The ordeal.

As ordered, I returned obediently back to my room and headed right for my desk, because apparently "Runē" had left books there. And as he said, there really were books on the desk, "How did I not see these earlier?" I mumbled to myself as I bit the bottom of my lip and winced my eyes out of confusion, standing there and thinking about it for some moments. Then...my cheeks flushed deep red upon realization. I was looking for Runē, that's why. Hahaha…

I approached the books, but did so with a lot of caution. I can't forget the way that book with the crystal orb in the middle tossed my silly self to the floor for doing the ritual wrong, although I'm not doing a ritual...these books are magic related. Only heaven knows what will happen to me if I just casually picked one up. Never again.

Grasping hold of one with inscriptions written in Latin on the cover, I studied its features, my fingers tracing the brim of the book. It looked interesting and had weird but artistic graphic designs on the back of the book, a picture of a women clothed elegantly with flowers surrounding her, and under said picture were words, it said; "Death is everywhere and everything, even the nonliving die.", Such deep words that leaves one pondering. "Hm..Interesting." I hummed with a sigh, letting what I just read sink in. I finally decided on opening it, flipping through the pages...And do you know what I saw? Absolutely nothing! Each and every page was empty! It's bringing back bad memories...Just like the first page of that book.

I cringed and groaned, placing the book down gently, lest I not upset it possibly, as I lifted a hand to play with the choker around my neck, messing with it as a way to distract myself.

I just don't get it, why are the pages empty? How can I read something that is blank??

Since now I was irritated, I backed off the books and simply went to lay on my bed. I felt that there was no point in checking out the rest of the other books stationed on that table, for they were six in total. I just assumed they'd all be blank. Not my best judgment, but throughout this month of march, I've done nothing but made bad decisions ever since I summoned Runē. This is all his fault! Hmph.

Yet, here I was eagerly awaiting his arrival like some bride on her wedding night... I'm just...I don't even know what to call myself, seriously.

As I waited, my mind kept wandering to strange places, my eyes scanning the ceiling and my fingers tapping the bed. I couldn't help but think about the way Runē had kissed me, it was really passionate. If that would be the appropriate word...His tongue...it was so big, almost as big as sucking on three fingers...I'm not joking, his tongue is that huge, and the way it danced in my mouth...Lord...So erotic. Not to mention that he was so gentle with his touch and that he called me by my name for once instead of referring to me as "Human"! I can't even express my joy for that, but the kiss....My face heated up just thinking about it while my heart increased its speed. Why was he such a good kisser?!

Just as I was busy flustering over it like a highschooler, a horrid thought crossed my mind and caused me to seize all manner of movement— What if I wasn't the first person he's kissed? After all, he's had to have gotten experience from someone else. If that were to be the case then...I feel a bit saddened. I have no clue why that would even affect me, but it did.

All of a sudden, I heard his loud voice call out from outside the room and in that instant I sat up erect, watching as he walked into the room with a neutral expression, "Human, I have time for you now." He said in his usual indifferent but commanding tone, but he halted and stared at me with an arched eyebrow, not uttering a single word. It left me a bit confused as I stood up slowly from the bed and stared right back, after which I blurted out, "What?" And raised an eyebrow of my own. My eyes then left him to look myself over. Maybe I had something on me? That's why he was staring, but what he said next surprised me, "Human. Don't tell me you've been thinking strange things and put yourself in a bad mood." He groaned and rolled his eyes, then scuffed out with a lot of emphasis, "Humans." Thereafter he shook his head and headed towards the books on the table instead. For some reason, that pissed me off.

Annoyed, I stomped my way to him and said, "Listen here-"

"Stop thinking and just have faith in me."

He said softly with a sigh, forcing my mouth to close shut. I seized up and stood there, staring blankly at him as he glanced my way for a brief moment then away and focused on the books, completely turning away from me and backing me. "Just have faith in me" He says?...Why..But why would he say that?...Could he have figured something was wrong by just looking at me?...But how does that even work?

However, I didn't have time to think about it because he snapped me out of my thoughts with a loud guttural grunt and said with a side eyed glare, "Will you refrain from staring out into oblivion, you ignoramus, and just come here. Let's begin." He snapped coldly.

At first I stared at him as he eyed me from the corner of his eye before turning away. I was still a bit groggy with confusion, but managed to pull myself together, "Yes, I'm coming.." Softly, I said as I hurriedly made my way to his side, he glanced at me once I stood shoulder to shoulder with him and said, with a small smile, "Good." His smile then turned into a simple frown as one of his eyebrows arched, "Did you try to read the books?" My eyes trailed away from him for some short seconds before returning back to him, with a quick shake of the head I responded swiftly, "It was impossible. The book pages were blank." I then knitted my eyebrows and puffed my cheeks out, "Aren't you messing with me, Runē?" It still puzzles me to find the pages blank. Runē studied my expression with a half-lidded stare, before huffing a huge sigh and rolling his eyes, hopefully he rolls it all the way to the sky and it gets stuck there, tsk.

