Chapter 31 - Book

A throbbing pain appeared in her head, and Setsura frowned. This place seems familiar to her. But surely this is the first time she's come here before? "Aaagh," Setsura exclaimed. Why is this happening anyway? Even if she time traveled, couldn't it at least make sense? Maybe she has a secret power or something. Most people who time travel tend to have something special about them. It felt like somebody told her about it too, but she really doesn't remember much. If she could remember, perhaps it would be better?

But then again, it seems like her getting her memories back is impossible at this stage. She doesn't even know why she lost them, if she remembers, then it would be easy to get them back.

'Do you want them back?' Whenever she thought to regain her memories, this question would pop up inside her head. Did she want them back? That was a good question. Setsura knew that to return to her time, gaining her memories back would be crucial.

As Setsura looked around, she spotted a large platform in the center. Setsura blinked when she saw it in the middle of the room. Was that there before? But, her gaze fell on the glass dome ceiling. The bright light she saw surrounding the skies seemed to focus on that single spot. She made her way over and saw a small platform. There in the center was a beautifully decorated book.

A book? Setsura opened it and flicked through the pages. She frowned when she saw an odd diagram. What is this? It looked like a wheel to her, but there were several other pictures there too.

Setsura noticed something else by the book. A smaller book, for some reason she picked it up.

She flicked to a random page.

[They smile and say you'll be all right; that you belong, that you're part of something important. It's a lie.

It might have been so, once, but what made us part of something important wasn't power, it was us, all of us. How important we were to each other.

You're a coward --]

At this sentence, Setsura noticed that the name was crossed off. She continued reading the rest.

[Now that he is gone, you want to go on pretending nothing ever happened, to pretend you belong somewhere. Pretend that you're normal.

But you can't belong where no one ever did. You, especially, can't hide from what you are.

Has it ever meant something to you?

Sometimes, I would imagine the scenarios. As a strong person, I think of an endless realm of possibilities. "What if?" "Maybe?" "Perhaps?"

If only this didn't happen, then perhaps even now...]

Setsura, however, couldn't read any further, since she noticed the bright light growing stronger. 'Focus,' Setsura slapped her cheeks. She needs to find the source. Setsura slipped the small book into her pocket and turned her attention back to the large book in front of her.

It didn't take long before Setsura realized that the pages seemed to give off a large glow whenever she was at that diagram. Hesitantly she turned back to it and paused. So... This picture and the light, how are they connected?

"A drop of blood, a strand of hair..."

Setsura deeply sighed, "This is getting stranger and stranger by the minute. But," she had a feeling that if she didn't stop the light now, something terrible would happen.

She took a deep breath before she looked around. There was a small dagger at the stand, and her sweat fell. They even prepared the item for you. She could even spot a pair of scissors, but Setsura simply reached out for the knife. She cut her hair, and pricked her finger and smeared the blood into the right place. She picked up the lock of hair and placed it on the circle.

In seconds the book flashed several different colors, and Setsura fell from the platform. She rubbed her sore back. 'Is that how to treat somebody who just donated blood?'

Is that it? Setsura glanced over at the sky, sure enough, the light was gone. 'That seemed too easy,' she thought. There isn't going to be any consequences because she offered her hair and blood, right? Setsura sighed at the thought, surely not right?

...

Setsura decided to quickly leave the room, not after she packed some books, of course. She would have liked to go through everything here more carefully. But the current situation does not allow her to do so. Setsura wanted to take that large book with the diagram, but the moment she tried, the room would shake. That must be the key to this place. After she placed it back, she noted that the doors closed on their own accord. The broken silver vines formed again, and the door was kept tightly sealed.

So many unnatural things were happening, but even then Setsura knew better than to panic. A calm and rational mindset is what she needs right now. The small notebook - the diary piqued her interest too. From the writing style, it was clear that a woman wrote it. But for somebody to write such cruel and painful words, she wondered what kind of person it is.

Her thoughts broke off when she hears the sound of footsteps. Ah?!!

Her eyes widened, there are people here. No, judging from their footsteps, they just came. They weren't here before. Setsura looked around, the doorway she came through just happened to be right next to those people. A deep and yet quiet sigh escaped her lips. She supposed she had to wait. But, where had she seen these people before?

A man with short black hair, wearing a black military outfit - with the fur coat is General Touma. The man beside him with the white military outfit is Lieutenant Yano.

'Those people are temporarily in charge.'

Akito didn't give many details, but Setsura was watching his facial expression the entire time. 'He isn't good at hiding things,' his expression betrayed him. These people are dangerous; she has to make sure they don't see her.

Yano's eyes went wide alarmed, yet he remained his composure. "Even if you wanted a new king. Why him?"

"Because he is someone who posses fear & unimaginable hatred. Besides that its clear that woman has a weak spot for Akito. The two Seguchi siblings, our side has been watching them ever since they were born and noticed that unlike most humans, these two were completely unlike any others. Their power of existence was much larger, stronger almost as if it was calling out. We decided to use these two in our plans. If we turned them against each other, then what would happen?

If they both gained power, how strong would they be? Its true we purposely made sure that Akito was in such a situation where she would pray to the gods for help. Everything around them was getting destroyed; her poor little brother would be killed too - She chose to become like us to protect those dear to her for brother's sake. However becoming one of us means the family members would forget her, Akito saw this as a betrayal and seconds afterward Aidou had given him the bloody cross. What happened then was an unimaginable power clash."

A sibling? Akito has, another sibling? Setsura frowned..

"It was then we gathered the data we needed. With Akito as our ruler, our long-standing wish will finally be granted. This upcoming war will affect the balance of the two worlds, this one, and X. For now, it is difficult for us to try and harm X or cause any changes there. However, when our sleeping beauty wakes up from her slumber, then we will be able to go there and make a mess of everything. I'm sure our kind can see it clearly, that this world is already slowly starting to disintegrate.

Our aim our long-standing wish is to reset and clean this world. We will reset this world all over and get rid of all the individuals living here - all the existences will disappear, and not a trace will be left. The same goes for any buildings. Everything will go, and once that happens, we can create our paradise," Touma's lips curved to a sly smile.

Setsura had to cover her mouth in shock. She didn't understand much. But from what she did, they plan to use Akito as a pawn in their plans. Akito's sister sacrificed for him, and he doesn't even know about it. Her brain felt like it was overloaded with information. What on earth is this?

"Didn't that woman say last time that we won't get away with this and that they have a triumph card they could use?"

"Relax, it's most likely a bluff. What do you think they can do to us at this stage? Our plans are already set," Touma trailed off, "I don't fear Akito at all, that man is useless now. What can he do?"

At that comment, Setsura's eyes twitched in annoyance. Akito is useless? More like the rest of you are. These people have no idea what they are talking about. Indeed, Akito slacks of a lot and she often lectured him for it. But Setsura knew how hard he worked when he thought nobody else was watching. That lazy attitude he shows others is just a facade.

"Touma, there's somebody around."

Touma chuckled, "I know, the little kitten isn't even hiding her emotions."

Oh, no! How on earth could they tell? It's not like she was openly displaying her anger or anything.