Summary: Enma wakes in a world he only half-remembers and stumbles through his new life with the shadow of his previous one looming over his head. AU.
Note: I'm pretty sure approx 3k words in this fic happened just because I couldn't physically bring myself to summarize some scenes in simplistic sentences.
Also, sorrynotsorry.
WARNINGS: Completely AU, Fantasy AU, This Fic Has Only Two Modes: Feels And Confusion, FEELS, SO MUCH FEELS, NOT A HAPPY ENDING, I.W.P-chan's One True Evil Fic, There Is A Kiss (Not In A Romantic Context), So. Many. Details., Enma Is Trying (So Is The Author), Blood, Can't Believe I Almost Forgot To Put 'Shameless Self-Indulgence'.
Disclaimer: Don't own KHR.
.
Enma jolted awake.
He blearily looked around him, noting the great mountain rising in front of him, the river a couple of feet in front of him, situated between him and the mountain side, and the sand beneath his fingers. Just where was he? And how did he get here?
He braced himself on his hands and knees to raise himself up, going slowly to accommodate his sluggishness and dizziness.
He stretched and let out a jaw-cracking yawn; just how long had he been asleep here?
There was a rustling in the bushes behind him, making him snap into awareness and warily eye the forest that was behind him. Another rustle, this time accompanied by a low growl, and Enma stepped backwards, one foot slipping into the shallow edge of the river.
Silence stretched for what appeared to be an eternity; Enma's heart was beating furiously. Just what was going on? Who- or rather, what else was there with him-
There was a great splash from the river and a loud growl from behind him.
Enma didn't even look behind him before he shot off into the forest, chased by the sounds of rustling bushes and loud growls-
-and footsteps not his own.
There was a voice calling out and Enma was too terrified to stop and listen.
Enma kept on running and the voice grew closer and closer.
"Hey! Wait!" A hand shot up from somewhere nearby and Enma jumped in surprise. His foot caught on something on the ground and he almost fell over.
The hand grabbed him, suspending him in mid-air.
Enma turned slowly towards the person who caught him, to see a young man with messy, purple hair and purple eyes.
The man huffed, looking vaguely annoyed, but mostly alarmed, "I'm not going to hurt you. Actually, I've been searching through the forest for hours now and you're the first person I came across."
Enma must have given him a confused look, because he elaborated, "I'm Skull, a freelancer, I'm on a job for the Sky Temple."
Enma relaxed. Just a freelancer on a job for the Sky Temple. The knot in his chest unraveled from relief. He was safe if the Sky Temple was involve-
The Sky Temple? Enma's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Yeah, kid, the Sky Temple." (Did he just say it out loud?) Skull was giving him a concerned look, "Everyone knows about the Temples,"
"No, that's not…" Enma trailed off as he wracked his brain for information; he frustratingly came up blank, "I know about the Temples, it's just! I can't remember!" No matter how hard he tried to dredge up anything he knew about the subject, he couldn't find anything more than a vague sense of recognition.
"That's worrying." Skull let go of Enma and put his fists on his hips, "I think I'm going to stop my search for the day and take you to the land; we should have you checked over if you can't remember the freaking Sky Temple. There is no way you're that sheltered. You could have amnesia and that requires you going to one of the cities for medical attention." Skull hummed thoughtfully, "I forgot to ask, what's your name?"
"I'm Enma."
"Of?"
"Of?" Enma parroted, confused.
"Yeah, of which town, family?"
Enma opened his mouth to respond, the name on the tip of his tongue, before he stopped, suddenly realizing that he didn't remember.
Skull observed him carefully, "Can't remember?"
Enma nodded mutely.
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen, nineteen? I think?"
"Do you know where we are?"
A shake.
"Where you last were?"
Another shake.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
Enma focused on his memories, a sea of blurry images coalesced together into a great fog of muted colors and sounds.
What was the last thing he remembered?
There were screams; there was fire; there was the sound and feel of crystals, shattered and whole, clinking on the ground; there was blood so much blood (too much blood); there was a great pair of huge doors opening and the overwhelming sense of panic; there was painpainpainand shocked amber eyes and oh god why did it happen how did it happen-
"Breathe!" There was a pair of hands grasping his shoulders and a voice talking to him.
Enma blinked, his surroundings coming back into focus, his vision obstructed by a concerned face.
"Skull?"
"Yeah. I thought I lost you there for a second."Skull inhaled, "I should really take you to one of the Temples as soon as possible."
Skull pulled a silent Enma with him through the forest, keeping an eye on him and a hand holding onto him, as if afraid Enma would slip away at the first opportunity.
Enma was lost. He was missing something, someone, very important to him. Someone he needed to search for, but didn't know where to start looking.
Actually, no, Enma blinked, he knew where to look. He needed to go to the Sky Temple. Something in him resonated with the name, it probably meant something.
(He hoped it meant something.)
He didn't know why he was- wherever he was, why he was missing a good chunk of his memory, why it hurt to try to remember by himself, why he felt a vague sense of urgency, pushing him to turn back the way he came and go look- look for what, he didn't know.
So many things he didn't know anything about aside from vague echoes, echoes that sent his heart hammering in his chest in fear and longing and terror and too many feelings to name (too many feelings filling his chest until it felt like it would burst any minute).
What was he supposed to do now?
"Alright, be careful while stepping into the boat. Don't want you to fall over."
Enma was snapped from his thoughts by Skull's voice as Skull guided him to a simple wooden boat, connected to what looked like a huge octopus.
Enma blinked in shock, but stepped into the boat, closely followed by Skull, who was carefully observing him.
Enma had a feeling that his zoning out didn't go unnoticed.
"We'll be heading to the land now."
"Can we-" Enma licked his lips, fists clenched, "Can we go to the Sky Temple?"
"Sure. I was planning to go there and tell them about you anyway. After all, they were the ones who sent me here in the first place."
Enma settled down as the boat moved, departing from the island and heading towards the land rising on the other side of the sea.
Enma couldn't help but look back at the island he was leaving behind, a tremendous feeling of loss and melancholy filling him to the brim.
He blinked away tears he didn't know were gathering in his eyes and prepared himself for the journey.
.
It took them until sunset to reach the land.
Enma stepped out of the boat and stretched before he turned to look at Skull who was taking his octopus, Oodaku, out of the water, and smiled as Skull grinned and cooed at the now shrunken octopus. Turning to look around him, he took note of his surroundings as he scoured through what he could remember to figure out the way to the Sky Temple.
He and Skull were on the docks; off to the side, appearing to be raised in the sea and only connected to the land with a bridge, was the Sea Temple with its circular shape, many outer columns and windows, and glass dome with a wave-like design.
Enma couldn't remember ever seeing it in person before, but he remembered the details of its description. Which meant…
His thoughts whirred as his eyes trailed off to the left, looking across the nearby buildings and up the rising land to catch sight of the Light Temple in the distance with its unique shape resembling a staircase as it accommodated the rise of land. His eyes then shot off to the highest point in the land, where he caught sight of the silhouette of a building right at the top.
