A Breath of Fresh Air

My healing still took a long time after his "visit", stuck in that monotone, nearly empty cavern. It was a while before I could move properly, even something supposedly simple such as standing up, and a while longer before I could move with anything resembling human speed.

I also had to get used to using my muscles again, having apparently been in something resembling a coma for a long time before I awoke. Thanks to the Sesshouseki, I needed no sustenance during all this, as the power of the Stone was more than enough for such things.

When I could stand and felt strong enough to wield my sword a little, I tried to summon Ranguren. At first, I only had the strength to summon it for a moment or two before the strain become too great, but with effort, I managed to lengthen the duration each time I tried. I welcomed a friendly face for once, having spent such a long time alone, with only my agony as companion since my awakening. I clung to its fur for dear life, never wanting to let go again.

When I was strong enough to walk, I tried to leave, but I could find no exit in the cave, no matter how much I searched. It seemed he intended to keep me trapped there, for some reason or other.

Eventually, a while after I had regained most of my full strength, he appeared again. And this time I had a voice to scream at him with.

"Ah, up and about I see. Good."

"You…!"

The moment I heard his voice, I tried to slash him in half, only for him to turn into a cloud of blue butterflies and vanish.

"Oh, well that just won't do, now will it? It seems your stone is no longer enough to quite control you after your revival, eh?"

He reappeared right in front of me an instant later, wearing a crooked grin.

"I suppose I'll have to do something about that then, won't I?"

He struck towards me suddenly, holding what looked like another, smaller Sesshouseki. Before I could react, he grabbed my head and smashed the Stone into my forehead, at the location where my own Stone was. My Sesshouseki activated at his touch, and once more, all I could feel was the pain. The Stone he was holding turned into some kind of strange liquid form and seemed to merge with my own, intensifying the torment I was in even further. All I could do was scream in agony.

After a moment, the pain waned and he stepped back, having apparently done something to fuse the smaller Sesshouseki he had had with him into my own. I could already feel that my Stone had increased in power to a level similar to when I first got it.

"And all done. That should do it."

I wanted to try to take his head off, but the pain of the merging had knocked the fight out of me for a moment, and I collapsed, writhing on the floor in agony instead.

Yet another subtle grin. I was now going to be under the control of the Stone again, and thus, I would likely be unable to stop whatever it was he had planned for me. Once more, I would be his tool, to be used for whatever purpose he wished.

"Now then. I think it's about time I let you out of here."

With that, he waved his hand, and a wall of the cave vanished, revealing the exit I had been searching for in vain.

"There. Feel free to leave any time. You have work to do."

One final venomous laugh, and he was gone, as if he had never been there in the first place.

I presumed that him revealing the exit had something to do with his plans for me, so despite my restored Sesshouseki having healed all my remaining wounds rapidly after regaining its full power, I at first resisted leaving the cave, despite my desire to go outside.

However, eventually, the increasing pull of the Sesshouseki and my own need to find answers forced me outside.

The cool, free night air felt so good after the endless stuffiness of the cavern.

I breathed it in and felt my mind rejuvenated for a moment by the wind whispering about me.

After a moment of rare bliss, I decided to take a walk around the area, to try and figure out how long he had kept me in the cave, where exactly I was, and what had happened during my absence.

After walking a moment, I discovered I was in a forest somewhere nearer to the mountains. The same effect that had hidden the cave exit from me must have also hidden the entrance from anyone searching the area, so it would have been completely hidden here. Thus why nobody had found me during my imprisonment. How I got where I was I didn't know, however. Though it likely had something do with my captor.

When I got to a tiny hill slightly outside the cave, I could see more of my surroundings, and I saw the suburbs of Tokyo glittering some distance away. And so I summoned Ranguren, grabbed a hold of its fur and bounded towards the city, desperate to find some answers.

I soon found a small 24/7 convenience store in the suburbs and decided to take a look at a newspaper or something similar to discover what date it was. I unsummoned Ranguren so as not to cause too much of a stir - having enough control over my mind as to worry about such things. I went in and grabbed a newspaper, completely ignoring the man behind the counter who greeted me as I stepped in. I looked at the date on the front page and saw…

It had been approximately two years since my supposed death.