It was like staring into a black spot in reality itself. An entrance to a place that should have never been connected with the world of the living. Even from their distance, Ritsuka could feel its pull, its desire to take their souls and slowly grind them down.
"Sure is inviting," Nobu said with a disgusted look. Mash cleared her throat, gripping her shield tighter as she glanced at Harunobu.
"Is this safe?"
"Not at all." He sighed, before igniting torches for everyone with his fan. "But what other choice do we have?"
With him and Mash in the lead, Kagetora and Amako next to him and Nobu covering their rear, they entered the place. Even with the torches, Ritsuka could barely see anything. Yet he could feel it in the air. Unlike other underworlds he had experienced, this place was... utterly oppressive. It didn't hold a grudge against the living. It wanted to choke them out. There wasn't a hint of kindness, a hint of someone who cared like Ereshkigal. It was a chaotic swirl of darkness, leaving the souls to moan and waste away.
It was awful. Some ghosts were practically crawling towards them in agony. Yet they kept their distance for some reason. Maybe they were afraid. Whatever the reason was... this underworld deserved better. Why wasn't anyone left? Did the gods of this Lostbelt abandon everyone? Or were they defeated? His mind wandered to Hideyoshi, proclaiming himself as a Ruler of Death. He grit his teeth. Ruling in what way? He was apathetic to the needs of his people. Lostbelt Kings like Ivan and Skadi cared. Even if they made mistakes, they still tried their best to keep their subjects alive. But Hideyoshi? He had no such existential threat. No catastrophe that was forcing him to do this.
He did this out of his free will. And he couldn't believe that anyone would ever sink so lowly, from the shining unifier Nobu and Chacha sometimes talked about fondly. Something must have broken him. Something that happened to Chacha. The way he acted when he mentioned her name... Ritsuka exhaled slowly. Perhaps he was being too harsh. While still unforgivable, if he lost Mash and everyone else, he wasn't sure if he could hold onto his values either.
Suddenly, Harunobu stopped, putting a stop to his thoughts. Kagetora blinked, walking up to him, poking his head a few times.
"Haru? What's wrong?"
"...This doesn't make any sense," he muttered, voice utterly baffled. He turned to the others, expression set in disbelief. "This place feels familiar. As if I was here before."
"Wait what?" Ritsuka asked, sharing everyone's confusion. Nobu crossed her arm, carefully moving her torch while doing so.
"I thought you said you never get recycled or whatever the term is."
"I didn't! I think I'd remember a place like this!" Harunobu shouted, waving his light around. Ritsuka bit his lip at the sight. While it would certainly explain his long life span, it was concerning to say the least. The lack of memory. What the actual reason was for keeping him alive, in a place that was supposed to belong to an enemy.
"The Shogun mentioned that he wanted to… play with you. Maybe it's that?"
Harunobu shuddered at Mash's suggestion. He wasn't the only one. That sounded incredibly creepy among a lot of other things.
"Damn it, I hope not," he muttered. As the continued their walk, choosing one path out of many several times, as the ways forked and separated, Nobu suddenly spoke up with a hum.
"I'm wondering who got him that Ruler of Death crap."
"What do you mean?" Ritsuka asked. In response, the warlord raised a finger.
"The guy was a decent warlord. Maybe even good." She lowered it, shaking her head. "But magecraft? Stuff like grabbing divinity from somewhere? No. He's too dumb for that."
"Probably the Serpent?" Kagetora said, poking a ghost away with the butt of her spear. Nobu in return groaned in frustration, rubbing her temple.
"Yes, but who is she?"
Ritsuka pressed his lips together, before sharing a look with Mash, equally as clueless. None came to mind. The only ones that came up in mind in terms of snake theme were Shuten, who would be way different, Orochimaru maybe but he didn't recall her being a shrine maiden and-
His eyes widened in shock. The moment the thought entered his thought he almost immediately dismissed it. No. No way. He turned to Harunobu, who was chatting away with Kagetora, something about the best way to make umeboshi. But sometimes he caught him wearing a weird expression, something that Kagetora seemed to notice but didn't call out. Ritsuka shook his head. No, that idea would be ridiculous. No matter if this was a Lostbelt, she wouldn't...She was completely loyal. That was part of her being. He took a deep breath. Focus. Better things to think about. Like how this place was a total maze. Honestly, he was surprised they weren't lost... yet…
He slowed down before coming to a stop.
