-Please give me something valuable, come on!-my frustrated voice was heard on the walls of the Abyss, a thousand two hundred meters and nothing, just junk of little use, that much work to become Blue Whistle and this is what I get...

Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself have I? My name is Yoru Monogata, I'm a fourteen year old teenager, yes that's the right age to be a teenager, okay? Cool. I live in the Western District of Orth, a few miles from the edge of Abyss and I am a Blue Whistle, in other words I can get to the Forest of Temptation and little else. My appearance is something, unusual compared to the rest of the inhabitants of Orth, well, I'm not originally from Orth anyway, my skin is dark, cinnamon color if you want precision, my hair is tied in long black dreadlocks that reach my knees, but I usually wrap them so that they do not interfere with my sight when I am digging, I am quite high for my age, I measure one meter sixty six, people often think that I have sixteen or more, and to add a little bit of charm to my already perfect being, I'm pretty chunky, not to the level of a bodybuilder but, for someone my age I'm pretty sturdy and strong, I'm able to bring several relics from Abyss at same time, of course that has brought several consequences on my back and I usually have sharp pains over there.

My family came to Orth two generations ago looking for money, so I come from a family of pure delvers and traders, so obviously I also became one, and being the son of a Black Whistle puts a lot of pressure on your shoulders , you know? My father, Aletos was at the time a great delver, he brought a lot of money to me and my family, when I was a little tiny dude, instead of bedtime stories or fairy tales, he used to tell me stories of his travels to the Fifth Layer and the mysterious and dangerous creatures that he saw... But it all has to come to an end, doesn't it?There can't be a story without an end. My father and his group were attacked by a Tamaugachi in one of their dives, he survived and was brought to the surface, because of his wounds he can no longer do dives, but the country gives us a salary for his services in the Abyss...My mother never liked the fact that my father went down to the depths of the Abyss, thinking that would he would never go back up again, I had no such worry, I was excited and that was what inspired me to be a Delver, which made my mother worried sick , I don't know if that's why she fell ill...My mother suffers from a strange illness, it's unknown and the cure is yet to be discovered, we only know that her bones are being shredded just by breathing and her kidneys are barely working, she is all day and all night in her bed, she may be like that forever... The money that the country gives us plus the few relics that I get near the second layer are not enough to maintain us, we're poor, there is no other way to say it.

Going back to current time, I looked up, the light of the force field seems to be dimmed, in other words, it's time to go up, and I got almost nothing... Damn it, I take my backpack along with my tools and I hear the whistle of my Moon Whistle, I turn to the sound, I slowly climb the slope with care not to receive the effects of the curse of the Abyss, but being careful is not enough and after two minutes I start to feel nauseous and light headed, in the end I cannot stand it and ended up throwing up my lunch all over the grass.

-F~Fuck...

I pull two pickaxes out of my backpack and nail one on the wall, and the other above it to start climbing. Fifteen minutes later I reached my group and jumped into the Great Gondola, many of my companions are older than I, in fact, they all are, I am the youngest Blue Whistle in history, the minimal age is usually fifteen years old, but being the son of a Black Whistle makes me a special case

-Hey, Yoru, found anything good?

I look at one of my partners and friends, Lule, but shake my head in denial

-Haha, bad luck eh? Me and Destas managed to find some Fourth Grade artifacts today- I just smile and gave them a thumbs up, they chuckle and pat my back

-And what'cha doing in break?

-Nothing different, just gonna buy some food, spending time with mum- Pretty much everyone knows about my mom and her condition, sometimes people help, others they just point and laugh, but I manage...

Destas and Lule looked at each other

-Hey, we've got some spare credits, maybe we could buy you something for you and your parents- Lule says, see? These are those people who help, my eyes lit up for a second and I gave them a weak smile

-Yeah, sure, thanks guys

-It's nothing mate, you've helped us quite a lot as well- They gave me a smile back and again they pat my back, as we reach the surface we set way towards the Belchero Orphanage to give our tools and equipment back, the Director greets us with her cold and blank stare and tells us to put our stuff in the large room they keep the said tools, we walk out after receiving our payment and head towards town. A group of Red Whistles were coming back as well and rushed over to say hi to us and make several questions about our inmersion, one of them is a rather weird girl, her name is Riko I think and she's rather hyperactive, she always begs us to take her down to the lower layers of Abyss, saying that she's ready and stuff like that.

-Oh come on you guys, I'm ready to reach six hundred meters!- She protests against our denials, puffing out her cheeks and putting her fists close to her chest

-Look, Riko, even if we wanted, which we don't, we wouldn't be able to take you down there without you being a Blue Whistle. You'll be there just give it time- Lule says and we walk past her

-You'll see! I will become the most legendary White Whistle Orth has ever seen!

