Arc 1 – Forced Start

Chapter 1 – History repeats Itself

 

 

    With a flash of lightning, Yurei appeared in a small, empty room devoid of light. Happily walking out of the room he headed to the master bedroom of his Ice Palace in his Domain.

An hour power-nap, then some groceries and some of the new novels that were released on [Earth].

 

Thinking as such, he entered his room and slumped down on a comfortable leather sofa, despite an equally cozy king-sized bed being a few meters away.

He materialized a black sword and kept it on his lap, closing his eyes. In the silence, just as he was about to fall asleep, he felt a spatial disturbance in front of him.

 

    Who?

    Warily retreating behind the sofa, he pointed his sword at the anomaly, waiting for whoever was trying to infringe on his Domain; but what popped into existence left him shocked.

It was a chess piece. The king to be precise. If the Universe was in the shape of a chess piece, it would look precisely like the one he instantly snatched out of empty-space, noticing at a mere glance that it was the twin to the Void black king he always kept on him.

Everything was identical for the two kings. The shape, the size, the mass and even the energies they were formulated of. The only thing normally distinguishing them apart were their appearances for they were always wielded in a game of chess which Yurei always found rather mentally taxing. 

Yet now, there was one more glaringly obvious difference. One that he instinctively acted oblivious of.

 

* * *

 

    This doesn't make any sense. Why would he— ‘kon’

    Deep in thought over his current confusion, the faint projection of a feeble fox’s thoughts finally made his mind realize, no, accept that something indeed did happen.

 

But sadly, his all too feeble heart fervently denied what this truly meant.

 

    —++Nii-san!++—

    His thoughts without realizing, synchronized with the other two in his mind as his sword shifted into a pitch black scythe. Tearing a hole through his own Domain, Yurei quickly plunged into the misshapen portal, heading off to his brother’s abode.

 

* * * * *

 

    “This isn’t funny Nii-san” Yurei griped while looking around.

    His brother’s Domain was thoroughly wrecked. The chessboard-like ground was cracked and torn asunder. The colossal pieces on them were all destroyed. The ginormous, friendly rubber-snake constructs were cleaved in two, their torn halves lay stationary where they were slaughtered and the ever-present, stoic golem soldiers that usually carry ladders were nowhere to be seen, though given the devastation, they might be lost in the debris floating about.

Yurei looked into the distance and could still see a familiar tower made of cards standing tall, fueling the denial in his heart with an all too non-existent hope.

 

    “Compass of Freedom” Yurei whispered in a shaky voice. He took out a transparent palm-sized orb-construct from his Domain, the pointers within sluggishly floating about.

 

    “Where?” He asked the Compass in a quiet tone. Silence ensued after the pointers dimmed, clattering pointlessly to the bottom of the orb.

 

    The young man himself knew it deep down in his heart. He knew that it was too late. Yet...

    “Where is he!?!?” he yelled, this time full of fury as Origin Energy wildly flooded out of his being, circulating futilely through the orb, barely providing it the resources to search the vast expanses of the space around the Domain.

    Hey. You’re just playing hide n’ seek aren’t you? I must be ‘it’ then... I’ll find you like always...

    For what seemed like an eternity, Yurei continued to fruitlessly pour Origin Energy into the Compass, only to see dim, motionless pointers. Eventually, he grew fatigued processing such copious amounts of energy and started to flood the construct with periodic bursts, the interval between each outburst increasing slowly but surely. For days on end he continued to do so until finally he stopped, weary from the continuous failed attempts. He was exhausted in every sense of the word as his knees gave in, falling onto his butt as his body shrunk in size to that of an bishounen.

 

 

    —There’s still... that. Right Sol?— an cold, pessimistic ikemen’s slightly wavering thoughts flowed through his mind.

    ++Right Lune! We can try that, Yu! Surely he’s just out of The Compass’ range!++ a visibly trembling bishounen's thoughts then chirped a little too forcefully in the back of his head.

