… It answered.

Blackness all. An infinite yawning void of colorless pitch spread its tendrils about reaching for a small, bright form. Tumbling, diving, falling back into grasping hands with ebony fingers and burning palms. Something stirs, cold, alone. Its pale lips part in a gasp of surrender.
The void churns and howls and the world rushes in.

Fire.

Fire everywhere, the night is ablaze in leaping light. It is burning away the snow from thatched rooftops, turning animal pens into infernos of hellish noise and smells. With a throatless roar it swallows a hovel whole, sending embers skyward, and for a moment the very stars seem to be falling as the ashes plunge back to the dirt. Another bundle of straw is flung down upon steeple steps, shaping a great wicker pyre. Somewhere an infant is crying, somewhere a soldier screams. His death breaks sharply for a moment through the background chaos before it is swallowed by the struggle of his comrades fighting in the slush and choking on smoke. A woman fleeing the blaze, her skirts and hair scorched, falls in the melted ruin and is at once covered in soot and blood.

Her burnt fingers grasp desperately towards a pale man, a raven haired man. His argent eyes are wide in fury as the cold smokes his breath…

((No more…))

"Mathias! Wait Mathias!" Tall and blond, cloaked in white and armor stands another man. His tone is desperate; he is struggling to rally their men to contain the spreading conflagration. The task is beyond him utterly but he had never known defeat, and he cannot recognize it now. "There are too many, we cannot— hold that line! Hold that line and bring water! Mathias listen to me!"

((If I can save even one… I will not let them-!))

The woman is dragged back by her enemies, neighbors all; they throw her onto the steps. Others are tossed atop her, around her, dead and alive. Most are bound, some are gagged, their sound is a collective wail of betrayal, a dirge of terror. It is to be the murder of the villages' daughters and sisters, mothers and aunts, maids, crones, any and all who are accused for all are suspect. They will blacken and crack because the frost came fast, and the fields were raised by the enemy from the east, and a dark curse is upon them which has brought all of these ills. They will be offered like rams at the heart of their faith without hope of reprieve. All this because one bitter priest cried 'Witch.'

He is deafened by the blood pounding in his ears; he is blinded by the light of the torch that is being lowered to the pyre.

"Hold steady Mathias!" the golden one's call is further off, they are being routed by their unwillingness to turn swords forged for crusade on country men. "Listen to me, wait for… NO! Come back Mathias!"

The straw has been set alight, cheap mercenaries and farmers block his path to the victims on those steps. His friend reaches out to grab him but falls painfully short. Mathias's blade is drawn; it is a twisting sliver or red casting back the burning forms in the fire.

((Even one-! God, even one..!)) Step by step he advances, his sword curves around, the wall of men before him thins. A farmer falls holding his desecrated gut, a mercenary staggers as their face parts like a cold cut. But not fast enough, he is not fast enough and the smoke is choking him, blinding him. The forms before him are hazed from the heat and he cannot break through. He can still hear the other behind him, running after him and calling out…

"Mathias! Hold on Mathias…!"

Another sound: Screaming metal on metal as a sword catches his through this living hell. He braces but feels is ragged edge slipping back across his own and then another form lunges forward-a wet splash down his side, a shuddering gasp. There is pain. Sudden and bright, vivid and loud, everything falls away as the ground rushes up. Everything… everything's as red as…

((G…God… No…)) He hisses, bows forward. "Ghaha—ugh! Agh…ha…ha…"

The snow is cold in the light of the smokey moon; the stones are covered in frost. Warm droplets fall from above across his face, warm redness spreads below. He will die here and he knows it; a useless, thankless death. He could not save even one of them, and Elizabetha… when she hears how he died she will…
She…

((Not….not like this…)) The moon has gone red, he tastes copper and he feels nothing ((p…please… not like th-))

Soft like the hissing of the wind, the rattle of dead leaves across a doorway, the claws of a wolf on the floor of a cave, a voice coaxes, calls out to him. The redness below ripples with it's mirth.

Ah… there you are at last. We have been expecting you. Become who you were born to be. Awaken, Oh lost one…

"MATHIAS!"

Awaken!

