Midnight Voices

 Night fell like a shroud over Kagura-no-Sato, and with it came the voices.They started as whispers—barely audible murmurs drifting through the shrine's corridors—but as the hours crept toward midnight, they grew louder, more insistent. Haruto tried to ignore them as he helped prepare for Shinjiro's ritual, but the voices seemed to seep through the walls themselves, speaking in that ancient language that his blood understood even if his mind didn't.Come downCome seeCome remember what you forgotThe ritual chamber had been prepared in the shrine's lowest level, in a room Haruto hadn't known existed. The floor was carved with the same mandala pattern as the seal chamber above, but this one was designed for a different purpose—not to contain, but to release. To send a soul walking between worlds.Priest Yoshimura worked methodically, placing candles at specific points around the mandala, each one inscribed with prayers. Tsukiko assisted him in silence, her movements mechanical, her face carefully blank. She hadn't spoken to Haruto since their conversation in the garden.Shinjiro sat in the mandala's center, shirtless, his torso covered in scars that told a story of countless battles. But one scar stood out—a twisted mark over his heart, like a handprint burned into his flesh. The place where the demon had killed him fifteen years ago."That's where she touched you," the priest said, noticing Haruto's stare. "The demon queen. When she resurrected you, she left her mark."Shinjiro's hand moved unconsciously to the scar. "I thought it was just from the original wound.""No. That pattern—" The priest traced the air, mirroring the scar's shape. "—is ancient. A binding mark. She claimed you, in a way. Marked you as hers." His expression was troubled. "Which could be advantageous or disastrous, depending on her intentions.""Wonderful," Shinjiro muttered. "Any other surprises I should know about before I let you stop my heart?""Just one." The priest pulled out a small lacquered box. Inside was a single seed—black as obsidian, pulsing with a faint red light. "This is a soul anchor. While you walk the forsaken road, this will tether your consciousness to your body. If you lose your way, if the demon queen tries to trap you, follow the anchor back. It will guide you home."He placed the seed in Shinjiro's palm. The moment it touched his skin, the red light flared, and thin roots emerged, burrowing into his flesh. Shinjiro hissed in pain but didn't pull away. The roots spread across his hand like a living tattoo, creating a pattern that matched the scar over his heart."It's bound to you now," the priest said. "Connected to your life force. As long as your body lives, the anchor will hold. But—" His voice became grave. "—if your body dies while your soul walks the road, the anchor breaks. And you'll be lost forever in the space between worlds.""How long do I have?""An hour. Maybe two at most. Any longer and the strain on your body will be too great." The priest began lighting the candles. "I'll monitor your vital signs. If you start to fail, I'll pull you back whether you've finished or not.""And if I refuse to come back?""Then you die. Simple as that."Shinjiro nodded slowly. He looked at Haruto. "If I don't make it back, or if I come back wrong—corrupted, possessed, whatever—don't hesitate. Use that sword of yours and end it quickly.""You're not going to—""Promise me, boy. I've seen what happens when demons take control of someone. It's not a mercy to let them live."Haruto's hand moved to his sword. "I promise."The candles were all lit now, their flames burning an unnatural blue-green. The priest began to chant, his voice resonant in the small chamber. Tsukiko joined him, her voice weaving with his grandfather's in harmonies that seemed to bend reality itself.The mandala began to glow.Shinjiro closed his eyes, his breathing slowing, becoming deliberate. With each exhale, his presence seemed to thin, as if he was becoming less solid, less real. The scar on his chest pulsed in time with the chanting.The voices in the shrine grew louder, more frantic:NOSTOP HIMHE MUST NOT SPEAK TO HERHE MUST NOT SEEThe candles flickered despite the lack of wind. Shadows gathered in the corners of the chamber, darker than natural darkness, and within them, Haruto could see movement—shapes forming and dissolving, red eyes opening and closing.The corrupted villagers were manifesting inside the shrine itself, drawn by the ritual's power."Grandfather—" Tsukiko said, her voice strained."I see them." The priest's chanting never wavered. "Haruto, you need to hold them back. The ritual can't be interrupted or Shinjiro's soul will be severed from his body permanently."Haruto drew the guardian's sword. The blade ignited with blue fire, pushing back the shadows. But for every shadow he dispersed, two more formed. The corrupted were pouring in through walls and floors, manifesting from the darkness itself.A figure emerged from the nearest shadow—the girl-creature, chrysanthemums weeping from her eye sockets. She smiled at Haruto with a mouth full of petals."Guardian-sama," she sang. "The queen says hello. She says she remembers you. She says she's been waiting so long for you to come home.""I've never met your queen.""Haven't you? Look deep in your memories, guardian-sama. Past this life, past