Eyes of Perception

Chapter 26

Ajax didn't waste any time, throwing on a jacket and stepping into a pair of boots before hurtling the door open. To his surprise, Zhongli was right behind him. Good. He might need the extra help, depending on what the situation was. He started sprinting in the direction of the forest, no hesitation in his movements. The whole time, Zhongli remained right on his heels, never letting himself fall behind. 

"Do you know where they could be?" Zhongli asked, his voice unnervingly even despite the fact that they were sprinting as fast as they could be. Stupid ex-archons and their inhuman stamina. 

"Yeah," Ajax replied, his own voice only slightly shaking from the effort. "Center of the forest."

Zhongli blinked at him in surprise. "How do you know? Some Snezhnayan tracking tactic of finding people who are lost?"

"Yep," Ajax replied, his tone solemn. "It's called 'looking at their footprints in the snow'."

"Oh."

Zhongli slowed down a little, looking at the snow ahead of them to realize that yes, there really were footprints in the snow. Two pairs, one a little smaller than the other, leading straight for the middle of the forest. Sometimes, Ajax forgot that Zhongli had probably never seen snow before and wasn't used to the idea that there could very much be footprints left behind in the snow, even if they were slightly swept over by the wind. Zhongli picked up his speed once more, catching up to Ajax in less than a second.

He felt himself tense up as soon as he entered the forest - memories of falling, of wolves and monsters rose up, threatening to drown his senses, but he tried to push them away. It's been long enough since he'd been here. He needed to get over it already. His sibling's safety was more important than past trauma.

Wait. This was the forest where he'd fallen into the Abyss. Tonia was smart - she'd lived near a forest for long enough to know how to scare off a wolf or a bear if need be. Whatever was the threat, it couldn't be an animal of any kind. So... So it had to be-

He abruptly changed directions, ignoring the footprints and sprinting past a giant pine tree that was far too familiar for his liking, scanning his surroundings to find the landmarks from before that would lead him to that cursed boulder with a crack down its middle. He didn't even need to look where he was running now - it was like his legs had a mind of their own, pulling him deeper and deeper into the woods on muscle memory alone. 

"Ajax? The tracks lead the other direction," Zhongli called out from behind him, but still dutifully ran by his side. 

"I know," Ajax huffed back, his eyes constantly searching for any signs of life. "Just- trust me on this one, okay?"

It was close now, he could feel it. Maybe one hundred meters until they got to that clearing, and then they'd see the crack that dragged him down to the Abyss, and he prayed to every god that would listen that his siblings wouldn't be there. One foot after the other, ducking away from the trees as their branches kept reaching for them as if they wanted to claw at his skin, and he could already smell the familiar stench of the Abyss, and now he was ten meters from the clearing and-

And there was the familiar hiss and splutter of the shadowy husk just ahead of them. It made his blood run cold, made him want to freeze in his tracks. So- so he'd been correct. The Abyss had opened again. It had decided it wasn't enough to take him - it had to take his siblings, too. It had to take everything that ever mattered to him.

He fought the urge to slap himself. Now wasn't the time to get emotional. He could cry all he wanted later, but it had been over a decade since he'd been trapped in there, and he wasn't going to let it stop him. Sure, he'd almost died in there a million times over, but so what? He'd almost died a million times here, too, but he wasn't letting that stop him, was he? Besides, he had been a child when he fell the first time. He had grown stronger since then. He wouldn't go down as easily this time.