Abyssal Awakening

"Hmm… Are you a human soul? Or a construct? Yet you stink of countless beasts. What is the secret behind your conception I wonder." The Will circled around Alyss as she realised she couldn\'t move a single muscle in her body. She was subjected to the Will\'s every whim.

"Does it really matter what I am? Aren\'t you the one hoping Alice shapes up to be a good vessel? She wants to talk to you so why don\'t you go talk to her instead of dwelling on what I am." Alyss forced a brave grin as the Will leaned close to her face.

"Do you want to live a life away from her? Have your own body, control your own fate instead of being chained together." The Will asked as Alyss paused.

Does she want a life away from Alice?

If it had asked her before, the answer would\'ve been yes.

Alice, her twin who shared the same body and soul. Someone who during their period of being experimented on, threw everything to her to endure. With that kind of person sharing a body, who wouldn\'t want to live separately?

Hell, even if they didn\'t go through that, the freedom that comes with having your own body was liberating.

However, Alice was someone who required shoulders to lean on. Without her around, Alice would struggle.

"Nah I\'ll pass. My twinnie is someone that needs me after all." Alyss smiled as the Will burst out into laughter.

"Twinnie? Is that how you see her? What a kind name for a parasite. Could it be that you don\'t realise the state you are in? Or perhaps was it something else entirely?"

Furrowing her brows, Alyss wasn\'t sure where the Will was taking things.

Leaning against her ear, the Will curled its mouth up into a devious grin.

"What if you are the original? What if this entire time, Alice had been nothing but a parasite taking over your body? You simply didn\'t realise what had happened and thought yourself to be second.

"What if... You are the original Alice?"

Alyss\'s pupil shrunk as the Will planted the seed of doubt in her mind. All it takes is one seed and the time to let it blossom before the strongest friendships shatter.

For their goals, people are able to destroy the lives of others if they see fit. Nyer was a great example. For the life of Velouria, he was the catalyst for the destruction of Ayr, Kaden and Allura.

Had he never tried to steal Velouria\'s divinity, perhaps he could have kept Ayr safe with Kaden and Allura. With what power she had left, Velouria could\'ve allowed them to stand their ground against the Gods.

But it was all cut short due to Nyer\'s desire to save Velouria.

For Alice and Alyss, this was even more detrimental. If one side refused to cooperate with the other, there would be an imbalance within the body. The Soul and body, each fighting for control.

"Does it matter?" Alyss revealed a weary smile.

"Huh?"

"Does it matter who\'s the original? It\'s already happened. It doesn\'t matter if I\'m the original Alice or if twinnie is. We were both betrayed by our family. Our father, brothers, the butlers and maids that looked after us. We were both abandoned by the Zenia family.

"I already had theories that one of us was created the moment the syringe was injected into our body. It could be me, it could be her. We\'re simply a consequence of unfortunate scenarios. She\'s already doing all she can to let me experience what it feels like to live with my own body. I don\'t need your temptations.

If we can\'t learn to accept who we are, how can we accept others to look at us with sincerity?" Alyss chuckled as there was no cloud of doubt in her gaze.

There was no confusion, no delusion of grandeur, only a pair of eyes that saw the reality for what it was.

The Will\'s smile disappeared as it took a few steps back and looked at Alyss once more.

"No fun."

"We\'re usually more fun if you\'re not trying to break us apart or sabotage our friends." Alyss shrugged, finally regaining control over her own body.

"Well you can go back and tell Alice that I\'m not helping you two. Nyer will do what he wishes to do and I\'ll simply observe. As the Will of the Abyss, I\'m simply an observer so do your best and save Velouria if you can~" The Will laughed as it snapped its finger, sending Alyss out of the realm.

###

\'Alyss!!!\'

Hearing Alice\'s voice calling out to her, Alyss groaned as she scratched her hair and sat up.

Seeing that she had passed out momentarily to talk with the Will, she sighed and closed her eyes.

Facing Alice in her mental space, she could see the worry on her face.

\'I\'m fine don\'t worry. I managed to connect to the space where you saw the Will before but it wasn\'t exactly helpful nor did it want to have a proper conversation.\' Alyss sighed as Alice looked down with a sad expression.

Seeing this, Alyss chuckled and patted Alice on the head.

