(The actions in this Arc happen 1 year after the battle between Kurai and Nazrat.)
17:36 – 13.12.16094
Winter gripped Japan with an iron frost. Snow blanketed the world in a blinding white, pure, silent,
and cruel. The sky looked like a painting of peace, but on the frozen roads, suffering reigned.
--Heavy breaths--
A wooden cart creaked along a remote road, drawn not by horses, but by slaves. Their backs bent. Their skin cracked. Frost clung to their eyelashes like needles of despair.
A slaver perched on the cart cracked his whip.
Slaver: "Move! MOVE FASTER!"
His voice tore through the cold.
--Black screen--
--More heavy breaths--
Slaver (screaming): "DO YOU WANT TO FUCKING DIE OUT HERE?"
--Black screen--
One of the slaves, too weak to stand straight, bit into his lip until blood ran down his chin. A tear traced the side of his face, freezing mid-fall.
—Black screen—
19:13 – Inside the Prison
The air inside the prison was thick with rot and steel. A rusted cage rattled as a guard tossed a tin bowl at a starving slave.
Guard: "Here, have your royal dinner!"
The bowl clattered to the floor, its meager contents spilling into the dirt.
Second Guard: "Better luck next time, dumbass!"
Laughter echoed down the corridor.
The prisoner didn't move. He sat against the wall, head bowed, face blank, his soul buried somewhere no one could touch.
Elsewhere in the prison
Mud clung to her torn clothes. Blood crusted around her nose. Anna, one proud, now cornered, was shouting at a guard, voice hoarse from defiance.
Anna: "You know who I am? I swear, you'll pay for this, YOU ALL WILL!"
Guard: "Lady, I don't care if you're the Emperor's daughter. You're just meat in this cage."
Anna: "You bastards will regret this! I'll make you feel what I've felt!"
The guard's boot slammed into her mouth.
Guard: "Try talking now, bitch. You had a chance to shut up."
Anna's expression twisted. Pain, rage, fear. All swallowed her at once.
The guards didn't stop there.
Screams filled the hall.
03:03 - Middle of the Night
A whisper from the next cell: "Hey...you awake?"
Whisper again: "Hey I know you're not sleeping."
The silent prisoner slowly opened one eye and glanced sideways at his voice.
Voice: "You haven't slept once since you got here, huh?"
A pause.
Prisoner(quietly): "How long has it been?"
Voice: "I think...20, maybe 25 days. Hard to tell in this place."
Prisoner: "I used to be happy. I had people. I had...purpose."
His breathing turned ragged. Then-
CRACK
He slammed his forehead against the stone wall. Hard enough that the neighboring prisoners felt it through the stone. Then he calmed again, emotionless.
Voice(gently): "What's your name?"
Prisoner: "Kurai."
A moment of stillness.
Voice: "Mine's...Ahmya. Remember that. You're a good person, Kurai."
Kurai: "What are you talking about?"
Silence.
'This seems like such a bait, that in my position right now, I might actually fall for it.'
Kurai closed his eyes and waited for morning to come.
Morning
The two guards returned to Kurai's cage.
Guard 1(grinning): "Ready to play catch again?"
He hurled the metal bowl.
CLANG—SPILL.
Guard 2(laughing): "BAHAHA! Still can't catch a fucking bowl? You're pathetic."
He stepped closer to the cell-
Guard 2: "Wait...where is he?"
Guard 1: "No way...."
They opened the cell and rushed in.
Guard 2(panicked): "CALL THE SUPERVISORS! HE ESCAPED!"
In an Interrogation Chamber - Minutes Later
Kurai, shackled and bruised, knelt before a semicircle of guards. A torch-lit room filled with taunting grins.
Guard 1: "You thought you could escape us?"
CRACK.
A whip slashed across his feet.
Guard 3: "Answer me, you fucking rat!"
SPIT.
Guard 4(stepping forward): "You're not a man here. You're a toy. A thing. And now, this thing will learn what happens when it breaks the rules."
Guard 2,5,1 (cheering): "YEAH!"
Guard 4 lifted a red-hot horseshoe from a brazier. Smoke curled around his gloved hand.
Guard 4: "See this? It's your prize. We'll make it a part of you."
Kurai was tied, mouth gagged, wrists and ankles bound. He squirmed violently. The closer the brand came, the louder he screamed.
Guard 4(gleefully): "Oh, I love the way you face twists. MORE. GIVE ME MORE!."
Kurai was crying now, shaking uncontrollably, trying to speak, trying to beg.
Guard 4: "And now-"
—SHINK—
Guard 4's head split open, clean and silent. A line of blood arced across the room.
The others froze.
One by one, the guards dropped.
Silent. Swift. Vanished as if plucked from the world by a god.
Kurai was trembling, breathless, gagged, eyes darting in confusion. Then-
His bindings were sliced. Freed.
But no one was there.
No blood. No bodies. Just silence.
He stumbled out the chamber door, barely standing.
Guard(spotting him): "OI! What the hell are you doing out here, fucker?!"
Kurai(panicked): "I-I got lost!"
Guard: "You what?! You can't just get 'lost' in here. Fucking rat, I will toss you in with the other scums who thought they could run."
The Guard throws Kurai into a new cell.
Guard (laughing): "Got a new roommate for you bastards! Enjoy spending the rest of your miserable lives together."
As Kurai hit the floor, a pulse surged through his chest. A dark, deep throb. Like something ancient recognizing him.
He lifted his eyes.
Inside the cell stood three prisoners: two girls, one guy.
All of them glaring at him like he'd just murdered someone they loved.
The silence was colder than the frost outside.