Purgatory of the Blue Flame: An Enigma, Victor Combs

The dry, oppressive heat of the Faraday Desert radiated off the cracked asphalt as Tatsuchi Kuroainaru (Kuro-eye-na-ru), Zhenyu (Zen-you), and Asumi (Ah-sumi) pressed westward along the rugged, sun-baked trail toward Vallcera.

This stretch of the wasteland felt noticeably different from the rocky crags and dusty settlements they'd traveled through over the past few weeks. Instead, the landscape was dominated by a vast, mostly empty expanse where old storm watchtowers stood beside cell towers and high-voltage power lines like forgotten monuments. Some of the structures were still maintained by regional trade guilds, while others looked as though they'd been abandoned for decades, their rusted iron doors hanging loose and their observation decks buried beneath layers of windblown dust and sand. Zhenyu adjusted the heavy straps of his gear pack as they passed beneath one of the hollow stone towers, wiping a streak of sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his black jacket.

"Those watchtowers were originally built to monitor the Faraday Desert's infamous electrical storms," he explained, his voice carrying clearly over the crunch of gravel beneath their shoes. He glanced up at the tower as they passed. "They were meant to interface with the old automated warning grids and alert the different cities when the surges were approaching, so people didn't get caught out in the open." 

Tatsuchi narrowed her eyes and slowed her pace slightly as she scanned the hazy distance, tapping the screen of her phone to check their route. The sky directly above them was completely clear, yet distant thunder rolled across the horizon, vibrating through the ground beneath their feet with a low, heavy thrum that set her teeth on edge. Every so often, lightning flashed far away behind clouds that weren't actually visible through the blinding glare of the three suns, creating an eerie tension that made the hair on her arms stand up. Asumi pulled out her smartphone and swiped rapidly across the screen to check the regional atmospheric data, walking backward for a few steps before stepping around a patch of loose shale.

"The local networks aren't reporting anything unusual," she noted, her brow furrowing in mild confusion as she stared at the flat weather icons and notification badges on her screen. "No active storm warnings. No barometric pressure drops. Just standard desert heat."

"Typical Faraday weather," Zhenyu muttered with a light shrug. He kicked a loose pebble across the trail and watched it disappear into the dust. "The whole region runs on weird energy fields anyway."

Despite their easy dismissal, Tatsuchi kept her gaze fixed on the shifting horizon. The white streaks in her short black hair caught the sunlight, almost glowing beneath the harsh light of the three distant suns. Something about the thunder bothered her. It wasn't loud enough to be dangerous, but it was too distant to make sense. There were no storm clouds. No warnings. Nothing on the network. Yet the distant thunder continued.

They traveled for several more hours down the path next to the road, cars and trucks occasionally passing them by, before the landscape finally began to change, signaling their approach to the sprawling border of Vallcera. The dirt path gradually gave way to wide asphalt roads. Travelers became more common. Cars, transport trucks, and city buses passed them with a steady, roaring hum. Elaborate canals, automated irrigation waterways, and neon-lit street signs stretched through the landscape like silver veins, carrying water and electricity toward the enormous city ahead.

Vallcera itself was enormous. The city had been built around a massive network of water channels, highway overpasses, pedestrian bridges, elevated walkways, and modern concrete-and-glass structures that towered over the surrounding plains. Unlike government towns such as Jinko or off-the-map settlements like Kokohama, Vallcera was busy and prosperous, filled with a frantic, pulsing energy that felt completely detached from the harshness of the desert surrounding it. Even from the outskirts, the group could see that the city was preparing for a large festival. Colorful fabrics hung from bridges and storefronts, floral arrangements lined the canals, and glowing LED billboards displayed enormous images of the Ten Fates.

A group of travelers walking along the road beside them noticed the Gate Guard symbols on their outfits and immediately struck up a conversation. "You picked a hell of a time to arrive, Captain," one of them called, saluting Tatsuchi before gesturing grandly toward the holographic banners hanging across the nearest overpass. "The city's celebrating the annual festival  dedicated to the Ten Fates." Tatsuchi glanced toward him.

"The Church has Vallcera celebrate it every year right around the beginning of the Faraday storm season," the traveler continued. "Usually around the middle of winter." Tatsuchi's expression barely changed.

Then it hit her: It was winter. She glanced toward Asumi. Asumi was already checking her phone.

December 13th.

None of them had noticed the season changing. They'd spent so much time traveling through the desert that the passage of time had become difficult to track. The three suns made the days feel almost identical, and the heat of the desert certainly didn't resemble winter. Tatsuchi slipped her phone back into her sleeve. She didn't seem particularly concerned. Asumi, however, stared at the date for another few seconds before putting her phone away.

