The red did not hold a shape.
It moved in slow, heavy folds, shifting through shades of crimson, rust, and violet like dye bleeding into clear water. Sounds drifted through the haze—distorted, stretched thin, rising and falling in waves that vibrated against Kairo's ribs. A low groan. A sharp snap. A murmur that sounded almost like a name, repeated until the syllables lost all meaning.
He was falling. Or perhaps he was rising. The horizon kept turning upside down until there was no up or down left to anchor himself to, only the violent, dizzying rush of colors pressing against his chest. The noise grew louder, swelling into a chaotic roar that rattled his teeth, and then—
Kairo opened his eyes.
The sky above was a vast, unbroken expanse of deep red, reflecting perfectly off the surface of a shallow, motionless sea that stretched endlessly in every direction. The water barely reached his ankles, cold and strangely thick, yet completely still.
"I'm here again," Kairo muttered to himself.
He pushed himself up, the liquid rippling outward from his palms in red rings. He looked down at his hands, water dripping from his fingertips. He was wearing his black shirt and the dark pants from the tournament—both soaked through, heavy and clinging to his skin. His dark hair was flattened over his forehead, dripping red droplets into his eyes.
He stood there for a long moment, listening to the vast, hollow quiet of the red sea.
(If I walked, maybe I would hear it again)
He took a step forward.his boot breaking the surface sounded unnaturally loud in the silence. He paused, waiting. He held his breath, expecting the shadowy voice that echoed through this endless space the last time he was here.
Nothing spoke. The air remained dead and silent.
Kairo frowned, shifting his weight. "Huh. I didn't hear it."
He took another step. Then another.
He kept walking. Step after step, the red water parting beneath his feet and closing behind him without leaving a trace. Time seemed to stretch and lose its structure in the endless crimson expanse. Minute after minute dissolved into what felt like hours. His legs grew heavy, his boots dragging through the liquid.
Above him, the sky began to change. What appeared to be a sun rose high into the red sky, but it wasn't the sun he knew. It was impossibly huge, a swollen, burning sphere of intense light that seemed to occupy half the sky. It hung low, terrifyingly close, as if at any second the sheer weight of it would snap whatever held it in place and come crashing down to crush the world beneath it.
Heat radiated from above, heavy and suffocating. Sweat mixed with the red water on Kairo's face, stinging his eyes. He forced his legs forward, his boots sloshing louder and louder as his breath turned into ragged gasps.
Faint stars flickered through the oppressive glare of the giant sun, pale and cold against the crimson sky.
"Damn it!" Kairo shouted into the empty expanse, his voice swallowed instantly by the vastness. "Where am I?!"
He looked up at the terrifying sun, then at the distant stars hanging right beside it. His knees buckled under the heat and the crushing exhaustion. He collapsed, his hands catching his weight in the shallow red water, splashing liquid over his face and clothes. He didn't try to get back up. He simply rolled onto his side, staring up at the empty sky, his chest heaving.
"I give up," he muttered into the quiet. He closed his eyes, his voice dropping to a weary breath. "Hey... mysterious voice! I could really use your help right now."
Silence answered him.
Kairo lay there, listening to his own heavy breathing. With nothing else to focus on, his mind began to drift backwards, slipping away from the burning sun and the red water to the nightmare he had just left behind.
He remembered the sight of his friends lying motionless in the dirt. Shiri, battered and bleeding, slumped over like a broken doll. Lilian, her magic drained, pale among the fallen. The stench of blood. The sheer, overwhelming helplessness that had seized his chest when he realized he wasn't strong enough to protect any of them. He had lost control. He had let it take over because he couldn't bear to watch them die.
Kairo squeezed his eyes shut as a memory from much further back surfaced—one he kept buried deep inside.
His grandmother.
She had been his only real family. After his parents divorced, both of them moving on to build separate lives that had no room for a quiet, awkward boy, she had taken him in without hesitation. Every single day spent in her small, old house had been the best part of his life. She made sure he ate, she listened to him talk about his day, and she gave him a home where he felt wanted.
Then came the diagnosis. Cancer.
It felt as though the entire world had shattered in a single afternoon. Kairo had been consumed by a constant, gnawing panic, his world, his grandmother, could end any time. When she was admitted to the hospital, he practically lived in her room. He spent endless days and sleepless nights sitting in the plastic chair beside her bed, watching the monitors, pouring water, calling the nurses every time she winced in pain.
He remembered her pale, wrinkled face looking at him from the white hospital sheets, her eyes filled with gentle worry.
"Don't worry about me so much, Kairo," she had whispered, her voice weak but warm. "I'm old. Your life is just beginning. Go home, get some sleep, and rest up."
And he had always refused. He would shake his head, grab her frail, thin hand with both of his, and hold it tight through the entire night, staying awake just to make sure she didn't need anything, terrified that if he closed his eyes, she might slip away while he wasn't looking.
Months had passed through painful treatments until the doctors finally allowed her to go home. His parents hadn't come to visit her even once. It was just the two of them in that quiet house. But to Kairo, that had been enough. As long as she was there, he had a home.
He remembered the last night clearly.
He had been taking care of her all day, his eyes burning from exhaustion. He had stayed up the entire night before studying for an exam, determined not to let his grades drop while caring for her. His head was heavy, his vision blurring as he sat beside her bed.
She had looked at him, her smile faint, filled with a deep, quiet sadness.