The Sky Temple.
His breath caught in his throat; so close, yet so far.
(He wished he knew what he was so eager to see.)
A strong gust of wind whipped around him and he put arm up to his face as a shield.
"What…"
"Huh." Enma heard Skull say, "We're in luck. We arrived just in time to catch up with the Vongola's air patrol."
Air patrol? Enma removed his arm when the wind died down and gaped at the sight in front of him: a big winged ship was suspended in mid air above the sea and close enough to the port they could probably use a gangplank to move between the ship and the land.
"What is that?"
"That's the Vongola's airship. They use it to patrol the border of the land and take a look around at the Walls."
"And we're in luck, why?"
"The Sky Temple is in Vongola City, their city, they usually take passengers with them to the town during this time. Their patrol would now take them around the island again before they are finished, so if anyone was out here by sunset and needed to go to Vongola City, they'd take them."
As Enma guessed, the ship extended a gangplank down to the ports and a black-haired man, who appeared to be in his late twenties, with pupil-less green eyes walked down it towards the two.
"Hey, Lambo." Skull waved, "You have space for the three of us?"
Lambo waved lazily at them, "Sure, follow me."
With that said, he turned around and returned to the ship, followed by Enma, Skull and Oodaku.
(The ship felt surprisingly empty when Enma stepped on board, he had expected there be more people for a patrol on a big flying ship.)
A kind woman called Chrome with purple hair and a pair of pupil-less, purple eyes showed him around the ship, pointing out where the guests cabins where and where the crew's cabins where, while warning him against venturing into the part the crew stayed in.
"Usually, we'd let our passengers come and go as they please but our boss is in a bad mood and wants to be left alone, do you understand?" She looked at him with stern eyes.
"Of course, ma'am." Enma suppressed the urge to shiver under the veiled promises of pain he saw in Chrome's eyes. It was probably for the best to squash down his urge to explore.
"Good." She smiled lightly at him before she left him to his own devices.
Enma found himself back on the deck, eyes trained on the horizon where the great Walls rose, separating them from whatever it was on the other side.
"Please tell me that you at least remember the Walls."
Enma blinked at Skull, who had sidled up to him, Oodaku draped over a shoulder, "Of course I do. Who doesn't know about the Walls? They've always been there."
"Kind of makes you wonder what they're doing there, doesn't it?"
Enma opened his mouth to respond before he closed it. He didn't know why, but the question tugged at something inside of him, something heavy and bound with thick chains, something that tasted bitter in his mouth.
Phantom pain shot through his nerves and his chest ached; he clenched his hands on the railing he was leaning on to make sure he wouldn't tip over.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just… Nothing, it was nothing."
Skull looked skeptical, seconds away from questioning Enma.
Luckily, Lambo had picked that moment to tell them that they were going to land.
.
Enma walked with as much speed as he could muster down the gangplank, making sure he won't fall over, ignoring the feeling of eyes on his back and the gnawing sense of loss in the pit of his stomach.
Enma was getting sick of it: all of his sudden emotional swings, launching from one end to the other, wearing his skin, stretching it and returning it to him too big and frayed around the edges.
He wished he could make sense of them, but they refused to cooperate, and his vague memories weren't helping at all.
He picked a random direction and aimlessly wandered, still distracted by his emotions. But not too distracted to not notice Skull's footsteps following after him and assuring him that he wasn't going the wrong way.
Around five minutes of silence passed before Skull spoke up, "Sorry if I said anything that bothered you."
Enma blinked in shock as he stared at a serious Skull, "But you… didn't?"
Skull squinted at him, "It sure looked like I ran you through with a wooden log back there."
"No, that was-" Enma bit his lips, "-just my general confusion. And my mood swings. I don't even know why I have mood swings. They feel too tiring, I don't think I'd ever get used to them. I'm not even sure if I'm the type of person to have mood swings!" Enma dragged his hands down his face, suddenly tired, "Look at me! Doing it again! Why am I so riled up?! Ugh."
Skull quirked a humorless smile in Enma's direction, "Chin up, you may feel better after we get you to the Temple where you can rest for the night."
Enma sighed, "Sure. Thank you for putting up with me."
Skull waved him off, "No need to thank me for it."
Enma begged to differ; he was already feeling much better with Skull's quiet company.
The rest of the walk towards the Sky Temple passed by in a much lighter atmosphere.
.
Enma had guessed that the Sky Temple was going to be special, due to his surprising insistence on travelling there.
He was already feeling hidden burdens on his shoulders start to peel away from him the moment he crossed the bridge leading to the Temple's plot of land.
There was something about the Temple's aura that made him feel light, safe, protected.
It felt like coming home.
A sense of melancholy descended upon him and he turned to look the other way, down to where the Sea Temple stood, across the great expanse of water and to the dark shape of the island he woke up on.
With difficulty, he wrenched his eyes away and pulled himself towards the Temple's entrance.
Skull preceded him, opening the door and ushering Enma in.
Entering the building itself encompassed him with indescribable emotions; he was happy, content, eager, excited.
Maybe, hopefully, he'd find answers here.
"Ah, welcome." A soft voice echoed through the main hall and Enma turned to see a figure heading towards him and Skull, dressed in a white robe that flowed down their figure, draped across their body in a way that didn't give away any hint to what was underneath, the sleeves were quite long and the hood was wide and fell over their face; the robe had orange lines descending from their shoulders and neckline until the end of their sleeves and around what Enma estimated to be the ribcage; the hood had similar orange lines going down the sides with an orange hexagon in the center.
"Skull and guest, we've been expecting you."
"Head Priest." Skull inclined his head and then waved in Enma's direction, "As you requested, I went looking through the island. So far, I've only searched through a part of the forest. I found him, Enma, there. He seems to be missing a chunk of his memories."
The Head Priest cocked their head to the side, "Enma will be welcome here to sort his affairs. We may even be able to help him. Anything else?"
"Yeah, I'll be going back tomorrow. You don't mind if I stay the night, do you?"
"Oh no." The Head Priest waved a hand, "You know you're always welcome here."
The Head Priest then gestured behind them, "Follow me, I'll show you to some of our empty rooms."
The Head Priest had the two settled for the night and had a meal brought to them in moments, leaving Enma blinking at the efficiency and speed.
Skull chuckled at the slight shock on Enma's face, "It looks like they're a bit over-eager to have you around."
"Huh, why would they?"
Skull shrugged, "It could be anything from being curious or…" He trailed off, zoning out a bit, as if thinking about what else he was about to say, "How about you ask them about that tomorrow? For now, let's eat and go to sleep."
.
The next morning, Enma woke up refreshed; the bone-deep tiredness he had felt throughout yesterday was gone. Looking around the room, he noted that Skull's bed was empty; did he leave already?
He yawned as he walked towards the window and opened it; he stuck his head out and was surprised by the sun high in the sky.
