Chapter 5: Ep. 2 - Hearth of Shadows, I

I opened my eyes.

My senses felt suspended as I closely analyzed my surroundings, it appears I was within my subconscious once again. The clusters of nebulae weaving around me were no longer the pitch black and deep purple they were during the last time I had been here. They instead burned a bright red.

I then remembered what had just happened.

This wasn't good, I had to wake up, I needed to go help Rox. I struggled to shake myself awake, no matter how vigorously I shook, I just wouldn't wake up. I tried to pinch and slap myself, but to no avail.

"Hey! Mr. Shade or something, can you please wake me up? I need to go help Rox!–"

{Do no fret, he is not in danger.}

Suddenly, I heard a collection of multiple voices overlapping with each other as they spoke. I turned around to see a floating figure, it was no longer as blurry as last time, yet its features still remained almost blank and empty to me. It no longer sounded like any of the prior 'Shades' I had conversed with, rather, it almost felt like I was speaking to both of them and many others at once.

"Huh?– and how do you know that?"

{We have already fully resonated with the flames of the Adamari, evident by the change in the landscape of your subconscious. Due to this, the [Emanator of Flames] was able to leave us with a parting message.}

"Pardon? Just how exactly did he do that? Is there, uh, a spooky intangible note somewhere here?"

{The Shade of an Emanator is the manifestation of the entirety of the path that they tread. And hence, not only is an Emanator's Shade their own, but also of the collective number of those who follow the Adamari.}

"Oh I see, can you kindly explain how Rox was able to contact us then?"

{That we do not know. Not even an Emanator understands the true machinations of the mirror world, events occur either for a reason, or coincidentally, there is no in between.}

That wasn't really helpful.

"Alright then, well, do you mind showing me the message?"

{Certainly.}

Suddenly, my disconnected head felt like it was about to split as an odd vibrating sensation overtook me, a static voice then resounded through the air, it was coming from my Shade.

{Shinyu, do not worry about me, I'll be fine. This is the fate that has befallen upon us, and I'm sure it's for a good reason. Once you wake up, do not look for me. Instead, look for the one who roams the shadows.} The concurrent voices were reciting the message relayed by Rox.

A wave of relief washed over me, Rox said he was fine. It felt like a heavy weight of uneasiness that was dragging me down was relieved of my possession. Then I pondered for a moment, the 'one who roams the shadows'? Damn it, Rox couldn't have been any more vague than that.

I focused my attention from my own thoughts towards my Shade.

{No, I do not know who he is referring to.}

Aw man, it was worth the shot at least.

As my mind wandered off elsewhere, I had come to notice the odd nature of my Shade.

I asked away.

"By the way, why do you sound so much more, divine all of a sudden?"

{The term "you" does not suffice as a method of referral for our being. However, in truth, there is no correct term at all, so you shall not be reprimanded. As for your question, is it not apparent? You have now fully resonated with the Adamari, and by extension, with your Shade. You can now perceive a sizable percentage of our true nature.}

I listened attentively and took note, what my Shade said just now did indeed align with tonight's earlier events. But now wasn't the time to ruminate over such matters, I needed to wake back up.

"Excuse me uh, if you don't mind, can you please help me wake up? I know that Rox isn't in danger right now but I need to make sure if Soowon is okay."

{I'm afraid we cannot do that, your consciousness is currently in a state of moratorium.}

Imagery of tonight's earlier events flashed before my eyes. I was then suddenly reminded of what the Herald of Chronos had done to me.

{The Herald of Chronos used his abilities to temporarily sever the connection between your consciousness and your subconscious. One would compare it to the burning of a bridge connecting two separate worlds, so as of now, you cannot return to your conscious state of being.}

"How long am I going to have to wait then?"

{Time flows relative to one's subconscious, those of human origin would even say time flows 'irregularly' here. So we cannot say for sure.}

Well that explains a lot but almost nothing at the same time. In the context of dreams, this concept makes sense. Dreams, which seem to occur in the subconscious, always feel as if they occur in the blink of an eye, only for us to wake up in the morning eight hours later. But by thinking logically, that poses a couple of questions regarding the true nature of 'time–'

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Without warning, the space I occupied within my mind began to fade and scatter about. The iridescent red nebulae began dissolving one by one. Portions of my vision began to blacken and the figure of my Shade began to disrupt itself in waves of static.

{H░▒█░ortunate, you nee░▒▒░'t wait much longer. B░▒▓est of luck, ░▒▓█▓▒░.}

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━─━────༺༻────━─━

I jolted awake. I immediately sprung up from the mattress I was lying on. The bed creaked as I looked around with alert eyes, The room's condition wasn't all that great but it was still livable, by some peoples' standards at least. Judging by the room's interior, I was still somewhere in the Grim Ghetto, inside someone's home. I didn't know if I was in any immediate danger so I decided to investigate.

The room was quite simple and devoid of much furnishing of any kind. Thus the only thing worth investigating was the door leading outside. I got up from the bed I was on and adjusted my clothing. I then approached the door and reached out for the its knob.

