A Few Nights Ago
Yushiro had been asleep for days, but unknown to the household, he had been waking at the peak of the night when the stars were at their brightest.
As Kenji slept, Yushiro would push aside the furs and slip out into the moonlight. The silver light clung to his ethereal features, casting long, dancing shadows as he stepped onto the porch. There, the cool night breeze played with his silver hair and the hem of his white hakama.
"Quite the beautiful night, isn't it?" a steady voice asked.
Yushiro's violet eyes shifted toward the side. Ray sat casually on the porch, his white goatee fluttering in the wind. The boy looked at him with cold indifference before taking a seat, tucking his legs beneath him.
Ray slid a basket of cold stew toward him. Without a word, Yushiro began to eat with his usual practiced elegance. They had met like this every night since his arrival.
"The Crimson Cat is resilient," Ray remarked, staring out at the sleeping village. "He is gifted with an abundance of Hashi, yet he struggles with the simplest manipulation." Ray turned his sharp, gray fox-eyes toward the boy. "Are you still unwilling to say how you granted him such a blessing?"
Yushiro didn't answer, continuing his meal in silence. Ray sighed, pouring a cup of alcohol. "I don't understand why you give him such power if you won't help him cultivate it."
Yushiro finished the stew and turned. For the first time, his violet eyes held a terrifying darkness—a void devoid of life. Ray's easygoing expression vanished, replaced by sharp wariness.
"Greedy humans," Yushiro spat, his voice dripping with disgust. "Always desiring more. I have given him power and saved his life. Anything further adds to a debt I doubt you can ever pay. You are already drowning in it."
Ray grinned weakly. "You would make this old man pay when he is so close to death?"
Yushiro's annoyance flared. "What do you offer? You have yet to pay for this King saving your grandson."
Ray chuckled nervously. "Believe me, little one. After this mission, the payment will be worth it."
"Fortune favors the bold, does it not?" Ray said keeping his grin as he looked into Yushiro's violet eyes.
Yushiro's eyes narrowed darkly.
The Present
In the hall of bones, Yushiro's alluring, frightening smirk remained. "This is your first obstacle. Get the sword, and I will be your teacher."
Takahiro and Yume looked on with mounting dread. As Kenji stepped toward the black blade, Takahiro reached out. "Kenji, wait! That sword... it could be cursed."
Kenji looked back and smiled. "Don't worry. I trust Yushiro. If he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it a long time ago."
Kenji said that but when he turned to Yushiro, the younger boy had a grin of amusement. Kenji felt that the grin meant trouble, it was a uneasy feeling but he decided to put faith in the boy.
He stepped into the field of remains. At first, the skulls merely crunched beneath his feet, but as he progressed, the floor of skulls seemed to raise.
The hell? Am i sinking?
By the time he was halfway, the skulls reached his knees.
No the skulls are raising.
Kenji thought as he didn't feel like he was sinking or the solid floor underneath his feet was liquid.
As he walked even closer to the sword the skulls reached his waist. This is when he also felt his body start to feel off.
What the hell is going?
He pushed forward, but the further he went, the higher the skulls reached. The skulls reached his chest, it was like the skulls wanted to swallow him. His body was now heavy, his movement slow and slugglish.
He turned to look back at his family, but his neck moved as if through thick sludge. It was a slow and exhausting process, even with all his might it turned slow.
When finally turned where there used to be walls and a dark interior. He could see nothing but an endless, white sea of bone.
This sent a chill down Kenji's spine.
Where's everyone? When did they leave? Where am i? When did the bones go that far?
When he looked back again it was slow and tiring process at the sword, it had grown colossal—a tower of black steel reaching for the ceiling that looked like a black sky with no stars.
The craved white dragon on the guard looked like a Monsterous Beast looking down at prey. The skeleton leaning against it was no longer a mere remain; its hollow eye sockets were fixed directly on him.
Cold sweat down from Kenji's temple, he was confused buffled in fact. Taking in a breath was a tiring process, the whole world felt like it was pressing down on him.
He remembered Yushiro's words 'Get the sword..'
Kenji gritted his teeth, "DAMMIT!" He let out but it felt like he was wasting breath.
JUST GET THE DAMN SWORD!!
There's no way back there's no one back there, might as well just get the damn sword. Kenji thought as he started heading forward again.
Movement became a battle. His lungs burned. Every step felt like lifting a mountain.
Is this how the others died? Just... wasting away?
The pressure on his chest became unbearable. Perspiration stung his eyes, blurring his vision.
I didn't have my life saved, get Hashi just to die in... WHERE EVER THIS PLACE IS?!
He was nine steps away. Only nine. But his body was screaming, begging him to collapse into the cool, quiet sleep of the bones.
Just as the skulls threatened to swallow his head entirely, a spark of foreign, heat started from within and Kenji gritted his teeth.
MOVE DAMMIT!!
The rage fueled one last, agonizing stride. But as his hand reached for the black blade,
Creak!!
A loud creak ressounded, Kenji's orange eyes looked up at the the colossal skeleton as it creaked into movement.
Its massive, bone-white hand descended, reaching for Kenji it's bone hand was as large as a house as it came down to crush Kenji.
SCREW IT, BRING IT DAMMIT!!!
Kenji gritted his teeth and clenched his fists under the skull sea and his orange eyes the only thing visible. He turned back to the black blade which was a wall at this distance.
Kenji made a final push to touch it the reach for the black steel was slow but Kenji pushed through.
Just as the fingers were about to close around him, Kenji's finger tip touched the cold blade.
Then he felt a violent pull. The world of bones vanished. His eyes opened to a clear, far-reaching sea beneath a sunset sky.
"Disgusting creature," a voice echoed behind him.Kenji spun around, a bit disorientated. He was standing in a vibrant, sun-drenched meadow. And in the distance stood a massive, blood-red castle.