"Guys, do you have any idea where we're even going?"
Silence met him. He felt sweat form and run down his skin as he let out a nervous chuckle.
"...We aren't lost, right?"
Yet again, silence. Sheepish as well, as they also began to laugh awkwardly. He palmed his face, exasperation filling his being. Right. They didn't really have a game plan to begin with. It started and ended with "get into Yomi". Well, here they were... with no idea what they were even looking for. Some magical sign that said 'enter the Shogun's castle here'? Someone like Goredolf would yell at them for the lack of foresight. However, Amako twitched for a some reason. She took a deep breath, before narrowing her eyes. Then, she turned to one specific pathway. She reached for the medal around her neck and the feather on her ear, rubbing them to reassure herself.
"Wait, I'm sensing something... "
"Oh thank god." Ritsuka let out a sigh of relief. "What do you sense?"
"Well... less sensing, more getting a vibe?"
As she scratched the back of her head sheepishly, Mash sighed as the others laughed. Ritsuka twirled his hand at her with a smile.
"Better than nothing, lead the way."
Paths upon paths, turns upon turns, Ritsuka's hope of finding something grew and grew. Because the alternative was realizing they would be lost in Yomi forever, which would be kinda bad. Still, slowly but surely, they began to see a light shine from the distance. Usually that meant something bad, but in this place of utter darkness, the light at the end of the tunnel was a good thing for once. Hopefully.
Covering their eyes from the brightness, Ritsuka slowly got used to it. When he opened his eyes... he gaped. A workshop. It reminded him of Da Vinci's place, if less modern and way more Japanese. Mortars, plants, glass with reagents and potions inside. Shelves, lanterns. Not to mention scrolls. A lot of them. All over the place, messy writing indicating notes mixed in with neat writing indicating research literature. Even the ground and the walls were carved in, with a lot of borderline manic research of a magus.
"That's sis' style… " Amako muttered, looking around in shock. At the words, the servants raised their weapons, checking their surroundings. Meanwhile, Ritsuka put a hand on her shoulder, staring at her with concern.
"You sure?"
"She gets weird when she's focused," she said, mirth in her voice.
It was considered bad form to just look up private things. So naturally they threw manners out of the window and began rummaging and reading through all of those notes. Unfortunately however…
"Anyone make any sense of this?" Ritsuka asked helplessly. While it was Japanese and he recognized some words, he sure as heck couldn't form any cohesive meaning out of those. Kagetora long gave up after the first scroll, instead guarding the perimeter with a lazed expression. Mash's head was steaming as she tried to sort the scrolls after meaning. Harunobu on the other hand was trying to burn a hole through the scrolls with his glare. And Nobu just turned to him, a mocking smirk on her face.
"Lemme change to my Caster Saint Graph real quick." She clenched her eyes, grunting dramatically before shrugging nonchalantly, throwing some notes over her shoulder. "Nope. Didn't work."
Caster Nobu. He had no idea what kind of base concept that even would be. Terrifying, at the very least. With a sigh, he turned of the last of the group. Amako furrowed her forehead, but at least she seemed to understand some of it.
"Amako, you're the expert here."
She looked up, blinking before she pointed at herself with a raised eyebrow.
"Am I?"
"More expert-y than us."
"Ooookay... " She smacked her lips, narrowing her eyes in concentration. "The gist I'm getting here is… uh. Lots of soul research. Observation data for…something... and a lot about... textures and pathways?" She wiggled her hand. "Not sure what textures are though."
"Layers of reality?" Ritsuka muttered, not quite sure himself. Da Vinci probably had a whole speech about that already... but considering how wild his life was, he might be forgiven to forget some stuff. Amako nodded, scratching her chin in thought.
"Tasty." She looked around, eyes narrowed. "Why pathwaaaaaaa….ys…." She blinked. When everyone turned to her, she pointed at the wall. Or rather, the chained... gate... Everyone slowly tilted their heads.
"Huh." Mash let out. Ritsuka couldn't help but agree. How did they miss that? Maybe they were so lost in the research that they forgot to figure out why the research was in here. Walking up to it, everyone took a closer look. Kagetora rubbed the chains, humming.
