"Say that again?"
"Sit down, right here, for a month."
"..."
"And don't move. Or think."
"... Ya… ya don't hear how completely fuckin' stupid that sounds yet?"
Neoru stepped back a bit. "Nah, nah, that's not it, I'm just losin' the bits of brain I got left. Sorry Kaset, I can't make out what you just said t-"
Kaset proceeded to grab Neoru by the shoulders and force him down until he sat.
"That. Do that. And only that. For a month."
"..."
"And also empty your mind, very important."
Neoru took a breath.
"JUST WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GONNA DO!?"
"I know you're retarded," Kaset crassly countered, "But imma try to elaborate for those little 'bits of brain' you have left." Neoru sneered in response, but opened his ears.
"Meditation is the key to ki control. Kinda hard to explain all the way through, but basically, it enables better ki channeling. You can pull more out of yourself when you need it, and it'll add more oomph to what you've already got. Most importantly, though, is how it enforces your spirit."
He knelt down the Neo's level.
"You sit there, weathering rain, cold, heat, hunger, thirst, drowsiness, stress, and any mental anguish you encounter while alone with yourself, you'll come out as something spectacular. Inside, and out."
The boy pondered on the premise.
"... wait don't I need to eat tho-"
"Good luck!" Kaset yelled, moseying through a gate.
"YOU SON OF A-"
And Neoru was alone.
"... Fuckin' A, now what?"
[OP: Omedetai Atama de Naniyori ‒ Aishiden Issen]
Enter the Dragon! The Arduous Path of Fortifying Mind, Body, and Spirit!
|PRE-DAY ONE|
Neoru stared upward, slumped back into his outer-café chair as he gulped down the water in the glass. All the while, he thought about things. Pressing matters involving pressing things which pressed. Pressingly.
One question sat on his mind, no matter how hard he tried to escape it. It'd come to the point where he could no longer put it off. So, he thought aloud.
"So the hell's wrong with you two?"
"C'mon! That's no way to talk to old pals!" Mashii exclaimed.
"Besides," Katlij added his own two cents, "You're the one who continues obliging conversation, my friend. If anything, your insults are becoming more and more like banter between comrades!"
"Don't remember bein' anyone's damn comrade, asshole-"
"So how's the training on your end going?" asked the snow-skinned ex-soldier.
"Still sucks, but I'm gettin' the hang of it. Hell, it even gets fun every now n' again," Neoru admitted, piquing Katlij's interest and proving his initial point on-beat.
"If that's so, maybe I should stop by one of these days, once I've outgrown my own regiments!"
Neo sipped some H2O. "You'd die."
"Any other breed of training wouldn't be worth it, no?"
"I'm tellin' ya, you'd be golden 4 months back. Now? You'd die. Just somethin' ya need to build toward, can't just jump in and expect to… like, live."
Defeated by the jaded, violet stare and the matter-of-fact tone, Katlij conceded. "It's hard to take such certain words… but it's equally as hard not to."
Mashii didn't. "Oh, bullshit! You're strong, but you're still human! Earth barely has a single G weighing down on it, and it's cozy year-round no matter where you go! You'd be dead already if someone like THIS BOZO couldn't take it!" She argued, pointing toward the boy whom she'd grown familiar with over the past weeks thanks to their shared ass-kicked-ociate.
"Well I dunno what the hell Kaset's made of, but whatever it is, my makeup's something like it. He's as human as they come, too, and I'm still pretty sure I'm human, too, so, yeah."
"Wait… I GET IT! It's something to do with that purple power you've got, right?"
"Hell're you talkin' about?"
"Don't play dumb. It's what you used to break my arm the first time we fought, despite having your daylights knocked out!"
Neoru tried his hardest to remember, a vague idea swirling in his mind.
"That time… ugh… ah screw it, I was way too spaced out to retain anything big. I just really wanted to take somethin' with me, I go night-night, and all of a sudden, I've broken your arm."
"Come on, that's it?"
"Well don't put me in a damn-near coma next time, genius? Maybe I'd remember what I had for lunch that day if ya didn't clock me," Neoru snapped back. Mashii raised a finger to respond, only to realize with puffed cheeks that she couldn't.
"Something similar occurred with our skirmish," Katlij interjected, "though not as extreme as Ms. Mashii's example, from what I gather from you two. Your aura took on a violet hue, and then my blood began racing."
"Yeah, YOU were the one to pull somethin' in their sleep that time," Neoru added as he sloshed his drink, pulling a curious Mashii back into the discussion. The shark fin-haired boy confessed with a nod.
"It was like the fighting spirit within willed my body to continue. Before then, I'd never felt anything like it."
The blueberry-skinned girl put two and two together. "That solves it!"
"Eh?"
"There's no way you're human!"
"The fuck?"
Mashii elaborated before the hothead could blow his top off. "Maybe you're not a saiyan, or even a halfbreed, but the only people who can pull stunts like that off pure fighting spirit are the elite warrior race!" she claimed, slicking her long-hung hair back into a spike and gruffing her voice for her last comment. "There's gotta be SOME sort of saiyan blood running through you!"
"Then what'd explain my case?" Katlij added.
"Saiyan fighting spirit is infectious, silly! That, or you're just like Mr. Grape-Flavored Aura over here!"
"And the aura's suspicious color?"
"Simple. A new transformation. Saiyans can pull them out of thin air, was only a matter of time until a purple one sprang up."
"..."
"..."
A stream of water dripped from Neoru's mouth. He slowly wiped it off.
"... shit, I think I'm a saiyan."
"Still," Katlij spoke as he glugged down his fresh, sugar'd-to-Hell coffee topped with cream," it'd be interesting to know a human with such raw fighting spirit."
Mashii sipped what was left from the cinnamon straw on its side, to Katlij's despair. "Yeah… the saiyan blood angle's more likely, but you never know until you take a peek at your genetics for yourself."
"... Sure, I'll get to that if I can still walk after today… (Great. Something else to think about. Thanks, guys.)"
"Don't forget. Regardless of anything, you're still Neoru. This was just a fun speaking point!" Mashii waved him off, as did Katlij as he munched on the second straw, eyes shut as to avoid any further contact with the marmalade-haired traitor before being tugged on.
"Come on, we've got our own sparring to do! I wanna learn some more grappling!" she shouted.
"Can't you grapple by yourself?" he objected, still uppity.
"Of course not! Look, the next drink is on me if you teach me at least 5 holds!" Though he kept his eyes shut, he walked off with Mashii.
"Fun talk! We'll be back this evening, how about it?"
"How 'bout… fuck off? An' leamme alone?"
"You suck at being social!"
Neo pulled down his smirk before making his way. "(Weirdos.)"
"(Been gettin' bugged by a lot'a stupid shit as'a late… whatever, nothing like a bit'a training to take the edge off…)"
|DAY ONE, HOUR 0.1|
I'm sure you saw the irony in this. Thus, you laughed uncontrollably. As expected. But yeah.
"Well so much for that, huh ya tall sack'a…"
He ground his teeth. "(How're ya supposed to empty your mind while sitting still? An' how the hell is sitting still for a MONTH gonna get me stronger?)"
Despite his unending bitching, he crossed his legs. "(Damn it… if Kaset's got me doin' somethin' as stupid as this, it's gotta be worth SOMETHING.)"
.
.
"(Unless he's tricking me…)"
.
.
"(Would he?)"
|DAY ONE, HOUR 0.5|
"(He IS trickin' me, isn't he?)" he assessed, growing restless.
