Little kit and the void

It all started on a beautiful autumn morning. The streets of Kurozaka sprawled before me, brimming with possibilities. An arcade? That café I'd grown fond of? Maybe a visit to a local temple, another soak in the hot springs, or gathering new friends for karao—

Ouchie!

A big, strong bear of a man struck me like I owed him money. Dizziness followed, and by the time my head cleared, the guy was already flying away, having left behind a bunch of money and…

What's this?

It looked like a pendant. Some kind of ring—simple, maybe matrimonial—with a visible mend down the middle from an old break. The inscription read:

"A bond broken by loyalty."

Now that sounds weird… and important.

The man definitely didn't intend to leave this behind, so I did what any normal person would—ran ten miles across the city to return it.

My fitness isn't terrible, but geez, that marathon drove me to the edge—had genuine moments where passing out or even dying seemed possible.

When the big man turned red and even bigger, I wondered if I was starting to lose it from the exhaustion. But I pushed through the nausea, screaming muscles and hallucinations. In the end, they weren't nearly as bad as people make them sound.

Eventually, the chase took me out of the city and into the mountain. That part… let's just say I left my lunch somewhere along the trail.

The explosion came next, burying the man in a wave of mud with trees and stones and stuff.

And I was like "Oh, crapbaskets! He needs help." So, instead of calling an ambulance, I did what anyone would—ran straight at him while the landslide was still happening. But before I could get close, the ground gave way, and down I went as if the earth had just decided to swallow me whole.

Lady luck was kind that day—my fall ended in an underground lake. So instead of becoming wheelchaired I only almost drowned.

Scrambling in the water, fighting to stay afloat despite exhaustion, the shore finally came within reach—and with it, a deep, proper breath after what felt like an hour of grueling exercise.

I waited a while for my body to start responding again, then tried to glance around—or, well, tried to see through the blackness.

Darker than a mansion's basement, it took me a long time to make out anything in the little light that filtered from the hole I'd fallen into.

Eventually, some humanoid figures came into view, and I was about to greet them—until I realized they were statues. Cracked, eroded, and covered in moss, they told me this place was a tiny bit old.

I remembered my cellphone—no signal, of course—but at least it worked as a light.

Solid stone walls enclosed me—this wasn't a cave, but some kind of structure. Japanese style paintings adorned them, and one in particular caught my eye: badass looking guys with staffs and prayer beads, pointing at… something that had been erased from the painting.

With few options other than to wander around aimlessly, I started wandering around aimlessly.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't at least a little worried about my state, but it was still too soon to panic, so instead, I shifted my focus towards the positives: this felt like an adventure, and a memory surfaced of a certain girl who stumbled into a magical world after chasing a red bear—or maybe it wasn't a bear, or even red.

After crossing a few open doors, checking a bunch of dead-end rooms filled with random stuff—like scrolls, low tables, decayed cushions—a voice began calling to me.

"Most fortuitous. This one had long resigned itself to an eternity of solitude. Draw near, little kit."

Suspicious? Totally. But curiosity hadn't killed me yet, so I followed what seemed to be the direction of the voice.

Had to go down some pretty sketchy stairs, but eventually I found myself in a huge, round chamber held up by thick pillars. At the center stood an old square box, wrapped in ropes and covered with paper seals—the kind the Japanese use to say "don't touch".

"Hi, hi! Anyone around?"

"I offer thee greetings. Pray tell—what age is this, and how fares the world beyond these stones?"

A small part of me worried this was just some weirdo doing a bit, but the idea that it could actually be something real—something magical—was way too cool to pass up.

"Yeah, greetings to thee as well. We're in 1999 and… um, I don't know who the current emperor is, but your place looks like it's been here for centuries. The world's doing great, globalization's booming, tech's exploding, though Japan's still dealing with the fallout from that '91 economic crash."

"Thou'st talent for recounting orderly facts is… astounding."

A faint itch stirred in the back of my mind—like a bug slipping into my ear—but it faded as quickly as it came.

"Yet thy mind hath painted a clear enough picture. For that, thou hast my thanks."

"You're welcome? I'm Avery, by the way. What's your… I mean, pray tell, what is thy name?"

"Thou mayst refer to this one as Kuurei. A pleasure, making thy acquaintance."

"So Kuri, what are you exactly? Are you real, or did my sanity finally slip and now I'm hearing voices?"

"Reality courses through me as surely as blood through thy veins, or breath from thy lungs."

"Okay but where are you? Are you actually stuck in the box? Some evil spirit sealed away or something?"

"Humans have named many benevolent beings evil, and raised just as many sinners to holiness. This one cannot prove in which realm it truly stands. That, little kit, is for thy judgement to decide."

"Gotcha, big kit. Then, pray tell, oh wise and totally-not-evil one, how might this humble traveler escape your spooky temple?"

"May this one inquire why thou wouldst leave so soon? Art thou so afraid of a sad old box?"