the last life, to the very first time you stood in these halls." The girl tilted her head at an impossible angle. "You were there when she was sealed. You watched the maiden die. You made an oath in blood. Don't you remember?"Images flashed through Haruto's mind—not his memories, but Kenji's, pulled from the guardian's mark burned into his soul:A woman in white robes, kneeling before an altarPriests chanting, their voices rising to a crescendoThe demon queen, bound in chains of light, screaming promises of vengeanceKenji's sword in his hand, trembling"Strike her heart," the head priest commanded. "Complete the seal."But Kenji couldn't do it. Couldn't kill the woman he lovedHe turned his blade on the priests insteadBlood on sacred groundYuki's scream as the ritual twisted, turned violentHer eyes finding his: "Why? Why couldn't you let me go?"Haruto gasped, stumbling back. The girl-creature's laughter echoed through the chamber."You remember now. You remember failing her. Condemning her to eternal suffering because you were too weak to do what needed to be done." She moved closer, her flower-filled eyes seeming to see directly into his soul. "Will you fail again, guardian-sama? Or will you finally complete your oath?"More corrupted villagers emerged, surrounding Haruto. Their mouths opened in unison, and the demon queen's voice poured out:"My champion walks between worlds, seeking audience with me. How delightful. How unexpected. I wonder what he thinks he can offer that I don't already have?"In the mandala's center, Shinjiro convulsed. His eyes snapped open, but they were wrong—the pupils had become vertical slits, reptilian, burning with red light."He's in!" the priest shouted. "His soul has left his body! Hold them back, boy! Just a few more minutes!"But the corrupted were pressing in from all sides now, a tide of twisted flesh and crimson flowers. Haruto swung his blade in wide arcs, the blue fire cutting through them, but there were too many. They grasped at him with root-covered hands, trying to drag him down, trying to transform him.One grabbed his ankle. Cold spread up his leg as roots burrowed into his skin. Haruto cut himself free, blood spattering the floor, but two more took the fallen one's place.This was a distraction, he realized. The demon queen was trying to stop the ritual by overwhelming him, by forcing the priest to choose between maintaining the chant and saving Haruto's life.From above—from the main shrine—came the sound of breaking wood. The corrupted had breached the upper levels and were flooding downward, drawn to the ritual's power like moths to flame."We're out of time," Tsukiko said. She was pale, shaking, barely able to stand, but her voice was steady. She looked at Haruto. "I'm sorry. I have to—"She placed her hands on the floor, and light exploded from beneath her palms.The corrupted shrieked as the light touched them, their forms burning away. The ones that had grabbed Haruto released him, retreating into the shadows. But the light was consuming Tsukiko too—her hands were smoking, the flesh burning where she channeled power directly from her bloodline."Granddaughter, no!" The priest's chanting faltered. "You'll kill yourself!""Better me than all of us!" Tsukiko's voice was strained with pain. "Just finish the ritual! Let Shinjiro complete his task!"The light grew brighter, more intense. The corrupted fell back further, but Haruto could see it was costing Tsukiko everything. Her skin was cracking, blood seeping from the wounds, and her eyes—her eyes were beginning to glow with the same light she was channeling.She was burning her own life force to power the purification."Tsukiko, stop!" Haruto grabbed her shoulders, trying to pull her away from the floor. "You're dying!""I know." She smiled at him, and it was peaceful, accepting. "But at least this way, I choose. This is my sacrifice, Haruto. Not the seal's. Not my grandfather's. Mine.""No!" The priest was at her side now, the chanting abandoned. "There's still time! The new moon isn't for three more days! You don't have to—""Yes I do." Tsukiko's body was translucent now, the light shining through her as if she was made of glass. "Because Shinjiro might succeed. He might negotiate new terms, might save us all. But if he fails, if the seal breaks before the new moon, there won't be time for a proper ritual. Better to strengthen it now, with what power I have left."Her gaze found Haruto's. "Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't wait. Tell him I hope he finds what he's looking for in the darkness.""Tsukiko—"But she was already dissolving, her physical form breaking apart into pure light. The light flowed into the floor, racing along the mandala's carved lines, spreading throughout the chamber and up through the shrine's structure. Where it touched, the corruption burned away. The crimson chrysanthemums withered to ash. The twisted wood straightened. The rotting talismans renewed themselves.And in the seal chamber far above, Haruto felt something shift—the bronze grate cooling, the chains solidifying, the maiden's suffering-scream that had been a constant background presence suddenly... quieting.Tsukiko was reinforcing the seal with her own soul.Not a full renewal—that would require the ritual blade and the proper ceremony—but a patch, a temporary strengthening that