Alright, so, as said before, this will be the last chapter taking place in the Underworld for the next few chapters. I might make an exception for a chapter about Chika, but we'll see. We'll be going back to the surface gang!
Also, I'm aware this is a slightly shorter chapter, but that's because I wanted to get it out before going back to the surface characters.
Honoka blinked. She was definitely back in the Underworld. Yoshiko was still staring off into the distance. She could still feel Hanayo behind her, her partner still holding onto her hand. Even though she was aware of being back, she stayed perfectly still, her mind frozen for the first few seconds of her return until it launched into what their situation now was.
The First Demon Lord was dead. Was he? Was he really? Autumn had said so herself. And Honoka had no reason to doubt her. But… how? Honoka sucked in her breath as her brain continued down that line of thought.
How did Autumn know? She wasn't the Void, she couldn't just… know things. The void was capable of finding out almost anything it wanted to know with no effort. However, the other styles, as far as anybody was aware, couldn't do the same. That was something like Void's special trait, why it stood out among the other styles. So how? How did Autumn know? How did the Four Seasons know? If they knew, someone related to the Four Seasons had to know. But who?
Had Ryoma and his master killed First when they faced him and Second? No. Unless Void had lied to her, Seira had gone to the Underworld to fight First herself. Had Seira killed him? According to Void, First had needed to recover after the fight, but he shouldn't have died. Could he have died from the injuries anyways? After Seira left? But wouldn't Void know that already? Honoka regretted the fact that she didn't have enough time to ask Autumn more. She just wanted to know how long. How long had the First Demon Lord been dead?
It's possible that he died sometime between Seira injuring him and the current day, but again, wouldn't Void know that already? Unless Void was keeping it a secret which really wouldn't surprise her. But in that case was it also being kept secret from Yoshiko? Hell, did the Master of Void even know? Was the Void not even informing them?
Nothing made sense. For now, she would assume that even the Void didn't know for some reason. It was possible after all. Regardless of if Void knew, the Four Seasons did. Which meant she wasn't the first to learn about First's death. But… she could find no reason not to rule out Ryoma, his master, and Seira. Even if only one of them knew at the time it happened, they would have passed that information down the line of the Four Seasons even if they didn't report it to HQ.
"What… What's going on...?" Honoka mumbled, low enough that she thought neither would hear her. And she was right about Yoshiko who was still in a trance, but not her partner who she felt shift at her words. Hanayo turned to face her.
"Are you done, Honoka-chan?" Concern dotted Hanayo's words and Honoka glanced back at her before looking over to Yoshiko and sighing.
"Yeah, but we should wait for Yoshiko-chan to finish before talking. It'll be more like an exchange of information anyways." Hanayo nodded slowly.
As if on cue, Yoshiko staggered for a second before catching herself. Her breathing was labored and her knees shaky, even more so than the last time Honoka had seen her commune with the Void. She looked over to them and took a second to catch her breath before making her way over to them.
"I apologize. That took longer than expected." Her eyes kept drifting to the ground or the side, she was obviously avoiding eye contact with either of them as she spoke.
"Um… is something wrong, Yoshiko-chan?" If she had to describe it, it was almost like… fear? No, not quite. But she definitely looked torn over something. Despite how obvious it was, she just shook her head.
"Nothing." She cleared her throat. "I've communed with the Void. I've learned a decent amount. Let's start with something that should have been an obvious question. Why have we encountered so few demons since arriving here, the very birthplace of demons?" She waited for an answer than neither of them could provide. "It's because of where in the Underworld we are. We're very close to the centre, the domain of the Demon Lords. Well, in terms of region, we are already in the centre, but not the true centre. The true centre being where the Demon Lords reside. We're nearing there but, according to the Void, we won't be able to see it until we're actually there."
Honoka remained silent, wondering if she should tell her about what she had heard. It was obvious that she should, right? But what if Yoshiko knew already? What if the Void had told her and she hadn't told them? And something was definitely troubling her from that meeting with the Void that she wasn't telling them. Too many things were wrong with their situation and Honoka couldn't connect all the pieces.
"And… What did it say, Yoshiko-chan? What's waiting for us there?"
Yoshiko's eyes snapped from the ground to the ginger in an instant, scanning her face. In Honoka's eyes, it felt like she was silently asking, "Does she know?" Hanayo glanced between the two nervously. Before it got too intense, Yoshiko looked away.
"I'm… not sure. Most likely just First. We have to be prepared for whatever may come though." She nodded and seemed to regain enough confidence to look at the two. "So, that's where we're at. When we get close enough, we should be able to sense the barrier that surrounds the true centre. Because we have demon blood inside of us, we should be able to entre with no problems."
Honoka wanted to tell her. After all, Autumn explicitly told her to tell Void. But… she found herself hesitating, wondering if she should. What was Yoshiko not telling her? The Four Seasons would have no way of knowing what Void knows. So, if they already knew…
Honoka took a deep breath and let it slowly, drawing the eyes of both Void and Hanayo to her with questioning looks. She shook her head and looked away for a second, one last internal debate, but she knew if they were going to beat… whatever awaited them at this "true centre" and go home, they would have to share information. She would just have to trust that whatever Yoshiko was hiding from her was something private, something that didn't involve them or this situation at all.
