Prince of The Abyss

"Who do you think it is??

"I thought that maybe you knew..."

The boy sighed, looking at his so-called twin.

It was scary knowing that if his twin died, then he, too, would meet the same fate. It made him shiver. And while it did help, since they technically had two votes. Was it really worth gambling your life?

The two of them have gone through the rounds by chasing the rounds, and not trying to stick out, because if one of them did, the other would suffer because of it.

They weren't important figures in the game, and they hadn't discovered anything special, well, only that the mother was the mayor, but everyone knew that. It had been a mistake on her part to vote outside the crowd and reveal herself.

Only she and the detective had voted, and yet there were three votes, and it couldn't be the detective since he had skipped the round where two were eliminated because of the mayor.

He couldn't even believe how she was alive, I mean, if he had been the Abyss, she would have long been dead.

So the Abyss was either extremely stupid and couldn't figure out the simplest of things, or a master at the game. He really hoped it was the former.

But speaking of the detective, he was one or not the most important people in this game. He wasn't scared to talk and throw accusations at others; it felt as if he was controlling the game.

He had somehow grown a massive following, out of the ten people alive... half followed him, and with himself, that was six votes each round. Needless to say, the teams at the start of the game had been annihilated because of him.

There were still some that remained, thinking he was the Abyss, but it was becoming strange how he hadn't died yet, having such a massive following.

But while there were the ones following him and those against him... There was a boy who stood outside both groups. Someone who had skipped every round until now. And yet, every time someone tried to accuse him, the detective took his side. Some had come to say they were both the Abyss, that's why the boy had taken his part, and why now he's doing the same.

But at the same time, those under him vow that he wasn't one of the Abyss...

So it was hard to say....

If he knew just how ge got everyone under him, maybe he could figure something... but he had no idea, sadly. And it was better that way.

...

He should just stay in his seat... that way he wouldn't get himself and his twin killed.

...

...

The detective smiled, looking at the angered faces of those who still remained true to their original group.

"You guys are insufferable... my team will skip, because we know that if one of us dies, the Abyss is one of you. And you should skip, too, I mean, if one of you dies, then I will voluntarily vote for myself.

And exactly that had happened, both parties had agreed to skip. With the night and verdict coming upon them. He was sure it was one of them, maybe two if both of the Abyss are still alive. He had looked at the cards of almost all of the people in his team.

So it was either the three from the other party or Aether.

But he was sure it wasn't him, after all, he had figured out that he was Praise very early on, and he could have killed him a long time ago, and he had not done so.

And it wasn't to say that he just wanted to kill him later, and just get far in the game without any work. At this point, there was no way of getting him down; no one could ever vote him out.

He owned the game.

...

The next round, he woke up with two of his people dead.

He was shocked, as everyone knew only one person could die a round... but he just figured that the two had the twin role. It was sad, in his opinion, the twin card was the worst out of all by far.

But their sacrifice was for something; at least now all of them knew who the Abyss was. And to be honest, he pitied him. After all, he really couldn't do anything, since if they didn't kill anyone, they couldn't win, and even more, if they killed one of them, then it was obvious, so he was put in a situation without anything to do.

"I think it's clear who it is..."

He smiled, knowing that the game would finally end soon, raising his arm and pointing to one of the three. All of his followers are doing the same. They had tried to save their friend, but they were not even sure that their friend was innocent.

There were eight people in the game, the three voted for him, and the rest voted for one of them. Of course, Aether had voted to skip. He didn't understand why he kept skipping, but from what he heard, he had a weak heart, and he couldn't just stand knowing that someone had died because of his vote...

But doesn't skipping also take a life? Doesn't voting take a life, no matter what happens in the voting round, at night someone would automatically die to the Abyss... but he was a kid, even if he had lived in this frozen world as much as they did... he was still a kid at heart.

It wasn't a big surprise that they had won the voting, and yet, nothing had happened; another night came.

'No matter, well just find the right one the next round.'

He could just use his power on one of them and find out which was, but he wanted to win like a detective, not like Praise... no, not really. It was just so he was sure, since if the Abyss killed the Mayor, and Aether, for whatever reason, voted for him, he was going to die.

It was a low chance, yes, but he wanted to take it... he was going to check Aether's card.

...

...

"Aether, welcome, to my domain... first, I want to say that I don't doubt that you are innocent, I just want to prove to you, to that little part of you, that it's better to help us vote, instead of skipping."

He grabbed his card, showed it to the boy.

"Just like you said, I am Praise... I know you don't want to kill someone because of your weak heart. But I already know who the Abyss was... so if you don't vote with us, and he isn't voted out, someone will die either way, with the Abyss following. So that's two people dead because of your skip? You wouldn't want that... right?"

Aether looked troubled, as if he didn't know what to choose. He was sorry to the boy, even more now that he had lied to his face... he couldn't even look at himself, but it had to be done.

If he had to say, the Abyss had already chosen one of his followers to kill, and if it was the mother, then two of his votes were gone; he needed to fill that gap with another vote, so that he had no chance of being voted out.

It was better to be safe than sorry, he knew that best from his work.

...

"Fine, I'll vote..."

His face lit up at Aether's words. He was happy, very happy. It was a relief that he was able to convince him to vote with him. If he found him anywhere in the real world, he was going to get him some food. Maybe even teach him something, who knows, maybe he wanted to become a detective like he was.

"You made the right choice, Aether."

Aether smiled, weakly nodding his head.

...

"So now... how do we get out of here?"

...

"Oh, simple, you just have to show me your card back. Like I said, I don't doubt that you're innocent, just how the game works. I'll end by closing my eyes, that way you see that I fully trust you."

He chuckled, knowing he was just a moment away from the end.

...

...

"Maybe you shouldn't..."

The detective opened his eyes, confused by what he meant.

But what he saw terrified him.

...

"What? But..."

The world started to crumble around them as they were being transported back into the real world. And yet he didn't even notice; his eyes were fixed on Aether's card. The king of spades, the Abyss.

...

It had been a big shock, yes, to see that the boy he thought was so innocent was a murderer all this time. He felt tricked.

...

"You played... a great game. I didn't expect this one bit, but... You should have known that this moment was going to come, I mean, after I voted out both the others, I would have automatically looked at your card, so in the end, it wouldn't have led to anything.

You've played well... I just played better. Now, all I have to do is wait for the voting round to start and vote you out."

...

The world had almost completely vanished, and yet, Aether smiled... and before the world could be destroyed, he said one last thing.

...

...

"The night is still young, I haven't had the chance to kill anyone yet..."