"Huh! Huh… huh.. uh…"

Soma jerked up; hands grasping forward, breath hissing out between his teeth. Sweat trickled down his brow and into his eyes before a blood caked fist wiped it away. Slowly his gasps eased, his shoulders lost their tension. The aches and pains of his body set in to let him know he'd been sleeping on hard ground. (What happened…? Where..?) As his eyes adjusted to the darkness they widened, then shut in silent denial. (I'm back. I'm Here.) They opened again, (How did this happen… I was, I was going to meet Yoko at… and I rode the metro…)

He pushed himself up from the stones, looked around the enclosed courtyard. Nothing living greeted him. The wind brushed the vines making a soft rustling sound; the moon glinted mockingly off the great doorway before him. Somewhere above blood-crows cawed to each other, sizing up the intruder below. It was all too familiar. (Although that's different…) Against a stone wall lay the metro car, horribly twisted. The glass from the windows glinted on the ground along with bits of door and bent metal. It was dark and silent inside. (… Empty? Yes, no ones around. That means the other passengers could still be alive! But lost by now… I have to find them.)

He moved forward a step, staggered. The impact had left him shaken and he'd failed to judge how badly. With his head lowered he drew deep, bracing breaths, calming himself and easing the tremor in his thighs. (Just one foot in front of the other, no big deal, one foot, then another, and another, and another…)

Pulled up stones and thrown dirt showed the wild path left by the car before the crash, The archway it rested under was carved differently than he remembered. There had been no lions in the stone when he first fell into the courtyard with Mina and Arikado after the eclipse. The mounted knights with their spears held proudly aloft were absent as well. Of course the knights could have been demolished by the runaway train… A lump rose in Soma's throat, (The castles probably changed again, inside and out with all the important rooms shifted around. I'll be running blind until I find a map.) Soma looked about again, picking up more differences as well as what looked like treetops over the edge of the courtyard wall. (I wonder where the castle settled…) He turned his back to the door and moved to the edge of the courtyard, looked down.

Elegantly descending steps led to the edge of a wide green lawn. Moss and last autumns leaves scattered the ground, the air smelled like night blooms and rotting foliage. He could see what looked like a red prayer gate at the end of the stretch. (…This doesn't tell me much. Wherever this is at least it's still Japan. I'd recognize those gates anywhere.) Soma sighed, turned back to the looming castle. (…Wait a moment…) He jerked back around. (That gate!)

He ran to the edge of the green, barely noting his sore muscles. Suspicions confirmed he stood at the edge and could only gape in disbelief. There could be no doubt; he had called the castle right atop the Hakuba shrine. (I can't believe this… it's like I'm right back at the start of everything…) He moved forward, stretched out a foot to pass the gate… With a roar of wind he was tossed back onto the grass, the wooden arch creaked as though under tremendous strain and bend towards him. Thinking it might fall Soma scuttled backward. The wind ceased, the arch stood tall. (…Unbelievable. I guess no one's leaving yet.) He stood, brushed off dirt from his hands.

(Well, there's no choice. I have to go in. The other passengers are here somewhere, probably trapped inside, and I still don't have a weapon.) He trudged back across the grass, frustrated. (Yoko's going to skin me alive, if the church doesn't do it for her. What will Mina think…? Arikado's not going to take this well either, I didn't have a choice, but…) Soma paused. (Wait… Arikado, he called me on the train. Maybe there's reception here?)

Soma reached into his pocket for his cell phone… which wasn't there. (… It was in my hand. It must have fallen somewhere.) He swept the courtyard with his eyes. It took some searching and far more digging through the glass of the car than Soma wanted to do but eventually his efforts paid off. Something small and black lay underneath a hanging of Ivy. (There we go.)

The cell phone remained amazingly unharmed. Its reception bar glowed softly in two lines. (Yes!) Soma flipped it open, paused. The screen flashed to him 5 NEW MESSAGES. (Probably Yoko and Arikado…) He hesitated, should he really waist time viewing them? He needed to call Genya. (They can wait.) He moved to his contacts list. Sure enough, though he had never entered the information there himself Genya Arikado's name and number were proudly displayed in their alphabetic order. He pressed send.

NO BARS flashed the screen. "What? There's two of them!" He tried again. NO BARS.
Soma leaned against the wall, shook his head. "None of this makes any sense… What am I doing here?" He grimaced, (And why am I talking to myself? Nerves I guess… I'm alone.) He looked back to the massive door. (No one's here to help me this time.) His resolve hardened. (That's fine. I can get out of this alone.) He looked back down at the cell phone's screen. (...first steps first, find a weapon, then the passengers, then get out. And that means…) the castle loomed before him, the moon smiled down at him from behind the spiraling towers. (…Go in.)

