Deep into the forest, far from the vibrant festival atmosphere, Lloyd was creeping in the dark as he approached their hideout cave.
When it was finally in his sights, he stopped and crouched down in the bushes so that he could confirm whether there was anyone guarding the hidden entrance.
He couldn't sense the presence of anyone in his vicinity, and from the looks of it, the entrance to the cave was completely unguarded, so he stood up ready to move in.
That was when he heard a twig snap behind him. His defensive instincts immediately kicked in, and he turned with his blade bow pulled out, ready to fight back against whoever it was who had crept up on him.
A look of confusion and shock took over his face as he turned to see that it was Hyogo who was behind him, and he was dressed in the same black hooded cloak as him too.
He lowered his weapon as he thought, "How did he manage to sneak up on me?"
He didn't dwell on it too much, though, and immediately whispered, "What are you doing here?!"
"This place is dangerous."
"I know," he replied, "but when you mentioned that you were coming here to help free the captives, it stirred something in me. It was a feeling that I couldn't believe I forgot."
"So do you think that they're tied to your real identity?" he asked.
"I don't think so, but if they are, this is my only chance to confirm it," he replied. "If they recognise who I am, then there can't be any doubts about it, right?"
"But what if they're hostile towards you and try to attack?" Lloyd asked.
"We won't know unless we go in and find out," he replied.
Lloyd gritted his teeth and turned back toward the cave to see if there was anything else he had missed, but the field surrounding the entrance and the region of trees near it were all completely empty, except for the pulses from some critters.
He hesitated for a moment before turning back to Hyogo and saying, "Make sure you stay close to me and don't make any sudden moves when we get in there."
He nodded in agreement, and the two of them stepped out into the field. Lloyd had his blade bow on hand, ready for anything, but as they got closer to the hidden entrance, his nerves settled down.
"What are we looking at?" Hyogo asked, confused as to why they were standing in front of what seemed like an ordinary rock wall.
"We were shocked by it too when we first saw it, but there is definitely an entrance here," he replied as he reached out to touch it.
When he did, it felt solid, so he started moving his hand around it. It suddenly phased right through part of the wall. He reached out to it with his other hand, and surely enough, it slipped right through.
Though hesitant, he decided to step into it. Hyogo stood outside, waiting for him to come out and say it was safe, but something told him that it was.
A few seconds later, he stepped out and said, "It's alright. You can come in."
Both of them walked into it, but once inside, he couldn't see anything. That was until he saw a spark of purple that ignited into a fire.
When he looked closer, he saw that it was inside a lantern, so he asked, "How did you know it was there?"
"I can see almost perfectly in here, but so that you can avoid setting off any traps if we find them, I found this lantern hanging on the wall and lit it," he replied. "It's not much, but I'm sure you can at least see where you're going, right?"
"I can," Hyogo said before asking, "So what do we do now?"
"This place feels empty, so I can only assume that most of them are dead by now, but I do sense a faint presence deep inside," he said. "We can confirm the state of any other captives that might still be alive, but first, we have to go and check on that one. You okay with that?"
"It's fine, but let's hurry," Hyogo said. "Who knows what state they're in right now."
"Alright, and watch your step," Lloyd said as he turned away.
They started walking deeper into the cave, and as they did, it narrowed down into a kind of hallway with locked wooden doors on each side.
They walked through a dozen or so before stopping in front of one specific one. Its door, just like the others, was locked by a heavy metal padlock, so instead of trying to pick it, he just broke it down with a kick.
When they stepped inside, they saw a figure curled up in the corner quietly, not even reacting to the broken door or the light of the lantern.
"Hey, are you okay?" Lloyd asked as he walked up to them, but they didn't react.
While he stood still, trying to think of what to do next, they tipped over and fell onto their back with a weak groan.
"You're alive," Lloyd said as he knelt down next to him. "Don't worry, we're here to save you. Just stay still."
He struggled to open his lips, but the words that came out of them were firm despite the weak voice that carried them.
"No matter what tricks you use, I'll never talk!" he said. "I'll die before you can get anything out of me."
