Chapter 8 — Breaking out of the Devouring
In a space darker than darkness and blacker than black, it looked around. Bound by the chains digging into it, it blankly stared from within its frozen coffin as the ground of the surroundings took on a different tinge of black.
With those interspersed black quadrangles came twinkling ones in between, the light deep within them pulsing mesmerizingly.
??
Looking at this oversized chess board brought it a feeling of familiarity that it couldn’t quite put a place on.
As that sense of familiarity drove off, thirty-two giant chess pieces slowly faded into existence; sixteen pitch-black while sixteen starry black.
??
It didn’t know what all this signified. The board, the chess pieces, this weird space. It didn’t even understand why it was bound by these burning chains and sealed within a freezing coffin.
It simply waited.
Because it knew that all this would eventually be destroyed.
* * * * *
W- h - O ?
Within its limited vision, it could see two girls atop the tallest pieces on either side.
A Catgirl sat atop the abysmally-black king, an equally black one-piece shrouded her torso and thighs, revealing her pale-white limbs as her burning silver-blue eyes seemed to scorch the entire board to cinders.
To her opposite was a Foxgirl smirking at her as she laid atop her king. Her prism-coloured eyes jovially gleamed in amusement for what was to come. Her head tilted left and right atop her laced fingers as her likewise prism-coloured tails peeked out from under her extra-large shirt, revealing to it and the Catgirl that she only wore white panties as her legs swayed up and down.
n -I - i ?
???? n-i- -i w -H - o ?
Again, it felt something spark up within itself as it looked at the Foxgirl but before it could dwell on it, the infinitesimally small emotion was quickly snuffed out by the searing heat of the chains bounding its limbs.
?? L iM b S?
Should one peer into the coffin of blue ice, they would now see an undulating, childish black humanoid with abyss-black holes for eyes as its entire body had infernally-black chains coiling around its entirety.
“Stop glaring like that Yu-nyan. You know this could’ve easily been avoided by-”
*crack*
“No” she refused with a firm glare, ice forming on the crown of her king due to her emotions.
“Nyahaha!”
“…”
“Fine then nya. I’ll be sure to crush you nya. Be prepared for what comes after.”
Hearing the Foxgirl’s cold voice and seeing her cold smile, both ‘Yu-nyan’ and it vehemently reacted.
*Crack* *Thud*
The coffin holding it within had a massive crack stemming from where its left-hand was as ‘Yu-nyan’ lifted a pawn off the board and slammed it forward.
“Nyaha. Don’t take it out on the pieces nya.” *thud*
*Thud* *thud* *Thud* *thud*
...
..
.
w - H a - t iS T-h - I – s ?
With each move, more and more tiny fractures appeared in the ice. Every time a piece landed on the board or was killed off, a weird intangible stream of energy rushed out of them into its chest as the piece dissolved into nothingness.
Piece by piece, it felt an instantaneous rush of emotions that quickly decomposed, forgetting what they were meant to be. Its emotions were in sync with the Catgirl atop her king. She currently had her silver-blue brows furrowed more than usual as she coldly analyzed the board.
Looking at her, it could put a designation to a couple of fleeting emotions it felt such as annoyance, irritation as well as frustration. Yet there were quite a few more that it could only describe by the sensations on its body. One moment it felt its feet freeze despite the ice around it not being cold while another, it felt its entire face burn weirdly despite the chains being vastly hotter than what it felt.
Yet they all eventually vanished into the void.
Nonetheless, they all left an imprint before fading away.
It could feel a slowly dispersing weight around its chest that seemed to hide the moment it concentrated on it, yet always reappeared the instant another stream of energy flowed in, always heavier than before.
H – o W ?
“Checkmate!”
Lost in its endeavour to try and understand, it was roused out of its stupor by the Foxgirl’s exclamation of joy.
Looking at the board between the two, it didn’t understand the positioning of the pieces but looking at the Foxgirl’s beaming face and Catgirl’s expressionless visage, it understood that the Catgirl had lost.
Surprisingly, it felt a pleasant cool, as well as a soothing heat, spread all over its body after understanding that, thinking that it was only natural.
?? W-hY nAtURaL?
*CRACK* *SHATTER*
Not understanding why it had such a thought, it blankly stared as the ice prison it was sealed in broke and shattered into diamond dust.
* * * * *
“It’s my win Yurei~”
*ba-dump*
Hearing that name, something seemed to flip within it as a searing pain assaulted its entire body. Over time, like every other sensation, the pain also faded away. Yet, instead of completely vanishing, like the spark of irritation, it also persisted.
Looking over, it saw the Foxgirl float towards the Catgirl as she resolutely stared back.
“Don’t be like that nya. A loss is a loss nyahaha.” Hearing her words and seeing her face, Yurei opened and closed her mouth. Seeing her, the Foxgirl silently watched on with a warm gaze before she eventually let out a sigh, and unlike herself, muttered in a calm soothing tone,
“How about this. I’ll let go when you can’t handle it anymore? Alright?”
Seeing her expression sent a wave of heat across its body as it watched Yurei give a curt nod before shutting her eyes tight. Her fists were clenched and her tail was bristling as—
*BOOM!*
Immediately rebounding, it watched on as the Foxgirl hugged Yurei on the other side of the barrier, her shivering increasing with every passing moment.
n̷ ̴ ̷O̵ ̷.̵
“Yosh! Now that wasn’t so bad now was it?”
