The Gifted Divide

"Vengeance ought to be spoken through gritted teeth, spittle flying, the cords of one's soul so entangled in it that you can't let it go, even if you try. If you feel it--if you really feel it--then you speak it like it's a still-beating heart clenched in your fist and there's blood running down your arm, dripping off your elbow, and you can't let go." - Laini Taylor (Strange the Dreamer)

* * * *

Whatever Aegis had imagined when Letha and Raul told them they were going to the Abyss, it wasn't this.

The descent alone had felt like slipping into another world, spiralling further and further from the fractured surface of Eldario into the bones of its forgotten past.

Stone corridors carved centuries ago by unknown hands gave way to cavernous tunnels reinforced with rusted metal beams and faded murals, remnants of an age when these emergency passages had served as lifelines for a crumbling kingdom. The air was dense with memory and moisture, tinged with oil and earth, and humming faintly with the life below.

And then, like a breathless unveiling, they stepped into it.

An underground city sprawled before them.

Not a ragtag outpost or a hidden camp, but a city: pulsing with movement, lit by dim overhead rigged lighting and flickering neon signs mounted on stone pillars; a tangle of footbridges, walkways, and cables draping across carved archways.

Market stalls lined the cracked, uneven walkways—some hawking weapons, others dealing in things less definable: medicines, tech mods, and unidentifiable glowing orbs sealed in crystal vials. Children played barefoot near iron-forged benches while their parents bartered beside makeshift homes stacked atop one another like lopsided bricks.

The Abyss, as Raul and Letha had said, was not just a stronghold. It was a living, breathing society. A sanctuary carved from the grave of history.

Lucie's voice broke the silence first, awestruck and nearly reverent. "So… This is the Abyss." She turned slowly, as if trying to memorise every crooked lantern and moss-covered pipe. Her fire-lit eyes shimmered with the reflections of underground life, wide with wonder. "I thought it'd be… I don't know. A couple vendors. Some hideouts. This is…"

"…A whole world," Neil finished beside her, his pale eyes sharp and scanning. His stance was alert, but even he looked momentarily disarmed by the scale of it.

Claudia gave a low whistle, her lips twitching. "Hell of a bunker."

"You'd be surprised what you can build when you've got nowhere else to go," Raul said, his voice low with something like pride, or perhaps memory.

Even Tatius, often unimpressed, stared with parted lips as a sand-slicked breeze wafted through a nearby tunnel mouth. The place felt haunted, not by spirits, but by survival. Everything down here had a reason to exist. Every bolt, every barricade, every shadowed alley had been earned.

Letha observed their reactions with a faint smile, though there was little humour behind it. "You'll have time to explore later," she said, gesturing toward a path that led deeper. "But for now, we keep moving. The duel's close, and it's not wise to dawdle too long in the open, especially near the weapons market."

Aegis moved on, the tension thickening the deeper they went. Even Lucie, the most inexperienced among them, could feel the weight of the place. The constant, humming awareness that watched them from every unseen corner.

The Abyss was more than just guarded. It was alert.

And now, with recent betrayals hanging in the air like smoke, the paranoia was palpable.

The gate they had entered through was already reinforced and heavily guarded, but the checkpoint itself had taken nearly an hour to clear. The guards, masked and stoic, had scrutinised them with military efficiency, checking IDs, cross-referencing data, and running each of them through a sleek scanning device that Raul had muttered was Enforcer-made—likely developed in the last couple of years to detect identity reconstruction surgeries. Not even facial alteration would fool the Abyss now.

"They're expecting something," Claudia had said quietly during the checks.

"No," Raul had replied. "They're expecting everything."

Tatius muttered something under his breath. "Wouldn't be surprised if Hayder puts the whole Abyss on lockdown once the duel's over. Clean house."

They were still processing that when a sharp voice interrupted from a nearby alleyway.

"Hmm?"

A young man rounded the corner with a confident, unhurried stride. Chestnut-brown eyes narrowed as they landed on the group. A petite woman flanked him, her hand already twitching toward the gun holstered at her hip. Both moved like people accustomed to danger, unshaken by the unfamiliar, but cautious all the same.

