The water around Zilong turned red with his blood.
"Damn, I'm really going to die," he thought, closing his eyes.
In the darkness, he saw a man with blonde hair and pink eyes, wait..it was his father.
"Wait, what?! Why am I seeing my father?" Zilong wondered. "Am I about to die?, is my life flashing before my eyes?"
"Remember, Zilong, you must always keep the family together," his father's voice echoed.
"What the—" Zilong couldn't understand. He lifted his head, the cold water brushing his wounds and sending a wave of pain through his body. He gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating sensation.
"Aww, you saved your comrades in exchange for your life again. That's quite commendable," a sarcastic, sinister voice rang out. The splashing of water grew louder, coming closer.
Zilong looked up at the towering figure, which stared back at him with disdain. "I don't like you," it said, its presence thick with bloodlust. "But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."
'Really?'
"In hell..."
'Oh...'
The wraith waved its hand, and the gigantic scythe returned to it, tearing through the confined space of the mechanical area of the ship. It pointed the weapon at Zilong's neck.
Zilong's breathing became shallow; he was already fading. The wraith raised its scythe and swung it down. Zilong closed his eyes, embracing the darkness.
*Thud.*
A loud thud echoed, and Zilong opened his eyes. The wraith groaned, now standing just meters away. It reached behind its head and pulled out a broken metal pipe lodged in its jaw.
"You little..." it snarled, turning to the side where a handsome boy stood above the deck, panting and sweating profusely. It was Jacob. He had thrown the pipe in desperation.
---
*Jacob's Perspective*
As Jacob ran from the bloody scene where he had left Zilong to die, panic gripped him. This wasn't part of the plan. Well, it was part of the plan, but it wasn't supposed to involve Zilong dying.
"You guys should go. I don't think Zilong can hold the wraith for long. I'll distract it," he had said, uncertain. He looked to the others for confirmation.
"Yeah, I thought so too," Emma had replied, looking back at him. "Please, don't let Big Brother die," she pleaded, her eyes filled with tears. She hadn't seen what happened to Zilong, having been thrown aside by him. At first, she was annoyed, but the realization of their danger quickly set in. To her, this felt like a nightmare—a terrifying movie come to life.
Jacob nodded and dashed back, hoping against hope that Zilong was still alive. Reaching the lower deck, he spotted a broken pipe on the ground. Grabbing it, he hurled it at the wraith, aiming only to distract it. He hadn't expected the pipe to pierce the creature's skull.
"Was its head that soft?" Jacob wondered, shocked that the pipe had gone through. The wraith turned to him, furious.
---
*Back to Zilong*
Zilong was stunned as he saw Jacob on the other side of the engine room. The wraith raised its scythe, and Jacob knew it was his time. He sprinted up the short ladder to the upper deck with great speed.
---
*Boom.*
---
The ladder and the floor beneath Jacob disintegrated into dust. He ran through the ship's corridors at breakneck speed, avoiding the center. The wraith didn't chase him but instead placed its hands in the water, preparing something.
The wraith's blood dripped into the water, turning it silvery, much like mercury. Zilong lay there, unable to move, as the silver-colored blood seeped into his open wounds.
Zilong's vision changed...
"You are useless," a voice echoed in his mind, filling him with regret. Tears streamed down his face as he looked at his hands, covered in red liquid—blood.
"What?" Zilong thought, confused. "These aren't my memories. What's going on?"
Zilong's eyes widened. "Wait, are these the wraith's memories?" He experienced everything from a third-person point of view.
The wraith had once been a samurai in the Yamato province, around 600 BC, during the age of the samurai. His name was Kazuya. His friends, family, and neighbors had been killed in a war with a rival clan. Kazuya had been forced to become a samurai, hoping to fulfill someone else's dream—the dream of Lord Toru Ikeda, the seemingly heartless ruler of their province.
Ikeda had taken 90% of the women from his own village, claiming it was to maintain his sanity. Young women, middle-aged women, and even little girls were taken and violated. Kazuya's own 12 year old daughter had been ruthlessly assaulted before his eyes. He could only grit his teeth and watch as her clothes were torn from her, tears streaming down her face, powerless to intervene.
"This is the least low ranks like you can do for our cause," a burly man sneered, patting Kazuya on the shoulder.
In his heart, Kazuya swore revenge...
But in the end, did he fulfill that vow?
The biggest battle of the time, the Dura Fu Gaku battle, took place in a province called Dokuro no Chi, also known as the Land of Skulls. This was where Kazuya planned to exact his revenge against his lord.
The battle raged for three days and three nights, but in the end, only two men remained standing. With unwavering determination, Kazuya stood his ground, but so did Toru Ikeda. They fought fiercely, but Kazuya lost in the battle for revenge.
He knelt on the battlefield, now littered with bodies, with Toru standing over him.
"You're useless," the words rang in his ears—a cruel reminder of his failure to kill his true enemy. Kazuya's tears and agony caused him to merge with his shadow, transforming him into a wraith, doomed to wander the earth.
---
Tears streamed down Zilong's face as he relived the wraith's memories. His eyes widened, and subtle sobs escaped his lips. It felt so real, as if Zilong were experiencing Kazuya's traumatic past firsthand.
"So, this is how a yokai is born? This is how an oni is conceived?" he whispered.