"Don't worry, we're not with them. We came here to save you," Lloyd said, but with a hoarse voice, he yelled, "Liar! You can try to disguise yourself as anyone, but you won't get me to talk."
"This isn't going to be easy," Lloyd thought. "He seems convinced that we're the enemy, and given the impersonation ability they have, I wouldn't blame him."
Looking down at his fatigued and worn-out body, he thought, "What kind of resolve drives you this far? I guess I'm in no position to understand it, but I can sympathise with him."
"But in this case, he's going to die if he doesn't stop being stubborn. How am I going to convince him that we mean well? Should I just use force? No, that couldn't work. He could convulse just trying to resist me."
He turned to Hyogo and asked, "Can you think of something?"
"Maybe tell him something that only an Ashura Samurai would know. Maybe that would convince him that we mean well," he said.
"That won't work on him," Lloyd said.
"Maybe ask him about his comrades. That should start a conversation."
He was hesitant, but the man started coughing violently, so he had no choice.
"Why don't you tell us about your comrades?" he asked. "Are they here? Are they still alive?"
"Don't screw with me!" he shouted. "You think I can't hear you murmuring?"
He gripped his chest with his hand and, with a teary voice, said, "Of course they're dead! You killed them! I killed them!"
"If only I didn't run my mouth back then and we had just gone home, maybe they could be with their families again. But my stupid mouth got them killed!"
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he cried. "He tried to warn us, but I insisted. I'm sorry, everyone. I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" Hyogo asked. "Tell us."
He tilted his head toward them and looked up at their barely lit faces. He tried to say something, but he just started crying again.
Then, as if he started talking to himself, he said, "I didn't tell them anything. I promise. None of us did. The secret of the sanctuary is safe, so don't worry."
"Get away from here. They're planning to attack the town and kill everyone. You still have a chance. Run away and wait for reinforcements. We've been gone for months, so I'm sure that they're looking for us."
His voice started to give out, but he still kept talking, saying, "When I see everyone again, I'll apologise, and I'll admit that you were right, so please get away."
Lloyd looked over at Hyogo, but he looked just as confused as he was. His voice grew weaker as he said, "I wish I could see the sky and drink some water."
His eyes closed as his face lit up with a faint smile.
"Mhh... water."
The silence that followed afterwards was deafening as Lloyd checked his pulse and confirmed their suspicions.
He was dead.
All the energy he had left went into that desperate plea, but who was it meant for? Throughout all of this, his face was glued to the ceiling.
Did all the stress from the captivity explode at once in one incredibly vivid delusion? Before Lloyd could come up with an answer, he suddenly felt something.
A presence so sharp that it was almost like they were announcing themselves.
He looked over at Hyogo, then at the corpse at his feet.
He rose to his feet and said, "It's too dangerous to tell you to hide, so I'm going to bring you into my shadow. Just keep yourself centered and try to stay conscious. I'll pull you out when I get the chance."
"What about them?" he asked. "We can't leave them behind."
"There's nothing we can do for them, Hyogo," he said. "They were dead long before we got here."
He clenched his fists and let out a heavy grunt before calming down.
The next thing he knew, he was sinking into the ground.
It startled him at first, but when he looked at Lloyd's determined expression, it reassured him. Soon, the last of his hair slipped in, and the shadow became solid again.
Lloyd took a deep breath as he squeezed the hilt of the sword at his waist.
The presence he felt was making no attempt to pursue, almost as if they knew that he wouldn't try to run.
His hands shook, but he centered himself and whispered, "This is what we've been building up to. I wouldn't let my resolve go to waste."
He walked past the door and took one final look at the man's lifeless body before he walked away.
Then he walked out past the narrow hallway and out toward the hidden entrance.
Once he was outside, he didn't even have to look.
There he stood, cloaked and standing right in the centre of the field.
"Well, this is an interesting turn of events," he said with a smile as he took off his hood. "You were the last one I expected to see here."
Lloyd immediately got into a defensive stance as he said, "So it is you."
"Chief Nishimura!"
With only a smirk, he replied,
"It's nice to see you too, Kageto Shirobane."