A breathtaking landscape stood before him, an outstretched horizon dawned upon him, as he took a breath of serenity. There is beauty in life, but there is beauty that surpasses what is viewable in the corporeal realm. This beauty strikes a match and burns an inferno into one's mind, however, one knows that it isn't a product of the natural realm, such can be applied to all the illusions of life.
Shizuka slowly stumbled toward the mass of water that awaited him. It appeared to be a pond, containing the dark blue hue of freshwater. A nice patch of grass stretched across the outskirts of the pond, the jumping of small fish could be heard breaking the surface, birds chirping were audible to his ears. The serenity deeply unsettled him, and he could feel within his soul that something was wrong. He walked to the edge of the marsh, and looked down into the dark blue of the water. He saw himself, just as he was, just as he was before it all went dark, before his many altercations with Sakido, before all the malign beings of doubt and necessity took over his mind. He saw his weathered face through the ripples of the gentle water, stagnant as it was. He looked up at the picturesque sky, taking it in, however false he believed it to be.
He then looked back down into the pond, as if some force compelled him to reflect deeper into his being. Upon glancing down at himself, he saw not his own face looking back at him, but a darkened face, equipped with a long and fake hood, with a malignant grin that sent a chill through his being.
This sudden change of scenery began a pulse of fear within his soul and resounded through every nerve in his body. He jumped upwards and started backwards, unable to conceive what his eyes had just laid witness to. He took steep breaths as he attempted to reconcile his thoughts within his mind.
"Hmm...You look like you've seen a ghost." Said a voice directly beside him.
Shizuka again became perturbed and shot his head to the side. Upon this action he beheld Mizumi, who was unknown to him. She sat cloaked in black as usual, she stared forward at the perfect valley in front of her. He was only able to see a glimpse of her nose and a tuft of her blue hair falling from the sides of her hood.
"Who the hell are you? Where the fuck am I?" Shizuka shouted at her
"If you knew who I was, you wouldn't speak to me that way." As she said this, she lowered her head a little.
"You think so?" Said he "I don't give a fuck, I just want to know where I am, and what the hell is happening to me!" As he said these words, he started upwards and now stood on his feet.
As Mizumi stood herself up, she said "The only reason why you're still alive is because I saved you. You were bisected sagittally, you died within instants. That aggression is getting you nowhere."
"How the hell did you save me?" Inquired Shizuka
"That's irrelevant. Tell me Shizuka, do you know what you want in this life?" She said as she kept her eyes away from him."
"Does your healing have to do with this inorganic material around my chest? You have something to do with those powers Sakido had don't you? I thought it was just a myth, you spectral warriors that have been rarely spotted. They call you 'Ronin' on the news." Shizuka said with a stern glance.
"Ha!" She let out a single laugh as inorganic as Shizuka's scar. "What a disgraceful name. Of course the Japanese would give us a name as such. Truthfully, we are called Ritter (Knights)."
"German?" He asked.
"Yes." She replied "If you couldn't tell already from the accent, we are German. For, it has been our Muttersprachen (Mother Tongue) for millennia." But, enough with this. Answer what I inquired of you Shizuka."
"Show me your face. And I'll answer your questions." Shizuka demanded.
"You have no concern for any other questions instead?" She asked him.
"No, I want to see your face." He said stubbornly,
"Very well, if this will further our conversation." She said reluctantly.
Mizumi then flipped her hood backwards and revealed her full identity to Shizuka. With this he could do nothing of use, except know who he was talking to.
Her hair was tied back, yet full and luscious. It shone with a dark blue that had a silky view to the eye. Her skin was so pure that it appeared to be of porcelain, and her lips were full and glossy. Her eyes were full of mystery and cynical delight, they carried a cloudy grey within the pupils. Her bangs fell over her eyes at times, she continuously parted them back on the right side of her forehead.
"Am I everything that you thought I would be?" She asked sarcastically.
"I don't want to be joked around with." He replied "Who did this to me in the first place?"
She peered at him and stated "A Ritter on the opposing side of mine. Most likely on his way to get to Sakido."
"What's so special about him? Isn't he just one of you?" Shizuka asked, taking advantage of Mizumi's patience.
She answered him with "A Ritter? Yes, however, him residing within the humane realm is a problem for the ones who are hunting him. Now that they've detected him, they're sending their strongest after him."
Shizuka began to ask another question when Mizumi interrupted "Shizuka, my ever so tenacious student, how about you answer one of...my questions. That is, I suppose, the rule of trade." She said this as she waved an air of austerity about herself, maintaining a royal and simultaneously holier than thou appearance. As he began to talk, she interrupted again with "Answer me, what do you want out of this life?"