\'It didn\'t offer any help but it doesn\'t mean we can\'t stop Nyer does it? You saw what he looked like, he didn\'t want to do this either.\'

Nodding her head, Alice resolved herself.

\'I\'ll leave the rest to you. Just call for me when you need, I\'m always here.\' Alyss grinned as she returned control back to Alice.

But seeing that Alice was still in this mental space, Alyss was confused.

She had her hand up in the air as though she was waiting for something.

\'What are you doing?\' Alyss raised an eyebrow.

\'It\'s called a high five. I guess it\'s like a sign of teamwork.\' Alice chuckled as Alyss smiled before nodding her head.

Raising her own hand, she gave Alice a high five as Alice opened her eyes in reality.

Creating a blood mirror in front of her, she located Kaden and Allura and teleported next to them.

Seeing that both of them were leaning against the wall, Alice reached into her pouch and brought out two vials of Healing Blood. Feeding it to the both of them, she could see their breathing stabilize yet they still weren\'t waking up.

Meaning the damage they took must\'ve been heavier than what she had expected.

Hesitating for a moment, Alice leaned towards Allura before licking the blood that had flowed from her wound before the Healing Blood fixed the damage.

Feeling her body reaching the threshold once more, she gritted her teeth and supressed the pain she was experiencing.

As long as she keeps this short, it should be fine.

\'Nyer\'s ultimate goal is to reach Velouria. I need to get to her before he can and help her fend off the Gods. At this point, I don\'t care if I expose our nature since things have developed to this stage.\' Alice frowned.

\'Good call. I don\'t know how well I can negate the abilities of Gods but I\'m rather curious what we\'ll feel if we drink the blood of a God. Of course, there\'s the risk that our body can\'t handle it since we\'re already reaching our limit.\' Alyss agreed.

Thinking back to the first time she saw a Old Abyss Lord, Alice could still recall the desire to drink its blood. Now that she\'s tasted the blood of Abyss Lords, her next goal was naturally that of a God.

\'Do you think we gained Allura\'s blessing by drinking her blood?\'

\'Hmm… I don\'t think so? I don\'t feel anything new in our body.\' Alyss shook her head.

Before they could continue their conversation further, the skies began to crack and fracture from the onslaught of a God\'s power.

They could feel the surge of an oppressive energy enveloping the battlefield as four auras battled for supremacy.

\'It\'s Velouria!\' Alice widened her eyes as Alyss nodded her head.

Without wasting any more time, Alice created a mirror leading to the Gods.

###

Panting heavily, Velouria was bleeding from several wounds across her body while the other three Gods weren\'t looking much better.

Similar to how Abyss Lords fight, Gods exert their will into a realm of their divinity, dragging others in and subjecting them to their will.

For the God of the Sun, he\'s able to render himself impervious to damage within his own divine realm. For Lumiria, she is able to target the soul and create multiple \'hosts\' for herself to avoid attacks. Enris drowns herself in the pleasures of war and battle, increasing her strength the longer she fights for.

As for Velouria, the Abyss was her divine realm.

By using the Abyss as an extension of herself, she\'s able to corrupt and sever the power of their divinities, making them easier to kill. But even with this advantage, she was still just one severely weakened Goddess.

Each clash between the Gods was instantaneous.

*BANG!!!

Exploding into action, Velouria slammed her hand down as darkness exploded out from her body, enveloping everyone nearby into the bowls of the Abyss while Solaris wasn\'t going to let her have her way.

Raising his hand, he conjured a spear that radiated the might of the sun and stabbed it into the ground, dispelling the darkness.

Meanwhile, Lumiria invoked the power of the Moon and overlayed it atop Solaris\'s sun, creating an Eclipse that bolstered Enris\'s power as she grinned and rushed towards Velouria.

The powers of Famine and War burst forth from her blade, attempting to plant a parasite into Velouria\'s body so that she would lose most of her abilities.

However, after seeing what had happened to Allura, Velouria was prepared. The instant Enris was close enough to stab her, Velouria ducked down and kicked up, disarming Enris.

Jumping back and recalling her blade, Enris narrowed her eyes at Velouria who was running low on energy and stamina. It was clear that she was showing signs of fatigue and pain from her connection to the Will.

Despite all of her wounds and fatigue, her gaze was clear and focused!

She is Velouria, Goddess of the Abyss, Queen of Ayr and the strongest God between the four of them.