Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 962: Hope And Survival

When I was a little girl, during the great famine, we found a single ray of hope. A single path to survival.

No matter what, Aldric stood at the front, shielding us from as much hardship as he could. When we lacked food, he would search further than anyone. When we lacked shelter, he would work harder than anyone, carving out a mountain if he had to.

He became a leader of those fleeing the famine.

But one day, I noticed a change. When people were celebrating, he excused himself. He was still smiling, distributing food as per usual. Making the routine checks where they were needed.

But beneath all of that, I noticed a slight crack.

A worry.

After following him all this time, after trying to learn from the man I saw as an ideal, I noticed his worries becoming worse. He spent his time looking out toward the horizon.

At the sky. The earth. The falling snow.

While everyone was celebrating, I walked over with two cups of warm milk, products of livestock we managed to keep thanks to Aldric’s efforts. Farming was... still difficult. But we could keep two animals around while finding food to keep the others happy.

"Thank you. Did I let my worries show?" Aldric accepted the cup with a helpless smile.

I nodded, saying nothing. I simply sat down next to him and shared his warmth.

Even now, I can still remember my mother, who used herself to keep me alive. The way she put up a strong front so I wouldn’t worry. I saw the same in Aldric.

I didn’t want him to go.

He let out a soft exhale and brushed my hair with his hands.

"You’re more perceptive than the others. As expected of the mini leader who carried everyone before I arrived."

"I wasn’t a good one..." I mumbled.

But that wasn’t the point. And he knew it too.

He didn’t drink the warm milk immediately. Instead, he stared into it.

Like he was searching for something far, far away.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

"Verona. Do you know why I plant my sword into the ground to pray?" he asked.

I never asked in the past because I didn’t believe in the gods. The sun that didn’t break through the snow.The moon that didn’t give them serenity.And the famine that belonged to the Eclipse.

None of the gods deserved my worship.

But even so, I didn’t want to deny Aldric what he believed in, so I never commented on it.

"I don’t do it for the gods. Believe me, they’re the last ones I want to rely on." Aldric let out a laugh.

I blinked in confusion.

"What do you pray to then?"

His gaze drifted past me, past the fire, past the tents. Past the people who were laughing and celebrating.

It settled on the sword buried in the snow several steps away from the celebration. Snow had already gathered on its guard.

"A promise," he smiled.

"That sword didn’t belong to me," he continued. "It was given to me by someone who sacrificed themselves for me. Someone who should be alive in my place."

I saw pain in his eyes and recalled our previous conversations.

"Before I met all of you, I was much, much weaker. More cowardly. Someone who should’ve died when this famine struck." Aldric scratched his cheek while I listened intently.

He was opening himself up to me. The only thing I could do in that moment was listen.

"But... I didn’t. I kept surviving." His eyes lowered.

"You’d think survival is the only thing that matters. I thought that was the case." He turned to me.

"But people cannot live on survival alone. They survive, yes. But they do not live. When they only rely on survival and nothing else, how is that any different from death?"

Aldric let out a deep, heavy sigh.

"To borrow my friend’s words... humans need more than just survival. They need hope. With hope, they can live."

He wrapped both hands around the cup, feeling the warmth but still didn’t drink.

"I survived... but I didn’t understand why I was surviving.

"For a long time, I thought survival itself was enough. That if I simply endured, I was ’living’." He shook his head.

"My friend taught me otherwise."

He took a sip of the milk.

Aldric didn’t need to say the rest of the story for me to understand what had happened. Since the start of this famine, death had always been my companion.

"So I pray before my friend’s sword. A promise to myself that I won’t just survive. I’ll find hope. I’ll give others hope. I’ll give them the will to stand on their own two feet and survive this harsh winter."

Aldric’s smile faded into something more serious. Something he wouldn’t usually show in front of me, or anyone else, for that matter.

"This famine isn’t natural," he said with certainty.

No doubt in his face.

My fingers tightened around my cup.

"This endless snow and storm. This cycle of life and death repeated under stress over and over again. Someone is manipulating this nation and its climate."

"Someone... is doing this?" I asked.

I was mature for my age — more mature than the others. But even so, it didn’t mean I was without emotion. Rage burned hot in my chest.

