Note: The prologue has finally ended.
Chapter 14 - Growing up
Bondrewd was convinced that she needed some sort of combat training to defend herself and Tanya wholeheartedly agreed. She might be only six year old, but apparently not even Ido Front was safe anymore. The Starflare Amulet was powerful and could take care of most problems, but she wanted to avoid using it as long as possible. Her rational mindset told her that she could not avoid using forever, because at some point in time some threat would show up that was simply too much to handle for her. Especially as long as she had this weak child-body.
Three years passed and the incident with the lunatic did not repeat itself. To hire professional delvers for escort into the fifth layer was a costly affair that not many revenge-thirsty fools could afford. All those that tried to descend alone were quickly swallowed up by the ever hungry maw of the Abyss, never to be seen again.
Thanks to Nanachi´s "service" in his experiments Bondrewd had a revelation. The curse of the Abyss could only effectively transfer from one body to another if the unfortunate victim loved the person they were trying to safe. To take on the doubled burden of the curse one had to be absolutely willing to sacrifice themselves for the other. Quite tragic, but the netherworld worked in strange ways.
So, the Lord of Dawn was in urgent need of a loving subject for his own eventual ascend from the sixth layer. He would be lying if he said that he hadn't thought about preparing his Tanya for this role, but after much thought he rejected the idea. She was too precious to throw away as a one-time use. Her true potential would be outright wasted should she be turned into a Narehate. Even if he couldn't perceive emotions the same way humans did, he still felt saddened at the prospect of dulling the bright light of mind to a broken glimmer of its former glory.
Instead he required a new child. Somebody who he could wholeheartedly love as he did with Tanya and who would love him in return. To cultivate such a bond the subjected would need to be raised from an early age in order to facilitate sufficient feelings for the procedure to be effective. He would have ordered his Umbra Hands to acquire a small child with the next batch of children from the surface if not fortune had played in his favour.
It was like destiny when he first laid eyes on the little, bleeding lump of flesh that he would later come to call Prushka. Maybe it had been the will of the Abyss or just random chance, but from the first moment he had known that she was perfect. Her parents would have abandoned her and as a result gladly entrusted her to his care. A decision that may seem cruel to a surface dweller, but was quite rational for anyone who knew about the nature of the netherworld. The babe would not have survived the ascend and would have doomed her mother to slow death at her side as well if she stayed any longer in the lower levels of the Abyss.
Most medical professionals would have given up on little Prushka, but not Bondrewd. He worked day and night to stabilize her condition and managed the impossible. The sick, deformed suckling turned into a healthy toddler who became more adorable with each day in Bondrewd´s opinion. He loved watching her discover the world and play with her toys like a normal girl of her age should. His only regret was that it took away from his time with Tanya, even though his older daughter could perfectly take care of herself. It was rather peculiar how she almost always acted like a fully grown adult stuck in the body of a child. Her mind seemed to have outgrown her body a long time ago.
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Tanya felt mostly indifferent about the small Prushka. He was unsure what worth her surrogate father saw in the clearly defective child, but it was not her position to question his business investments. If anything it showed what a genuinely nice person he was. Though why did her chest hurt sometimes when she looked at both of them playing together while she watched from aside? Perhaps she should ask Bondrewd to check her heart for any malfunctions.
Nine years were apparently old enough for her father to consider her a delver, so in a heart-warming gesture he had actually prepared a special gift for her. At the day she had chosen as her birthday (because nobody in the orphanage had bothered to tell her the date) he handed her a big cardboard box. Her old boss had never remembered the birthday of his employees. Bondrewd was the best!
Inside were a small red whistle and a large metal object... A mask! He had made her an Umbra Hands mask of his own design to show the world that she was part of his team. Tanya considered this a promotion of sorts. No longer would she be a helpless child that dragged the workflow down, no! From this day onward she would be a valuable part of her father´s company and provide actual worth to his business. She would pull her own weight and work hard to contribute to the greater whole as any responsible human being should.
While she had made sure to spend her time as constructive as possible by constantly training her body and mind, it was a relief that she would no longer be a freeloader under his roof.
Bondrewd told her that the normal masks were extremely difficult to put on and remove so he modified this one heavily for her to comfortably use. It consisted of two separate parts: a face plate that would be secured to her head with leather bindings and a top half that connected in many intricate ports with the bottom half. The top piece was worn like cap and needed no fastenings. The whole thing was truly a work of art and she marvelled at how much care he had taken to craft his subordinate such a tool.
She promptly tested it and found that even though the thing lacked any visible mouth openings or eye lenses it did not impede her vision or breathing in the slightest. In fact it felt comfortable to wear and her senses appeared to have even been enhanced. The only exception was her sense of smell which appeared to be amiss entirely.
Not only was it a symbol, but it was practical too! If she regularly changed her filters then she would be protected against most toxic gases and airborne diseases. Only the darkest of hidden corners were protected from her improved eyesight that likely was brought about by the glowing, blue lens on the outside of the mask.
Tanya´s gratefulness was so enormous that she even pulled her father into a long hug after she had shaken his hand like the protocol demanded. Now her efforts were being rewarded and she could start her career in earnest. All just because of the help and guidance of this man. This moment served to increase her respect for her father exponentially. He really was the best!
Two month later and everything for her journey to the fourth layer was prepared. From her equipment to her weapons, everything was in pristine condition as she embarked on the mission her superior had given her to test her abilities. She would not let him down!
For the first time in three years she stepped foot outside of Ido Front again. What could go wrong?