"(What kinda idiot thinks they can live off happy thoughts for a month!? That jackass is gonna jump back here in, like, 8 hours with balloons and a hot dog, laughin' away at the fact that I actually bought into this crap!)" He began shaking with anger, eyes erupting into twitch frenzies.
"(This is some sort'a test, too, ain't it? To see how patient and/or gullible I can be! I'm just wastin' time sitting on my ass, when there's an entire damn city'a people on track to leave me behind! All the progress I've made until now's gonna mean jack-diddly-shit if the entire game changes while I'm sitting on my ass! Just why the hell would he waste my damn time like this, the-)"
He noticed how irate he was growing ‒ courtesy of rocks breaking around him ‒ and calmed down with deep breaths.
"(But at the end of the day… yeah, why WOULD he waste my time like this?)"
He gathered himself. "(Guy's brought me this far, he wouldn't leave me to dry if it means all his work goes down the drain. Besides… Kaset's worth a bit'a trust.)"
That said, he closed his eyes. "(Whatever, I'll give it 3 days to start doin' somethin'.)"
|DAY ONE, HOUR 1|
"(Could sure go for an apple right now…)"
"(No, wait.)"
"(A mango. Yeah…)"
"(Shit, I should've ordered more while I was at that café. Yeah, I'll get on that once I'm done with this.)"
"(How long am I sittin' here again?)"
"(A month.)"
"(Oh…)"
"(...)"
A vein presented itself. Then another.
"(How the hell am I supposed to-)"
"(SHUT IT, DUMBASS!)" he mentally screamed at himself. "(Guy said 'Empty your Mind, right? Do that!)"
"(...)"
"(...)"
"(Wonder how Mashii is doin-)"
"(AH COME ON!)" Neo once more internally yelled.
"(Damn it, the one time I'm SUPPOSED to not do anything, and I suck at it! How is not thinking this hard?)"
The boy blew air and resumed his thoughtless act. This time, however, as he gave his all to not think, he began listening in on that which he usually ignored in situations where his life wasn't on the line. Primarily, the wind lightly brushing against trees.
"(Hn? Wait… maybe that's the key.)"
Focusing on sound more than thought, he gave full attention to the serene natural symphony… until it died out.
|DAY ONE, HOUR 3|
With the death of that particular sound, a new one flooded his ears: his own, quiet breathing.
"(-two three four… two, three, four…)"
But he began paying a bit too much attention to his breaths.
"(-thirty, thirty two, thirty- wait, did I skip one?)"
"(... shit, I can't… uh...)"
He opened his eyes.
"(... and there goes my concentration.)"
He started from the top, trying his hardest not to begin keeping count again…
Until a louder, yet faint noise overpowered his lungs.
(Bm-Bmm…)
(Bm-Bmm…)
"(Jeez, was it always that loud?)"
The more attent he became, the louder it got… and yet, it was calm. Eventually, the sound died altogether, yet the feeling of his chest subtly pounding remained.
He began giving in to the calm sensation being produced, as he drifted off.
This, however, was where the real game began.
|DAY 2|
"(So Kaset isn't back yet. Great chance that he's serious about this. Awesome.)"
"{I've done this before, haven't I?}"
A deeper conscience, one that failed to break his state, asked a question.
Though it took a moment, a familiar memory surfaced. One of two teens yelling back and forth with a monk boy around his age, while the other calmly talked with a robed, elderly man, all while atop a mountain above the clouds.
"(A temple, far east. The way up was a bitch-an'-a-half, and gettin' the bastards to turn our way was even worse, nevermind the conditioning they put us through. Still...)"
Another bounced onto the scene: one where both teens soared through the air amongst the amber sunset.
"(Whatever it was, by the end of it, we learned how to fly… Welp, all the more reason to stick to this!)"
|DAY 5|
Today, Neoru was reminded of how used to frequent meals he'd gotten.
His own stomach threatened to break his focus, this time, as it began vying tooth-and-nail with the rhythmic beating for his attention.
"(I've ran on empty for a helluva lot longer than this, dumbass. C'mon, ya cuisine-munchin' fuckface, focus!)"
He weathered the brief storm, and with patience, the hunger faded.
For now.
|DAY 7|
Neoru had lost complete track of whatever track of time he had left. His existence was now confined to one spot, which might as well've been an abyss.
One that fluctuated in temperature. From one extreme to the other.
"(SHIT! I hadn't thought about how cold this shithole gets when I started!)"
His misty breaths began sizzling through chattered teeth, as his muscles twitched and shivered.
"(Can this type'a weather kill me if I'm not warming myself up?)" he thought in a panic. "(Screw toughness, this is just stupid! What good is it if my fingers are icicles around me by the end of-)"
"(Calm down.)"
He stopped his stressing and asserted his own faith.
"(If Kaset thinks I'm up to it, then I'm up to it. Need to keep calm and focus.)"
His breathing steadied.
And after a few, the visibility of his breaths looked less like mist, and more like clouds of smoke.
An aura subconsciously sprang around him, the surrounding snow melting.
"(Too much.)" He felt the strain upon his body that the energy placed. Soon, however, it began slowly shrank around him, until it was but a glimmering light on his skin.
He smiled from his sleep-like state. "(This, I can work with.)"
|DAY 8|
He hadn't eaten or ‒ more importantly ‒ drank anything in days. His body was beginning to notice.
Considering it couldn't reach him through normal means, it did through the only language Neoru seemed to understand.
Pain.
"(GH…!)"
His body was eating away at him. Every muscle was cramped, giving the sensation of constant ripping all over the body.
Breathing further amplified the agony, the slightest expansion and contraction as if a blade were being rammed into him.
He felt like he was dying. It came to the point where he wished that death would stop taking its time. He'd gone far longer without eating, but drinking? This was something new entirely.
This was stupid. He shouldn't've gone through with this. Fuck whatever that psychopath thought he was capable of, there was a limit to everything. He wasn't built to withstand such a Hell.
And to make things worse, despite everything the unbearable signals his body was sending him…
It was no longer following directions.
Panic coursed throughout his body, as his breathing fell out of wack and his heart bounced around erratically. This was it. After everything, he was biting it again. And once more, it was because he was a dumbass who thought he could defy nature itself.
|DAY 13|
His breath slowed. His heart followed suit. All consciousness stopped.
His body couldn't take it anymore.
|DAY ?|
"GH!?"
His eyes slammed open. That alone indicated something was off.
Next was the fact that he could raise his arms. His legs also worked fine.
To top it all off, he was no longer in that forest.
Neoru beheld a violet void, deep dark in value and bits of it illuminated by a shining, star-like orb at its high center. It was huge as far as he could tell, but from where he stood, it'd fit in the palm of his hand. Giant, detailed disk-like structures hovered around in sections separate from each other, like divided columns. A small isle of broken debris and rock kept him from falling into… whatever awaited him below the abyss, if anything.
"Is this a dream?"
He shook his head. "Nah. Far cry from anything my mind's ever cooked up. Then what the hell is this?"
He had a brief recollection of where he was beforehand, and the pain leading to this.
Soon after, he began pacing frantically.
"No… no… no, no, no nonononono… Shit!" he hissed. "Had one fucking job, stay alive, and I can't even do that! If I knew this shit was gonna happen I'd've stayed in that fucking apartment and never left!"