"First isn't waiting for us." She watched Yoshiko from the corner of her vision and noted the girl's surprise.
"W-What? What are you…?"
"Autumn told me. The First Demon Lord is already dead. I… I don't know who was controlling Seventh, but it wasn't First. She didn't tell me what's waiting for us but… she said that I needed to tell you that."
Yoshiko looked away, bringing a hand to her face in thought. She was mumbling something that the two couldn't quite catch but, at the least, Honoka figured she hadn't known about First from her reaction. She felt herself relaxing as she watched Void deep in thought for a bit before she snapped out of it and turned back to the two girls.
"If that's true… then we definitely must exercise the utmost caution. We were already headed into some unknown territory but now we don't even know who we're up against." She sighed deeply. "Definitely not what we needed. Tch. This just became even more of a pain in the ass. Well, some unknown factors are to be expected. But… at the least, the theory of killing First to end all demons seems to be out the window. I'm sure HQ will be just delighted to hear about this."
"Um… Yoshiko-chan, there's one more thing. Do you have a way to contact people outside of the Underworld through the Void?"
Yoshiko thought for a second then nodded. "It's quite strenuous. And it won't be for long, but it's possible. Unfortunately, I'm not skilled enough to transport our bodies out, but communication should be possible. Who do you wish to contact?"
Honoka thought back to their earlier discussion, about the girl Hanayo had met, about what she called them. If Nico really was… "The Prince of Blades." Honoka nodded to herself. "Yazawa Nico-chan."
Yoshiko held out her hand and the ginger just stared at it in confusion. "Photo. You have to have an old photo or something of her, right? Without that, it's impossible. This isn't magic, I can't just say a name and suddenly contact them. It doesn't work that way. And, even with a photo, I'll have to implore the Void to reach out."
Entrusting the Void itself to do… well, anything, felt wrong to Honoka, but she knew she needed its help this time. If Autumn wanted Nico to know, there was probably a good reason for it. She fished out her cellphone and was glad to see that it hadn't run out of energy in their unknown amount of time there. She went through her photos and pulled out an old one of all of nine of them in some outfits Kotori had made. She smiled at it before shaking her head and handing the cellphone over to Yoshiko, pointing out Nico.
"Hmph. Very well." She handed the cellphone back and took a deep breath. "I'm just exhausting myself so much lately. I never truly thought I would have to use these abilities. Normally it wouldn't be hard to establish long distance communication, but… when you're going between worlds… Let's just say I've never tried it before. I've discussed the possibility with my Master and the Void before and they both confirmed that it is possible. So… I'll reach out."
Yoshiko closed and began mumbling. She summoned her katana to her side and drew it slowly, turning and pointing it in front of her. There was a long pause, Yoshiko saying nothing and barely moving. Honoka and Hanayo stood to the side but Hanayo noticed that the ginger had stepped up a bit, an arm slightly in front of Hanayo as if she was expecting Void to strike out at her. She was afraid of breaking Yoshiko's concentration, so she didn't say anything but took a slight step back.
Hanayo looked back at Yoshiko and saw the ever-looming darkness of the Void shifting around the girl, swirling in what she could only assume was agitation. It's not like she could see how the Void was feeling though. The darkness gathered around Yoshiko's sword, slowly concentrating around the blade. It almost hurt for Hanayo to look at it. It almost felt as if… it was looking back at her, watching her, judging her. She was tempted to speak out to it, but she held herself back. For some reason, speaking to it felt like it would only end terribly for her.
She looked to her partner instead and felt herself falling back a little more. This time she could feel emotions and those were definitely negative. Red leaves shuffled around Honoka's feet violently, rising and falling as if wind was blowing through them. There was agitation, worry… It was unsettling. As the darkness gathered, the leaves continued to rustle until finally, the last of that darkness was around the blade.
Both of the girls sucked in their breath as Yoshiko made a quick slash in front of her, swinging her katana back into its sheath, all in one fluid motion. The slash left behind, just like before, a mass of darkness, a fragment of the Void, no larger than one of them. Sweat trickled down Yoshiko's neck and arms and she plopped herself onto the ground, taking deep breaths.
"Don't… worry about me. I've… just been exhausting myself… too much." She let herself catch her breath before continuing but she was clearly still worn out from the endeavor. She motioned towards the darkness. "Get close and speak into it. But don't touch it and don't try to entre it. Call out to your friend. She'll hear you no matter where she is. Once she hears you, the Void will appear for her as well. Warn her of the same though… if she truly is the Prince of Blades, she would never touch the Void in a million years."
Honoka nodded and cautiously approached the mass of darkness. She swallowed hard, sweat beginning to drip down her back. She was more anxious about this than when she had been ordered to entre the Void. Though, given her experience inside the Void, she figured it was justified. She glanced once at Hanayo who nodded and then to Yoshiko who shot her a questioning glance before nodding herself. Honoka steeled herself and stepped even close until she was sure the Void could suck her in if it wanted to. And the last thing she wanted was to have another face to face meeting with Kanan. She took one deep breath and called out.
"Nico?"
Well, a lot of stuff is going on, huh? I know this isn't the most popular story or anything, but I'm grateful to all of you who continue to read. I hope I won't disappoint you with the upcoming chapters leading to the end.
Thanks for reading.
Till next time. Be seeing you.