The world shrouded in darkness; the sky surrounded by giant black clouds that released the devastating rain ringing and echoing in your ear. It was, in short hell on earth... or on sea to be exact.
Tides raged and danced in endless dark seas, hitting and slamming into the single boat that dared to navigate through this deadly sea.
On that very vessel there were the desperate cries of those whose lives were robbed from them, each desperate child chained down, cold, weak, hungry, but most of all in complete misery.
And among this group, there sat a painfully familiar soul...
Abel.
Everyone he knew were all killed and the village was burned to the ground.
And…
His mother was dead.
The woman risked her life and gave it... to save that of her own son. Even though he was taken in the end by the monsters who destroyed everything.
Because of what happened to him, what they did to him… Abel was filled with nothing but absolutely sorrow in his heart, but also unquenchable rage.
'I'll kill them... I'll KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE DAMN BASTARD'S he yelled in his heart.
But he wanted to scream it to the world so it would know he didn't give a fuck what would happened to him as long as the bastards who took everything from him all dropped dead, rather it was from his hands are not.
A little girl from the group couldn't help but stare at him, it was probably because she understood what Abel was going to throw.
***
While the endless sea continued to rage on and the thick atmosphere only grew more and more thick.
The children in chains all tried to warm themselves as best they could... even if it seemed futile.
Then with the clinking of the chains, Abel stood up on his feet, his head hanging low. The other chained children watched with troubled faces, wondering what he was about to do.
Abel turned his head toward the open entrance and took one-step then another, all toward the outside toward the place where the bastard would be cursing under his breath as he moved in small, deliberate steps.
The kids were starting to panic because they knew that wasn't a very good idea. But Abel was so blinded by his own rage he just did not care, "I'll kill them! All of them!" he muttered.
As he reached the edge, the chains snapped tight around his wrists and the pain stopped him instantly. He stared at them in pain and shot them with a grim expression.
"Shit! Damn these things," he muttered to himself, as he did, tears fell from his eyes. Dropping to his knees, he desperately asked himself… how?"
"How… how… how the hell did things end up like this!?" he yelled, the thunder above swallowing his voice and tears poured down his pale face.
…
Then a weak and strained voice called out to him.
"A-Abel…"
The pounding rain and roaring thunder, Abel couldn't hear the one calling his name.
The same voice tried calling him again, only a bit louder.
"ABEL FREI!"
Abel snapped his teary eyes open and the snot and tears from his face pushed himself back up on his feet and turned around, scanning the soaked faces of the other kids.
Then—
"Hey dumbass. I'm right over here."
Abel looked down, his eyes widened, because lying on the wet wooden board right beside him, bound by the same rusted chain that was holding him back was someone he almost didn't recognize at first.
Speechless he stared at him, the voice hadn't clicked right away… but after a good look at the one calling him, it finally did.
"N-no way… is that you?" he asked, completely in shock.
The kid that was calling out to him was actually the same kid Abel had given the black eye before, and even though Abel's vision was a bit blurry due to his poor eyesight he recognized this boy in an instant.
Although what he saw was horrifying… The kid lay sprawled on the floor, his whole body covered in cuts and bruises, his face swollen from what seemed to be from constant blows.
Worse, his body looked far too frail, far too broken for someone so young like him, even Abel with his poor eyesight could tell the boy wasn't going to last long in the state he was in.
His own voice was so weak it barely rose above a whisper, "Abel…"
In a panic Abel stumbled to his side, "I'm right here! What the hell did they do to you?!" He asked with a trembling voice.
The battered boy's eyes welled up with tears, "They… they killed my friends… my mother and father. All of them." He answered, his lips quivering as he spoke.
Abel's own eyes stung not out of pity, but because he knew exactly what that felt like. After all… he had lost his mother to the same bastards who had done this, those who had taken everything from all of them.
They were forced to live with the grief in their hearts and the unending hatred for the rest of their lives. Just the very idea made Abel grit his teeth in anger, "Every last one of those bastards is going to pay! You hear me! EVERY LAST ONE!" he shouted.
But the boy laughed weakly at Abel's words. "You… you're saying that… with a lame-ass crying look on your face, you damn crybaby. You've always been like that… cough! Cough!"
He started coughing violently.
He obviously wasn't doing well.
Why would he be doing well when all of them have been traveling by boat for what felt like years. And trapped in the winter cold storm, their wrists and feet rubbed raw from the chains and the food given to them tasted like absolute shit!
The bread was stale and covered in mold, with a sour stench and had such a revolting flavor that some of them had stopped eating altogether, starving themselves instead. So how could they not fall ill?
The way they were being treated was as if they were nothing but mere…
"We're nothing but a pack of animals to all of them!" He yelled, slamming his fist into the floor.
Soon the boy's breathing grew more uneven and blood trickled from his mouth.
Abel knew that was not a good sign.
"Hey! You're—" he started, but stopped himself because he already knew the answer to that.
'I know… I know he is sick and…'
The truth was, now that they were nothing more than cargo to them, their lives didn't matter. Even if one or two of the children died here, it didn't matter to their captors, if you got sick in this place, no one would treat you and without any treatment… and in time, you would die.
And when you did, they would simply dispose of you like trash.
"Hey Abel… I'm gonna die, aren't I?" he asked, already knowing these would be his last moments.
And Abel, being the blunt person he was, replied, "Yeah… you're gonna die. And honestly, it's too good of a release for you."
The boy wore a weak smile on his face. "Yeah maybe you're right but… at least I'll get to see Mama and maybe Papa again."
He turned his head to meet Abel's eyes. "But before I die… I'm sorry, Abel, for badmouthing your father."
Abel was completely stunned.
"I know he's an awesome guy. And one day… I just know you'll…"
…
…
…
Just like that, he went completely silent and his eyes were devoid of any life.
In short…
He was dead.
Abel was completely frozen.
He sat there and stared at the dead body and all he could think of at that moment was how his mother looked when she died..
The silence was absolute.
And in that silence something inside Abel snapped!
He was nothing more than a prisoner, chained to a dead corpse.
Utterly helpless.
And in that moment… he didn't just want to exact his revenge; he wanted the strength to achieve it.
[System Initializing…]
[Host detected: Abel Frei.]
[Status: Enslaved.]
[Welcome, USER.]