The night was cold and silent, only the crackling of debris from the broken house disturbing the darkness.
The lifeless body of Hana, Kurayami's sister, lay on the ground.
Kurayami, standing with the katana in one hand, stared at his sister, tears flowing freely down his face marked by rage and despair.
His fingers trembled as he gripped the hilt of his katana, his breathing short and ragged.
It was all over.
She was no longer there.
Kurayami: "Hana…I'm sorry…"
The words were barely audible, as if he didn't want to believe his own guilt.
His eyes, red with pain, stared once more at the inert body before he turned on his heel.
Without another word, he began to walk away, the night wind sweeping away the ashes.
Shadow: "Wait, where are you going?! You need help!"
The shadow ran behind him, his voice breaking the silence that hung heavy around them.
But Kurayami didn't stop.
His steps were slow, but determined, as if he was running away from something he didn't want to face.
Shadow: "At least tell me who you are!"
He stopped for a moment, hesitating, before answering, without turning around.
Kurayami: "I am Kurayami Hoshino… A high school student… who has just lost what he held most dear."
His eyes fell on his wrist.
Where her bracelet had always been, there was nothing left.
An emptiness that reflected the one he felt in his heart.
Shadow: "Then come with me!"
Kurayami finally looked up, his face twitching in confusion and distrust.
His gaze rested attentively on the shadow for the first time.
Kurayami: "Why should I follow you? I don't even know you…"
He frowned, trying to understand this young girl's intentions. She had appeared out of nowhere, and even though she had tried to help him, she remained a stranger.
Kurayami (suspicious): "Who are you, exactly? Why do you want to help me?"
The shadow straightened up, taking a more confident posture.
Her face, until then gentle and understanding, hardened slightly, as if she were preparing a speech that she had already recited many times.
Shadow: "My name is Aiko Enji. I come from a world very different from anything you know. There, we train to face demons…monsters like the one that killed your sister."
She paused, letting Kurayami digest the information. His eyes shone with a light that mixed determination and compassion.
Kurayami: "And why?! Why should I come with you?!"
Aiko: "Because you have great potential. Where I come from, you could harness this potential to become stronger...strong enough to kill demons like him."
Aiko vaguely pointed to the place where the demon, responsible for her sister's death, had disappeared. Kurayami's face tightened, but he didn't respond immediately. Slowly, he returned to his sister's body, kneeling, the katana still in his hand.
Kurayami: "That won't bring her back…"
Aiko approached slowly, placing a light hand on his shoulder. His look was full of understanding.
Aiko: "She was your sister, wasn't she?...I'm sorry. But there are so many other demons, much more powerful than the one you fought today. This will neither be the first nor the last massacre."
Kurayami: "That won't bring my sister back…"
Aiko: "No, but it could prevent other families from suffering the same fate. Now you know the pain of losing a loved one."
A heavy silence settled between them.
Kurayami closed his eyes, images of his sister, smiling and alive, flashing through his mind.
In the darkness of his mind, Kurayami found himself kneeling, chained.
Chains cut through his skin, tearing his flesh with every movement. Two other chains, to his left and right, were dripping with blood, marking his body with visible scars.
Kurayami: "I lost my mother… my father… and yet, each time, I felt like I was freed from my chains."
He raised his hands, showing the bloody chains hanging above him.
Kurayami: "But now, with my sister's death, this chain… how can I free myself from it?"
He tried to pull on the chain that ran across his back, but an unbearable pain immobilized him. His breathing became faster, his body shaking with rage.
Kurayami: "What if this happened to Akira or Shiro…"
He looked up, seeing other chains, much higher, caught in the darkness, as if held by invisible demons. They were intact, with no blood marks.
Kurayami: "I will never forgive myself."
Kurayami slowly stood up, his face hardened with new determination.
Kurayami: "You're right."
Aiko smiled slightly, relieved to see that he had made the decision she was hoping for.
Aiko: "That's the answer I was waiting for. Let me heal your wounds before you leave."
Aiko steps forward from Kurayami and casts a healing spell.
Aiko: "Unfortunately, I am not powerful enough to give you back your eye… Sorry…"
Kurayami: "It doesn't matter, if I had been stronger it wouldn't have happened."
Suddenly, something caught Kurayami's attention. A small box glowed faintly in the distance, on the ground.
He approached and, picking it up, read the label: "For Kurayami."
He opened it, discovering a necklace with a strange, glowing stone that he had never seen before. Aiko approached, her eyes suddenly concerned.
Aiko: "Wait… where did you get that necklace?"
Kurayami: "That was probably the surprise my sister wanted to give me…"
She carefully examined the stone embedded in the necklace, her expression turning serious.
Aiko: "This stone... it shouldn't be here. She comes from my world. How could she…"
She returned the necklace to Kurayami, thoughtful.
Aiko: "I'll have to talk about it when I get back."
Aiko smiled again, looking up at the sky.
Aiko: "Takamu!"
The powerful beating of a griffin's wings cut through the night, a massive shadow looming before them. Kurayami, eyes wide, instinctively stepped back.
Aiko: "Climb."
Kurayami: "What? Really ?"
Aiko: "Well, do you want to kill demons, yes or no?"
Kurayami nodded.
But before leaving, he walked away towards a small mountain behind his house.