"I know you guys," The man said, his eyebrows lifting in recognition.

It took Neil a few seconds to place him, but then it clicked. This was the man that came to their boathouse before, and that Raul had mentioned—the one who used to run with Sera back in the Blade days.

"Leroy," Raul greeted neutrally, nodding.

The woman beside Leroy—Alisa—studied them with sharp, ocean-blue eyes. Her expression was unreadable, but her fingers remained close to her weapon. Her gaze flitted from face to face, lingering the longest on Neil and Claudia.

"Who are they?" she asked under her breath, her eyes narrowing.

"Sera's crew," Leroy replied quietly, only loud enough for them and Aegis to hear. "Aegis." His gaze flickered again, this time landing on Raul. "Recognised Raul from the last time I visited. Guess you added Letha now, too."

"Hello, Leroy. Alisa," Letha said softly, not quite warm, not quite cold. There was history there—something unspoken in her voice.

Raul nodded again. "Been a while."

Leroy's expression grew somber. "Might be late, but… You have my condolences. For Klein and Whirlwind."

Letha stilled. "Thanks," she said after a pause. Her voice was quiet, but her eyes didn't waver.

"I'm not sure if you've heard," Leroy continued, "but the Premier asked me to take charge of Zalfari."

That earned a few exchanged looks from Aegis. Letha merely nodded, subdued.

She had heard rumours that there was a new guardian in charge of Zalfari who had been fixing things up, but she didn't know that it was Leroy. Though come to think of it, there aren't many people whom the Premier could likely trust to put in charge of Zalfari.

"I heard rumours someone was cleaning up the place," Letha murmured. "Didn't know it was you."

"Not many left who could," Raul said, more to himself than anyone else.

There was a moment of stillness.

Not quite tension, but something adjacent to it—an awkwardness born not of hostility, but of unfamiliarity. Blade survivors were rare. And while Sera's name carried weight, those who had known her in her former life were fewer still.

"They're Blade?" Kailey asked softly, her pearl-white eyes flickering between Leroy and Alisa. Letha nodded once.

The O'Fearghail twins stiffened slightly. Even now, Blade's name held power. Infamy.

They didn't look like legends.

Leroy wore a dark red shirt under a brown jacket, boots dusty with old stone dust, a black choker glinting with a silver cross. Alisa was more nondescript—petite, in a plain white tee and blue jacket, but her dagger tattoo peeked out from beneath her sleeve, a quiet threat wrapped in ink.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

But Aegis knew better than most: power didn't need to look the part. Sera never had.

"You're here for Sera, right?" Alisa asked suddenly, cutting through the silence. Her voice was sharp and precise, used to command, not niceties. "Do you have time? We'd like a word."

Something passed between her and Leroy. A silent agreement.

Letha looked to Aegis. Raul's arms were already crossed. Claudia gave a subtle shrug. Even Lucie had straightened, sensing something had shifted.

"Yeah," Letha said finally. "We've got time."

* * * *

Leroy and Alisa led Aegis through a narrow back corridor into what appeared to be an old bar tucked deep in the Abyss.

The air inside was thick with dust and the lingering scent of smoke and iron—though there hadn't been a single soul in here for hours. It was still daylight outside, at least by the Abyss's muted standards, and this part of the catacombs rarely saw foot traffic during these hours.

Chairs scraped softly as the members of Aegis settled into mismatched seats scattered across the lounge. A few leaned against cracked leather couches, others hovered near the counter or kept to the darker corners, eyes darting warily around the dimly lit room.

No one spoke.

Leroy methodically turned the bolt on the front door, the metallic clack echoing in the silence, before flicking the light switches behind the bar. A soft hum filled the air as the lights buzzed to life—tired yellow bulbs casting long shadows over the dusty floor.

He slid behind the counter with a practiced familiarity and pulled a cold can from the half-rusted mini-fridge, tossing it wordlessly toward Alisa. She caught it without looking, cracked it open with a hiss, and took a slow sip.

