(Hooded Figure's POV)
The boy was scared. That much was clear the moment I saw him step through the heavy doors of the old library, his silhouette trembling against the dim light. Yuki Tanaka—the latest in a line of cursed souls. Fragile, uncertain, yet brimming with a potential he had yet to see.
He'd taken longer to arrive than I anticipated, likely wrestling with the weight of the unknown. His hesitation spoke volumes. They always hesitated at first.
"Yuki Tanaka," I called, my voice echoing through the ancient halls. He flinched, just slightly. The fear was there, palpable and raw, but so was curiosity. Good. Curiosity was the thread that could unravel the truth.
I stepped from the shadows, keeping my hood low, my face obscured. I needed him to listen, not to question who I was. That would come later—if he survived long enough to learn the answers.
"We have much to discuss," I said, my tone measured, deliberate.
He stepped back, his instincts screaming to run. But he didn't. That, more than anything, piqued my interest. Most would have fled by now. Most lacked the resolve to stand their ground in the face of the unknown.
Yuki stayed.
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I began as I always did, delivering the truths he needed to hear. The curse, the transformation, the debt his bloodline owed to Karyu. His reactions were predictable—denial, confusion, anger. I had seen it all before."This is insane," he spat, his voice shaking but defiant. "You're insane."
Ah, defiance. It always reared its head at this stage. But defiance was better than apathy. Defiance could be shaped, tempered, turned into something useful.
I tossed him the pendant, the artifact that had been passed down through his family for generations. It was as much a burden as it was a key. The moment it touched his skin, the energy shifted. I saw the flicker of recognition in his eyes as the visions took hold—the forest, the pool, the shadowy figure at its edge. Karyu's essence lingered in the air around him, ancient and unyielding.
"What… what the hell was that?" he demanded, clutching his head as if trying to shake off the memories.
"Your truth," I replied simply. No embellishments, no sugar-coating. There was no room for gentle revelations in this game. He needed to know what he was up against, and he needed to know it now.
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As I spoke, I watched him carefully. The way his hands trembled, the way his eyes darted around the room as if searching for an escape. But there was no escape. Not for him. Not for any of us."You're running out of time, Yuki," I warned, my voice dropping lower. "The transformation is already underway. If you don't find a way to break the curse, you will become something entirely different. Permanently."
He froze at the word "permanently," his breath hitching. That was the moment the reality of his situation began to sink in. The moment denial gave way to the first cracks of acceptance.
"How?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "How do I break it?"
Good. He was asking the right questions now.
I told him what I could. The origins of the curse, the debt owed to Karyu, the need to uncover the truth buried in his family's past. I kept my words vague, enough to guide him but not enough to give him all the answers. He needed to find those on his own. That was the only way this would work.
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When I left, I felt his fear lingering in the air, mingling with the faint hum of the pendant he now carried. He was scared, yes. But he was also determined. That determination would be the fire that kept him moving forward—if it didn't consume him first.As I stepped back into the shadows, I allowed myself a small, fleeting smile. Yuki Tanaka was different. I had seen countless bearers of the curse, each of them broken by its weight. But Yuki… there was something about him. Something that made me believe, just for a moment, that this time, things might end differently.
Only time would tell if that belief was foolishness or fate.