-Like hell you'll be!- Destas says and we laugh, honestly, her? A white Whistle? What an utter joke

Anyways, we reached Orth in a rather short walk, from the edge that leads to Abyss to the more center part in the East District, walking through several houses towards a well known bakery that serves the best Mayo Buns in the whole country. To be honest, I should be grateful to my ancestors to have have came to Orth and that I was born here, it's the most beautiful city I have ever seen, well, the most beautiful city I have seen in real life, I have seen quite a few in books and some small descriptions my father gave to me about other cities and none of them close to Orth. The Sun slowly sets in the horizon behind the mills in the highest hills in Orth and it's almost night time as we enter the bakery, we ask for a few bags of Buns and we start to eat in the steps that lead towards the center of Orth

-Can't thank you guys enough- I say with my mouth full

-It's nothing man, what are friends for?- Lule says

-Ape shall not kill ape- Destas added and we laughed our asses off

* * *

An hour and a half later, I thanked Lule and Destas again and headed back towards my home, the walk was quite long since we were in the East district and I had to go towards the West District, but at last I reach home sweet home. It was an old house of concrete with a roof made of wood, long windows and a damaged door, rotten by the water that fell on it through the years and as well of the lack of varnishing. I open the door and instantly I am greeted by the smell of soup

-Pops, I'm back!- I say loudly so he can hear me, the heavy steps of my now old father can be hear knocking against the floor, people say I'm identical to him, same estures, same skin, same hair, even same the eyes, at one point... Perhaps the same enthusiasm. His hair is now slowly turning white, and those once bright eyes just lost their light as the years went by, but sometimes it comes back, when I come back from my dives, just like right now. He greets me with a smile

-Yoru, welcome back son, how was your day?

-Good, I guess... Things could be better- I put the few coins I got from the Relics I brought up upon the table, he looks at them with slight disappointment but he gets the smile back instantly

-Don't worry Yoru, I'm sure that soon enough you'll be able to bring us more money, it's just a matter of time

I shake my head and sigh

-Time isn't my concern... Moving on, my friends got us some Buns for us three

His face lit up a bit more

-How wonderful! Let's wake up your mother for dinner, did you already eat?

-Yeah, I did

He nods, as he gets everything ready I head towards my room... Which is actually a bathroom, i sleep in the tub as we couldn't afford a bed when we moved here, there's a smaller bathroom in the back of the house for us to go and bath and do our business. I put all the remaining stuff I carried in the sink and take off my clothes and put on something else, I don't want to make my uniform dirtier than it already is. I put on a grey shirt that is filled with black spots and grease and brown tattered pants.

-Dear, our son came back...- I hear whispers in the end of the hallway, where my mother sleeps. it was quiet and almost unhearable and shaky as the one who said it, my father, was at the verge of crying

I put on some socks and head towards said room, the largest in the house, I take a look inside... My mother, Teras,in her little white blouse decorated with flower embroidery is there, like always... Her skin is a majestic ebony color, brighter than mine or my father's, her hair is smooth and her eyes, are the most beautiful eyes you will ever see, a golden ambar, like the sweetest honey or the brightest piece of gold... It hurts me to see her, like this every single day of my life, it's devastating...

-Hey momma- I greet her with a fake smile, she looks at me and returned a real smile, a warm smile

-Hi there moon, how was your day at work?- She asked with a chuckle, she always says job instead of immersion

-Not so good- I say looking down sligtly

-Oh don't be so down darling, I~ She couldn't finish her sentence as she into a coughing fit, I got worried and saw droplets of blood in the palm of her hand, I rushed over to her as mi father desperately looked for her medicine

-Mom!

-Hey hey, it's fine you two- She says chuckling, I grit my teeth in anger, she always, always lies... My father looked at us with great sadness, but he quickly took out the Buns and looked at us

-Come on you two, let's eat up, our son brought Mayo Buns, you can take your medicine along with them

-Oh? I love Mayo Buns- She smiled and took one shakily, I watched as they both eat

... What did I do to deserve them?

***

It was midnight already, my father was asleep in the couch besides the kitchen and I sat in a chair besides my mom's bed, who was asleep as well. To keep myself entertained I read a book under the moonlight, it was written by one of the five White Whistles, Srajo the Mysterious, the book gave you precise information on some of the most valuable relics of the Abyss, detailed descriptions of the creatures and their behaviors as well images of parts of the Abyss such as the Fourth Cape... It's amazing that Abyss is something so astonishingly pretty and at the same time deadly, a lethal piece of art of a God, and me and other dare to go against this God...

-Yoru...?

My eyes focus on my mother, she looked at me with... I don't know, sadness, happiness, pride, melancholy, pain?