Yet, listening to the two’s ‘encouragement’ gave Yurei’s crumbling heart a second wind of false hope as he started to condense an absurd amount of Origin Energy —magnitudes more than what he expended the previous few weeks— into a hyperdense pitch-black Orb between his palms, slowly increasing in size.

 

    That’s right. Maybe, no, surely...

    He clung to that hallucinatory thread as his body shrank even more; first from a teenage ikemen to a young bishounen, and now finally a cute, adolescent shota.

 

Conceptual Magic — Search

 

“Blank” He muttered as he finalized the spell. Receiving his older brother’s True Name, the glowing orb in his hands pulsed.

 

    Once it pulsed.

    Twice it pulsed..

    Thrice it pulsed...

    It continued pulsing for multiple times...
    .
    .
    .

    Finally, as the orb of condensed energy dimmed and cracked, scattering into nothingness…
    .
    .

    “Hah” A chortle leaked out of Yurei’s mouth.

    —Heh—

    ++Hahaha++

    Solaire and Lunaire laughed as well.

    “Hehehe, haha, hahahaha, ahahahaha!!!”

    Laughing in madness, their thoughts melded into one. Yurei had no control over his body anymore. At one moment he felt a scorching hatred burn him as he let out a wordless scream, while in another he felt a raw nostalgic chill, his heart shattering once again as he erased his surroundings, freezing them and burning them through the sheer force of his paroxysm.
.
.
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Finally, what came after his rampage was an absolute nothingness. No hate, no sadness, no pain.

Yurei felt absolutely nothing. And without a single iota of will to resist, ——— took over.

 

* * *

 

    What happened next was a complete blur to them. Yurei couldn’t form any coherent thoughts.

    It... just wanted to destroy everything in sight.
    .
    .

    And so he complied. Thrashing about wildly, razing the ground, breaking the sky, cracking and deforming space again and again, slowly but surely, he was losing himself in this desolation.

As Yurei landed a strike once again on a floating debris, a crystal die to be exact, he felt the cube shatter, yet the force reverberate back into him causing a momentary silence amidst all the carnage.

In that single moment, his blank eyes landed on a mask. A plain white mask that came out of the cube. It had no holes for the eyes or mouth but neither his brother nor him ever needed them. Like the chess-pieces, that mask as well was one part of the pair he created with his brother.

 

    Sk-y?

    A sliver of sanity returned to him, yet his arm moved of its own free will, ——— completely encompassing it as it neared the mask.

    “!?”

    An unfathomable amount of Killing Intent leaked out of his body, his Concepts —

    Ira— radiated bone-chilling flames.

    Superbia— spewed scorching-hot frost.

    And Ludificor— conjured an Iron-maiden on his entire arm.

 

 

    “Don’t You DARE FUCK with IT!!!”

    Shouting out, Yurei felt the flames and frost encase his entire body, seeping into his hand through the needles piercing it through just a few moments before contact.

Slowly, ever so unhurriedly, ——— ebbed back into him, yet it continued to fight against Ira, Superbia and Ludificor for dominance.

 

    Once control over his body returned to him, he slowly touched the mask with his free hand.

    ‘Nyahahaha!’

    —++!!!++—

    His senses had now wholly returned as he stared dazedly at the mask, tapping on it again.

    *tap*    *tap*    *tap*

    “Aa-”

    Every time he knocked his fingers against the mask, he could feel Sky’s annoying laugh echo in his mind. Each individual laugh caused a distant memory to flood his psyche.

Sometimes he laughed without a care, others he laughed after causing mischief and although rare, he also remembered moments where his older brother would laugh awkwardly when faced with his scoldings.

Every time he laughed, Yurei would feel irriated. His appearance and laugh were races apart and would always seem like one directed at him. And yet, to his chagrin, for the first time in his life, he found it pleasant, relieving, he wanted to hear more…

 

 

    Please...

