The Inn

"Kyofu!"

The rhythmic creak of wooden wheels filled the quiet night as the carriage rolled along the narrow road. Inside, Kyofu's eyes blinked open, adjusting to the dim glow from a lantern swaying overhead.

"Kyofu," Michio's voice called, a smirk playing at his lips. "Did you catch any of that?"

Kyofu chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Right… sorry. Guess I drifted off."

Hanari, seated beside him, gave him a playful nudge on the shoulder. "Come on, stay with us. It's not just you who needs to stay sharp, you know," she teased.

Michio shook his head, half-amused. "Anyway, as I was saying…" He leaned forward, his tone darkening. "We're heading up to a mountain inn where several people, including a couple of sorcerers, have disappeared. The higher-ups think there's something big in play."

Kyofu's expression sobered, matching Michio's intensity. "Missing sorcerers… Sounds messy."

"Exactly," Michio replied, glancing out the narrow window, his gaze slipping into the darkness as though it held answers. "With the other sorcerers tagging along, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to deal with though."

He nodded toward the back of the carriage, where two young sorcerers in Fujiwara colors sat huddled, locked in a fierce, hushed argument.

One of them, a wiry man with close-cropped hair and sharp eyes, pointed an accusatory finger at the other—a tall, slender woman with long, braided hair and a cold, unreadable expression. "—because you summoned your shikigami too quickly!"

The woman crossed her arms, her face impassive except for a flicker of annoyance in her dark eyes. "And maybe if you hadn't charged in like an idiot, we wouldn't have needed my shikigami so quickly in the first place."

Kyofu raised an eyebrow, his gaze flicking back to Michio. "Looks like they're already off to a great start."

Michio gave a resigned shrug. "They're both capable, but they've got this rivalry running deep."

Kyofu cocked his head to the side, "How deep?"

Michio scratched at his forehead, "Don't get me started.."

"And the others?" Kyofu asked, looking at another two female sorcerers, both silent.

Michio's gaze darkened slightly. "Not affiliated with any major clan. Some sorcerers come from smaller alliances or even go solo. They work with the big clans or under them but aren't officially part of any of the heavyweights."

He leaned in closer, his voice low. "It's a system, you see. Big clans like Fujiwara, Gojo, Fujimoto, Hirano—they control the resources, the influence, and they're the ones who get called in for major curse-related incidents. They hand out some jobs to smaller organizations, but the big profits? Those stay with the big names."

Kyofu absorbed this, glancing back at the feuding Fujiwara sorcerers. "Seems like they've got it all set up to keep the power in their hands."

Michio's tone turned almost wistful, laced with a hint of bitterness. "That's how it goes. The big clans recruit the strongest, give them protection, and in return, they get loyalty and… profit. Meanwhile, the smaller organizations struggle to survive on the fringes or scrape up whatever crumbs the big clans throw their way."

The carriage jolted to a stop, and the wheels groaned as it settled. Kyofu blinked, gathering his bearings as the others stepped out into the cold night air. He followed, stretching his legs and glancing around as the group assembled.

The two unaffiliated sorcerers slipped out in silence, their movements smooth and precise. One was tall and lean, her steps practiced and deliberate, while the other was shorter, compact, and carried herself with an eerie calm. They'd barely spoken since joining the group, and their silence carried an unsettling weight.

As the shadow of the inn loomed ahead, the driver climbed down from his seat and folded his arms, casting a scrutinizing look over the team. His gaze lingered on the two sensory-type sorcerers for a beat too long, and a smirk tugged at his mouth. "Let's keep this clean," he said, his tone edged with dry indifference. "Minimum casualties. You two"—he nodded toward the silent women—"are sensory types, right? That'll make it easier to detect where the curses are hiding." Michio nodded as the driver walked towards the inn. With a flick of his wrist, the air shimmered, casting a veil over the area and cloaking the inn from the outside world.

The two women exchanged a glance, unfazed, but said nothing.

"Hold fast the line.."

"All right, in position," Michio commanded, nodding toward the sensory-type sorcerers. "You two up front, get a read on where the curses are hiding." With a swift hand motion, he cast a veil over the area, an invisible barrier cloaking the inn from view.

Kyofu's eyes lingered on the shimmering veil until Hanari stepped in front of him, her expression focused as she raised her hands, weaving a quiet incantation. A faint, glimmering net formed in the air around them. 

She glanced at him with a smirk. "It's a protective net; so you guys wont get sliced through if you accidentally walk into my threads."

Kyofu nodded, a glint of humor in his eyes. "Duly noted."

From the side, Michio cracked his knuckles, a grin spreading across his face. "Ah, I'm feeling a fever tonight!"

The door creaked under the weight of Kyofu's shove as they burst into the dimly lit inn. Shadows stretched down the hallways, casting a foreboding aura over the musty corridors. Kyofu, Hanari, and two other sorcerers from the group went down the left corridor while the rest went down the right.

The corridor narrowed to a dark stretch as they bolted down it, their footsteps pounding the floorboards. Hanari glanced over at the other clan member beside her. "Hey! What's your name?" she shouted over the echo of their footfalls.