He blinked in shock; he'd slept in until noon? Just how tired was he? And why was he left to sleep in like this anyway? He rushed back into his bedside to get his clothes and change into them before he left the room and looked around the corridor.
He… did not remember the way to the main hall.
He resisted the urge to slam his head against the wall in embarrassment. Maybe he should just wander around and hope he either ended up finding his way to the main hall or found by any of the priests.
Sighing, he walked away from the room in the first direction that grabbed his attention.
After minutes of walking and not finding anyone or hearing anything, he wondered if maybe he picked the wrong direction. Luckily, he came across a pair of big doors that looked promising.
Until he opened them and found himself in a library of sorts.
Enma sighed in dismay; he definitely picked the wrong direction.
He rubbed a hand against his face as he pondered turning back the way he came and hoping to find his way back.
Just as he was about to turn around, a vague memory echoed in his head; there was something about the Sky Temple's library? He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and concentration as he tried to dredge up what the memory was about.
"Hey, Enma! You wouldn't believe it, but the library has a secret room!"
Huh? Enma blinked; secret room?
Why would he have a memory about something like that anyway? He shook his head and went to sit on the nearest bench he found inside the library. Putting his face in his hands, he refocused on the memory again.
Concentrating, he pulled up as much details as he could muster.
"Of course I know! I'm a priest there now!"
Enma's lips twisted in wry amusement; he didn't know who that person who told him about the subject in the past was (which was such a shame), but he had no idea how they could just tell him about becoming a priest, priests were supposed to keep their true identity a secret, to avoid stigma like what happened with the Sky Temple's first Head Priest-
Enma frowned; he knew the name, he was sure of it, why did it have to slip from him, too?
He sighed heavily as he leaned back against the wall.
The wall slid away from underneath him and he tumbled back.
Groaning, he rose up, wondering just what happened. A quick look around told him that he wasn't in the library anymore. Oh, he was in a library but not the one he was in just moments ago.
He couldn't have possibly stumbled across the secret room, could he?
He sighed; oh, great. He should probably look around for a way out.
The room didn't look like it had anything special, at first glance. But Enma was scouring the room in search for an exit, and so he noticed how old the books in the room were. There was something about them that attracted his attention: each and every one of them had compass-like markings on the spine. Enma's hand went to briefly cover his eyes as he closed them. The markings looked very familiar.
The markings looked exactly the same as his own pupils.
The room held many layers of secrets woven into it if anyone bothered to look deep enough.
And Enma bothered to look deep enough.
Everything felt achingly familiar from the couch off to one end, the cushioned pedestal, the books, the entr-
"There you are."
Enma jumped in shock before he whipped around to come face to face (or rather, face to cloaked face) with the Head Priest.
"We worried about you when we didn't find you in your room."
"Ah, sorry about that, I-" Enma started to apologize, but the Head Priest cut him off with a raised hand.
"No need to apologize." Enma could almost swear he heard the hint of a smile in the Priest's voice, "You're not the first person who ends up lost in the Temple on their first day. I'm more surprised that you found your way in here."
Enma stiffened.
"Relax, I know you did not break in, the entrance to this room isn't exactly locked to you as long as you know how to get in."
"But I don't know how to either."
"So it was an accident. The mere fact that you made it in means that there is nothing stopping you from being here."
Enma cocked his head to the side, confused.
The Priest gestured to the books, "These books are special and unique, you won't find them anywhere else on the land. That's because they teach Spirit Core techniques, and everyone has Soul Fire, no one has a Spirit Core."
Enma perked up at the term.
Spirit Core.
It sounded so familiar to him, a fifth limb he didn't consciously realize he had until he thought about it.
"The only reason you were able to enter the room without prior knowledge tells me that you have a Spirit Core. There is no way I could prevent you from making use of this room and what it has." There was a strange note in the Priest's voice, one that Enma could not place, "In fact, it's pretty much yours now. You can come here any time you wish and practice."
Enma shook his hands, "No, wait! I can't just do that!"
"Oh? Why is that?" The Priest cocked their head to the side, "Do you need help? An instructor?"
Enma blushed, "I-! I'm not sure why you are being so generous to me like that! It's your library, isn't it? Why are you handing it over to a stranger?"
"Enma, do you know what duties get carried inside a Temple by the Priests? Do you know what the Temples double as? A learning institution and training facility, to tutor people in how to use their Soul Fire. This place is the perfect place for you to learn and I-" the Head Priest reached out their hands to the edges of their hood, "-am the person qualified to tutor you." The Priest tugged the hood off and Enma flinched back, covering his eyes with his hands.
"Easy, you are going to be my student now, aren't you? I don't think pesky Temple rules about Priests keeping their identities secret from others who aren't Priests need apply."
Enma kept his eyes covered, "Do you do this with all of your students?"
"Oh, no, you're a special case." Enma blushed, "Now, remove your hands from your eyes; I do believe it would be difficult to navigate the room without your sight. Unless you know how to do so."
Enma didn't know how to navigate the room without his eyesight, so he reluctantly pulled his hands away from his eyes and slowly turned his head to look right at the Priest.
The Priest appeared to be around Enma's age, with combed, brown hair, held together and pinned at the back of their head, pupil-less, orange eyes, and a soft smile.
"You can keep this a secret between us, yes?"
Enma nodded, the Priest's smile widened.
"Call me Tsu when we are alone, okay?"
Enma's blush intensified.
Tsu tugged their hood back on, "Now, come, you still haven't eaten anything yet."
.
Enma pushed his empty plate away from him and looked around, wondering where he should go with it. One of the priests solved the dilemma for him by swooping in and snatching the plate away. He blinked at their back in bewilderment.
"Well then, what are you going to do next?"
Enma turned to the direction of the voice to see Tsu approach him, "About?"
"Your next step. I'll be tutoring you. But what about other things?"
"I don't know." He raked his hand through his hair, "You know about my memories. Or lack of them. I don't know where I came from or where I'm supposed to go next. I'm not sure I even know what I can do!"
Tsu hummed thoughtfully, "That wouldn't be a big problem. You're in Vongola City. If you go to their main building and talk with whoever is behind the counter once you enter, they'd see what to do with you."
Enma cocked his head to the side, "The Vongola, huh? If I remember correctly, they provide food and board in exchange for working for them, aside from paying money for any services you do for them."
"You know that, at least."
Enma frowned in confusion, "It's strange, it just popped into my head. I don't know from where I learned of this."
"Well, no matter." Tsu settled themself down on the chair next to Enma, "Would you like to go now? We could organize your lessons after we see what comes from checking in with the Vongola."
Enma rose from his seat, "Okay, I'll go do that." He turned and inclined his head in Tsu's direction, "Thank you for everything. You've been a really great help."
Tsu waved him off, "There's no need to thank me, I've just been doing my job."
"Still…"
"Alright, alright. You're welcome." Tsu rose as well, "Before I go, one of the Vongola will be dropping by soon, how about you go to the main hall to meet up with him and tell him about your circumstances. He'd probably also take you to the Vongola building in case the location is one you don't remember as well."
