Disclaimer: 11eyes doesn't belong to me. If it did, the anime would have been more drawn out and Yuka would be less annoying and clingy.
Chapter 2: 少女は水晶で投獄 (Shoujo wa suishou de tougoku, Girl Imprisoned in Crystal)
Note: Had to fix a minor plot-hole I overlooked.
XxXxX
You know how you get tired when you use too much energy? Magic is kind of like that. Only you are much more likely to die from overuse of magic. It's almost like something very large and important was crushed and no longer in your body.
"You are an idiot," a female voice said as I groaned.
"Don't open your eyes or try to move; your body took quite the beating," another female voice explained when I attempted to move.
"Wha-" I started.
"You used too much magic, dumbass," the first voice answered.
"That explains a lot," I muttered. "Now who exactly is here?"
"You've forgotten the sound of your own mother's voice?" the second voice seemed shocked.
"So I guess the one that's insulting me is Akira?" I put forth.
Akira was an old friend of mine that came by the shrine every week. Her red hair matched her personality when you mention something you shouldn't. I'd rather fight the akuma without any toujinfu than face her wrath.
"Would you mind going away so I can rest? I'd rather not be stuck here without any defense should the world shatter again," I muttered with annoyance in my voice.
"What do you mean by the world shattering again?" Akira asked.
"Nothing you need to worry about. Now could everyone here PLEASE GO AWAY?"
"Jeez, no need to be so rude about it," she muttered as the door opened and closed.
I sighed. "How long you planning to pretend not to be in here?"
"How could you tell?" Yuka asked.
"When did you figure out we were here?" Misuzu said.
"Once everyone left it was confirmed, but I had a feeling there were others prior to that," I explained. "Now, why are you still here when I told everyone to leave?"
"So you won't be 'without any defense should the world shatter again.'" Misuzu answered.
"Lovely. Now I have three people creeping on me while I sleep and one is capable of fighting on even ground with me," I mused.
"Just shut up and sleep. You'll be another burden if we are pulled in again," replied the Onmyouji.
"Glad to see you think so highly of me, Kusakabe," I muttered before blacking out again.
XxXxX
Just like the akai yoru, the buildings bleed darkness and the pitch black moon lurks in the ocean of blood surrounding the city. In the distance, the lights where exploding one by one, showering the street below with more blood.
Zuuuoooooooooo!
As the cry faded into oblivion, creatures only found in nightmares crawled from the pools of blood. They were extremely similar the akuma from the akai yoru, except instead of black bodies, it was red and appeared to be dripping. A trail of gore remained in their wake. The faces were barely human; the eyes where bloodshot and from the corners, large streams of blood were gushing out. The tentacles sprouting out from where one should find arms were a ghostly pale and lined with pulsing blue veins.
XxXxX
Two weeks after I last left the Red Night, I was fully restored. I made sure I had many more toujinfu in my bag, almost two thousand in total. Kusakabe and I also worked on sealing the legendary blade of Susanoo into my forearm, to no avail. Perhaps the seal itself is wrong?
I spent a large portion of my free time looking at the library for anything on this cursed twilight. I even checked some of the Onmyouji books in my parent's house. The lack of information led me to two possible conclusions: Anyone that entered the Red Night never left to record anything, or this is the first time the Red Night has appeared. Either way, we're severely in the dark about this hell.
Following our collective return from the akai yoru, we formed a group with another girl who had also been dragged in and met Misuzu on their first visit. Her name was Yukiko Hirohara. She's rather energetic. Her blond hair is a bit past should-length and almost always tied into twin pony-tails and on top of that, she has very startling blue eyes.
As it turned out, they were all attending Rainbow Academy, while I attended a minor school just for the sake of graduating high school. I had no need for beyond a basic high school certificate as my parents were forcing me to take over the shrine the day I graduated. I fail to see how that will any different than now; I'm the only one that'll touch the damn thing.
We had gathered at my place as we did started doing over the past week. Currently, we were out in the yard. I was tending to the shrine while Kakeru was training to fight with a sword with Misuzu. Naturally, he was getting his ass whooped. Yuka and Yukiko were chatting about something I didn't really care to listen in on.
As I finished with the shrine, I sighed.
"We are done for today," the swordswoman stated.
"Still up for some sparring, Kusakabe?" I grabbed my kendou sword.
As was typical of our bouts, she dove before I even moved into proper form. I shifted my weight to my right leg and perpendicular to her. I brought up the sword just in time to catch the full force of her strike.