He pulled his hair as he began pacing farther. "If only that pigeon-brained fuckface hadn't put me up to this, I'd still be… oh, shut the fuck up, Neo, YOU'RE the cocky punk who went through with this…"
He finally stopped. "Can't go two fuckin' seconds without killin' myself…"
Unveiling his eyes, he realized that he'd gone off the edge of the floating rock island. A path had extended below him. Neoru stared through his despair with curiosity.
"So where'd I end up this time?" he gathered what little wit he still had and trudged forward.
|DAY *****|
The long walk ‒ maybe a few days, a week, somewhere in between ‒ gave him more than enough time to miss that bizarre second life he'd thrown away.
He began missing the people, as well. Part of him wished he hadn't closed himself off so much; they were pretty good people, for the most part. Then again, if he got too attached, they'd wind up dead, too. Be he still missed them. Even the stupid chick with the stupid voice, and the stupid kid with the stupid… everything. Now it was all gone. He repeated a fact in his head in order to cope.
"At least I went out on my own terms, right?"
He wasn't completely wrong. For the second time now, he'd died due to his own choices. But the sentiment was losing its luster after actual days of walking.
"... grass?"
A new development had finally sprung up. As he picked up the pace, the field grew in width until the purple void was exclusively behind him, and he found himself in an immense bed of grass under a hazy overcast sky.
For anyone else, it'd be beautiful. For Neoru…
"!?"
The large path of disintegrated ground, coupled by charred flowers nearby, revealed horror.
"Why the fuck am I seeing this!?"
Despite all the time that'd passed before his arrival, he stepped backward, prepared to run back. If he hadn't jerked himself forward soon after, he would've fallen; the path leading back was gone.
"Are you shitting me?' he growled through his panic. He considered jumping off anyway, staring into the nothing.
And then that damn inner feeling began biting at him again.
"Forward," it seemed to scream at him. So he swallowed his fear and followed the path ahead.
Near the outer edge of the grassland's dead patch was a spot ingrained in memory: a makeshift trench. Just deep enough for a child to be thrown into. The sight of it gave him pause, filling his mind with words spoken long ago.
"I'd look like even more of an idiot if you were to die after this anyway, wouldn't I?"
He ground his teeth.
"This is your consequence, Neo, for mistaking bravado for bravery." The grey-haired figure smiled. "If you want to pay me and your brother back, the least you can do now is live."
"So live."
Those were the last words the woman ever spoke to him before going out screaming in pain. If he weren't so weak, so obsessed, it never would've happened.
"Hellava lotta good that did, huh?" Neoru lacked the will to so much as ball his fists. "That's twice now, I've made ya look stupid."
"So it seems. You little fool."
He snapped around to no one.
"The hell?"
The subsequent chop upon his head made it clear that he wasn't alone. He howled in pain, nursing it as the voice continued.
"You've hardly grown at all, have you?"
The thick, emphasized accent gave him a clue, but the woman he saw in front of him discarded any potential for doubt.
"Kuole?" he stammered, almost falling back.
"So you remember names." Her cold, dark-blue eyes glared down at the boy, who made a conscious effort to avert contact with them. "Pleasant. But that doesn't do much for you now, does it?"
"... why am seein' you right now? Is this Hell?"
Kuole scoffed, flicking back her ponytail. "Still ill-mannered as ever!"
"Yeah, well, manners ain't gonna do me much good now, eh?" Neoru stared at the grass, as if it had called him a name.
"And now no eye-contact? Hard to believe a man like Socai raised you, at this rate!" she huffed.
But he couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. In fact, simply speaking to her seemed a momentous task.
She tapped her foot, his sudden sheepishness waning on her patience.
"... what are you waiting for?" he finally spoke. "Say it already."
Kuole furrowed one brow and raised the other.
"I wasted what you gave me. You shoulda just let me die. Just fuckin' say it already, so I can get going."
After a sigh on the silver-haired woman's part, Neoru's head bolted upward.
"JUST FUCKIN' SAY IT ALREADY!"
"... Do you know why I threw myself in front of you right here, despite how easy it'd be to discard of something so useless to us?"
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ASKIN' ME!? YOU'RE THE ONE WH-"
She smacked him in the mouth before he could finish. "Tone. Now, then. I just want you to guess."
"... 'cus you turned into a dumbass at the last minute?" Neoru mumbled to the ground as he clenched his mouth, garnering a chuckle instead of daggers.
"Close, but no."
She leaned down to his level.
[BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ The Way This Fleeting Life Is]
"Your pain was understandable. I… I felt it too, every day in secret. But because I was in charge of you and my sister, I had to bottle those feelings inside. You, however… were a sheltered little boy, who couldn't cope with such a loss. Thus, you let your anger swallow you. You believed tiring yourself to the brink with poultry exercises would bridge the gap between you and the beast that could devour even your brother."
Neoru pursed his lips. When she put it like that, of course it sounded stupid.
"You were a fool, who would've died a fool's death, if I hadn't died in your place. Still, you were Socai's life's work, and still young. I didn't want what was left of him to die in vain, and you had so much to learn about this world yet. So as a final act, I taught his brat of a brother a lesson."
"..."
She tapped her chin, then shrugged. "Maybe I didn't die without regret. But the choice I made was my own, and one like me has always lived in Death's shadow regardless. Besides, you and my sister were competent enough to survive without a hawk over you every second. My role in this life was fulfilled. No matter how stupid, it was the next generation's duty to see this through. I'm glad I met your brother, and I was happy that you and Cleo still had each other… well, maybe not each other, but…"
"... gh…"
Neo was biting down. Hard. That did little to hold tears, but still.
"You keep talkin' like I can do anything about anything anymore…" he whimpered. A finger began raising his head.
"You're awful certain that this is the end, little Neo. But I doubt that after all this, a bit of sleep is enough to kill you." She took him in a hug. "So live, Neo. Live without your petty regrets. For of you, I have none."
"Live."
And just like that, with a thunderclap that parted the clouds overhead, she vanished. A rapid session of checking surroundings confirmed it.
"... was that… real?"
His fixation slowly turned from her existence, to what she'd said. The voice, the look, the personality, all of which were dead ringers of the woman he'd looked up to as an elder sister throughout his youth...ier youth. And with that, he felt a burning within his heart.
He lowered his hands and…
SMACK!
"That was her. I could feel it. Somehow…"
Hands now wetter with tears than his eyes post face-smacking, he smiled.
"Dunno why you did that, but… thanks."
Dead? Alive? He still wasn't sure. All he knew is that he'd rather be alive. He still had people to make proud, and a life people fought for, after all. That alone gave it worth.
Not making the mistakes he did when he was a stupid kid, though? That, he reaffirmed.
He paid the ditch one last look before walking down a new path.
|DAY ****|
The road back was a few hours, at worst. Yes, it turned out that the new path led him back to the same place he started, albeit much less time required. Something had changed upon touching base again.
"That pillar wasn't there before," Neoru stated nonchalantly.
He scratched at his head. "Wait…"
"Looks like those pieces from before came together and made a pillar… this was after my talk with big sis Kuole… apparently, I still had shit to work out concerning that... and I'm probably not dead..."
He looked around. "And there's still 3 sets'a pieces…"
"I think I'm getting it now."
Neoru began walking toward the next set; checking his step for the segments of rock to appear before him, first off. Once that happened, he set off.
"This is some kinda mind space, or some shit like that. Something to do with that meditation crap I've been doing, no doubt." With his resolve set, he broke out into a jog, which became a sprint. "Therefore, all I gotta do to return to normal is to pass whatever shitty test this is!"
