Kaito's world had changed. The moment he had stepped into the Abyss and confronted its darkness, he had known it would not be an easy journey.
But now, standing on the precipice of his choices, he felt the weight of that decision pulling at him in ways he could not yet understand.
The air felt denser, heavier—like a storm that was about to break. Kaito stood alone at the edge of a massive cliff, staring out into the swirling chaos of the void below.
There were no stars in the sky, no moon, just an endless sea of darkness.
It was as though reality itself was beginning to fracture, the boundaries of the world stretching and warping before his eyes. He could feel the Abyss inside him, a constant, gnawing presence, ever-present, like a shadow following his every step.
He clenched his fists, summoning the golden light within him. It flared briefly, pushing back against the darkness, but the light did not shine as brightly as before.
It flickered like a dying ember, struggling to remain steady in the overwhelming tide of shadow that threatened to overtake it.
He had come far, too far to let this power consume him. But the Abyss was not a simple entity. It was not something to be defeated by sheer willpower alone. It was a force of nature, ancient and unyielding, and Kaito could feel its insidious pull tightening with every breath he took.
"Is this what it feels like?" Kaito whispered, his voice barely audible in the silence. "To be torn apart by your own choices?"
The wind howled around him, carrying with it an eerie, mournful wail that sent a chill through his body.
His heart thudded in his chest, and for a brief moment, the shadows seemed to dance at the corner of his vision. He was not alone. Something—or someone—was watching him.
And then, he heard it. The faintest of whispers, like a forgotten memory calling out to him from the depths of his mind.
"Kaito…"
The voice was familiar, but it wasn't the Abyss. This voice carried with it the weight of something long lost. It was a memory he could not place, a presence he could not identify.
"Kaito…"
He turned around, scanning the darkness behind him, but saw nothing. No figure, no shape, just the endless void stretching out before him. But the voice… it came again, this time clearer, more insistent.
"Kaito, you've forgotten me."
The words struck him like a bolt of lightning. Forgotten? How could he forget?
He had spent so much time consumed by the Abyss, fighting, struggling, and yet he couldn't recall a single moment that had led to this—this dark, fractured reality he now found himself in.
"No…" Kaito breathed, a chill creeping down his spine. "Who… Who are you?"
The voice laughed—softly, almost melancholic. "You know who I am, Kaito. You've always known. You've just been too afraid to remember."
Kaito's chest tightened, his pulse quickening. A surge of energy shot through him, a primal instinct to confront whatever it was that haunted him. He stepped forward, his eyes narrowing, focusing on the void ahead.
He could feel it now—the presence in the shadows. It wasn't a thing of darkness, as he had expected, but something familiar. His heart raced as fragments of his past began to resurface, memories that he had long since buried deep within him.
"Show yourself," he demanded, his voice steady, despite the rising panic clawing at his chest. "Who are you?"
There was a brief silence, a lull in the air. And then, from the depths of the shadows, a figure emerged.
It was a woman—tall, ethereal, her form illuminated by a faint, ghostly light.
Her features were sharp, but her face was obscured by a veil of shimmering silver threads. Her eyes, however, shone with an intensity that could only be described as familiar. They were the eyes of someone he had once known. Someone he had lost.
"Kaito…" she whispered, her voice soft and haunting. "You've forgotten me, haven't you?"
"No…" Kaito whispered, his throat tightening. "You… You were my sister."
The words came out in a rush, unbidden but true. It was as though the moment he spoke them, the fog of confusion in his mind lifted, and memories flooded back with a vengeance. His sister—the one who had been lost to the Abyss long ago. She had disappeared, swallowed by the same darkness that Kaito had now embraced.
But how was it possible? Wasn't she gone? Hadn't he watched her fade into the shadows, never to return?
The woman's lips curled into a sad smile. "You were too young to understand, Kaito. I was never meant to be saved. My fate was tied to the Abyss long before you ever knew it existed."
Kaito's heart pounded in his chest as he struggled to make sense of the words. "But… But you were my sister. We were supposed to be together. I couldn't save you."
The woman shook her head slowly.
"It wasn't your fault, Kaito. I chose this path long before you ever did. You never had a chance to stop me. The Abyss claimed me long ago. But you…" Her gaze softened. "You've always been my hope. My reason for everything. You've always been the light that I could never reach."
The weight of her words hit Kaito like a tidal wave. He wanted to reach out, to take her hand, to ask her how she could be standing here, speaking to him when he had thought her lost forever.
But every part of him screamed that this wasn't real. That this was a memory—or worse, an illusion of the Abyss.
"No…" Kaito muttered. "You're not real. This is just the Abyss trying to play with me, to break me."
But the woman's eyes remained steady, unwavering.
"Am I? Or are you finally facing what you've denied all this time? Your past, Kaito. Your choices. Your sacrifices. You've always run from the truth. You've always been afraid to face me."
A painful silence stretched between them, and Kaito's thoughts began to spiral. His memories, the moments he had buried deep inside him, began to resurface—pieces of his sister, moments of her laughter, her love, and her tragic fall into the Abyss.
How had he not remembered her sooner? How had he allowed himself to become so consumed by the darkness that he had forgotten the one person who had mattered most to him?
"You were always the one who protected me," she continued softly. "But now, Kaito, you must face the truth. The Abyss is not something to be defeated. It is a part of you. And I—" She took a step closer, her form flickering as though it were made of smoke. "I am part of you too."
Kaito staggered back, his mind reeling. "No… no, you're not. You're gone. You're—"
"I'm here," she interrupted, her voice firm. "I never left you. You've always carried me within you, Kaito. You just refused to see it. You wanted to forget. But the Abyss never lets us forget. It holds our memories, our regrets, and our desires. And you… You are the key."
The words hit Kaito with the force of a thousand storms. His head spun, the world around him beginning to blur.
The Abyss had always been his burden, his power to wield, but he had never truly understood the weight of it. His sister had known, had chosen it, but Kaito had denied its truth. He had never accepted the darkness that had claimed her, that had claimed both of them.
"I've always been here, Kaito," she whispered, fading back into the shadows. "Waiting for you."
The darkness grew heavier, pressing against him, suffocating him. Kaito's breath came in ragged gasps as he sank to his knees, the weight of the truth crushing him from all sides.
The Abyss was not just a force he had to fight. It was his past. His pain. His loss.
He was not alone. The Abyss had always been with him. And now, it was time to face it.