"I always wanted to meet you guys. Did you know that?" Alisa finally broke the silence, her voice tinged with dry amusement as she leaned her elbows against the worn counter. "Me. Leroy. Even Zest. Especially after we heard you were Sera's new crew—Aegis. The group that's been royally screwing up the plans of both the hunters and the ESA for the last two years." Her lips curved into a small, amused smirk, though something cautious lingered in her eyes.

Across the room, Tatius exchanged a glance with Claudia before exhaling slowly. "Sera wasn't exactly…open about her past," he admitted, his voice low, and his shoulders tense. "But everyone in the underground, and even some topside folks, knew about Blade. It wasn't hard to put the pieces together. The underground talks. And when it talks about Blade, it does so like a ghost story."

There were solemn nods from the rest of Aegis.

Blade wasn't just a gang. Alongside Whirlwind and Dragonfly, they had formed one of the three pillars of the Abyss's entire underworld. But unlike the others, Blade had always carried an edge of myth, of something darker—something feared. The kind of name that made even seasoned smugglers and hardened mercs watch their steps.

And unlike most gangs, their fall didn't spark a turf war. Even now, nearly two years later, not a single group had dared to claim their territory in Elvryn.

Whatever Blade left behind, people wanted no part in it. Whether it is out of fear or respect, no one knows.

"The first time we met Sera," Kailey murmured, her voice soft but clear as she looked between Alisa and Leroy, "was not long after Blade was gone. She looked like cracked glass, barely holding herself together. Exhausted. Hollow. It felt like she didn't care whether she lived or died."

Raul nodded sombrely. "If Kailey and Neil hadn't been there, I don't think she would've made it," he said. His voice was hoarse, and his eyes shadowed with old pain. "I've run with street gangs all my life. I know how tight those bonds run. I thought my world ended when mine sold me to the hunters just to save themselves. I would've given up, too, if not for Sera. And Aegis."

Leroy's gaze moved slowly across the faces gathered before him, noting the heaviness in their expressions. "She's got that fire again, though," he said quietly. "I don't know when it returned, but it's there. That spark. That bite in her voice when she talks about fighting back. About winning."

"She saved our lives," Claudia said, almost to herself. Her eyes were fixed on her fingernails as though she might find answers there. "All of us, in one way or another. Whether you're Gifted, or just scraping by in the underworld, or even some Normal trying to survive… If you know the underground, then you know Blade. You know Sera Kroix." She looked up at Leroy and Alisa. "We've all heard the rumours. About what happened. How the survivors vanished. We don't need the details to know it was horrific."

"We might just be the replacements," Ness muttered suddenly, rising to his feet in a sudden, bristling movement. The chair behind him toppled loudly to the floor. "The ones who came after. The ones left behind. But it doesn't matter. We follow her because we believe in her. Whatever she's planning, whatever the hell she wants to do, we're with her. To the end."

Leroy shook his head slowly, almost mournfully.

That kind of loyalty—it was Blade all over again. And Blade had died for it.

"You don't know her as well as you think you do," Leroy said bluntly, cutting through the tension like a blade, "if you believe you're just replacements for us, you've missed the point. Sera didn't save you because she needed to replace anyone. She did it because it was the right thing to do. That's who she is."

Alisa nodded in quiet agreement. "It might sound cold," she said, "but she doesn't care if her actions are right or wrong in other people's eyes. She only cares if they're right to her. That's all that matters."

"Then why didn't she trust us?" Lucie asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Why did she hide all of this from us? The duel. The past. Everything. We would've helped. If she just asked."

A silence fell again. Weighty and thick, like the stillness before a storm.

Leroy and Alisa shared a wordless exchange. A tilt of the head. A flick of a brow. A twitch of the mouth. An entire conversation passed in silence between them.

For a fleeting moment, Aegis felt the pang of something like envy. Even Kailey and Neil, and Ness and Tatius, twin souls born from the same blood, didn't speak without words like that.

"It's not about trust," Leroy said at last. "It's just…" He hesitated, "complicated."

Laura let out a long, groaning sigh. "I'm starting to really hate that word."

"You should talk to her," Alisa said simply. "All of you. Tell her what you feel. Sera…" She hesitated, then continued. "Even back during Blade, she bottled everything up. Took on the world by herself. Zest was the only one she ever confided in. Still is. We don't know what happened before she came to Elvryn, but… Whatever it was, it messed her up bad."