"If I can get through without breakin' down like a bitch, even better… ah, who the hell cares. If I cry, I cry, nothin' to lose sleep over!"
|DAY|
"Hh… Hh… Hate running… Hhh…"
Neoru had repeated the same word every 2 days since he began. So 3 times, he said it 3 times.
So far, nothing of interest had cropped up, besides the road getting bloody on occasion. With no reason to stop, the boy kept aimlessly trucking onward.
Neoru hadn't noticed how all color was beginning to muddle and fall onto itself, molting into a deathly gray. It wasn't until he ran past the first face that-
"(THE HELL!?)"
Neoru tripped across his own feet. He nearly broke his neck as he spun backward to confront it.
Nothing waited back there, of course.
"(... how the hell d'ya hallucinate inside your own mind… come on, Neo.)"
He turned back around.
Heads.
Giant heads, hanging from chains.
Lifeless flesh, eyes all boring holes into the boy beneath them. There were hundreds of the goliaths, all lined before him like lamps.
"Huh?" was all he was able to wheeze out.
Every face which hung was one he recognized, one he made sure never to forget.
To end the eldritch sideshow, he continued forward. The paler-than-normal kid endured the spectacle for what felt like another hour, each young-and-old face conveying something different; contorted in rage, frozen in fear, melted in sorrow, and some simply stared. Those scared him the most, the ones which showed nothing.
Thank the high heavens, something came up. He reached the last pair and found a raggedy, ruined building.
"... So it's this moment, eh?" he spoke, birthing reminiscent grief from fear. That said, he entered.
He'd find something on the 4th floor, that he knew. On the way toward the hole in the 1st's ceiling, he saw a small smidge of blood periodically drop from above, somehow seeping through concrete.
"The fuck? How?"
He paid it a glare and advanced, pulling himself up into the second floor.
The blood had begun forming a visible puddle. The drips were now shooting down.
"Really?" Neo groaned, before hopping up the next large parting in the ceiling.
There was now a downpour, descending like a waterfall at a rate loud enough to grate the ears.
"Oh, come on."
He knew what this was about, who's comically-vast quantities of liquid life force it belonged to.
This time, however, he was ready to face it, with the answers he'd gained from experience. So he hopped on up.
In place of blood, he found a boy. Around 14, donning raggedy clothing, could use a burger or two.
He glared at him, finished his upward pull, and stood.
"Look, Ruko, if you're gonna call me a shit person for killing people, then hate to break it, but that bomb dropped 4 years ago. And if you wanna haunt my ass yourself, feel free, like I'll give a rat's ass. You attacked first, I fought back, people kill to live, world's cruel. Boom, there's my fuckin' mushroom therapy session with you. Now do me a favor and fuck off, so I can move forward already."
The Ruko boy stared back. Then, he shook his head, as if mockingly.
"Where'd you get that mouth, little Neo?"
"Yeah, whatever, ya back-stabbin' bastard, get lost."
"..."
"I said SCRAM! Go on! Back to your own damn furnace!"
A grin stretched across his face, slowly contorting it until it was no longer human.
[BGM: Yutaka Yamada ‒ Still Blade]
"The fuck…?" was all Neoru got out before he was shot at with his brother's sword, somehow out of his backpack-sheath and into the hands of his former friend.
"WHAT GIVES, ASSHOLE!?" he yelled, blocking the blade with his own ki-enforced wrist. "DISAPPEAR ALREADY!"
"I want to hear it from YOU! Why did you kill me?"
"YOU DEAF OR SOME SHIT!?" Neoru threw him back and rushed toward him; if he wasn't gonna fade, he'd make him. "YOU TRIED TA GUT ME OVER BEANS, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
"That's not it, was it?" Ruko vanished, a small glint of relief in Neoru's eyes flickering out as quickly as he could turn to parry the ensuing attack.
"I should be haunting YOU, you bastard! I TRUSTED YOU!" Neoru screamed as he decked the lanky boy in the face, sending him back a considerable length; only now did he realize the 4th floor had stretched into a dark-grey plane of its own. He cared for a millisecond.
"NOW GIVE ME BACK HIS SWORD, YOU SHITHEAD!"
There was another uncanny smile, the clash of malleable steel from a retaliatory sword strike against a fist briefly obstructing Neoru's sight.
"I'll ask again."
When it returned to him, Neo saw a different head; this one, a middle-aged thug of whom he had no name to attach to.
"Why did you kill me?"
Despite it, the circumstances of when and why he killed them weren't lost to him.
" 'Cus you decided that some hungry little runt was easy prey, you sick piece oF-"
He grabbed the blade, roundhousing the grotesquely-disproportionate figure away and reclaiming it.
"Whatever you're tryin'na pull on me, I'm sick of it! Whatever 'lesson' this is, I know it already!" he yelled, more faces on the same body lunging toward him with the he'd taken back, all repeating the same, infernal question.
"What, did I fuckin' enjoy it or something?" he yelled as he dodged a boy with a woman's head, kicking them clean in two before they evaporated. "Fine then, I did! Is that what you wanna hear?"
"LIAR!" a boy with an old man's head screeched as it fell onto Neoru from above preparing to sink its blade into him before being slammed to the ground and stepped on, evaporating into nothing.
"SAY IT!" howled a boy with a young man's head, as it swung its weapon at his side. Neo parried and lobbed off the head, which disappeared.
"Not everyone deserved to die, no shit!" Neoru shouted back. "I know that, you all know that, now fuck off!" Despite the plea, they kept assailing him with the same questions as they attacked; many swipes were starting to get through his defense.
He was eventually brought to his knees.
"Why did you kill?" one last voice asked.
"... BECAUSE… I HAD… TO…"
It asked one last time.
"Why?"
"BECAUSE I WAS TOO WEAK TO DO ANYTHING ELSE!"
Neoru panted.
"That was the only way I could respond. That was the only way I could keep living. I never liked doing that shit, but… there was no other way for me."
"I was always… too weak."
He couldn't bring himself to raise his head.
"What's wrong? Was THAT what you needed to hear?"
The boy - just Ruko this time - knelt down.
"Why did we want you dead?"
"... You just wanted to keep livin', like everyone else. Some of you were just out of options."
"Why?"
"..."
Ruko answered for him. "Because we were too weak, ourselves."
[BGM: Yutaka Yamada ‒ Ahead of the Road]
Neo's eyes widened.
"Too weak to find another path. Too weak to control ourselves. Too weak to avoid resorting to bloodshed. That's human weakness, I guess."
Neoru sighed. "You guess, huh?" he stood. "It's not fair. People shouldn't need to do this to each other, just to live."
"Eh. It's a part of our nature. But… it's not like we have to remain this way. Maybe we can become strong enough to avoid it altogether."
"..."
Neoru thought back to the new world he'd been brought into.
"I train to kill monsters. Not boys."
"There are still schmucks too weak to keep 'emselves from killing, but too strong to just be put down easy."
"I'm gonna be so strong that I can't hurt anyone!"
"And idiots who'll just let them do as they please. So if it ever comes down to it, I can't hesitate. But…"
He took a deep and shaky inhale, made a fist, and nodded. "I'll give it a shot. I'm gonna make sure that I'm strong enough for that to be a last resort. If I can't do that, then if I have to, it'll be for someone else's sake."
Ruko smiled. "Good."
Neoru heard the sound of flesh parting, looked back, and saw it; his sword had pierced through Ruko. In the same manner as when an 11 year old Neo first took a life.
