Friend Or Enemy?

When Quinn opened his eyes, he found himself submerged in an otherworldly realm, a place that felt both familiar and entirely alien. He stood alone in a vast expanse of shimmering, obsidian-black water; its surface rippling gently beneath his feet—it bore only an endless, oppressive void. The air was thick, not with oxygen, but with something intangible, something ancient and powerful; the atmosphere hummed with a faint, low vibration, almost like a pulse, resonating deep within him. The more he listened to it, the more it felt akin to a heartbeat, and yet, it felt fainter... until it was no more.

His body felt weightless as he glided through the depths of his abyss as a Shadow—just barely resembling his Human self. Quinn heard a beckoning; a whisper, calling for him, and along with it, giant ripples on the water. He knew that he had heard this voice before... and yet, his memories felt hazy.

Abruptly, a loud thumping reverberated, resembling a heartbeat, yet again; 'I know...' Quinn remembered, "Father."

As though his wish had been granted, space warped around him, and now, Quinn was somewhere else entirely—although, still in the midst of the black water. A heart was beating in front of him—giant, in comparision to his own body; suddenly, a figure materialized before him—a tall, dark silhouette with no discernible features, save for two eyes glowing like molten embers. Its form was shifting and fluid, constantly changing, until finally, it materialised as the one Quinn dearly recognised as his Father.

"There you are..." Quinn said softly, "It's nice to see you in person again. Although, it's not actually you... "

Once again, the figure shifted and morphed back into its dark silhouette and slowly melted away, blending in and becoming one with the black water. The heart in front of Quinn stuttered violently and finally—stopped. Quinn felt the deafening silence of his own heart coming to a halt, however, there was no panic; only a strange, unsettling calm as though time itself had frozen. As though it were a star with its core collapsing, the heart imploded, leaving only a microscopic mass of swirling shadows.

The mass of shadows, camouflaged with the backdrop of Quinn's abyss, was barely visible to him. All of a sudden, the black water under Quinn stirred uncontrollably; like a black hole, the shadows sucked in the black water—only, the water mysteriously materialised into more black mass that resembled Shadows; just... a lot more dark. 

At its core, it seemed to resemble a distorted, blackened heart-like structure—just that it was far from a human organ. Tendrils of living shadows writhed and twisted, eventually wrapping around the main body of the structure. Dark vapour or mist leaked from the tendrils and began swirling around the heart. Not long after, the silence gave out, and something else stirred: it was the sound of the newly established heart-like structure. 

It throbbed slowly, with a chilling and eerie rhythm; with each beat, a pulse of power disturbs the surrounding atmosphere, eventually dispelling the shadowy mist.

"Shadow Heart..."

[...]

———

It hadn't been even a minute after Void dragged Second to the Shadow Space with him and spoke Scion's name that Second already begun attacking him. 'A completely normal reaction considering that I brought him here against his will.'

Second ripped his academy apparel away, revealing a pristine set of silver coloured armour with blue accents; it looked to be near S-Rank. He got into his stance, as taught by his master, and evoked a hand-sign, manifesting Origin Energy; it appeared as a white flame which rapidly multiplied into a few hundred projectiles while Second used his Ability, [Blood Manipulation], to materialise a single-edged sword with barely any curve and enhance the same with Origin Energy, giving the deep crimson sword an ethereal glow.

'Mhm. It is either that this child really is connected to Scion and I shall not kill him, or... the complete opposite,' Void thought as his body's form changed at his will, 'It does not seem like he is willing to go down without a fight.'

Void dropped to all fours as his body exuded shadowy mist, his hands and feet transformed to giant claws. Second launched the myriad of white flaming projectiles towards Void and swung his sword with incredible speed to slice blades of Energy and Blood at him; Void, however, even with little to no experience with Quinn's body, masterfully dashed around to dodge the projectiles and used Demise Energy to block and counter some as he spun around and swung his limbs, extending the Energy to materialise as giant claws that moved across the space, dissipating the Origin Energy and Blood that it touches.

Before Void's feet could touch the ground below, Second appeared right behind him and used one of his Martial Arts, infusing it with everything that he could muster—Energy, Blood and Ki—and unleashed the [Three-Step Heaven-Defying Slash]. It was an attack that was nearly impossible to avoid when faced with it head-on, so Void had to defend—somehow. For but an instant, right as the attack was about to hit him, and right after, shadows flickered on Void as he equipped and unequipped the Divine-tier armour set just to block Second's attack. It was fast enough to confuse Second and make him question how his opponent just blocked one of his best attacks.

