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!"
An absolute, suffocating silence instantly crashed over the basement. Yuna choked on her next sob, her jaw dropping as she stared at the holy robes in utter shock.
The priest took a deep, jagged breath, smoothing down his midnight-starlight robes as he tried to regain his majestic, calm composure.
When the room was finally, completely quiet, he closed his eyes once more, delivering the rest of his grand line with a cold, tragic weight.
"He is a child of the stars—a distant heir to the covenant of Aethelgard and Elysia.
Yuna moved back slightly, her breath catching in her throat, but the pure anger bubbling inside her chest didn't dim for a second.
 the priest continued to chant, his majestic voice rising once more as he looked toward the ceiling, completely blind to the couple's shifting expressions, "But in the eternal realm of Aeterna."
Seeing his wife trembling with rage, Ayato sighed quietly and tried to gently place his palm back onto her shoulder. "Honey, please... just calm down for a sec—"
Before the sentence could even fully cross his lips, Yuna violently brushed his hand off her shoulder with a sharp, angry Slap. She snapped her head around, staring straight into his eyes with a look of pure, raw fury.
Ayato's brow twitched, a heavy wave of irritation instantly rising inside him as he glared back. "What on earth was I even supposed to do?" he whispered harshly under his breath.
His voice laced with absolute annoyance as he leaned in close to her ear. "I only tried to stop you so you wouldn't face the priest's wrath! He is completely mad, Yuna!"
But Yuna didn't care about his worldly logic at all. She glared at him through her wet eyes, her jaw tight as she delivered a sharp, furious whisper right back into his face.
"Don't talk to me..." she snapped angrily, completely cutting him off. "Just... don't even look at me right now."
Ayato let out a heavy, irritated sigh and moved away from her in complete annoyance. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, his eyes rolling toward the ceiling as he badmouthed the holy man in the privacy of his own mind.
'What on earth is this crazy old man even speaking about? Does he think he's in a Shakespeare play? Just get on with it already.'
The priest, completely unaware of the sudden internal war breaking out in the shadows, took a deep, dramatic breath and raised his hands once more.
"And should the day come when he must depart, grieve not as those who lose a son..."
Hearing those poetic words, Yuna's eyes instantly widened in complete shock. Her breath caught sharply in her throat, a wave of protective fury washing over her. "What the—"
Deep within the glowing circle, little Kento blinked rapidly, trying to clear the hot tears blurring his vision. He watched his mother's hands clench into tight, trembling fists, her jaw locking as a dangerous fire sparked in her eyes.
His tiny heart hammered wildly against his ribs, completely forgetting about the glowing lines beneath his feet. 'Please, mister priest... just run away fast.' Kento thought, his hands squeezing the hem of his shirt in pure terror as he stared at his mother's furious face. 'Mommy looks like she's gonna eat you alive...'
"...But rejoice, for the child you raise was never truly yours—"
"Excuse me, what did you just say?!" Yuna rudely interrupted, her voice cutting through the poetic atmosphere like a razor blade.
The priest froze mid-sentence, his face twitching violently. Without even opening his eyes, he blindly waved his hand back and forth in the air, gesturing for her to stop speaking so he could finish his grand moment.
But Yuna was a proud lawyer, and she was absolutely not going to be dismissed by a hand wave. She stepped forward angrily, her voice echoing through the damp basement. "What do you mean by those words?! Explain yourself!"
The priest stopped his chant completely and flickered his eyes open, his forehead twisting into a furious frown. Seeing the danger zone, Ayato quickly rushed back to his wife's side, grabbing her arm in a panic. "Yuna, stop! Calm down and control your anger for a second!" he whispered hurriedly.
"INSOLENCE!" the priest suddenly shouted, glaring at Ayato with absolute, indignant rage.
"Out of all the seven ancestral households I have visited during this sacred cycle, this particular household is by far the most disrespectful and impertinent! You have no respect for the heavens!"
Hearing that insult, Yuna completely snapped. "Why you—!"
