CHAPTER 505: THE OTHER SIDE

No matter how far Cedric strained his eyes he could not see a thing. Even his night vision was useless in this darkness

Tor

Tor

The soft sound of water dripping caught his ear. He moved his feet, landing on something swallow. Cedric lost his bearing and fell to her knees. His hand reached the floor before he fell face down.

Water, his brows furrowed, sensing the cold odourless liquid below him. He was confused. What was he meant to do here? What was he searching for?

The hair on his skin stood, Cedric was still unable to shake off the feeling that crawled on his skin. Danger was close.

The 8th prince stood up, and a tired breath escaped his lips. Left with no choice he started to wander. Moving in the water which slowly rose.

He didn’t know where he was going or how far he walked until the water got to his waist. Then he finally heard something which wasn’t water drops.

A hoarse voice, repeating a single word over and over again like a chant.

"Die,"

"Die,"

"Die," Cedric’s jaw clenched, he recognised that voice. It’s been ages since he heard it. He immediately knew, wherever the voice was, that’s where he should go.

His ears perked up to pick it more clearly. It was coming from the right of him.

He immediately dove into the water to move fast. His arm blades pushed away water and he swam faster. The water level kept on rising but the voice got closer and clearer.

"Die,"

"Die,"

A glint caught his eye. It was faint but he noticed it. I dove deeper chasing it.

The spark disappeared leaving him startled. The voice disappeared, the silence slivered around him..

Then it came back again. This time louder like a scream which almost blew his eardrums. "DIE!"

"DIE!"

Cedric blocked his ears. His eyes squinted, as the ringing ran through his head. The light appeared again from below. His gold eyes flickered with determination, and he dove deeper like a jet, propelling himself to the light.

He reached out for the faint glow; immediately, his hand touched it. Cedric found his head above the water. His eyes darted around, his lips slowly parted, recognising the familiar beach.

It looked like a beach close to the stellar palace he used to sneak off to when he was younger to get away from everything. Despite the eerie resemblance, he was certain this wasn’t Draconia.

Cedric swam towards the shore. There was a faint glow from the moon, which lit the beach. He emerged on the shore. His entire body was drenched in water dripping off his dark hair and clothes. The memories flooded his mind, and he felt his heart squeeze.

The crackling sounds of burning firewood, mixed with the scent of ash, drew his attention. Sitting close to a rock, he spots a figure, dressed in torn clothes. Large wounds with blood dripping off covered every inch of the figure’s back.

From behind, he could be easily mistaken for a girl. Cedric clenched his hand. He approached the figure curled up next to the fire muttering the same words he had been hearing.

"Die,"

"Die. "

He stood by the back for a while, complicated feelings he could not describe filled him. After a while, Cedric drew in a breath and then sat by the figure’s side

.

His gaze studied the person, noting the similarities. A past he tried to forget. The figure looked so similar to a girl, from the slender build to that flawless face which almost ruined his life. The same face that Astrid got obsessed with. The figure noticed him and only curled up tightly.

"Why can’t you just die and end it all? I’m tired." The soft undeveloped teenage voice asked him. A lump formed in Cedric’s throat. "Why do you want me to die?" He asked..

Then shook his head and asked instead. "Why do you want to die?"

His shoulders hunched under Cedric’s gaze. Then he turned towards Cedric. A pair of pitch black eyes and a face that looked like his past. There was a large wound across his left eye, which was still bleeding, and still his charms didn’t fade.

Cedric looked back at his rejected soul, which bears exact resemblance to his 13-year-old self. His developing teenage features made him look more androgynous

He remembered how many times he was mistaken for a girl. Cedric was lean; although he was a prince, he barely ate.

He didn’t have much to eat then when almost every food served to him was poisoned.

He survived on scraps of servants’ food Giselle was able to get for him, or whenever he had the chance, he went out hunting.

And his father never batted an eye at his condition. Maybe Kaiden secretly wished Eleanor had successfully killed him.

"Aren’t you tired of the endless blood?" Young Cedric asked him. "The wounds never healed, everyone still bleeds." He mentioned.

Cedric wondered if that was why he was covered in wounds. "Is there anything I can do to make it stop?" Cedric asked, and the fire continued to burn slowly in front of them.

A sinister smirk graced his younger self. The old Cedric, who died during his first war.

He wondered if the darkness took this form because this was the part of him he hated the most. The one who was still naive and thought maybe if he won that war, Kaiden would finally smile at him.

Thamiel said it was everything he hated about himself, including his abilities, which he used to shed blood continuously.

"So now you care if I bleed. Now you care if you bleed. We have always been the same but you never accepted it." The younger Cedric scoffed.

"All because you always wanted to be seen as what you are not. You wanted to be like Lucien but could never be him because of me _ because of who you truly are so you let yourself suffer_ you let me suffer."

Cedric smirked not denying the words

"You badly wanted to be the beloved prince that no one saw you as. You listened to the strange voice ignoring my warning. You almost killed Abrielle if I didn’t stop you just because you secretly didn’t want to accept the connection you feel for her the same way you didn’t want to accept you were different."

The teenager’s eyes were filled with hatred towards himself.

"You deserve to die. I’d rather die than let you kill her in the end. I can accept you rejecting yourself, rejecting me but you will never spill her blood." He burst out, his fingers turned into claws.

He thrust at Cedric’s heart.