Chapter 345 - Oblivion

Yuzu was undaunted by the entity’s ominous statement. In fact, her lip twitched as she stopped herself from smirking slightly.

“Oblivion? What oblivion?” She asked casually.

How could she not have thought of the danger of the ornate chest, after all she had learned about Akahi and the Fate Goddess’ plans for her? In fact, the chest was probably pivotal to Akahi’s plans to strengthen Yuzu and prepare for Her resurrection.

Yuzu hadn’t expected to find herself at the bottom of the white world so soon, but she could only take advantage of the opportunity when it came, however inconvenient the timing was.

“The oblivion of existence.” The entity replied in a deep rumble, “The end of what is, and what will be.”

“A little melodramatic today, aren’t you?” 

Yuzu crossed her arms as she looked up at the door. It loomed above her, taking up her entire field of vision. If she wanted to see the top of the door she’d have to crane her head up to an uncomfortable level, so she settled with settling her eyes on its centre, around the circular glyph with lines that formed constellation-like shapes.

The entity didn’t respond to her cheeky response, but let out a deep contemplative hum that caused the ground to tremble. 

Its next question surprised her.

“What is your name?”

“Shou Tao.” Yuzu said after a pause, giving the entity the name she had used in Fuha. “And yours?”

“Hu Dao.” It replied, the ‘H’ forceful and guttural. 

The name triggered something in Yuzu’s memory, though she didn’t quite recall where she’d heard it before.

“You and I…” Hu Dao said darkly, “…Are the same.” 

The fact that this entity which in the past two times that she’d met it had been violent and overbearing, was now conducting a conversation with her, wasn’t something Yuzu had expected.

And yet this didn’t diminish the pressure that Yuzu felt from its gaze. She sensed a sharp intelligence behind its rumbling voice, a predatory intent that was simply waiting for its opportunity to pounce.

Violence hadn’t worked on her, so it was now resorting to other methods?

That seemed like the simplest explanation, and yet Yuzu felt that something was lacking in that interpretation. Like she had only scraped the shallow surface of a deep pool.

It says we are the same…? Yuzu’s lips pressed together in a subtle frown.

“How so?” She responded, keeping her nonchalant tone.

“We are trapped by forces beyond our perception.”

“That door of yours is pretty perceptible to me.” Yuzu said, “Or perhaps it’s very dark on your side?”

“…Indeed.” Hu Dao muttered, with enough of a pause that Yuzu felt it had understood her jab at its situation.

“How awful. Trapped in the dark banging on a door. It seems like hiding my box might be your only form of entertainment, too.” The lack of retaliation for her attitude only made Yuzu more brazen. Even she was a little surprised at the sass coming from her mouth. 

But the more the entity allowed her to mock it, the more anxious Yuzu felt. Anger and condescension was easier to deal with, easier to manipulate. Emotional responses could be read and evaluated.

“How are you going to entertain yourself after I take the box, then?” Yuzu asked, “I can’t say I’ll be visiting you anymore.”

“…”

You’re not going to argue with me? Yuzu’s eyes flickered across the door, whose chains hung silent and undisturbed. She could still feel the entity’s gaze on her, hear its breaths in the ground. You lost your will to fight?

Yuzu took a step toward the chest, then another. Her nerves were on alert as she expected Hu Dao to explode in violent rage at any moment and force her to the ground. She wondered if she had gone too far. It had the power to hurt her, perhaps even kill her. She’d assumed that it needed her to open the door and therefore spared her life for this reason, but she’d gone so far to threaten that she wouldn’t come again after retrieving the chest.

She was now standing directly over top the chest.

Now she was leaning down to pick it up.

The chest was heavy in her hands, surprisingly weighty for its size. On contact Yuzu felt its aura mingle with her spiritual energy, filling her with a familiar power.

She felt intuitively that now that she was holding the chest she had the power to leave this space on her own will.

“Goodbye, Hu Dao.” She said, though she wasn’t sure why she felt the need for the greeting.

“Goodbye, Shou Tao.”

Yuzu’s gaze darkened, the frown deepening on her lips as she couldn’t quite place the discomfort she felt tightening her chest. But she refused to be indecisive here. The entity was letting her go? Then she would go without hesitation.

She disappeared from the space, punctuated only by a soft gust of air that swirled around where her body had been.

The chained door loomed over its white domain as the entity only chuckled darkly in its solitude.

“She will be back.” It said, “Oh, she will be back.”

“When she hears the screaming in her dreams, she will know that she needs to return.”

The chains shook violently as Hu Dao slammed against the door, the heavy metallic clang echoing across the space. His chuckles grew louder. He slammed against the chains again, and then again.

The chuckles turned into laughter, then into maddened roars as the bottom of the white world was filled with the sound of clanging chains.

~

Yuzu opened her eyes and found that she was sitting in front of a small stone shrine. White, delicate strands of hair framed her vision, telling her that she was still in the aetheric plane.

The stone shrine was in a small underground chamber with flickering candles on the wall.

She was alone in this space, though the white orb of a powerful being was hovering next to her in space. It was Renshu, the God of Preeminent Wisdom, waiting for her in the physical world.

The small ornate chest felt both cool and warm in her hands. Out of everything in her surroundings, only it maintained its colour. She admired it for a moment, taking in its essence with her eyes. The deep, rich swirls of wood, the glimmering warmth of gold, the cool and soothing notes of silver.

At last, it was in her hands again. Yuzu felt fully a sense of accomplishment from retrieving the chest. She closed her eyes and felt its energy reaching out to her, gentle and familiar, subtly tantalizing.

The power to change the world lay in her hands, she felt. The power to change her Destiny.

All she needed to do was accept it.

Yuzu sat with her eyes closed, listening to the voices that swirled in her mind and heart. The warnings of oblivion and danger seemed to melt away, replaced by a confidence in her own ability. The ability that was accentuated by the power of the chest.

This is right. She thought. This is how it’s supposed to be.

With this chest I can use Akahi’s power against her, disrupt her plans, and— She paused. —and what?

Do… things? Change… the world?

A cognitive dissonance disrupted the thoughts of power and accomplishment that had soaked into her consciousness. A question that interrupted the flow of thought and emotion.

Change the world to what?

Yuzu’s lips pressed together gently into a thin line as a voice within her said, Change it to be whatever I want it to be. 

Ah.

That’s not my voice, is it?

Yuzu opened her eyes as she felt a sudden clarity trickle down from the crown of her head, diffusing through her face and neck and spine, through her arms and legs to the tips of her fingers and toes. 

The voice grew quiet, as if it had realized it had been discovered. 

It had been subtle, natural, to the point that even at this moment Yuzu wasn’t sure if she was simply imagining it, that she had created both the voice and the suspicion that the voice wasn’t hers.

Was it Akahi, influencing her through the chest, corrupting her thoughts to slowly, subtly change her? Was she unknowingly changing into someone else, being shaped into a perfect vessel for the Goddess of Fate?

I’m still me. Yuzu thought to herself. I’m still in control.

Yuzu stood up, stepping toward the shrine. She placed the chest down in front of the stone structure.

A shiver passed through her body as she lost contact with the chest. Or maybe it was just her imagination.

She stepped backward and looked at the chest for a while, contemplating her situation, wondering if she was right to take the chest from the bottom of the white world. 

Would it have been better to leave it at the base of the chained door? 

Did she even have a choice?

Her lips pursed softly as she closed her eyes and let out a long, slow exhale, muttering softly,

“This way oblivion lies.”