-Oh, hey mum, you feeling okay?- I say closing the book

-Again reading that book? I told your father it was a bad idea to give it to you, Lord Srajo knows how to lure people- She chuckled

-Sorry, I'll stop reading it

-Oh no no, it's fine baby, reading is good for kids your age, besides, your father must have worked so hard to give it to you- She smiled and look outside her window towards the moon and stars, the moon was on full bright tonight. She continued to stare at the firmament with a bright smile, I looked up as well, it felt like she was looking at something I couldn't see

-Did I tell you the story of why we called you Yoru?

That's one of the best stories I've heard, hands down...

-Yep, but I love to hear it anyways, you know that

-Want to her it once more, little star?- She says cupping my cheek, it was so cold...

-Yeah, sure- I say holding her hand

-Very well... Me and your father met thirty years ago, I was nineteen, he was twenty two, he had just became a Moon Whistle y was a simple maid that helped a man keep his pawn shop clean, he always went to that shop to sell his relics . The first time we ever talked was at midnight, we were closing up the store and only he remained inside as he counted his money, I was brooming the floor and accidentally dropped a jar of Abyss Ashes, those that are made with Eternal Fortune flowers, they are used for medicine and of course funerals, at the time they were insanely expensive, I remember how scared I was that my boss would fire me, my face went totally blank! But your father walked over to me and held out another jar of ashes, with a large smile he told me he was planning on selling them later, but that he'd rather give them to me now and avoid the trouble... The first time he asked me out for a date, was also at midnight, I was going home and he was out drinking, he was a bit drunk I'm not gonna lie, but I'm so glad it wasn't just the alcohol talking for him. When he asked me to be his girlfriend, wasat eleven fifty nine, and I accepted at twelve, I remember that he took me to the most expensive restaurant in all of Orth, he reserved the best table and a violinist, he was wearing a dark blue suit with a black tie, he looked so handsome and I was using a cream colored dress that once belonged to your grandmother, I didn't think twice before accepting. His first gift was a collar that he brought from the second layer and we he became a Black Whistle, he began his first dive to the Fourth Layer at night... The last three are the best, twenty years ago he took me to a balcony in the edge of Abyss for a dinner, I was intrigued, he was wearing that same blue suit, he hadn't wore it in ten years... After we finished eating our favorite dishes and drinking our favorite wine, he looked for something in his pocket and showed it to me, it was a ring, the prettiest ring I had ever seen in my entire life, he said it was called the Ring of the Red String, or at least that's what he calls it, it was midnight, we married at midnight and the best thing that could ever happen in our lives, a tenth of April, exactly at midnight and under a full moon just like this one, a certain little star was born, you looked so much like your father, and you cried so loudly, but it only took a few hums to calm you down, you fell asleep in my arms, twenty five years of being together couldn't have been better, and now we had you, that day my biggest love was born, and the reason that we called you Yoru... Is that Yoru, means night

https://youtu.be/-H6CUWsOPXA

((It's recommended to hear the song Lullaby by Mattia Cupelli))

My eyes were glossy, tears flow out as quick as waterfalls and I sob uncontrollably, it was the first time this history made me cry, why now?

-And now, my final breaths will be at midnight, under the light of the moon...

... No, no no, she didn't say that, did she?

-W~What?

-Sweetie, I can't keep up anymore, I tried to be strong for you, for Aletos... It's time for me to go

-W~What are you talking about? What are you saying?!

-Yoru... I'm dying

A ton of bricks fell over my shoulders,I felt like something shattered... My heart perhaps?

-N~No.... Please God no!

-Yes, I'm sorry my sweet baby

-Shut up! You're gonna be alright! Please!- I pulled my hair, but she kept that smile, the same smile she has kept for so long, that smile that could calm every pain I ever felt, I just shook, I looked at her

-Don't g~go mum, please, I beg you...

-Sssshhh, it's okay baby, come here- She pulled her arms up with difficulty, I got on my knees and give her a gentle hug, laying my head in her chest

-Don't go, just d~don't go...

-I'm so sorry moon, I'm oh so sorry

-I'll do whatever, I'll do anything you tell me to, just stay- I begged as I cried into her blouse

-It's not up to you or me sweetie, it never was- She says, the grip on her arms was slowly getting weaker and weaker

-You know? This sickness was the one who brought you into this world, I was sick already at the time, but I fought for you, and I fought for so many years for you and Aletos, and the same sickness will be the one that pulls me away from the two beings I love so much... But, my dear Yoru, I swear we will see each other again...

Her arms gave up and fell limp

-Yoru, I love you, don't forget those words, I love you, and you forever will be the brightest light in my darkest night, my Yoru... I'm gonna miss you so much

And just like that, her body slowly relaxed and with one last sigh the air in her body was gone, I gasped and looked up at her face, she was... Smiling, still, she was smiling for me. I screamed loudly the scream could be heard all around Orth, people turned on their lights and wondered what had happened.

The moon didn't look so bright anymore, because...

My mommy, died.