Enma smiled bashfully at them, "There you are, helping me again. I don't know where I would be without you."
Tsu was silent.
Enma's smile slowly slid off his face, wondering if he said something he shouldn't have said.
When Tsu finally spoke, there was a strange note in their voice, "You… don't need to thank me for this."
With that, Tsu walked away, leaving Enma confused and feeling like he missed something very important.
Again.
He hung his head, inwardly cursing himself; his hands were shaking as he raised them to his face. He pushed the heels of his palms against his eyes until stars exploded behind his eyelids.
He asked himself, for the umpteenth time since he woke up the previous day, just what was he doing, where was he supposed to go, where was he supposed be, who was he supposed to be.
But to no avail; he was still a stumbling, lost mess and he hated it.
He doubted that he could ever pick himself up and rebuild whatever it was that toppled and caused him to find himself unconscious on a strange island with half his memories missing.
When he deemed that he wallowed enough for the time being, he put himself back together as best as he could and walked in the direction he knew the main hall was in.
He was greeted by the sight of a frowning silver-haired, green-eyed teenager.
"You're late," The teen said briskly.
Enma's eyebrow twitched.
"Follow me." The teen gestured as he strode off towards the entrance. Enma sighed and trudged after him.
.
The teen silently guided Enma through Vongola City towards where Enma assumed was the Vongola's main building, the only sign he gave of acknowledging Enma's company was the occasional scrutinizing look he'd throw over his shoulder at Enma, as if trying to figure out a particularly stubborn puzzle.
(Enma would like to hear what he figured out, because Enma himself was still trying to figure things out himself.)
Their arrival to the main building was without fanfare; even the building itself didn't stand out, which Enma found strange, a part of him expected it to be very flashy.
The teen ushered him in and pointed towards the counter where a girl with short hair pulled up in a ponytail was standing behind it before disappearing into one of the doors.
The girl saw them enter and noticed Enma being led to her, she smiled, "Hello and welcome to the Vongola's offices! I'm Haru! What can I do for you?"
"Um." Enma fumbled a bit, wondering how he could broach the topic, "I'm here to ask about job offers?" He inwardly cringed at the way he phrased it.
"Oh!" Haru seemed to understand what he was asking about, "Here, our forms!" She reached under the counter and rummaged before she brought out some paperwork, "Please fill them out and hand them in sometime during the next three days and we'll look them over and see what jobs to assign you."
"O-okay." Enma held the paperwork and wondered if that was all, should he ask her?
"But there's one thing." Haru placed her index finger on her lower lip as she observed him, "We only get job applicants through recommendations, and every time, the person doing the recommendation accompanies the recommended applicant to meet the person manning the counter at the moment." She scrutinized him, "You're the first person ever to come by themselves. How did you know about the job applications?"
"I." Enma snapped his mouth shut, tense and wracking his brain to figure out a way to answer her, "I. Someone told me. I don't remember who at the moment. But."
Her eyes bore into his own, "You came from the Sky Temple?"
"Ah, yes?"
"Did the Head Priest approve of you coming over?"
"Yes."
Haru cocked her head to the side, "And they didn't tell you about the recommendation?"
"No, they didn't."
Haru gave him a strange look before she returned to her previous cheer, "Well, no matter! It's not like you did something wrong! So, relax! See you later, 'kay?"
Enma nodded mutely and walked out of the building. That was back to the Sky Temple with him. Again.
(It wasn't like he had another place to go to.)
.
Twenty minutes and going through many winding corners to get to one of the main roads in the city later, Enma was absolutely thankful to the natural slope of the land and the Temple being built on the very top, otherwise, he'd have been lost ten times over.
He clutched the paperwork tighter to his chest as he walked across the bridge to reach the Temple. He was met by Tsu once he approached the building, Tsu having just come down the stair-case rising at the side of the building.
"How did it go?"
"They gave me paperwork to fill out."
Tsu hummed, "We can go over it in the library and then I can start you off with your training. Is that okay with you?"
"Sure."
.
After the two sat down next to each other on the couch in the secret room, Enma spread the forms between them.
Tsu tugged the hood off and brought their face closer to inspect the papers, which brought them close to Enma, who was doing the same.
Enma tried to read the forms, but his attention kept being pulled towards the figure sitting next to him. His eyes trailed over Tsu, taking in the youthful features, the pupil-less orange eyes, the brown hair combed back and carefully pinned at the back of their head with fancily-shaped golden wire.
A ghost of a memory pushed itself to the forefront of Enma's mind, super-imposing a faint image over Tsu's figure.
"Have we met before?" Enma found himself asking.
Tsu jolted a bit, looking at him in slight confusion and- and another expression that Enma couldn't decipher. Something strong, deep in Enma's core, screamed at him to look, look and see. He was looking, and he was seeing, he just wasn't seeing clearly.
A strange expression flitted through Tsu's eyes as they burned brighter; they opened their mouth to speak, but a chime through the room interrupted them.
Tsu closed their mouth, lips pressed tightly into a thin line, eyes dimming before they blazed again, "It looks like there is something that requires my immediate attention. I must go. See you later?"
"Yeah. I'll… try to see what I can do about the forms."
Tsu nodded and left the room and Enma returned to scrutinizing the forms.
He couldn't shake off the feeling that he missed the opportunity to solve all of his current problems, to remember what all those echoing thoughts wanted to communicate to him, to know where he stood, in the grand scheme of things.
.
(Later, he'd look back to this moment and wonder if it really would have been a good thing that Tsu was interrupted when they were.)
.
Filling out the forms was less-terrifying and much easier than he expected, thankfully, which gave him enough time to browse some of the books in the rooms before he went to sleep.
It was strange for him, though, that he was interested in learning what the books had to offer. A part of him could remember that he was never one for learning from books, but that same part felt like there was something important he needed to do, and to do it, he needed to learn from these books.
He pulled a book off the shelves and opened it to read from the first page. It was full of technical explanations and his eyes glazed over two paragraphs in.
He returned the book and tried another and another. Four more books were taken and returned due to the same reason.
He found what he was looking for in the fifth book. He put it on the couch and went through the others looking for similar books, books to help him actually practice with his Spirit Core.
After some time and a good amount of books found, there was a knock from behind one of the walls, "Hey, Enma! It's time for dinner! You better come out now! You already spent a lot of time in there, you can return here tomorrow."
Enma blinked and looked from the books to the wall and back again, before he sighed and went to the entrance; he probably shouldn't be pissing off whichever Priest calling for him. Besides, he needed to go find Tsu and talk to them about trying out a practical learning approach.
.
Two days came and went with no sign of Tsu. Asking the other Priests gave him nothing useful aside from knowing that Tsu was unexpectedly busy and couldn't come to the Temple for a few days.
And so, Enma spent the time either practicing meditation like the books suggested or talking with Skull who came by daily.
On the third day, he decided to go and turn in the forms, if Tsu wouldn't be returning anytime soon, then Enma needed to get his work done without Tsu around; Tsu was going to have to adjust to the possible new schedule.
