It always seemed like stories began with a great journey of some kind. The heroes would embark on a trip across uncharted land or sea, eventually arriving at the place where their story would truly begin. I used to imagine taking a trip like that myself, battling the elements with only my raw skills and closest friends to aid me. I never thought I would get to experience that, and yet I did.

And it was a struggle to not absolutely despise it.

I kneeled, hunched over on the rocky shoreline, wincing at the sharp stones grinding into my skin. The tide ebbed just behind me, but I refused to look at it. A groan escaped me as I begged internally for the remnants of seasickness to leave me. My mother was crouched beside me, rubbing my back as my little sister watched from her spot atop my father's shoulders.

"It's okay, Len," my mother soothed. "It's over now, we're finally here."

I shook my head. "I-I thought you said it wasn't, though! There's no city, just cliffs."

"Yes, it is going to be a bit of a walk to get to the city. But don't worry, the boat's crew will be bringing our things, so we don't have to carry anything. The difficult part's over. After this, you can spend the rest of the day reading and relaxing." Her words made me suddenly aware of the other people around us, waiting for us to move, for me to move.

"O-okay, I'm sorry for making everyone wait." My face burned from embarrassment. I swallowed back my nausea and forced myself to my feet, readjusting my glasses as they'd slipped down my nose.

"There's no need for that," my father added. "Believe me, we're all exhausted from being at sea for so long. A good walk is what we all need, really."

I nodded weakly. This was why I hated the ocean. But Mother was right, at least our month-long trip was finally over. I hardly knew why we had decided to come all the way out here. All I'd learned from previous asking was that there was a city where my parents' medicinal skills could be put to work, and good work at that.

Looking up at the cliffs rising above us, they seemed like they almost scraped the clouds. They were one last trial to reach our destination. My legs trembled at the thought of having to climb those cliffs. Even a well-made path would be horribly steep.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" my mother asked.

"I-I'm fine," I said, dusting myself off. It wasn't like I was a little kid anymore. I was twelve, I could walk on my own. All I had to do was ignore the slopping of the ocean against the rocks behind me, and I'd be fine. I shuddered at my own description of that; "slopping" wasn't a good word. I shook it off and followed after my father and one of the boat's crew members. Hearing the happy cheers of my sister as my father purposefully jostled her made me feel a little better. I was glad she hadn't been affected by this.

We left the shoreline behind and began to scale the path leading up to the cliffs. To distract myself from the strain of the path, I let my mind wander to what kind of city awaited us ahead. Would it be quiet like our old home, with narrow streets and buildings that were more underground than above? Or would it have buildings that soared high, fitting of its place atop cliffs like these? It was impossible to tell from where I was now, and I let those thoughts carry me.

After a time, we made it to the top of the cliffs. A series of old windmills were situated around us, their blades slowly turning in the ocean wind as it gusted inland. I hoped that the scent of salt would go away soon, because it was doing nothing but making me nauseous all over again.

"I'm... sorry, b-but may we stop... for a moment?" my mother asked, breathing heavily as she held a hand to her chest.

Father's brow furrowed as he looked at her. "You could have asked us to stop earlier."

"Are you okay, Mom?" Aedia asked.

She nodded, still almost gasping. "Yes, I-I just need to rest for a moment." I frowned as I watched her try to regain her breath. I couldn't help but worry about her when she got like this, even when she said she was fine.

Ever since she was young, Mother could never do too much strenuous work at once. Apparently, there was something strange going on with her heart—ironic, considering she was a doctor. Because of that, Father insisted on doing everything that he could for her, even after she insisted that she was fine. I'd inherited a lot from her actually, including her pale skin, black hair, green eyes, and bad eyesight. She was glad that was the only health issue I'd gotten from her.

"Well, since we're waiting, you might as well take a look at the city. You can see it perfectly from here." The crew member who'd spoken glanced back at us before gesturing to what lay before us. "There it is, the city of Orth," he announced. My eyes widened at what I saw; it wasn't at all like what I was imagining.

