[Community Writing Project] 世界の闇 - Darkness of the World

The world was an expansive, yet limited place. One could travel only so far until they reached the world's edges. To the south, waterfalls that fell into clouds, to the east and west, cliffs that seemed to have no bottom, and to the north, there were countless mountains, and no one has ever traversed them entirely.

One couldn't help but feel that some great force had trapped everyone in this world, yet people ignored these thoughts for the most part and lived their lives normally. Currently, an era of peace reigned, with occasional skirmishes between smaller nations. A massive empire, known as the 'Thorns Coalition' kept the peace between allied and non-allied nations, but maintained neutrality unless attacked themselves.

They were originally a group of smaller nations allied to one another, but tragedy befell their royal families and their entire national power structures were wiped out in a short period of time.

Thus, diplomats and senators gathered for a meeting to discuss who could succeed each of the nations, but no one had any solid ideas. They eventually agreed to place the Supreme General, a young woman who led their armies to victory countless times, to take the throne as a temporary measure.

Because of her military prowess, she had the approval of most soldiers, but many nobles and townspeople disapproved having a young woman take the throne instead of someone of royal lineage. Deserters began to appear, and some fled to other nations for asylum. Many turned into criminals and cutthroats, pillaging small towns and villages.

But, this was hardly the time for this - a dark power was at work as well, building forces behind the scenes. Demons, creatures of lore and legend, had supposedly once existed in this world. Certain people were trying to find ways to bring demons back so that they could use their power to take over the land, no matter what the cost...

"Yes... Yes! Everything is going according to plan..." Hissed a maniacal voice.

It was a dark, cold night, but many people were standing around a central water fountain, staring at it with blank stares. A man walked up to the scene slowly, tapping his cane as he approached. He was cloaked entirely in black and wore a jester's mask over his face. One-half of its expression was happy, and the other half was sad, with a black teardrop under the eye. His fingers were skinny and bony, and his fingernails were long and curved, like talons.

The cane he used had a human skull resting atop it, and he rested his bony hands upon that skull as he stood. The wood below seemed to be burnt, as it was the colour of charcoal. He coughed dryly beneath his mask and then tapped his cane on the ground as if signalling for attention. All of the people standing around the fountain turned to him, their expressions still blank and lifeless.

"Good, good! You're all very obedient. Now, I command you fools - burn this city to the ground! Kill anyone who tries to stop you!" hissed the cloaked man as he used his left hand to adjust his mask.

The cloaked man then slowly walked away, and chaos began to ensue. The sound of shattering windows, doors being broken, and objects thrown, filled the air of the once-silent night. He slipped into a dark alley, only to find a small child with a blank expression. An expression of utter despair.

"I didn't do anything to this one... What's wrong, boy?" He hissed. The boy barely acknowledged the man's presence, but let out a sigh that seemed like he was relieved. The boy had silver hair, not unlike the man's own, but velvet coloured eyes. The boy's skin was tanned, showing that he'd lived outside for a considerable time.

"I killed my parents." The boy confessed, crossing his arms and resting them on his knees, hiding his face.

The cloaked man chuckled a bit, and the boy's expression darkened into a glare. 'This boy may be useful to me', he thought, and so he waved his hand in front of the boy's face, placing him under a sleeping spell. He carried the boy with magic, levitating him as he walked through the dark alley. He approached a closed down shop at the end of the alley, which was boarded up.

He tapped his cane on the boards, which put a magic seal on them. He then tapped the seal, causing it to explode, breaking the boards and busting down the door. He entered, and then sealed the entrance and the windows with magic barriers. Afterwards, he used magic to change his appearance to something more... relatable.

He removed the cloak and his mask and shoved them into a bag, which seemed to be able to hold any amount of objects and still feel empty. He had shining silver hair, topaz coloured eyes, and pale skin as if he'd become a ghost himself. This was, of course, illusionary magic. It was the image of his youth, and he wasn't even a shadow of it now.

He released the sleep spell on the boy, and then the levitation spell immediately afterwards. The boy hit the ground with a thud, immediately waking up with a yelp.

"Who are you?" shouted the boy.

The man knelt down and nodded with a serious expression.

"Do you want to atone for your parents' murder?" the man asked.

The boy hesitated for a moment as if the question stabbed him in the chest, but his eyes, once blank and lifeless, seemed to spark with hope and determination again. The man knew this was his chance to strike, to earn the trust of this boy, and to eventually use him to accomplish his goals.

"My name is... hm... I guess you can call me Kanst. Kanst Avero." the man introduced himself, holding out his hand.

The boy nodded, and shook his hand.

"I'm... Shuusa. My family is dead, so I won't use their name." The boy replied.

Kanst grinned a little. He's been sending towns into chaos for many years and had yet to come across someone so young who's thrown away their family. This boy might have the potential to accomplish the task he'd wasted most of his life for and yet hasn't even begun.

