“A mortal...” The voice mused as it studied the calm youth that silently floated in the abyss. The voice could feel the blending of the aura between the youth and the abyss. The voice probed the consciousness of the youth who looked like he was in a trance and noticed that the he was experiencing an epiphany. Not every day would anyone experience an epiphany, in fact it’s normal for a human being to live their whole lives without experiencing an epiphany of this kind. It’s even rarer for a person as young as this person to be experiencing an epiphany, thus it drew the voice’s interest.

“Is it time? To once more walk amongst the clouds?” The voice murmured as it quietly studied the youth. It was waiting, waiting to see what the youth would come to understand. An epiphany was like catching a glimpse of the truths of the world and from that glimpse the lucky ones could gain many benefits. So the owner of the voice wanted to wait, to see if this youth had what it took to overturn his own fate; the fate of no fate. The fate of death.

They waited for what seemed like an eternity. One silently meditating and the other silently contemplating. One looking into the abyss and the abyss looking toward one. In the end, they slowly came to be as one.

When Arthur opened his eyes he was greeted with the familiar darkness of the abyss. His breathing was even and his pulse was calm. He didn’t know how much time has passed since he had fallen, but he had an inkling feeling that no less than a fortnight had gone by. So much time had passed and yet, he felt no hunger, he felt no pain, and no death. It was an existence that would strain the sanity of any normal person. Yet this feeling hardly affected Arthur, his mind was opened, he was attuned to a truth of the world. As soon as he opened his eyes, he said, “What do you want?”

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A breathless sigh blew past his ears, tickling his hair before answering, “Child of Prometheus do you once more want to seek the light?” The words were barely audible amongst the loud rumbling that surrounded him, but yet they were as clear as a bell.

“What more could I wish for then to once more walk upon the world.” Longing filled his eyes as he tilted his head back and looked up. “To see her once more is a wish that can only be granted in my dreams.” He was convinced that this was death. He no longer felt like he was falling and he felt no hunger, what can this be other than the afterlife?

“Foolish mortal. You have already opened your eyes and yet you cannot see. You have understood and yet you cannot accept. If you refuse to believe then there is naught I can do.” The fickle voice answered and started to fade away. “Once again, he turned out like the rest.” The voice mourned to itself.

“…”

“Wait…” Arthur demanded. After feeling that he got the owner of the voice’s attention he continued, “Is there truly a way I can return?” He was indignant and angry, he was angry at his pointless life. He only knew hardship and when he was on the point of success; his life was going end. To be given another lease on life was what he truly yearned for.

“There is a way.” The voice briefly paused before saying, “There is always a truth in the world. Nothing is truly free in this world. Everything has a price. The price of your wish is truly not cheap.”

“I don’t care. I’ll accept any price. As long as I can be with her.” Arthur felt like he truly has gone insane. No matter how eerie and strange the situation was, even if he was making a deal with the devil, he felt that he needed to accept the offer.

“As you wish. The contract has been signed. Initiating transfer of authority to user: Arthur Vandel.” Arthur felt an intense heat entering his body from every pore of the body. He felt his flesh began to burn and brain began to melt. The intense pain caused him to faint and become numb to what was happening to his body.