The realisation that all of this death, all these sacrifices, happened because of someone.

Aldric nodded slowly.

"Someone is reshaping the North. Not destroying it... They’re trying to cause something through this famine. To extinguish hope."

He finished his cup of milk.

"Whoever is doing this does not care about the deaths needed to make it happen. And I think they’re getting close to succeeding."

This was the source of his worry.

"If this famine were natural, we would simply need to endure — to keep the fire in our chests alight and look for a better tomorrow.

"But it’s artificial. There is no path out if they are allowed to do this without consequence."

It was at this point I realised what he wanted to do.

I glanced down at my knees. At the cup in my hand.

"What will you do?" I asked quietly.

Aldric didn’t answer right away.

An apologetic smile. A hand upon my head.

"Sor—"

"I’m not blaming you," I shook my head.

I knew what he wanted to do. What he must do.

"Are you taking anyone with you?" I asked.

If he had allies, this journey would be much safer for him.

"Depends. I can’t take all of the capable people with me. This place will crumble if I do. I’ll move across a few groups and see if there are fighters willing to embark on this quest with me."

I wanted to go as well. I wanted him to take me along.

But I knew he would never allow that.

So I put up a strong front. Just as he had done for me. For the people of this group.

"I’ll look after this place while you’re gone," I said, glancing up at him. "I’ll do it properly this time. Like you taught me."

He was surprised by my declaration before a grin appeared on his face.

"Alright then. I’ll be counting on you, okay? As long as you remember that people need hope as much as they do survival, I’m sure you’ll do just fine."

He ruffled my hair.

That was the last time I saw him.

That night, I cried my eyes out knowing he was leaving this place.

The morning came quietly.

No announcement.

No farewell.

No ceremony.

###

"It was hard for you, wasn’t it? To rally the people after he left."

Verona glanced at the snowfield before her.

At the crimson knight kneeling in the snow, waiting for the next battle.

Her chest tightened.

How long had it been since she last saw that silhouette?

Even now, even after all these years, she felt like a little kid next to him.

She wanted him to ruffle her hair again. To teach her the tricks to hunting.

To praise her for doing well.

Even though she knew it was impossible.

But within this nightmare, across this distance between them... she could just reach out and...

Verona clenched her jaw.

"The famine never ended, even after he left. It stuttered and stalled, giving you the moment of respite you needed. But it never stopped, did it?" Enris stood beside Verona.

"No, it didn’t. Aldric managed to gather a small group to fight the one causing all of this. But it wasn’t enough." Verona’s eyelashes trembled.

She closed her eyes.

Every day. Every night. Every week. Every month.

She prayed and prayed that she would wake to the crimson silhouette returning to camp.

Even when things felt tough, she held onto hope.

When the famine ended, she didn’t know it was only temporary. She thought he had done it.

That he had paved the way forward.

She did everything she could to stabilise the situation in the North.

So that he could come home and not have to do anything. That he had done enough.

Then the second famine struck.

That was when Verona knew Aldric had failed.

He had sacrificed his life to pave the path forward. To give them hope. But he wasn’t able to finish the job.

She remembered what the camp was like when people realised the second famine had arrived.

They didn’t panic. Not immediately.

Because all of them survived the first one.

And because Verona had taken over.

"You inherited his will, his hopes, and his desires. By ending the source of the famine, by carving your way through this disaster with your own hands, you became the Queen of the North and established this nation," Enris grinned.

"You built it from the ground up, just as he had wished. You gave the North hope so that they could live. And now..."

She trailed off.

"It crumbles away."

Verona tilted her head back and stared at the sky.

False divinity that ruined everything she worked for.

Verona collapsed to her knees.

Her breath trembled.

Her hands sank into the snow.

Cold bit into her skin, but she barely felt it.

All she could feel was the crushing weight inside her chest.

The North.

The people.

The kingdom she built.

Everything she tried to protect.

Everything she tried to become.

All of it...

*Crunch...

A footstep in the snow...

Verona slowly glanced back.

The crimson silhouette she had hoped to see, but never did, stood behind her.

Her lips trembled. She couldn’t even force a smile.

Not even in front of him.

"Aldric..."

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I failed..."