Where we stood was more like a rim of land that sloped downwards. Trees clung to the cliffs, but they were quickly interrupted by buildings, literally hundreds. The farther inland they were, the more clustered they became. They were all packed so tightly I couldn't see any streets. But what stood out the most was what the city encircled.

At the very center of the island was a pit. No, it couldn't have been a pit, it was too massive to be called that. "Chasm" wasn't even an accurate description of it. It was so huge that clouds could be seen swirling not too far down from its edges, and I could see nothing but darkness past those clouds.

My mouth fell open as I stared at it in utter shock and awe. I'd never seen a pit that enormous, even compared to the mine entrances that were near my hometown. It was even bigger than the city that surrounded it! I would say it was like something from one of the books I'd read, but it was too fantastical for that.

"So, is that the Abyss?" my father asked. I managed to tear my eyes from the pit and looked at him. The Abyss? Was that what it was called? It was definitely a good name for it.

"What else could it be?" the crew member chuckled. "The last unexplored place in the world..."

My heart leapt in excitement. The last unexplored place? How? I turned back to face the city and the Abyss, my thoughts racing. I thought the world had already been explored through and through. But apparently we had missed this chasm, this Abyss. I couldn't stop staring at it. What was down there? Why hadn't it been explored? I felt a sudden, strong compulsion to descend the cliffs and move further inland. I needed to get closer to the Abyss.

I was snapped from my trance when my mother squeezed my shoulder. "Len, let's go," she urged me.

We descended the rim of the island and entered the outskirts of Orth. The buildings around us looked as if they were half-consumed by greenery, with plants and even shrubs growing on them. Just how old were they?

Already there were plenty of people about, and these were only the outer streets. Farmers by the look of them, those in simple clothes made for working outside all day. The amount of people only grew as we continued further into the city. Combined with the narrowing streets and clustered buildings, things were quickly growing claustrophobic. Nature had receded; the tan stone and sun-bleached wood of the buildings was exposed, weathered by time.

I didn't care about any of that, though. Our home city was nothing like this. The combination of mining and permanently chilly weather had always put people in a somber mood. But here, the sun shone down warmly, and the people bustled about with their heads raised. It was utterly fascinating.

Along with the numbers of people, the noise was growing louder too; I could hardly hear my parents over the crowds. All I could do was cling to my mother's hand as I was hopelessly enraptured by the glorious racket around us.

Eventually we reached the building that would be our new home. It was a decently worn two-story place situated in Orth's north district that would be perfect for our business. My parents could practice their medicine out of the first floor while we lived on the second, but I was more excited about living on the second story for another reason.

I wasted no time making my way to one of the two bedrooms facing the inner city on the second floor, flinging open the window and gazing out. We were closer to the Abyss than I thought, and it seemed as if it could swallow this city whole.

For a while I stood there, merely staring at the pit. How could something this fantastic exist and not be fully explored? The compulsion I'd felt atop the cliffs was stronger now. It was almost like a physical sensation that twinged whenever I wasn't looking at the Abyss.

"Len?" I turned to see that my sister had come to stand beside me. She looked up at me with wide green eyes that were practically identical to our mother's. "What're you looking at?" she asked curiously. Even though she was eight years old, she wasn't tall enough to look out the window herself. She'd always been small for her age, likely due to a sickliness even my parents couldn't treat. Wanting her to look with me, I used all my strength to boost her up.

I pointed out at the chasm, glancing down at my sister. "That's the Abyss, Addy. It's the last unexplored place in the world."

"Really?" Aedia's eyes widened. While the idea of exploring didn't interest her as much as it did me, she liked hearing me talk about it along with showing her my books. The pictures were her favorite parts of the books. When she looked at the Abyss, her intrigue waned a bit.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused.

She tried to push herself away from the windowsill, looking at me worriedly. "It looks kinda scary, like it could eat the city." She always was a bit timid, but I could sort of see where she was coming from with that. Really, that made the Abyss more fascinating to me.