"You really are an ignoramus." As flatlined as ever, he said with a scoff, then he cradled the back of my head, which didn't alarm me at first...until he abruptly pushed me straight down onto the table, leaving me in utter shock. I was mortified and couldn't react on time, my face smashed wonderfully onto the hard table, and narrowly avoiding the books, which would have just caused more collateral damage for my poor face. Startled, I yelped, "Are you nuts!? What are you trying to do—" But to him, it sounded more like muffled complaints, however though, before I could finish my ranting, I heard a sharp clicking noise that came from the back of my head, or rather, my neck, followed by my choker, which may I remind everyone that I could not remove before, just easily fell off without a single issue, leaving me speachless.

"Huh?"

I was dumbfounded, really. It was after that that he let go of me and allowed me to stand up straight, although in pain. Soothing my nose and forehead, I said with gritted teeth, "That wasn't very gentlemen-like of you." But he only smirked while shooting me a side eyed glare as he said with cruelty, "Suck it up." Before focusing on the choker and examining it. To be honest, I was extremely upset by his rudeness, but then what could I do, it's not like I can fight back here, he'll smite me to oblivion. So sadly, I just saltyly stared at him and watched as he scrutinized the accessory in his hand. I'm not exactly sure what he was doing, but his eyes seemed to be searching for something.

Just as I was beginning to get fed up with him, out of nowhere the choker began to shine and I heard yet another clicking noise, "There we go." Runē said in a pleased manner, stepping behind me and placing the black choker back onto my neck, then fastening it. As he did all that, I noticed a tiny ball in the middle that I've never seen up until now. There it was, right in the dead center of the accessory, shining a dim but bright light. After he had helped me put it back on, to my displeasure, because I hated that choker...He stepped back and returned to my side, gazing my way lazily as he said, "Now, try to read the books. It's been activated."

"Eh, what's been activated?" I asked almost immediately after he said that, I was pretty much walking in the dark here and this guy was not explaining shit to me. Runē eyed me like I was some sort of fool, before replying casually, "The magic infused crystal in your artifact? Did you not know that it was magic? Are you stupid?" The way he spoke, he made it seem like I had learned all this before and was being idiotic for not realizing it...I just learned about magic today! Jerk. I sighed and turned my attention to the book, "You're the worst. How was I supposed to know that?" I grumbled, rather annoyed by his snarky attitude. He only looked at me for but a moment before turning his attention to the books as well, "You really are just an average person. Poor thing." He ridiculed leisurely, before picking up the book I had from before and opening it. Amazingly, I could see the words on the pages, it was refreshing to say the least.

"Oh.." I muttered softly and leaned a bit forward, the light provided by the choker around my neck served as some sort of glasses for me, aiding me in seeing the words. Curious, I asked, "Hey, is it that the words are invisible?.. or…" I trailed off, glancing at him expectantly, he turned to me and replied, "Not exactly," He started, returning his attention back to the book, then reaching out to turn a page, "The words are written with a magical ink. Low grades like you who possess no magical energy whatsoever can't possibly see the words, which is why you are using a tool. A magic artifact to be exact." Once he found the page he was looking for, he pointed with his index finger, his finger nail piercing the book, what he pointed to was a diagram of a telescope, the parts and everything each broken down to show how it worked, I'd explain more but the words were in a different language, Rune to be precise, "Here's an example, this is called a Rōk in the magic world/Demonic realm, You can call it a τηλεσκόπιο which translates to telescope. On the surface, that's what it looks like for you humans or any human that isn't familiar with magic items, such as yourself." Finally, he turned to me and said, "Hence the reason why you mistook this artifact to be a mere accessory, the Choker, right?" He raised an eyebrow at me, the corner of his lips curving into a teasing grin, exhibiting nothing more than his overbearing nature to me, which I've slowly become accustomed to. I narrowed my eyes at him and responded sarcastically, "Oh, yes, like I'd know all that beforehand." I then clicked my tongue at him and rolled my eyes, out of spite. He said nothing of course, simply smirking proudly.

"Anyway," He sighed, moving the book my way and turning the pages back to the beginning, "Today, we are going to learn how to awaken you."

Now that was an interesting statement. Awaken me? How on earth is he gonna do that?

