Yomi's gaze remained fixed on the golden threads, his eyes tracing their graceful dance through the air. They shimmered, suspended in the dim light of the room, like delicate tendrils of sunlight woven into a tapestry of magic. The sight struck him as otherworldly, a fleeting beauty he had never known.
It was nothing like the endless, barren lands of his past life—nothing like the brutal, blood-soaked battles or the chaos that had marked his existence. This... this felt different. It was warm, soft and inviting, like the first rays of dawn after an endless storm.
He reached out slowly, almost reverently. His fingers brushed the threads, and a shiver ran through him as the warmth seeped into his skin, wrapping around his fingers like the caress of a long-lost memory. The sensation was strange, yet comforting, as though these threads were a part of him—a part of something greater.
But there was something else, something he couldn't quite place. As much as he marveled at the beauty before him, there was an unsettling truth that gnawed at him, a silent recognition. This was no illusion, no trick of the mind as the shinobi clan used. It was real. And whatever Aeloria was doing, it wasn't the same as the ki he knew—the life force he had once manipulated, the energy he had wielded in his past life. This was something new. Something... different.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Aeloria's voice cut through his thoughts, her smile soft and warm. Yomi glanced at her, his expression unreadable but his eyes betraying a flicker of awe. He gave a slight nod, his gaze returning to the threads as he held his chin, the weight of a thousand unspoken words pressing against his chest.
"I'm glad you liked it," Aeloria exclaimed with a light chuckle, her voice carrying a quiet pride. Without waiting for his response, she turned toward the fire. "Just a moment, I'll bring everyone some food." Her gaze briefly lingered on the beast girl and the old man beside Yomi in the cage, a silent acknowledgment of their shared captivity before she made her way toward the hearth.
Yomi sat in stillness, his thoughts drifting like leaves caught in a slow, meandering current. Was he truly in his world again? Or had he been cast into another, where everything he had known—everything he had fought for—was nothing but a shadow? The weight of that question pressed down on him, and the feeling of being adrift without a purpose settled heavily in his chest.
Aeloria's footsteps grew quieter as she moved away, but before she could retrieve the plates of food from the fire, a figure emerged from the shadows. He was a presence that seemed to merge with the dimness, his every movement deliberate and shrouded in a sense of quiet power. Aeloria paused, her brow furrowing slightly, as the man stepped into her path.
"Hold on there, mage," he said, his voice low, like the rumble of distant thunder. He reached out, gripping the tray in her hands, and with a swift yank, he took it from her grasp. His gaze flickered over her, unreadable, before he gave a small, knowing wink. "I'll hand these to them. You carry on."
Aeloria's lips tightened, but she didn't argue. She knew better. This man was no stranger to her—he was the one who trained the new slaves, the one who dealt with them when they arrived, broken and bruised. She disliked the work, the constant cycle of helplessness and despair, but it was all she had. It fed her, it sheltered her. There were no easy choices here.
The man didn't wait for a response as he turned toward the cages. His figure was almost impossibly still, as though he belonged to the very shadows that clung to the walls. His dark, weathered attire, adorned with intricate golden patterns, spoke of a life lived in hardship, of battles fought and lost, of lessons learned in the unforgiving desert.
A black scarf obscured much of his face, leaving only his eyes visible—intense, piercing, and unyielding. They gleamed with the weight of a thousand untold stories, a silent testimony to the countless trials he had endured.
Messy black hair spilled from beneath his hood, further adding to the rugged, untamed aura that surrounded him. His posture was casual, but there was a deliberate precision in his every movement—a readiness that never quite faded, even in the quietest moments.
The gleaming crystals and intricate metal frameworks that adorned his gloves spoke of someone who had seen both battle and survival, someone who was as much a warrior as they were a mage—or perhaps something in between.
As he approached the cages, Yomi's gaze lifted to meet his, his eyes narrowing slightly as he appraised the stranger. The man seemed to exude an aura of calm readiness, as though he was ever prepared for whatever came next. There was a quiet strength in him, the sort that spoke of years spent wandering the dunes and ruins of a forgotten world. An air of mystery surrounded him.
The man's boot struck the iron of Yomi's cage with a sharp clang, a sound that echoed through the stone walls of the dimly lit room. Yomi, however, remained unmoved, his eyes closing slowly as he sank deeper into a meditative state. His posture, unwavering and serene, betrayed no sign of agitation or interest. The man watched for a moment, his lips curling into a crooked grin.
"A quiet one, hmm?" he muttered to himself, intrigued by the silence that hung around Yomi like a dense fog. He leaned closer to the cage, lowering his voice into a mockingly polite tone. "Where are my manners? Love, you may address me as Thanir." His voice dripped with feigned courtesy as he relished the moment, savoring the delicate dance of power. He thrived on this—on breaking them, piece by piece—until they became nothing more than loyal dogs, their wills shattered and remade in his image.
With a flourish, Thanir set the tray down beside the cage, the contents sloshing within. The thick soup swirled in the bowl as he upended it, spilling the contents onto the cold stone floor. The old man and the beast girl, their cages just a few feet away, scrambled to lick the mess, their desperate movements muffled by the chains that bound them. Yet, Yomi remained still. He didn't flinch. He didn't stir. His eyes stayed closed, his breathing slow and deliberate, each inhalation a silent defiance.
Thanir leaned back, observing with keen eyes. "Three days, love. Three days, and you'll be just like them," he chuckled darkly, confident in his method. He turned on his heel and sauntered back toward the hearth, his footsteps echoing in the otherwise quiet room.
As the man's laughter faded, Yomi remained in his lotus position, a still sentinel amidst the chaos. "This is going to be a long night," he murmured to himself, his voice barely a whisper lost in the vast silence of the room. He would wait. He always did. Patience was the key. The others would sleep, their bodies weary and broken by hunger and despair, but Yomi—Yomi would stay alert. When the silence became thick enough to drown out the world, when the clamor of flesh and spirit faded into nothing, he would try again.
His mind reached out, searching for the Ki—the life force that flowed through all things. It was there, beneath the surface, in every living thing, and he knew that where life thrived, Ki would be there to feed upon. It was an energy that could not be destroyed. Not in his world, nor in this one.