The woman glanced up from the floor, "all legends and myths come from truths, child." she set aside the tea and rose from the floor, "I guess it's a case of seeing is believing, follow", she ordered.
Katsumi didn't respond and followed her, his curiosity getting the better of him. The woman lead him through the shrine halls, pillars of wood with kanji carved into them, held the structure strong. After a couple of minutes they reached an ominous looking iron door, bolted with chains and strange seals surrounded the door. Katsumi gulped, it was cold and the sight gave him a horrid feeling. He felt nauseous. The woman reached under her shirt and pulled out a necklace. She began chanting words that sounded Japanese yet Katsumi couldn't work them out with her hands clasped around the piece of jewellery. He looked at the woman as if she was crazy but was too polite to disobey an elder, plus he did indeed see a woman with fiery features. Maybe he was the crazy one and this was all some scary delusion.
As Maya chanted in some form of mystical dialect, the seals and her necklace began to glow a vibrant yellow, Katsumi took a few steps back, afraid of what the hell was going on. He scanned each seal as it glowed, he looked ghostly in appearance. Eventually, He was shaken out of his scared trance by a loud clink. One by one the chains and locks fell to the ground and the door slowly opened with an eerie squeak. Dust hit them both in the face and a wave of cold air pushed Katsumi back, yet Maya stood there strong, dusting the dust and dirt off of her white clothing and simply stepping down the stairs. This whole region of the shrine radiated a dangerous feel, Katsumi felt as if he was in a haunted house, the air felt heavy and his body refused to budge.
Maya turned her head to Katsumi and simply enticed him with a finger, she was clearly unphased by the atmosphere down there and she wore a smug smile. He felt like he had to go down there as if some force was starting to push him, egging him for him to follow her.
With each step the room got colder and the air got thicker, he felt exhausted, his body was heavy and his legs refused to budge, it was like he trying to make his way through water in one breath. He glanced over to Maya and she looked as if she didn't feel a thing. Maybe it was just him, he probably still didn't feel too well.
At the bottom of a stair case a purple light seem to shine through and grunts and growls seemed to travel up the stairs, it was if someone was gurgling water. Maya placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't faint little one", she smiled as if what she just said held no weight.
"Faint? Why would I faint?" He worried, panting between his words. Maya remained silent as they reached the bottom of the stairway, pausing at the entrance to a dark dingy room. Katsumi suddenly placed his hand over his mouth upon seeing that thing. He hunched over attempting not to hurl. His eyes tearing up and his body shaking, he understood her warning, the whole room felt like it was plagued by a dark aura and that was the cause.
It was bound by several thick chains and 4 pillars surrounded the abomination. Each pillar had a seal and each chain was tightly wrapped around the thick tubes of concrete. Its cackles and gurgles were morbid and twisted, its stench was unbearable. The creature, with its many eyes clocked Katsumi and a horrid snarl escaped its toothy mouth. The creature leapt forward attempting to attack the small boy. Katsumi gasped and fell to the ground, crawling backwards as it closed in on him. It's roars began getting more aggressive as it shortened the distance, its arms were swinging frantically as it attempted to brush off the chains. When it eventually got close enough to slash Katsumi a light blinded him and it sounded as if the creature collided with something. Katsumi slowly opened his eyes to see a forcefield of some sort, separating him and the beast, it glowed similarly to the chains upstairs except this was accompanied by a satisfying ringing upon contact and formed between each pillar. Circular ripples formed on collision with the monster.
The monster took a few paces back as it roared in pain, clutching at its thin arm. Burns appeared on its flesh, sizzling and crackling as it made its way up its arm. After a couple of seconds the noises stopped as Katsumi sat there mortified, he watched flesh simply grow and overlap over its wound, weaving and tying its self, patching the burns, until eventually and sign of it being injured in the first place was gone.
The creature appeared to be a cluster of humans, it was like they were sown together seamlessly, various wails and moans escaped the creatures mouth after that and hands appeared to scratch and attempt to pull themselves out of its back to no avail. Despite its many arms and legs it seemed to have a bipedal stance and ridiculously sharp claws and it seemed to be locked on the puddle of fear tearing up just feet away from where it was stood.
Maya stood there, unnerved by the monster that stood before her, her arms resting behind her back. It was fixated on the boy uninterested in the elderly woman. "That Katsumi, is a yokai, a weak one at that." The lady lowered herself and placed a hand on his head. "That thing is one of many different types and classes, some are weak and others...", she paused for a moment, "others could destroy everything on earth if they got out", she said it so casually… "although I must admit the one here is a little bit more special than the common ones that appear", she mentioned almost proudly. She knew he wasn't processing all of the information properly, he was in shock, but wanted to fill him on at least some details.
Katsumi lifted his head to look at Maya, horror pasted on his face. Sentences could barely escape his lips and he couldn't move, Katsumi and the yokai never took their eyes off of each other and Maya knew instantly that it was targeting him that's all the evidence she needed, he was definitely no ordinary boy. The demons were never one to pick targets unless they posed a serious threat.
After a couple of minutes Katsumi realised it couldn't hurt him and calmed down, only slightly but his ability to form words returned to him as he took his eyes off of the yokai, its eyes, however, still were glued on him. "What exactly has that woman dragged me into?" He whispered and, his voice still carrying fear, almost breaking off at every syllable .
"A world where those things cause kill, kidnap and curse innocent people", her eyes met his, it was almost if she was trying to scare the poor boy, "your past life in the normal world, you might as well forget it, there's no going back for you after knowing they exist and you especially can't exactly run." The woman sighed and turned to make her way up the stairs only to pause and turn back, "you can either fight or try your best to run, after seeing that Yokai's response to you, I don't think running is an option, they'll hunt you and kill you". She said, almost in pity for Katsumi.
Hunted? Killed? Katsumi's eyes widened as he quickly shifted his gaze to the monster bound by shackles, those were the only words that registered with him. He tucked himself into a ball and contemplated the information given to him, his head placed in the nooks of his arms. The choices, this whole new world opened up to him… It was just too much. Fear filled his very soul as tears rolled down his face. He wept in his sorrow as he watched the monster sit there, glaring at him. Thankfully the tears blocked out the monstrosity before him but the disgusting scent still lingered.
"Trust me when I say, little one, on this side of the world you could be something powerful, even without me, your soul has so much potential". Amaterasu's voice whispered to him, the voice went as quickly as it came. A warmth rushed him once more, despite the ghostly cold temperatures in the room and a pair of equally warm hands covered his eyes, lifting his head slightly. Katsumi still didn't know what she meant by 'soul', but found solace in her words either way. He needed to think but even he knew he didn't really have much choice…
"It's either fight or die, right?" He cried, still unable to see due to the hands on his face.
"You already made that choice when you fell, Kuse", the voice was soft, almost loving, however, even Katsumi knew that there was pain in that voice. "I'm sorry to of done this to you, I really am…", her voice trailed off, guilt weighed down every word. "You've always wanted to be strong and make a difference, so I gave you that, I know the dangers and you will grow to understand them and face them yourself, but there's really no turning back for you now." He felt the hands slowly remove themselves from his face and opened his eyes slightly only to be met by the many on the yokai.
Katsumi watched for an hour or two as the monster sat, swaying from side to side, singing? Its voice was broken and cut off, it varied in tones and pitches as if a different voice attempted to sing each note. The raspy, horrid song rang through Katsumi, he didn't know what it was saying and the only lyrics that was audible to him were the words 'Death, Death, Death'. It could sense the terror coming off of Katsumi and had a disgusting, warped expression of glee on its face. It was creepy and he was terrified but he endured.