"... fuck me, dude, you're a drama queen," Neoru stated with surreal bluntness. Ruko smiled, as he finally began fading off.
"Sorry… for giving in to myself… bud."
Neoru remained, still holding the sword.
"Rest."
He went outside, to meet the heads once more. He looked toward the stoics that he'd feared not long ago. Every person he'd ever slain, he remembered their faces; but those left the biggest impact.
"WHEN I GO… I WANNA BE ABLE TO PULL OFF ONE'A THOSE!" he shouted to them.
Those stoic heads watched on, continuing to exist within his mind. As he advanced down the road, color returned to their skin.
|DAY|
2 of 4 pillars had assembled. The way things were going, each was fixing to be more grueling than the last. Still, Neoru advanced in his path to… do whatever he was doing.
"Naaah naaah na-ah, nah nah naaah nah, nah nah oh shit, naaah naah nah nah, naaa- screw it, I can't remember that song."
Neoru was getting sick of running for days on end. Knowledge of the halfway mark gave him the mental boost he needed to keep trucking through. Something was off about this path in particular, he noticed. He made his way across vast rundown highways between buildings which still clung onto what was he'd learned was called neon, through parks mostly untouched and thereby abundant in greenery (even a bit of the playset resisted destruction), and past a particularly-familiar oceanside, complete with an oriental patch job adobe.
Nostalgia. It came at him in waves. A lovely diversion from traumatic flowers and fever dream guilt trips, to be certain. Near the oceanside, he paused to take in the view he hadn't received in years.
No, it wasn't real. So?
A sentimental smile overtook his face. He moved his hands a bit across the rocks he sat upon, and something resurfaced in his head.
Neo grabbed a smaller one, pulled back his wrist, and chucked it at the water.
"... damn it," he hissed as the chunky stone sank on impact, not sparing a single skip across the blue.
He briefly checked behind himself before smirking devilishly.
"I can do this shit all day, can't I?"
|DAY STOP IT NEO, YOU DONKEY|
"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE…"
The sea level had increased by about an inch. The beach had become barren and rockless.
Neoru had devolved into psychotic giggles, holding up the final boulder he was previously standing on.
"I DID IT… I NAILED THE TECHNIQUE…ALL I GOTTA DO… IS CHUCK THIS FUCKIN' PEBBLE… AND I'LL FINALLY SKIP A ROCK…!"
He reeled back and…
A smooth stone skipped on by, right before him. It gave sweet kisses to the water's surface for miles off into the horizon, snapping Neoru out of his psychotic stupor.
"... wha…"
"It starts with the rock, mi hermano."
Neoru's eyes lit up.
"You've got to find one smooth-like, almost like a disc. Stones that big won't get anyone anywhere."
The figure took a stance.
"Take an angle that feels right, wind back the arm, and…"
Another stone skipped across the blue.
"After that…" the man in the dark-grey vest, phoenix etched onto its back, concluded, " it's all in the way you flick the wrist!"
The shock gradually faded from his expression. Still turned away, he spoke.
"It's been a while, Socai."
"So how's life treating you?" Socai asked, the two strolling across the mucky shore.
Neoru didn't answer.
"... er… not my best opener, I'll admit," the elder brother scratched his head in an attempt to proc a better one. "You've gotten taller, brother mine! Even grew into my old chaleco! You used to come up to my knees, you know, and now you're all the way up my chest! That's swell!"
Neoru gave a dry exhale, in retort. Socai jokingly mimicked him. "It really has been ages since we last talked. I mean I'd be on my toes, too, talking to a bunch'a gente muerta out of nowhere, but I'm still dyyyy..."
His little brother stopped in his tracks.
"... excited? Exci-Yeah THAT one! I'm EXCITED to hear the story 'till now!"
Neoru turned and pointed past a brush of trees, to Socai's confusion.
"Let's talk over there."
He shrugged, and followed.
"Kinda thought you'd be a bit more enthusiastic about this…"
"Things are different right now."
As they made their way through, Neoru made a mental note.
"(It's smaller than what I remember. Easier to get through, too. Things change when you're not a panicking kid, I guess.)"
They arrived, and Socai stopped abruptly at the end of the forest.
"Wait, this place… Neo?"
Neoru maintained pace, stopping in the middle of the formerly flame-scorched divide and seating himself atop a large stump.
"Figures I'd find this place here. Never leaves my dreams, after all."
"What's this about, Neo?" Socai asked in concern, closing in before being motioned to stop where he was.
Neoru lowered his hand, interlacing both and resting his forehead upon them.
"I've killed people. Lot of them deserved better. I've stolen, too. Maybe damned a guy or two to starve when they shouldn't've."
Socai stared.
"I've joined shitty people, bastards that looked at others like fodder and cogs, and spat on life. It's because of my acting out that Kuole's dead now. And also, I got myself killed. If she isn't dead, Cleo'd be the only one left now."
"..."
"I've had time to grapple with a lotta this stuff. Kuole even spoke with me not long before I got here. But none'a that changes the fact that I failed you. Everything you've taught me, every right and wrong you've given me. I threw it all away to keep living. Your name, your sword, everything you stood for, I dragged it all through the mud. And if I never yelled at you that day, you'd still be kicking."
A moment of silence passed. He took a deep breath, and gave a dead smile to the sky.
"Never thought I'd be able to get that off my chest. Alright, I'm right here, Socai. Whatever you need to do, do it."
The man in the phoenix jacket approached, and Neoru didn't bother bracing. To his subtle surprise, there was nothing. Instead...
"... how long have you felt that way?"
Neoru lowered his head. "Huh?"
Socai took a seat on the stump.
"That what you did would make me hate you?"
"... since you died."
"... Here's a story about our mom. See, Mama gave every last ounce of herself into birthing you, y'know. Put her in a condition where she could hardly move, and speaking was a test of pain tolerance. Because of that, for a while, I hated you. Each an' every minor ache I felt in me, I blamed it all on you. I... I even considered throwing you into the ocean on the trip mainland."
Before Neo could take the statement in, Socai continued. "But, as I took care of you, and as things sunk deeper and deeper into misery around us, I grew closer to you. Your dumb little smile helped push me onward, kept me grounded… you helped me keep human."
"I wanted to protect that smile. Always. So… I kept things from you. In the ways of the world, I gave you bare minimum, just to make sure that rosy, ingênuo face kept smiling… That led to you being snatched out of nowhere, and everything after. You remember, right?"
"... yeah."
Socai trembled a bit.
"Everything had gotten worse around us, and I should've equipped you for it sooner, but… I just wanted you to be a kid for as long as you could. You deserved some semblance of what normal was, ¿sabes? But because of that, you had to learn every lesson the hard way…"
"Hey..!"
"There was truth in your words that day, as well. I did nothing but hide things from you 'till the end…"
"HEY!"
Socai slammed his eyes shut, grimacing as his composure crumbled. "What a horrible big bro I've been to-"
Neoru punched him across the face. He flew clear off the stump.
"Hah… Hah… almost saw you crack a tear, there."
Socai slowly recovered, his usually inferno-orange eyes asking why.
"I'll be damned if I let your ass steal my guilt, ya son of a…" Neo ripped back his balled fist, throwing it into a pocket as he stiffened his upper lip. "Look, maybe you're right on that 'keeping shit from me' act, but dammit, I'M the one who chose this life 'n made those decisions. Your codes, your convictions… if I'd been a bit stronger where it mattered, I coulda upholded 'em, or however the hell you say it. But I didn't."
