"Back to the Present"
Gotier turned to Yuzuki, who stared at him with an inscrutable expression. "Are you shocked?"
Yuzuki took a drag from his cigarette without breaking eye contact. "No. I'm not. You're a monster, Gotier. But you're not the only one here."
Gotier laughed—a bitter, painful laugh. "Monsters are all that remain in this world, Yuzuki. And only monsters survive."
Kaien, nestled on the floor beside Yuzuki, finally broke the silence. "Perhaps, Father Gotier, you're still human… but the line between you and the monster is so thin it's almost gone."
Silence settled over them. The whiskey bottle lay empty, yet the weight of Gotier's confession still hung in the air. In that moment, Yuzuki realized that Gotier's revenge was more than justice—it was emotional survival, the last effort to justify the horror he had unleashed.
Yuzuki knew Gotier's story wasn't over. And deep down, he wondered if his own ever would be.
Yuzuki stared at the horizon while Gotier returned to the room, burdened by his own words.
The hour was late—well past midnight—when Yuzuki found himself unable to sleep in the hotel room. Akari, Zeke, and even Gotier lay in slumber, oblivious to the turmoil in his mind. With a sigh, Yuzuki murmured to himself, "I know what I must do, yet I feel so guilty…"
He stroked Kaien's head, the loyal guardian curled at his side, and felt a bittersweet pang of loneliness. It was 1:00 AM; sleep refused him. Restlessness drove him from the room in search of a beer at the bar next door.
He entered a sparse, melancholic tavern: weathered wooden chairs, a simple countertop with tall stools, and the barman quietly washing a glass while savoring his own whiskey.
Moments later, the door creaked open and Akari stumbled inside, still drowsy, Kaien perched on her shoulder wearing a disgruntled scowl—silent reproach for being left behind.
"I'm your guardian; you can't leave without me!" Kaien grumbled.
Yuzuki gently patted Kaien's head, a small sign of relief that his friends were near, even amid his inner storm.
Akari, sleep still in her eyes, shot back with irony, "If you wanted to drink, you could have asked me! Do you really think I'd miss a sip?"
Wasting no time, she addressed the barman: "Give me something to wake me up, please."
Yuzuki didn't hesitate—he ordered one for Kaien too—then the three silently toasted the company that, despite the chaos, warmed their souls.
Staring at their glasses in the soft yellow light, Yuzuki confided in a low, empathetic tone, "You deserve better… Every night I think of my little brother, and this bond with you terrifies me—afraid of losing what I still have: my anger and my will."
Akari, startled by the rare display of emotion, let out a short laugh as she downed her whiskey. Kaien, already tipsy, roared with a mix of humor and melancholy, as if he instinctively felt the weight they shared.
The tone shifted to promises and revolt. Akari fixed her gaze on the shimmering liquid and declared, "Kaien and I will look after you, you old grump—we love you anyway. Our mission to kill the king of our island isn't over. I will transform this filthy place. I'll be the queen who reshapes the clans so our families are never sacrificed by idiotic rituals again. I owe you so much, Yuzuki, for believing in me. I discovered Zyon, my power, my memories… And Kaien, even though he's still a hatchling, will soon become our great battle ally, right?"
Amid laughter and Kaien's roar, the bar briefly glowed with camaraderie and hope. The barman, ever ready with a story, interjected jokes that coaxed forced smiles from those desperate to forget the world's sorrows.
But the warmth shattered. Gradually, the air grew heavy and cold, a negative aura enveloping the room. In the ensuing hush, a voiceless whisper invaded Akari's mind—it was Zyon, the Kugutsu within:
"Daughter, someone approaches. Their aura is strong, aggressive, violent… be cautious."
Instinctively, Akari turned to the tall window where the waning moon and distant stars clashed with the rising sense of danger. Yuzuki realized they had all felt that shift.
The door creaked again, opening slowly. And then she entered: a tall woman in black leather with a crow-feathered cloak trailing the floor—each movement froze the room. Her short black hair framed lupine eyes and an enigmatic smile as she greeted them coolly:
"Good evening."
After a charged silence, she approached the counter and ordered, "A whiskey with ice and pepper, please."
Her eyes swept the room before locking onto Yuzuki. "My name is Luna. Pleased to meet you. Kanji Yuzuki, I'll be direct: you'd best all watch closely. I know you're at the hotel—the owner told me—and that Gotier remains there. My objective is to kill Gotier. But on sensing the scent of Kugutsu Island's people, I couldn't resist greeting my own kind. I am Luna of the Alcali clan."
At that moment, Akari—herself Alcali—shuddered. In a tense voice, she asked, "Luna, why do you work for the church?"
Yuzuki and Kaien exchanged uneasy glances. Luna—unfazed—took a sip and continued, "You are kugutsus like me—traitors from the island who fled. We have much in common. Personally, I prefer not to fight my own people. We must unite against the island's king. The Santa Fé Church commands enough military might to overthrow the island and reshape everything. If we pool our power and knowledge, we can invade Kugutsu and be free!"
Akari could hardly believe it. "Us? Betray our own people!?"
Luna fixed her gaze on Akari. "Akari, be smart. The island is ruled by a dictator king; the people have become nothing but livestock. The clans are corrupted; the golden age is gone. Today, the Kanji era is reality, and the Lepra King of Pangeia—ally of Santa Fé—already eyes Kugutsu's throne. And yet you continue defending that island, after all you've done."
Before Akari could reply, Yuzuki raised his hand for silence. Kaien positioned himself in the doorway, vigilant against further intruders.
