This fanfiction is based on Quintessence –The Blighted Venom– which belongs to Freebird games. The original story is by Kan "Reives" Gao, and Kuroko no Basket and its characters belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.
I recommend that you to play the game first before reading this, but if you don't want to that's fine! I will try to cover all of the important scenes of the game so you don't need to worry about missing something. I'll leave a link on my profile page though, for those who want to play it.
Warnings: OOC characters, grammatical errors (lots of them, but I think it's readable), spoilers for Quintessence, slash in later chapters, and character deaths. No gore, but if you can't stand reading a little bit of blood or your favorite character dying then you should probably click the back button. If you're okay with these things, then you may proceed!
—Prologue.
Dim lights from the torches that were fixated sparsely onto the stone walls of the temple flickered slightly, illuminating the grim and worried face of a red haired man who kept looking around the stone corridor restlessly. Another man was leaning against the wall as he looked at a sigil that was carved intricately on the ground with a contemplative expression.
"What's taking him so long?" Kagami Taiga grumbled as he kicked the ground before he ran a hand through his crimson strands in his impatience. He knew that taking his frustration on other things wouldn't help with their situation at all but it made him feel better so he did it anyway. Though, having kicked the innocent ground a few times, he noted that it had lost its calming effect. He sighed loudly and leaned his back on the wall beside the other man with roughly.
"I don't know." Kise Ryouta replied to his complaint absently as he traced the sigil's every line with his eyes. The sigil was quite big, about four meters wide in diameter and has four colorless orbs embedded on each four cardinal directions, with a small cavity at the center for the fifth and final orb to be placed at. The both of them fell silent for a few moments as they minded their own businesses before a thought crossed the blond's mind.
"Hey, Kagamicchi… could Akashi have—"
"If that's what happened, then there's nothing we could do about it." Kagami cut him off before the other could finish his question. His words may seem cold, but it was the truth. They couldn't do anything if what the blond suggested had happened actually happened. He was actually concerned by the situation as well, though the other clearly didn't sense his emotion by the way his expression contorted into one of anger.
"Then why did you let him wander on his own?" the light haired man shouted at Kagami as he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on to look the redhead in the face, his golden eyes gleaming ominously under the flickering lights as he glared at the redhead's eyes.
"He's not a child, Kise. He can take care of himself." Kagami too pushed himself off and retorted back, making the blond glare harder at him. "And it's not like he actually—"
A deep rumbling roar from the distance interrupted their arguments, compelling them to look at that direction as it resound before they heard the pounding sounds of heavy footsteps against hard stone floor advancing towards them and a flash of white leapt over their heads.
Both Kagami and Kise yelped and threw themselves onto the ground to avoid being hit by the creature as it landed softly on its paws. The creature, a majestic white tiger with eyes as bright as the sky on a sunny day, growled lowly at them in reprimand as they rushed to get back on their feet before it lowered its head to place a clear orb that it was carrying on its mouth inside the round cavity on the center of the sigil.
The other four orbs on the border of the sigil simultaneously glowed with different set of colors as a blunt clicking sound reverberated around them. Satisfied with what it had accomplished, the tiger stepped back and with a flash of light morphed into a human male with ice blue hair.
"There. All done." Kuroko Tetsuya said to both Kagami and Kise, whose eyes lit up as they took in his appearance.
"Kuroko!"
"Kurokocchi!"
Both man shouted out at seeing the blue haired male. Kise immediately rushed to the blue haired man's side, ignoring the warning look that said man sent his way while Kagami opted to just stay back and shot a relieved smile at him from afar.
"What took you so long?" Kise fretted as reached out a hand to check the smaller male over. "I thought—"
The blue haired man slapped his hand away before the golden haired man could touch him. "Do you really think that I'm that weak?" He asked coolly. "I just encountered some unexpected difficulties on the way back here. And stop fretting over the tiniest thing. We could heal ourselves from almost any mortal wounds, remember?"
Kise pulled his slapped hand back as he stuttered a reply. "I know. I know you're strong, but…"
Kuroko's eyes soften a bit hearing the blond tumbled over his words as he tried not to offend him again, but otherwise he remained as expressionless as ever. He ignored the blond's pout at his usual coldness and turned towards the redhead who was inspecting the wall in front of them instead.