He fiddled with the hem of his shirt as he gave Haru the forms, worrying that he passed the deadline for turning the papers in.
Haru smiled at him reassuringly, "You came back just in time, today was the last day."
Her eyes flitted behind him and she blinked, "Tsuna! I almost didn't see you there behind Enma!"
Enma blinked and turned around to see who was standing behind him without his notice.
He was met with pupil-less, amber eyes and a messy, brown hair done in a braid that was left to drape over one shoulder.
Tsuna's eyes drilled into his.
"Oh, Tsuna! This is Enma! He was just turning in his application forms!"
Tsuna reached a hand towards her and she handed the forms over, he clutched them in his hand, all the while maintaining eye-contact with Enma.
"You're hired."
"Eh?" Haru cocked her head to the side in confusion, Enma unconsciously mirrored her. Tsuna didn't even spare the forms any glance, how could he decide whether Enma was a decent applicant or not?
"I'm Tsunayoshi of the Vongola, the current head of the group," Tsunayoshi spoke, voice emotionless, the spark in his eyes sending a foreboding chill down Enma's spine, "Pack up, we're leaving in half an hour." After he said his piece, Tsunayoshi turned on his heel and left the building.
Enma turned to look at Haru, who looked as confused as he was.
Haru recovered quickly, though, and returned to smiling at him, "You heard him. You've been hired. It's best if you go back to the Temple now and pack up whatever you have for a trip. The boss will pick you up from there."
"How sure are you that he will?" Enma asked, voice faint.
"He didn't tell you where to meet him, did he?"
"No."
"There you go. Now go, you have a job to prepare for."
Enma speed walked to the entrance, breaking out into a jog once he left the building. He was distracted all the way to the Temple, wondering what type of job he could possibly be hired for on the spot. Did Tsunayoshi even check to see the content of his application forms? What if he did after he left and decided that maybe Enma wasn't suitable for it after all? Or maybe it was generic and anyone could do it?
Enma sighed, even when he thought things would get somewhat clearer, he was proven wrong. At least he only had a couple sets of clothes aside from what he was wearing at the moment, so he didn't have to worry about over-packing.
.
Tsunayoshi came to get him in thirty minutes, just like he said.
He stalked towards him where he was sitting in the Temple's main hall and dragged him outside, then over to the stairs to the side, up the stairs until the balcony made out of the Temple's roof, and the highest point on the land. The Vongola's ship was floating up in the air already with the gangplank pulled down.
Tsunayoshi walked up the gangplank and Enma scrambled behind him. The moment the two were inside, the ship started moving and Enma gathered enough courage to ask, "What is it that you took me on for?"
Tsunayoshi gave him an inscrutable look and Enma was stricken; there was something way too familiar about Tsunayoshi's eyes, Tsunayoshi's voice and Tsunayoshi's mess of hair.
He opened his mouth, about to ask Tsunayoshi if the two ever met before, when Tsunayoshi cut him off with a careless hand wave towards the rest of the corridor they were in, "Today is just a scout mission, to give you the chance to interact first-hand with what we want you to work with. Until we arrive, make yourself comfortable, go explore the ship or something. I'll be on the deck in case you needed anything."
"Have we met before?" Interrupted before or not, the desire to know was too strong to keep a tight lid on the question and it tumbled past his lips.
Tsunayoshi gave him yet another inscrutable look as he took a couple of steps forward and right into Enma's space. Raising his head, he looked Enma in the eye and whispered, "Have we?"
Enma's throat suddenly felt tight, and his eyes blurred with slight tears as he was struck with the spontaneous urge to cry and hug Tsunayoshi for all he was worth and not let him go.
"Are you two done yet?" Lambo's bored drawl cut into the tense atmosphere like a sword; Tsunayoshi retreated and walked away passing by Lambo on his way while Enma took a deep breath and braced himself against the nearest wall.
"That looked pretty intense."
Enma blinked out of his stupor and focused on Lambo, "Huh? Oh. Yeah, I… don't know what happened. I just asked him if we met before- he looked very familiar and-" And what? What more was Enma supposed to say when even he didn't know what he was exactly feeling at the moment aside from a great sense of relief that threatened to knock him over. Relief and happiness and giddiness and yearning and eagerness, eagerness to what he didn't know but he wanted, oh he wanted-
"Hey!" Fingers snapped in his vision, jolting him out of his musings, "You spaced out for a moment there."
Enma refocused on Lambo, who gestured to him to stand up (when did he sit down? He didn't remember) and pulled him along down the hallway, "We should probably get you to put your things in one of the rooms before we take you to meet the rest."
.
It didn't take long to introduce Enma to the others on board; some of them he met before, like Chrome, Yamamoto and Ryohei. There was the teen who took Enma to the Vongola offices a few days back, who was introduced as Gokudera. And there were others he hadn't met, like Chrome's brother, Mukuro, Ryohei's sister, Kyoko, and Hibari, never mind Tsunayoshi.
Their destination was the island Enma woke up on days ago.
(Enma had to blink at that thought; had it been only few days since then? It felt longer than that to him.)
The ship stopped at the edge of the island and dropped down the gangplank.
Yamamoto must have seen Enma's curious look and responded, "We're not going in with the ship because we'd rather keep it on standby in case of sudden emergencies in the main land that may require help from us."
Enma nodded in understanding as he followed after Yamamoto down the gangplank.
The group consisting of Tsunayoshi, Hibari, Kyoko, Yamamoto and Enma trekked through the forest to the small shoreline near the river, crossing it to start climbing the mountain on the other side. Enma was surprised to see a pathway well-hidden between the rocks jutting out of the mountain. Tsunayoshi led them through it with ease.
The moment they reached the top point and started to descend, Enma was stricken with a sudden sense of fear that almost froze him in place. The group momentarily stopped, and Enma wondered if they wanted to take break.
They didn't; in fact, Enma saw that they only stopped for mere moments, enough for Tsunayoshi to take out a vial from one of his pockets and knock back half of its content. The group, and Enma didn't even notice them tense up, relaxed only after Tsunayoshi drank from whatever it was the vial contained. Enma wondered if it was a medicine that Tsunayoshi needed.
As the group moved again, Enma noticed the formation changing; previously, Tsunayoshi was at the front, followed by Yamamoto, then Enma himself, then Kyoko then Hibari (Enma belatedly realized that they were keeping him in the middle), now, Tsunayoshi hung back until he was walking next to Enma and Kyoko moved forward to walk behind Yamamoto, keeping Hibari at the rear.
The moment the group made it out of the pathway cleverly hidden in the mountains, the town that lay beyond the mountain range came into view.
Enma's heartbeat sped up until he could feel his heart violently slam against his ribcage and the blood pressure pound in his ears.
The buildings seemed to have suffered heavy damage some time back but they looked like someone put in the effort to rebuild them.
Then Enma saw the pedestals.
Rows upon rows of protected pedestals, each cushioned and bearing crystals in many colors, intact, broken, beat up or simply shattered, leaving shards to rest on the cushion, all lined up in rows that looked more like grave markers than a jewelry display.
