The cold was biting, the one who had been called an empty vessel was confused,the little knight, the one chosen by darkness, Ghost's head moved, searching for something other than darkness, even with the shadows in his domain, he could see nothing but emptiness, but something beyond caught his attention: a small light, he walked, seeking to reach the light, Ghost walked for two minutes until he reached it, he extended one of his hands, but was startled, it didn't look the same as before, there was something else, ghost moved his hand, moved the extra limbs on his hands, seeing it as something new, shortly after, he noticed something even more interesting: his entire body had changed, and he no longer had what had protected his being, but the light seemed to intensify, as if it were impatiently calling to Ghost, who instinctively moved, entering the light and, unknowingly, a new stage of his life, now human.
The cries of a baby filled a traditional Japanese house, the anticipation was greater than anyone in the Zenin clan could have imagined; everyone awaited the birth of that child, when it was announced that it was a boy, the father felt relief that it wasn't a girl, when the baby was placed in its crib, Ghost could see with difficulty, he didn't know what was happening, but he knew he had to wait, to be patient, just as he had been in the past in Hallownest.
Four years later.
Ghost stood before Naobito Zenin, his uncle, surrounding him were many important members of the Zenin clan, during his time there, Ghost had learned the language and could communicate with others, albeit with some difficulty, but it wasn't a cause for concern, right now, they were waiting for him to activate something called a ritual technique, ghost didn't know what it was, but he assumed it was important, so he tried, at first, he felt nothing, but then, suddenly, he did: a cold, dark energy, even Ghost was surprised after sensing it, did something as dark as what he controlled exist? Well, perhaps it did, but he didn't care, deciding to manifest it outside, shadows bubbled, and Naobito's pupils contracted, before all the members present, the ten shadows danced in their beauty, but... the ten shadows had already appeared in Fushiguro Megumi, what did that mean? They didn't know, but it didn't matter, they had another user of the Ten Shadows with them.
"Hmm... Take him away, and double the security for the brat."
Naobito spoke, some maids appeared and took Ghost away, let's call him Hikaru Zenin, Hikaru was taken to a room nicer than the previous one, his eyes wandered around, the maids had already left, Hikaru felt shadows move, and he responded to their call, making a gesture with his hands, Hikaru summoned two dogs, one black and one white, with red, triangular markings on their foreheads, the black one had a point facing upward, and the white one a point facing downward—the divine dogs, or jade dogs.
Both dogs, more like wolves, watched their master with expectant calm, awaiting his command, but Hikaru sent them back, he walked for over twenty minutes until he reached a training field, where he saw the Zenin clan's failure, Maki Zenin, along with her sister, Mai Zenin, the twin sisters were resting from the Zenin clan's abuse, a somewhat unusual respite, but that was short-lived, because Naoya appeared, with his usual arrogance and mocking words.
"What's wrong, Maki, Mai? Why are you all alone?"
Naoya looked at the two sisters with derision, hikaru saw everything, blinked once and then again, his hands moving at some point, in a certain position, with a few simple words, they appeared.
"Divine dogs."
After that, both shikigami appeared, advancing according to Hikaru's feelings, they attacked Naoya, grabbing him and carrying him away, both sisters watched in surprise, though Maki only saw something invisible take Naoya, Mai saw both shikigami perfectly; she knew them, they were two shikigami who came with the Ten Shadows, a terrifying realization dawned on Mai, she looked up and saw him: Hikaru in front of her, looking at her, a tranquility that contrasted sharply with what had just happened, it seemed almost comical, but Mai could sense that those shikigami carried traces of the cursed energy of the boy before them, but when Mai felt the cursed energy of our dear young gentleman, her fear awakened, it was an enormous amount of cursed energy, seemingly infinite.
Hikaru saw the twins; both were obviously wary, something Hikaru noticed, but he let it go, he turned and left, his eyes as empty as his existence, but his heart filled with a new purpose: to protect Maki and Mai, his cousins, as he walked, his two shikigami returned; he felt it, even though he didn't see them. In a few minutes, he arrived at his new room, in the short time he'd been there, Hikaru could tell the place was like a prison—for women, for members who didn't have much power, but especially for those born without the ability to possess cursed energy, like Maki, as he closed his eyes, Hikaru made a promise to himself: he would purify the Zenin Clan thoroughly, but what our dear knight didn't know was that there was more than just the Zenin Clan, just as corrupt and repugnant as the Zenin themselves, the world of sorcery awaited Hikaru, and depending on his choices, he could prevent further chaos or to promote and expand it more than originally planned.