"I'm sure where we came from looked scary to the people who first discovered it," I said. "You need to think about how they would've thought and felt."

Aedia pouted, frowning. "I don't get how you're not scared of things like that, not knowing about stuff. I like knowing."

"Because I think it's interesting, and it makes things more exciting," I said. "Because then it's not exploring, it's just going someplace you already know about."

Of course, Aedia didn't understand my logic. "You're never scared of anything..."

"That's not true," I said. "Fear comes with exploring new places, and other things too."

Aedia then smiled a little. "Yeah, you're right. You're scared of lots of things, like the ocean and heights." Her smile grew. "Oh, and spiders. You always make Dad get rid of them."

Now it was my turn to frown as I muttered, "No, Father's just better at reaching them. That's why I ask him to kill them."

"You can reach the ceiling while standing on a chair here, so that means you can get them now, right?" Aedia asked, looking pointedly at the ceiling. They were pretty low on the second floor, and the thought of spiders crawling across them made me shiver. I used to think spiders could spin webs in your lungs if you inhaled them. Even after I learned that couldn't happen, it still stuck in my mind. Medical miracles could happen, even if that was hardly a miracle.

"I-I guess, but I'm sure Father would still do it because he's done it for so long already." I shrugged while trying to ignore Aedia's giggling. At least, I hoped that he would keep doing it. I was sure he would.

"I'll go ask him then. I'm sure he doesn't wanna halfta kill any more." She wriggled out of my grasp and ran for the door, calling, "Dad! Len can kill the spiders now!"

Worry struck me as I raced after her, trying to rebuke what she was saying. "No, wait, she's just joking. D-don't listen to her, Father!"

—~*~—

We spent the next couple days moving things and settling in. I stayed around the house with Aedia and Father while Mother ran errands, making sure all of our supplies were coming in on time. She'd been in charge before, and she was intent on keeping it that way.

Something I quickly learned during these first days was that noise never ceased in Orth. Sure, while it faded to a murmur when night fell, it was still there. There was always a constant feeling of life and energy. I already loved this place more than our home city, and the rest of my family seemed to appreciate it too. Even Aedia liked it to some extent, though she wasn't the biggest fan of all the racket.

Whenever I wasn't helping, I was glued to the second-story window. I'd try to watch people going about, and I also attempted to get invested back in the books I'd brought with me. But inevitably, I'd find myself looking at the Abyss.

Along with the obvious questions that came to me as I stared at the pit, another soon surfaced. Why exactly did my parents want to come to Orth? I knew people explored the Abyss, I'd seen them in miner-type clothing when I went out with Mother. Were they the reason why we were here? Of course, I had to know the answer.

One afternoon, I found myself at home with just Aedia and Father. Mother was out at an appointment with some city officials while Father was home watching us. Since all we were doing was stocking the pharmacy section of the downstairs clinic, I decided that I might as well ask what I'd been wondering.

"Um, Father, why're we here anyways? You said this city was in need of a lot of doctors, and I don't really understand why," I asked. Aedia was sitting nearby on a blanket playing with a spare bandage, though she was intrigued by my question and looked at Father.

"Well, since we're here, I suppose I can tell you. There are people who go down into the Abyss to look for...what's essentially treasure," he said. "They're called Relics, I believe? Basically anything that is brought up from the Abyss and is considered valuable."

My mouth fell open at that. True, genuine explorers searching for valuable things? This was sounding better by the second. "Treasure? Like real treasure?"

Father nodded. "Yes! Not exactly like gold and jewels, but things like it, and they're sold for a pretty decent amount. That money helps the city keep going. What I wouldn't give to have a little extra money..." he said wistfully.

"You always want more money," Aedia said. I'd been told many times that Father had come from a poor family before he met Mother. That was why he had pursued medicine, so he could make a better life for himself.