And the wave of emotions and memories that Enma didn't know he was holding back crashed on top of him, pulling him under, choking him with inconsolable grief, suffocating him with images of blood and sounds of screams and smoke and calls for help-
In the distance beyond the buildings where the Walls circled around, stood a huge pair of doors, open wide.
A sense of visceral fear lanced through him, knocking the breath from his lungs and forcing him into his knees.
He was grabbed by a hand; he only saw a flash of concerned amber ey- orange? Was that Tsu? What was Tsu doing here? He thought deliriously as a soothing voice reached his ear, barely heard over the roar of memories and pain and-
Something was brought to his lips, and then he felt a hot liquid slide down his throat; the burn brought a sudden, very brief moment of clarity.
In that moment, he knew, without a shadow of doubt, that this town was his hometown. This is where he came from; this is where he used to live before it was attacked. The doors, he must close them. The town was gone everyone was gone he was all alone.
Fatigue swept through him and his vision turned to black as he faded away from consciousness.
.
When he woke up, he was feeling groggy, throat dry and limbs as heavy as lead.
"You're awake." Enma heard Yamamoto say before he saw Yamamoto come into view, leaning over him with concern lining his face, "You haven't been out of it for long, we moved you back to the ship and now we're on our way to continue the patrol and drop you off at the Temple."
"Wh-what happened?" Enma asked, voice hoarse.
"You received quite a shock when we reached the town. Thankfully, Tsuna brought enough from his special medicine for the two of you," Yamamoto explained as he gave Enma a glass of water.
"Special medicine? Shock?" Enma asked after he gulped down the offered water.
"Yeah." Yamamoto scratched the back of his neck, "The town gives Tsuna flashes as bad as the one you had back in there, and since we come and go there quite a lot, we ended up coming up with a recipe that will keep Tsuna alert, he drinks it before we head in. The vial he had on him? That would be his special medicine.
"He had no idea how you would react to the town yourself, so he kept half of what he had on him for you in case of emergency."
Enma blinked, "He… he did?" Enma blushed in embarrassment and ducked his head, then he whipped his head up as a though occurred to him, "Wait! How much of the medicine did he need? I remember he only drank half of the vial. Did he need the other half?"
"Well…" Yamamoto trailed off, "Kinda? It's not life or death if that's what's worrying you."
"But there are side-effects?"
"Well, yeah. The medicine helps him handle the emotional upheaval from the flashes."
Enma moved to stand up and go look for Tsunayoshi; Yamamoto hovered over him, making sure he'd be there to catch Enma if his legs failed him, "And what is going to happen to him since he didn't take the full vial?"
"Ah." Yamamoto's smile had a strange lilt to it, "His feelings go haywire. He needs half the regular dose, a full vial, to stave off the initial onslaught of the flashes. He can deal without the other half, so it's okay."
"No, it's not okay." His feelings went haywire? That didn't sound like fun to Enma who spent the last few days having mood swings.
Yamamoto looked amused, and Enma snapped slightly, "Why didn't he have more on him then?"
"It takes a lot of time to prepare the medicine. And given that we've been going to the town more frequently lately, we could only make time to make one dose between visits. Ah, there we are."
Enma noticed that Yamamoto had guided him towards the deck.
Out on the deck, the atmosphere was light with amusement and faint chuckles. Enma did not understand what they were all being so cheerful about.
Then a blur jumped at him, arms wrapped tightly around his neck and pupil-less amber eyes blinked innocently at him.
Tsunayoshi grinned at him, "Enma! Enma! You're awake!"
Enma gave Yamamoto a shocked look; Yamamoto merely sent him an amused grin, eyes twinkling as if to say 'yeah, that happens'.
"Hey, Enma," Tsunayoshi mock-whispered, "How are you? You aren't still sleeping, right? Right? I don't want you to go sleep and stay asleep for so long again, okay?"
"O… kay?"
Tsunayoshi nodded vigorously, "Yeah, I don't want you to go red crystal on me again, you got it?"
Enma almost choked in shock.
"Hey! Heyhey! Did you hear me? No crystal-ing on me! Understand?"
"Yeah, sure, I understand," Enma said distractedly as his brain whirred with half-remembered memories about crystals.
"Good." Tsunayoshi nodded, then he pulled Enma down while pushing himself up and sloppily pressed his lips against Enma's, who completely froze in place.
"Very good!" Tsunayoshi disentangled from him and skipped over to Kyoko and nuzzled her cheeks, "Kyokooooo! You have pretty eyes, can we cuddle?"
"Sure thing, Tsuna." Kyoko smiled brightly.
Her smile didn't falter, even though it did soften into a tender smile, when Tsunayoshi went and tightly hugged a blushing Gokudera before plopping himself to lay down with his head on Hibari's lap, face pressed into Hibari's stomach, before starting to hum.
Hibari's hand went to Tsunayoshi's hair, but Hibari wasn't looking at him; he was looking straight at Enma with an inscrutable look.
Enma didn't pay the look a lot of attention as he was busy clamping down a hand on his mouth and asking Yamamoto, "What… what was that?"
"Ah, don't worry, he does that."
Kyoko beckoned Enma towards her and patted the seat next to her, "Sit down, Enma, we still have some time left until we arrive at the land, so it's better if you just relax for the time being."
Enma sat down next to her, marveling at the quiet atmosphere; he'd honestly expected them to be rowdier than this, he'd overheard some stories about their rambunctious attitude from people in Vongola City and at the Temple and thought he'd be seeing it first hand, apparently not. Not that he was complaining, he had enough excitement to last him a week.
Casting another look around the deck, he realized why they were all quiet: Tsunayoshi's body was moving with the quiet, steady breathing of a sleeping person. At some point, Mukuro had thrown a blanket over Tsunayoshi while Ryohei and Chrome had moved to sit on either side of him and Hibari like silent sentinels.
It appeared that he wasn't the only person who had enough excitement for the day.
.
When the Vongola crew asked Enma if he wanted to be dropped off in the City or at the Temple, he picked the City; the walk would give him enough time to think about what happened with him.
But when he went down to Vongola City, he met up with Skull, "Oh, Skull, hi."
"Why the unenthusiastic greeting?" Skull sniffed imperiously.
Enma smiled in amusement, "It's not you, I'm just tired."
"Oho?" Skull's eyes gleamed and he draped himself over Enma's shoulder, "First day at the job, eh? How was it?"
"Exhausting. And very informative."
"Informative is good, no?" Skull straightened up and gently elbowed Enma in the side.
"Yeah." Enma hesitated slightly, wondering if he should tell Skull or not before throwing caution to the wind, "You know the island, where you found me? I'm from there."
"Well, no shit."
"Not like that! I mean, the mountain? There's a town behind it."
Skull's eyes zeroed in on him, "Oh?"
"But no one is there anymore. They are all… gone now. It seems I'm the only one left."
