Chapter twenty-five: The Pit

My body cringes closer to my core from the menacing atmosphere. These people, this place, it’s so morbid. A cold hand snatches the nape of my neck and forces a petty whimper from my throat.

“Shut up,” I hear that awful voice of Vensen spit at me. Without my will, I’m turned to face him with his sullen face inches from mine as he lowers his tone. “You will behave while you visit.” Then I feel his tug on my neck as we walk down the hall to Methel knows where.

As we pass by, I watch hands reach out of the cells in front of me, but Vensen doesn’t stop as the walls begin to close inward. Before we pass each confinement, the hands shy away and let us through. I can only see so much from the corner of my eye as I can’t turn my head to see the caged people in fear of Vensen snapping my neck. His grip on me is so firm that I can’t help but stand up straight and walk like a stuck-up princess.

At the very end of the corridor, we finally stand in front of two doors made of bars and wires that make it difficult to see through to the other side. Screeches of metal pierce my ears as the sound comes closer from underneath us until an abrupt halt jolts to our faces. The doors slide open with a high-pitched shriek to reveal a very tall and very burly man with a strange mask on.

Vensen removes his hand from my neck to grab hold of my arm and lifts me enough over the threshold of the elevator that’s suspended in the air by multiple cords. After me, he steps in as well and releases me completely for the moment as he faces the opening.

The large man remains at his place near a board riddled with numbered buttons. Half of them look like they might not even work, let alone shoot sparks at anyone who dares to push them. By the long nozzle of the mask that engulfs his whole head, the man muffles out his routine and bland phrase, “Where to, Sir?” He doesn’t even move, his body stands like a cold statue with the big round, glass holes he has for his eyes just staring into nothing.

Vensen, acting like it’s part of his tedious schedule as well, bluntly answers, “The Pit.”

Keeping his posture, the masked man lifts his heavy, gloved hand to push the button on the circuit board. It clicks and the two wait a moment for something to happen.

I jump at the sudden action of the doors wailing as they close. Another silence moans over us before the elevator finally scrapes its way downward, descending into the darkness. The horrible noises die down the further we go and quickly leaves the three of us in dumbness. I want to ask where we are, or just make some small talk, but the aura that these two give off makes me feel like I would get into trouble if I even make a sound. I’m so nervous, I don’t even know what’s going on.

“We’re currently in the Archives,” Vensen speaks, delivering the very answer I wanted at this moment.

Okay, I think I know where this is going. Is he trying to get on my good side by letting me visit Dad? I can sense a trap coming.

The Elevator stops and allows a way for us to leave through the broken doors. Before I can examine the macabre setting too much Vensen shoves me over the threshold again. I can feel the murky hall engulf me, slowly devouring my entire being. A warm hand gently grabs my arm and keeps me moving down the passage. I glance to the person escorting me from my side to see my own grandfather looking straight ahead with his deadpan face. Now I really do feel like a princess. I try to keep my head square like his as to seem presentable whilst staring at him from the corner of my eye. This is weird. “Um, Vensen…”

“Yes, child?” He replies almost like I don’t matter to him.

The words become harder for me to form, “W-what is ‘the pit’?”

“You shall see.”

The lights flicker over us as our feet step toward our destination. I can see a big brass door ahead of us in the distance. Details of it start to form with my sight of it as we come closer. Its copper color tells of its age and strength while the wheel in the middle keeps it shut to confine the very room on the other side from the dim light that we stand in. It grows as the two of us approach and we walk up to the guard that stands by it. He looks just like the man from the elevator. Wait, are they the same person?

Vensen states his business to this man, “He has a visitor.”

The guard positions himself to the helm on the door and begins to turn it. He has some difficulty on disturbing the rust on the trundle but manages to complete his mission and drags the door open for us.

My eyes gaze back up to Vensen for comfort, but instead he continues with his sullen mood and rejects the action to look back at me. We walk into the darkness and I cling closer to him, hoping that he would be willing to protect me from any other monster that might come at us. A light barely illuminates the room to show a circular depression in the middle of the round chamber.

In the middle of this hole in the ground, I can see a naked man chained to the turf beneath him. His head hangs down from his neck as his back is exposed to show the deep gashes colored with red on him while he stays defeated on his knees. His long, braided hair is washed in his own blood. With the strength that he has left in him he speaks in distress without moving, “Leave me alone-Just leave me alone.”

I can’t believe what’s going on. “…Dad?”

His head jolts upward to see me, showing me his dead green eyes. “Vila?”

It is him! “Dad!” I want to jump off the edge and see my father, but at this height, I would probably sprain my ankle: There’s no need to be stupid. That familiar icy hand snatches the back of my neck again and causes me to cringe.

“Stop!” Dad shouts as he kneels there in pain.

“You’ve been dishonest with me Sommi,” Vensen speaks with his cool tenor, “Still withholding your secrets from me hardly seems fair.”

“Says the man who can’t tell the truth himself,” Father allows the spiteful words to ease their way past his lips.

“Careful now, it wouldn’t take me much effort to accidently kill your daughter here.” The more he talks, the greater my fear becomes.

Father tries to keep Vensen from doing so, “You can’t, she’s your granddaughter!”

That ever-so-nerve-wracking chortle emanates from behind me as Vensen entertains himself with Sommi’s words. “You say it like I care if she lives or dies. I keep her breathing because I’m bored, and I want her to surprise me.”

Before I realize what’s going on, my body is pushed over the edge and I flip over my head to land harshly on my back. My throat involuntarily screams once my body feels the pain.

“Vila!” Dad attempts to thrust his frame towards me but is impeded by the chains.

