Prologue

WARNING!!! I will use profane language and I may say the n-word considering I'm black and my character is black from the hood. If this makes you uncomfortable to read I fully understand and I do not blame you for not reading. From now on the use of this word will be written out and not censored. Happy Reading!

_____________________________________________

(Darius POV)

"Aye, give me my book."

"Fuck you, bitch ass nigga!"

"Hey! Break it up, inmates!"

As I sat in my cage and stared at the familiar ceiling I couldn't help but become nauseous. Listening to a bunch of ignorance every day and petty bullshit gets old. So does sitting in these 4 walls. 

People have killed each other over a pack of noodles in here. So, listening to them get into a fight over a book made sense to me. It was all trite. Cliche. Overused. However, it's my reality. Same routine, same walls, same field, same food, same thing, every, single, day.

The sounds of ignorance in the next cage over finally died down so I decided to continue my activities from before. I picked up a book sitting next to me on my mat. Yes, mat. We don't get anything that should be classified as a bed in here. I also call it a cage because it doesn't deserve to be called anything else. We acted like animals in society, so they threw us in here like animals. 

As I flipped through the pages of Sun Tzu's 'Art of War', I made it to the page I left off. I had read this book many times before. It was kind of like the only thing that could distract me from my inner turmoil. I'm in here for a reason. That reason hunts me every day. I've had nightmares for the last...wait what was that?

*BOOM* 

"AHHH-"

All of a sudden all I could feel was pain and an intense sensation of being torn apart inside out. It also felt like I was being destroyed through another means. Something deeper. Like my soul was being eradicated. 

My first thought was to call for help and cling to my miserable insignificant life. However, I realized I couldn't speak. I couldn't feel. I couldn't hear. I couldn't smell. The only proof I was alive was the horrible pain that had long passed from simply my body and now was in the depths of my soul. I could feel the small ember of life in me was dying out. 

Maybe this is right. Maybe I've finally been properly punished for what I've done. Fine, fate. I accept your terms and conditions. 

Or at least I thought I did. Boy, how wrong was I.

*CRACK*

I had lost my sense of hearing but I somehow heard a crack. Then...nothing.

I could feel again but there was nothing to feel, nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to taste, and nothing to smell. My senses were lost in the infinite expanse of vanta black. I internally sighed in what I assumed to be my spiritual form and accepted my fate. Then, I drifted.

I don't know how long I drifted honestly. I just know I did. I drifted through the darkness, through madness, through sadness, through acceptance. Then I heard it. The voice that changed my life.

"What is it you want, walker of the abyss?" asked a booming voice laced with a mysterious abundant power.

I was first surprised by the existence of his voice, then the thunderous crack of it, then the substance of his question and the way he addressed me. Finally, I was also surprised by my answer.

"...Freedom."

This wasn't just about the abyss though. I wanted to be free in life too. I just never thought I'd be able to admit it out loud. Hmm, I guess introspection and therapy can work.

The enigmatic source of the voice I heard bored into me with its eyes. I couldn't see it doing it, but I could feel it for some reason. I heard a 'Hm' of approval before I felt a suction force.

"Very well. Raise your head, walker of the abyss. The Apostle of the Arcane does not accept fate."

Then came a horrible pain in the core of my soul. It only got worse and worse over time. Sooner or later my vituperations and screams could not be projected into the void any longer. My soul too weak to voice them. Then I felt a serene, warm, peaceful feeling engulf me. 

"This is the Arcane. Welcome, Apostle of the Arkana. You have much to learn."