There, he carved his sister's name on a stone, burying her broken bracelet under the ground.
Aiko: "It's beautiful, what you did."
Kurayami: "Thank you…"
He took one last look at his ruined home, thinking of his friends left behind before mounting the griffin.
Kurayami (thought): "I will come back soon."
Kurayami whispered these last words, his eyes fixed on the ruins of his home, as a promise to all he left behind.
The cool night wind blew gently, rustling the trees around, but Kurayami only felt the weight of his decision.
The loss of his sister resonated within him like a void that he could never fill, but at the same time, he felt that this departure was necessary.
He took a deep breath and turned to Aiko, who was waiting for him next to Takamu, the majestic griffin whose eyes pierced the darkness with a wise glow.
Sending: "Ready ?"
Kurayami nodded, although he wasn't sure he did.
Her hand touched the necklace her sister had left her, the strange stone glinting in the moonlight.
He knew this journey would take him far, far away from everything he knew, but he had nothing left to lose.
He climbed onto Takamu's back with some hesitation.
The griffin, immense and imposing, was a creature he would never have thought possible to approach.
Its feathers were silvery gray, and its muscles, tense under its skin, demonstrated formidable power.
Aiko jumped nimbly onto the animal's back and held out her hand to Kurayami.
Sending: "Hold on tight. It won't be a smooth flight if you've never traveled this way."
Kurayami grabbed Aiko's hand, then held on tightly to the griffin's mane.
He didn't have time to mentally prepare himself as Takamu violently flapped his wings and rose into the sky all at once, carrying them both away.
The ground quickly disappeared beneath his feet, the ruins of his home becoming mere specks in the darkness.
The icy air whipped against his face as they gained altitude, but that was nothing compared to the torment that still racked his heart.
The flight seemed to last forever for Kurayami.
He had spent the last two hours in heavy silence, his mind wandering between the pain of loss and the uncertainty of the future.
Aiko, for her part, observed the horizon with unwavering concentration, as if she were watching an invisible point that only she could see.
Suddenly, the temperature dropped suddenly, and Kurayami saw a vast white expanse beneath them.
Icy mountains, snow-capped peaks, and in the distance, a sea of ice that seemed to extend endlessly.
Kurayami: "Where are we?"
His voice, broken by the cold, barely resonated in the wind.
Sending: "We are in the place you call the 'North Pole'."
Kurayami's eyes widened.
The North Pole? This mythical place that he had only read about in geography books, but that no human had ever really seen with their own eyes.
Kurayami: "The North Pole?! There is nothing beyond the North Pole… Everyone knows that."
Aiko burst out laughing, a crisp sound that contrasted with the icy atmosphere around them. She turned her head towards him, an amused smile on her lips.
Sending: "After everything you've seen today, are you still going to believe what you've been told all your life?"
Kurayami remained silent. After seeing demons, griffins, and discovering that another world existed, he began to question everything he thought he knew.
Aiko: "The world you know is protected by a great magical barrier. It separates humans from other races."
Kurayami frowned, trying to figure out what this all meant.
Kurayami: "If it's supposed to protect humans, how could a demon break through the barrier and kill my sister?"
A low growl resonated in his voice, a mixture of anger and incomprehension. Aiko sighed, looking towards the frozen horizon.
Aiko: "The barrier is weakening. It is old, very old, and human activity weakens it a little more every day."
Aiko's words felt like a stab in Kurayami's mind. Was it the humans' fault that his sister died? His jaw tightened.
Aiko, as if sensing the tension within him, continued quickly.
Aiko: "But it's mainly due to the age of the barrier. It has existed for over 1500 years, and no spell lasts forever."
Kurayami's face relaxed slightly, but the pain remained sharp.
Aiko: "Takamu, descends."
After an hour of flight above the immense frozen desert, Takamu began to descend towards dry land, invisible under a thick mist.
The griffin slows its flight before entering a dense fog. After a few moments, a gigantic structure appeared in Kurayami's field of vision.
A giant Torii, red and imposing, stood before them.
Aiko: "There… We have arrived."
Kurayami: "Where are we?"
Aiko: "Welcome to the sacred lands of Thisaldin, my home world."
Kurayami got off Takamu, his legs wobbling slightly beneath him after the long journey.
He approached the Torii with some wariness, but before he could say anything, a strange feeling came over him.
His knees buckled under his own weight, and he fell to the ground, his face contorted in pain.
His hands clenched against his stomach as an unbearable nausea rose within him.
Kurayami: "I… I feel… weird…"
Aiko: "It's normal."
Aiko rushed to his side, placing a hand on his back to help him up.
Aiko: "It's the effect of the barrier. Your body has never been exposed to this amount of Aether. He is adapting."
Kurayami, still trembling, wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Kurayami: "From the Aether ?"
Aiko: "Yes, from the Aether. This world is permeated with it. Humans on your world are naturally deprived of it, so your body rejects it… for now."
She helped him to his feet completely, looking more compassionate than before.
Aiko: "But it will get better with time. For now, follow me, we still have a little way to go before we reach Lysium."
Kurayami and Aiko walked through the thick forest that surrounded the academy, the gigantic trees seeming to watch their every step.
After a few hours of walking, they finally arrived in front of a huge structure.
Lysium Academy loomed before them, gigantic and imposing, its towers almost touching the clouds.