Kioku watched as the shadows receded, revealing Darkness standing before him, hand still outstretched.
"Well?" asked Darkness, a malevolent grin twisting his features.
Kioku gazed at the offered hand with uncertainty. Here was the figure he had dreamt of meeting, the one he had aspired to be.
'Yet why does it feel like I'm making a deal with the devil?'
"It's my only choice," Kioku said, standing. He shook Hakai's hand, a decisive look in his eyes. "What do I do first?"
The divine being nodded and let go. His blank expression made Kioku uneasy.
"What?" Kioku asked nervously.
Darkness remained silent, his stare unblinking. The moment stretched before he finally sighed, his face shifting to a mask of pity.
"Sadly, you are about to die."
"What?!"
"I know. It is truly unfortunate," Darkness responded, the feigned sorrow in his voice so thick Kioku almost believed it.
"If this is a sick joke, you picked quite the time to make it," Kioku snapped, anger seeping into his words. He clenched his fists as a mocking expression filled Darkness' face.
"I am not joking, child. Your death is imminent. The curse is about to take you."
'Huh?'
He had survived the curse. The pain was gone. He felt fine. Unless it was about to activate randomly, the words made no sense.
Darkness, amused by his confusion, always loved to leave mortals floundering. He approached and placed a cold hand on Kioku's head, his tone grim.
"I don't know how, but the curse was sealed within your mind. Whoever did it placed a timer on it, and it is about to run out. If nothing is done, it will return tenfold."
"A seal?"
The confusion deepened. Now that he thought of it, he remembered being in his house, yet he had woken on the hill. Who had moved him?
"Can you stop it?" Kioku's look was intense. He had survived; to die now would be a waste.
Is this really a child of only ten cycles? Darkness thought.
"It is possible. But it will not be easy."
The shadows deepened as Darkness tightened his grip. A headache bloomed in Kioku's skull, worsening until it felt like his head was being smashed against a wall. He looked up and saw only deep irritation on the divine being's face.
"Ah, why am I stressing myself?" Darkness mused.
Suddenly, the pain in Kioku's head funneled down, condensing into an intense, burning agony behind his eyes. He barely stifled a scream.
"All I have to do is gather the curse into your eyes and destroy them."
The words were so nonchalant it took Kioku a moment to process them. "Wait, did you just say destroy my—"
"Don't worry. It will only be intensely painful. Nothing life-threatening." Dark energy began to emanate from the hand on his head.
"Intense pain? Wait—"
Before he could finish, his sight vanished. What followed was a pain so profound it left every one of his senses screaming.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
♤♤♤
Darkness watched with a bored expression as Kioku slept on the ground, a black cloth tied over his eyes. The boy had fainted from the pain of the procedure.
"Mortals are so dramatic. It was not even that bad," he rolled his eyes, sitting beside Kioku to observe him closely.
'This boy... I feel the remnants of Fate's power on him. I thought that was why he survived the curse, but no...'
His eyes narrowed, his sight piercing through Kioku to observe his soul. He found no abnormalities.
'His tenacity—I overlooked it. It is abnormal for a mortal, yet he is one. If he carried that I would have sensed it.'
A low groan brought him from his thoughts. Kioku stirred, his hands rising to feel the empty space where his eyes had been.
"You really destroyed my eyes?" the boy asked slowly.
"I am sure you can already tell."
"True. I can't see."
"That is what usually happens when you do not have eyes," Darkness chuckled. Teasing the boy was a breath of fresh air. In the Shadow Realm, few besides Zeru could engage him like this.
"When I learn to kill gods, will I be able to kill you?" Kioku asked.
A mysterious smile tugged at Darkness' lips. "Perhaps. Why?"
Kioku felt for the ground, trying to sit up, but the effort was vain. "I want to gouge your eyes out."
"Stop being so dramatic. It is not like you will be blind forever." Darkness stood, helping Kioku to his feet. He turned the boy to face him, then took a few steps back. Raising his right hand, he muttered words older than the world.
A two-lined, hook-like symbol glowed bright blue on his palm. A ghostly chill spread through the air as the symbol brightened. A faint whisper escaped his lips, echoing across the desolate land.
"The Fallen."
Strands of blue energy, ethereal and ghostly, rose from the earth all around them. They swirled and gathered onto the symbol until the flow ceased, leaving two drops of glowing blue liquid floating above his hand.
"What's happening?" Kioku whispered. "I feel something... familiar."
Darkness approached, removed the black cloth to reveal the hollow sockets, and placed one drop into each. He retreated, his expression hard.
"The power of your kin shall become your sight."
A cool sensation washed through Kioku's body. A strange, familiar energy warmed him from within. Most strangely, he could feel his eyes slowly re-forming. The feeling was alien, but soon the sense of wholeness returned, though something felt fundamentally different.
He tried opening them. A flash of pain, then a blinding light, and finally, the ruined landscape swam back into view.
"How did you do that?" he asked, a hint of awe in his voice. The awe died as he saw the genuine pity in the divine being's gaze.
"What?"
"We must leave soon. Say your goodbyes before they fade." With that, Darkness turned away.
Confused, Kioku suddenly felt a wave of familiar auras behind him. He turned, and his eyes widened.
Before him stood the ghostly images of the Village of Ju. At the forefront were his father, Ina, and Souni, gazing at him with profound sadness. A torrent of emotions—happiness, sorrow, pain, and fear—threatened to drown him.
He fell to his knees, lowering his head as tears welled in his new eyes. He had forced himself to accept their loss, but the reality before him shattered his heart all over again.
"Why..."
A warm sensation brushed his cheek. He looked up. The ghostly Ina had knelt beside him, her spectral hand a comforting warmth against his skin. She made a ridiculous crying face, then smiled at him mockingly. Kioku laughed, the sound choked with tears.
"You'll always be annoying, won't you..."
He stood as Ina rejoined the other shades. Wiping his eyes, he gazed at the familiar faces, so much to say yet words failing him. The shades grew dimmer, less distinct. He had to speak.
"I didn't live up to any of your expectations. I was an arrogant student, a terrible friend, and an unfilial son," he began, his voice thick.
"I was no better than any of you. The confidence I had in my strength was meaningless when it mattered most. All of you are dead, and I am the only one left. It would have been better if you had lived and I died... but that is not the case."
Kioku dropped to his knees and bowed his head deeply to the earth. Darkness turned, saw the action, and sighed heavily.
"With this life I'm given, I'll carry all of you with me for as long as I, Kioku Himira, live." His voice steadied, hardening with resolve. "So please, forgive me for being weak."
He stood, raising his head just as the shades faded. The last thing he saw was his father smiling and pointing behind him—directly at Darkness.
Kioku bowed once more, then walked forward. His steps were shaky at first, but each one grew firmer, more resolute. He stopped before the divine being, who was taken aback by the pure, cold anger in the child's eyes.
They were no longer their original dark colour. His pupils now glowed a faint, ethereal blue, stark against the deepened darkness of his irises.
"Killing them will not be enough," Kioku spoke with a chilling calm that gave even Darkness pause.
"What?"
'I don't care if it's a deal with the devil I have to make.'
Kioku took a sharp breath, and Darkness' eyes narrowed, sensing a faint, unsettling shift within the boy's soul.
This child... How problematic.
"By my life," Kioku vowed, his voice low and absolute, "I shall not rest until all that is divine is razed to the ground."