"Well?" he asked.
"It should have opened by now…" he heard the redhead muttered. "I must have forgotten something."
Kuroko raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you help build this place and design all the secret passages?"
"Well yeah." Kagami agreed with him. "But I was asleep for a long time okay. I can't help forgetting a few things."
Kuroko sighed and wandered off to look for clues as to open the wall. "How can you be this slacky?"
"Shut up. I didn't sign up for it." The redhead countered with a sneer as he slapped the stone walls a few times to see if it would open up if he did that, but it did nothing. He ruffled his hair in frustration before he noticed four differently colored jewels embedded on the bottom of the wall.
Oh.
Not wanting the other two to notice his stupidity, he discretely rearranged the four jewels' position to match the colored orbs on the sigil. Without warning the wall shook and rumbled and was lifted up by the security mechanism of the temple, revealing a new area of stone corridors in its wake.
"It opened!" Kise exclaimed in surprise.
"What did you do?" Kuroko asked as he approached the red haired man who shook his head at him.
"Nothing." Kagami lied. "Maybe the system got a bit laggy too because it hasn't been used in a long time and it just reacted now."
Kuroko only stared at him blankly, clearly not believing his lie, but the evidence was gone so he couldn't claim that he was lying. He sighed and motioned for the redhead to the new area exaggeratedly. "Lead the way then. We don't have much time."
Kagami nodded, remembering their situation. "Right. Follow me."
The redhead led them through a series of halls and staircases going deeper underground. The air was a bit thin and Kuroko panted a little as he slowed down his pace. His blond companion noticed his condition and made to approach him, but Kuroko shook his head.
"I'm fine, Kise-kun." He reassured the blond as he moved to lean to the wall that flanked the big staircase. He slipped on his robe though and was about to fall when a pair of strong hands caught him.
"Whoa! That was really close!" Kise proclaimed with a mix of surprise and relieve painted on his face.
"You should have been more careful, Kuroko." Kagami teased the blue haired male from the bottom of the stairs as Kise put him down on the steps gently with a small smile, making the shorter man blush slightly in embarrassment for a second before he regained his composure.
"I know. It won't happen again." Kuroko said as he smoothed down his clothes. "Now are we just going to stand here and wait for me to die or can we continue now?"
At his words both men grew solemn again. Before they could say anything though, Kagami's eyes flashed with power and he ushered both Kise and Kuroko to stay on the stairs as he set up a shield to protect them with a wave of his hands.
"What's going to happen?" Kuroko asked as he descended closer to see the situation. The stairs were leading them to a big room with a giant hole on the ground in the center of the room, which was probably some kind of ancient mechanism that he didn't understand, and there were two statues of some sort of creature of eagle and lion hybrid but nothing spoke of so much danger that he and Kise had to wait on the stairs.
"Nothing much. Just some obstacle to keep the children from going in here back then, that's all." Kagami said nonchalantly as he shifted from his human form to his elemental one with a flash of light much like when Kuroko shifted form earlier. His skin and hair turned white, his eyes glowed an eerie yellow, and his naked body was covered with markings that symbolized the element he has control over: wind. His entire being glowed with a soft light that gave him an ethereal look.
"Be quick." Kuroko mentioned as the redhead set to push some of the tiles that surrounded the hole on the ground with his wind.
"Just wait there and shut up." Kagami retorted. Kuroko smiled slightly and stepped back to wait with Kise as the statues of creatures came to life with a loud screech and started attacking the redhead.
Kagami chuckled at their attacks and summoned his wind to tear the beasts into pieces as he glided around the room to avoid being caught by their claws. The battle was over in just under a minute, and Kagami grinned smugly as the beasts turned back into statues. They heard a click and a large chunk of stone with a flat surface ascended from the bottom of the hole.
"I told you it was nothing much." He bragged to Kuroko who looked unimpressed, and to Kise who was pouting as he tore open the shield that guarded the stairs so that they could come down.
"I totally could have done better than that!" Kise grumbled as he descended the stairs with a slight slouch. Kuroko glanced at him in silent amusement as he approached the chunk of floating stone. Kagami snorted at Kise before he jumped on the stone and shifted back into his human form.
