus.

His body was lying in the exact same position as when I had left it... in that dream.

The exact same position.

That's about the only thing I can clearly remember...

Was it even a dream?

Then how am I still alive? Not a single scratch on my body, no sign of shattered glass or the bed I had shoved against the door to barricade it.

I clutch my head—I've been thinking about this for two hours straight. And now... my head is fucking killing me.

What's happening to me... this isn't normal.

And then, the laughter.

Dark... twisted laughter.

Is it a reflection of my own darkness? OR WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!

I exhale. I rest my head against the wall, gazing up at the sky.

Of course! What if the heavens are trying to—

That's bullshit. Unless they're just trying to drive me insane.

Or turn me into a psychopath...

OR I JUST DON'T FUCKING KNOW. I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW...

I stand up. I need to move. Just a little. I hope no one sees me.

I don't know how far Synn's reach extends, but I can't take any chances.

Just for a moment. Just enough to breathe.

As I step out of the dark alley, the warmth of the sun touches my skin for the first time in ages.

I used to find comfort in it.

Now, it's just... heat.

To my right, a few buildings. And beyond them... the gate.

Permanently open. The only way for the caged animals to wander into the Forgotten Woods.

Ah...

I've always avoided trouble—aside from these past few hours.

And the Forgotten Woods, along with this area...

Avoid them.

But now that I'm here... I might as well take a look.

I approach the gate.

The empty streets and eerie stillness make this place seem cleaner than the rest of the Ghetto.

This is what I imagine life beyond the wall must be like.

The walls...

Only now do I notice just how massive they are... thirty, maybe forty meters high?

Even the walls are abandoned. The only thing that remains is the wind... and solitude.

A place so empty, I can hear my own heartbeat echoing in these streets.

Empty, except for two children sitting by the gate.

A boy and a girl, wrapped in a single tattered, filthy brown blanket.

The girl leans against the boy.

The boy keeps watch—scanning the area for threats?

I don't know.

We lock eyes, but neither of us react.

The only thing that matters to me right now is what lies behind them...

The Forgotten Woods.

Yeah...

Even from here, I can see the color fading.

The green, choked beneath layers of ash.

No vibrant hues.

Only gray, a dead wasteland.

Just looking at it makes my stomach turn.

And the smell... absolutely revolting.

Between me and the woods, a vast meadow—untouched, untainted.

Strange...

I don't know why, but suddenly...

Fear creeps in.

Not the fear of death—not the kind I felt before.

But still...

Welcome back.

I smirk.

...

"SI-FI-A!"

The voices echo in my mind.

I flinch...

I glance at the children.

They remain unfazed.

So I'm the only one who hears them?

I turn back to the woods.

"DI-FRA-NO-TRE!"

Another strange word pierces through my thoughts.

The woods... are speaking to me?

It's terrifying, yet...

Not surprising.

I've been hearing that laughter since last night.

This isn't the woods.

It's my fucking head.

I grip my temples and shut my eyes...

I try to focus on something good.

Tira.

Her face...

Her hair...

...

Her eyes.

A moment of calm washes over me.

For the first time since yesterday, I don't feel so uncertain.

Thinking about her... makes it easier to breathe.

"ZARAKÁN DIABOLUS!!"

A deafening scream shatters the silence.

This time—it's real.

My eyes snap open.

And in that single instant, I witness—

A blur of movement, descending from above.

A sickening thud.

The unmistakable crunch of breaking bones.

My gaze slowly... ever so slowly... lowers.

And I see—

I see—

A woman.

She jumped... from the wall.

Her legs—shattered into pieces.

Bones jutting through her flesh.

One foot, completely severed.

Blood pooling, the sound of it dripping onto the pavement, filling the silent street.

Eyes sunk into her skull, her neck twisted unnaturally.

My body locks up.

Frozen—like so many times before.

I just breathe.

I don't feel fear.

I feel something... deeper.

Like I understand.

Like I know.

The legs—they were from the fall.

But the rest...?

"MOMMY! MOMMY!!"

A child's voice—shaking, raw, broken.

The girl.

She runs forward, dropping to her knees in the pool of blood, clutching the lifeless body of her mother.

"MOMMY, NO!!"

A gut-wrenching scene.

