The glow of Dracospine was nearly blacked out by waves of soot and dust rolling from the center of the calamity. After all of their work, Kaji Okada merely became a witness, much like the fragments of Sunan memories they joined in the battle against Barynx the Ancient. Kaji felt in-place as a mere man in the presence of a god as a Sorceress of the Mind took action, defying all limitations in a blinding display of power and imagination. Kaji raised Dracospine, which summoned a shielding sphere of emeraldine chakra over him, only so he could witness the attack without specks of obsidian shards flying into his eyes or breathed into his lungs. It was inspiring and terrorizing at the same as he watched reality peel, shapeshift, and converge on the colossal monster.
The world was painted in monochrome shades in the aftermath of it all; even the blue woman was gray in the product of her handy work. Kaji let his glowing blade subside once it was obvious the worst of Kaen’s wrath had diminished, besides, what good was it in the presence of the power owned by his lover in this realm? He could have been jealous— lesser men surely would have been, but Kaji was instead glad that they were united by hand and by deed, in this place and out. A bit of honesty left Kaji admitting that he never wanted to draw the ire of Yuii within the theater of the mind: though, he wondered what they might do in this limitless space with a different motivation than interrogation.
He balanced the reverted form of Eelspine flatly over his shoulder and followed closely. Kaji watched diligently as the exchange occurred between Yuii and a battered Kaen, who wandered out from the fallen sandworm. Kaen was hardly balancing himself due to the crippling sting of a gory wound in his side. In his arms swayed a limp, young woman. At first, Kaji had a wild thought that Yuii might smite them and approached him with finality converted into visible energy on the tip of her fingers. Kaen pleaded to her then, asking for help in the time of his crisis as it was his dear sister who was in his arms, dying. However, Yuii became factual and interrupted his misery with a relieving decree that it was indeed time for the nightmares to end. It seemed innocent when she reached out with those glowing fingertips and poked him in the forehead. It was the poke that brought their simulation crumbling down, and all four of them: Kaji, Yuii, Kaen, and Sara, awoke in the Aesculapium, where it all began.
As Kaji regained cognizance, the first thing he felt was the grasp of Yuii's hand in his, or his in her’s, palm to palm, whatever: the familiarity of their togetherness in reality. The clarity he regained was much simpler to achieve than he imagined; there was no nausea or a need to grab at his face and chest to feel real. At first glance, everything felt, looked, and smelled the same. Kaji still didn’t release his grip on Yuii though, and sunk into his seat, making a relieved sigh. Admittedly, things seemed kind of off, but he did not care at first. Kaji stared at the ceiling for a moment before shifting his vision in search of beautiful sapphire eyes. She was his totem, the most real thing he knew. After experiencing the long nightmare within Kaen, Kaji had weathered it all with her, using their new bond as an anchor to persevere. He had words for this bond, and they were on the tip of his tongue, but before he could confess them, Kaen interrupted with an outcry. It was a confession of a different kind, which left Kaji silent and deterred from that illusion of privacy he felt before.
The fires of Kaen’s emotion continued to burn like a blazing barrier— which kept Kaji at bay from the closure he really desired and begged him to focus on Kaen instead. The duo of Kaji and Yuii had gone through a gauntlet within the mind of Kaen, one so extreme that even Sara became victimized by it somehow. They were dragged deep into his abyss, yet they emerged without the secrets they entered it for: ultimately, the experience was for naught, to Kaji. Gradually enraged by the thought, Kaji had to pry himself free from Yuii, barely wanting to loosen himself before he arose from his seat. How could he not be merciful to Kaen now, after experiencing everything that made him who he became? Salty tears were running down his face as he laid there, visibly pathetic to Kaji. It was then that Kaji noticed that the products of the weakness in Kaen were absent— where were the self-inflicted scars of his cursed fire? And it was too easy for Kaji to lean in, hovered over Kaen with a hand resting on the hilt of Eelspine. Where was the pain Kaji felt from the wounds Kaen had inflicted upon him? Curious, Kaji suppressed his anger and realized things for what they were— he looked to Yuii with a greater impression displayed on his face, with the sound of Kaen’s hysteria filling the background. She was truly brilliant, if not twisted.
“Last thing we want is to experience more of your crazed mind” Kaji answered crudely as he took an interrogative stance over Kaen. Now that they were back into reality, he did not feel the need to play along with the mind games— he could really hurt Kaen if needed. He wanted to be gone from that hospital room, to whisk away with Yuii and never look back. “We are more alike than you will ever know, but the end product was different… Had I known what I know of you now back in the arena, it would have been another fight— I would have done everything in my power to put you out of your misery… But that’s not what happened, and you get to walk out of here.” Kaji’s hand did not leave the hilt of Eelspine though, as if he was still in great contemplation, wishing to extinguish what was left of Kaen’s withered flame. “You deserve mercy now... Just tell us about your Mother Suna, and you are free to go.”
