One With The Abyss

Most of Portia's life was dreadful. An illustration of suffering since its beginning

She was born along with her twin sister Marigold, coming into existence only a few minutes after her.

However, unlike Marigold, who was met with cheers and love, Portia could only be seen as a blemish on the Ambrose family.

Marigold was born a beautiful child, with divine golden hair and striking blue eyes, unblemished skin, and a cuteness that could shake even the gods. But her younger sister shared none of these traits.

While not ugly, Portia was average in most aspects. Her only unique traits were the almost luminescent purple eyes she had and the large birthmark that eclipsed her left eye and covered a sizable portion of her upper left face. Her hair was a deep black, and she showed none of the typical playfulness that most babies had.

Lord and Lady Ambrose came incredibly close to disposing of their child moments after seeing her, but stopped themselves due to the rarity of her eye colour. The Ambrose family desired nothing but perfection; for generations, they sought the perfect offspring with both a superior mind and body. The family's obsession stemmed from the origin of their family name.

The founding ancestor had sought the holy grail to gain immortality, as their family name suggested, despite being a word originating from Greek history. This story has been interpreted by future generations as that of a brave hero seeking perfection, not the mad lunatic he likely was in searching for a fictitious artefact.

Therefore, seeing a blemish on their daughter's face, they initially believed her to be imperfect and unworthy of their family name. The initial plan was to abandon her in a dangerous place and have her die; their cruelty was only stopped when Portia opened her eyes and displayed such a rarity hidden within her body. So, with hopes that her eyes foretold greatness, they kept the child.

Though their displeasure never left, a stigma was maintained in their children's names.

Marigold was named in a glorious fashion. Her name meaning 'Resplendent Mary', in belief she was the perfect child that carried the true essence of the Ambrose family.

Portia's name was far crueller. Portia came from the Latin porcus, meaning pig, a word Shakespeare himself had used in the context of 'an offering'. Her eyes were an offering to the gods in order to raise Marigold higher, like a pig ready for slaughter.

Portia's suffering started with her name but would not end there; instead, it would grow worse as she aged.

Within the upper class, aptitude was everything, and while Marigold aced every test she took and displayed a strong body, Portia could not keep up.

Her intelligence was certainly above average; had she been born into a regular family, she would surely have been loved and praised for this, but not here. Ambrose demanded perfection, so for every failure, there was another bout of abuse.

One of Portia's most vivid memories was when she was 8 and forced to sleep outside in a dog house with almost no food for a month after 'only' achieving a 73% on a mathematics paper. Abuse like this was common, and Portia felt it was her own fault that she faced such hatred from her family.

For a long time Portia internalised all of her abuse, hated herself for her failure, and strongly desired to succeed; each scar and bruise was a reminder of her inadequacies. It was only when she was 13 that she realised this way of thinking was wrong.

The exact moment was a few days after failing a history exam. One of the bullies at her school locked her in the bathroom after forcing her to drink the toilet water, resulting in her missing the test all together.

When she told the teachers this, she received a month's detention for breaking school property, as she was forced to break the handle in order to get out.

When she told her parents, they said they didn't care why she failed and hung her by her ankles so Marigold could 'beat some intelligence into her'. Then they left Portia to hang for a few hours before a maid eventually cut her down.

It was when she hung from that tree that she realised that she hadn't done anything to deserve this. She had only failed the test as she was not given the opportunity to take it in the first place; she had only broken the handle as she had been banging at the door for more than an hour to be let out. All of these things were not truly her fault; she was the victim.

This realisation forced Portia to try and fight back; however, this resulted in worse beatings, worse abuse, and worse punishment. So Portia simply closed herself off, escaping into the world of books.

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch period, and Portia, who had been going by Tia since learning the meaning of her name, was forced to put down the book she was reading to go back to class. 5th period geography was one of her least favourite lessons.

Not only did she share the class with her sister Mari, but also with Ursina, the girl whose bullying of Tia was much more severe than that of most of the other girls in the school.

Tia had been sent to an all-girls school for her entire life. A set of family schools known as 'Lady Eximia's School of Excellence', that trained young, aristocratic ladies of the modern era to become the beacons of power that would lead the 'common masses' in the future.

The school forced their students to take multiple courses; where many schools would offer the choice between RE, history, and geography, LEE had their girls take all three, among other subjects. Every student there was exceptionally bright, meaning Tia's 'above average' intelligence was far below the average of the school, earning her the ire of the teaching staff.