The girl looked over, surprised, then responded, "Natsuko."

Hanari nodded, focusing on the path ahead. "And you?" she called to the silent sorcerer on her other side.

The woman kept her gaze forward, calm and unyielding. "Mai," she said softly, barely loud enough to be heard over the noise.

Just then, Natsuko raised her hands in a swift, practiced gesture, pressing her fingers together to form a triangle. A faint shimmer of cursed energy radiated around her as she muttered an incantation under her breath, and with a burst of power, a shikigami sprang from her hands—a creature part tiger, part hound, with coils writhing along its spine like live wires.

"Follow it!" Natsuko called, as the shikigami shot down the corridor. They raced after it, their eyes sharp as the creature sniffed the air, darting around corners with lethal precision.

Then Mai suddenly stopped, her gaze locked on a door slightly ajar to their left. "There—behind that door!"

Without warning, the door crashed open, and a massive curse lunged forward, its twisted arm swinging down like a hammer. The curse's blow hit Natsuko's shikigami, slamming it into the floor with a snarl. The creature scrambled up, launching at the curse and sinking its teeth into its shoulder.

But before it could regain control, another curse erupted from beneath, its gangly arms wrapping around the shikigami's legs, pulling it down. The first curse seized the chance, pounding a clawed fist into the shikigami's side with a sickening crunch that echoed through the hall.

Kyofu stepped forward, fingers slashing through the air as he called out, "Dismantle!" A wave of cursed energy rippled forward, but it fell short, dissipating just before hitting the curses.

"Damn it…" Kyofu muttered, bracing himself.

The nearest curse fixed its hollow gaze on him and hurled a glob of dense, black sludge his way. Kyofu tensed, but just then, Hanari's web shot out, catching the sludge midair, and the dark mass splattered harmlessly to the floor.

Hanari flashed Kyofu a smirk. "Need a little more focus?"

"Yeah… yeah, misjudged the distance.." Kyofu replied, pulling himself together.

With renewed concentration, he gathered cursed energy around his fists and pushed off the ground, darting toward the curse. He ducked under another sludge bomb and landed a punch to its side, feeling the force reverberate up his arm as the curse reeled back, shrieking.

He followed up with a left jab, driving his fist into its ribs, then a swift uppercut to its jaw that snapped its head back. As the curse twisted, Kyofu struck again, driving his knee into its gut and sending it skidding across the floor.

A second curse leapt forward, its gangly arm swinging for Kyofu's neck. He ducked, feeling the rush of air as the arm swiped over his head, then retaliated with a sharp elbow jab to its chest. The curse staggered back, and Kyofu seized the moment, landing a solid punch that sent it reeling.

Meanwhile, Natsuko's shikigami had regained its balance, tearing back into the first curse. It sank its fangs deep into the curse's shoulder, but the creature thrashed wildly, dislodging the shikigami and landing a crushing blow to its back that sent it crashing into the wall.

"Natsuko!" Hanari shouted as she caught sight of the shikigami struggling to rise, a flicker of pain crossing Natsuko's face as her link to it wavered.

The first curse turned, its twisted arm swinging toward Hanari. She quickly formed her hands into a web pattern, casting her net just as the curse's strike hit. The impact threw her back, but she stabilized, landing on her web with a sharp intake of breath.

"Hanari!" Mai's voice rang out from behind. "Below you!"

In a flash, another curse erupted from the floor beneath Hanari, its deformed shape lunging at her with brutal speed. She barely had time to form a defensive web before it struck, the curse tearing through her defenses and slamming into her. She was thrown back, crashing into the wall with a heavy impact that splintered the wood. She slumped down, gasping for air as she struggled to get her footing.

"Hanari!" Kyofu shouted, charging forward to cover her.

Before he could reach her, another curse burst through the wall beside him, its gnarled fist striking him hard in the side. The blow sent Kyofu flying, hurtling through the wall and into an adjoining room. He hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop in what looked like a lobby. Groaning, he pushed himself up, eyes scanning his new surroundings.

The room was surreal, far larger than anything that could logically fit in the inn. High ceilings loomed above, shrouded in darkness, and twisted, ancient decor lined the walls. Faded wallpaper, creaking wooden beams, and dim lanterns flickered with a life of their own, casting distorted shadows across the space. It felt as though the building had warped inward, forming an impossible expanse.

Kyofu's eyes narrowed as he scanned the room. He turned back to the wall he'd crashed through, but there was nothing—just smooth wood paneling, no sign of his entry point.

"What the hell…" he muttered, unease prickling his spine.

He took a slow step forward, tension coiling in his body. The room seemed to pulse, as if the walls were breathing, each creak echoing back with a faint delay, like the sound was being devoured and regurgitated by the space itself.

This isn't just an illusion, he realized, his fists clenching. It's like the building itself has turned against us.

Think, he told himself, I walked through the front; I saw the size of the building from the outside… a hallway like that could never lead to a space this big. Not here.

His mind raced, trying to piece it together. He'd walked through the inn's narrow hallways, seen its modest structure. But now, he was in a space that defied all logic.

No exit… no entrance.