As they moved deeper into the main thoroughfares, the scale of the festival revealed itself in full. Decorated boats drifted through the canals beneath bridges covered in smart-lanterns. Performers dressed as representations of the Ten Fates moved among the crowds, their elaborate costumes flowing behind them as music played from speakers mounted throughout the streets. Food stalls, arcade games, street performers, and religious ceremonies occupied nearly every open space. Children were given small Fate charms while priests offered blessings to travelers and merchants alike, their low chanting blending with the laughter of the crowd and the faint thumping of pop music coming from nearby storefronts. The festival gave Vallcera an entirely different atmosphere from the desert surrounding it. For a city surrounded by heat, dust, and electrical storms, it was almost offensively cheerful.

Zhenyu noticed the food first. The smell of grilled meat drifted through the street, followed by the rich scent of spices and roasted vegetables. His head turned instinctively. "Okay, we definitely need to stop by those food stands before we do anything else," he said, pointing toward a sizzling grill loaded with seasoned meat and potatoes. "Just look at the size of those skewers." Tatsuchi didn't even look. "No." Zhenyu stared at her. "No?"

"We're here for Victor."

"I'm aware."

"Then stop thinking about food."

"I'm not thinking about food."

His stomach growled.

Asumi looked at him.

Zhenyu looked down.

"...That was unrelated."

Asumi laughed.

She was more interested in the decorations anyway. She slowed near one of the bridges, examining the way the city had incorporated the Ten Fates into almost every part of its architecture. Symbols were carved into stone walls, displayed across holographic screens, painted onto boats, and woven into banners hanging above the streets. "It's actually incredible how much detail they put into these displays," she murmured, watching a procession of dancers move gracefully past a floral archway while adjusting the strap of her bag. "They somehow managed to make all of this feel religious without making the whole city look like a temple."

Tatsuchi finally turned toward her.

"Focus."

Asumi looked over. Tatsuchi crossed her arms over her yellow poncho. "We aren't here to sightsee or sample street food. We need information on Victor's whereabouts." Asumi popped another sugar-coated pastry into her mouth. She'd apparently bought it while Tatsuchi wasn't looking. She smiled around the pastry. "Good luck with that, Captain." She gestured vaguely toward the chaotic plaza surrounding them. "We don't even know where his office is, and half these people are too busy drinking spiced wine to care about a missing Gate Captain." Tatsuchi's eyes swept across the crowd. "Someone in this city'll know."

She didn't waste another second. They began asking around. The responses were inconsistent, to say the least. Some citizens stared blankly at them, having never heard Victor's name outside official government broadcasts. Others recognized him immediately and offered grim warnings about the declining safety of the region. A few merchants spoke positively about him, explaining that the Tenth Gate Guard had kept the gangs and criminals from becoming too powerful in Vallcera. Others weren't nearly as sympathetic. Some blamed Victor's disappearance for allowing the city to deteriorate. Others claimed the entire region of Harpyra had become more dangerous since he'd vanished.

The deeper they went into the city, the more obvious it became that Victor's absence hadn't gone unnoticed. People remembered him, people had opinions about him, and people had noticed when he disappeared. Several local merchants stopped in their tracks when they saw Tatsuchi. Then the whispers began.

At first, Tatsuchi paid them no attention.

Vallcera was loud enough that individual voices disappeared beneath the constant movement of the festival. Music drifted between the buildings. Bells rang somewhere farther down the canal. Vendors shouted over one another while decorated boats slipped beneath the bridges. Children crowded the railings to watch performers pass, while priests in white robes moved through the streets handing out small charms bearing the symbols of the Ten Fates. Then someone shouted her name.

"That's her!"

Tatsuchi's eyes shifted toward the voice. A group of locals had stopped near one of the canal crossings, staring directly at her. One man pointed without even trying to hide it, his face lighting up as he recognized her.

"That's Tatsuchi Kuroainaru!"

"The thirteenth Gate Captain?"

"She's the one who fought Kaguya!"

"She beat one of the Revolutionary commanders!"

The reaction spread almost immediately. People nearby turned their heads. Conversations broke apart. More voices joined the growing noise as Tatsuchi and the others moved through the street. Some recognized her from reports. Others had only heard the name. A few seemed surprised that the person they'd heard about was so young. 

"She really is the Kuroainaru girl."

"I heard she fought him alone."

"No, there were other Gate Guards with her."

"Doesn't matter. She survived."

