Read Daughter of Shadows :: The Abyss

“Abyss?” She echoed, unfamiliar with the phrase.

Carefully, Sua struggled to her feet. The days without food betrayed her, her legs buckling underneath her almost immediately. Sua’s surprised gasp was cut off abruptly when something soft caught her mid-fall.

<It is the world of us, of the shadows. We are far away from the suffering of the human realm.>

“A shadow world?” While it did not make much sense, Sua had a hard time mustering up much curiosity while she was in so much pain. “… is there food here?”

The amusement came back, although this time it circled around her rather than going through her. Darkness swirled down her arm, turning Sua’s palm over before crawling away to reveal a golden apple.

<This should suffice.>

“… you use weird words, Shadow-nim.” Sua mumbled, swallowing hard at the sight of an entire piece of fruit. Despite its unusual metallic shine, it looked perfectly edible, making her stomach grumble loudly, “I can have it all?”

<We do not eat. It is for you.>

“Thank you.”

Her first bite of the apple was heavenly, Sua’s eyes widening as the juices splattered across her tongue. It tasted better than anything she had ever had before, better than she had ever imagined food could taste.

By her third bite, her body stopped trembling, the weakness that had grown in her year living alone finally starting to abide. Sua felt like she could walk around the town for days without getting tired, that she could cross the highway all by herself.

Bite number seven was when she began to slow. Somehow, it felt like she was nearly full. Sua had never eaten until her stomach was full before.

Disappointed, she looked out into the Abyss, “I… don’t think I can finish it. Can I save it for later?”

<There are plenty more where it came from, child. We will pluck another when you need to eat again.> The shadows curled over her hand again, the apple vanishing entirely.

A small smile curled onto her face at the idea of having food whenever she was hungry. “Sua. My name is Park Sua. Thank you for helping me.”

<We have watched many of your kind through the eons, but names are usually of little interest to us. Yours will be remembered.>

“You can see people from here?”

<Yes.>

“Can you see my brother? Jae-sung?”

<We have seen him before, but now is not the time to discuss such matters.>

Frowning, Sua scrambled back to her feet, "But he's the only family I have. I need to know if he's okay!"

There was a long pause, the shadows stilling entirely around Sua for a several seconds. <You require rest before you will understand what needs to be discussed, but he is alive.>

The confirmation was both a relief and a punch in the gut. Sua hadn't allowed herself to dwell on the idea of her brother dying out there all alone, even though the fear had been deep-seated in the back of her mind.

But if he was alive...

Sua pinched her left arm, telling her brain to shut up. She didn't need to think about that right now, when she was finally warm and full and no longer sleeping on the hard ground.

“… alright." She'd waited over a year to hear from Jae-sung, a few more hours wouldn’t make a difference. Swallowing around a lump in her throat, she forced a small smile. "Is it okay if I take a nap now? Right here?”

<Do as you please. This will be a safe resting place for you until it is time for you to depart.>

The small frown that appeared at the refusal to speak about Jae-sung deepened, “I’ll have to leave?”

<You are sane now, but a human cannot stay here forever without going mad. Eventually, you must return to the human realm.>

“When?”

<If you train well, it could take more than ten human years before you must depart. It is nothing to worry about now.>

Ten years was a long time. It was longer than Sua had been alive. If that was the case, there really was no point in worrying about what will happen that far in the future.

Stifling a small yawn, she nodded her understanding before carefully sinking back into a seat and eventually lying down, “Goodnight, Shadow-nim.”

Warmth crawled up her legs, a slight bit of weight coming with it this time as it covered her from shoulders down, not unlike a blanket.

<Goodnight.>

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

When Sua woke up, she felt a thick grogginess she’d only experienced when she had slept for nearly twelve hours after catching a cold. It was the sort of deep sleep she hadn't been able to have in the discomfort of her shack in the slum.

Blinking her eyes open, she stared up at the black void that surrounded her, “…what time is it?”

<Time is not something to be kept track of here, child.>

“Sua.” She corrected absently, yawning slightly as she pushed herself up into a seat. “Don’t shadows move with the time?”

<With the position of the sun. Time is a construct of societies that we take no part in. There is no sun here, so there is no reason to move.>

Sua's brows furrowed as she recalled their conversation from prior to her nap, “You said it could take ten years before I need to leave. How could you tell that without time?"

<Humans change as they age. You will be the measurement.>

“… but you watch humans, right? You watched me. Can’t you guess how long I was asleep?”

Exasperation.

It was a sensation Sua didn’t know the word for, but she could feel it rustle all around her as the shadows remained quiet for a long moment.

Eventually, a response came. <Longer than we have seen you sleep before.>

“How long have you been watching me?”

<Since your first shadow. We see all who anchor us.>

Carefully, Sua got to her feet with a little stretch, wondering if it was normal for shadows to talk so funny. “That means you saw my mother? And my father?”

<We’ve seen many millions of humans, and millions more of other species.>

“So you can see Jae-sung right now? He’s really still alive?”

