BACK TO FURUSATO
*FWOOSH*
There goes the sound of fire swirling in a circular motion at a rapid pace. The swirling fire could be seen inside the throne hall inside the castle of Furusato, illuminating the big room just as much as the flaming torches that were hung up on the huge granite stone walls.
Along with the torches; two giant stone statues that couldn't be a touch above twenty feet tall, also attaining the occasional cracks that were present on their solid surfaces were visible on both sides of the hallway, resting in the corners opposite of each other. The statues were of two kneeling men, with their heads tilted downwards as the tip of their sword touched the stone cold ground below. The statues also had detailed armor that is meant to represent one of a warrior.
In between the two giant statues; a considerably big throne whose cushioning matched the color of a rose, whilst the exterior resembled pure gold.
On the throne, resided a man with brown hair and green eyes, and a long black cloak hiding the majority of his body. Better known as Regashi Ketsueki.
The swirling fire eventually dissipated, revealing four people who stood tall and attentive. These four were; Imawashiki, Gimu, Itami, and Doryoku.
With the new addition of people in the throne hall, Regashi smirked, parting his lips to speak. "Welcome back, gentlemen." He spoke with a casual tone.
The four newcomers walked forward, making their way to the throne Regashi was resting luxuriously in. Three of the four kneeled a few feet away from the throne. Imawashiki kept on striding his way in the direction of the throne, his hands being stored in the pockets of his pants that were underneath his flailing black cloak that he garbed over his torso, extending all the way down to his calves in length.
Imawashiki halted once he reached the left side of the throne, looking up at Regashi. "Where is our most recent recruit, Shototsu, my lord?" Imawashiki questioned in an equally calm and deep voice, proceeding to look around in an attempt to spot a particular amethyst-haired male within the throne hall.
"He should be here any moment now," Regashi answered, keeping his eyes glued to the entrance of the throne hall. After a few moments, the door at the entrance of the throne hall rattled, slowly creaking open as a man walked right on through, entering the throne hall. "There he is."
An amethyst-haired male that goes by the name Shototsu finally arrived, running towards the group of people surrounding Regashi's throne. As Shototsu was sprinting, he hollered out to the group of people. "Sorry I'm late, my lord!"
With the last member of the Furusato unit arriving, Regashi's smirk turned into a faint smile. "You're excused, Shoto."
Shototsu finally merged himself amongst his group, standing tall and attentive to match the others. With the missing-link returning, Regashi fixed his posture of laying to the side with his elbow resting on the throne's right armrest-- to sitting completely straight.
Regashi then clapped his hands, intertwining his fingers afterward. "Now, we can begin." Regashi declared in a bellowing tone, excitement being apparent within Regashi.
Regashi calmed himself down, looking down at the men before him. "Gentlemen, I gathered you here today to discuss how we're going forward as a village. As well as finally explain my reasoning for keeping the village in such a pathetic state." Regashi asserted, garnering the group's attention even more, but only received silence as a response.
"First; I want to state that our regular missions that consist of raiding random villages will currently be ceased here on out. We have a new goal in mind." Regashi began informing the Furusato unit members.
"The reason we razed all of those villages was the same reason we raided Asahi," Regashi explained, earning gasps in response from the others in the room.
Gimu stepped forward. "You're saying that we destroyed all of those villages just to collect new members like Shototsu?" He queried out loud towards Regashi. Regashi remained unmoved by Gimu's questioning.
"That's part of it. We did raid those villages in hopes of adding warriors to our own village, but we can very well see how much that worked out so far." Regashi rebutted,
Gimu didn't retract his extended leg, remaining in his stance. "So, why did we then?"
Regashi formed a toothy grin, bending forward slightly. "That leads into what we're doing next," Regashi notified. "You see, in these past few years I've been having you guys destroy villages out of random. The prioritized reason for that is because I've been tracking 'something' since I took my place as the king of Furusato." Regashi further apprised.
Doryoku raised his left eyebrow in response and to show his confusion. "I remember you telling me and Itami exactly how long you've been enacting your plans for. So what could you be searching for, especially for so long?" With the sound of his name, Itami nodded to contribute to Doryoku's question.
"Glad you asked! I also guess that I should reiterate when I say 'I've been tracking 'something', I mean that I've been tracking 'somebody'. This 'somebody' is someone I do not know distinctively." Regashi explained. "This person who I've been searching for is someone who has the ability to control and use the carcasses of dead people and instruct them to do whatever the master says."
Everyone's eyes shot wide open, apparent shock on all of their features.
Itami took the initiative of his teammates' shock, opening his mouth to speak. "So you're saying that there is someone out there, right this moment, who can revive the dead!?" Itami asked hastily, replacing his shock with an expectant look on his face.
Regashi slowly shook his head. "No. There is no revival sequence to it."
"Then how can they control the people who died!?" Itami retorted instantly, clenching his fist tightly.
Regashi seemed to have adorned an inquisitive look as he peered down from his throne at Itami. "Growing up; do you remember being told about how the gods descended down onto the earth realm, gifting humanity with divine abilities?" Regashi suddenly asked, momentarily halting Itami's tangent.
"Yeah? What does that have to do with what we're speaking about?" Itami answered quickly, his temper rising slowly.
Regashi crossed his legs, assuming a more relaxed position, his head now resting on his right arm's fist. "It was also told how the gods bestowed 'blessings'. Items that contained the powers of gods, having their own abilities stored within them that were meant to assist humans in evolving." Regashi added, staring down at the currently silent Itami.
Regashi proceeded to continue "And when the gods were wiped out by the terrifying Takuetsu during the Keisan war; all of the blessings that were bestowed quickly turned to curses due to the absence of the gods' divinity on earth. The reason this unidentified person can do such a thing is due to them possessing one of those curses."
Doryoku suddenly looked down at his right hand, eyeing the green-colored ring that was placed on one of his fingers. He then turned to look at Itami's staff that was residing in his left hand-- probably due to Itami missing his right hand.
'This person… They also possess a curse?'
Regashi noticed Doryoku's thoughtful expression, matching Doryoku's gaze with both the ring he has and Itami's wooden staff. 'Hmm?'
"So, what? Are we just going to find this person and take it from them?" Gimu spoke up, keeping his gaze up at Regashi, both of their eyes now meeting.
Regashi sighed exasperatedly. "If only it would be that easy, Gimu. But this person's case is that the curse was infused with them. The main reason we have no clue who the owner of the curse is because that any person in the right mind usually passes it on to different people they don't care about. They know that if people like us were to gain knowledge of what they have; they'd be sought out."
Gimu's eyes squinted, "So, how in the hell are we supposed to know who has it now?"
Regashi's smile returned. "Well, I learned who the last owner of the curse was. But, recently they transferred the curse on. If we act now, the new holder of the curse won't be able to travel far. As for identifying the wielder;"
"Leave that to me."
XXX
Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This chapter slightly reveals the past of this fantasy I created! Stay tuned for more.
Have a Good Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_