Shizuka stared for a moment off to the side, and then answered "To that, I'm not sure, I've never really thought about what exactly I want out of this life."
Mizumi replied, grinning as ever "You don't know? You're an adult now, and you still don't know. That's quite immature of you, Shizuka."
"Immature? You don't know me." Shizuka remarked laconically.
"Know you?" She replied "You're a 19 year old high school student with a deceased mother and a deadbeat father. Your insecurity of not being able to keep friends or women for that matter makes you attached to the ones who hopelessly cling to you. You live in delusion about your own self worth because of how fragile your tough little ego is down in your heart. Seeing other people succeed and attain what you don't have frustrates you and your output is aggression because that's the way that you've solved your problems so far. And if succeeding means making yourself insufferable to all around you, then you've succeeded in it. All of that from eavesdropping on one conversation, you're not complex."
Shizuka, angered and enraged by this response stormed closer to her "You fucking bitch, you think you know everything, I'll wipe that grin off of your fucking face, powers or not!" He launched his fist at her and within an instant, his fist was in her palm. He tried to pull away, but his fist was locked in an iron grip. Her hands felt soft, but at the same time, they captured his fist in a makeshift cage. "Let me fucking go, you bitch!" Shizuka yelled. He felt her right hand close harder around his fist and slightly crack his bones. "That's no way to talk to a woman. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?" Shizuka grit his teeth and threw his right hand at her, only for his fist to hit a sudden transparent red barrier, similar to the barriers she formed while confronting Hiru. Upon contact, his first broke and jammed out of place, he wailed from the sudden shot of pain through his arm.
Mizumi then spoke "Answer my questions as I ask them, if you comply, I'll let go, if not, you've felt what will happen. First question, how did the relationship between you and Sakido start?"
"Go to hell, bitch!" He screamed towards her. With this, she clenched harder on his first, pushing it inwards and causing bones to crack and shatter within his hand. Shizuka reeled in agony as his hand was slowly mutilated. "These fists that have allowed you to get your way for so long, how does it feel to have them powerless in their pursuit?" She asked him. For a few seconds, she received no response, tears formed in Shizuka's eyes as he attempted to subdue the pain.
"Okay, okay! I'll tell you! Uhhh, he was odd, I could tell h-he wasn't from around here. I thought that I could talk to him and loosen him up some. We just hit it off, I was his gateway to the school and to some of our customs. He just had Ichika and I." Shuka spit these words out rapidly and half haphazardly, as his pain was mounting and his fear was building. By this point, he had no idea what she was capable of doing to him.
"Mhmhm, and so how did this make you feel later in life?" Mizumi inquired of her victim.
"It wasn't that he changed, that's not what bothered me." Shizuka relented.
"Then what was it? What caused such conflict between you two?" The torturer demanded.
"He took for granted everything I had done. He cut communication, he got this attitude that made me sick. He can do whatever he wants, but the way he acted towards me just set me off. He thought that I didn't exist after Ichika became more prominent in his life" Shizuka answered to Mizumi.
"Some men never change, how fragile some of you are ." Mizumi had then extracted what she wanted out of him. She proceeded to continue to put force onto his fist until his bones gave in and broke under the pressure. The broken bones protruded through his skin, causing blood to shoot outwards and run down his arm. He screamed in petulant agony as tears flowed down his face. "PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!" He begged as his hand nearly collapsed in on itself. She finally let go as he pulled away.
"Fuck, FUCK, FUCK, what did you do to me?!" He screamed and cried as he held up his mutilated hand. The sight was absolutely abhorrent and would make any mortal wretch at the pile of flesh that stood upon his arm. He held his forearm and watched as blood profusely poured to the ground.
Mizumi silently walked towards him, took his arm, and within moments, he witnessed his flesh mend and coagulate together. He watched as his hand was rebuilt, every fibrous tissue, every splintered bone, every vein, every loose piece of skin, it was formed back into the state it once was. As this process occurred, a faint red aura surrounded the affected area, and Shizuka could feel an arcane sensation through his body. He was dealing with the furthest thing from a mortal, he was dealing with a being far beyond his realm of understanding.
"See, now stop your petulant whining." Mizumi said to her victim, as he now had a completely normal hand again. "You've had so much anger and emptiness fill you within your life, you've lived in the shadow of others and have fallen short because of the weakness of will within your soul. A detriment that has steered your life in this course which sent you to your short lived tomb, my dear Shizuka, it is not your place to live within death, for you are so much more useful in life. I see potential in you, it's up to you to claim it."
