I felt my body jolt so I quickly opened my eyes.
Sitting up..on sand, I looked around to see I was in..a desert..and the sun was setting.
Getting off the ground, I looked ahead of me to see a castle, or palace, of sorts in the distance.
"..Where..are-"
"You can say I decided to change up the scenery. I'm sure seeing a lake of blood is discomforting to you," I heard Suri's voice next to me.
I glanced to see she's sitting on the ground in a criss-cross position. She was wearing a..salmon colored..kalasiri, I believe, and a red sari over it. She held an cherry brown hourglass in her lap and hands.
"Did you take me here?"
"No...it is as your Mother said; you must face the consequences, and that is what I am." She closed her eyes, "Until this hourglass runs out of time, you'll be in here with me."
I let out a chuckle mixed with a huff, "So..are you gonna put me through twisted nightmares, memories, and all that?"
She shook her head 'no' steadily. "I will simply..." She opened her eyes, "..train you."
"So..fighting?" I asked as I put my right hand on my hip.
She stood up, but not before moving the hourglass aside, then flipped it upside down to let the sand fall. "Yes."
"What more could I learn? If I extend my power, it's possible I could become a god-"
"That's exactly where I aim for your power and strength to be at. That's the exact reason why I kept you from falling through those doors..or should I say Shigama Dōji's hands. Right now, your comrades are fighting the First Progenitor: Guren, Shinya, Kureto, and Mikaela I believe. Ferid Bathory has been taken down, though I don't think he's dead just yet. I can't locate Carmen nor Makoto. Yuichiro is..." she mumbled as she glanced off into the distance for a few secondsher eyes turning pink―before she glanced back at me with wide eyes. "He's worried about you and Shinoa, but someone is attempting to kidnap him! Shiho and Yoichi went to go check up on Mirai, leaving Mitsuba to deal with the kidnapper! A..a member of the Hyakuya Sect!"
I pulled out my Himezuru-sa from my hand. "Well, what the hell are we waiting for?! Let's get started so I can go out there so I can help!"
"You don't need that," she said, the pointed at Himezuru-sa.
I gave her a 'are you out of your mind?' look. "I am strong enough to fight without my katana, but I..I can't give it up while fighting Shigama. It's only r-right to gain revenge by killing him, he who murdered my Mother, with it."
"...I know it means everything to you. It's the most valuable gift your Mother left behind..but I even know she knows you can win without it, you no longer need it at this point. You wouldn't want it to get damaged or broken either.."
Hesitating, I clutched my katana in my hand as I stared at the sheen on it from the seemingly forever setting sun...
I bit my lip, drawing some blood, then dropped Himezuru-sa to the sand.
I looked up, "Just a few questions before we start, where is Kitsu?"
"..She is no longer with Shinoa, that much I know; I can't locate her either..."
My bangs covered my eyes, "...and my Dante?"
"She took refuge in Yuichiro's katana. Ashera should be noticing her presence soon. That time when Shigama tried to capture you during Yu's possession training, Ashera didn't realize he recognize Estelle..his memories are slowly returning."
"What about when I-"
Her rose colored eyes enhanced, "You passed on a piece of her to Guren, Shinya, and Shinoa? Dante didn't make her presence known to Guren nor Shinoa, only to Shinya. They only gossiped, nothing more. However, Dante and Mahiru did talk..apparently, the two made an agreement that if anything were to go wrong within the remaining Hiragis, they'd..merge their souls to do everything in their power to stop Shigama Doji."
"And if that weren't enough?" I pushed in a bit of urgency.
"..Mahiru suggested you are the beginning of the end and would be the end of the beginning, but Dante strongly disagreed."
*Silence*
"Alright...Let's begin," I said, then looked up with determined eyes.
'...She was right...We're alike, Mahiru...Both destined to sacrifice for love ones and be corrupted by demons, despair..but false self-convince?'
I smirked, "I know what the hell I'm doing, and it's for the benefit of my comrades, my friends, and my family..."
~? Time Skip~ -Dante's P.O.V-
I placed my hands on the ground, looking around frantically.
All around me was white distance
"She interfered. Hopefully..she did what she could to save her..Sayomi! Sayomi!"
"That girl's not here, Auntie," I heard a voice behind me.
Looking behind me, I saw Asuramaru staring at..Yuichiro who had two spear-like blades stabbed in his back.
I gasped and crawled to him. I couldn't exactly walk due to trying to manifest in the real world.
If I did that-
"For now, there's nothing you nor I can do...I rather not touch him either."
"What happened to him?" I asked, staring in worry at Yuichiro.
"I think someone poisoned him with something, enough for him to lose conscious in reality, and end up like this here. He keeps saying remember. Speaking of remember, so am I..."
"..If only I had my Seeress powers, I-"
"Sa-.."
I looked down at Yuichiro..he was staring at me with dull eyes. Weakly, he reached his right hand out to my left.
"Sayo.."
His hand entwined with mine in a weak, yet strong, grasp...
"Sayomi..."
My eyes scrunched up into crescents as tears formed in them...I tried to hold them back...
"Well, he thinks you're his precious Sayo. I don't blame him. In that state, I'd also be delusional if someone looked similar to a person I knew."
I squished Yuichiro's hand softly, letting the tears fall from my eyes...
"I...I'm okay, Yu..w-we're gonna be okay," I spoke as softly as I could produce in my daughter's tone.
"Hey, what's with your hair?"
Gazing down at my hair, I saw the two silver strands were gone...
"...no..."
-Carmen's P.O.V-
"I haven't been here forever."
Walking through the diner, I looked at the leftover food remains that was left on the trays and plates on the table.
"..Too bad I chose to be a vampire, I could've eaten all this new food...but I..couldn't let Estelle be on her own.." I said the last part drearily.
*BAM*
The doors flew off the hinges to which I dodged by ducking.
They hit the other side of the room, making an indent as smoke and dust covered the room.
I narrowed my eyes, 'I knew something was off here..'
From what I could see through the smokescreen, a person walked out casually, but I could only see their feet and..soaked gray sweat pants.
They headed to the table..and it sounded like they grabbed something off of it.
Getting up, I was about to unsheathe my sword that was equipped on my back-
"*Gasp*"
He swallowed the piece of chicken he was chewing on, then looked at me...
"Well..isn't this unexpected. Long time, no see, Carmen."
"...Ryota..."
(Ryota now: h, t, t, p, s : / / data . whic dn . ("com") / images / 311406994 / large . jpg)
"Now...where's my little girl and little woman?" he asked with a small smile.
(I got a perfect idea when writing this, reader-chan/kun..and it's gonna be epic. I plan to stop at chapter 40 and end it how I WANT it to end in the other book after Kagami updates some more. Getting a notification today on the recent chapter surprised me. I was like, "Kagami..is Sui Ishida helpin' ya now that he got free time or what? Because you sure are updating quickly..X)" When I finished this chap., I saw it was short so I added more content..and still came out a lil' short. Y'all should thank Kirk Franklin's song "Looking for You" because it encouraged me to already write the ending. :D)