Chapter 1:
Introduction(s) [TWO MEN ARE BURNING]
Calamities
For forty years, it has waited quietly—like a gun resting in an armoury. Dust has steadily layered over it as it awaits activation and purpose.
To many in the Hidaka family, it is nothing more than a forgotten dream, but to the rest of the world, it is a living nightmare.
It is a secret only known to a select few in the higher ranks of the Hidaka Clan. Even those few who knew of its existence had never laid eyes on the weapon itself, much less the room where it resides.
That is, until now.
The wretched creaking of an elevator shaft echoed throughout the long-abandoned dungeon, its gears and chains grinding in protest.
The rust and wear were obvious to the naked eye; the entire mechanism looked as though it was about to give way at any second, but that didn't deter its two occupants from descending.
"Are you sure this is safe?" A young man in his early twenties, with crimson-coloured hair and blood-red pupils, spoke up. He wore a bright red, intricate kimono that boasted an ornate phoenix design with many colourful feathers scattered throughout.
"Even though she is weak right now, she is still her daughter. Wouldn’t it be best to take a few steps back and re-evaluate how we plan to approach this, especially since we are dealing with such a monster?"
His companion was a young man who also appeared to be in his early to mid twenties. His hair was white with red streaks, curly and slicked back. His skin was ash white, almost deathly pale. On his left ear were a multitude of piercings, and his pupils were wine-red, which looked black in the dungeon's dim light. He wore a black kimono decorated with dark red and golden-yellow floral patterns.
"I understand your concern, but we don’t have much of a choice given the severity of the situation at hand," he said as the elevator came to an abrupt stop.
The elevator doors creaked open, and the sound of scraping metal echoed through the dungeon halls.
The two stepped into a dimly lit hallway and continued down it. The sound of footsteps echoed through the underground, bouncing off the walls and ceilings until they stood before a steel door about 50 centimetres thick.
Of course, they knew such a door could contain the monster that had been waiting for 40 years. But beyond this door was a wall of curses that prevented the creature inside from escaping. Illusory motion, they called it. As such, anything inside would never get closer to or farther from the point they have always been, making it so that travel over any finite distance can neither be completed nor begun.
While the logic of the curse defied every scientific law, debating its absurdity was a hollow exercise. In a world inhabited by beings that exist entirely outside the realm of reason, logic had long since lost its purpose.
Beings we know as “Gods.”
But, if (with great emphasis) the creature somehow bypassed that initial seal, it would only find itself ensnared by layers of curses far more intricate and dubious of reason than the last.
This is the Black Box.
A place where people are imprisoned for the crimes of their parents. Once you end up here, you'll most likely die here, if you are allowed to die at all.
It is a place outside humanity.
"Are you ready, Kaaru? If you don't feel up to it, you and I can—"He turned to look at him and stopped. They say that eyes are the windows of a person's soul, and, staring into his eyes, Reika saw nothing but confidence. There is a sense of dauntlessness that glistens behind both pupils.
“The moment you enter that room, I'll undo the curses, and after that happens, she could kill you. So make sure you are prepared for the worst possible outcome.”
He paused for a moment and looked into his eyes again, possibly to affirm his belief that Kaaru, the man who stood with him, could deal with something like this.
“I know that you are usually extremely cautious when it comes to these sorts of things, but please tread with an even greater level of caution than you normally would. I can’t afford to lose you as well.”
"Don't worry about me," Kaaru assured him. "And besides, as long as you're here, there's nothing to worry about."
He took a step inside and—Darkness. Total, utter, darkness.
So complete that even the last smear of light from the corridor—thin as a thread—was swallowed the moment Kaaru crossed.
It didn’t feel like a room.
It felt like a place carved out of the world and stitched somewhere else.A sealed-off dimension.
A tiny, private universe built for a single inhabitant.
This was Homura’s world.It is a small world set apart from the rest of the world.
It would not be far-fetched to call it her “home.”
And if monsters needed homes… then this was the only one that could hold something like her.
As the heavy door sealed behind him, the sound echoed like thunder, causing a sharp, ringing pain in his ears.
But he didn’t flinch.
Kaaru walked forward and stepped into the pitch-black room where there was no light and seemingly nothing. Nothing but a sole figure of a human, or what was human-shaped, at least. It was almost as if the aura that outlined their body was the only thing to notify an unsuspecting individual of their presence.
It didn’t move.
It didn’t speak.
It didn’t even seem to breathe.
But yet, for some reason, it was unmistakably alive.
He advanced with measured steps, controlled enough to seem almost calm.
Almost.
Each footstep landed softly, yet the emptiness threw the sound back at him, magnifying it until the echo rang through the room like a bell tolling in a cathedral.
A bell–a gong, as if signalling the start of a fight.
And in many ways, it wasn’t far off.
One step. Another.
The distance between them shrank.
The figure remained still.
When he came close enough to see her eyes, glistening red eyes through the sea of red hair, he stopped, dead in his tracks. Cold sweats started to form.
He pulled up his right arm sleeve to reveal chains wrapped tightly around it. The chains looked very similar to the ones that bound the creature in place. They were ancient, cursed chains designed to seal powers and tie down a God, demon, or, in this case, a monster.
Without hesitation, he loosened the chains binding him, leaving only half still wrapped around his body. He let the rest crash to the ground, the sound echoing ominously throughout the chamber as he began to chant.
As the chains fell away from his arms, they disintegrated into shimmering particles, only to reappear around the being before him, slamming her down with crushing force and further restraining her movements.
“Are you awake yet, monster?” he taunted.
It was a spiteful question, one whose answer he already anticipated. But that was the point—he sought a reaction, a way to gauge whether she posed a real threat and, if so, whether she was one he could subdue.
He recalled the Theory of Evolutionary Strength, conceived by the Kunuzari Household. This theory posited that with each generation, the strength of a house family grows exponentially. Yet, like all theories, there are exceptions. He knew he had to test it himself. After all, forty years spanned nearly two generations. What had once been considered the pinnacle of strength—the strongest of their time—might now be on a par with today’s weakest members.
If what he risked his life for was merely an individual barely stronger than the current fifth-ranked council member, it would be a total failure on all fronts.
Those were the first words he said to her, and they were also the first words she had heard in 40 years.
"Orders came from above; they ordered the immediate execution of Homura Hidaka, the daughter of Akari Hidaka.
"Forty years buried in the depths of a cellar—cut off from human contact, sealed in a room without even a trace of light—sounds like a cruelty beyond measure.In truth, it was exactly that. After such an endless stretch of isolation, it is no wonder the mind would begin to crave death in any form.
And yet, though forty years passed both within that darkness and in the world above, the thing imprisoned there did not age a single day.
For all that time, it could not move. It could not die.
But it remained conscious—awake for every second of those agonizing forty years.
"However, due to the surrounding circumstances, the council has decided to forgive Homura for past actions her mother took that went against the clan and threw the entire family into turmoil..."
He paused for a second, looking carefully at Homura, whose face was hidden beneath the shadows, trying to figure out what expression she was making before he could even consider continuing.
"...but, in exchange, the Hidaka family have requested that you must first prove your loyalty to the Hidaka House, one of the Great 8 Noble Houses and must take up arms and help them in the upcoming war by becoming a God Candidate, restore the Hidaka family's power and fulfill the divine prophecy by becoming a God."
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