Ursina was the most physically fit student in her year group, and her primary reason for bullying Tia, beyond the cruelty youth evokes, is that she is one of the only students who scores lower than Tia. For a woman with such pride, having a 'weakling' surpass her at anything is a major blow to her ego, resulting in savage acts of cruelty being directed towards her.

The toilet incident was one such time; her most recent 'prank' was when she put a hornet's nest in Tia's locker, resulting in her victim being horribly stung.

Tia had managed to avoid Ursina for the majority of the day and had purposely made it so she would arrive at class right as it started to prevent Ursina from getting a chance to do anything to her. As she brushed against a locker, she felt a brief static shock and looked down at the row of lockers.

"Ow... What the hell is that...?" Tia muttered, seeing a line of purple electricity running along the lockers before dissolving into the air. The phenomenon caused Tia to stop; she ran her fingers along the metal and received no reaction, although she wondered what she had seen. Her 'investigation' was cut short by the sounding of another bell.

"Crap!" Tia yelled out and began moving at a much faster pace. This was the 'final bell' that indicated lessons had started; when this bell was heard, it meant teachers had entered classrooms and begun teaching, meaning Tia was late.

As she ran, she noticed more of the purple electricity running beside her; unfortunately, she didn't have any time to stop. As quietly as she could, Tia opened the door in an attempt to sneak into class. This would have worked had someone not drawn attention to her.

"Hey Porktia! Why are you late?" Ursina yelled out, eliciting a chuckle from the rest of the class. Every girl from LEE was taught 3 foreign languages as well as Latin, so most knew the meaning of Portia's name. Marigold was one who did not laugh; instead, she had a scowl of disgust on her face.

"Miss Adelade, it seems my fool of a sister has tried to hide the fact that she was late from you." Marigold said, never turning away from Tia, "If I may, I would suggest increasing the punishment."

"Excellent idea, Miss Marigold." Miss Adelade responded with a bright smile, which quickly changed as she turned to look at Tia. "For being late, it's ten slaps to the palms. For attempting to hide your failure, ten minutes of air chair."

Tia only sighed and walked to the front of the classroom. When she arrived, Miss Adelade pulled out a long stick and began hitting Tia's palm with it. Despite being in the 21st century, LEE still made use of corporal punishment; depending on the teacher, some students went home with bloodied palms.

I'm glad it was only Miss Adelade, or I would've gotten something much worse. Tia thought to herself, wincing in pain as she walked to the back of the class to do 10 minutes of air chair, which would surely leave her legs sore.

Class went on for the next 10 minutes as a growing discomfort grew in Tia's legs; by the tenth minute, it was becoming unbearable for her. Luckily, she was allowed to stop, and with shaky legs like a newborn foal, she walked back to her chair.

As she sat down, she heard a squelching sound. Looking at her chair, she could see a brown, sludgy substance coating her seat; judging from the smell, it was probably manure. Tia panicked, wondering what to do now, when she heard a voice she desperately didn't want to hear.

"Miss! Porktia's crapped herself!" Ursine laughed, and almost the entire class joined in quickly at the sight of Tia's skirt, which was now covered in horse manure. Miss Adelade was able to get the class to quiet down, but a look of disgust quickly found its way towards Tia.

Honestly, Miss Portia Lunch has just passed, and yet you seem incapable of doing tasks even toddlers are capable of." She reprimanded. As Tia stammered, trying to explain what had happened, she was interrupted.

"She's always been like this." Marigold said with a voice full of malice, "She has less brain function than a baby."

More laughter started as tears began forming in Tia's eyes. Due to the interruption, no one noticed the purple electricity sparking all around them. The intensity was growing at an exponential rate and would soon encompass the entire classroom before anyone noticed.

"You're a disgrace, Miss Portia. You'll have to wear this sign for the rest of the da-" Miss Adelade had pulled out a sign that said, 'I am unable to control myself. I am a disgusting failure.' but her words were cut short as she finally noticed the purple sparks of electricity surrounding her class.

When she stopped speaking, the students also took the time to notice what was happening. Panic set in as people made for the doors. The first girl to get there was shot back with a blast, hitting all of the people behind her.

Eventually, the electricity began to swirl like a whirlpool, and the entire class was enveloped in a blinding light. For a moment, each of them felt weightless, floating through a void. Eternity could have passed them by, and they would never know. Before they could regain their ocular senses, their aural senses reacted.

Welcome, mighty braves!" A voice echoed through the chamber. The students of LEE regained their sight, and what they saw baffled them.

