Fresh, hot tears poured down his chubby cheeks as he took a small, terrified step forward, his fingers grabbing the empty air.
"I... I don't like this place... it is so c-cold... I want to go back to our room, Mommy... please..."
Down in the corner of the dark basement, Yuna was on her knees, her fingers digging desperately into her dress as she wept out loud. Her heart was completely snapping into pieces at the sight of her trembling son, but she couldn't move.
"Just... just wait for a little while, my baby..."
Yuna sobbed, her voice full of pure grief as she forced the words out of her throat. "Please, Kento... wait patiently for Mommy... just stay right there..."
Beside her, Ayato stood perfectly still, his large hands wrapping firmly around her trembling shoulders to keep her from crossing the line.
Ayato's expression was incredibly grave as he looked across the dark room at his child, his face pale under the golden lamplight. But when he opened his mouth, his voice dropped into a deeply soothing, calm, and casual tone—the familiar, gentle voice of a loving father trying desperately not to scare his little boy.
"Hey... look at me, Kento." Ayato murmured softly, forcing a light, reassuring warmth into his words as if everything was completely normal.
"Don't move out of the circle, okay? Remember what Dad told you? This is just a game. It's a special, big boy game."
Kento sniffled loudly, his chest heaving as he stared at his father through his watery vision. "A... a game...?"
"Yes, exactly," Ayato nodded gently, keeping his voice steady and light as he leaned forward.
"You are doing so well, Kento. If you stay perfectly still inside the circle and finish the Game, Dad promises to give you the biggest, Most Delicious Chocolate in the world tomorrow."
Kento sniffled loudly, his tiny chest heaving as he stared at his father through his watery vision. "Ch-Chocolate...?"
"The biggest one ever!" Ayato forced a bright, eager nod, though a sharp, painful tightness was gathering deep inside his throat.
"And... and we will go to the big amusement park too! We can invite Shido and Shiyi to come along with us, okay? All of you can ride the giant trains and play together all day long. Dad will buy toys for everyone!"
The small boy took a shaky breath, his soft fists clenching tight as he tried so hard to look brave for his father. "Shido and Shiyi too...?"
"Everyone is coming, I promise." Ayato whispered, his voice cracking slightly as he swallowed down the immense weight of the lie. "So just... just hang on for a little bit, my boy. Bear it for Dad..."
But before the last word could even fully leave his lips, his defenses completely shattered.
A large, heavy tear suddenly pooled in his eye and rolled straight down his pale cheek, spilling over and hitting the dust of the stone floor with a clear, wet Plop.
His broad shoulders violently shook, and a quiet, broken sob—a muffled, gasping "Ngh-h... Hic..."—escaped his trembling lips.
Yuna froze.
Hearing that sudden, pained sound, she snapped her head up through her tears, staring at her husband's face in absolute, raw disbelief.
Her green eyes widened in total shock, her breath catching inside her chest as she witnessed her ultimate shield—the man who always smirked and remained confident through every single storm—completely breaking down right beside her.
"A-Ayato...?" Yuna whispered in complete shock, her voice cracking as she called out his name.
The moment Ayato realized the tears were falling and that his wife had caught him crying, his jaw tightened in pure, desperate panic.
Completely unable to let his family see his weakness, he instantly turned his face away, burying his features in the dark shadows of the wall as his shoulders trembled violently.
He wiped his face with a furious, desperate haste, trying to swallow the lump in his throat before his son could notice.
But the damage was already done. Down in the center of the carved stone lines, little Kento's eyes grew wider, the dark basement suddenly feeling ten times more terrifying.
"D-Dad...?" Kento cried out, his voice cracking as fresh, terrified tears flooded his vision. "Mommy...? Is... is something bad gonna happen to me...? Why... why are you both crying...?"
Hearing that raw, innocent panic from their child, both parents completely broke. The strict rules of the ritual didn't matter anymore; their instincts as a mother and a father took over in a single millisecond.
They both rushed forward across the stone floor, stopping right at the edge of the carved lines. They stood strictly outside the circle, their hands hanging in the air, desperately wanting to reach in and grab him but completely unable to touch him.
"No! No, nothing is going to happen to you, my baby!" Yuna cried out frantically, leaning forward as far as she could without crossing the line.
She forced her shaking lips into a desperate, messy smile, her voice rising in a panicked hurry. "Look at Mommy, Kento! Everything is perfectly fine! I... I am only crying because... because Mommy suddenly got a terrible, awful pain in her stomach! Yes! That's all it is, sweetie!"
Ayato snapped his head back around, instantly catching onto his wife's desperate lie. He forced a big, bright, fake smile across his face, his eyes closed to hide the fresh tears as he nodded in total agreement.
"Yeah, my boy! See? Dad was just really, really worried about Mommy's stomach ache!" Ayato added, his tone carrying a forced, breathless cheerfulness as he tried to look completely casual.
"There is absolutely nothing else wrong, Kento. Dad just got scared because Mommy screamed a little bit. The game is still completely safe!"
But instead of calming down, little Kento only started to cry even harder, his tiny chest heaving as he looked back and forth between his pale parents.
"M-Mommy's hurt...?" Kento sobbed loudly, his small fists rubbing aggressively against his wet eyes.
He looked up at his father, his voice full of a child's desperate, protective worry. "Then... then why are we still here, Dad?! Take her to the hospital right now! Go call a doctor! Why... why are you two just standing over there...?! Come out of this dark room... please..."
"Step back into the dark, children of the Abyss[1]."