"What are you waiting for? Jump on in." Kagami raised an eyebrow at them.
"Is it safe?" Kuroko questioned the redhead as he watched the floating stone warily. Kise made an agreeing sound with the back of his throat and made no move to approach it. Kagami snorted again, now at the both of them.
"It's just an elevator. God, you modern people are ridiculous."
Kuroko narrowed his eyes at Kagami and threw a knife at the redhead's foot. Kagami yelled and dodged on time before the knife embedded itself on the hard stone where his feet was standing nanoseconds ago with a small thud.
"God damn it! Kuroko you asshole!" The redhead put his hand over his heart to calm his heartbeat down, glaring as Kise who laughed at his plight. Kuroko smirked down at him and shifted into his tiger form. He motioned his head at Kise, who understood what he meant and hopped on his back. When Kise was secure, Kuroko leapt onto the stone beside Kagami. Grumbling, kagami activated the elevator and they waited as they descended into another big room.
When the stone elevator stopped Kagami jumped onto the floor and shifted briefly into his elemental form to put on some orbs into their supposed place to bring down a wall that revealed another corridor with a stair going another level underground at the end. Kuroko followed his lead and leaped, dropping an unaware Kise on the floor in the process and changed back into a human.
"So mean!" Kise whined as he get up.
The blue haired man shrugged lightly. "I thought you were paying attention. Come on, let's go."
Kagami led them through several other sets of staircases that brought them deeper and deeper underground. They were silent then, the tension getting thicker as seconds passed by. Kagami were about to open his mouth to make a joke to lighten the mood when the floors and walls all around them shook and a small explosion was heard in the distance.
All three of them looked at each other and nodded. They need to make haste.
They passed through another stair and reached a dead end with a strange land across of it. The way that strange land glowed a mysterious purple light and was surrounded by a void so vast they couldn't see even the bottom made Kuroko a bit wary. Kagami shifted form briefly to activate another set of tricks while he and Kise observed the void. He called out to them when he was done.
"Go ahead and jump, I got your back."
The rather large distance between their current location and the strange land made Kuroko a bit uncomfortable but there was nothing he could do except to trust Kagami's words, so he closed his eyes and jumped. He was relieved when he felt Kagami's wind prevented his fall into the void and bounced him towards the purple soil safely.
He waited Kise and Kagami do the same as he observed the land before him. It was really eerie what with the purple glow and dim lights from the torches that was placed strategically all around the place.
Kise looked around with interest.
"This place—"
"If anyone asks, I had nothing to do with bringing you here." Kagami cut him off coolly and continued walking. His expression was really guilty and Kuroko remembered from the redhead's description before they came in here that this mysterious land was Kagami's people's sacred place where outsiders like him and Kise were technically not allowed in.
They continued to walk down the path silently until they reached a small room with nothing in it. Kagami used his wind to open up a tile from the ground, opening up a small hole enough for them to jump in and set it aside before he turned to the both of them.
"Hop down, I'll break the fall for you." He said briefly before he jumped inside the hole. Kise was about to jump down himself when he noticed that Kuroko was not moving. Concerned, Kise approached Kuroko slowly.
"What is it?" he asked anxiously.
Kuroko didn't answer him and seemed like he couldn't even breathe. He staggered back a few steps and clenched his eyes shut. Kise quickly grabbed his shoulders to steady him. When he regained his ability to breathe, he opened his eyes slowly, causing Kise to tighten his grip on his shoulder in his panic.
Kuroko didn't say anything. He knew what was happening and he couldn't stop it. Kise was now staring at his left eye in disbelief and a hint of fear. Instead of being light blue like its original color, his left eye was now the color of blood; bright red and almost glowing in its intensity.
"No… we're so close…! Why now?" Kise stammered. Kuroko had to look away to stop himself from being affected by his emotions. Kise took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm himself as he let go of the smaller male's shoulders.
"There's just a few more steps to go. We'll succeed. Come on."
The blond took hold of his wrist and led him to the hole. Kuroko wanted to slap his hand away like before, to assure Kise that he was still the same as he was before, but he found that he couldn't do it. Kise hold onto him and they jumped together. As they neared the ground, Kagami's summoned his wind to slow their speed down and they landed softly on with barely a sound. Noticing his condition, Kagami's eyes widened. His urgency was clear in his expression as he ran towards them.