What greeted me at the door was someone who I was know acquainted with at this point.

"Oh great timing, you're finally awake."

"Soowon! You're alright!"

"Of course I am, I don't need anyone's help for anything. It's only natural I'd be fine."

"Are you sure? You seemed as if you were troubled during our encounter with that Herald–"

"Ap-ap-ap–you talk too much." Soowon interrupted my sentence as she shushed my with her pointer finger. She then quickly backed off and adjusted her beanie.

"Excuse me, Soowon, might I ask for the time?"

"Oh, it's already... 8:39 AM. It's morning, so wake the fuck up already."

"I already am though."

"Physically yeah, but mentally nah, not at all."

Suddenly, Soowon struck me on my shoulder then spun me around, halting my momentum by puling hard on my arm. A sensation of pain stung around my shoulder as Soowon caught me in a lock.

"Ow-Owch Soowon, please stop–!"

Not a moment later, Soowon released me, ridding the tension enveloping my arm as a result.

"You get my point?" Soowon remarked mockingly.

"Crystal clear." I responded quickly in suit, still in pain.

"Anyways, my mentor is looking for you, he said he needs to see you pronto."

"Ah, the same mentor you mentioned? Who is that?"

"Just ask him yourself dude, I'm sure he'll be delighted to answer your questions."

While we were conversing, we had already left the room I was staying in and walked down a dark eerie hallway, seeming leading down a path teeming with shadows.

I then though to myself, although Rox himself said he was fine, I wanted to know even more about what had happened shortly after I was knocked out by Heinrich.

"Soowon, what happened to the two guys that showed up last night?"

"What two guys? There was only one guy, he sorta just disappeared into thin air. And by then, you were already just plopped onto the ground like a wasted drunkard. You musta been seeing things man, most likely because of that scary as fuck old man but eh it's whatever."

Judging from she said, it seems even she didn't get to hear much, or rather, she was completely unaware of the conversation Rox and Heinrich had last night.

"Anyways I kinda felt bad leaving ya there in the middle of the cold street. I was the one brought you there so it was only fair I didn't just ditch you there. And so you I dragged your heavy ass all the way here to your base of operations."

"Our?.."

"Oh right, I won't blab about that for now, I'll leave all the talking to my mentor."

Silence befell the both of us as we slowly approached the end of the hallway. Less than a minute later, we had arrived at what seemed to be an office. I got nervous as I worried who or what was waiting beyond this door.

"Alright we're here, don't shit your pants 'cause I'll go in with you, master's orders."

I took a gulp of breath and knocked thrice.

"Do come in." A mildly mature voice could be heard from the inside. I started to slightly quake in my boots as I reach out for the door knob.

"Come on man don't be shy, just open the door it ain't that hard." Soowon remarked in a bitter manner.

I nodded awkwardly and twisted the knob. I pushed the door open to be greeted by the sight of a man sitting at his desk fiddling away with some documents. He had rich black hair with a few gray strands strewn about, he looked to be around his mid 30s. He adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses as he laid his gaze on me with a stoic look on his face. Soowon and I entered the room and stood next each other, right in front of the person behind the desk

"Welcome! I'm Donovan, nice to meet you Shinyu. You could say I'm the one who runs things around here. I hope your accommodations were to your liking, resources here as of late have been quite scarce." The black-haired man placed down his documents to rest and gestured with his hands whilst speaking.

"Excuse me uh, how did you know my name?"

"My disciple told me."

Soowon shot a mischievous grin my way as I turned my head sharply to glare at her.

"Anyways I'll get straight to the point. You don't need to worry Shinyu, I'm already aware of you and Rox's situation. For the time being, you will stay here in the Camera Obscura. I assure you not even the Synod can locate us here, you are safe for now."

My worries were whisked away as I listened to what Donovan had to say. Wait a minute–

"Sorry for the interruption, but I would like to clarify, you know Rox?"

"Yeah man, we go way back. We attended the same high school, a while before the Synod came into power." A grim look etched itself onto Donovan's face upon the mention of the Synod, but it then disappeared as quickly as it appeared..His lax behavior was extremely evident by his nonchalant mannerisms

I raised my hand.

"Do speak Shinyu."

"I would like to ask you personally, since you're the closest thing to the 'mayor' of the Grim Ghetto. Do I need to submit some form of payment if I want to continue staying here?"

"Hmm you could say that, but don't worry I won't make you pay in cash. As a matter of fact, I was going to get to that actually. So Shinyu, I would like to ask you this".

I listened attentively.

"As compensation for your residence. would it be okay if you use your abilities as a Savant to aid the Grim Ghetto and its people?"

"Oh certainly! Just what do you need my help with?"

"If you are okay with it–

...

–I want you to help in the extermination of rogue Phantoms."

━─━────༺༻────━─━

Fwoosh!

I shot a few quick fireballs towards a stack of cans, only for them all to miss.

"Mannn what the fuck? Can you really not aim?" Soowon commented on my poor performance. We were in an empty area of the outskirts of the Camera Obscura. Donovan had instructed Soowon to give me preliminary training before I began locating and exterminating any lingering Phantoms.