I pushed back and dove into a flurry of side-slashes and overhead cuts. Eventually I had her pushed to the edge of what was the designated field. She stood her ground, catching my last slash from the side; she flicked her wrist and knocked my blade from my hand, as she usually did. "I really should correct that sloppy grip, eh?" I muttered. I dove backwards and grabbed the hilt before she dropped down with a double-handed slash. Instead of catching it like I normally would, I rolled to the side and swung at her legs.
After swapping blows for nearly an hour, it was declared a draw. I haven't won or lost one yet, even after five days of sparring.
We bowed and returned the blades to the shed behind my house.
I went into my room to change back into my normal clothes as the world splintered. Pulsing red veins sprouted out of the ground and lined the walls of my house. I leapt for my bag to retrieve the toujinfu, barely grabbing the pouch in time.
Instead of shattering like glass, the veins exploded, showering everything with blood, myself included.
It was everything I could do to keep my lunch down.
Wiping the thick slime from my face, I pushed through the dripping crimson ooze covering the door into the akai yoru.
Zuuuoooooooooo!
"Already? Are the akuma stalking us? Come forth, Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi!" A single ofuda flew out of the pouch and sprouted the blade.
Before I had even stepped outside, Misuzu had summoned the black katana she used when I first met her, Kogarasumaru Amakuni.
"Four fragments, how interesting," a deep, resonating voice said from the shadows.
"Show yourself!" Misuzu called out, bringing up the katana to a defensive stance.
"Repel the darkness, Amaterasu!" I threw another toujinfu straight into the air.
Doooo!
The charm exploded into sparks, forcing back the perpetual twilight that was the Crimson Night. He was there, leaning against the shrine. Armour as black as obsidian, piercing red eyes, and scythes of bone in either hand; this was clearly not one of the regular inhabitants of this eternal, blood-stained darkness.
I shifted uneasily as another much larger creature loomed over the first black knight, for they could be nothing else. He, like the first, had obsidian black armour, rage-filled red eyes and a massive club. The way he carried himself was a sign of a true warrior.
The larger knight stepped around the first and stood not five metres away from us. His voice contrasted with his appearance. It held no malice or ill-intent. "Would you honour me by telling me your name?"
"Kusakabe Misuzu." She positioned herself between the three underclassmen and the knight. The black katana faded and she drew Tachibana Dousetsu Raikiri.
The other knight took several steps around us. I mirrored his movements to keep Yukiko, Yuka and Kakeru from being targeted.
"You there! Do you have a name?" I yelled.
"My name of bane is Ira," the knight I was mimicking replied.
"The name of bane that I shoulder is Gula," I heard the larger of the two say.
"Ira, it would be my pleasure to be your opponent," I took several deep breaths before drawing three more toujinfu. "Hachiman, guide these three to safety." I threw the seals towards the remaining three non-combatants. Upon contact, the ofuda exploded into a brilliant blue light before fading, Yukiko, Kakeru and Yuka were no longer present.
Even though Ira did not have a mouth, I just had a feeling he was smirking.
There was a brief exhale of air as the figure shroud in darkness vanished before reappearing directly behind me. I grunted as he kicked me square in the side. The immense force sent me soaring through the air before crashing into the ground and slashing my left shoulder blade open. Before I could move, another kick sent me flying once more. There was a loud crack as two of my ribs broke.
"Is this the best you have, Fragment?" Ira laughed, kicking me in the side again.
"Cast all aside, Fuujin!" I choked out as I drew one of the ofuda and slammed it into the chest of my attacker. There's a brief moment of silence before a sudden blast of wind exploded out from my hand.
I struggled to my feet, sword in hand. I coughed twice and pain courses through my body. Ira vanished again.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. There! I swung to my right with Tsurugi. I grunt heavily as the sudden impact of my sword causes me to shift the broken ribs a fraction. My pain is rewarded by a yell. Ira reappeared, clutching his right side.
"Return to death," I gasped. I bring up the sword for an overhead attack only for the blade to crash into the armour of Ira's forearms. We both grunt. Blood began to trickle down the hilt.
I leaned into the blade; blood drips down my wrists and seeps through my fingers.
"JUST DIE ALREADY!" I screamed, forcing the blade down even further. The blood oozing from my hands began to gush.
There was a slight crack. Then another. Suddenly the resistance on the blade vanished and it passed through the bones of Ira's arm with a loud crack before smashing through his skull.
The body that was once Ira dissolved into black smoke before fading away.
Susanoo's legendary blade returned to the realm I drew it from as the ofuda split in half.
I rolled over onto my side to recover my energy after the fight and subsequent injuries. I closed my eyes and blacked out.
XxXxX
I awoke to the feeling of movement and warmth. I slowly opened my eyes to find Misuzu carrying me on her back. "Kusa…kabe?" I bit down on my tongue until the piercing pain in my side subsided.