The wooden doors groaned as Soma pushed them apart, their massive shadows stretched to the sides of the hallway before him. Candles sat unlit in their braziers running down out of sight along the stonework. Elaborate tapestries hung on the walls, depicting… it was too dark to see. Strangely, it seemed there was no light in the castle at all. (I don't get this…) Soma hesitated in the doorway. (The candles are always lit, have been every time I've been here at least. They even re-light themselves after you put them out.) He took the first few steps inside, the great doors behind him slammed shut.

(…I should have seen that coming.) Out came the cell phone again, up went the top. A miniscule amount of light returned to illuminate the inches before him. (This isn't going to work; I can probably walk like this, but jump? And fight? There's just no way…) His footsteps echoed down the stone hall, somewhere far off he could hear something creaking. (Maybe I won't have to fight. I did summon the castle this time, right? It never seems to attack those who've called it. ) He picked up the pace, (but that's no safeguard for the other people I brought with me. God, I hope they have the common sense to stay still or find their way to empty rooms. This is my fault…)

His teeth grit. (These forces are always targeting me, and someone else is always getting dragged in. Arikado said the castle was dangerous for normal people and that Mina would have died if I'd wasted time when we first met. How long can they last?)
Something crunched beneath his foot.
He moved his shoe to the side, bent down to see it with his cell light. It was a child's hairpiece, a small pink plastic blossom. (…) He could remember a little girl complaining about the heat; remember her clinging to her mother when the train ride went to hell. (I'll look for her first. She probably needs more help than the others anyway. Maybe she's still with her parents…) He continued moving down the hall, holding the hairpin with the cellphone. (…They might all be together, thinking this is just some old castle and looking for help…) He grimaced, started to move a lot faster. (Calling for help, opening doors, lighting candles and drawing the attention of every hungry freak of nature for miles!)

Suddenly the floor was no longer beneath him. Legs and arms flailing he plummeted through the dark, coming to a jerked stop as his feet hit and broke water. It was cold; he fought for his bearings, pushed himself back to the surface. "Ghah! Ah… great." Treading water Soma cursed himself for not thinking ahead, now his cellphone was gone, probably miles below him in murky… But there was still a dim glow. Miraculously the phone had bounced, settling on its side and illuminating the small rocky ledge it rested on. "Thank God." Soma swam to the outcropping, pulled himself out. After the heat of his past few days the cold almost seemed a relief even as he began to shiver.

An unlit torch hung on the wall above his head, smelling faintly of dry grass and pitch. The smell was nauseating but he couldn't have said why. He took his phone and moved back from it as quickly as he could. (Why are all the lights out again?) He picked back up his phone, turned it about so he could see the walls around it. He'd fallen through a hole in the floor and it looked like he'd landed in the aqueducts. "Just great."

"I disagree."

"You!" Soma whirled about, backed away as the grinning reaper emerged like a whisper from the stonework. "Are you following me?!"

"Will I continue to come upon sights like this?" The eyes under the cowl had a bright luminescence in the dark, and the heavy voice was dry with… sarcasm? "You made better progress when you were at war with us, or perhaps you had better sense."

Soma pressed a button to keep the screen lit, to be alone with Death in the dark was worse than finding out in ten feet of water that you couldn't swim. "You are following me then."

The hand holding the scythe lifted it, moved forward as the ghastly form used it like a crutch. "No, I do not follow, I have never followed you. Intersected, passed, crossed and chanced upon you, yes… that is our agreement; but never followed. You have chased and found me instead each time we have met."

Soma rung out his shirt as best he could while holding the phone; "You like rambling on about nothing, don't you? Just come out with it, why the hell is this happening now? What was…" He struggled to find the words to describe it, settled with, "… that thing on the train?"

The reaper's sockets flickered, almost as though he had blinked. "It is of no concern now, you are inside the castle and here they dare not follow."

Soma paused, took a deep breath…"They?"

Death motioned to the passage. "Attend to what is within your control before you seek what is not. You cannot see."

"Of course I can't, that's why I'm looking at you with my cell phone screen." The light went out for a moment as Soma pulled his shirt on, it danced wildly on the walls for a few seconds before focusing once more on the specter grim. "…Can I turn on the lights as well?"

Death's attention turned from him, the poor light heightened the white of his mirthless grin. "No. You must make your way to the furnaces and restore them. If you were in your full powers…"

Soma's phone beeped at him, reminding him that he had 5 MESSAGES, it also showed his battery was half wasted. "Dammit…" He wanted to turn it off and conserve battery but it was too dark to chance that down in the aqueducts. "Well, how about getting out of here? How do I…"

Death was gone. The bare wall mocked him, it was not a relief.