Abyssal Awakening

Waking up in the morning, Alice found herself hanging off the bed with her legs up and a headache hitting harder than an Abyss Lord.

"Urg…" Groaning in pain, Alice tried to push herself up but her hand grabbed a bottle, causing her to stumble.

Letting out a sigh, she looked around for Ria and Luke.

Ria was passed out by the table and Luke was snoring above her wardrobe.

Seeing all of this, Alice let out a chuckle as she yawned before standing up.

'Thought you were going to introduce me to them.' Alyss chuckled in her mind.

'Right~… Seems like I got a bit carried away while drinking.' Alice smiled awkwardly.

Last night, after buying the supplies they needed, they immediately started the party while Alice talked about her adventures in the Inverted World. How she got her current outfit, how Void Fang got upgraded and how she hunted her fourth Sigil.

Ria was surprised Alice caught up so fast, inspiring her to master her own Sigils quickly so that she could aim to get the fifth one.

But before she could introduce Alyss to them, they began to fight and see who could get the other drunk faster.

Recalling the night, Alice let out another laugh as she began to tidy up all of the empty bottles and snacks.

Going to the bathroom, she could see the changes in her appearance. First of all, her left eye had changed to a blood red with the icon of a flower. Second of all, the marking around her neck had disappeared!

Joy filled Alice's heart as she felt around her neck to make sure it had completely disappeared.

Wondering where her crown was stored now, she activated the Crown of the Abyss.

At that moment, the flower in her left eye shimmered with a bright red while the shards of obsidian manifested above her head.

Now that she was given a break to look at the new crown properly, she noticed that it was less of a crown and more of a halo containing obsidian swords taking the shape of a crown.

'So the crown is now stored in my left Eye? What would happen if I repair you Cayla?' Alice asked curiously.

[Repairing something signifies that it's something that can be repaired in the first place. Unfortunately o' master mine, the Eyes of the Abyss have forever been degraded to the Eye of the Abyss. I'm already here in my entirety. When Nyer betrayed Velouria in the real history, he took the other piece of me but I was able to allocate my entire soul to this Eye.

He merely has similar power but not my soul.] Cayla explained.

[And on the off chance that you do recover the other Eye from Nyer, I've long outgrown the need for the second Eye. Not to mention he would've modified the other Eye to some degree so synchronising it with me again would bring more harm than good. So I assure you that you do not need to worry about the other Eye.]

'I see… I thought that you would be more 'complete' if you had the other Eye but I guess I'm wrong then.' Alice nodded.

Considering the fact that Kaden and Cayla had been trying to find a host for centuries, it wasn't surprising that Cayla had developed herself to some extent and outgrown the need for the other Eye.

Going through her morning routine, Alice looked for some casual wear for today.

A large white turtle neck sweater with long sleeves and the bottom reaching her thighs. A pair of shorts, stockings and high boots.

Making a pose in front of the mirror, she smiled happily before freezing up like a deer in headlights.

Behind her, both Ria and Luke had woken up and witnessed Alice posing in front of the mirror while admiring her appearance.

Seeing the grin on their faces, Alice blushed out of embarrassment before slamming the door shut using blood threads.

###

After getting some breakfast, Alice sat them down in her room.

"So who's this person you wanted us to meet?" Ria asked curiously. Since they missed the opportunity yesterday, Alice probably wanted to make up for it today.

"Fufu~ It's exactly why I brought you here. I'd like you to meet the other me, aka twinnie, aka when I go batsh*t insane during a fight. She's called Alyss, same as me but spelt A l y s s." Alice introduced as she snapped her finger.

Blood surged around her, changing her outfit to the slightly revealing one that Alyss likes to wear while golden chains manifested around her.

Widening her eyes in shock, Alyss panicked as she didn't think Alice would just throw her into the midst of things like this without giving her a heads up.

As the blood faded away, Alyss appeared in front of both Luke and Ria in her attire standing awkwardly. The only thing that changed was the chains and the outfit.

"Erm… Hi?" Alyss forced a smile while Ria tilted her head and Luke was confused.

'Alice!!!!' Alyss shouted out in her mind while Alice ignored her.

[Are you sure this is okay?] Cayla raised an eyebrow upon seeing the three of them staring blankly at one another.