"Are you okay to walk?" she asked.
"Yeah," I muttered.
We stopped and she helped me off her back and standing. I noticed that my shoulder was bound tightly and my side was swollen from the broken ribs.
"Where are Yuka, Kakeru and Yukiko?"
"I don't know," she replied solemnly.
"That spell will make sure they're safe, even if they aren't with us, Hachiman will make sure of that," I explained, carefully looking around to figure out where we were.
One thing was certain: We weren't anywhere near my family's shrine. The buildings around us were short and reminded me of rotting corpses. The trees around us looked as though they were killed with poison or something else toxic.
Four large, red pillars stood several hundred metres in front of us, looking as though they held the black moon away from the earth.
"Kusa—" I started.
"Misuzu," she interrupted.
"Misuzu, were you heading towards the pillars?"
"Yes. Are you alright to walk?" Her voice had a hint of… concern?
"I'll be fine," I answered after taking several relatively pain-free steps.
XxXxX
Misuzu had drawn her seemingly powerless katana to clear our way through the forest. We walked into a clearing from between two pillars to find a girl with long, white hair, a pleading expression, and white clothing encased in the same red crystal as the pillars beside us. When she spoke, her voice was soft and weak, "Help… me…"
I traded looks with Misuzu; neither of us knew what to do. Should we try to help her? Do we just run?
After a couple minutes, and several more pleas, we decided to approach the encased girl.
"Please… help… me," the girl's airy voice floated out.
"Who are you?" Misuzu asked while she looked around the clearing.
"I… don't… know…" the girl broke off.
"Fragments should not be near the crystal; they should be dead," a deep, rumbling voice said from behind us.
When I turned around, there were two more Black Knights standing no more than five metres away. One was without a doubt male. He was at least seven feet tall, obsidian-black armour, and a flowing cape, which looked as though it was a large insect's wing used for its body, trimmed in black strands.
The second was decidedly female. She had long, flowing black hair that also covered her right eye, leather-like armour with a strip of fabric hanging from her waist, leaving her legs exposed. On each arm, she had two black, bloodstained katanas.
"Why do you keep calling us 'fragments'?" I called out.
"Why would you call an object anything but what it is?" the female answered.
"Humans are not 'things.' We are living, breathing creatures," I countered.
"Do you call a cat a person? Or a dog?" she continued.
"Not in the traditional sense…" I said utterly defeated.
"You are a Fragment; a thing which should not exist and must be destroyed!" the female yelled, charging at us.
Both Misuzu and I attempted to perform magic, only for nothing to happen.
The male answered our un-spoken question. "Your powers do not work here, Fragments."
"Of course not! That would be convenient!" I yelled to no one in particular.
I grabbed the nearest rock and threw it in the direction of the rampaging woman. The woman raised her arm. The world splintered. She brought her blade down and the rock exploded, shattering the desolate world that was the Red Night with it.
Suddenly, we found ourselves in the Shin-Ayame Tower.
XxXxX
T/N:
Akuma: lit. "Demon"
Toujinfu: The unblessed ofuda; used for creating the spells
Onmyouji: Followers of Onmyoudou
Onmyoudou: Lit "The Way of Yin and Yang"
Akai Yoru: Lit "Red Night"
Kendou: lit "Way of the Sword"
Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi: Susanoo's legendary blade; lit "Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven"
Ofuda: The charms given out at Shinto shrines.
Zuuoooooooo!: Recreation of the Larvae's scream from the anime.
Kogarasumaru Amakuni: One of the five legendary Kusakabe treasures; lit "Little Crow"
Amaterasu: Goddess of the Sun in Japanese mythology.
Doooo!: Pronounced like "dough"; it's the Japanese onomatopoeia for an explosion (fireworks included)
Tachibana Dousetsu Raikiri: Another of the five legendary Kusakabe treasures, with the power of lightning; Tachibana Dousetsu was a samurai, his blade's name was "Raikiri" (lit "Lightning Cutter")
Hachiman: God of War and the Divine Protector of Japan and its people.
Fuujin: The God of Wind in Japanese mythology.
A/N: There ends the second chapter. I hope I haven't disappointed anyone!
Also, I've decided to try a different style of writing for me: Having the narrator involved in a true pairing (Or attempt it, anyways. ^^;). They are as follows:
Yuka-Kakeru; Toshi-Misuzu; Yukiko-Takahisa (No sense messing with this one, it *is* the pairing from the Visual Novel should the player not follow Yukiko's path.)
Thank you Kiya Yuki for checking this over for consistency and helping keep my darker scenes dark and not breaking that unless needed.