<He is still living, yes.> Sua opened her mouth to ask about him, but before she could get her words out, the shadow’s continued. <But you cannot spend too much energy thinking of him. This place is not meant for your kind, there are many things about it that could drive you mad if you do not assimilate.>

She frowned slightly. “Assim- what?”

<It means you must change your way of thinking to fit in with this new place. If you latch onto your humanity, you will have to leave much sooner than if you change to match the Abyss.>

Sua glanced around for a moment: there truly was nothing to see. In every direction she looked there was nothing but endless darkness.

Despite standing upright, Sua couldn’t see what she was standing on, if she was, in fact, standing on anything at all. She didn’t know if her next step would keep her upright or if she would simply drop into nothing.

While she had never once been afraid of the dark, the idea of staying here for a long time was suddenly much more daunting than it had been before her nap.

But all the same... "He's my brother. I can't just not think about him!"

There was another long pause. <Are you ready to die, child?>

Her mouth went dry, Sua swallowing around the sudden lump in her throat. "Are you going to kill me?"

<No, but if you continue clinging onto the world you came from, you will die a painful death, either here or back on the cold street we found you on.>

Sua really didn't want to die.

Beyond trying to stay safe to fulfill her promise to Jae-sung, she had realized over the past year that the idea of dying terrified her. Death was something she couldn't return from, a place that would keep her from her brother forever.

The shadows' rule seemed almost impossible to follow and yet… Sua didn't know what else to do. She had nowhere else to turn, no one else to ask for help.

At least in this place, it was warm, there weren’t any bugs trying to eat her alive, the food didn’t come out of a garbage can and it filled her to the brim. She could sleep without waking up in pain and didn’t have to worry about someone seeing her alone and trying to hurt her.

Perhaps, she could try her best. For now. At least, until she was big enough to look out for herself in the slum.

"… would you tell me if my brother went back to look for me?"

<If that is what you wish, we can watch him and inform you if he begins to search for you.>

Sua nodded, “I want that. Please. If you promise to tell me, I can try my best to fit in here... I don't break promises.”

<Very well. It is a promise, young Sua.> The shadows paused for a moment before asking, <Are you hungry?>

“A little bit.” In all honesty, Sua wasn't sure she'd be hungry anytime soon with how full she had been before sleeping.

All the same, when another golden apple appeared in front of her, seeming to float in the Abyss, Sua didn't hesitate to pick it up. She turned it over in her hands for a moment, "... what am I supposed to do so that I can stay here for ten years?"

<You must grow stronger.>

The shadows nudged at the apple and Sua took a bite obediently, smiling when it tasted just as delicious as the last one, "How do I do that?"

The resulting pause was heavier than the previous, something tickling in the back of Sua's head telling her that the shadows hadn't quite considered the question before.

Eventually, they rustled slightly. <Humans tell each other stories to pass the time. Would you like to hear one?>

She blinked at the change of subject but nodded all the same, “That sounds nice. What kind of story?”

<We have stories from countless worlds across the galaxies and beyond your universe. What story do you want to hear?>

“Ummm… something nice?”

<Very well. We will tell you the story of the Moon Maiden. She was close in age to you when she began her journey.>

The apple in Sua’s hand suddenly grew dimmer, replaced in her vision with a quiet lake nestled on the top of a silver mountain.

Around her, flowers grew over the darkness, sparkling hues of pink and purple rustling in a breeze that she could feel flicker past her despite her hair staying still. It was a starry night, no clouds in the sky and the moon seeming to flicker in and out of sight as if it was a light bulb near breaking.

“What’s going on?” The question came out as a whisper, Sua subconsciously afraid of disturbing the scene that was unfolding.

<Humans like stories with visuals, do they not? It is our memory reflected in your mind. The Moon Maiden is arriving, pay attention.>

As promised, the maiden looked like she could be Sua’s age: glowing silver hair so long it dragged against the ground as she walked, eyes completely white with a similar glow, and her skin speckled with spots of grey. The black dress she wore seemed too simple for her beauty, just brushing the tops of her bare feet.

Sua's brows drew down in concentration as she tried to keep up with the complicated words the shadows used. "...countenance?"

<Watch.>

The maiden took a seat in front of the lake, her legs crossing underneath her as her eyes slide shut. Her hands rested on the tops of her knees, palms facing up towards the moonlight.

And then... nothing happened.

Sua stared at the maiden's stillness before her gaze slid past her, wondering if the next part of the story would happen somewhere else. "She's just sitting there."

<She is meditating.>

"... I can't tell what she's doing to make it 'meditating.'" Sua mumbled, taking another bite of her apple.

<Watch the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathes. It stills thoughts, strengthens the mind, and provides control over emotion."

She swallowed a groan at the unhelpful response, “… she's just breathing, that doesn't make any sense."

<It is a technique used across realms and universes. Do you know more about training than the masters, child?>

Obviously, she didn’t. As much as she wanted to complain, Sua swallowed any of her grumbling as she took another bite of her apple, turning her focus back to the Moon Maiden, staring at the steady pace of her breathing.

She supposed, if she really tried hard enough, she could figure out how to do this boring breathing thing. It wasn't as if it could be any worse than surviving the winter alone.