"Already?! Can you hold him?" the redhead asked, trying to sound calm. Kise made to say something in his stead, but Kuroko cut him and pulled himself away from Kise's hold.
"Save your breath and go. I'll do what I can."
He put on an emotionless face and nodded to reassure them. They understood and left him to deal with his problem. Truthfully, there was nothing more he could do, but his lie would keep everyone calm and that should count for something.
Kagami led them through a gate of sort that led them to a large space. Kuroko's breath quickened when he saw the light that was emitted from a crystal that was hanging on the air. Alex, the only one in this whole world with the power to save him, was supposed to be sleeping there. Hope blossomed in his chest.
That hope was instantly crushed when he saw the figure of a black haired man that was kneeling in front of the crystal. Kagami growled and leap in front of him and Kise to shield them from the man who was standing up slowly before he turned to face them. The gaunt and handsome face of Nijimura Shuuzou grimly greeted them without any words.
Kagami glared at him fiercely.
"What are you—"
"You know very well what I am doing." Nijimura snapped at him, cutting the redhead's sentence before he could finish them. Seeing that he got their full attention now, he continued calmly. "And you know that it is only fair."
Kise stepped forward to stand beside Kagami and tried to reason with the black haired man. "What is fair to you may not be to others, Nijimura."
Hearing his words, Nijimura felt anger welled in his chest.
"And you are no exception of that!" He snapped again, eyes flashing as he tried to reign his power. "All your pretentious righteousness… you march as if you're the crusaders of justice… have you forgotten what you have done to him?"
Kagami didn't answer him as he glared into Nijimura's cold eyes.
"Hypocrites." Nijimura sneered at his lack of answer as he walked away from them, approaching the sleeping figure of Alexandra with forced calmness. He was silent for a moment. Kuroko waited for his next words with bated breath.
"Look back at the facts, Taiga. I was right… and you were wrong." Nijimura stated coldly. "Yet… you took away the only thing that mattered to me. Am I wrong from reclaiming what you stole from me?"
When he got no response from the three of them, Nijimura's eyes hardened and he repeated his question again with so much anger that it almost made Kuroko flinch.
"Am I wrong?!"
"God, grow up already. Shut up. The world doesn't revolve around you, Shuuzou." Kagami finally responded, his own eyes gleamed as he glowered back at the black haired man.
All of a sudden their glaring contests ended and before Kuroko know what was happening, both Kagami and Nijimura had shifted into their elemental forms and were battling each other. Nijimura's elongated hair danced around in the air like a snowstorm as he whipped his pure white hand to send large masses of sharp ice pillars at Kagami who glided out of the way swiftly and send his own attacks in the forms of wind blades and small concentrated tornadoes at Nijimura.
Both of them attacked wildly and carelessly, leaving Kuroko and Kise rather overwhelmed trying to avoid all their attacks. Kise had just moved away from a particularly nasty attack from Nijimura when he saw an icicle was about to pierce Kuroko's open back. His heart was filled with dread. He ran as fast as he could towards the blue haired male.
"Kurokocchi!" He yelled desperately. He saw Kuroko's wide eyes just a second before his body collided with the other's smaller ones. He managed to tackle him in time and both of them rolled away to avoid the shattered pieces of the icicle. Unfortunate though, Kise's cry had shattered Kagami's concentration and Nijimura used that opportunity to seal Kagami inside a big crystallized ice.
"Kagami!"
"Kagamicchi!"
Seeing their friend's frozen body, both Kise and Kuroko's blood run cold. They hurriedly tried to run toward Alex, but Nijimura was faster than them. He teleported directly behind them and threw several icicles at Kise to separate them. Kuroko pushed Kise to the ground quickly before the blond even realized what was happening, saving him from being stabbed by the large ice spikes that shattered harmlessly as they hit the purple soil of the sacred ground.
Kuroko glared up right at Nijimura, who were looking back at him without any sign of remorse on his face as he shifted back into his human form.