Skull threw an arm around Enma's shoulders, "Well, you're here now, right? Alive and well? On your way to rebuilding your life? You have a job, you have a place to stay when only, what, three days? Four days? ago, you had nowhere to go and didn't know what to do with yourself. That's a great achievement."
"Well, I guess you're right."
"Tell you what? Since you're done for the day, and I can't find the Head Priest anywhere, how about we go and hit one of the food houses to celebrate your new job?"
.
Enma returned to the Temple late at night, exhausted but feeling slightly better.
He was met with Tsu on his way to his bedroom.
"Oh, Enma! Sorry for not meeting up with you these last couple of days." Tsu sounded tired as they gestured to Enma to continue walking, "Hazards of being a Priest, I'm afraid, and juggling two jobs." Tsu sighed, "That's what we get for having two separate lives. Why did I even decide to join the Temple in the first place?" Tsu shook their head, "Anyway, if you don't have anything tomorrow, then how about we finally get to those lessons?"
Enma considered the topic; the events of the day certainly had him consider taking the lessons with utmost seriousness, "Sure. I honestly can't wait."
"Did you start with anything without me?"
"Meditation."
Tsu hummed thoughtfully, "That's a good place to start, have you been doing it for the last couple of days consistently?"
"Yeah, I didn't feel comfortable practicing anything without supervision, so I stuck to meditation."
"Good, good." Tsu stopped in front of Enma's room, "At least we could start you off with basic things instead of starting on meditation. Good night, Enma."
"Good night."
.
Enma met Tsu the next day after breakfast in the secret library room; Tsu was already sitting on the couch with various books spread around them.
As Enma headed towards them, Tsu asked, "What do you want to start with?"
Enma flashed back to the open doors in his hometown and blurted out, "Sealing."
"Huh." Tsu's tone was neutral, "I didn't expect you to pick something like this; usually sealing isn't one of the first thing someone picks out." Tsu searched through the books before getting out a book on sealing and handing it to Enma.
"Before we start, did something strange happen with you yesterday? I know that you went to the island, did you find something there?"
Enma curiously looked at Tsu, who must have understood what Enma was wondering about as they said, "You know the Temple put out a request to explore the island."
"Oh, the request Skull picked up."
"Yes. Anything of note?"
Enma replayed his memories of the previous day and mentioned the one that stuck out vividly in his mind and he felt comfortable enough to voice out loud, "My boss kissed me."
"WHAT?!" Tsu squawked out, clearly shocked and incredulous, "What do you mean your boss kissed you?! Why didn't I hear of this before?"
"It's okay." Enma waved a hand, "He didn't mean anything by it."
"Where…" Tsu started, stopped, and started again, voice strained, "Where did he kiss you?"
"On the mouth."
Tsu radiated incomprehension, their hands grasping their robes tightly.
"Hey, it's okay. Come on, what about the lessons on sealing?"
"Sealing? Oh, yes, sealing," Tsu muttered distractedly before shaking themself out of their stupor.
"Okay, let's begin."
.
Enma logically knew that the topic of sealing was a complex and difficult one, he just didn't realize how much until after the tenth consecutive day of lessons on sealing when he laid down on his bed, feeling his brain leaking out of his ears. He hadn't received a call for a job from the Vongola during, and he didn't know whether to consider it a blessing (the lessons were time, energy and attention consuming by themselves, he didn't need something else on top of it all) or a curse (the lessons were extensive and time-consuming and he wouldn't have minded something different to take his mind off of it).
Luckily, Tsu seemed to understand his predicament and gave him a couple of days to himself.
Enma spent the first day of his break walking around the City and wandering the Vongola offices. The second day, he spent at the Temple with Tsu and some of the other Priests.
Tsu even dragged him to watch the sunset from the Temple's balcony.
Enma leaned on the railing, his eyes gazing at the setting sun in the distance, its glowing figure gradually disappearing behind the Walls, leaving the sky dyed in pinks and oranges and the Walls glittering with a rainbow-like sheen.
"Hey, Enma," Tsu started.
"Yes?"
"Do you know why I gave you a day off from lessons?"
"Because we needed the break?"
Tsu hummed, head bowed over the railing as they appeared to be staring down the straight drop from where they were perched and into the sea below, "Something like that. There is another thing: I needed you well-rested to do something."
"What is it?" Enma blinked.
Footsteps echoed in the air as someone ascended the stairs leading up to the balcony. Moments later, Skull appeared at the top of the stairs.
His eyes landed on the two of them and he headed towards them, slowing to a stop a few meters away.
"Oi, Head Priest!" Skull crossed his arms, "I've been scouring the island for around two weeks now, are you not done with that request yet? Because I gotta tell ya, I'm not going to occupy my time with a single request. I've got other things to deal with, you know?"
Tsu turned to face Skull, "You're right. But I find it curious that you never mentioned the town beyond the mountains. I know Enma told you about it."
Enma stiffened; how did Tsu know about the town?
"If you knew about it, why would you need me to tell you?"
"Good question." Tsu leaned back on the railing, "I only needed to know that you know where to find it, is all." Tsu reached up to their hood and pulled it back, causing Skull to draw back from shock.
"Wha-?! What are you doing? Why are you taking off your hood?!"
Enma would like to know the answer to that, too.
Tsu merely smiled at Skull, "It's because I'm retiring from my position as Head Priest."
Enma cocked his head to the side, "Is juggling two jobs that stressful to you?"
Tsu looked at him with slight surprise, "In a way, yes. But also because recent development may cause me to be away from here, so I won't be able to attend to my duties at the Temple."
"Oh." Enma fiddled with his fingers, Tsu gave him a curious look.
"You." Skull pointed at Enma, "Are taking this way too calmly. And you-" He pointed at Tsu, "-Did you just decide on retiring?"
Tsu shrugged, "Not really, I already told the other Priests. Starting from tomorrow, another Head Priest will be taking up the mantle."
"And where will you go?" Enma asked, subdued.
Tsu looked up to the sky, and Enma and Skull followed their gaze to see the Vongola's ship flying over to the Temple.
"You work for the Vongola?" Skull gave them a piercing look.
Tsu's lips stretched into a wry smile, "In a way."
The ship descended, only halting when it was low enough to stretch the gangplank to the balcony.
"Enma," Tsu started, their voice already changing from its usual soft tone to something deeper, stronger, and surprisingly familiar to Enma, "The Vongola is here with another job for you."
"What job?" Enma wished someone would explain just what exactly was happening.
"You know why you asked to learn sealing."
Enma stiffened, "The… doors?"
"Yes." Tsu's hands went to the neckline of their cloak and tugged it over their heads to take it off before discarding it over the railing and letting it float down to the waters below, leaving them in pants, a shirt and a coat.
Enma was stricken with the similarities between Tsu and Tsunayoshi; if Tsu had a different eye-color and their hair was longer and spikier at the top, they'd have easily passed as Tsunayoshi's twin sibling.
Then Tsu blinked and the orange in their eyes receded to leave amber in its wake.