"She saved people in Jinko, didn't she?"

Another cheer rose somewhere behind them.

"Tatsuchi!"

"Captain Tatsuchi!"

"Keep the Revolutionaries out of Harpyra!" 

Tatsuchi slowed without meaning to. For a moment, she simply stood there and listened. The attention wasn't unpleasant. She'd spent her entire life surrounded by people who knew her name. Clan members. Gate Guards. Servants. Nobles. Instructors. Their expectations had followed her for as long as she could remember. Being watched wasn't new. But this was different. These people didn't know her personally. They didn't know how she fought, what she feared, or how many times she'd failed before anyone ever saw her succeed. They knew one thing:

She'd beaten Revolutionary Kaguya Katsuguro.

And they respected her for it.

Something warm settled in Tatsuchi's chest. Her lips almost curled into a smile. Then she caught herself. Her expression flattened again, but the feeling remained.

Kaguya.

The Revolutionary Army.

Her eyes moved across the crowd.

They knew their name.

They knew his face.

They knew what he'd done. Tatsuchi's brow tightened. Phoenixis had never felt like this. Back home, the Revolutionary Army was spoken about carefully, if it was spoken about at all. Information passed through the Gate Guards, the Church, and government officials before reaching ordinary civilians. Most people she'd met inside the capital seemed to know that Revolutionaries existed, but not much beyond that. Here, it was different.

People spoke about them like they were infamous criminals.

They knew the names.

They knew the bounties.

They knew the faces.

And suddenly, something she'd never questioned before began to bother her. Phoenixis hadn't simply been uninformed, the capital had been keeping them uninformed. Tatsuchi's gaze hardened as another group of festivalgoers passed around them, laughing and carrying plates of food between stalls. A little boy wearing a paper Fate mask looked up at her as he walked past, then tugged on his mother's sleeve and whispered something. His mother glanced at Tatsuchi, smiled nervously, and hurried him along.

The world outside the thirteen head capitals had been living with this threat for much longer than she'd realized. And she'd been standing inside the safety of her hometown, thinking she understood it.

Another cheer erupted.

Tatsuchi's fingers tightened around the strap of her sword. The praise was feeding something inside her. She knew it was. And part of her liked it. Before that feeling could grow any further, a hand landed firmly on her shoulder. Tatsuchi stopped. Zhenyu stood beside her, his dark hazel eyes narrowed slightly as he looked from the crowd back to her. His expression carried the faintest hint of amusement, but there was something sharper underneath it.

"Don't."

Tatsuchi slowly turned her head toward him.

"Don't what?"

Zhenyu glanced at the corner of her mouth. Tatsuchi's expression immediately went blank. "I wasn't." Asumi stepped around them with another festival sweet already in her hand. She'd apparently decided the investigation could wait until she'd sampled every food stall on the main street "You definitely were," she said through her stuffed mouth. Tatsuchi stared at her. Asumi took another bite.

"What?"

Tatsuchi rolled her eyes.

"Nothing."

She turned away and continued walking. Zhenyu followed, shaking his head as he adjusted the collar of his jacket. "We're getting distracted."

"I noticed something."

"That doesn't mean you have to stare at everyone like you're waiting for them to start worshipping you." Tatsuchi glanced at him. "I don't need people to worship me." Zhenyu raised an eyebrow. "Right." She said nothing.

The festival continued around them, bright and noisy, but Tatsuchi's attention had already moved elsewhere. The Revolutionary Army wasn't some distant problem hidden behind government reports. It was here. People knew about it, people feared it, and if Phoenixis had been hiding that much from its own citizens, Tatsuchi couldn't help wondering what else the capitals had decided they didn't need to know.

"Focus," Zhenyu warned under his breath, stepping closer so only the three of them could hear him. "Don't forget why we're actually here." Tatsuchi looked around the plaza. Then she noticed the stage. Several performers had just stepped off, leaving the platform temporarily empty. Her expression changed. Zhenyu immediately recognized it. "Tatsuchi, don't-"

Too late.

Tatsuchi calmly stepped toward the stage and vaulted onto the wooden platform. The afternoon suns caught the sharp lines of her face as she turned toward the crowd. 

"I am Tatsuchi Kuroainaru!" she announced, her voice echoing across the plaza. "Captain of the Thirteenth Gate Guard." The crowd erupted. Cheers rolled through the square as people began praising the fact that a Gate Captain had arrived during troubled times. Tatsuchi raised one hand, waiting for the noise to settle enough for her to speak. It didn't. If anything, the cheering grew louder. Zhenyu climbed onto the stage behind her. "Tatsuchi."