Luna smiled sideways, mock-admiration in her voice: "I like you, Yuzuki. You're not like most men—so dull, so blind to what lies beneath."
Tension edged higher as Luna's voice dropped: "Akari, Yuzuki… you've seen the horrors: Kubo enslaving our own; leaders abusing children, using our women to mix our blood with Pangeia's. Our knowledge is being diluted. We have no choice but to feign loyalty to those in power."
Her words struck Akari and Yuzuki like blades—painful, undeniable truth. Yuzuki drew a breath, reply thick with memory and melancholy: "Luna, every time I gaze at the Golden Tree—the immense, luminous hope of all Pangeia—I'm awed. It towers over the land, lighting up the night. It's beautiful, but wandering the forest, it terrifies me. The fear of ignorance consumed me for years; I lost everything… But somehow, each time I behold it, I find peace—a fleeting happiness. In the end, living in ignorance is like being a caged bird without flight. And when I look at you, Luna, I see both that captivity and the possibility of soaring free."
"The soft moonlight reflected in Luna's eyes, which for a moment seemed to absorb every word. Then, with a deep sigh, she declared:
"Yuzuki, Akari, you are truly fascinating."
Hearing those words, Akari cast a look of surprise and admiration at Yuzuki, while Kaien, his eyes half‑lidded by intoxication, seemed to grasp the deeper meaning of that speech. Without delay, Luna rose from her chair and, with firm steps, approached Yuzuki. Every movement exuded confidence and danger, and when she stood directly in front of him, their gazes met, intense and silent.
Instinctively, Akari moved her hand toward the hilt of her sword, and Kaien stayed by the door, ready to act at any sign of betrayal. Yuzuki, for his part, did not take his eyes off Luna, his gaze filled with a mixture of fatigue, desire, and uncertainty.
Without preamble, Luna leaned in and pressed a firm kiss to Yuzuki's lips, gently holding his neck as she deepened the kiss. The bar, once full of conversation and laughter, fell completely silent, absorbing the weight of that moment charged with tension, desire, and the promise of an uncertain future.
Luna ran her fingers along Yuzuki's neck, her warm breath whispering in his ear:
"You speak of cages, yet you carry the demon in your mind and the burden on your back. Who is more imprisoned?"
Their lips nearly met, but she stopped suddenly, leaving the space between them loaded with desire and threat. With a half‑threatening smile, she continued, her voice dropping into a whisper filled with dark promises:
"I could tear that guilt from your heart… or tear the heart itself. The choice is yours."
As Luna stepped back, her gaze fixed on Yuzuki, the flickering barlight cast twisted shadows on the walls, evoking the branches of the towering golden tree that had always symbolized an inevitable fate. At the bar, the bartender obsessively rubbed a stain on a glass—a drop of whisky dried to nearly resemble congealed blood. On the other side of the bar, Kaien growled toward the window, where the waning moon wore a cold smile, akin to a scythe's blade.
Luna leaned forward, and her fingers gently traced the Alcali clan symbol etched on the glass.
The dry scrape of Luna's chair sliding back was the last whisper of peace in that cursed bar.
Akari did not hesitate. In an instant, her sword was in hand. The metallic hiss of steel cutting through the air preceded her movement—a swift lunge, a precise spin. Her strike came in horizontally, aiming at Luna's abdomen.
But the woman in the crow cloak did not step back.
With her bare feet on the wooden floor, Luna twirled her body in a fluid motion, letting the blade pass mere millimeters from her skin. Her left leg whipped up like a viper's lash, and her iced heel struck Akari's wrist, forcing her to drop the sword.
"You are underestimating me, Akari," Luna murmured, her eyes aglow with an icy blue‑gray hue.
Akari spun in the air and, as she landed, delivered a spinning elbow strike to Luna's ribs, regaining her posture as she retreated.
"Don't think you can intimidate me just because we share the same blood!" Akari snarled, her eyes blazing.
She unleashed a flurry of rapid strikes, her fists hammering like thunder: a straight jab to the jaw, a spinning kick to the torso, and a swift thrust with a closed fist like a spear.
Luna blocked each blow with her open palm, her forearm wrapped in ice. Each impact sent tremors through the floor, cracking the wooden boards. With a snap of her fingers, she froze the moisture in the air, forming three sharp ice stakes that lunged directly at Akari's flank.
Akari leapt, twisting her body midair to evade the frigid blades, but a fourth stake shot up from below.
The ice sliced into her thigh.
She fell to her knees, gasping.
Yuzuki rose, the giant sword in his hands, his gaze as hard as stone.
"Amok!" he shouted, summoning his Kugutsu.
Nothing happened.
"Zyon!" Akari cried out, desperate.
Silence.
Luna smiled, spreading her arms slowly like a dark priestess.
"Shinkō…" she whispered. "You have lost your bonds. I cut them."
Yuzuki's eyes widened. He clenched the sword hilt with tremendous force.
"She masters the Yûgō…" he murmured, almost in trance. "She… has total control over the Kugutsu. She is not merely a user… she is a perfect fusion…"
Before he could do anything, the floor beneath his feet glowed with runes carved into the wood. A whirlwind of earth and shadow engulfed him.
"Dankai—Earth's Tomb," Luna said, coldly.
Yuzuki was swallowed, his sword scoring the side of the pit in a last act of resistance.
"YUZUKI!" Akari shouted.
Inside, in the darkness, he breathed heavily, sweat beading his brow. Yet there was something more terrifying than the seal: fear. His eyes were wide open, staring in shock at the truth he had just witnessed.