The Last Quirk User

Chapter 33

{3rd Person POV}

*Bdump*.... *Bdump*.... *Bdump*....

... The steady heartbeat of a living heart resounded throughout an empty void...

Within the void there was no light, nothing could be seen nor felt. The only thing that remained within the void was the chilling silence of an empty world...

.... *Bdump*.... *Bdump*.... *Bdump*....

.... In the maddening silence of this dark abyss... a sound was heard...

???: ''Agh!... *cough* Ha.... Ha....''

A voice.... A singular existence beyond the all-encompassing darkness of the void, yet... that existence felt very distant...

It appeared to belong to a young child, possibly no older than eleven.

The voice was wheezing and shaking, trying to gulp in as much air as it could.

Was it hurt perhaps? It certainly sounded hurt...

???: ''Come on young one... don't tell me that is all you have?''

A second voice.... One very different than the first...

It was raspy and old, not that much older than a man in his thirties. Yet... the sound the voice emitted felt odd almost unnatural, the sounds his vocal cords created sounded artificial... almost like they were not his own...

His words were muffled, blocked by possibly a face mask or a helmet. Yet despite that... his voice was perfectly clear, too clear...

???: ''Get up young one.... You know I am only doing this for your own good''

Each word the older voice spoke felt calm, but at the same time it also incited a chill, a deep cold that kept creeping up one's spine like the venom of a snake.

The quiet and well-mannered nature of the voice could not hide the deadly presence it emitted, nor could it hide the amusement and contempt it felt towards the younger voice....

???: ''I-I am sorry sensei....''

???: ''Don't be sorry young one, all the pain you feel now will teach you. All you have to do is learn from it...''

Calm and gentle.... A combination that did not feel like it belonged to this voice...

???: ''O-Okay...''

Despite its acceptance the younger voice was feeling unsure, it felt great hesitance and fear. Even though it tried to hide it's worries the older voice noticed...

???: ''...? What is troubling you young one?''

???: ''.... I.... I don't know.... Does it even matter if I try?...''

The voice of the child was shaky but not from exhaustion, instead the unbearable anxiousness finally seeped into the child's words.

???: ''Hmm... I can see your point young one. But is not a matter of 'can' or 'could'. No.... right now, you have a duty to fulfill, a duty that both me and 'that' man are trying to help you with''

???: ''B-But... what am I supposed to do? I... I don't have your power, how am I supposed to fulfill my 'duty' when I am so weak?....''

The younger voice became weaker as it spoke turning almost into a hush whisper, each word let out a little more of its willpower to vanish in the wind.

???: ''... It is true that you are weak. If we did not have to deal with the current circumstances, I would certainly not have chosen you''

Each word delivered by the older voice felt like a nail piercing the younger voice's confidence. It did so with surprising ease, an ease that could only be acquired from years of experience...