The world was painted in monochrome shades in the aftermath of it all; even the blue woman was gray in the product of her handy work. Kaji let his glowing blade subside once it was obvious the worst of Kaen’s wrath had diminished, besides, what good was it in the presence of the power owned by his lover in this realm? He could have been jealous— lesser men surely would have been, but Kaji was instead glad that they were united by hand and by deed, in this place and out. A bit of honesty left Kaji admitting that he never wanted to draw the ire of Yuii within the theater of the mind: though, he wondered what they might do in this limitless space with a different motivation than interrogation.
He balanced the reverted form of Eelspine flatly over his shoulder and followed closely. Kaji watched diligently as the exchange occurred between Yuii and a battered Kaen, who wandered out from the fallen sandworm. Kaen was hardly balancing himself due to the crippling sting of a gory wound in his side. In his arms swayed a limp, young woman. At first, Kaji had a wild thought that Yuii might smite them and approached him with finality converted into visible energy on the tip of her fingers. Kaen pleaded to her then, asking for help in the time of his crisis as it was his dear sister who was in his arms, dying. However, Yuii became factual and interrupted his misery with a relieving decree that it was indeed time for the nightmares to end. It seemed innocent when she reached out with those glowing fingertips and poked him in the forehead. It was the poke that brought their simulation crumbling down, and all four of them: Kaji, Yuii, Kaen, and Sara, awoke in the Aesculapium, where it all began.
As Kaji regained cognizance, the first thing he felt was the grasp of Yuii's hand in his, or his in her’s, palm to palm, whatever: the familiarity of their togetherness in reality. The clarity he regained was much simpler to achieve than he imagined; there was no nausea or a need to grab at his face and chest to feel real. At first glance, everything felt, looked, and smelled the same. Kaji still didn’t release his grip on Yuii though, and sunk into his seat, making a relieved sigh. Admittedly, things seemed kind of off, but he did not care at first. Kaji stared at the ceiling for a moment before shifting his vision in search of beautiful sapphire eyes. She was his totem, the most real thing he knew. After experiencing the long nightmare within Kaen, Kaji had weathered it all with her, using their new bond as an anchor to persevere. He had words for this bond, and they were on the tip of his tongue, but before he could confess them, Kaen interrupted with an outcry. It was a confession of a different kind, which left Kaji silent and deterred from that illusion of privacy he felt before.
The fires of Kaen’s emotion continued to burn like a blazing barrier— which kept Kaji at bay from the closure he really desired and begged him to focus on Kaen instead. The duo of Kaji and Yuii had gone through a gauntlet within the mind of Kaen, one so extreme that even Sara became victimized by it somehow. They were dragged deep into his abyss, yet they emerged without the secrets they entered it for: ultimately, the experience was for naught, to Kaji. Gradually enraged by the thought, Kaji had to pry himself free from Yuii, barely wanting to loosen himself before he arose from his seat. How could he not be merciful to Kaen now, after experiencing everything that made him who he became? Salty tears were running down his face as he laid there, visibly pathetic to Kaji. It was then that Kaji noticed that the products of the weakness in Kaen were absent— where were the self-inflicted scars of his cursed fire? And it was too easy for Kaji to lean in, hovered over Kaen with a hand resting on the hilt of Eelspine. Where was the pain Kaji felt from the wounds Kaen had inflicted upon him? Curious, Kaji suppressed his anger and realized things for what they were— he looked to Yuii with a greater impression displayed on his face, with the sound of Kaen’s hysteria filling the background. She was truly brilliant, if not twisted.
“Last thing we want is to experience more of your crazed mind” Kaji answered crudely as he took an interrogative stance over Kaen. Now that they were back into reality, he did not feel the need to play along with the mind games— he could really hurt Kaen if needed. He wanted to be gone from that hospital room, to whisk away with Yuii and never look back. “We are more alike than you will ever know, but the end product was different… Had I known what I know of you now back in the arena, it would have been another fight— I would have done everything in my power to put you out of your misery… But that’s not what happened, and you get to walk out of here.” Kaji’s hand did not leave the hilt of Eelspine though, as if he was still in great contemplation, wishing to extinguish what was left of Kaen’s withered flame. “You deserve mercy now... Just tell us about your Mother Suna, and you are free to go.”