"He's the one that need to shut up." Nijimura said softly, gazing into Kuroko's hateful eyes as he approached the blue haired male slowly. "But at least he brought you to me…" he raised his right hand to caress Kuroko's face, but Kise moved in between them and shielded Kuroko from him before he could lay his hand on the shorter male.
"Two wrongs don't make a right, Nijimura." Kise tried to reason again with him.
"Cute… is that what your mother taught you?" he mocked and brought his hands up to send his power down to get rid of the blond.
"No, stop—" Kuroko tried to say, but suddenly he staggered back with a gasp. His eyes widened in shock as a familiar but unwelcomed presence reverberated inside his body. Both Nijimura and Kise whipped their heads to look at him as he struggled to breathe.
"Get out of the way!" Nijimura commanded harshly to Kise who was blocking his way.
"No! Don't make the same mistake they did!" Kise raised his voice, pleading as he shook his head at the black haired man. Nijimura regarded his defiance with cold eyes.
"…You too." Nijimura said calmly, closing his eyes as light engulfed his body. He transformed into his elemental form and was completely prepared to kill the blond if it was not for the voice that called out to him at the last moment.
"Hold it!"
Nijimura opened his eyes and saw Kuroko standing several feet away, having regained control of his breathing. Kuroko regarded him with what could only be described as acceptance in his eyes. Kise was looking at him too; concern clear in his eyes, but Kuroko didn't pay him any attention this time.
"The way how everything came down to this…" Kuroko began calmly. "I'd assume you have room for a little 'last request'?"
Kise's eyes widened at his wording, his heart thundering inside his chest with emotions as he watched Kuroko eyed the black haired man with steely determination, challenging him to deny his assumption.
Nijimura regarded his words in silence as he shifted back into his human form. He didn't say anything that implied that he was agreeing to his request, but he also did not deny him. Kuroko walked away from both Kise and Nijimura, stopping some distance away from them before he finally said his last wish.
"One hug." Kuroko said softly as he fixed his differently colored eyes into Kise's distressed ones as he recognized what the blue haired male was asking of him. "I want one hug… with him."
Nijimura considered his request silently for a few moments before he agreed. "…make it quick."
Kise moved towards him slowly with unsure steps, staring Kuroko's eyes all the while with a gaze filled with his feelings of desperation and helplessness. The blue haired male broke their eye contact and looked to the ground when the blond stopped directly in front of him.
"Hug me."
The blue haired male told him in a soft voice, quite unlike his usual character.
"…I can't." The blond shook his head and watched as the blue haired male that had been his companion for so long sat down on the edge of the temple, not minding the rain that had started to pour from the sky.
"Sure you can." Kuroko rebutted the blond's worries offhandedly. "Just think of what I've done, and do what's right."
The blond looked even more unsure than before and he shook his head again. Kuroko observed him from his peripheral vision with a sad smile as he looked down at his hands. "Besides, if it's going to end either way… I'd prefer it."
"…Hug me."
Kuroko repeated his request again, still looking at the ground. Kise remained silent and unmoving as he stared at the shorter male's light blue strands. Kuroko gritted his teeth in frustration and raised his head, glaring at Kise's hurt expression with wet eyes.
"I said hug me!" he yelled at the blond, who after a while finally nodded and closed his eyes in resignation. He slowly reached into his belt and pulled out the ornate dagger from its sheath, before he engulfed the smaller male in a tight embrace. Kuroko, too, wrapped his arms around the blond's broad back tightly and pressed his face onto his chest, knowing that it was the last time they would be able to do it.
Nijimura noticed the strangeness of their exchange and began to advance on them in alarm. "What are you—"
Kise tried to ignore the wetness that was seeping onto his shirt and raised the dagger he was holding to the air as he tried to hold back his own tears. The blade glinted momentarily as it reflected the torches' dim light before he brought it down in one swift motion and planted it deep inside the blue haired male's heart through his small back.
"No!" He heard Nijimura shout as the man ran towards them.
Kuroko closed his eyes slowly, feeling the dagger being pulled out of his body with the blond's shaky hand. His grips on the other's back loosened as he felt his life slipping away. With his last strength, he whispered a nearly inaudible word of gratitude to the blond's chest. Kise tightened his hold on Kuroko's limp body briefly as a sob wracked his body, before he felt foreign hands prying his body away from Kuroko's warmth and suddenly he found himself being shoved to the side roughly as Nijimura caught Kuroko before the blue haired male's body could touch the ground.