They have no connection to Alyss and thus this first meeting was rather abrupt.

'Ehhh it should be fine?' Alice shrugged.

Holding back her embarrassment, Alyss cleared her throat and decided to sit down for now.

An awkward silence was drawn out between the three of them as Alyss eventually caved in.

"Urg… I'm the one responsible for Alice's flames. And we're basically two souls that share the same body. We switch out here and there during the fights." Alyss opened her hand before manifesting a ball of violet flames.

Seeing that they were still silent, Alyss gritted her teeth.

'Alice! Switch with me again! I can't stand this awkwardness!' Alyss shouted out as she forcefully handed the control back to Alice.

Finding herself back in her body, Alice snapped her finger and changed back to her cosy attire.

"What's with the silence?" Alice asked curiously while Ria scratched her chin.

"I mean… Isn't she the reason why you couldn't control yourself? I thought she was… well pardon for my words but 'bad'?"

'Bad?! Who's bad?! You're bad!' Alyss cursed.

"Ahh that. It's a bit of a misunderstanding. She's bad with socialising and only really appears during fights. But that's a bit unfair for her so I wanted to introduce her to you guys." Alice nodded in understanding.

After all, it was understandable for Ria to be on guard against the manifestation of Alice's powers. The source of these strange flames and the problem that's plagued her for a long time.

"She's actually quite shy. She loves spicy skewers… And her taste in clothing is completely different to mine. You might see me switch with her a few times so just giving you a heads up." Alice chuckled.

"So… Does she hear and see what you see?" Luke asked curiously as Alice nodded her head.

"Yes, she sees what I see. Hears what I hear and we share a mental space together."

"Ah! Sorry for calling you bad then. I wasn't sure how to react to you." Ria apologised upon hearing this.

Meanwhile, Alyss crossed her arms, accepting the apology.

'Don't just accept it silently. You gotta say it to her.' Alice chuckled, forcefully putting Alyss in control as though they were playing a game of hot potato.

Seeing the chains manifest around her once more, they understood that Alyss took over.

"Urg… Well… I guess it's fine. I'll forgive you this time." Alyss replied awkwardly while looking to the side.

"Since you weren't here during the party, would you like to go shopping now? Alice mentioned you like Spicy Skewers right? I'm sure Luke knows a good place for that kind of thing." Ria asked, glancing up at Luke who nodded his head.

"There's a eastern barbeque place near the port. They're pretty famous for their spicy marinated meat so it'll be a good start." Luke explained as Alyss started to drool but quickly swallowed it so they didn't realise.

"I suppose I should go have a look at this place. I don't know if can match how spicy I want it to be though." She shrugged nonchalantly despite the clearly excited smile on her face.

Seeing this, Ria immediately understood what kind of person Alyss was and chuckled.

Just as they were about to leave for the barbeque place, they noticed a raven peaking at the window.

Raising her eyebrow, Alyss tried to shoo the bird away only for it to slap her hand with its wing.

"I believe I have given you plenty of time to rest now."

"What the f*ck???" Alyss shouted out in surprise, hearing Kaden's deep voice coming from the Raven.

Ignoring her reaction, the Raven hopped into the room.

"You have two choices. This is for both Alice and Ria since I don't know who you are kid. But if you're their friend then I can give you some pointers as well." Kaden spoke, turning to Luke who was rather shellshocked by the things that had happened in the span of 30 minutes or so.

First, Alice has a twin soul living in her and now there was a man's voice coming from a Raven.

"It'll be good for you, he's pretty damn strong and he's helped train me and Ria." Alice took over and smiled while Ria wondered why Alice didn't mention Kaden is an Abyss Lord.

However, seeing the sadistic light in her eyes, Ria understood the intent and nodded her head.

She too wanted to see Luke suffer under Kaden.

Feeling the 'expectant' gazes from Alice and Ria, Luke nodded his head.

"Yes please, I'll be in your care."

"Alright. The three of you stand around this Raven, I'll teleport you to me. You can go and eat after this if you can still move." Kaden narrowed his eyes as Luke felt a chill but it was too late for him to back out.

"Wait! What do you mean if I can still move?" He questioned but neither Alice nor Ria replied and simply closed their eyes while shadows burst out around them.

Before he could ask another question, the three of them was forcefully teleported away from Alice's room.