"I wonder where it leads to."
"Wonder why it's closed," Nobu added in a quiet voice. The master of Chaldea gulped, tugging at his collar a bit. Something being closed usually meant something bad was behind the door.
"Maybe the other underworlds are blocking Yomi?" Amako muttered, arms crossed. "I know there are other places, like Ne-no-kuni, Land of Origin."
"So you did pay attention to Hisoka."
Ritsuka was pushed back immediately. Weapons were drawn, Mystic Codes activated. With their backs to the gate, they stared into the darkness, shifting and moaning. Then slowly, the wraiths in Yomi opened a path. Stepping into the light, Sasaki glared at them. Or more specifically, at Amako.
"Sis... "
"Don't call me that!" Sasaki snapped. Slowly, soldiers with a white tiger as their insignia followed her, forming up, causing the tension to rise as weapons were gripped more tightly. We are enemies." Sasaki pointed at Amako accusingly. "And you killed her."
"The Shogun did!" Amako shouted, her eyes glaring from beneath the dragon head.
"He never would've done it if it weren't for you!" The Byakko head barked back. Reaching behind her, she revealed her naginata in one hand and a faceless mask in the other. She took a shivering breath, choking back a sob. Then she glanced at Ritsuka, only loathing in her gaze. "And now you're here to kill me too. As expected of you outsiders. Poisoning our very existence and surroundings."
Mash and Ritsuka flinched at her words. They would never get used to it. No matter how she found out... it was the truth after all. Which was why Amako growling at her in indignation hurt so much more.
"What are you talking about?! They're here to help!"
"It doesn't matter," Sasaki scoffed, shaking her head. "What matters is that I can't let you stop me. I'm this close to salvation!" She spread her arms open. "And this place is the key!"
"In what way?" Harunobu asked calmly, fan held in front of him like a dagger. Sasaki gave him a small smile, genuine for the first time.
"Underworlds are connected. Ever since the Divine Shogun took over, these gates have been closed. They can lead to safety. Freedom. Places where we can be free."
"That's insane. If crossing underworlds is that easy, anyone would do it," Nobu snarked. Kagetora nodded in agreement. All that did was aggravate the magus in question.
"It's possible! I know it!" She put the mask on, hiding her features but not the anger in her voice. "I will not let you stop me!"
"We don't want to fight!" Amako yelled, wavering for a moment. Sasaki was quiet for an instance before she held her naginata in a combat form.
"You want to reach the Divine Shogun, right?!" Her arms were shaking, but with a deep breath, she steadied them. "Then... then you have to take me down!"
"And you wouldn't be allowed to leave anyway."
THe massive form was unmistakable when it came into light. Kagetora and Nobunaga specifically smiled widely, veins bulging on their skin.
"Raiden!" They both yelled. Yet instead of his usual boisterous voice, he seemed controlled. As if his mood was soured by something. Looking around, he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"To believe we would meet again in such a place. What misfortune." He slammed his feet on the ground, raising his palms. Glancing at the magus on his side, he gave her a serious frown. "Lady Byakko-"
"Be careful. I know," she finished for him. Then she began to cast a spell. Her body seemed to glow and in that very instance her very essence just seemed to grow. For a moment, Ritsuka wasn't seeing the shrine maiden. He saw a ferocious warrior, clad in unyielding steel. And surprisingly, Nobu's eyes widened in recognition before she began to laugh, leaning forward in anticipation.
"Well, I'll be damned. She's channeling that Honda!"
"I am the head of the Byakko clan! You shall not go any further!" She roared, flaring up her energy. In an instance, everyone moved and split up. Amako rushed forward, her chop blocked by the naginata. Kagetora and Harunobu clashed with Raiden, who had to retreat immediately after because of Nobu's shots. Which left the soldiers and wraiths to Mash and Ritsuka. The latter took a deep breath, jumping a few times on his feet to warm up in order to keep up with the Shielder if they had to move.
This sure was going to be chaotic!
/
Unbeknownst to any of them, a lone figure, covered in a cloak, wandered around in Yomi. He stopped, blinking as his yellow eyes narrowed.
"What in the fuck is that noise... ?"
Growling he stared at the paths in front of him. Question was where it came from. With a sigh, he shook his head, before picking one randomly, walking down the path, green strands of hair covering his eyes.