Prologue

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The ones who ventured too deep. They were fools. They could die there, and not return home.

Connor Cyrus knew that well enough. He was a Venturer after all. He traveled to the pandemonium almost every day—He had to, as a Venturer; that was his job and responsibility.

It was, however, dangerous to venture into the Pandemonium without proper preparations and trusted comrades. Not only were the tall rock-ish structures—afloat without any foundation—sky piercing and scary, but they could also collapse at any moment.

Not only were there the dangers of being mushed beneath those structures, you never knew when the Edians would attack.

Even knowing all that, he'd venture; his wife had described him as foolish and irresponsible for leaving his family behind whenever he went into the Pandemonium, but he was sure that his only son thought of him as a brave hero, who could do anything.

Heh~ such childish thoughts they are.

He was, in the end, a mortal. He couldn't do that 'anything' his son so much believed he could.

He couldn't retort his wife's angry yells today, of course, how could he—he was going to be branded as a co-

"Dad!" He heard a voice and spun on his heel with enough force to turn around immediately . . . only to find his son, carrying a lantern to light the darkened stairs.

Connor's expression darkened.

"What are you doing here? Get home, Now!" He said, slight fear—an emotion he believed he'd long forgotten—laced in his voice. The Edians were coming, his son shouldn't be there, no, not at all.

Aidan, his son, stiffened and after a moment of pause, lowered his head slightly.

Connor sighed, "What are you doing here?"

" . . . I just wanted to see where you were going." Aidan whispered.

"You know it's dangerous here, right?"

"I'm sorry . . . "

"Haah," Connor sighed, what was he going to do with him?

"Come here."

Aidan fidgeted on his spot for a second then trotted near Connor before sitting down, gazing at the view in front. It was night and the red expanse before them was shimmering in the moonlight, sketching down the shadows as if a painting.

Aidan was lost in his thoughts, but the distant shadows of a herd of beasts seemed to bring him out of his reverie.

"Dad,"

"Hmm?"

"Why do we fight the Edians?" Aidan asked.

"Hmm . . . " His father hummed lightly before parting his lips.

"What do you think about that, huh?" He said, pointing at the distant sky.

Aidan peeked a glance—without knowing that his father hadn't answered—before he gasped . . . the sky was so, so beautiful.

The amethyst-blue sky stretched over as far as the eyes could see, but that wasn't what surprised him the most. It was the colorful lighting on the distant cotton-like clouds. It was a lot easier to see it from the Aegis—an enormous wall surrounding the whole of Helen—than through the depths behind they called home.

The wisps of otherworldly colors painted a mysterious, yet awe-aspiring painting. It was a multitude of colors mixed like ink dropped in water. In this case, the sky was the water, and the ink was the several colors shining on the horizon. The Sky sparkled and seemed so far away.

"The Edians live up there?" Aidan asked, pointing towards the colorful sky, before gazing at his father. "Beyond that?"

"Yes," Connor said. "They slide down to the chasms before entering the pandemonium—also known as the red desert—some even manage to cross it, in thoughts of attacking us." He smiled. "But we-"

"We are protected by Aegis, right?" Aidan completed it for his father.

"Hmm," Connor nodded slowly. They were protected by Aegis, this wall they were standing atop. It was huge, so huge you couldn't see the end of it if you were to stand on the ground. It had protected them for centuries now.

"But, how do they find the way here in the first place? Shouldn't it be impossible for them—knowing their greed, I don't think they can ignore the ruins, and the relics beneath." Aidan snorted in contempt.

Centuries ago, their people had ruled over the whole of Shun—this continent. But one day, the Edians arrived, claiming to have found their 'Eden'. They'd been chased by the Edians to the north, forced to split up between themselves to barely survive.

But then, when all hope seemed to have been lost, she came. Helen. A warrior of unfathomable strength. She united them and forced the Edians to the south.

That's how the continent, Shun, got split in two.

In the north, Helen―named after their hero. where they, the Helians, reside.

And in the south, Eden―where the despicable Edians reside.

Aidan's grandma had told him a lot of stories, and the one in which Helen drove the Edians to the south was his favorite.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He heard his father sigh.

"What?"

"The sky, I mean, you could sit here all night and simply look at it forever." He said.

Aidan agreed, "Hmm . . . What is that?" He asked, pointing at the moving wisps of color in the southern sky.

"I don't know." His father said, "but I want to know, someday."

Connor grinned, "I venture deep in the Pandemonium, try to get near the sky, to see what is beyond. But the chasms remain as mysterious in their way of misguiding, you'd never know where you end up. I wonder sometimes, how the Edians manage to travel in the chasms."

"Is that . . . Why you became a Venturer?" Aidan asked, "to see what is beyond the colorful sky?"

"God no," Connor laughed, "I became a Venturer to get your mother's hand in marriage-"

Connor's smile stiffened as he squinted his eyes. A dot of white light was afloat in the distance. Connor's eyes shook slightly before his hand reached for his Communicod―a piece of technology used for communication, available only to high-ranked individuals and Venturers. He frowned as he brought the circular device in front of him.

"Alaric," he said. "I'm on Aegis. I see it closing in on us."

"Hmm." A voice resounded before a blueish holographic figure blinked atop the Communicod.

"I see it," the figure, supposedly Alaric, said. "they are coming as expected; You have permission to engage, Connor. And be fast-"

His voice got cut off by a thundering explosion in the distance.

"Aidan's with me! I'm bringing him back before I go!" Connor shouted before the call got cut off.

"Let's go." He said to Aidan, before grabbing his wrist and booming down Aegis. slithering down the wall known as Aegis, They landed with a thump.

Just as they landed down, Aidan twisted his wrist—of course, Connor let go so that Aidan wouldn't get hurt—before running away.

"They need you! I can get home on my own." Aidan shouted, lurching away.

"F*ck!" Connor cursed and opened the Communicod.

"Connor," A new voice said. "Where are you? We need you ASAP!"

"I'm going up on Aegis." Connor said before he jumped, leaving a thundering explosion behind him as he flew at speeds impossible for mortals.

Aidan saw him leave before he huffed, running home with all he'd got. Though by the time he got home, things had gone to sh*t. His mother was crying, his sister was expressionless, his father was gone, and he had been deemed as the coward's son.

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