Behind her, the boy.

He doesn't move.

Just stares, frozen in horror.

But the girl—she doesn't hide her grief.

Tears fall.

Onto the filthy, forsaken ground.

Her wailing shatters the silence.

And this place...

It drowns in sorrow.

I remember the words.

Maybe... maybe I'm not the only one who hears them.

I look at the woman.

She heard them too.

I'm sure of it.

I glance at the woods.

So tell me...

Is this the Blood Hunter?

The Mirror Wraiths?

...Or something even worse?

I take a deep breath, turn around, and head back into the dark alley.

Step out for a moment... and this happens.

Now that I think about it—

"Ne-tro-dra."

The whispered words cut through my thoughts.

I stop. Instinctively.

Why?

"Ne-tro-dra Di-po-re-TUM..."

"TI-MO..."

"THEE!"

My heart pounds violently, my pulse surging like a waterfall.

Every hair on my body stands on end.

My instincts, firing at full force.

Like my body is telling me—

Death—

Is—

Right—

Behind you.

I turn my head slowly, towards the children...

And instantly, I see something that shakes me to my core.

The boy.

The boy... is smiling.

The widest grin I have ever seen in my life.

His eyes, stretched open—staring at the heartbreaking scene before him.

But then...

His eyes...

Shift to me.

And he begins to turn his head.

Towards me.

I suck in a breath, and every fiber of my body screams at me—

RUN!

And so I fucking run.

Something bursts to life inside me, some hidden instinct, some deep-seated drive to survive.

I sprint as fast as my body allows.

I don't look back—I won't look back.

I never want to see that face again...

That inhuman face.

That monstrous face.

The wind is too slow to catch me.

The sound of my footsteps—louder than anything else.

I feel everything, and I have only one goal—to survive.

But! BUT SOMETHING IS MOVING AROUND ME!

I hear it.

The sound of another pair of footsteps behind me...

Like something is chasing me.

I hear claws, scraping against the ground—

Against wood. Against stone.

And not just hear...

I SEE IT!

The buildings on both sides—

Deep, jagged scratches appearing as I run!

DO FUCKING HELL, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!

I turn my head—

THE BOY IS CHASING ME!

He's a little behind, but his speed—

He's running just as fast as I am.

That same grin, that same eerie stare—

Never leaving my face!

The same cold I felt in that dream.

FUCK. FUCK.

He's waiting for me to make a mistake.

WHY ISN'T ANYONE HERE?!

My lungs burn, my knees threaten to buckle—

There should be someone here, by now—

Shit!

I trip.

I crash hard onto the ground, rolling, tumbling—

Landing on my back.

And I see him.

The boy.

Still running.

Still smiling.

He doesn't stop.

He's coming straight for me.

He—

He's jumping at me!

I raise my arms, shielding my face—

...

But nothing happens.

Nothing.

Slowly, I lower my arms.

And...

No city.

No streets.

No boy.

Tr—

Tree?!

A tree stands in front of me?

And why the fuck is it dark?!

I turn to my left...

The edge of the forest.

I start breathing hard.

I turn to my right...

The edge of the forest.

I jump to my feet and whirl around—

And there it is.

The city. Ekpesu. The Ghetto.

In flames.

WHY IS IT DARK?!

Screams.

I hear them echoing from the city.

I smell the fire even here.

But more than that...

I feel something.

The breath of the forest behind me.

The stench of the woods all around me.

I stand at the edge of the Forgotten Woods.

Why?!

How?!

I—I must have gone insane.

I squeeze my eyes shut—

And I scream.

As loud as my lungs allow.

Memories flash through my mind—

Like they did in the dream before death.

"I HATE EVERYTHING! I HATE THIS WORLD! I HATE YOU, YOU FUCKING BASTARD ANGELS!!!"

I see Tira.

I see my mother.

I see the streets, the blood, the death, the despair.

The greed. The fear.

I see—

I see—

Something dark.

But it's... calm.

So calm, it soothes me.

Yet in my memory... there's nothing there.

Only blackness.

Just like when I died in that dream.

A moment of darkness... and then I woke up.

But this time—

This time, the darkness lingers.

And at the very end of it...

I see an outline.

Something darker than the dark.

And it's getting bigger.

The twisted, distorted laughter returns.

