Raizen kept running, lungs burning, legs heavy as stone.
Smoke filled the sky, beneath the clouds. Everything burned again, filling his sight with red and black.
Distorted voices echoed through the dark.
"You couldn't save them."
The Nyx rose ahead - bent, shifting, its borders bleeding into smoke. Its two bright eyes were fixed on him.
"You'll never save anyone."
A Nyx's sharp, knife-like hand effortlessly penetrated his chest from behind.
Raizen choked - breath gone, world fading.
But as the darkness swallowed him, the inhuman whisper returned.
Get up. She's waiting.
The pain stopped all at once. It felt as if he were frozen in time.
Protect her.
Hikari.
Raizen's eyes snapped open, breath cut.
A face, closely above his own.
Golden strands brushed his cheek. Two clear eyes, the most beautiful blue he has ever seen; steady and way too close, studied him without blinking.
The girl's head tilted slightly, as if he were a puzzle she was trying to solve. She didn't even flinch.
Raizen froze. "You're… Awake" he whispered.
She backed up a little, but not far, hands folding in her lap.
"I don't know... I don't remember... Anything..." she whispered. Her voice was soft, and she spoke slowly.
"Your name?" Raizen asked. "Do you remember your name?"
Only one memory surfaced in her mind - a voice whispering a name the world would one day fear:
"Your name shall be Hikari… Because you are fated to bring light into this dark world."
Her breath cut. She blinked and looked back at him.
"H- Hikari" she said, suddenly. "I… I'm Hikari. That's all I know."
"Hikari..." he echoed, the word fragile on his tongue.
No one else was there. The chair in the corner sat empty, a cloak folded over its back. Beyond the door, machines hummed and distant voices murmured - the heart of a city breathing.
"Where… Is this?" Hikari asked, eyes moving all across the room
"Neoshima, I think" Raizen shook his head. "or something worse"
He hesitated a second longer. "But we made it."
Suddenly, footsteps echoed in the corridor outside. They sounded differently - one step heavy and even, one light and quick, and one measured.
The door swung open.
"Old man!" a joyful voice burst in, bright with mischief. "You got any tea in this old shack of yours?"
The speaker was like a tornado: a boy slightly older than Raizen, darker skin, hair looking like a bush of tight curls that bounced with every step.
He shouldered the door shut, took two steps inside, and lit up even more when he saw the two.
"Oh-hoo!" he shouted. "Guests! Two of 'em! Cute ones, too..."
An old woman stepped in behind him with a small basket on her arm. She had thin wrinkles on her face, but her smile warmed up the atmosphere.
She stepped closer and took everything in with one look, as if she was carefully analyzing the room. Her gaze softened.
A third figure filled the doorway last: the broad-shouldered Takeshi. He quickly looked over the two, then stepped forward, set two bowls on the bedside table. Steam curled from them.
"Here. Eat while it's hot" he said.
"Thank... You" Raizen murmured. His stomach answered first, growling. The first spoonful nearly burned, but he didn't care.
The boy with the curls leaned in until he made Raizen uncomfortable.
"Name's Obi" he proudly announced. "Expert smith, Tour guide in the Underworks, terminator of boredom, stuff like this."
"Mhm" Raizen mumbled.
"You two want the grand tour? Markets, vents, the good shortcuts? I've got it all!"
"Obi..." the old woman gently said, setting her basket down. "Let them breathe, for heaven's sake!"
And with a scolding look, she added "And know your limits when boasting..."
Then, she turned to Raizen and Hikari. "I'm Louissa. Granny to everyone who needs one."
"I'm… Hikari..." the answer came, almost apologetically. "That's... All I remember."
Louissa's smile widened. "Then Hikari it is" she nodded, then reached for Raizen's bandage with careful fingers. "And you?"
"Raizen."
"Raizen?" she repeated, approving. "Good name. Sit up a little, let me see that arm."
Obi plopped onto the end of the bed without asking, elbows on knees. Grease and coal marks smudged the creases of his knuckles, the faint burn marks across his forearms.
"You carried her all the way here?" he asked, eyes bright. "Through the forest? While bleeding? Holy metals! That's either weirdly brave or super stupid."
"About the grand tour... I'd build you a cart, but Louissa says I'm only allowed to set my smithy on fire, not the entire Underworks."
Louissa clicked her tongue, amused. "Obi works the smithy his parents left" she sighed.
She went on: "They were good smiths, but disappeared on an expedition a few years ago. I found him sleeping next to the anvil, and brought him home. He's stayed this loud ever since."
Then her eyes sharpened, and she whispered, to herself. Raizen didn't catch the words.
"Raizen... How the hell are you alive...?"
Obi flashed a grin "Loud? Maybe loudest smith in the underworks" he claimed the title. "Soon to be the best. You'll see."
"The underworks?" Raizen asked, disoriented. "I thought this was Neoshima!"
With a darkened look, Takeshi responded:
"Neoshima is the city above. The world of the wealthy, the world of luxury. Down here, it's only a place for outcasts and people that kill for a living..."
Takeshi stood a half-step away from his chair, leaning on the wall next to the board. Raizen swallowed another spoon, then looked up at him.
"That... Search board, of sorts" Raizen asked, not knowing the weight of his words. "And the Moirai... What are they?"
Obi's grin dissapeared immediately. Louissa's hands paused midair. Both glanced toward Takeshi.
Takeshi's jaw tightened. When he finally spoke, the words came measured, and slow.
"The board is for something I'm looking for" he finally confessed. "Names. Faces. Messages. Warnings. It keeps the underworks stitched together."
His mechanical fingers moved, the servos giving a soft, involuntary whir. "And it's where I put together the threads."
"Threads?" Raizen raised a brow.
"Patterns" Takeshi corrected himself.
"A rumor here. A body there. A door that shouldn't be unlocked. A patrol that goes completely missing on a quiet shift..."
He looked back at Raizen. "I've been tracking the Moirai off those marks."
There was nothing theatrical in his voice - only iron.
"...Why?" Raizen asked, though part of him already knew.
Silence. But after a few seconds, Takeshi sighed and cleared this throat.
"Because they took my world. And I intend to take something back."
Obi let out a low breath, respectful for once.
"And the Moirai themselves?" Raizen asked, quieter now.
"The ones who pull the threads" Takeshi answered calmly. "Masks or killers, call them however you want. They show up when it matters most, and by then... It's too late to fight back."
Obi cleared his throat, trying to lighten the mood. "Anyways! Raizen, enough questions for now!" he said brightly.
"And the best part, once Takeshi lets you out, I'll show you around. The market, the vents, the place we call The Maw, and of course my forge, which is absolutely not going to explode too soon."
"Not too soon" Takeshi agreed. "He can barely lift a spoon, and she just woke up."
Obi threw his hands up, with a surrendering expression. "Too bad! I was going to carry him."
He paused, looking at Raizen. "Okay, I was going to pretend to carry him and make him walk..."
Louissa finished with the new bandage, nodded once, and tucked a clean strip under the knot.
"You'll keep this a few days" she said to him.
Raizen managed a faint grin.
Outside, something large moved in the city's depths - a petal of Neoshima's lotus walls grinding into a new position.
Hikari had moved closer a bit. Not touching him, just near enough that he could feel her close.
Obi bounced to his feet, already halfway to the door. "Well, gotta go! Got some iron to hit!"
Granny Louissa squeezed Raizen's uninjured shoulder gently. "don't worry. You're safe. For now."
But Raizen saw the look she tried to hide - the quick, fearful glance toward the door.
Nobody in the Underworks ever stayed safe for long.