Before she could launch herself at the holy robes, Ayato quicky wrapped a strong arm around her waist, catching her from behind and physically lifting her back to stop her from moving. He glared angrily at the priest, his own patience completely hitting zero as his protective instincts flared up.
"Please be easy on us!" Ayato shouted back, his voice dropping into a defensive tone. "Just because my Mother is no longer in this world to hold the tradition does not mean you can come into my house and speak so rudely and rashly to my family! Watch your mouth!"
"I am not being rude!" the priest defended himself indignantly, adjusting his midnight robes with a sharp huff. "It is simply that this family is entirely MADl! In all my years, I have never seen a child cry like this one!"
He pointed a shaking, accusing finger toward the center of the ring, where little Kento was still silently sniffing and wiping his wet eyes. "He is far too soft for a vessel of the light! And as for her—"
The priest sharply turned his finger, pointing it directly at Yuna's face. "I have never in my life encountered such a disrespectful, loud-mouthed woman! You talk far too rudely to a servant of the cosmos!"
"Oh, really?!" Yuna snapped right back, her face turning red with pure rage as she struggled violently against her husband's grip. "Let me remind you that you are just a general Priest hired for a ritual! You are not my Father-in-Law, so stop acting like you own this house!"
"Yuna, stop!" Ayato panicked, instantly putting his large hand over her mouth to cut off her dangerous words. "Just shut up for one second!" he whispered harshly against her ear.
Yuna grunted angrily, her green eyes flashing with fury as she tried to resist his grip. She twisted her head, biting at his palm and thrashing her arms to make him let go.
"Mmmph! N-Ngh... Let go!" she screamed through his fingers, her voice coming out completely muffled and frantic. "Mmmph... I won't let anything happen to my child! Let me go!"
The priest let out a long, dramatic sigh, rubbing his temples in utter exhaustion. "Her wild behavior is scaring the child far more than the ritual itself." he muttered dryly, looking over at little Kento, who was staring at his fighting parents in absolute, wide-eyed confusion.
The holy man then turned his hollow eyes back to Ayato, shaking his head with a look of tragic pity. "Your late Mother made a grave, terrible mistake by letting you marry this woman."
That was the absolute final statement. Ayato's brow twitched violently, a wave of pure irritation washing over him. He completely let go of Yuna, throwing his hands up in the air as he glared at the holy man.
"Alright, that's enough! Just do the main work! Stop talking and finish the ritual!"
"I am trying to!" the priest snapped back loudly, his face twisting in a frown. He shot one last dirty look at Yuna, gesturing toward her as he complained to Ayato. "Ask her why she cannot simply remain silent!"
Yuna let out a loud, annoyed "Hmph!" she sharply turned her face away, crossing her arms tightly over her chest and tapping her foot in pure defiance.
Seeing that they were finally, temporarily quiet, the priest took a deep, stabilizing breath to regain his majestic composure. He closed his eyes, cleared his throat, and forced his voice back into that deep, tragic tone to repeat his ruined lines.
"And should the day come when he must depart, grieve not as those who lose a son..." He paused, letting the heavy words echo off the stone walls before delivering the final punch.
"He belongs to the Light."
Standing in the shadows, Ayato watched the old man's dramatic performance with a completely blank expression.
A dry, ironic thought slowly drifted through his mind. 'I always used to think that English was the toughest, most complicated language in the entire world... but looking at this guy, I think I seriously need to change my opinion.'
"Step away, children of the Abyss." the priest commanded, his hollow eyes fixing on the parents as he raised the heavy, ancient book.
"The promised hour has come. Release your hold upon the vessel, for he belongs not to mortal comfort, but to the light that called him before birth.
"Let the Rite of the Veil begin."
----
✦ 🔮 A GLIMPSE INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER 🔮 ✦
"What awaits beyond this page...?" 🌙
(灬･◡･灬)♡
"I'm coming! I'll come out to you!"
"Spit upon my grave."
----
🌙 The stars may fade, and memories may sleep...
But the Spiral continues to turn.
Until we meet again beneath the same forgotten sky.
（.□°）
— 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￣;)