Considering how young Sera had been when she arrived in the streets of Elvryn, the implications were chilling. Even in the underground, there were unspoken rules about what horrors should not touch a child.

"Zest probably knows the full story," Leroy muttered, his tone lined with old frustration. "Still don't get what makes him so special in her eyes. He'd die for her. Hell, he practically already did. But why him?"

"I heard of her before I met her," Laura added quietly. "The Death Reaper. That wasn't just some street name. She ruled the underground for a reason."

"Even Yusa respected her," Raul murmured, his voice laced with caution. "And that bastard doesn't respect anyone. Everyone heard the rumours when Blade got hit. More than one gang suspected that it were hunters behind it, and not the ESA, as was the story. But the truth?" He shook his head. "No one dared to ask. Sera always changed the subject before you could even try."

Alisa let out a slow, heavy sigh, cradling her head in her hands. "It's not our story to tell," she said finally. "If she hasn't told you, then that's her choice. You're her crew now. Not us. But if you think anyone could come out of what she's lived through and still be fine… You're lying to yourselves." She looked up, her blue eyes hardened. "She's fucked up in the head. All of us are."

A snort echoed from Tatius's direction, drawing every gaze. "We're all fucked up," he said wryly, shrugging as if that were the only universal truth in the Abyss. "That's just life down here."

Leroy and Alisa traded another look—one last flicker of silent understanding, before both stood in unison.

"The duel's not for another three hours," Leroy said, stretching his arms above his head. "We'll save you some seats in the stands." He smirked faintly. "In the meantime, maybe go find Sera. Let there be no more secrets between you."

* * * *

Sera's reflection stared back at her from the steel of her twin daggers—muted, warped, and ghostlike, as she polished the blades for what felt like the hundredth time.

It wasn't about sharpening anymore. The edges were already honed to perfection. This was about keeping her hands busy, keeping her mind from spiralling into the gravity of what awaited her.

In just over an hour, she would face Ebis Ivanor in the arena, and only one of them would emerge from it alive.

No more shadows. No more whispered sightings.

The rumours of her survival—circulated like myths over the past two years, would be confirmed the moment she stepped into the ring. After today, there would be no denying it.

Sera Kroix was alive. Blade's ghost had returned.

And with that revelation came a storm she could not hold back.

The Goddess only knew what kind of reaction the underground would have once they discovered the truth—that the downfall of Blade had not been by ESA hands, as the whispers claimed, but by the hunters. The ones who had quietly infiltrated the veins of the city, targeting the pillars of the underground network one by one.

If that truth took hold, if it spread the way Sera suspected it would, then Eldario would burn.

Blood would coat the alleys of the Abyss. Retaliation would rise in waves—furious, unrelenting, and inevitable.

Sera exhaled slowly, her gaze dropping to the blade again.

And then there was a knock at the door—soft, almost hesitant, and it pulled her violently back to the present. Sera looked up from the bench she was seated on, instinct tightening the lines of her shoulders.

"Enter."

The door creaked open with a breath of cool air, and then, one by one, the members of Aegis stepped inside. Sera's body didn't move, but something inside her stilled, bracing.

They knew. Or at least, enough of it to understand what was coming.

"You guys are here." Sera's voice was calm. Too calm. It wasn't a question. Just a quiet confirmation of what her instincts had already told her.

Tatius was the first to nod. "We're here," he echoed, his tone gentle but resolute.

Sera sheathed her daggers in one smooth motion, the sound of steel slipping into leather quiet but unmistakable in the silence. Her eyes flickered across their faces—familiar, determined, and concerned. "Then you know what's going to happen in another hour."

Letha stepped forward, her pale blue eyes darkened with quiet fury. "Alexis told us," she said after a beat. Her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose, a tell the group knew well—Letha's attempt to rein in emotions before they broke through the surface. "I didn't meet you until Whirlwind… But I've heard of you. From Klein, from the stories that trickled through the cracks of Eldario like smoke. I know enough. Enough to know that you are strong. But why—" Her voice cracked, then surged. "Why do you insist on doing everything by yourself?"

