"So you're telling me he disappeared entirely?" A woman, who seemed to be in her early forties, uttered, her voice low. She was stunning with dark brown hair that fell to her back, porcelain skin and eyes the color of jade. However, her heavenly face was contorted into a desperate expression, one of wrath, grief, and regret all balled up into one emotion.
She had spoken to a group of balding middle aged men, kneeling in front of her. Sweat glistened off their scalps and faces as one of them pursed his lips to speak. "My Lady, we have searched everywhere. And with your ability, even if I hadn't, you could surely find him. It's as if he vanished from this place instantaneously."
With that, the woman's expression lit up into one of fury and the middle aged men could only tremble as he faced the brunt of her anger. However, after a few seconds, she sat down in a chair behind her, her face entirely unreadable as she overlooked the vast courtyard they spoke in.
"If only that idiot was here, this wouldn't be a problem." She mumbled.
Before the middle aged man could react, the woman snapped back up. "If he has disappeared entirely, that can only mean one thing. He has been forcefully descended." She said, the new chill in her voice sending the middle aged man into further quivering. It was a chill that showed more than simple anger.
"Such a ridiculous Law. It's old-fashioned and entirely counter-productive and yet it stands because that council of empty-headed, old trash cans didn't want to lend the power to destroy it."
One of the middle aged men spoke up. "M-My Lady, the Law is there for a good reason-"
Upon hearing that, the woman turned to him faster than anyone could react before her beautiful jade eyes turned dark and murky like a violent ocean. The man, who spoke, found himself disappearing and before he could even scream, all traces of his existence vanished.
Silence reigned among them for a few seconds.
"The Law is there for a good reason, my ass. Just as Bedlam starts too." The woman sat back down, resigned.
One of the other middle aged men, seeing the end of her rage, stood up, bowed and began to leave. "We'll be taking our leave, My Lady. We will notify you if anything beyond the ordinary happens."
She didn't respond but a brief distortion of her face told him to get out of there as fast as he could.
The woman sighed in her seat, before her jade eyes suddenly changed color. They turned translucent like a deep pool of water, rippling constantly. After closing her eyes for a few seconds, she opened them, her eyes turning back to jade. She sighed, before getting up and walking back inside of the grand house that overlooked the courtyard.
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Light streamed through a woody environment and yet it was almost entirely silent. The typical noises of animals had completely vanished, leaving an eerie quiet. The only noises were that of a boy running through the forest.
He seemed to be about 16 or so, with dark brown hair, flecked with bits of white, and a tan complexion. His black eyes zipped around, trying to catch any movement in his surroundings. However, in the remaining half hour of his run, he seemed to have encountered nothing. He circled back to a small clearing near the edge of the forest, smiling after reaching a camp of some sorts.
Seemingly upon hearing him, a woman, looking to be in her seventies' walked out of her tent, an expression of worry on her face. "Sho, are you all right? You didn't meet with any trouble, did you?"
Sho nodded, a smile on his face, trying to reassure the woman he called mother. He pulled off his black backpack, opening it, before pulling out a couple grasses and herbs. "I found the herbs you wanted." He said, walking over to his mother.
Yuzo, Sho's mother, smiled as she looked at her son, her faded beauty showing once more in her face. "Okay, then get over here, and get the cauldron, of course." She spoke snappily, urging Cho to hurry up.
Yuzo was a pre-Bedlam alchemist. Although a lot of the knowledge from back then was useless now, she was still able to concoct basic solutions for her and her family. Sho handed Yuzo the herbs and prepared the cauldron before backing away to watch.
He often found himself mesmerized by her skills. She did everything so fluidly, dicing the herbs, stirring the cauldron, adjusting the fire – she did it all with practiced ease.
The most interesting part for Sho was how Yuzo's demeanor suddenly changed. Her posture would become more imposing while her eyes would grow impossibly serious. It was as if she staked her life on these solutions. It gave off a certain sense of power despite Yuzo's small 5'3 frame.
