"Lights can attract even the blind. It can lead you in the right direction if you learn to listen to it correctly..."

The swordsman gripped his head at first, alarmed by the sudden echoing voices that occupied it. The voices spoke in unison and ranged from feminine to masculine pitches. It didn't take him long to realize that there were more than several of the voices speaking to him at once. Like a weird, demented choir. In his panic, however, he found it hard to take their cliché mask of "wise advice" seriously. All he knew was that he simply could not see anymore. Everything was black a side for an extremely dull patch of blue light.

"Find your way out. Allow Sento to guide you..."

He only knew two things for sure at the moment. One was that he was angry. Very angry. He had been tricked into coming into this god awful tomb that had been abandoned for decades at least. He was angry at the fact that he, of all people, believed that he could trust a stranger to begin with. He knew that 'Song' , the name of the devious man that had lead him there, was much too friendly. He offered too much for a little of nothing which should have ultimately been a red flag from the start.

Second was the fact that he knew his arm was now broken in at least three different places. It was too tender to move and throbbed in an almost unbearable amount of pain. He had most likely injured it in the confrontation against Song, which quickly turned heated once he figured out that he was crooked. Unfortunately, the older man had overpowered him in the turn of events and tossed him on his back. He then held up his hand to him and began to absorb his energy in a odd gesture that he could not quite describe. Soon after that, everything went black and his voice begin to fade. He had left him for dead. And if he didn't get out of that place soon, there would be no doubt that he would succeed...

"Kenshi Takahashi?" A voice asked. This time it was without the others and sounded like the person was near him. It sounded much like a woman, calming and affectionate.

Kenshi reached out in the darkness in a half-hearted effort to feel whoever was speaking to him, but was disappointed to only feel the sharp edge of a blade. It felt familiar. Much like the katana he saw before Song attacked him. He cursed under his breath as he kept feeling around.

Nothing...

Curse the darkness.

"Who's there?" He finally gave up on finding the culprit.

"My name is Sento", she told him. "I am your ally. I will guide you out of here."

Kenshi's eyebrows furrowed as began to grab at the air again. There was an odd feeling of relief and happiness mixed with sorrow that pinged his gut. He was reluctant at trusting strangers even more now, yet he had not much of a choice. He had to get out somehow and Sento had been the first voice he heard.

"Where are you", he inquired as his fingers grazed that same sharp edge. The woman sounded much closer than where she was actually probably standing.

She gave a light chuckle, "You are touching me, Warrior."

Kenshi lifted an eyebrow and gripped the edge even tighter. Instinctively, he winced and pulled away. His palm was now moist with warm liquid and throbbed in pain.

"Why did you do that", she asked slightly perplexed as if that was the dumbest thing she had seen in awhile.

"Do not play games with me, Sento. If that is even your name to begin with. Where are you? I only feel a blade!"

The woman was silent before sighing, "That is because I am the blade, Kenshi. I am the katana you sought. Now, pick me up so that I can guide you as promised. We cannot stay here forever and you are injured."

The swordsman was never the type to believe in magic or supernatural legends. Even as a kid, he would scoff at the other kids at his school who would always express concern over silly things such as 'Namahagesedo' (a sorry excuse for a Boogeyman) or that stepping on cracks would result in spinal injuries of their mothers. However, a talking katana took the cake. There was no way he was not being tricked right now.

"You expect me to believe that you are an inanimate object that can talk?" He scoffed. "If you are capable of such amazing abilities, surely you can walk or float to move yourself, right?"

He was sure he could hear a low moan of annoyance from Sento before she spoke again. "You're not far off, but no, I cannot at the moment. And right now, I need you to stop being so stubborn and do as I ask. I mean, unless you want to be stuck here forever. It would be a waste of life though."

"You just said you were a talking sword for Heaven's sake! Who on Earth would believe that?!"

Sento sighed.