The cold is overwhelming.

My body reacts, but...

But I'm... calm.

The laughter rises.

The outline grows...

It's...

It's coming closer?

The closer it gets...

The calmer I feel...

I drop to my knees.

And I wait.

The shape begins to take form.

Something...

Human?

No.

It's shifting.

Human. And monstrous.

The laughter stops.

The figure halts.

And then—

It opens its eyes.

Red.

Monstrous, red eyes.

Illuminating everything black... turning it red.

Their light blinds me.

So much so—

It burns.

Burns me even in this memory.

I jerk back into reality.

My eyes snap open.

I'm standing—

On a cliff.

A massive cliff.

It's still dark...

I still smell the forest behind me.

But in front of me...

Only water.

The ocean.

And in the distance...

Beyond the waters...

A black storm.

A shadowy fog, pure darkness, flashing with lightning—

Revealing a distant land.

"That is Mortus."

A voice.

A completely unfamiliar voice.

I hear the sound of dead leaves shifting.

I whip around—

A tall man steps from behind a tree.

He's dressed in a black cloak.

His hair—long, black hair.

His skin—unnaturally pale.

His eyes—

Even from here, I see them.

Blue.

Glowing.

Softly illuminating the dead ground beneath him.

"WHO— WHO ARE YOU?!"

I stammer, completely lost, confused—

The man steps closer.

I step back.

The cliff's edge is right behind me.

He pauses.

"Careful, careful... wouldn't want you to fall now."

Then—

"Timothee."

He knows my name.

He knows me.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

The man watches me for a moment.

Then he smiles.

"I... I am Ereboreth."

Ereboreth? Who the fuck is that?

"AND THAT NAME... AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IT?!" I ask, utterly confused.

But the man...

He calms me. In a strange way.

Like he's reaching into my mind.

Like he's planting peace into my soul.

Ereboreth responds instantly. "Of course not, Timothee."

I glance behind me, around me—

And the memories of the last two fucking days flood back in.

I look at him again, dozens of questions burning inside me...

"WAS IT YOU—"

"Before you start asking, Timothee..."

"You have nothing to fear from me. I have no intention of killing you, or..."

He chuckles lightly.

"Anything like that."

"So calm yourself. Catch your breath. And then... ask."

His voice is utterly calm.

That's easy for him to say.

He hasn't lived through what I have.

"You're right... I haven't."

...?

He can hear my thoughts?

He laughs.

"Yes. I hear every thought, every memory. I feel them. I live through them with you."

"I must say, Timothee..."

"You've been through some truly... unspeakable things. So unspeakable—"

"WHAT THE FUCK COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW ABOUT ME?!"

I cut him off, rage rising.

I hate when people try to manipulate me.

"NO ONE CAN EVER KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!"

"AND IF YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT I'VE SUFFERED—"

"Then you know who's responsible—"

His expression darkens.

It unsettles me.

More than a little.

He steps closer to the cliffs, his gaze drifting toward the shrouded lands of darkness.

"Mortus... A cursed place, Timothee."

"Filled with the deepest darkness. A corruption so vile, even I cannot fully understand it." He rub his chest slightly.

He changes the subject.

To Mortus?

Then, he points toward the sky.

"They... are the ones responsible, Timothee."

"For your life. For the lives of others."

"Because they see you all as nothing but toys... to play with."

His words hit deep.

I find myself agreeing with him.

He turns to me.

"First, I must deeply apologize... for what you've had to endure."

"But there was no other way."

I freeze.

He...

He caused this?

The numbness.

The loss of feeling.

The horrors I've witnessed?

Ah...

"You?" I ask.

Ereboreth nods.

"Yes... me."

"I am an Ethyrion user. Abyssal branch."

"Specifically, I control Aquarethyr..."

He looks at me—

And he sees the complete lack of understanding on my face.

He sighs.

"It doesn't matter right now."

"Simply put... I can control thoughts and memories."

Saul.

The woman who killed herself.

The boy...

I start recalling them all.

"Yes... They were all my doing, Timothee."

The words shock me.

And more than that...

They disturb me.

Should I be afraid of him too?

"I told you, you have nothing to fear from me..."

"These sacrifices were necessary... for me to have this conversation with you."

