CHAPTER5:THE CHILD WITH EXTINGUISHED EYES
1. The Shadow of Scars
The prison was not a place—it was a living thing.
The walls oozed with an organic dampness, their stone veins pulsing to the rhythm of captive wails. Arashi, suspended by chains carved with runes shaped like broken moons, felt the scar on his forehead react to their crimson flicker. Miyuki once whispered that such marks were "windows for lost souls." Now, they whispered to him: muffled screams, scorched flesh, prayers turned to ash.
The jailer entered silently, his ivory mask grinning even before his mouth opened.
— "Wake up, little phoenix," he growled, yanking Arashi up by his hair. Fragments of seashells were woven into his brown locks—a stolen, defiled remnant of Miyuki's kite.
— "Today, you'll learn to fly."
With a sharp kick, he activated a rusted mechanism. The chains retracted, slamming Arashi against a wall covered in darkened mirrors—each reflecting a different version of him: a child devoured by shadows, a golden-eyed teenager, a skeletal old man.
— "Pick your reflection," sneered the jailer. His breath smelled of rotting lilies—the same scent as the leader of the Nine Clans.
Arashi shut his eyes, but the mirrors whispered:
"You killed your mother."
"The cranes curse you."
"Become what you are."
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2. The Fall and the Fragile Souls
The floor gave way. Arashi plummeted into a void of singing darkness, where children's voices wept in eerie harmony. He recognized the melody—Miyuki used to hum it to lull him to sleep.
The impact hurled him into a circular chamber, the lair of the forgotten.
The air reeked of dried blood and withered lavender—a contrast that reminded Arashi of his father's garden, where flowers grew between rusted katana blades. Four silhouettes emerged from the mist, their shadows writhing like broken marionettes.
Ryuu, the boy with night-colored hair, stepped forward first. His arms were covered in crude tattoos—charcoal-drawn cranes, wings broken.
— "You have the mark," he said, pointing to the moon-scar on Arashi's forehead. His voice was rough, but his eyes burned with sharp curiosity. "That's why the wardens hate you."
Kaede, the girl with tangled red strings in her braids (a forbidden color in the prison), held out a piece of stale bread.
— "Eat slowly," she whispered. Her left wrist was swollen, locked in a metal shackle etched with the same runes as Arashi's chains. "Or they'll take it back."
Jin, the silent one, observed while stroking a bone blade carved from a human rib. Scars on his arms formed words: Coward. Traitor. Empty.
Mei, the youngest, stared at Arashi with too-clear eyes to have ever cried. She held a faceless rag doll, its belly torn open, revealing dried herbs inside.
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3. The Bread and the Whispers
Arashi bit into the bread. A taste of ash and sour honey clashed on his tongue—a memory of a cake Miyuki secretly gave him when his father forbade sweets.
— "Why… are you here?" he murmured, his voice as cracked as the walls.
Ryuu exchanged glances with Kaede. In a corner, Jin was carving symbols into the dirt with his bone blade—a crane with outstretched wings.
— "We're all broken," Kaede answered, lifting her shackle. The same glowing runes as Arashi's pulsed beneath the rust. "They call us the Shards."
Mei slipped the rag doll into Arashi's hands. Inside, among the herbs, a folded paper crane lay hidden.
— "She will protect you," Mei whispered for the first time. Her voice was an echo, as if someone spoke through her.
The jailer appeared above them, his laughter scratching at the stone walls.
— "Playtime's over, vermin!"
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4. The Lesson of Flight
The children were dragged into an arena, its walls lined with rusted hooks. At the center, a massive kite made of human skin flapped, bound by chains.
— "Today, you fly," the jailer bellowed at Arashi. He wielded a whip braided from white hair—the hair of the Nine Clans' leader.
Ryuu was thrown in first. His crane tattoos ignited as he climbed the hooks, but the skin-kite struck him midair. He fell, an arm torn off, laughing like a madman.
— "This is flying!" he shouted at Arashi, his severed limb spraying black blood.
When Arashi's turn came, his moon-scar burned. The paper crane from Mei vibrated in his pocket. He climbed, seeing Miyuki's hands guiding him. The human-skin kite veered toward him, revealing a stitched face—his father's.
— "Jump!" Kaede screamed.
Arashi threw himself into the void. The paper crane flew from his pocket, growing until it caught him. Together, they soared above the jailer's hysterical laughter.
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5. The Dawn of the Shards
Back in their cell, Mei tended to Arashi's wounds with herbs from her doll. They smelled like his childhood garden.
— "The crane belongs to you," she murmured. Her clear eyes now glowed faintly gold.
Ryuu, delirious with pain and fever, painted cranes on the walls with his blood. Each stroke repelled the darkness.
Kaede whispered to Arashi:
— "The moon-scar… It's a door. Miyuki sealed it, but they want to open it."
Jin handed his bone blade to Arashi. Carved on it was a single word: Liberator.
In the distance, the leader of the Nine Clans watched through the jailer's eyes. Her laughter shattered a mirror.
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