Seeing his brother the way he was, hearing his own words, Neoru felt a tremendous amount of weight fall from him.
His hand softened, slipping from its cloth shell. "But I'm not you. You… you were somethin' else. Not a perfect role model, no, but SHIT man, no one could touch you when you gave it your all. And the best part was that no one had to die at the end when it was YOU fighting. Horrible big bro my ass!"
Socai's eyes grew puppy-like. "Neo…"
"All I wish was… was that you'd better prepared me for what I was gonna get into when I was older. But you're beating yourself up hard enough on that topic... how'd you say it, uh, ¿sabes?"
A tear managed to slip through, but Socai took his time catching and flicking it away.
"... It's still there."
[BGM: Taku Iwasaki ‒ To Heaven With Your XXX...]
Socai stood. "You're becoming a man, and yet that light of yours hasn't faded… if anything, it's brighter now."
"My light? Wait… a long ways back, you mentioned that. The light in someone's eye…"
"... Their fighting spirit, brother mine."
The younger brother smirked. "Despite everything, it's still here, eh?"
The older brother turned. "Yep. Which means the role I played for you is over. One thing before I go, Neoru."
"Shoot."
"I only ever told you this once, but make sure you remember this time. You're an Orojia. Wear that name with pride, but wear your own with just as much."
Neoru nodded, seeing him off. "I will. Thanks, bro."
Socai smiled, holding a peace sign. "Seguir luchando, mi hermano."
With that, he departed.
"Faintest idea what that means… but I'll take that to heart. Orojia…"
A subtle flame emanated from his sheathed sword in the meantime.
Before his way back, he skipped a rock. He screamed as loud as possible soon after.
|DAY XX|
The now-three pillars had formed a triangle somehow ‒ two on each side of him, and one on his flank ‒ leading to the 4th and, from the looks of it, final set of pieces.
The flanking pillar blotted out most of the light in the violet void's "sky" leaving his last path darker than the others.
"Last round, eh?"
Neoru took a deep breath.
Then the air, carrying any lingering fear and doubt, rushed out of him.
"Whatever lies in wait from here," he internally declared as he advanced, "I'll be ready."
|DAY /./|
Neoru could no longer see himself. The sudden shift into pitch-black had occurred 4 or 5 days into his sprint forward, and he'd been running in as straight a line possible ever since.
The sudden, blaring light above nearly sent him off the edge.
"HOW'D I GO BACKWARDS-BLIND… SHIT!"
After experiencing the polar opposite of his prior breed of blindness, his sight gradually returned. He saw that he'd been off the path ‒ how long, he wasn't sure ‒ and that it was still pitch-black around him, save for a massive, bulb-like light streaming down upon him.
"Okay…" Neoru said, inquisitive tone as he looked around.
The next he heard was growling. Low, predatory growls unlike any Earthly creature, more gargles than anything. He knew this sound, too well did he know it.
"Of course this was coming up…" he lamented. "Calm down, Neo. This is something that's gotta get done."
He turned to see it emerge from the abyss. Spiked hairs like horns drooped around its head, its sickly-grey skin like fleshy plating around a deeper magmatic tissue. The size of a bear, yet the power of a hundred dragons and the hunger of a thousand. Form still distorted like something had entered another's body and molded it until finding a size and shape it liked, to the other's agony.
Pangs of fear still raced through Neoru, but he let them pass, maintaining his composure and hardening his resolve.
"Bring it, 'Jigoku'."
It let out what sounded like a wail and a war cry's disfigured spawn, bolting toward him. Neoru shot in to meet it, hand on his blade ready to draw and swipe.
It phased through him.
"huh?"
The sounds of tearing flesh and screams made him swivel around to confront the source.
In the darkness, no longer visible to him, it was devouring someone. Someone he didn't recognize.
Confusion turned to rage.
"STOP IT!" he shouted, running at it before being smacked by a fluorescent wall of light.
"YOU FUCKIN' KIDDIN' ME!?" He recovered, dashing at the wall fist-first this time, only for the wall to pay his attack no mind. Neo kept beating against it relentlessly, the sounds only dying down until the screaming stopped.
By then, Neoru had ceased his punches. The gut-wrenching noises crunches and squishes subsided.
"... fuck…"
Another sound caused him to swerve around. This sound, one of chi being pulled to a point.
"I don't know how you could have botched such a simple request," an old man in a pretentiously-decorated robe said in a mocking voice, as two lackeys with what seemed like minor ki balls directed their hands toward him, "but I've no choice but to see this as an act of defiance."
The voice alone nearly drove him mad with rage. The image of its owner finished the job.
"KON'PACHI~!" he roared, mindlessly charging at him only to fall straight through.
"I've shown each one of you enough leniency," the old man hissed, subtle amounts of pleasure in his decree as he looked down upon the ones being judged, some begging without voices while others silently wept. Neoru whipped back around just in time to see the unfamiliars.
"Shame. Alright, kill them."
"NO-"
They all went up in smoke.
The old man strolled outside of Neoru's view, his company following behind. He slowly stood.
"... why am I seeing this?" he muttered in despair.
The light above briefly flickered off. On the second appearance, it was no longer a circular spot; rather, it was like another path. Neoru walked it.
With every step forward, he heard worse and worse over in the dark. Screams of man, woman, and child alike, the sobs of those stricken with grief, the clashing of metal and loud cracks of gunfire, and monstrous roars, just to name a few. No matter what form they took, they were sounds of a torn world.
One that he no longer held any role in.
One he was no longer capable of ‒ at the very least, trying to ‒ mend.
His fist shook, then fell in apathy, then reformed even tighter.
"(Is that my problem?)"
He clenched his teeth.
"(But it's useless to even care. There's nothing I can do. I tried. Can't I leave it at that?)"
Suddenly, he stopped.
"... I can't, can I?"
He slowly shrank to his knees.
"No one deserves to live the way they have to… to hell with nature's rules…"
"... but dammit… there's still nothing I can do for them…"
Neoru began to feel the way that dumbass did, once she first found out about being unable to return.
And the way that dumbass does, with a burning desire to change the way it all works.
"... so am I stuck here? What can I do?"
The light once again flickered off.
"... now what?"
And a small, faint natural light began taking shape in front of him.
"?"
He got back to his feet, and walked closer.
"It got bigger…"
Realizing its distance from him, he advanced toward it.
And eventually, it was large enough to envelop him.
"Why the hell not?" he decided after thinking on it.
He stepped through (had it been solid, he would've looked stupid,) and…
It was a sky. Deep-ocean blue, with a few puffy clouds spread throughout.
He found his feet upon a rocky cliffside path, growing narrower and narrower while leading off into nothing.
At the end of that path, was a girl with long, flowing indigo hair wrapped in a ponytail, staring off.
"..."
"..."
"... Cleo?"
The girl visibly shook, before bolting around to face him.
"... Neo?"
They needed a moment to take things in.
Neoru attempted to start first. "Does this mean you-"
"I had to face you again eventually, huh?"
"What? What're ya talkin' about?"
"Huh? What are YOU talking about? You're the last step of this trial, right?"
"The hell… wait, what trial? How am I seeing you right now if YOU'RE the one I'M supposed to be seeing?"
The two were on the verge of confusing each other's heads off.
"Unless…"
"Unless…"
"Alright," Cleo began, her tone growing a bit more hostile. "Let's start again. Who are you? Really."