I look up to see that damn grin on Vensen’s face. He says more with his sarcastic attitude, “Oh I’m sorry, it seems my depth perception isn’t what it used to be.” With a sway of his black robe, he turns back into the darkness and states his last line before locking us in, “I’ll leave you two alone now, you have some catching up-and explaining to do.”

The door creaks open and slams shut with us still inside. I don’t know if I can still move after that fall.

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With Yamato and Zaru in the mansion

“It’s right over here.” Yamato leads the simple walk to the lounge room for servants as Zaru cautiously tails behind him.

Before they turn the corner, someone proclaims their pain, “Ouch!”

“Just hold still.”

The two men then turn the corner to face a set of stairs that are folding downwards to the floor under them. It looks much like an empty ballroom with chairs to replace the absent people. The only other two bodies in this place hang around a set of chairs with one sitting down and the other standing over the other like a nurse.

Zaru sees an unexpected face at the bottom. They stand vertical near Sosen-kan as he holds an ice pack to one of his eyes while sitting down. As his feet slowly carry him down the steps, the name utters from Zaru’s lips, “Reina?”

Her attention focuses on the voice that called her name. The feeling of an awkward reunion engulfs her as well. “Oh-Zaru kan-you’re here too…” A gasp rushes out of her as she comes to an assumption. “Zaru-you didn’t-exchange your soul to that monster-did you?”

“Like I ever would.”

Reina then hurries over at the foot of the stairs and squeezes Zaru tightly. “Oh, I thought I would never see you again!” Another concern slides into her mind and she pulls Zaru into a face-to-face position with her hands still grasping his forearms. “Is Vila alright, do you know?”

Zaru’s gaze shoots towards Yamato, squinting with disbelief. “Somewhere with Vensen. This guy says she’s fine.”

Reina, Sosen, and Zaru look to Yamato for a response.

With his arms crossed and eyes reluctant to meet theirs, he mutters, “I was supposed to say that.”

Zaru gently pushes Reina away without retrieving his sight from the big mitsu. “What do you mean by that?” His tenor becomes somewhat harsh like before.

Staying completely calm, Yamato rephrases his statement from earlier, “There’s not much I can do when Vensen gives me an order with hardly any details. He left the room before I could even ask what his intent was.”

“What did he tell you?” Sosen keeps the cold bag on his eye.

“Not much, he just told me to take care of a guy named Zaru after he had Vila until further notice. This was like a week ago, and I haven’t heard anything else from him about it since.”

Zaru walks up to him in anger and confusion. “What!?”

“He probably forgot that this would be the first time for Zaru to meet us in this cycle and didn’t think to explain himself.” Kakashin strides in like a pope with his long black coat on and similar fabric slouched over his crossed arms. “My name is Kakashin, Vila’s uncle, nice to meet you.” After coming close enough to Zaru, his hand extends for Zaru to greet with.

The mask of uncertainty befalls Zaru as his hand cautiously reaches out to grasp it. “Nice to meet you as well…”

Kakashin’s hand pulls back to a formal position. “I was actually hoping you would be here.”

The words slide out of Zaru’s mouth in complete obfuscation, “You were?”

“Yes, I have a very important task to do,” he turns to the servants to direct his line to them, “and chances are, Vensen forbade any of you to interfere.” Kakashin goes back to Zaru and continues, “I have to pick up my niece before it starts, and I need your help in doing that. You may deny if you’d like.”

Skepticism covers Zaru and he looks to Reina for an approval of this man.

Her eyes lock with his, but she’s only known this man for as long as Zaru has. Her judgement of him is fresh and not yet reliable.

His gaze goes back to Kakashin and he finally replies, “Alright, but I’m keeping my eye on you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Kakashin states as he signals him to follow somewhere. “Your focus will be on Sommi and Vila.”

“Why can’t you just do that yourself?” Zaru steps beside him as the two ambulate down a hallway towards the designated room.

“You’ll see why, just don’t say anything while we’re in the dungeon.” They come up to an old wooden door and Kakashin opens it.

The floor of stone chills Zaru’s bare feet as he steps inside. Pebbles clothe the walls and ceiling of the room to proclaim its ancient age. A large mirror leans against the wall across from the door upright, exposing its reflecting side to all who come near.

“Move quickly, we don’t have much time.” Kakashin ambulates to the mirror and phases through.

Zaru does the same almost immediately after him, but with hesitation to comprehend the moment.

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In the pit

In the darkness, I force myself to turn over onto my stomach and command my arms to push my body off the freezing ground.

“Vila,” my father calls out in a whisper, “Are you okay?”

My ribs pop and crack as I grunt in pain while getting to my hands and knees. “Yeah, I think so.” Everything inside of me is burning from the fall.

The sound of the heavy door screeching open fills both of our ears. A humming voice comes from where the door is as the new person comes in. This time it sounds more like a cordial tune, but with a slightly unnerving twist to it, like a tone-deaf child with a man’s voice. The acapella music comes closer to us as I try to get in a position that’s good enough to see the person in a comfortable way. Once the sound is over me, it stops. “Oh, Father has already visited.” The voice is trying to be friendly, but somehow it makes the room even colder. A face leans in over me just enough for the dim light to illuminate his face in an eerie way. His obverse is comparable to Uncle Kakashin’s, except for the eyes. Blackness with a ring of gold for the iris, much like Vensen’s almost. He jumps down just over my head to dodge me with ease and turns to lend me a hand to help me up. “Looks like you took quite a fall there, and you’re already healing. You must have activated your tsavi already.” He examines my hand while he says all of this with a smile that fails to be charming.

My hand pulls away from his hold as my nerves tense up even more. This guy is giving me some really bad vibes.

“Where are my manners?” he bends over like a gentleman in his red coat. “My name is Roukuu.”