Quickly letting go, Yurei hugged her arms as a veritable zone of permafrost emanated with her as the epicentre. But despite what she went through, she gave a weak thumbs up to the Foxgirl as she controlled her breathing.
“Now then, I guess it’s your turn nya.”
*BOOM!* Why?
“Hmm. Why? Why~? It’s cuz she liked it nya!”
h̸ ̴–̸ ̷A̵ ̴-̷t̶ ̵-̶ ̴ ̶E̸
“…yes. She hates it as well nya.”
Why??
“It’s cuz she wants to see past that hate nya.”
??
“Nyahaha. She wants to feel the way you do nya,” saying so, the Foxgirl embraced it, not caring about the burns she received, “extremely irritated yet not repulsed nya. She wants the annoying warmth that’s hiding inside of you nyahaha!”
Why?
“Nyahahaha! It’s cuz she’s you nya!”
??
“Nya~ You really are a kid nya. Seriously, the plan he made is way too shitty nya.” She pointed a glare at Yurei as she said so.
“So-” “You aren’t nya.” “…”
“Haah. Welp, guess it runs in the family eh? We’re both reckless to the core nya.”
??
Looking at it, Yurei could only stare into the distance as she felt the Foxgirl’s warm gaze on her. Chuckling to herself, the Foxgirl shook her head before warmly kissing it on the forehead.
!?
“Nya. It feels all fuzzy and tingly and whatnot doesn’t it nya?”
u – ??
“That’s affection nya.”
??
“Affection, warmth, love. On their own, these emotions are good nya. Don’t forget them nya.”
Why?
Hearing it ask that made the Foxgirl tighten her embrace before letting go. Firmly gripping its shoulders, she came down to one knee as her eyes reflected its own, a massive grin on her face.
“It’s cuz you once had the most coolest, badass older brother that loves you even now nya!”
*shiver*
“Nya! I guess you do remember nya! Looks like your shitty plan worked after all!”
Feeling that spark churn its insides, it felt all sorts of emotions brush past as the Foxgirl let go and nodded at Yurei.
Immediately after, Yurei rushed towards it and unlike the Foxgirl, she did not embrace it. Rather, she seeped into it as an overflowing river of emotions, coursing throughout its whole body.
Holding its head in pain, it could only watch as the board beneath shifted, the remaining chess pieces sinking into it as it now resembled a box.
“I never mentioned my name, did I nya?”
Hearing her voice in the distance, it desperately opened its eyes, only to see a sparkling-white smile as the lid of the box slid open to reveal a massive-red boxing glove.
“The name’s Blank.”
!?!?
“Don’t you dare forget it again nya!”
*SMASH*
* * * * *
!? Fucking dammit! “AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”
Waking up on his throne within his Mental World, Yurei screamed in pain as a tsunami of memories and emotions assaulted his mind.
Being resilient to even Lust and Chastity’s mind-based attacks, it only served to reveal how weakened he currently was to actually scream in pain. This place being a representation of his mind, an actual sea of white-flames washed over the throne room and flooded the entire palace, breaking out into the barren ice-lands outside the walls as well.
On the plus side, these flames burned any and all traces of the encroachment within his mind as they seeped into the palace and caused multiple steam explosions, filling up the hollows with water that slowly set and froze.
* * *
“Haah, haaa, haah.” Fuck me, that was the worst plan I ever made.
“Kon.”
Slumping down on his throne as he panted, Yurei blearily observed Lusio who appeared on his lap.
I know. Even the game me and Sky said it was a bad plan.
“Kon. Kon kon kon.”
“Hah.” Petting Lusio’s fur, he replied, It can’t be helped. It was the only way to stop myself.
“nya.”
Turning to look at his shoulder, Yurei saw Superbia sleeping on it. Or at least pretending to be asleep.
I know… I really hate Lusio for using that.
“Gao.”
…It’s because even if I want to, I can’t. All of me is a mess right now. Any use of even Ki, Mana or Spirit Energy will harm me.
“Gan.”
“Hah.” What can I say, Blood or no Blood, “It runs in the family.”
“Kon” “Nya” “Gao” “Gan”
Well, I guess they now need some answers after hearing me scream like E whenever she lost.
Thinking about the repercussions, Yurei rested on his throne with his four Concepts—
Come here.
Waving a hand, he brought a child-sized pitch-black humanoid with abysses for eyes and sat it on his lap.
????
…For now, just watch and learn.
Focusing outwards, Yurei braced himself, feeling a speck of fear as he patted his ears above his head, a shiver running through his tail.
* * * * *
“Puwaah! So you survived huh! Don’t ya dare come back here if ya don’t want me to prank ya to death ya scummy, big doo-doo brained nincompoop! There’s no one better than me when it comes to playing pranks! Not even you Yurei!”
*crash* *shatter*
“…” ‘Ah fuck.’
“Let’s clean this place for when he comes ya.” ‘The shit’s scary whenever I break something in his home.’
“Hehe.” Looking at the scorched jester card in his hands, Loki noticed as it slowly fixed itself before putting it away.
‘Let’s keep it a secret from the rest. Could make a nice prank to fool them hehehehe!’
