Chapter 4: The Tears That Bring Rain

Beneath the veined canopy of a dead god's tree, the roots split like breathing lungs.

And within them, Fairy Lord Miyo hovered in the air, cradled by twisting vines and a throne of crystallized blossom-stone. Her eyes were clouded now, seeing far beyond the veil of distance watching the dojo hidden among the hills, through her all seeing watch.

She saw movement.

Two forms.

The boy and the girl.

And behind them…

A flicker.

A shadow.

A ghost from long ago.

"Who the hell are these lot!" Miyo hissed, her voice sharp enough to peel bark.

From behind the chamber of roots, Fubane crept forward, half-crawling, half-melting from a wall of thorns. Its form twitched with confusion, lips trembling with unseen words.

"Fairy Lord… Miyo" Fubane whispered, bowing low. "The All-Mighty Fairy King gave orders to not kill Shion."

Miyo did not move.

But her voice cracked through the cavern like thunder wrapped in silk.

"He'll be praising me for ridding her. I'll seal the blade beneath earth this time, like it should've been!"

Fubane's eyes blinked out of sync. It did not understand.

Or perhaps… it did, but didn't wish to.

"But… the Root has not commanded. The King has not—"

"I am not asking, servant."

The vines near her curled like claws.

Fubane flinched.

"The Root speaks through power. Through dominance. Through the will of the strong. Do you question that?"

Fubane's throat clacked, like thorns scraping bark. It lowered itself completely to the floor, twitching petals falling from its shoulders.

"…I obey."

Miyo's smile was slight and cold.

"Then burn the dojo."

"Bring me the boy's head. If that is Shion, then bind her in thorns and drag her to me."

Fubane didn't rise immediately.

Its limbs twitched, whether from fear or something else was unclear.

"I… will not fail."

"You better not," Miyo said.

Then she leaned forward, eyes narrowing.

"Because if you do… I'll bury what's left of you inside your own stem."

The roots groaned. The air soured with crushed petals.

And Fubane vanished.

It had been weeks since Ren first started training at the Takao establishment.

The air had changed.

It wasn't the weather, though the clouds had crept in steadily since morning. Nor was it the wind, which blew gently through the mountain pass like it always did.

No.

This was something else.

Raien stood alone in the dojo's overgrown courtyard, broom in hand, though he hadn't swept in minutes. His gaze drifted beyond the trees, beyond the stone path that vanished into fog.

His fingers twitched. The calluses on his palm itched.

That old feeling again.

Not fear.

Not yet.

But something that used to become fear.

Behind him, the creak of a door.

Kasane stepped out, a small towel around her shoulders from training with Ren.

"You're not moving."

She tilted her head. "Papa, is everything alright?"

Raien didn't answer at first. He was still staring.

Finally:

"Do you hear it?"

Kasane frowned. "Hear what? Is this a new joke you're planning to use?"

A beat.

"."

She followed his eyes. Nothing was out there. Just the trees. The wind.

No birds.

No cicadas.

No distant stream.

Just silence.

Raien exhaled slowly through his nose, handing her the broom without looking.

"Get the boy. Tell him to ready Shinkazura."

"Why? What's wrong?! You're acting weird!"

He turned toward her then, the old tiredness gone from his face.

"It's here Kasane."

Kasane froze, the hair on her arms rising.

"You think it's a fairy?"

Raien nodded once.

But not in fear.

In resolve.

"Something far worse."

BOOM.

The dojo shook—wood splintering, dust crashing from the rafters.

Outside, the ground ruptured. Petals, black and burning at the edges, spiraled into the sky like smoke.

Ren bursted from the hallway, eyes wide.

Then he saw it.

Fubane.

A towering figure of rotting elegance, bone-laced petals curling around its warped limbs. Its head hung slightly sideways, mask carved into a broken smile. Its eyes, too many of them, twitched across its chest and shoulders. And from its back, a thorned vine throbbed like a second spine.

Raien stepped forward, shielding the two without hesitation.

"Fairy Blossom," he muttered.

Kasane's eyes widened.

Raien didn't move. His gaze was locked on Fubane.

Then, quietly:

"The work of Lady Miyo. The Lord of Blossom."

Fubane stepped forward, foot cracking stone as it moved with haunting grace.

Ren's breath hitched. "She's the one who causes people to blossom.."

Raien nodded grimly. "She's the reason the cities became what they are. That thing is just one of her flowers. Instead she bloomed her own kind. These damn butterflies make me sick."

The air shimmered, pressure folding like a storm before it strikes.

Kasane swallowed. "Papa-!"

 Raien was already moving.