"It's quite difficult to see them from this distance."

"And you expect to believe that excuse? I thought you were like some sorta OP protagonist or something with that stunt you pulled on the old man last night. I can't help but feel bad for that guy."

"I can only do that if I, focus really hard."

"Huh? So why can't you just well, focus really hard right now then?"

"I-I'm not so sure, I can't do it for some reason."

Ever since I woke up I had felt as if my senses had dullen, I feel extremely rusty now for some reason. I could no longer feel minute vibrations throughout the air nor see the most miniscule of details in my environment.

"Hmmmm, so you're telling me the 'you' last night that was fighting that old geezer wasn't exactly 'you'?"

"You could say that."

"That doesn't make any fucking sense!" Soowon bursted out in frustration as she ruffled up her strands of blue hair.

I pondered to myself, what caused me to enter a state of Limbo? The answer wasn't immediately obvious, it all happened too quickly to figure out anything.

"Yo, Shit-flu, I have a suggestion." Soowon suddenly creeped behind me and hit my back with the hilt of her sword. I jolted in response and turned around to meet my gaze with hers.

"Look listen, if it's anything like those cartoons I watched, then maybe the trigger you need is like some sorta push! Like perhaps...the heat of battle!"

"Don't tell me that you're going to–but you haven't even given me proper training yet!"

"Oh but it seems you ain't worth shit if I just left you to shoot balls of fire at tin cans all day. You don't even know basic hand-to-hand combat."

"I used to do Aikido in elementary school though..."

"Well it ain't showing. Come now follow me, let's go look for a stray Phantom"

Soowon began walking away towards a certain direction, I followed shortly after her, unsure of what was to come. Not too long after, Soowon approached what appeared to be a pitch black spot on a wall. I looked in confusion, there really was nothing there.

"Um excuse me, you lead me to...where exactly?"

"Hold your horses bitch boy."

Soowon held her hand out and a purple aura began to swirl around it. I looked on in awe as Soowon's eyes shifted from a crystal blue hue to a malevolent purple.

"By the will of the one who roams shadows, I command the shadows to submit to my will."

[Voidwalk.]

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Suddenly, the pitch black darkness began to liquify and began to seemingly distort itself. Soowon grabbed onto my wrist and quickly dived into the goopy darkness, dragging me along with her.

In what seemed like a fraction of a second, Soowon and I had emerged from a lingering shadow in a dark corner of the Grim Ghetto. It was the very same spot where last night's events transpired.

"Ahhh good times hm? You feeling anything yet?" Soowon bonked my head with the hilt of her blade once more as she interrogated me.

"Ah no sorry, I still don't."

"Man, what a bummer."

"But I must interject, what did you do just now? Are you a Savant as well?"

"Oh that? Pfft nah, my mentor just simply gave me this ability. I never really questioned it but now that I think about it, it is quite suspicious. I can't say for sure if he's a Savant or not though, he never had to resort to some goofy ahh magic bullshit whenever I sparred with him. For all I know, this whole 'voidwalking' shmick could just be some sorta advance technology not even the Synod knows about"

"Is something like that even possible?"

"Beats me man, also apparently, I can also do this."

[Voidcatcher - Soñar]

Suddenly, a pulsating noise could be heard from Soowon's wrist as it glowed an ominous shade of purple. It was almost like she was sending out a sonar signal in hopes of detecting something. But then, as I looked towards Soowon, a look of horror was plastered onto her face.

"Is something the matter Soowon?"

"I-I found one."

"Aren't you accustomed to their existence by this point?"

"I-It's not that! It's just yeah, Phantoms are a common phenomena down here in the Tenebra District, but they're usually not that strong and we can deal with them just fine."

Soowon soothed her aching wrist as she held onto the wooden blade hung around her waist.

"But this one, it's just completely abnormal."

I got nervous, what could possibly classify a Phantom as abnormal? Is this one in particular akin to the one I had consumed when I first met Rox? Or even worse, could it be that this Phantom is much more deadly than that one?

"I–"

"No talking. Follow my lead, we have to detain it, right now." I nodded my head in response, Soowon then began to sprint. I chased after while barely maintaining my breath. We winded through buildings, vendors, and people as Soowon kept following the seemingly invisible trail only she could see. Then suddenly–

"Stop. Don't move." Soowon's sprinting had come to a halt as she blocked my path with her hand. I quickly stopped running and began to collect myself while panting excessively.

"There it is, it's behind that dumpster."

I looked closely after listening to Soowon's words, I then quickly shifted my attention to the skulking figure of a Phantom behind that very dumpster.

"Hey you! You son of a bitch show yourself!" Soowon lashed out at the creature lurking in the darkness as unsheathed her wooden blade.

The now aggravated Phantom left its place of lurking and stared at us with its nonexistent eyes. After closely examining its figure, my heart dropped.

No, I had to be hallucinating, this couldn't be.

But I thought that he was– Just how– Why–?

How was this even possible? Are the Synod really capable of doing that?

I looked on in horror–

–As I stared at the Phantom of Uncle Daichi.