The Black Feather
The feather floated down slow.
Too slow.
Even as the storm clouds roared and pulled apart, the black feather just drifted like time had stopped for it. A delicate thing, gliding through destruction like it didn't belong in this world.
Tsukihana watched it fall while her body shook.
Her fingers twitched from the impact against the altar. Smoke curled from her skin. The fusion between her flame and Raikan's storm had failed — no, it had exploded.
She coughed. Her voice was hoarse.
"Why'd you do that, Kira…"
Kira's Regret
Kira lay sprawled near the broken lantern stones, cuts all over her arms. Her head pounded like drums beating inside her skull.
But worse than pain was the look on Tsukihana's face.
Shock.
Hurt.
Betrayal.
She tried to speak, but her voice wouldn't come out. Just air. Dry and empty.
Raikan was gone now — or maybe scattered, the pieces torn back into the clouds. But the damage remained. And Tsuki…
Tsuki's eyes weren't glowing anymore.
They were just… dull.
Like something had switched off.
"I didn't mean to," Kira whispered.
"I thought I was helping…"
Renjiro's Warning
Renjiro limped over, arm still holding his broken ribs. He wasn't angry — just tired. Tired in his eyes, in the way he stood, in how long he stared at the crack in the sky.
"You both need to understand something," he said quietly.
"That was a moment of choice. She was about to do something… impossible."
Tsukihana didn't answer.
She was still staring at the feather.
It had landed now, right in the center of the shrine, still black and still whole, untouched by wind or heat.
Renjiro knelt beside it.
He didn't touch it.
He recognized it.
"This… this is not just a feather."
"It's a seal."
The Hollow King's Mark
As Renjiro spoke those words, the black feather twitched.
Then it cracked.
Not like breaking, more like opening.
Dark ink oozed from its center and bled into the floor. It moved like veins, forming symbols in a circle around where it landed.
The wind stopped.
The fire died down.
And a voice—cold, deep, not from the world—spoke from the ink:
"I see you now, Ashborn."
"I see the storm you tried to claim."
"And I see your failure."
Tsukihana gritted her teeth. "You're the Hollow King, aren't you."
"I am what remains."
"I am what waits."
"And now… I know where you are."
The feather dissolved.
The Seal's Curse
The ink that stained the shrine floor didn't vanish. Instead, it started spreading.
Fast.
Renjiro stepped back. "Everyone get away from it, now!"
Kira tried to stand, but her legs gave out again. Tsukihana moved slower than before. Her strength wasn't back yet — maybe it wouldn't come back.
They didn't make it far.
The ink expanded in a ring, and when it touched their feet, it froze them in place.
Not cold. Not ice. Just… stillness.
Their bodies stopped. Even their breath. Their hearts beat, but slow like dreaming.
A trap.
A message.
Inside the Stillness
In that frozen moment, Tsukihana found herself standing in a different place.
A memory? A dream?
No… this was his world.
The Hollow King's.
It looked like a field, empty and black, with shattered thrones made of bone. Dozens of them. Each cracked. Burned.
And on one, far in the distance, sat a figure with no face.
No eyes.
Just a crown of roots and smoke.
It raised a hand.
"You want to change the fire."
"But fire only knows how to destroy."
"You're wrong," Tsukihana said, voice low but firm.
"You just forgot what warmth means."
The Hollow King said nothing.
But behind him, the thrones began to bleed.
Cliffhanger: The Voice in the Throne
Tsukihana tried to move toward the figure, but the world shook.
One of the bone thrones collapsed.
And from inside it, a whisper rose.
Familiar.
Painful.
"T-Tsuki… run…"
Her heart stopped.
"No…"
It was his voice.
"Akarui?"
But before she could say anything more, the world cracked open beneath her and swallowed her whole.
She woke up gasping.
Back in the shrine.
The ink was gone.
The feather… just ash.
And her heart beat faster now.
Because the Hollow King wasn't just watching.
He had Akarui.