Centuries from the Past

Jinsu looked at the girl standing in front of him.

He continued staring at her for several seconds, as if trying to pull something from the depths of his memory.

He knew this face.

Or perhaps...

He knew this feeling.

But he could not remember where he had seen her before.

The girl noticed that he was spacing out, so she puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and said:

"Stop spacing out like that."

Jinsu blinked.

"Ah..."

The girl reached out and grabbed his wrist, then began running while pulling him behind her.

"Come on!"

Jinsu found himself unable to refuse.

He ran behind her through the tall grass, while trying to understand what was happening.

He did not know where he was.

Nor why he felt this strange warmth in his chest.

After a short while, a small wooden cabin appeared in front of them.

As soon as they approached it, the smell of food reached Jinsu's nose.

He stopped.

His eyes widened.

That smell...

It was not merely the smell of food.

It was the smell of the pie his mother used to make for him all the time.

The smell he never expected to smell again.

Jinsu stood in front of the cabin's door without moving.

His heart was beating strongly.

Then he opened the door.

There was a woman standing inside.

A woman he knew.

A woman he thought he would never see again.

Jinsu stared at her in silence.

As for the woman, she smiled when she saw the two of them.

"Oh, you finally arrived."

The girl ran toward her and hugged her.

"Mom!"

The woman laughed and hugged her.

"Why did you two take so long, Clara?"

Clara stepped back slightly and said excitedly:

"We ran into a wolf, Mom, but Jinsu killed it!"

The woman looked at Jinsu.

"Oh... so you're Jinsu."

Clara turned toward him.

But her smile disappeared.

She froze in place.

Her mother froze as well.

Tears were streaming down Jinsu's eyes without him realizing it.

He was not crying because he was sad.

He was crying because he could not believe what his eyes were seeing.

"Jinsu...?"

His mother quickly approached him.

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"Oh, why are you crying, my son?"

She reached out her hands and hugged him.

But Jinsu remained standing without moving.

His eyes were fixed on her.

(This is all a dream...)

(This can't be real.)

(How?)

(But she died...)

(She died a long time ago.)

(How can she be here?)

Jinsu sank into his thoughts until his mother raised her hand and gently touched his forehead.

And the moment she touched his forehead...

Something inside him awakened.

Jinsu opened his eyes.

He was still inside the memory.

But this time, he did not resist it.

He burst into tears.

His mother hugged him, and Clara ran toward him and hugged him as well.

Jinsu looked at her for several seconds, then extended his arms and hugged them both.

The three of them remained embracing each other.

As if time had stopped for them.

His mother held his small hand, then held Clara's hand with her other hand.

She looked at them with a calm smile.

"My two little children... I love you both so much."

Clara smiled.

"I love you too, Mom."

Jinsu lowered his head.

He sank into his thoughts once again.

There was something missing.

Something important.

Something his mind had tried to bury for many long years.

Suddenly, his mother called him.

"Jinsu!"

He raised his head.

"Y-Yes, Mom?"

His mother looked at him seriously this time.

"Protect your sister, Jinsu, no matter what happens, okay?"

Jinsu looked at Clara.

Then he looked back at his mother.

She continued:

"And most importantly..."

She paused for a moment.

Then said:

"Do not let the darkness control you."

Jinsu looked at her.

"O-Okay, Mom."

Suddenly...

Everything stopped.

The wind froze.

The movement of the grass stopped.

His mother's hand remained extended, and Clara stopped in place.

Even the sound of the world disappeared.

Jinsu looked around.

"What exactly is happening?"

Then a voice came from behind him.

"So... is this the memory that affects you?"

Jinsu froze.

He turned around quickly.

And he was not prepared for what he saw.

There was a man leaning against a nearby tree.

His clothes were slightly open, and his black hair covered part of his eyes, while one of his hands hung at his side, holding his usual bottle of alcohol.

The man smiled.

It was Ryo.

He was inside Jinsu's memories.

As if he had been searching for them from the beginning.

"Hello."

Ryo came down from the tree, then began approaching the young Jinsu with unsteady steps.

He staggered slightly while holding his bottle.

"I didn't think your memories would be this boring, Jinsu."

He raised the bottle and drank from it.

"I thought I might find something more valuable since Ivo made you part of his faction."

He looked around.

Then added sarcastically:

"But, man... all I saw was this."

Ryo approached the cabin.

He looked at it for a few moments.

Then he looked at the woman inside.

"Is this where you used to live?"

He smiled faintly.

"How lucky you really were."

He looked around the place.

"A beautiful family... and a beautiful home."

Then he looked at the ground.

"You were one of the lucky ones."

He fell silent for a moment.

Then muttered:

"Unlike me."

He raised the bottle to his mouth and began drinking.

Then he turned toward Jinsu.

"Anyway... goodbye for now."