"I want you to find happiness, Kairo," she had said softly, her hand resting gently over his wrist. "Bring more people into your life. The ones you can trust... the ones you can truly live with. Find something you enjoy, and make it your purpose. Do what you love. Promise me, Kairo... promise me you will find it. Happiness."
Kairo had felt a strange, tight knot form in his throat. Hearing those words felt different that night—like a weight he was meant to carry forever.
He had forced a tired smile and nodded. "Okay, grandma... I promise. Now go to sleep."
"You sleep first," she had replied softly, her hand patting his gently. "I know you won't sleep if I go first."
Kairo had smiled, his eyes heavy with sleep. "Okay. But wake me up if you need anything, alright?"
He had closed his eyes, leaning his head against the edge of her bed, his hand still clutching hers. Exhaustion had pulled him under in seconds.
He hadn't been woken up that night. Not when the house grew cold. Not when the gentle rise and fall of her chest stopped.
When he finally opened his eyes the next morning to the bright sunlight streaming through the window... she didn't move. She had passed away peacefully in the quiet hours of the night while he slept right beside her.
That guilt had stayed with Kairo ever since. It was buried deep within him, a silent weight he carried every single day.
(Maybe she knew...) Kairo thought, staring up at the giant red sun in the shallow sea. (Maybe she knew she wouldn't make it to the morning... so she asked me to sleep...)
"WAKE UP, SLEEPYHEAD!!"
"Gah!" Kairo jolted violently, his eyes flying open as he tried to scramble backward.
A red, shrouded figure was floating upside down directly above him, hovering just inches from his face. A wide, mocking grin was visible beneath its dark hood.
"My time is up!" the entity chirped cheerfully, spinning right-side up with a theatrical flourish. "Thanks for letting me have some fun out there!"
Before Kairo could even process what was happening, the figure reached out and casually flicked Kairo right on the tip of his nose.
Kairo flinched, opening his mouth to yell, but his body wouldn't move. A strange weight locked his limbs in place, freezing him completely against the shallow water.
"Oh, right," the red figure added casually, tapping its chin as if remembering an afterthought. "There might be a bit of a big mess outside. Make sure you clean it up, alright?"
The figure snapped its fingers with a sharp clack.
Instantly, Kairo's vision washed out into pure, blinding white. The sea, the sky, and the red entity vanished into nothingness.
Distorted sounds began to filter into his ears. A voice—harsh, muffled, and pitch-shifted like a broken recording—was calling out his name.
"K... ai... ro... Kai... ro..."
The sound slowly cleared, losing its metallic warp and turning into something familiar, loud, and thoroughly annoyed.
"...Kairo! Hey, Kairo!"
Kairo groaned, his eyelids feeling as heavy as lead as he forced them open. The bright, flickering light of magical lanterns blinded him for a second.
He was lying on a soft cot inside the Tier 1 shed. The scent of burnt wood, and cheap health salves filled the room. Hovering directly over his face was Theo, calling his name frantically—until a hand reached out from the side and smacked Theo hard across the back of his head.
"Ouch!" Theo yelped, rubbing his head and whipping around. "What was that for?!"
"He won't wake up like that, you idiot!" Lilian barked, crossing her arms and glaring at him, though her pale face showed clear relief.
"At least I'm trying!" Theo snapped back, pouting.
"Quiet... you two..." Kairo rasped, his throat feeling like dry sand.
The shed went dead silent for a fraction of a second.
"KAIRO!"
Both of them shouted his name at once.
To Kairo's left, a quiet rustle made him turn his head. Onyx was sitting neatly on the floor right beside the cot, his dark eyes fixed on Kairo. The shadow beast didn't make a sound, but his tail gave a subtle, rhythmic thump against the wooden floorboards.
Kairo managed a weak smile, reaching out a trembling hand to pat the creature's head. "Good boy... you did great out there."
Onyx turned his head away slightly, pretending to be unbothered, but his ears perked up, a clear sense of pride radiating from his posture.
"Finally awake, huh?" a rough voice called out from a few feet away. "My lord."
Kairo looked over. Shiri was sitting in a wooden chair near the wall, his tail resting on the table, his torso wrapped heavily in white bandages. He delivered the title with a smirk, his eyes glinting with amusement.
Seeing both Shiri and Lilian awake, standing, and talking brought a sudden wave of genuine warmth into Kairo's chest. The tight knot of anxiety in his lungs finally loosened.
"I'm relieved..." Kairo murmured softly, letting his head sink back into the pillow. "You two are okay..."
Shiri snorted, tossing his head back. "Well, duh! I'm not going down that easy, you hear me? It takes a lot more than an ugly clow to finish me off!"
Lilian smiled gently, resting a hand on her hip despite the exhaustion visible in her eyes. "The Great Witch will never die so easily."
Kairo smiled back, but as the lingering drowsiness cleared from his brain, the memory of the red figure's parting words flashed in his mind. (Make sure to clean it up...)
Kairo's expression slowly shifted, turning serious. He looked at Shiri, then at Lilian.
"So..." Kairo asked, his voice low. "What happened out there?"
The easygoing atmosphere in the room vanished in an instant. Theo fell silent, looking down at the floor, while Lilian's smile completely faded.
Shiri's face turned grim. He uncrossed his arms, pushing himself up from the chair with a heavy sigh.
"Follow me," Shiri said, his tone dead serious as he walked toward the door of the shed. "A lot has happened while you were out... and I don't even know if it's REALLY good... or REALLY bad."
TO BE CONTINUED...