I turned to him and said quizzically, "Awaken me, how?" Blinking numerous times out of puzzlement. Slowly, an unhurried, chilling cool grin took its shape on his lips and gingerly flashing some of those sharp fangs my way in the process, he said, "By finding and unleashing your inner darkness, how else? The art of magic in the first place was never known to be holy, little one." He added with a belittling tone, as if teasing and mocking me simultaneously, and annoying me altogether, "Ahahaha...I see." I muttered, "You will find me an unforgiving and stern teacher." He warned suddenly with a cold glare, his grin had completely vanished, "And, you will do everything I say, got it?" He fired with a stern glare, forcing me to reply swiftly with a nod of the head. Once he was satisfied with my response, he began after taking a deep breath, trying to suppress any lingering emotions he might have possibly had, "Our first lesson begins now. Demons possess power unlike anything you could imagine... but it comes at a cost." His eyes showed absolutely nothing aside from apathy, looking down on me with a grimace, clearly he was becoming serious, but it didn't unnerve me at all, instead I asked with a tilt of my head, "What cost? Everything seems to have a cost in the demon/magic world." He ignored the last part of my statement with a simple roll of the eyes before continuing, "The more power you absorb, the faster your soul withers and dies. This rule most especially applies to you humans since the human body simply cannot contain such energy for long unlike us Demons." Runē explained solemnly, his gaze hardening as he thought of how many beings had fallen victim to their own desires. "And so," he continued, folding his arms over his chest and standing straight, "I shall teach you how to control this darkness within yourself before it consumes you entirely."

With that, Runē turned away, but before he did he took hold of my hand firmly. I could feel an unexpected warmth spread through me, and I'm sure he himself felt the same warmth on contact, he pulled on my hand making me follow behind him till we walked to the middle of the room and stood there, hand in hand. "Close your eyes now," He commanded gently, which I followed without hesitation. "Imagine a vast ocean of endless blackness - this is your demonic essence. Feel its weight, its depth... Now reach out into those waters," As if guided by some unseen force, I let go of one of his hands and tentatively extended one hand out towards nothing, unsure of what came over me at the moment. "Do not hesitate," Runē murmured softly into my ear, tickling my earlobe with his hot breath. "Plunge yourself fully into this abyss..." Soon he trailed off, leaving me to do as directed. I followed each and every order given to me by Runē, my eyes kept shut as I began to imagine the said vast ocean of endless blackness. Strangely, I could feel its weight and depth weighing me down heavily, as if it were chains. I extended another hand out, which Runē had seemingly released as soon as I lifted it. I was reaching out to somewhere but didn't know where. I could feel myself sinking deeper and deeper into some murky pit, before being held gently in a soft embrace, rocking smoothly in the deep dark ocean, but I wasn't fully in it, oddly enough, I wonder why?

"I feel...Heavy, but for some reason, it's not as bad as it feels."

I managed to mutter after a long period of silence. Although I couldn't see it, I could tell he was smirking, why? Cuz, he sounded pretty pleased when he responded. "Very good." Most likely delighted with my progress so far, nice to see that I'm doing good. "Now, reach out further into those waters and find your darkest desires - the ones you thought were long gone or never existed." As soon as he said those words, my subconscious did exactly that. As if it were magic, I got sucked in feet first, as if the ground beneath me had disappeared, plunging me into the ocean, I gasped out loud as I sank much faster than before. My heart was racing, my pulse quickening. My hands moved around in search for Runē, as soon I felt his large hands carefully clasp mine in his, I could feel my heart slowling down from that alone while my pulse gradually returned to normal, it calmed me down a bit and I was grateful. I could feel him moving around me, his hands trailed up my arm till he reached my shoulder. It was then I noticed he was standing behind me, for I felt his heat from that direction. I still kept my eyes closed, regardless.

"What do you see?" Runē asked softly, moving one hand down my shoulder then interlocking it tightly around my hand while the other would stroke my other shoulder in a calm, soothing fashion. It really helped me remain calm, I never knew this kind of thing could make one feel so tense. Heaving a shakey breath, I said, sounding a bit lost, "I see...Nothing..?" In my state of subconsciousness, I walked around that dark space, wondering for a little while longer till I stumbled upon a white door, "Oh!" I exclaimed, "There is a door that is white.. Should I open it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I gripped Runē's hand a tad bit harder for support, my eyes were closed, yet I cringed a bit from the fear of threading deeper into the abyss of my thoughts. The mind is a scary place after all. "Do not open it." Runē stated firmly, his tone of voice leaving no room for argument, like I'd argue to begin with, I myself wasn't really planning on touching that door, I just wanted confirmation. "Keep pushing past that door." He ordered.

Now I was confused. If the goal was to unleash my inner darkness, why was I avoiding the door?

"Runē?"