It was to be expected since Void instinctually felt that he ought to block the attack, but Second's Martial Arts were very strong; his [Three-Step Heaven-Defying Slash] was strong enough to make the [Celestial Green-Dragon's Scaled Torso] glow with a Green hue.

Void took the opportunity to attack Second and used Quinn's Authority over Darkness to create a large amount of fists in the atmosphere, right above him, and spun around to finally deliver a powerful kick to Second. However, as though blocked by an invisible force, the kick collided with a barrier in front of Second, sending ripples of a red hue across it.

In an attempt to blind his opponent, to get an opportunity to counter attack, Second used his Origin Energy in unison with his [Light] Ability to camouflage it such that Void does not notice that he has two Abilities, and released a burst of blinding light. 'This feeling... he possesses another Ability. So, he is the Vampire Ring Bearer. So, even if he is not related to Scion, if I kill him, Quinn should get quite a boost.'

Using Quinn's Job-Exclusive Skill, [Eclipsing Step], Void appeared behind Second, some distance away, leaving an identical decoy behind. Unable to halt the usage of the second part of his Skill that he used, a concentrated beam of power and shockwave was released as a counter by the Skill that established a barrier in front of him to absorb damage and return it to the target.

"Fuck-!" Second realised that it was a trap as his counter attack blasted a hole through the decoy and the latter exploded into black mist.

Clearing the mist, Void found Second tangled in black writhing appendages that anchored in the base of the Shadow Space. As a precautionary measure, Void materialised a Shadow feather and let it drop on Second.

"Scion, surely you understand what is going on. It is me, the last King: ---," Void revealed his name, but Second could not understand what he said and to him, it sounded like a distorted frequency of sound that hurt his head to listen to.

All of a sudden, a pool of blood formed underneath Second. "Huh?! W-wait, what're you doing!" Second exclaimed to no avail as Scion took her hitherto unbefitting guise as a silhouette of blood, reaching no higher than Second's chest, displaying feminine traits.

As though despite Second, both Scion and Void began conversing in some unknown language that could not be interpreted even by [Other-Worldly Language Comprehension].

After a short while in the Shadow Space was spent with the two of the ancient entities exchanging incomprehensible words, without any warning, Void expelled Second out of the Space as Scion's corporeal body dissolved into blood. 'Keep up your end of the deal, Scion.'

———

Second hurried out of the Royal academy and to his temporary residence, which was in the main castle of the Elmos Family, after being thrown out of the Shadow Space; he had tried to search for Void, but to no avail. 'What was that all about Scion? You didn't tell me that you knew that Human. No wait-! How could you even know a Human when you were sealed for so long?'

'What a foolish servant you are, brat,' Scion replied, in her usual tone—talking down to Second; 'Of course, I do not know any Human. That was not a Human to begin with; do you remember what I told you about the Shadows, the Primordial race opposing the Gods?'

'Shadows... they were supposed to be extinct,' Second thought, 'There's no way that guy was a Shadow, right?'

'That guy was the last King of the Shadows, child. I knew him from the era after the Third King gave up the crown—although, back then, he was way younger. The Last King was something like a grandson to the Third King... I questioned him once about why he kept the kid around, but he only answered in riddles; maybe he knew something like this would happen and that the Last King would survive,' Scion continued, 'The Last King merely communicated via a vessel. That body does not belong to the Last King... he too is now a Guardian Spirit; and the owner of that body is the last Shadow that exists in this era. And, that Shadow boy is also a Ring Bearer, like yourself.'

'No way. Shouldn't I have killed him then?' Second asked, 'Since you told me to stay clear of the Divine Candidates and kill them whenever I've the chance-'.

'Do not make me come out and beat you myself, you fool,' Scion shouted, 'Kill him? I would glady give up my titles if you could merely touch his body. Need I tell you again that Shadows are not normal beings? If it were a Werewolf, you would have a chance with the Skills that I taught you, but against a Shadow, you have no chance at winning; especially if it is a King—even though he possesses an unfamiliar body.

'Hmph! Keep walking. You may live out the rest of your days only training for now. I shall explain everything to you come time. Just know that something big is brewing... and, the owner of that body is in the middle of it all.'