"Neoru. Orojia, apparently."
"Your brother. What was his name?"
"Socai Orojia."
"He was familiar with a woman. What was her name?"
"Kuole… Caryotique family, you two wouldn't shut up about it when you first joined us. Died saving an angry brat, who ditched her sister and went off that sister's radar for years."
"... Fine, but answer this."
"Oh come ON-"
"Be patient, moron!" Cleo was almost convinced by the outburst.
"No, I didn't come here to pass your damn pop quiz! This is stupid!"
"YOU'RE stupid!"
"Fuck you, YOU'RE stupid!"
"WATCH YOUR MOUTH, YOU TWERP!"
"YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS'A ME, SHUT UP!"
"..."
"..."
"Cleo, you're still alive?"
"Of course I am, but how-"
"Hahahaha….GSF-HAHAHAHAHA!"
[BGM: Shunsuke Kikuchi ‒ Dragon Ball Soundtrack (9)]
Neoru ran up to her and hugged the life out of her.
"YOU'RE ALIVE! YOU'RE REALLY ALIVE!" he exclaimed, spinning around with the now mind-mushed young woman.
"Wha… what is… I… whaa…"
Noting that she was on the verge of hurling, Neo set her down.
"Wow, you're lookin' like you're gonna keel over an' pass away any second! I'm celebratin' a bit early, eh?"
Cleo double-smacked herself back together. "Does all this mean that… you, too?"
Neoru scratched his head. "I mean, it's not like I faked my own death, or anything like that. Still, I didn't exactly go to, y'know, either/or, and I'm no reincarnation, either. It's a long and confusing story. Got time?"
"Of course."
"And now, I'm here. Not dead, not particularly alive, but still kicking."
He turned to her. "If ya need a review, you're shit-outta-luck. I lost half my brain cells trying to find the right words for most'a that crap."
Cleo's bright-golden eyes glinted with tears. "You're alive… even after all that…" she wiped away a few. "It's like a dream…"
"Hey, you still being there does WAY more for me than you could know." Neo smiled. "Now I know that hellhole still has a chance. Plus, it just feels awesome, knowing that I didn't bite it in vain."
"And you sound like you're prepared to go into something much bigger than you are." Her face now cleared up, she smiled back. "Don't screw up, Neo."
"That goes triple, for you."
They both stood.
"And I'm still taller than you."
"That's 'cus you're a freak."
"...!"
"Ow."
They both had a respite of quiet, taking in the infinite blue as they reflected upon the best news that either had received in a long while.
"So we're both doing this meditation gig, huh?"
"It's why we're able to see each other, is my guess. Most likely, we're in a state of limbo as our spirit grows stronger."
"That sounds dumb."
"You're dumb."
"Get fucked. But yeah, I'm sure it's been a month."
"Is that the time you were given to meditate?"
"Yep. Not to brag."
"I'm positive that I've completed the three I was given by my current master, as well."
"ARE YOU-...! 'ckin bullshit!"
"Seems that I'm still above you in more ways than one," Cleo quipped. If looks could kill, she'd be 50% more dead. "Do you think it was a coincidence that we met again like this?"
[BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ Outtake弐-04]
"Definitely. Don't think this'll ever happen again, considerin' we're in, like, 2 separate sheets of time. Hell, where I'm at, your story's all said-and-done by now. It's, like, a piece of history, just like the others we're supposed to keep glued together or... some shit, it's weird."
"... huh?"
Neoru scratched his chin. "Hey, I'm new all the stuff over here. Look, that doesn't matter, alright? I've got no idea how our history unfolds after my role's doneso. Neither do you, so, y'know, fight. Get stronger, beat Jigoku, kick that old Kon'pachi fucker's ass, give 'em both one for me while you're at it. I'm givin' you all the faith I've got, Cleo."
Cleo gave a shaky grin, which steadily became a full-on smile.
"In return, you ensure that, for good or bad, time never crumbles. While you're at it, become the best there is at it."
"Eh, nah on that last bit, sounds like a pain," Neoru chuckled, to Cleo's annoyance.
"A man should have some more drive in his soul, you loser!"
Neoru gave a haphazard shrug. Soon after, however, his blazing violet eyes sharpened, and he raised a fist toward her. "But I'll sure as hell give it my all."
The gold-eyed girl returned the gesture. "I will, too."
The rocky path split in two, creating paths in opposing directions leading to swirling doors. A dragon statue waited on one end, a stone griffon's on the other.
They gave a mutual look of understanding, before bolting off toward their doors.
"I'll see ya when I'm dead. You better be an old hag by then, Cleo!" Neoru yelled, tears streaming freely.
"And you'd better be a one-eyed old geezer when we meet, above or below, Neo!" Cleo shouted back, her own ocular levees breaking.
Because he couldn't let go of sentiment, remembering his brother's last words to him, he screamed something.
"SEGUIR LUCHANDO!"
Returning the impassioned war cry, Cleo screamed her sister's last words to her.
"LUTTE À MORT!"
With that, the paths crumbled. And both inheritors departed for good.
|DAY 31|
Neoru jumped down onto the platform, shaking off the chills he got from his last goodbye.
A small surprise awaited him.
He looked down at the little kid, who stared back with a stupid grin. After everything, he couldn't help but sigh.
"... Yo, ya little dumbass," said Neoru.
"Hi!" said Neo.
They both looked at the new sight before them: all four pillars, two on the right and two on the left, were now positioned in a way leading to the giant light in the sky.
"So, er… why are ya… ah screw it, weirder's happened."
"Like me! I happened!"
"Yeah, I know, ya little dweeb."
He waited for a few seconds. "So uh… where the hell's the exit? Do I gotta punt you cross-void, or what?"
"You're coming to take yourself out!"
"... Kid I've had enough metaphoric sh… crap happen to me today, can ya just tell me straight for-"
[BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ BLAZE (Zero-Two Ver.) (Start - 1:28)]
The dimension shook. A roar ‒ a noble, heaven-shaking roar, nothing like the disfigured noise he once feared ‒ sounded off, as a massive fifth pillar suddenly took form. From below it coiled a massive beyond-belief feathered serpent, its scales and feathers composed varying shades of the void's violets and just as gargantuan as the pillar itself.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?" Neoru exclaimed, ditching his previous attempt to self-censor.
"You!" Neo yelled in return.
"I-WHA-"
He remembered the roar he heard when his soul first "exploded".
THIS.
THIS WAS IT.
He had a lot more questions. But, right then and there, he didn't care to ask them. He simply took a breath.
"And he's my ticket outta here, eh?"
Neo gave a thumbs up.
Neoru shrugged.
"Then…"
Without warning, he bolted off straight at the dragon, which unveiled a bold, peripheral-to-peripheral wingspan, roared once more, and flew straight at him.
He let off his own roar and leapt off the platform, straight at the oncoming beast.
Neo, Neoru, and the dragon were all enveloped in an all-encompassing light, sending the mind-space into a spiral.
And then…
|PRESENT DAY, PRESENT TIME|
A violent, violet torrent of energy suddenly shot into the cerulean sky. It took time to dissipate, thoroughly shaking the trees across the chrono-fractal landscape.
When it did, a young man slowly stood.
His vest was now a much lighter grey, and the tribal dragon design on its back no longer looked like a stitch job; it had grown, and the chaleco appeared brand new.
His hair had also grown out, coming down off his back, yet still maintaining the upward crown of fluffed spikes near the front, and three bangs stemming off it.