Ereboreth continues.

"Now you're wondering... why?"

"The simple answer is—

They were going to die anyway."

His tone is casual.

Too casual.

It unsettles me.

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten..."

"That every single one of them was part of the same twisted, greedy system as you."

"Born into this hell. Forced to survive in this hell."

"They would have died all the same, with or without my intervention."

"Maybe now you see me as the same kind of monster you despise."

"But at least I did it with a greater purpose in mind, Timothee."

He steps closer.

I don't even react anymore.

I just listen.

"A greater purpose?"

I ask, still lost.

Still in the dark.

And I'm fucking sick of it.

Ereboreth laughs.

"You will understand soon enough."

"But before you do... I need you to be fully convinced."

"Fully committed."

"My dear friend."

"I'm not your friend."

I snap back at him.

His words sound absurd.

A friend?

I—

"Died?"

He interrupts me again.

"Yes, you died."

"But tell me..."f

"Didn't you feel... freer?"

He's right.

I was freed.

Freed from the fear that had haunted me since childhood.

The fear I hated.

When I did what I did...

Was I...

Happier?

"Maybe..."

"But what if I hadn't jumped through that window?"

I ask.

There were only two choices.

And the other... remains unknown.

Ereboreth smirks.

"Nothing."

"Because no matter what, you always would have jumped."

"You feared death so much...

That you leapt right into its arms."

"You never stopped to think."

"You just did it."

"This time, you had no choice."

"But everything you did after... was entirely your decision."

"Your actions at that brothel.

Your curiosity about the Forgotten Woods."

"And even now... you don't feel fear."

"Only... unease."

"What comes next?"

"I'll give you a choice. Just like before."

"Either you become part of something greater..."

"Or I send you back to the edge of the forest."

"Back to the city. To live that miserable, wretched life."

"The life those you hate most have forced upon you."

Ereboreth's words are convincing.

But is it worth it?

In that moment—

I think of Tira.

Can I abandon her?

She was the only one who was ever there for me.

The only one.

I can't.

"I'm sorry, Erebore, or whatever your name is... but... I can't."

I turn towards the forest.

But as I take a few steps—

I ask myself...

If I go back, will it even matter?

She can take care of herself.

And me...?

I was always a burden.

And maybe... I always will be.

But I don't want to lose her.

"You know what fascinates me, Timothee?"

Ereboreth speaks again.

But I keep walking.

"That for all this time...

You never once checked your right pocket."

I freeze.

Confusion washes over me.

I turn to him.

He just smiles, waiting.

I look at my pocket.

I reach inside.

Something metallic.

Cold. Round.

I pull it out.

An Angelic Tolar.

How?!

When?!

I look at Ereboreth.

Suddenly, he's right in front of me.

Still smiling.

"She gave it to you."

"Your little... friend."

"When she hugged you."

Memories flood back.

She said strange things.

I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I didn't realize...

She was saying goodbye.

"Exactly, Timothee."

Ereboreth confirms my fears.

"Today, she was taken."

"Along with a hundred others."

"To the capital. To Dutan."

...

"The army also took the so-called... son of Gideon."

"That's why there was chaos. The fire. The bloodshed..."

"A vulturist. A man who has killed more children than evil itself... has now started a revolution."

"All for his son."

Ereboreth turns his back to me.

His gaze drifts to Mortus once more.

He takes in the view, relishing it.

And yet...

There's a question I have to ask.

One that twists in my stomach like a knife.

"Tira..."

"Did she know?"

"That they would take her?"

I ask, holding my breath.

Waiting.

Ereboreth inhales deeply.

He turns to me.

His expression... serious.

And then, he speaks.

"Yeah."

And then...

He speaks the words that shatter me.

"She added her name to the list... on her own."

"Only her name..."

 "And no one else's."

"Only her name..."

...

...

I—

I—

I—

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

A scream of pure hatred erupts from my lungs.

I drop to my knees—and as I hit the ground, the earth trembles beneath me.

A few trees collapse, their trunks snapping like brittle bones.

A piece of the cliff breaks away, crumbling into the ocean below.

A wave of my own hatred surges outward—

Like a shockwave, tearing through the forest.

And this hatred...

It has awakened something far, far greater.

To be continued...

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