"Meh, fair point." I said, sitting down. "I can keep you company for a while, I guess. What does one do to pass the time around here?"

"Patient contemplation fills my hours—pondering what deeds led to this fate, and what might yet be done to guide a world wherein humanity hath turned against its own gods."

"And anything a bit more… fun?"

"Wouldst thou test thy fate in a game of mine own choosing?"

"Now you're talking. What've you got in mind? A riddle? A test of spirit? Or maybe some ancient treasure with monkey's-paw powers."

"Perchance a simpler amusement. This one is curious about the world across the seas whence thou camest. I propose this game: we shall take turns defining concepts known to our own experience, and the other shall give them a fitting name. What dost thou say of such a pastime?"

"So… like one gives a definition, and the other makes up a name for it?"

"Indeed. Wouldst thou care to begin?"

"Sure. So, back where I come from, there's this huge, huge cliff that's like an endless labyrinth you can explore forever and never get tired of."

"I see…. Thou art drawn to paths without end, caring little for the destinies that might await thee beyond. I shall call this place Maze of the Wandering Soul, for the explorer who loses herself in vastness, yet finds the world anew at every turn."

"Alright… we just call it the Grand Canyon. Anyway, your turn."

"Consider a being that drifts between the worlds of the living and the dead, its shape ever changing, never grounded. It moves endlessly, chasing the wind, yet by its wandering forgets the form it once bore. What name wouldst thou give such a creature?"

"I think you're referring to one of those ghostly things of Japanese mythology, but I'm gonna give it a better name: Losty McDriftsalot."

"Indeed what thou hast just named already bears a name: Hitotama. Thou dost not cease to amaze with thy creativity—yet is that continuous search for the unpredictable a way to flee from aught that may chain thee?"

"Umm… what? You really like overthinking stuff, don't you? "

"Indeed this one does. It is thy turn now."

"Alright then. Something simple: a nice place where you give food to those who can't afford it. No need to give it a complicated name."

"In that case, let it be named Heart's Echo."

"Really? It's just a community kitchen. What part of it echoes a heart?"

"The hand that gives gladly—for the joy it brings to the giver, rather than for the sake of others alone."

"Are you trying to psychoanalyze me or something? This was supposed to be a game." I got up, slightly flustered. "Well, enough playing. I'm gonna get going."

"Forgive the pretensions. But wouldst thou not grant me my second turn? Long will pass ere a meeting with another ensues, and boredom would otherwise consume the hours."

"Well, fine, but please stop doing your Socratic method thing on me and just choose something you yourself care about."

"That I shall. What this one has in mind is but its own humble being."

Silence hung between us. The voice sat there, quiet.

"That's it? No definition? And you want me to give you a name?"

"Indeed."

"But I already know your name. Kuurei, ghost of void, right?"

"That was an ancient name, spoken by humans of old. Wouldst thou not find it unamusing to bear the same name for centuries unchanging?"

"Yeah, good point. Guess I'll give you something more modern. You okay with a non-Japanese name?"

"As times change, so too does the meaning of things."

"Then what about Blake? That name comes from blank in English. Get it?"

"Blake… a name of distant tongues, born of jest yet bearing meaning. A novelty upon that which hath remained unchanged through ages untold. Wouldst thou speak it, and call this one by it?"

"Ookay… sure thing, Blake."

The box cracked. The rope loosened and fell away, and the paper seals burned to ash.

Not that I wasn't expecting this kind of outcome. Maybe, just maybe, I was kinda hoping for it.

Before me appeared a figure—wrinkled, ageless, draped in a plain white robe, eyes closed, a faint smile on their face.

Oh—and it also floated, glowed in the dark, and had animal ears and whiskers.

"This seal was forged to imprison that which is naught. To bind the void, mortals bestowed meaning upon the meaningless. Thus was the name Kuurei spoken—a word that tethered my essence to this vessel of form. By tying the nameless to a new vessel, thou hast loosed the final lock of this weary, age-worn seal."

"And what vessel did I tie it to? Actually, never mind that. You tricked me into breaking the seal for you, that was cheap." I tried to sound at least a little bit mad.

"Thou wouldst do well to remember: a fox may find wisdom, yet never forget the forest from whence it came. This one delights in mind games and playful trickery, as does the humblest of its kind."

"If you'd asked nicely I would've gladly freed you, because I already figured you're not a bad guy, even if you're a bit pedantic."

"But the point of freeing me was not merely to grant me liberty. Thou must learn that even mindless play may bear consequence. Thinkest thou thy actions lack meaning simply because thyself intend them not?"

And again with the deeper readings. Blake was actually starting to annoy me with that part of him, and that's something few could brag about.

"I know well what thou dost hope to gain from this act. And while I do not deny that some recompense might be due to thee, nothing in this world comes without a fair price—least of all what one such as I can offer."

Then Blake…

S-suddenly disappeared in smoke, and that was the last I saw of it, yeah.

A while later I found you and ended up believing it was all a dream, so I didn't even ask about your red giant powers.

The end.