    ++Please come back...++

    —I’ll let you pat my head as much as you want.. so please...—

    Nee... You like grooming my long hair don’t you...

    ++I-I’ll change into my female form right now if you return...++

    —I really hate it but I’ll let you groom it as much as you want...—

    —++So please!++—
    .
    .
    .

    Nee...

    ++onegai...++

    —just really...—

    —++Tell me that this a damned prank of yours.++—

    —I won’t get mad.—

    ++Just appear from a trap door or a Jack-in-the-box like always nee…++

    ...don’t leave me behind.

    His thoughts were barely a whisper by the end… ‘Nya!!’ Yet every laugh only drove the tombstone deeper into him.
.
.
.
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—Don’t.—
Lunaire mumbled hoarsely, his eyes dull and lifeless as he stared at Yurei and Solaire in their Mental World.

 

—Don’t Wallow in Despair—
.
.

++d-don’t. cry. ov-over. a loss++
Solaire continued, stuttering as he covered his eyes tightly with his hands.

 

Don’t Wait for Someone to Help
Yurei chanted along, his eyes frigid as he gazed across his Mental World.

 

—My Enemy never Waits—

++My.. Enemy never Ca-res++

My Enemy always Takes

 

—No one saved me—

++No one.. saved me++

No one could save me

—++Yet He saved us++—

 

—Since we were saved—

++Yet we couldn't save++
.
.
.

—++We will Kill what Killed you++—

—We always killed our Enemies—

++We still do++

And we will continue to

—++By fair means or foul, We shall Kill you++—

 

    As they firmed their decision, the Origin Energy comprising of Yurei’s mind underwent a drastic transformation. The shift itself was visible in his Mental World and Domain.

What was once a place with a stunning ice palace with its front gates open was now a regal one exuding solemnity, all entrances forever sealed tight.

What was once a vast landscape of sparkling sleet and fluffy white snow with wondrous trees and flowers crafted from crystal ice itself was now a barren landscape. Just a plain, even, transparent icy ground with not a single beautiful trait in Yurei’s eyes. An accurate description of his mind if he had to voice it out.

Looking into the distance, he could see a Tower of Cards slowly scattering into snowflakes. It was no longer of any import in his mind.

 

* * * * *

 

    Yurei slowly opened his eyes. Within them could be seen dead-apathetic silver-blue irises hiding a murkiness deep within. He looked at the Tower of Cards that he and Sky made. It was still standing tall with not a single blemish in sight. His eyes shook slightly as he saw it before growing even more indifferent.

He turned to look at the translucent panel in the corner of his vision that brought him here in the first place. The wording was what had pushed him to come in haste.

 

 

 

 

    Along with this, he received one more thing that made him rush here. And that was Sky’s Concept Lusio. Sky was a Conceptual. A 1st Generation Conceptual that gained Sentience over the course of eons, and yet he separated his Concept from himself and sent it to Yurei, a mere run-of-the-mill Concept Wielder. Just why?

 

 

 

 

 

    Choosing ‘Yes’, he then read the contents of the quest before dismissing the window, emanating Origin Energy in ripples completely saturating Sky’s Domain.

 

Rewind.
Show me what the fuck happened.
.
.
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Domain Fusion
I’m not letting anyone desecrate your home. From now on it will be a part of my Domain.
.
.
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—++Compass of Freedom. Show me the place where I’ll grow stronger. Much stronger.++—
.
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The [Spirit World]. Alright then. 

 

 

    —Before we go there—

    ++We have to tie up all lose ends++

    Mmhmm. I guess you’ll be having some fun Lunaire.

    He swung his scythe in a vertical downward slash, strinking the cold icy ground yet not a single crack could be seen. Opening a spherical tear in his Domain, Yurei jumped in heading straight for [Earth]; all the while wearing Sky’s white mask on his face.

 

 

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