"Well, money makes the world go around. We buy our medicine and sell it along with our services. We can't make money to help us live without spending some ourselves," Father said. "But as much as I'd like to see what those Relics could earn, we aren't here for that. Going down into an unknown place like the Abyss is bound to cause injury, and that's why we're here."

My curiosity wavered a little at that. Whenever I truly thought about what my parents did, I couldn't help but think of the thing that worried most people. "So do people... die, going down there?" I questioned.

Father smiled sadly, nodding again. "Yes, they unfortunately do, and quite often at that. Besides the sometimes unstable environments that the Abyss has, there are also plenty of dangerous creatures that live down there. Of course, that results in death."

"I-I don't like that," Aedia said, grasping her bandage tightly. "Do any of the animals come up here?"

Father thought for a moment before shrugging. "Not that I know of." He gave Aedia a comforting smile. "I'm sure they don't. After all, most wild animals merely want to defend themselves or their territory."

That didn't comfort Aedia very much. "But the people die, that's still scary."

"You both know death's another part of life," Father said plainly. "Still, that doesn't mean we won't do all we can to make sure people don't die. Every chance to save a life should be taken, no matter how slim."

"We know that," I commented. It was something both Father and Mother preached constantly.

"Because it's true," Father said.

At that, Aedia's face brightened. "I wanna help you and Mom one day."

"You will, Aedia," Father reassured. "You just need to get older first, then you can help. Both of you can." Disappointed, Aedia started playing with her bandage again, wrapping it around her ankle continuously. She'd make a better doctor than me.

It took a few more hours for Mother to finally come home. At that point, it was late enough in the day that Father had gone upstairs to begin preparing dinner, so Aedia and I were the first ones to greet our mother when she came in. She looked noticeably happy, which was strange since she always looked so serious.

Aedia was on her feet in moments and hugging Mother before I could hardly get a word out. "Hi there, Aedia. Did you miss me?" She ran a hand through Aedia's messy hair. "I think it's almost time for you to get a haircut."

"But I wanna have it be long like yours," Aedia said.

"You need to work on keeping your hair nice at the length it is right now, because long hair is a lot more difficult to brush out," Mother said. "Did you even brush yours today?"

"I saw her do it, but I swear it messes itself up," I said with a shrug. By then, Father had come downstairs and greeted Mother himself.

"So what's the verdict?" he asked. "Hopefully we didn't buy all of this for nothing."

Mother shot Father a quick disapproving look before happiness took over her again. "We've been approved," she stated proudly. "Starting tomorrow, we can open the clinic and pharmacy. The time for relaxing is over, it's time to get busy!"

"Good. Sitting around like this was beginning to drive me a little crazy," Father said with a chuckle. "Isn't this great?" he asked me and Aedia. We both nodded, though she was more enthusiastic than me. I already knew what this meant for me: manning the front counter of the pharmacy and helping my parents when they needed it, like I did at our previous clinic. None of the windows here faced the Abyss, so it was going to be just as boring. I hoped it wasn't.

That night as I laid in bed, what Father told me stuck in my mind. People often died in the Abyss. It wasn't because I was bothered by death. Yes, it was disconcerting, but never outright terrifying. When I was six, I saw a miner die on my parents' operating table from wounds he received in an explosion, and I'd seen and heard many more pass afterwards. Injury and demise were commonplace to me, and I rarely flinched at the scent of blood.

My parents made no effort to mitigate my exposure to these things. Like Father had said, death was merely a fact of life and came with the territory of practicing medicine. Aedia and I might as well know that things like this could happen rather than be ignorant and shocked when we eventually did see them.

Given that fact, knowing that people were dying in the Abyss didn't drive me away. No, it drew me in more. What could be down there that was so dangerous? It both made my heart race and put a nervous knot in my stomach. I wanted to know, and that night I swore to myself that I would find out what lay beneath those clouds.

——————————~*~——————————
Here's a drawing I did of Len and Aedia! I couldn't decide between putting this art or the Abyss in the chapter media, so I'll just do it this way.