Like a picture of opulence, they were in the centre of a massive chamber, where gold lined each and every wall and chandeliers of diamond hung from the roofs. It was as if someone had turned the word wealth into a room.

"I apologise for the rough calling, but such a trial was necessary. Please, great heroes, our world is in danger." Looking at the source of the noise, it was a man dressed in fine robes and covered in expensive-looking jewels.

Idle chatter started up as the class tried to comprehend what they had just heard, but it was Ursina who spoke first.

"What the hell are you talking about, old man?! Where the fuck are we anyway?" Ursina called out in a crude manner, and Tia noticed some of the armoured men to the sides looked dissatisfied with the way Ursina talked. Tia was quietly trying to slink to the back.

She recognised the scenario from the books she had read; she had always favoured fantasy, and many installations in that genre involved being summoned to another world as a hero. While maintaining caution as the ostentatious decoration was abnormal, Tia was quite excited at the possibility in front of her.

She was a hero; she might have power. Tia was being given a second chance in this world, and she wouldn't dare miss it.

"HAHAHA!" The fancy man laughed, diffusing the tension: "I'm sure you're all confused, but first we shall move, as the summoning chamber is not conducive to giving explanations."

Ursina clicked her tongue, and the rest of the class followed along into another room. This room also displayed some opulence, but it was much more toned down. The room was smaller but could still easily fit everyone inside; in the room, there was a table with a clear glass orb in the centre of the room on a table beside a woman with gorgeous silver hair. She wore fancy robes and held a long wooden staff in her hand, giving off the vibe of a mage to Tia.

"Now I will allow Archmage Malleca to explain what has happened." The man said, taking a seat nearby. At the words 'Archmage' the girls began mumbling to themselves.

"Welcome heroes!" She shouted out, cutting the chatter short: "To simplify the matter, each of you has been summoned to this world as heroes; you were all selected due to the heroic souls that rest within you that will grant great power!"

"Our world is in danger as the demonic forces approach to destroy our peaceful lands; we beg of you to save us!" When she had finished speaking, more chatter started. Tia recognised that the situation was almost suspiciously cliche, like a book written by an inexperienced author, but decided to stay silent; no one would listen to her anyway.

"Why should we help you?!" It was again Ursina who spoke out with an arrogant look; her ego had inflated further when the archmage had called her a 'hero'.

"Now, calm down Ursina. Perhaps we should hear them out." Before Malleca could speak again, Mari interjected, "These people are in desperate need of our help. It is only natural that we do what we can."

"Ah! A true hero!" The man called out, a gleaming smile on his face.

"Thank you, your majesty, I presume." Marigold said, offering a slight bow.

"HAHAHA, smart and beautiful! That is correct. I am the king of this land you stand in now."

"I am honoured to be before you, your majesty, but I do have some questions." Mari said.

Yes, I will answer any of your questions, and then we will proceed with the test of talent." The archmage said, drawing the class's attention back to her.

"I would like to know how we may return." Mari asked the beautiful woman.

What followed was a brief explanation of what would occur in the future, with the archmage answering everyone's questions as best she could. Through it, Tia learned that, supposedly, the only way for them to return home was to kill the prophesied dark lord who would grant us enough power to return home. This 'dark lord' was the reason we had been summoned; it was a dark creature that created ruin wherever it stepped, and prophets told tales that it would soon return to Arcadia (the continent we were on); it would command legions of demons to fight for it and raise the human lands to the ground. There were many other questions following this, like the level of technology in this world or the kind of food they have, but Tia didn't care much for the answers. It was her sister who asked the next important question.

"You say we have some great power, yet I feel the same." She had said, "What is it that you're referring to?"

What followed was a brief explanation of how powers work in this world. They had a 'game-like' system with levels and skills; however, some people were lucky and had inherent talents they were born with. At the age of 5, every child would be taken to a temple and tested to see what talents they had and the strength of those talents, should they have them. Talents alone were incredibly rare, and even then, it was even more uncommon to have a talent above level 5, with the highest possible level being 10. This is why heroes were considered powerful; they all had talents, and what's more, they were always level 5 at the minimum. The reason they could not yet sense these talents was due to not having them awakened, which the orb on the table would do. Quickly, everyone became excited to see what power they held.

A strange feeling did appear in Tia's mind at this point though. It was like no one cared that they had just been kidnapped to another world in order to fight in a war against demons led by an evil monster, such that they may never return home. Even Tia felt very little apprehension about the prospects, like something was altering her way of thinking.

"Now then. If we may begin." Malleca said, starting the process of testing the class.