For the first time in a long time, his heart beat (with several times its prior pulse), and his lungs took in more than a shallow breath's worth of air.
He stood, and vibrant violet eyes stared off into the landscape.
With razor-sharp eyes, he spoke.
"My neck hurts like a bitch."
"You know you're an idiot for putting him through this, correct?" Stroga said.
"Not helping," Kaset replied, on edge as he held up his forehead.
"Putting a 15 year old boy through something that a countless many monks have died attempting? I've always known that you were a lunatic, but… you even had the audacity to leave your gate with him?"
"He'll show up. I know it. Just wait."
"... this is moronic, I'm retrieving him-"
"Sit down."
Stroga glared as his brother-by-trial.
Kaset glared back.
"Trust me. I'm not psychotic enough to kill a kid."
"... 5 minutes. 5 more minutes of this."
Kaset nodded, dire look softening a bit.
"(I know you pulled it off, Neo. Just make it back here. I believe in you…)"
The already-lowered sun set even further.
And five minutes came to pass.
"..."
"..."
"Kaset!"
The man obsessed with breaking human limits recoiled a bit.
"Alright. Go on."
"Honestly, you of all people shouldn't need to be told that humans have limits!" he scolded, throwing forth his gate.
Which never made it to the ground.
"Mhuh hew' whah haht 'a'out?" a young man with a corn cob in his mouth mumbled, holding the gate between his fingers.
Kaset's head shot up.
[BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ Heavenly Supreme Absolute Spears]
There stood Neoru, thinner and just a tad taller, with a new hair style and a new fit.
A really stupid smile spread across his face upon seeing him; he paid no mind to the radically-increased power the boy held.
He simply tackled him.
"I KNEW YOU HAD THIS SHIT COVERED! I KNEW IT!" he cackled, much to the warrior scholar's befuddlement.
"Heeey, what the fuck?" he spouted, dropping his cob.
"H… how!?" Stroga now stammered. "That's just not feasible!"
"Yeah, sure. Hey can ya put me down now? Jeez."
Kaset quickly obliged, before noticing the new clothes and seven centimeters he'd gained out of nowhere. "My word, man, you GREW, too? How'd you sprout up like that in a month?"
"Uhuhnuh." He slung his arms back. "I just had some stuff that needed working out. So I did it. All this happened soon after."
He smirked. "I'm also a bit stronger now."
Kaset nodded, giving back a smirk. "Yep, I'm convinced. I can't teach you anything else."
"Eh?"
"In all honesty, last month, you were hittin' your limit," he began, Stroga doing a sarcastic shock face behind him. "But… but then you pull THIS off. From here, train under someone who's more experienced than me, who doesn't stop at raw power."
"But if not you, then who?" He looked over to Stroga, who was immediately offended off the look Neoru gave alone. "Him?"
"You're strong enough to find someone good enough for you from here, lil' man. I know it."
"(I'm just batshit terrified that I'll end up killing you for real one'a these days.)
"... Alright, I'll go for it." Neoru tossed back Stroga's gate, preparing to hand Kaset his own.
Kaset pushed back Neoru's hand. "Keep it. Just because I'm not training you anymore doesn't mean you can't come over to get some exercise in."
"Sick! And… thanks, Kaset. Your training hurt like hell, but you pushed me along knowing full-well I could make it through it." With a thumbs up and a wave off, Neoru headed back home.
"That boy… everything indicates he's human, down to the last DNA strand..."
"Unreal, right?"
"Have you ever figured out his origin?"
"... uh, no… never really cared."
"... are you crying?"
Kaset stoically wiped one aside.
"Yep."
"(My world's in good hands. I know that.)"
Neoru grinned. "(So I'll focus on this one. Whatever purpose I'm looking for, I'll find it here if I just keep pushin'. And in the meantime, I'll make sure I live, not just survive.)"
"Neoru, you ghost of a man! Where have you been?"
He turned to find Katlij. "I did a thing. W'sup?"
"Well... Mashii's in a bad ways at the moment, she got a tad too greedy during our latest sparring session, and a bone was broken. Mind accompanying me, and this apologetic chocolate bouquet?"
The human shrugged. "Sure, Kat. Hell, I'll get one'a my own."
"Many thanks, Ne-wait, did you just call me Kat?"
Neoru simply grinned ‒ a friendly, boyish one ‒ before setting off to get some cocoa flowers of his own.
"(And, of course, I'll get strong enough to live in a way that I'm proud of. Just keep an eye out, you guys!)"
[ED: Pay Money to My Pain - Weight of My Pride]
6 months remain until the Worthy of Heaven's Eye Martial Arts Exam-Tournament begins!
11/16/2024 UPDATE: Light overhaul on dialogue, just making things make sense.
Yo! OP here!
I CAN FINALLY PLAY WITH MY OTHER CHARACTERS AGAIN! WOOOO! LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOO!
HALFWAY POINT BABYYYYYY!
Alright, now the two Main MCs are at their absolute mental prime. They can be static and influence other characters now... more than they already did, but still, DRAMATICALLY less angst from Kaset's fledgling and Ayeva's cub from now.
So yeah, this chapter was kinda sorta hell to make, and I thought I'd wind up hating it. But no... in fact, upon rereads, I love it! Sure, I'm starting to lose my fight scene chops, but I've thought of a remedy for that related to writing, but unrelated to this fic in particular. Stay tuned. If this college week doesn't smack me and my plans.
A few rewrites to make note of: Neoru's bro's name changed. Wanted it to be a better "psycho-" pun, so yeah, enter CHADcai. I think Kuole's name was adjusted, too? IDK, I don't remember atm. Just needed to add that in, avoid inevitable confusion due to my own ineptitude. ((Future-Future OP Here. I adjusted Cleo and Kuole's last names to be more unique. The last one was a CELL pun. A CELL pun. I must commit to Sudoku for countless rigorous hours to atone.))
Fun fact, I spent 20-40 minutes thinking of "Kon'pachi." I shit you not. Chances are that he'll likely never appear again. I hate myself.
But, uh, yeah. Not much else for me to say. Jujutsu Kaisen's a bop, watch it, read it, all that guda. Next chapter will be a small boi involving Trunk Soup and rift troubles, just something fun for me after this long-ass character deconstruction I made, and next up on the list is maybe-probably Zinco (Been getting into Wuxia/Xianxia, considering that's DB's origin story and all, and cultivation is neat. That'll be relevant to Neo, Zinco, and Mei's backgrounds, the latter two moreso than Neo's ancestral connection.) Side Note involving him; remember how Zinco's... uh... familiar? Was a haetae/xiezhi? Komainu, that's it. (That familiar ain't disappearing, tho; usually in a pair, basically a lion... yeah, I'm handing it to a pre-existing character, easy.)
Well, I learned about another, reallllly important divine beast these past few months. One a tad more fitting toward Zinco's strength, personality, ideals, and bond/inevitable rivalry with a dragon, while also maintaining a lot of a xiezhi's themes, like one horn and fixation on justice. Hint: it starts with either a Q, a K, or a G, and it kinda looks like a horsie. I think I can implement this change natural-like in the following chapters, but either way, I'll be changing past chapters to include revisions like this and Socai's name change. Stay tuned.
And Wabi's is a carp, now. Thanks, Yakuza franchise. You helped me establish new lore and revised my old, shitty concepts. Also, your games are cash. Except Dead Souls. Apparently.
But yeah. Stay safe, everyone.
That's about it. See ya.