A cold, heavy voice drifted from the edge of the room, instantly cutting through the child's weeping like a blunt blade.
From the thickest shadows, the priest stepped into the dim glow of the oil lamps. His holy robes, woven from midnight and starlight, swept heavily against the dust of the stone floor.
He held the ancient book close to his chest, its old forest scent mixing with the stale air of the basement. His eyes were completely hollow, looking at the crying parents with a tragic, timeless pity.
"F-Father..." Yuna spoke through her heavy weeping, her hands trembling as she tried to
express her gratitude to the holy man. "Please, you have to—"
"Do not tether his soul to the shifting sands of mortal comfort,"[2]
The priest murmured, his voice sounding like a soft, mournful cello echoing through a crypt.
Yuna's forehead instantly turned into a deep frown. Even through her messy tears, a sudden wave of anger and pure confusion flashed across her face. 'What on earth is wrong with this creepy man?' she thought bitterly, her mind completely failing to understand his mysterious, cold attitude.
Behind her, Ayato's grip on her shoulders tightened. His heart was hammering in pain, but his mind was spinning in total disbelief as he stared at the holy robes. 'What is he even speaking about?' Ayato wondered hurriedly, the priest's poetic words sounding like absolute, terrifying madness in the quiet basement.
For though he was born beneath the skies of the Abyss, his soul does not belong to this world."[3]
Hearing those terrifying, heavy words, little Kento's face completely shattered. The complete mystery of the priest's voice sent a fresh wave of panic through his tiny chest, and he broke down, crying out loud as he reached his small hands toward his parents.
"M-Mommy... Dad..!" Kento sobbed, his voice shaking with pure terror as he looked back and forth between them. "What... what is he speaking about...? Who is he...? I am scared... Dad, take me out of here!"
"He is a child of the stars—" [4]
The priest loudly began to chant, his eyes closing as he tried to project his grand, holy voice across the basement.
"Don't listen to him, my baby!" Yuna instantly shouted over the holy man's words, completely ignoring his presence as she leaned forward desperately.
Her own voice was ruined by tears, the sentences not properly formed as she quickly waved her hand toward her son.
"Look at Mommy, Kento! Look at me... hic... don't look at him! Everything is perfectly fine, sweetie! Mommy is right here... just a little bit... just stay brave for Mommy..."
"—a distant heir..." [5]
The priest tried to continue, his voice stuttering as his smooth, poetic flow completely broke apart under Yuna's frantic shouting.
His brow twitched violently, his chest heaving with a deep, furious annoyance. He tightly closed his eyes, his face turning red with pure anger as he forced the words out through his teeth, trying desperately to concentrate. "...to the covenant of... of Aethelgard and..."
"Yuna." Ayato murmured in a panicked rush, instantly noticing the priest's face twisting in fury.
He quickly put a heavy hand on her trembling shoulder, his heart hammering against his ribs as he tried to pull her back just a little bit. "Yuna, wait... stop for a second..."
But Yuna wasn't listening to him at all. She completely ignored her husband's grip, her tear-stained face still pressed forward as she kept talking over the holy man. "Kento, my baby... look at Mommy's face... hic... don't be scared..."
"SILENCE!!!" the priest suddenly snapped, his grand voice completely breaking into a sharp, indignant shout. He flickered his eyes open, glaring at Yuna with a look of pure, angry disgust as he pointing a trembling finger at her.
"Shut your mouth, woman! Stop interrupting the sacred heavens!"
----
🌙 AUTHOR'S NOTE 🌙
Sometimes, courage is not found in warriors, kings, or heroes.
Sometimes, it is found in a mother who is terrified herself...
Yet still steps forward because her child is even more afraid.
When fear and love stand side by side, love does not always win because it is stronger.
Sometimes it wins simply because it refuses to move.
(╥﹏╥)
----
✦ 🔮 A GLIMPSE INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER 🔮 ✦
"What awaits beyond this page...?" 🌙
(灬･◡･灬)♡
"And should the day come when he must depart, grieve not as those who lose a son..."
"Mmmph! N-Ngh... Let go!"
----
❓ QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER ❓
What do you think is stronger:
A sacred ritual passed down for generations...
or a mother's desperate love for her child?
(｡ŏ﹏ŏ)
---
🎬 BEHIND THE SCENES! 🌸
The priest spent years preparing for this sacred moment.
Yuna spent exactly zero seconds preparing.
And somehow she still managed to completely derail his dramatic speech.
(•▽•;)
Honestly, I almost felt bad for him.
Almost.
😈🌙
Poor man was trying to deliver an ancient prophecy...
And got interrupted by an angry mother running on pure parental panic.
(≧▽≦)✨
----
🌙 The stars may fade, and memories may sleep...
But the Spiral continues to turn.
Until we meet again beneath the same forgotten sky.
༼⁰o⁰;༽
— SakuraShinomiya
[1] Don't worry, it doesn't mean a giant hole or anything scary. 😂In The Divine Whorl, Abyss is just the name used for the human world—Earth itself. So when someone says "Children of the Abyss," they're basically talking about ordinary humans.
[2] "Don't let ordinary human feelings and comforts hold him back." (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧
[3] (ﾉﾟ0ﾟ)ﾉ→ Even though Kento was born on Earth, the priest believes his true place and destiny lie elsewhere.
[4] Child of the Stars = Someone born with a special destiny connected to the heavens, not an ordinary person. 🌙✨
[5] Distant Heir = Someone who inherits the legacy of people who lived long ago. (-_-;(￣ヘ￣;)