The Stone

"Yo, Takeshi! One more round!"

Raizen Kurogane didn't look up from his phone as he waved goodbye to his friends. The arcade was loud, with the sounds of fighting games and racing simulators blaring from every corner. He had spent the last two hours getting absolutely demolished by Takeshi and Sordu at Street Fighter, and his pride was bruised, but it had been worth it.

"Nah man, I'm out!" Raizen called back, grinning. "My aunt's gonna kill me if I'm late again!"

"Weak!" Sordu yelled after him, laughing.

Raizen pushed through the arcade doors and into the evening air. The sun was already dipping low, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. Thursday. It was just another Thursday. School, arcade, home. Rinse and repeat.

He was almost home when he heard it.

"Hello."

Raizen froze mid-step.

The voice was strange, and was too close to him. Like someone had whispered directly into his ear even though the street was empty.

He turned around slowly, and his blood turned to ice in his veins.

The thing standing behind him wasn't human.

It was tall, with a body made entirely of shadows that flickered and writhed. Its waist was narrow, almost skeletal, and its limbs were too long, bending at angles that didn't make sense. Where its face should have been was just a void, a gaping black hole.

Raizen's throat closed up.

"What... what the hell...?"

The creature tilted its head, and when it spoke, its voice was layered, like a dozen people talking at once.

"Ooooh. Another stone user."

Raizen stumbled backward, his heart pounding against his ribs.

"The last stone," the thing continued, its head snapping toward him with a sickening crack. "Where have you been hiding?"

"I don't—I don't know what you're talking about—"

The creature lunged.

Raizen screamed and bolted. His legs moved on instinct, feet pounding against pavement as he tore down the street, and he didn’t dare look back.

But unfortunately for him, the thing was fast. He could hear it behind him, hear the scrape of claws against concrete, the horrible laughing sound it made as it chased him.

He turned a corner, lungs burning, and—

WHAM.

Something slammed into his back and sent him flying. Raizen hit the ground hard, his face scraping against bitter asphalt. Pain exploded through his ribs. He gasped, tried to crawl forward, and was lifted off the ground by an invisible force.

The creature's claws dug into his shoulders, and Raizen screamed again, kicking uselessly at air. The thing brought him close to its void-like face, and he could feel it smiling.

"You smell like fear," it hissed. "Delicious."

Raizen's vision blurred. He couldn't breathe. The thing's grip was crushing him, breaking him, and he was going to die here in some random alley and nobody would even know.

Suddenly, the creature wailed, and its grip on Raizen released.

Raizen hit the ground in a heap, gasping. His vision swam, but through the haze and confusion he saw her.

A woman stood between him and the monster, a scythe gleaming in her hand. She was young, maybe his age, with long, flowing dark purple hair that moved like water even though there was no wind. Her face was half-covered by a black mask that wrapped around her mouth and nose. Her arms were bare, covered in strange, intricate designs that looked like both tattoos and scars, and she wore a slim-fit black top and baggy cargo pants.

She moved again, the blade flashing.

The creature shrieked and staggered back, black blood spraying from a wound Raizen couldn't even see her make.

"You're—" the monster hissed, "—you're one of them—"

The woman didn't respond. She just moved again, faster this time, her blade cutting through the air in a perfect arc.

The creature dissolved into smoke with one final, agonized wail.

Raizen's chest heaved, and his entire body hurt. He tried to push himself up, but his arms gave out. The woman turned to face him, and her eyes, a light shade of gray, locked onto his.

"The last stone user," she murmured, voice muffled by the mask.

Raizen's vision flickered as he struggled to speak.

"What... what are you...?"

The dark consumed him entirely.

~

Earlier That Morning

"Raizen! I'm heading to work now!"

Raizen groaned and pulled the pillow over his head. It was too early. Way too early.

"Raizen!"

"I'm up! I'm up!" He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. His aunt, Aunt Yumi, was already dressed in her work uniform, a bag slung over her shoulder. She poked her head into his room with that look she always had when she was running late.

"There's money in my room if you need it for lunch," she said quickly. "Top drawer, next to my jewelry box. Don't forget to lock up when you leave for school."

"Yeah, yeah. Got it."

Aunt Yumi smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She looked tired. She always looked tired these days.

"Love you, kid."

"Love you too, Auntie."

The door shut. Raizen waited until he heard her footsteps fade down the hallway before flopping back onto his bed.

Money. Right. He needed lunch money.

He dragged himself out of bed and shuffled toward Aunt Yumi's room. The door was already open, and he figured she had probably left it that way because she was in a rush again. Raizen stepped inside, heading straight for the dresser.

Then he froze.

His father's door was open.

Raizen turned slowly, staring at the door at the end of the hallway. It was always closed. Always. Aunt Yumi never went in there. She had forbidden him from going in there since he was a kid, saying it was too painful, that she needed to keep it the way it was. A memory she wasn't ready to let go of.

But now it was open.

Just a crack.

Raizen's chest tightened. He shouldn't. He really shouldn't.

But his feet were already moving.

He pushed the door open slowly, wincing as it creaked. The room was dim, curtains drawn, but everything was... pristine. The bed was neatly made. The desk was organized. It looked like someone had just stepped out for a moment and would be back any second.

But his father had been gone for ten years.

Raizen swallowed hard and stepped inside.

There were boxes stacked against the wall. Old cardboard boxes, dusty and worn. Raizen crouched in front of one and carefully peeled back the flaps.

Photos.

The first one was of a woman, young, smiling, with kind eyes and dark hair. She was holding a baby.

Him.

Raizen's hands trembled as he picked up the photo. That was his mother. He had never met her. Aunt Yumi said she had disappeared shortly after he was born. No explanation. No goodbye.

He flipped through more photos. His father. His mother. The two of them together, happy. A family he had never known.

His throat burned.

He was about to close the box when he noticed another one in the corner. Smaller. With yellow papers plastered all over it, old, faded talismans with strange symbols scrawled on them.

Raizen frowned. Ugh? Talismans?

He peeled the papers off carefully and opened the box.

Inside was a single object.

A smooth, circular stone that glowed faintly in the dim light. It was warm, almost alive, pulsing like it had a heartbeat.

"What... is this?"

Raizen reached out and touched it.

The stone flared.

Blinding blue light exploded from it. Pain, sharp, searing, burning, shot through Raizen's entire body. He screamed, tried to drop the stone, but it was sinking into his palm, dissolving through his skin like water.

"ARGH! ARGH!"

Heat flooded his veins, and his vision went white. He could feel it, something foreign coursing through him, rewriting him from the inside out.

"AUNT YUMI!" he screamed, but his voice cracked.

His temperature spiked, sweat poured down his face, and he stumbled backward, knocking over boxes, gasping for air.

He had to get out.

Raizen bolted from the room, leaving the door wide open, and tore down the hallway. He rushed into his room, immediately slamming the door closed. Sweat formed into beads on his face as he tried to calm himself down.

It was just a dream. A hallucination. Stress. Yeah. Just stress.

But deep down, he knew.

It wasn't a dream.