Hana woke with a scream.
Her room was dark, moonlight spilling through half-closed curtains. Her heart pounded violently as if it were trying to escape her chest.
The voices hadn't stopped.
They whispered from the corners of her room, from beneath her bed, from the walls themselves.
Help me…
It hurts…
Don't let them take me…
Hana clutched her head, breath shaking.
"No… no, this isn't real."
But it was.
The air grew cold.
A translucent figure appeared near her window—a young boy, eyes hollow, skin pale. He stared at her with quiet desperation.
"You can see me," the boy said.
Hana screamed again and fell backward.
At the same moment—
---
Ryu stood at the edge of the Reaper Citadel, staring into a massive portal of swirling shadows.
Morrigan stood beside him.
"You will complete your first mission," she said. "Alone."
Ryu turned sharply. "What? I just survived a death trial!"
Morrigan's gaze was unyielding.
"The dead do not wait for comfort," she replied. "A soul is screaming in the mortal world. And it's calling you."
She gestured, and the portal shifted.
Ryu's eyes widened.
Through the swirling darkness, he saw—
Hana.
Surrounded by shadows.
His fists clenched. "That's her. Something's wrong."
Morrigan nodded. "The girl is not normal."
Ryu stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"She hears the dead," Morrigan said simply. "That is not a human trait."
Ryu's breath caught.
The portal widened.
"In every era," Morrigan continued, "some humans are born with a soul tuned to death. They are bridges."
Ryu stepped toward the portal without hesitation.
"Send me."
Morrigan raised a hand, stopping him.
"One warning," she said quietly. "If you fail, her soul will fracture."
Ryu looked back at her, eyes blazing.
"Then I won't fail."
The portal swallowed him whole.
---
Hana backed into the wall as more figures appeared in her room.
Old. Young. Broken. Bleeding.
The boy by the window stepped closer.
"They're coming," he whispered. "They want to drag me back."
"Back where?" Hana cried.
The shadows on the floor twisted violently.
A hole began to open—black and screaming.
From it rose something tall and skeletal, draped in chains.
A Collector.
The boy whimpered.
The Collector's hollow eyes locked onto Hana.
"You are not permitted to see us," it rasped. "Yet you do."
It raised a clawed hand.
Hana screamed—
The shadows exploded.
Ryu burst into the room in a storm of black light, landing between Hana and the Collector.
His scythe ignited into existence, humming with power.
"Step away from her."
The Collector hissed. "An unsealed heir… how amusing."
Ryu didn't respond.
He swung.
Chains shattered. The Collector reeled, shrieking.
Hana stared at Ryu, tears streaming down her face.
"Ryu…?"
He glanced back at her briefly.
"I've got you."
The Collector recovered, spreading its arms as the room warped into a warped battlefield of shadow and screaming souls.
Ryu tightened his grip.
First mission.
First rescue.
First test of control.
Morrigan's voice echoed faintly in his mind.
Do not kill unless there is no other choice.
Ryu charged.
The scythe cut through darkness—
And the fate of Hana's soul hung in the balance.