Kanst signalled Shuusa to follow him and used his cane to tap the magic barriers, releasing them. He then placed his can into the magic bag he stored his cloak and mask in, and it disappeared without a trace. The bag was still flat and seemed empty. Shuusa decided not to look into this further for now but kept it in the back of his mind.

The back alley wasn't quiet or dark anymore - it had been lit ablaze, and there were townspeople brawling amongst one another. Kasnt took Shuusa's hand and pulled him, running as quickly as possible toward the main street. Someone threw a table, which would have struck Shuusa, but he ducked under it and kept running. Kanst saw this and released his hand.

"Can you keep up with me until we escape?" Kanst inquired, suggesting that he run ahead slightly.

"Yeah, let's go," Shuusa replied, not hesitating to run ahead.

Kanst sprinted to take the lead again and led Shuusa to the main street. They turned right and ran for the town's gates. The guards were in a frenzy trying to control the situation, but there were seven or so guards protecting the gate.

They noticed Kanst and Shuusa's dash and began lowering the gate. It was almost too late, Kanst couldn't look back to see if Shuusa was keeping up - he dashed and ducked under, and kept running in case the guards decided to try and apprehend him. He turned back for a split second, and Shuusa passed him.

"Colour me impressed, Shuusa... But, we're not out of the water yet - let's head east until we reach the forests. We'll camp there." Kanst directed, beginning to sprint again. Shuusa followed suit, and they made their way east. Shuusa wasn't sure what to make of the town's chaos and wasn't entirely sure that Kanst was uninvolved, but decided to take his chances for now.

There would be time for regrets later, and he had more important things to regret anyway, such as the death of his parents. His sister still lived after witnessing their murder, so he'd have to avoid meeting her at any costs. She didn't know the truth behind that incident, and even if he told her, she would never believe him, anyway.

Together with Kanst, Shuusa set up camp in an evergreen forest far east of the town they fled from but did not make a fire for warmth. Instead, Kanst set up a magical barrier around their camp, to repel the rain and any potential intruders or predators. It was relatively warm inside, as though the heat was being contained and regulated within the barrier. That night, Shuusa had many things on his mind, but still managed to drift to sleep as time passed...

The world was a frothing, writhing, endless mass of black turmoil. The boy didn't know where he was, or even who he was. He couldn't tell if he couldn't see anything, or that there was simply nothing to see. However, he could hear.

There were screams, of a man and woman somewhere in the darkness. They sounded older than him and somewhat familiar, and brought a certain sensation of despair to his heart. Whatever had happened, he'd done something truly terrible to them. He just didn't know what.

"Shuusa."

It was a feminine voice, the voice of what sounded like a young girl. Who was she?

"Shuusa."

It was like a beacon in the darkness, something for him to latch onto to fight back the incoming shadows. The voice drove away the screams, the dread, the apprehension. The voice seemed familiar to him, moreso than the screams.

Who did that voice belong to?

"Shuusa..."



It was to this voice in his mind that Shuusa woke to, by the remains of a deceased campfire surrounded by the ever watchful, ever green trees.

Now conscious, he immediately knew whose screams those had been:

his parents'.

But why could he not remember the third voice, the voice of the one who'd saved him from the darkness?

"How was your rest?" a voice behind him rasped.

Shuusa almost jumped in surprise. In his daze, he'd almost completely forgotten that he had been travelling with a companion. Of course - that man, 'Kanst', the one with the diabolical voice who could cause an entire village to go mad with a single command - he had spared him, and taken him in.

"It was... not pleasant," Shuusa replied.

"I coud tell. You were crying out, saying 'I'm sorry' over and over again..."

Had he? He couldn't remember.

"My parents," Shuusa muttered. "I... I heard them in my dream."

"And?"

"They were... suffering. They were in pain. Kanst... I think I'm the one who caused them that pain."

Shuusa looked down, feeling a wave of torment wash over him. What had he done? They were never coming back. His parents, who had birthed him, who shared his blood. He had killed them with his own two hands. He couldn't remember the details very clearly - it was almost as if a demon had taken over him. As if he had been watching his own body from another realm perform the gruesome act.

"My boy... you've done nothing wrong." Kanst rested a gnarled hand upon Shuusa's silver locks. "In fact, I'm proud of you. I'm sure you had a reason for killing them - and the fact that they died to you means they're weaker. You are strong, Shuusa."

You will be a perfect tool for me, Kanst thought to himself. Of course, he didn't say that out loud.

"Where are we going?" the boy decided to ask. "Why did you unleash your wrath upon my town? I still know absolutely nothing of you..."

"All in due time," Kanst smirked. "For now, if you want to live, you will accompany me. Not that you have anywhere to go home to. To answer your question, we are heading to a place not far from here - the ruins of an ancient castle. There is something I seek there, and who knows - perhaps you will find the answers to your own questions."

Kanst stood up and stretched his thing frame. "Now what say we head off?"