"Yes. I know what I said sounds ridiculous, and I witnessed what happened to you. I would not be so easily persuaded after that happening to me as well. Although I do promise that my intent is not to harm you. I am your truthful ally, your partner. And once you learn how to wield me, I will go through great lengths to protect you just as I did your ancestors."

He paused for a brief moment, still reluctant at moving to pick Sento up by (he dare not say it) her 'hilt'. Even if everything sounded insane at the moment, she was right in a way. He needed her to get out of there, and he certainly did not know how to navigate through this darkness all that well. If he wanted to see the light of day again, he would need some help.

Slowly, he moved Sento up and wafted her through the air. She was light in his hands, but also deadly. So sharp that he could hear her blade cut through the atmosphere and slice the air. Like a glove, his hand molded around her cold metal hilt. She moved effortlessly with his wrist.

A perfect fit?

"Good. Now hold still while I channel your mind. You will use me to see where you are going."

He blinked and nodded.

Suddenly, he felt his brain pound against his skull in unison with his now racing heartbeat. He growled out in pain as he moved his hand to grab it, his fingers grasping at a section of his hair. The pain was extremely uncomfortable, and resembled that of an immense hangover after drinking far too much the night before. It felt as if his head was going to explode into a hundred pieces, and that was an understatement. In fact, it was worse than a hangover.

And then, something amazing happened.

For the first time since Song had abandoned him, he could make out everything around him in the room. The statue and throne place of the katana he was now holding, a dusty brown chest and a series of five unlit torches on each side of him. A thin hallway was directly in front of him as well, the same hallway that he had walked through with Song just a few moments before. Everything was just as he recalled. The only big difference (which was certainly hard to miss) was that everything was outlined in this electric blue color. Nothing had been its original hue, almost as if he was color blind.

Kenshi sighed and blinked several times to adjust to the light. This would have to do for now.

He kept scanning the room in hopes of Sento actually being a woman of some sort, but just as she promised, all he saw was the katana in his hand glowing the same tone of blue as everything else.

"It worked!" She exclaimed in glee which resulted in startling the swordsman. This time her voice, like the ones before, was in his head. Echoing and causing more discomfort with each word. He gritted his teeth at the katana. That certainly did not help with the headache.

"Could you not talk so much? It hurts."

The katana rattled in his hand as if giving a sassy retort to his request. "I cannot lead you out if I do not talk, Kenshi. The pain will subside eventually. For now, you will have to deal with it."

He sighed, irritated.

"Go down the corridor in front of you. It is the same one you entered by."

He obliged by taking his steps, eager to leave the tomb. He could imagine that it would only be darker if he was using regular sight since there were no lighted torches. It was convenient, yet scary. He was not use to talking katanas and hearing voices. Maybe this was how it felt when someone lost their mind.

"There were voices...before. More than just you..." He pointed out while still walking at a steady pace and carefully avoiding rocks and stones.

"Yes. Those were your ancestors. The long line of Takashi warriors speaking to you from the afterlife."

He lifted an eyebrow,"And I suppose you are an ancestor as well?"

"No", Sento responded. "I come in many forms throughout each generation. I am the aid to your bloodline. I assure that each one of you live a fulfilled life. It is my job to serve you."

"And then when we die, we end up back here?" He gave the katana a slight glare. He was unsure why he was unnerved by the fact that Sento was basically telling him things about his life that he hadn't learned yet. Perhaps it was a stab at his ego, for he thought he knew everything about himself. Including his pending future.

"It's highly likely. Yet, you make it sound much worse than it seems."

"Oh? Please tell me why being stuck as a spirit in this tomb isn't the worse fucking thing that could possibly happen."

"It isn't. There are more grim are among the luckiest of Takahashis. You are still young when you discovered me. "

Kenshi made a sharp turn where the corridor ended and continued his pace. Ahead, he saw a glim of light. And although blue, he could tell it was the exit. His heart fluttered in joy. He never thought he would be so thrilled to see the lands again. Oh, how he could get back to his life again! Back to the fights and booze. The gorgeous women that would throw themselves at him!