Ryo began walking away, heading toward a river that was close to the cabin.

Jinsu continued watching him.

Then he called out:

"Why?"

Ryo stopped.

"Hm?"

He turned toward him.

Jinsu raised his eyes toward him.

"Why did you do this?"

Silence fell.

Ryo stared at him.

Then said:

"I told you."

Suddenly, Jinsu lunged toward him.

But before he could reach him...

His movement stopped.

Chains appeared around his body, restraining him in place.

Jinsu looked at them in astonishment.

(What is this?)

Ryo laughed.

"How stupid you are."

Then he smiled.

"You can't hit me while you're inside my Kyoketsu, Jinsu."

Jinsu began laughing.

A low laugh at first...

Then it began to rise.

Until he started laughing with all his strength.

Ryo stared at him in confusion.

"Why are you laughing? Have you gone crazy?"

Jinsu suddenly stopped.

He raised his head.

He looked directly at Ryo.

Then said:

"Do you want to see something?"

Ryo was puzzled.

"Like what?"

Jinsu smiled.

"Like..."

He paused.

Then said:

"Death?"

In the next moment...

The world disappeared.

The cabin disappeared.

The river disappeared.

The sky disappeared.

Everything disappeared.

Everything around Ryo became completely black.

He froze in place.

"W-What is this?"

Then he heard a sound.

"Grrrrr..."

Ryo slowly turned around.

Two red eyes appeared in the darkness.

He stared at them.

Then two more eyes appeared.

And a third.

And a fourth.

And within moments...

Red eyes were everywhere.

Strange sounds spread throughout the darkness.

Gurgling.

Screams.

Sounds of movement coming from all directions.

Then a smell reached him that he could not mistake.

The smell of death.

Ryo's expression changed.

He stepped backward.

And in the darkness, shapes began to appear.

Their features gradually became clearer.

Then Ryo realized the truth.

The place was filled with Yami.

The Yami were everywhere.

Numbers that could not be counted.

Ryo looked around.

(Oh my God...)

(How many are there?)

(Even if I fought them... I wouldn't survive.)

For the first time in a long time...

Ryo felt fear.

True fear.

But the Yami did not attack him.

Instead, all of their gazes turned toward one place.

Ryo looked in the same direction.

There was a child standing in the middle of the darkness.

A small child.

Jinsu.

Ryo wanted to call out to him.

But his voice did not come out.

He knew that the worst decision he could make in this place...

was to scream.

He continued watching the child.

Suddenly...

Jinsu's body began to change.

He grew.

Then became small again.

He grew once more.

Then became a child again.

His body changed at a terrifying speed, as if time itself had become incapable of remaining stable within him.

Ryo froze.

He did not know whether what he was seeing was real or merely an illusion.

Then Jinsu raised his hand.

He pointed his finger directly at Ryo.

Ryo's eyes widened.

And in the next moment...

All the Yami rushed toward him.

And they began some and tearing apart his body.

Jinsu disappeared from before his eyes.

Everything turned into chaos of darkness, blood, and sounds.

"AAAGHHH!"

---

Ryo suddenly woke up from his sleep.

He sat up in his bed, gasping for breath.

His eyes were wide open, and his face was covered in sweat.

At the same moment, the members of his faction appeared near him.

One of the faction members looked at him with concern.

"Are you alright, Boss?"

Ryo raised his hand and placed it over his face.

He remained silent for several seconds.

Then slowly lowered his hand.

"Boss?"

Ryo began laughing.

At first, it was a short laugh.

Then it grew louder.

"Hahahahaha!"

He looked at the girl near him, then pulled her toward him.

"I found him!"

Then he proceeded to kiss her.

He laughed even louder.

"Hahahahaha!"

The rest of the faction quickly backed away, leaving the place.

As for Ryo, he continued laughing, his eyes carrying something that had not been there before that memory.

Something resembling madness...

Or discovery.

---

Somewhere else...

Jinsu rose from the ground.

He rubbed his face with his hand, then sat on the bed.

He was silent.

But something was different.

Tears began falling from his eyes.

And yet...

He was smiling.

A small smile carrying the pain of many long years.

He raised his hand and wiped away his tears.

Then said in a low voice:

"I remembered..."

His voice trembled.

"I'm sorry for forgetting you, Clara."

He looked ahead.

"I remembered you."

Then he smiled through his tears.

"I swear I'll find you... wherever you are."

Jinsu raised his eyes toward the wall.

Where the picture had been hanging.

And the roots that had appeared from it moments ago.

But...

Jinsu froze.

The picture was gone.

It was no longer there.

He approached the wall.

There was no trace of it.

The wall was completely intact.

As if the picture had never existed in the first place.

Jinsu stared at it in silence.

The wall itself...

seemed as though it had swallowed it.

And Jinsu remained standing in front of the wall, the smile still on his face.

He remembered Clara.