I called out, turning my head over my shoulder, seeing as his voice was coming from that direction, I then knitted my eyebrows and scrunched up my features in slight annoyance, "If the whole point of this is to unleash my inner darkness or whatever the fuck you said earlier, why the hell are you telling me to avoid the door? Is this some sort of test?" There was a very long moment of silence right after I had pointed that out, then he scoffed, right in my ear. Because he was so close, I was somewhat sensitive to that and jolted in surprise, reaching to hold the ear he had so obnoxiously huffed into, I then heard him say, "It's not a test, I'm simply using reverse psychology. The more you try to avoid thinking about it, the closer you become drawn to that door and thus the higher your darkest desires become, and once that happens, you must embrace them, accept them - they are a part of who you truly are, Yuki." There it was again, he called me by my name. Amidst all the fear and concern I was feeling doing this little training, hearing my name roll out his lips made me...Happy.

Nodding thoughtfully to his words, I took them into consideration. He did have a point, so to say, when you tell a person to "Not" do something, the urge becomes even more prominent. Call it temptation or primal instincts if you will, but that's how it is when it comes to us humans. Hah.. and I had to admit, although I originally was planning on avoiding the door, when he told me to avoid it, curiosity latched on like a ball and chain on my ankle and immediately the door looked attractive to me. How embarrassing. "Okay. I got it. I'm opening the door." I said after a lot of thought, bluntly and plainly. I suppose I shocked him, because I heard a loud, "Huh?–" From behind me, but I ignored it and progressed subconsciously towards the white door, and just as I was about to open it, I felt a pair of hands grab my shoulders, whisk me around and hold me in place, forcing me to shoot my eyes open from bewilderment. I stared up to meet Runē's shining golden eyes, as he stared right back with a look of disapproval, "You're way too straightforward. You won't get far like that, idiot!" He reprimanded. Not gonna lie, that was the first time I'd seen him look so surprised by something I did, it was funny.

I did my best to hide the smirk that was slowly forming on my face, but it wasn't working, inevitably, I bursted out laughing, and he just ogled at me with disbelief and disgust, vexed, he said with a tight lipped frown, "You think that's funny?" He studied my face as I tumbled over with laughter, he looked every inch annoyed, but I didn't care, it only made it all the more hilarious for me.

Probably tired of my stupidity, he let go of me and scoffed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head in pure utter disgust, most likely embarassed to be associated with me, as he would cross his arms over his chest and turn away from me altogether. I on the other hand just kept wheezing with laughter, and once I had finally calmed down, I sighed deeply, still trying to catch my breath, "My apologies. It's just…" I paused to exhale then inhale once more, before finally sobering up, "It's just..the look you had on your face was priceless. Is opening the door at once that sudden? I mean, it's my darkness, not yours, so what's the problem?" I stood up straight and said with a slight attitude, eyeing him from below. I mean, it's not like anything truly bad would happen, I don't have any magic...yet, so I should be fine. But the look on Runē's face told me otherwise. With a solemn stare, he shook his head and narrowed his eyes,

"Human. Were you not listening?" He then leaned his head forward and raised his eyebrows at me, his eyes said everything... "Are you stupid?" Was what I was seeing in the reflection of those gold orbs that probed the soul. He scoffed, yet again, and face palmed, mumbling something incoherent under his breath, then said sharply as he would point a finger at me, "Don't do things suddenly without telling me. Yes, it's your subconscious, your mind and soul, you can wonder as far as you wish, but don't just casually open doors without preparing yourself first!– Or else you could go through a state of shock." He emphasized with all manner of gestures, he looked really frustrated. Finally he ended his ranting with, "Do you want to kill yourself before I take your soul???"

Now, because he lost me at "a state of shock", I didn't really quite get it, however, I didn't want to ask him to explain again, for I feel like that would just produce a punch, and quite frankly, I don't feel like flying...Therefore, I picked the easy option. Nod and act like I understood, which I didn't, but pretended to. He narrowed his eyes all the more, not appearing convinced by me whatsoever, but didn't seem like pestering any further on the matter.

"Oh..You're like a child. Seriously, and here I thought you were actually worth something." He lamented bitterly, shaking his head and staring off into space. I, who was listening to him talk, was greatly offended, but couldn't say anything. I was seriously tired and didn't feel like getting insulted anymore than this.

I shrugged my shoulders and huffed loudly, "Look, I'm tired." I said with a sigh, "Can we get back to this tomorrow?..AFTER I come back from University? I've got to get up early for lectures, so...Yeah." Dismissively, I would say before turning around to walk away. However, just as I was about to lay in bed, my body stopped moving and stood rock stiff in its position.

Flabbergasted, I called out to Runē,"Erm. Runē?...What's going on?" I gulped. Very much scared. Why do I feel like this is his doing? It's like my whole body froze in place, 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆. Meanwhile, the person I was calling out to refused to respond, rather I felt a tremendous amount of dark energy omitting from behind, a deadly one at that. It was suffocating, oppressive, and lastly, dominating. It was definitely coming from him, for sure.

"W-wait...Let's talk about this…"

I pleaded softly as I felt it inch closer with each passing second.

It seems at this rate, I may not live long enough to make it past my 24th birthday.