Shizuka was rightfully stunned, he peered at her with admiration and with an equal part of fear. He loathed to think what betraying or denying her word meant. But still, her words made sense, and burrowed their way into his psyche. He stared at the ground for what seemed like an eternity, pondering on potential words to say to this godly being, but naught crossed his mind.
The austere Mizumi began with "Man is so constrained to itself. Bound by born limitations, and feelings that they are told are wrong to feel. But, what is wrong with solipsism, why should it be condemned so? You act, Shizuka, because you are caught between rebellion and acceptance, your mind realizes that acting irrationally is wrong, yet your body fully embraces it. This tear in your conscience has rendered the being you are now. I have not claimed you are wrong for your beliefs, if Sakido has done wrong to you, it is within your power to embrace that feeling."
Shizuka was able to respond with "Perhaps you are correct. I dare not contest you. I simply want to state that I care for Sakido, I have and will. I have quite fond memories of him and I in our youth, to those I hold on to. I don't want to harm him, I only want him to apologize."
"An apology is what you seek? Has that been so?" Mizumi asked
"No, it hasn't happened. I just can't distance myself from someone so quickly, especially like that." Shizuka remonstrated "I suppose, I've always wanted to be heard. In that case you're right, I'm stuck within myself."
"I can free you." Mizumi said quickly.
"What? What does that mean?" Shizuka inquired.
"Shizuka, I am offering you a choice here today. I offer you the gift of power, power beyond your imagination. Take it or not, that is up to you. My feelings will remain unaltered." Mizumi said slightly pointing in a sickening, almost playful way.
"For what reason do I deserve such? Why would you pick me? I have done nothing to be worthy of a gift such as that." Shizuka said in his confusion.
"I have my reasons, but to explain anything to you is futile. If you need time, I will now give you time to consider it. I will only recapitulate this to you. Would you rather stay at the mortal and quotidian pace of your life? Or do you desire an existence of sensation and power? Both drive men to ruin and cause empires to fall. But, it all lies within the one who wields such life, that it is the divide. Men who can't handle power take it, and men who have mortal lives condemn it. I beg for humanity to realise these words someday. Regardless, I will take my leave henceforth."
Shizuka suddenly started "Are you... forgive the simplicity of my words, good or evil? What side are you on...wherever you're from."
Mizumi rolled her eyes slightly in an entertained way and kept her iconic grin. "I am seen as one, but identify with neither. Right and wrong are completely ignostic in concept, it does not matter how I am seen, that will not be a factor in your decision. If you desire this power, meet me here in this exact place two days from now. If that is not your interest, do not return, your chest wound is completely healed, I have no further business with you."
Shizuka peered downwards and saw that the material that strung about his chest was gone and all that remained was a faint scar. He was bewildered at the sight and had so many questions that the formulation to them escaped his thought process.
"Farewell Shizuka." These were the last words Mizumi spoke as within the blink of an eye she had disappeared completely. That was the least concerning phenomenon that had occurred. As the entire landscape had been completely altered from the state it was in just a moment ago. It was a run down warehouse lot with piles of metal and scrap laying around. The sky was overcast and there was not an animal in sight. The beautiful blue pond that he had seen only a few moments ago now existed as a dirty puddle of water in front of him. The scene had went from a utopia to an abandoned space. She had altered everything, how could he not have known? How could he not have sensed it?
Shizuka pondered to himself in silence for hours as he sat next to his large puddle of clouded water. He remained still as a barrage of thoughts drilled within his mind for hours. Suddenly, still without a sound being made, he stood up and walked away from the place. He felt that his wounds were all recovered, and he somehow felt even more invigorated than before this whole event had occurred.
In an undisclosed location...
Mizumi, hooded, walks beyond a forest line, behind her appears Toshiro. "My love, how did the operation commence?" He asks her with an infallible determination in his voice.
She turns to him and steps closer. "We will see what the boy decides. We shall await his return in forty eight hours. He seemed to be much too perturbed to make a decision. Come, dear, there are other matters we must tend to." She said this as she caressed his cheeks with her fingers, they became within a nose distance of each other and gave a soft kiss.
Afterwards she continued "Toshiro, what have you gathered from your expedition into their territory?"
"He's on the move, the message Hiru sent was delivered." Toshiro responded promptly.
Mizumi let out a soft laughter, she paused and then said "Wonderful, in that case, gather the Akujin." After these words she thought for a moment and then peered into Toshiro's eyes of glistening stone. She then said in a self satisfactory way...
"Our war is finally beginning."