Feeling warm blood on his hands, Nijimura looked down at the blue haired male who had died with a peaceful expression on his face. Nijimura shook his head in denial and he hugged the body tightly.
"Akashi!" He cried desperately into the blue hair. "No… not when we're so close…"
Kise staggered back and let the dagger he used to took his friend's life fell from his grip. It made a clanking sound as it hit the ground, and the blood that was previously clinging onto the metal splattered around it, staining the purple soil red. Kise felt like he was going to throw up. His head felt stuffed, his hands were shaking badly, and hot tears were dampening his face without a sound.
He paid no attention to Nijimura who were begging the corpse of his friend to come back and wake up as he walked unsteadily towards Alex, who had finally opened her blue eyes as all the torches that illuminated their surroundings died out one by one. Kise fell onto his knees, powerless to stop his tears that kept falling down from his eyes.
"They… they said you can fix it, right?" he spoke quietly. "You can fix everything… right, Alex?"
Alexandra stared down at him silently as she floated above him.
"I don't—I don't want to be a part of this. I never wanted to be a part of this!" He yelled in frustration, wiping away the tears with his sleeves from his eyes roughly as he did so. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, calming himself before he looked back at Alex's clear blue orbs with desperation. "So please… please fix it."
The woman kept watching him, considering his words before she responded.
'What do you really want, Kise Ryouta?'
"I don't want… to ever be involved." He admitted quietly after he heard the woman's gentle voice. Alex didnt open her mouth at all, yet he could hear her voice loud an clear.
"I want to live my life… oblivious to what was happening around me." He swallowed before he continued. "I want to believe in every lie that I would tell myself."
He realized what a despicable and selfish person he was the more he rattled his wishes, yet he didn't care anymore. He closed his eyes as he tried to force away the memory of sky colored eyes that would often light up in badly hidden amusement as they exchanged banters, the rare blushes that would appear on his usually cold face momentarily when he was embarrassed, the gentle voice that would comfort him awkwardly when he was upset, and the warmth of the tears he shed just seconds before he felt the burn of fresh blood on his hands.
Kise smiled bitterly down at his blood coated hands as he told her his last wish.
"…And I don't want to ever have met him."
Alexandra gazed down at him as he stopped talking. She lowered herself to the ground and landed directly in front of the kneeling blond.
'Is that all?'
Kise stayed silent for a while before he nodded silently at her question.
'…Well then.'
She held up her hands and brought it up to his face. Kise looked up to see her smiling sadly at him, before he was engulfed by a blinding light. He instinctively closed his eyes and pushed himself back up to his feet.
'It's up to you now.'
He reached out his hand trying to grasp into something—anything—to stop the sensation of his body falling into a bottomless pit. He struggled to breathe and failed. His head felt really light. For a moment he thought he was going to die and joined the blue haired male in the afterlife, but just as his consciousness started to fade he heard Alex's faint voice.
'…Let's try not to meet again, okay?'
When the bright light had dimmed out and he could breathe again, Kise Ryouta opened his eyes and found himself lying in his bed beside his beloved wife…
…One and a half year ago.
—Prologue, end.
How is it? Confusing? Too fast? Yeah I know, but it will get clearer later near the end of the story. I said clearer not clear because I don't really get it too lol. I have some idea, obviously, but nothing canon or definite as the game was not quite finished. Now before you ask yes there is a reason why Nijimura called Kuroko "Akashi" but it's a spoiler so I can't tell you, but if you figured it out on your own then congratulations!
Anyway, I apologize if this is badly written. I am really bad at describing things because of my limited vocabulary. Also, several original characters will appear in future chapters because I can't find a character that this fandom hated that fit with their roles. So yeah, there'll be OCs and you're free to hate her.
Thanks for reading!
PS for those who read my other story: I am really sorry. Because I'm a shitty writer I got stuck writing chapter 3 in the middle and haven't been able to continue it since forever. I have detailed plan for it and I know exactly how the story will end, but that story just refused to be written! I promise I will try harder so please bear with me.