Her voice rose at the end, not with blame, but desperation.

"She's right," Neil murmured, stepping up beside Kailey. His pearl-white eyes were steady, but Sera could see the tightness around them. "You should've told us. You could have told us. We may not be Blade, but we're not helpless. Laura, Raul, Letha—we could have helped you. We wanted to."

Sera inhaled sharply, the words echoing ones she'd heard before—words that Leroy had spoken to her once, not long before Blade fell. Alisa had said something similar, too. Even Zest, in his own way.

"I just—"

"You saved us," Raul cut in, his voice harder than usual, though his golden eyes held something vulnerable beneath the surface. "You found us when we were scattered and lost. You helped us rebuild our lives—helped us find meaning again. But, dammit, Sera—" His fist slammed against the nearby wall, causing several of the others to flinch. "You don't get to carry everything alone! You don't have to. Not anymore."

His anger wasn't rage—it was grief, buried under years of survival and guilt.

Unlike the rest, Raul had known her before. He'd stood beside Blade when the world still made some kind of sense, when Yusa was alive and Dragonfly still ran its network in tandem with Blade's domain.

And he'd seen what the hunters had done. To Blade. To Sera.

Sera said nothing. Her eyes drifted to a crack in the wall across from her, as if it offered some escape. Her voice, when it came, was quiet. "Even if it's the hunters?" she asked, barely louder than a whisper. "Even if it means that getting involved might get you killed?"

The silence that followed was heavy. Not because they didn't have answers, but because they did. And they understood what Sera was really asking. She wasn't just talking about danger.

She was talking about loss. About sacrifice. About her.

The ones who knew her best—Tatius, Laura, Letha, and Raul, they recognised the look in her eyes. The wariness. The fear of letting anyone close, only to lose them.

"Even then." The voice that answered was soft, but unwavering.

Lucie.

She stood slightly behind Raul, her eyes wide with nervousness, but her spine was straight. She looked young—still new to the twisted rhythm of the underground, but her voice was clear.

"I know I'm the newest here," she said. "I know I don't have the history the others do. But I've seen enough. I've seen you, Sera. And I think I speak for all of us when I say that we don't want to be kept in the dark. We want to help. Not because we're expecting you to let down your guard completely. But because we care. Because we're your friends. Your family."

A sharp ache bloomed in Sera's chest. She didn't let it show.

No one had ever said that to her before.

Karl had tried. He'd trained her, and even taught her to survive. But even he had drifted away with time, his visits growing fewer and further between. By the end, once a year was generous. She wasn't even sure if Karl still believed she was alive.

Blade was the only time she'd ever felt wanted. Chosen. And then, Blade was taken from her.

"You won't regret it?" Sera asked, her voice quieter now. Fragile. "If you walk away now, I won't hold it against you. You still have that choice."

Tatius stepped forward, his jade eyes steady. "I told you when Aegis started," he said, thumping a fist gently against his chest. "Through hell and fire, we stand with you. Until the end."

Sera stared at them for a long moment—Raul's protective stance near Lucie, Letha's clenched jaw, Neil's quiet resolve, Kailey's worried frown, Laura's calm strength. Claudia with her poised silence, Ness with his arms crossed but eyes focused, and Tatius standing as solid as earth itself.

These weren't just allies. They weren't just survivors she had gathered under the Aegis name.

They were hers. And she was theirs.

Sera exhaled, long and slow. "Alright," she said finally, her voice edged with something softer, something almost vulnerable. "After this duel, after I face Ebis… I'll tell you everything. Elvryn. Blade. The hunters. No more secrets. No more walls."

Before anyone could answer, there was another knock.

"Sera, it's time," came a muffled voice from beyond the door. "We need you in the arena."

A hush fell over the room. Everyone turned to Sera.

She stood slowly, her daggers already resting against her hips, the scarf tied around her waist rustling softly as she moved. Her eyes flashed in the dim light.

Her friends didn't speak. They didn't have to.

They would be watching.

And no matter what happened in that arena, Sera would not walk alone again.