"Kenshi", Sento called out, breaking him from a rather lewd daydream involving his hotel room and a pair of half dressed Japanese twins.

"What is it?"

"You do realize that your life will not be the same after leaving this tomb?" The swordsman grimaced at the question. Either that was a carefully planned inquiry, or Sento was able to read his mind. Neither of them sounded to pleasant to him given the nature of it.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" His voice had taken on a more aggressive tone since he believe the katana had been hiding something from him all along. Growing up an extremely blunt man, he preferred to be talk to as such. Bad news was best told point blank even if it did hurt. And he couldn't help but feel that this was the path the conversation was going down. In addition, he could not help but feel alert thanks to Song's betrayal.

It felt like a long time before Sento began to talk again, and the silence felt all too familiar. It was the type of silence a person would go into when they began to hesitate. The type of silence that carried news that would be life changing. For some reason, it annoyed him. Of course he still didn't believe everything that she told him, but she hadn't given him a reason not to either. How else would she know his full name and speak to him via his mind? How else was she able to give him sight?

"Sento?" He asked more aggressively. The silence was killing him.

She must have sensed it in him as well, because she didn't waste any time speaking after that.

"Do you remember what your ancestors told you just a few minutes ago? About the light attracting the blind?"

They were out of the tomb now, and the warmth bathed Kenshi's skin. Everything was still outlined in blue, however nothing was its natural color. Not the sky, not the grass... Not even the sun...

"What about it?" He couldn't understand why, but he was gripping her tighter. Holding onto her for dear life. His body was now trembling uncontrollably, like he had been caught outside in winter rain. His skull was still thudding wildly like a drum. Everything was so surreal even though he knew he was wide awake.

"They were telling you of your acquired disability. Song not only took an important part of you with him, he abused your ancestors and used you as bait to come here in the first place. He stole their souls to feed his own demented power, and in the process, rendered you completely blind..."

The swordsman in a sudden panic and growing frustration began to shake even more. He had to let Sento's words sink in completely before his knees finally gave out from under him. He felt many emotions along with physical ailments. He was confused, shock and livid all at once. It was an odd feeling stirred along with his doubt. He wanted to yell and scream... Punch something. Anything. He was to vomit from the stench of the tomb. He wanted to pass out right there and never wake up.

Sento...

She had to have been lying. He refused to believe that he was blind from Song's attack. Surely the reason he could not see was because of the tomb's lack of illumination and not because he was blind! He was perfectly capable of seeing, and he didn't need his dusty old ancestors telling him otherwise. He didn't needSento.

Quickly, he tossed the katana somewhere beside him. In that instant, his mind was free again. Free from her voice. Free from the immensely painful migraine. But what he saw was something that shook him to the core. Something that confirmed the katana to have said the truth.

Releasing Sento meant releasing the substitute for sight, and nevertheless, he saw darkness. Pure darkness. He only felt the warmth of the sun fading and the prickle of grass beneath his now sweaty palms. His left arm was throbbing even more prominently now under his weight, and his breaths were short and choppy.

"My god..." He mumbled under his breath. Realization was now settling in. He had no reason to doubt it anymore. No reason to deny or call Sento's words lies. It was the plain and blunt truth right there in front of him. The same darkness he had experienced in the tomb just minutes before...

He was blind.

Author's Note: So I gave Sento a voice, and I made her a female. Well because, why not? Kenshi is the young and ripe age of 23, and most likely needs a motherly figure in his life to boss him around! Lol. Of course this is only the prelude to the story as I want the chapters to be longer than this. The story will mainly involve Kenshi Takahashi and the growth of his character, because he was not always the cool, calm and collected Kenshi we see in the recent installments of Mortal Kombat games. Please review if you have any criticism, questions or just plain old comments! Thanks. :)