bought them precious time.The priest caught her as her body finally gave out, her form now barely more than a silhouette of light. "Foolish child," he sobbed. "Brave, foolish child.""Not... foolish," Tsukiko whispered, her voice fading. "Choosing... my own fate... for once..."The light pulsed one final time, then began to fade.But before it disappeared completely, Tsukiko's eyes focused on something behind Haruto. Her expression shifted to horror."Grandfather... the Wraith..."Haruto spun around.The Shinigami Wraith stood in the chamber doorway, larger than before, more solid. The souls within its smoke-body were screaming silently, pressing against the darkness that contained them. Its red-slash eyes were fixed on Tsukiko's fading form with something like hunger.It had come for her death."No!" Haruto threw himself between Tsukiko and the Wraith, sword raised. "She's not yours!"The Wraith tilted its head, considering. Then it spoke—not in words but directly into Haruto's mind:ALL DEATH IS MINEALL SOULS PASS THROUGH METHIS ONE MOST OF ALLIt reached out with one skeletal hand toward Tsukiko.Haruto swung his blade. The steel passed through the Wraith's arm, and blue fire traced the wound. The creature recoiled, its form wavering, but it didn't retreat. Instead, it raised its other hand, and the red slashes that were its eyes began to weep that dark substance.YOU CANNOT STOP HARVESTYOU CANNOT CHEAT DEATH TWICEONCE FOR YOUR ANCESTORBUT NOT FOR HER"Watch me," Haruto snarled.He poured everything he had into the sword—all his fear, his rage, his desperate need to save at least one person from this nightmare. The blade blazed brilliant white, so bright it hurt to look at, and when he swung again, the Wraith actually screamed.The sound was the absence of sound, a void that swallowed all noise, and it sent the remaining corrupted villagers fleeing. Even the demon queen's presence withdrew from the chamber, as if something about the Wraith's pain disturbed her.The Wraith's form destabilized, its smoke-body fragmenting into dozens of smaller pieces that scattered like leaves in a storm. But before it fully dispersed, it turned its red-slash eyes on Haruto one last time:THREE DAYSTHREE DEATHS OWEDTHE MAIDENTHE RONINTHE GUARDIANTHE HARVEST COMES DUEThen it was gone, leaving only the smell of decay and flowers.Haruto dropped to his knees beside Tsukiko. She was barely visible now, just a faint outline of light. The priest held her, tears streaming down his aged face."Did... did I help?" she whispered. "Did I buy... enough time?""Yes," the priest lied, his voice breaking. "Yes, granddaughter. You bought us time. You did well.""Good. That's... that's good." Her eyes found Haruto's one last time. "Tell the ronin... to hurry. Tell him... the queen is waiting."The light faded completely.Tsukiko was gone, her soul absorbed into the seal, joining the maiden in eternal suffering to buy them a few more days.The priest let out a sound that was half-sob, half-scream, and suddenly looked every one of his eighty years. He gently laid what remained of his granddaughter—a residue of light that was already fading—on the floor and turned to Shinjiro's motionless body."How long has he been under?" Haruto asked.The priest checked the candles. "Forty-three minutes. He has maybe twenty more before his body fails.""And if he's not back by then?""Then he joins Tsukiko in death, and we've lost everything. The seal is temporarily strengthened, yes, but it's not enough. Without a proper renewal ceremony, it will fail before the next full moon. And now—" His voice cracked. "Now we don't even have a maiden to sacrifice."Haruto looked at the glowing mandala, at Shinjiro's body with those wrong, red-slit eyes staring at nothing, at the fading light that had been a living girl just moments ago.Three days until the new moon.But Tsukiko was already gone.And Shinjiro walked alone in the darkness, negotiating with a demon queen who had four hundred years to perfect her hatred.From somewhere deep below—from the seal chamber itself—came the sound of laughter.Not the girl-creature's laughter. Not the demon queen's layered voice.But a child's laughter, pure and delighted, as if something wonderful had just happened.As if everything was going exactly according to plan.The priest's hands were shaking as he resumed his monitoring of Shinjiro's vital signs. "His heartbeat is slowing. His breathing is barely present. Whatever's happening on the forsaken road, it's taking a toll.""Can you pull him back?""Not without his cooperation. His soul has to want to return. If he's trapped, ensnared, or if he's chosen to stay—" The priest's expression was grim. "Then we lose him too."Minutes crawled past like hours. The candles burned lower. Shinjiro's body grew colder, his lips turning blue, frost forming on his skin despite the chamber's warmth.And from deep within the shrine, the voices resumed their chanting:Blood calls to bloodDeath calls to deathThe maiden sleepsThe ronin walksThe guardian waitsThe queen dreamsSoon, soon, soon...Haruto gripped his sword, watching Shinjiro's face for any sign of consciousness, any indication that the ronin had heard his message:The maiden was already gone.Whatever bargain he thought he was making, the terms had already changed.The clock was running out.And death was coming to collect its due.