Complete darkness, suffocating nothingness, in a room that did not exist, Tanako stared at nothing at all. In the emptiness there was the potential for an echo, though she could not speak she knew that the echo related to all matters which it could, it was an echo of sound, an echo of being, an echo of the soul, and an echo of time. At this moment the echo could do nothing, because there was nothing, not a thing to cry out or scream, no catalyst whatsoever. There was nothing, because for once after too long, Tanako had forgotten and thus become nothing. There was no condemnation, no loneliness, no Restlessness. Here she was: nowhere. It was sublime, to be nothing, to weigh nothing, to think nothing, and only to feel the relief of a skin being shed. It was all ruined, nearly in an instant as she remembered.
It was a voice that did it, it broke down the door and let itself in, it broke her to make her whole again. The voice spoke and she was bombarded with visions, the scene of her shoving her blade through someone's chest played over and over again, with every stab she felt weaker and weaker, the pain growing to a burning sting. Images of a sword breaking and falling to pieces, the steel dust flowing and shaping into an eye that grew larger and larger, emitting a deep red glow. Pulses of red hot pain surged through her body, emanating from her chest and her head, and through astounding pulses of death, the voice spoke. It was so familiar, but also magnificently different from when she was young. The voice was deep and booming, and it spoke thusly:
"Life is not so shallow, and we're not done yet. Even from this distance, I can feel you, I can take it from you. Rest assured, we are of the same soil, and life is not so shallow."
Tanako woke, shivering and gasping for air, nearly paralyzed by what she saw. She shot up and quickly reached to her left where she kept her blade: it was still there, it was whole. She let out a breath of relief and collapsed back into her bed on the floor, the intense shivering, her frigid skin, nothing returned to normal. She was only ever like this when one of them were… Upset. This must have meant that one of them were back, they never knew when to stop, never accepted defeat. This was a sad state that her family was in, where the dead never learned to rest and the loved ones could never finish grieving. Echoes of souls grasping to the world and refusing to let go, as if no one truly ever died.
She turned over, becoming more stressed as the thoughts invaded her mind. If it was Kana, then that was reason enough to worry, but if it were her father… She could only pray that it was Kana. At the very least, her older brother would be more mild mannered, perhaps he had even even forgive her and they could be a family again. She highly doubted Kana was still alive, even her father wouldn't have survived a blade through the heart, with several arteries being displaced with the slight twist of the blade as crimson gushed from the right atrium. The movement was quick, the damage was irreparable.
As these thoughts passed through her mind she shed a lone tear, never letting the regret overcome her entirely. She missed her family, she missed her life, but mostly she missed her brother. She pushed the thoughts from her head and thought of happier times, then she drifted off to sleep. Tomarrow was a big day, mother was coming to visit.