In less than an hour, she was done, pulling out several green balls and storing them in a container. She put the container down on a wooden chair before turning to Sho sharply. "What did I just concoct?" She asked.
Sho simply gave a little smile. "Spiritual Energy Refreshment pills."
To that, Yuzo reached up to pat him on the head before going to store the pills in her tent.
Suddenly, an immense thunderclap burst through the air. Both Sho and Yuzo looked up to see a sunny sky and yet even more of these thunderclaps followed, getting consecutively louder. At that point, Yuzo noticed something in her tent. A small jade stone she'd left on top of a box had begun vibrating, cracks appearing on it.
Yuzo's face paled before she turned to Sho. "We need to leave."
Usually Sho would protest but he'd decided to stay quiet for the moment. He packed up his tent supplies, placing them in his bag before folding and carrying the tent as well. He looked over to see Yuzo had done the same. The only tent left was that of his father's.
Seeing Sho was ready, Yuzo called him before pulling out a compass and turning in a certain direction. The thunderclaps had alleviated but Yuzo's face was still taut with solemnity.
"Shouldn't we wait for Father or at least leave something for him to find us?" Sho said quietly.
Sho's father, Isha, had gone to a nearby settlement to help gain supplies for their camp.
"No need, let's go." Yuzo's voice was firm.
While Sho wanted to wait, he understood there must be a reason for Yuzo leaving so abruptly. It definitely had something to do with the incredibly loud sounds they'd heard earlier. But still, how would they find his father later? What did she mean by 'no need?' Did she mean that he had something to follow them later?
In reality, Sho had already guessed that something had happened to his father and Yuzo had somehow found out. A cold feeling ran through his body as he walked behind his mother but he didn't stop walking behind her. Even if he wanted to stop, Yuzo's speed has sharply increased. Even though she was still walking, Sho had to jog to catch up to her.
Before he even had the time to fully acknowledge how absurd that was, the thunderclaps resumed, increasing in volume.
By this point, Sho understood what was happening. A chaos beast had spawned.
Yuzo suddenly stopped, before turning around and grabbing Sho, stopping him. He noticed the blood on one of her palms as bits of some sort of stone fell out of her open hands.
"Sho, listen closely and do not speak." Her voice was strained, forcing Sho to focus in.
"You cannot die. When I finish speaking, I want you to run Southeast, that direction", she said as she gestured, the booms only getting louder. "There, I want you to join whatever people are in power. I don't care whether you consider them evil or not. They will protect you as long as you can show you are useful. The only way to do that is to awaken your Path. You are meant for a higher place than this. You cannot die here." At those last words, a terrifying explosion of noise crushed the nearby trees as an immense pitch-black monster walked, their footsteps sending air up fast enough to create shockwaves.
Yuzo grabbed Sho before looking directly into his eyes. Her originally hazel eyes turned a dark shade of blue. "You cannot die here, Sileon. Run. Awaken your Path, and grow stronger. Forget about anything that will hinder you." After this, she threw him towards the direction she had told him to run. An immense headache slammed Sho and while he wanted to turn around or at least rest, he couldn't. His body was quite literally not responding to him as it kept running, smashing into trees but never falling or stopping.
After a few seconds, the pain from it all caused him to black out, yet his body kept running.
Yuzo turned back around to face the monumental beast which, despite having no face, she could tell had focused on her.
"If everyone knew a weak little shit like you managed to kill Heine, he'd never–well I suppose he would literally never live it down." Her voice was steady despite her visibly weakening from whatever she'd done to Sho. Her blue eyes were still there but they were fading back into hazel.
"Tear yourself." She ordered.
Immediately, blood began falling from her eyes and spurting from her mouth. However, she continued to stare at the beast as its shadowy form began falling apart. It slowly reached for Yuzo but she didn't have the strength to move anymore, now kneeling.
"I said, tear yourself."
Just before the shadowy hand reached her, it disintegrated as it contorted on itself. However, before she could notice this, Yuzo had died.