"This is the end of it, I guess. Come on, Enma. We have a couple of doors to close." Tsu reached to the ornament keeping their hair in place and took it off, carefully hiding it in their clothes; their hair tumbled down in a long braid and wild spikes and Enma was left swallowing dryly as he had to affirm to himself the transition Tsu just made into Tsunayoshi.
Tsu (? Tsunayoshi?) gestured to Enma to climb up the gangplank, which he did, Tsu-Tsunayoshi following in his steps, leaving a very shell-shocked Skull behind.
Once Enma reached the deck and the gangplank was pulled back for the ship to fly off, Enma turned to look at Skull, who looked back at him with a glint in his eyes. Enma did not know what the glint meant, but it comforted him.
He was confused, and had a lot of questions, but at the moment, what mattered was knowing just what Tsu-Tsunayoshi wanted from him.
.
The journey to the island was a quiet one with a somber atmosphere.
Enma didn't know why, but he knew he felt terrified. There was a sense of finality in what he was about to do (if his assumption was correct). Looking at Tsunayoshi who was just leaning on the ship's railing and the way the other crew members (there was almost twice as many people this time around, Enma vaguely noted) milled about, subdued, Enma knew there was no turning back from this point.
(Deep inside, Enma desperately wished to know what brought him to this point. Many questions whirled around in his mind, unvoiced. Enma wondered if Tsunayoshi had answers and if he would answer truthfully if asked.)
The ship reached the island and half the crew descended- Tsunayoshi, Yamamoto, Gokudera, Lambo, Mukuro, Chrome, Hibari and Ryohei, accompanied by Enma.
Kyoko and a guy with long, silver hair watched them leave from the deck.
Enma's group trekked silently through the woods, crossed the river and climbed the mountain.
At the same spot Tsunayoshi stopped last time, they stopped again to let Tsunayoshi get out two vials and offer one to Enma.
The group didn't start moving again until after both Enma and Tsunayoshi drank the medicine in the vials.
Enma honestly had no idea how a liquid could stop someone from succumbing to the flashes like the one he had when he was here the last time. He was honestly half-skeptical of the 'medicine' being effective.
The skepticism lasted until he reached the town and a heat coursed through his veins, burning through the images and echoes that threatened to swallow him up.
Tsunayoshi led the group through the town to the doors. Right at his heels, Enma kept his eyes focused ahead, refusing to spare a glance to the pedestals lining the place.
Enma broke off from behind Tsunayoshi and walked to a spot in front of the doors and lowered himself to the ground on his knees.
The actions felt ingrained in his body, like a muscle memory he didn't know he had before.
His hands moved before stopping mid-air.
He- he was missing tools. He needed to use something to properly do… whatever he had to do.
Chrome walked to his side and offered him a bag he accepted quietly and rummaged through it to get out a couple of brushes, a very small bowl, an inkwell, a small blade and bandages.
Chrome stood and stepped away as he started working.
He first took the blade and pressed it against the pad of his left index finger, deep enough to break skin and cause blood to well up. He dragged the blade down his finger, creating a red line of blood; he repeated the same action to his other five fingers before breaking the skin of his palm in three lines.
He then repeated the same process to his other hand before dripping the blood into the bowl. After he deemed the gathered blood enough, he grabbed the brushes, each in one hand, and dipped them in the blood- and then he proceeded to use both brushes to draw intricate designs and symbols on the floor in front of him.
As he worked, the rest sans Tsunayoshi walked forward towards the doors, shoulders set and backs straight, almost as if they were heading to war.
Enma refused to look at them as they, he knew without needing to look, passed the doors into the other side.
After Enma finished, he carefully put the two brushes at the center of the design he just made and reached for the bandages. He quickly and efficiently wrapped them around his hands.
A part of him was marveling at how he didn't flinch at the pain, the self-inflicted injury to get the blood, and the ease with which he handled the whole procedure- and wondered how many times he'd done it already in the past.
He stared up at the sky and realized something important: for all he created the best seal he could think of, it was useless against the doors as they still stood open. He needed someone to close them.
A movement from the side drew his attention to Tsunayoshi who moved to crouch next to him, careful not to smudge the seal, and reached under his shirt to a bag that was hanging around his neck and gave it to Enma, "You've done your duty." Tsunayoshi tightly clasped Enma's hands around the bag, making Enma wonder what it contained.
Tsunayoshi stood and walked to the others beyond the doors. Enma did not want to look, but he forced himself. It was important that he watch now.
Tsunayoshi stood among his people, facing Enma, and raised his arms to the side.
His eyes were bright and not as pupil-less as Enma was used to seeing- there were compass-like pupils marking them and Enma's breath caught in his throat.
Strings of symbols curled around Tsunayoshi's arms and extended out, reaching to the edges of the doors and clasping them. The strings then pulled, dragging the doors to the middle to close them.
Enma was frozen in place, the only thing stopping him from breaking under the pressure and desire to sob was the heat still coursing through him since he drank whatever 'medicine' the vial he was given, held. A part, deep inside him of him knew that he was losing the last connection to his past in that very moment.
And then the doors closed.
Enma clutched the bag to his chest, fingers trembling slightly, wondering what was supposed to happen next.
He felt a sharp tug in his chest as the seal created on the ground glowed brightly, its edges expanding and spreading to the doors, entwining and crisscrossing to form a tight web covering the entirety of the doors. The glow receded, leaving behind the seal's lines made from red crystal rather than the blood they were made from originally.
Enma backpedalled until his back hit the wall of one of the houses and slid down to the ground, curled up and tightly clutching the bag in his hand.
.
.
.
He didn't know how long he spent in that position before Skull found him and he didn't remember how he made it back out and into the ship.
It was the second time Skull found him in the island and brought him out, stumbling, lost and confused; it was the second time that Skull brought him out and it was like he was brought into a new world that was both familiar and not.
This time, they rode the ship back to the main land. But everything was already different. It was someone Enma didn't know behind the wheel, there were other people Enma didn't know walking around the ship, and Enma knew that he was going to find a different Head Priest when he returned to Vongola City.
At least he had Kyoko and Skull with him.
Enma directed his attention to the bag he had kept tightly held to his chest. Opening it, he carefully spilled its contents to his hand and lap.
Crystals of different forms, colors and sizes tumbled into view.
He stiffened as he looked them over; there was one, perfectly round, reddish-pink crystal, a group of brown shards, a cracked, blood red, oval crystal and a group of shining, orange, drop-shaped crystals.
His breath hitched in his throat as he gingerly touched the reddish-pink crystal.
An image flashed in his eyes of a little girl, red-haired, red-eyed with the same pupils as his, smiling widely.
Tears spilled out of his eyes as he curled up around the crystals he held and wailed.
.
End
Keep an eye out for the AUAU which will be a companion fic-slash-sequel of sorts. It's going to be posted in a couple of days~
Title: Red Crystal – Reload
Summary: Tsunayoshi of the Vongola picks a different choice and decides to be perfectly honest with Enma from the start.