Chapter 202: Chapter 201 – Chasm

“Yuki?” Akira asked, grabbing his shoulders gently. “Talk to me. What happened?”

Yuki blinked and looked up at her. His chest still stung. The events that had just occurred ran loops in his mind. It was all so clear. The man disappearing without a trace. His presence impossible to detect. The phantom blade sprouting out of Yuki’s chest. It was all so clear in his head.

“I don’t know,” he said, his voice a whisper. “I don’t know.”

“We should get going,” Erica murmured. “People might be coming here.”

Yuki nodded. He pushed himself up slowly. Then he went to exit the vault without a word. Footsteps behind him told him that Akira and Erica followed. He walked down the hallway of the underground treasury, his pace slow. Without much thought, he navigated his way through it. All while staring ahead blankly.

“Yuki.” He felt someone tapping on his shoulder. Akira. “Yuki, what about up top?”

He tilted his head, not quite understanding. Then he remembered.

“Tell her to come back,” he replied. He sighed. “I have to go. Can’t let her know I was here.”

“Oh. Yeah.” 

Akira quieted and they kept walking silently. The hallways echoed with their footsteps though no guards came. Yuki didn’t think too much into it. He wasn’t thinking too much in general. 

The air suddenly cooled, dragging his attention. He was outside now, standing in front of a metal door that opened up to a stairway. The entrance of the treasury. It was dark, the stars shining bright. Crickets chirped and the leaves of the trees rustled quietly. 

“I guess I’ll be going then,” he said. He wasn’t sure who he was directing that to. “Tell Yuna.”

“I will,” Akira replied. She didn’t move.

Yuki turned his head back. She was staring at him, her brows drawn and her mouth set to a small frown. He recognized that look. It was one of worry.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, forcing the corners of his lips up. “Just tell her. And come back as soon as possible.”

Akira matched his expression and gave a small nod. She wasn’t convinced. Yuki could tell from her eyes. He turned back around and headed off. The path to the ship wasn’t very long, only a few minutes away. When he arrived, his fingers punched in the console of the transporter within the ship. He disappeared in a flash and appeared within the familiar glass tube of the transporter within the guild base. 

Then he stumbled his way through the halls. It was empty, no one in sight. Everyone was either at home or at the main living quarters of the guild. He was thankful for that right now. His feet brought him to a metal door. He pressed his hand against the glass pane next to it, leaning against the door as he did. It opened up, him nearly falling through. 

‘Cold,’ he thought. His hand went to his chest. ‘Cold.’

He felt his heart pounding as his chest rapidly rose up and down. Flopping down onto the bed, his arms spread out and he stared up at the ceiling. The blade. Those words. Helplessness. They already ran loops in Yuki’s mind, getting louder and louder as they morphed together into one word. Weak. His eyes closed.

‘Weak.’ It echoed in his head. ‘Weak.’

Then, gradually, as he laid there, his thoughts began to drift away from him, taken away to some place unknown. His consciousness slowly went with them until sleep pulled him in.

---

 

Fire. Cries. Screams. 

Noise.

People. Or things. Everywhere. Running about here and there. Pointing, shouting. Dying. Some have wings. Others have horns. More with tails. More running. People again. Now chasing. 

More noise. Loud noise.

People falling. Not getting back up. Tears. Then air.

Now I’m falling. Falling and falling.

The ground now. Stuck. The chasers are here. Picked up. No. Screams again. No, pleas. From nearby. The chasers look away. Another loud noise. No more pleas. 

Put me back.

They don’t. Placed somewhere. Now just darkness. No more noise. No more sights. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Still nothing. Why. Show me. More. Release me. Time? Time. What is time? Something that passes. Time has passed. How much? 

Release me. 

Trapped. Darkness. No noise still. No sight still. No colors. No blood. No cries. No laughs. Nothing. Still.

Release. 

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More time. How much? Too much. Constricted. Constrained. Walls all around. No more. No more.

Me. 

Confined. Imprisoned. No more. I can’t take it anymore.

RELEASE ME

---

 

Yuki’s eyes shot open, his breath sputtering out. His chest heaved as he stared up at the ceiling of the room. He was still inside his bedroom within the guild base. He heard softs breathes beside him and saw Akira sleeping peacefully. 

Release me.

The words repeated in his mind. He pushed himself off the bed and stood up. The dream played in his mind. But it wasn’t a dream that was visual. No, it was more emotional and feelings. He looked down. His hands were clenched.

Release me.

Socks on his feet, Yuki went out to the halls of the guild base. It was the middle of the night. The halls were dim and empty. He walked through them, making no sound. Then he came upon an elevator which opened up when he approached it. Entering it, he hit a button on the menu and waited. His breath did not abate. 

Release me.

When the doors opened again, a giant open space laid before him. It too was dark like the rest of the base. Yuki marched right out, his jaw clenched. He stopped before a hovering punching bag. Raising a fist, he gave it a light punch, the bag shaking back and forth briefly before stabilizing again. 

‘Weak. That’s what I am.’

Another punch. His teeth grinded. 

‘Headstrong. Arrogant.’

A stronger punch this time, rocking the floating bag.

‘Stupid. Shortsighted.’

More punches followed, rattling the bag as it barely had time to recover. Brows furrowed, and teeth bared, Yuki began to unleash a flurry onto the bag.

Noise.

His dream echoed in his mind. The screams, the cries, and the noise that could only be gunshots. Sounds from a scene completely foreign to him. Yet he felt himself burn. 

‘Why?’ he thought, hammering away. His fists came faster and faster. ‘Why? What do I need? What more do I need?’

A growl resonated in the air, filling his ears. On the bag, he found the face of an old man. Dull blue eyes. Grey hair. 

You can’t win. 

The face mouthed those three words. Those words screamed out to Yuki, demanding his attention. The growls grew louder as his chest became a bonfire. 

Thudthudthudthudthud

He needed answers. Who is this man to say that Yuki can’t win. What makes him better than Yuki. What did he have that Yuki could not obtain. 

‘Nothing.’

Yuki also had nothing. And that needed to change.

Release me.

It echoed in his mind again. Two simple words. Yet Yuki did not know what they meant. He did not know where they came from. He did not know what they wanted from him. 

‘But if it helps me, then I will do it.’

With one last mighty swing, his fist tore right through the bag and smashed right into the metal core. The bag flew backwards and crashed into the wall a few yards behind it. Yuki stopped, letting his arms go limp. The growl continued. It was coming from him.

‘I need answers.’ His chest heaved, his fists numb. ‘I will get answers.’

He turned and walked out, the fire within him dying. But it never went out. He snapped his fingers as he crossed the door into the elevator. The room blackened. And the doors shut.