He walked past them toward the weapons shrine behind the main hall. Dust exploded as he pulled open a hidden hatch. From within, wrapped in fading cloth and lightning-branded seals, he lifted a blade.

The steel sparked the moment air touched it.

Jagged. Unstable. Veined with cracks of blue light that flickered like a heartbeat. The blade hummed like a storm trapped in steel.

Ren stepped back. "What is that?"

Raien unsheathed it with a sound like thunder splitting sky.

"My father's most prized possesion. The blade of lightning, Raikazan."

She exhaled. "My grandfather's failure his attempt to replicate Shinkazura. With it he took down one of the great 7 Fairy Lords."

Fubane twitched at the name. Its mask twisted tighter.

Raien rolled his shoulders, lightning crackling along his arms.

"Not as clean. Not as cursed. But it'll do."

And with that, he dashed forward, Raikazan roaring to life.

The wind screamed.

Fubane raised its arms.

And the air exploded.

CRACK!

Raikazan struck the earth, lightning burst outward in a glowing ring, splitting the courtyard stones beneath Raien's feet. Thunder echoed like cannonfire across the mountain pass.

Fubane screeched, not with a mouth, but with a dozen eye-holes rupturing open across its chest, glowing violet. Its arms bent backward unnaturally.

Then—

SHLK-SHLK-SHLK!

Thorns shot like missiles from its limbs, dripping with green acid, sizzling as they punched through air and embedded into walls, melting wood and stone in seconds.

"DOWN!" Raien roared, tackling Kasane and Ren at blinding speed enhanced by the blade. .

The trough melted in seconds.

Raien rose instantly, Raikazan spinning in his grip. He sliced another wave of thorns from the air, each strike releasing a sharp peal of thunder that echoed with unnatural force.

Fubane advanced, body twisting unnaturally, vines dragging like tendrils. From its back sprouted fan-like petals, each pulsing with dark fluid, preparing to release more.

Ren's hands shook. "I left Shinkazura in the cellar...."

Kasane's knuckles were white on her dagger. "W-We can take this down. Papa will lead the way."

 Ren growled. "This is a cursed forest given shape."

Raien lunged forward Raikazan glowing brighter with each swing. With a wide arc, he sent a fork of lightning ripping across the ground

BOOM!

It slammed into Fubane's chest, sending it hurtling backward, smashing into the dojo wall. The air stank of ozone and rot.

But even as smoke rose… Fubane stood again.

Its petals curled tighter.

It began to glow from within, the color of sickly gold and blackened sap.

"It's… changing form," Ren realized.

Kasane pulled him backward. "We're just in the way!"

Fubane let out a new sound a low, insect-like buzz, not from its throat but from hundreds of tiny holes along its limbs. Acid mist began seeping out.

Raien coughed, eyes narrowing. "Get to the cellar. Both of you!"

Ren hesitated.

"GO!"

A final crack of thunder roared from Raikazan as Raien leapt straight into the heart of the mist.

The last thing Ren saw before diving into the cellar with Kasane.

Was his master.

In that moment, Ren's flame had burned it's last breath.

That flame called hope had exhausted.

The chaos had stopped.

The air was thick with smoke and the smell of burning flowers.

The mountain wind had returned, but it carried only ash and silence.

Ren pushed open the ruined cellar door.

What greeted them—

Was nothing.

The dojo was gone.

Flattened. Scorched. Blackened beams jutted from the earth like broken bones. Pools of melted stone hissed quietly in the wind. Blossomed vines—now dead—hung over shattered training posts, twitching as they dissolved.

And there, at the center of it all—

Laid the melted husk of Fubane. Cracked. Hollow. Black fluids leaking from its collapsed limbs.

Next to it—

A body.

Raien.

Slumped. Unmoving. One hand still clutched the shattered hilt of Raikazan, which flickered once, then went dim.

Kasane's breath caught.

"Papa…?"

Ren grabbed her arm.

"Don't look-"

She took a step forward.

"Kasane, no—"

He reached out, turned her away.

"Look away!" 

His voice cracked. Tears formed in his eyes. His effort to persuade her was for null.

She resisted his orders, trembling, tears forming but he held her arm.

"Please… just don't look."

Her shoulders sagged. She turned to Ren.

Burying her face into his chest, fists clenched, knees threatening to give.

She then let out a loud cry. A noise so heartbreaking even the souless would feel it.

Ren didn't know what to say.

Didn't know how to carry this moment.

So he held her. The tears in his eyes falling

And kept his eyes on the flames.

"I'm sorry."

For a long time, they just stood there.

In the ruins of everything she knew.

And above them, dark clouds gathered. 

The rain had brought despair.