She ignored him.

"Listen up!"

That finally caught enough attention. "I'm not here to discuss your local politics," Tatsuchi shouted, her expression tightening slightly. "I'm looking for Victor Combs." A few people began shouting questions. Others immediately started talking among themselves. Zhenyu stepped forward and took the microphone from her before she could make things worse. "What my esteemed colleague meant to say," he projected smoothly, flashing a charismatic smile toward the crowd, "is that we're here to help however we can until we locate the missing Captain and figure out what happened to him."

Tatsuchi shot him a cold look.

Zhenyu smiled back.

Asumi stood near the edge of the stage, trying very hard not to laugh. Zhenyu cleared his throat and steadied his tone. "So, if any of you have information about Captain Victor Combs, his office, his last known movements, or anyone who might've been connected to him, now's the time to speak up." That worked better. People began calling out answers. Several knew exactly who Victor was but hadn't seen him in months. Others barely knew anything about him. A few citizens explained that the Tenth Gate Guard had once kept the local gangs from becoming too powerful, while others blamed his disappearance for allowing the city, and even the wider region of Harpyra, to become more dangerous.

Eventually, one detail caught Tatsuchi's attention. Someone had seen people entering Victor's office shortly before he'd disappeared. That was enough. Tatsuchi and Asumi stepped down from the stage while Zhenyu remained behind to field the remaining questions from the increasingly enthusiastic crowd. They continued asking around until they finally found an older resident who knew approximately where Victor's office was located. The old man gave them directions slowly, pausing several times as though trying to remember streets that had changed years ago.

Then his voice dropped.

"Nobody's gone inside since Victor disappeared." Tatsuchi looked at him. "What do you mean?" The old man's expression changed. Tatsuchi noticed the resentment settling across his wrinkled features. "Why wouldn't the city look into his disappearance?" The man stared at her for a moment. "He might've been looking into things that were better left alone." Tatsuchi's eyes narrowed. "Like what?" The old man looked away. "I don't know." Tatsuchi stepped closer." What was he investigating?" The old man shook his head.

"You should leave it alone, Tatsuchi." That answer only made her more interested. But no matter how many questions she asked, the residents either claimed they didn't know or refused to say anything more. Eventually, Tatsuchi gave up.

The group followed what little directions they'd been given toward the outskirts of Vallcera, where the streets gradually became quieter and the festival became less noticeable. Cars stopped passing as frequently, and the music of the city was slowly drowned out by sand-filled winds sweeping through the older districts.

The beautiful canals, crowded storefronts, and tall office buildings gradually gave way to older structures and abandoned industrial buildings showing clear signs of long-term neglect. Eventually, they found Victor's office.

It was much smaller and more isolated than Tatsuchi had expected for a Gate Guard Captain's headquarters. Thick dust covered the windows. The front entrance was firmly locked. There were no guards outside and no signs that anyone had used the building recently.

Zhenyu stopped at the bottom of the steps and gave the derelict structure a skeptical look, crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you entirely sure this is it?" He tilted his head toward the peeling paint on the door frame. "Because it looks completely dead." Tatsuchi checked the information again, running a finger down her notes to verify the address. "The coordinates match," she replied. "And the local registry lists this parcel under the Tenth Gate Guard's secondary administrative budget, so it should be."

Asumi walked up to the heavy front door and examined the rusted padlock hanging from the iron latch. She crouched slightly, running her fingers near the mounting plate without touching it. "Look closely at the shackle." She gestured for the others to come closer. "The lock itself is old, but the mounting plate and the screws holding the latch to the frame are brand new. Someone replaced the locking mechanism recently." Tatsuchi's eyes narrowed. Someone had been here. Within the past few days, at least.

She reached toward the door handle. Déjà vu. Suddenly, there was a pain in her neck, as if something was there. But it didn't hurt enough to scream out. 

"Please don't go again." 

Tatsuchi turned around, "What did you say?" She said, looking straight at a confused Zhenyu. "Nobody has said a word." Tatsuchi looked confused. But it didn't matter. She turned back to the door, and with a sharp flick of her wrist, she drove the edge of her palm against the iron handle. The rusted internal tumblers snapped. The heavy metal door swung inward with a slow, echoing creak. Darkness waited inside. Dust motes drifted through the stray shafts of light entering from outside. The office was mostly empty.

Furniture had been pushed aside. Documents had been removed. Multiple shelves were completely bare. Storage units had been broken open, and loose papers were scattered across the floor. Zhenyu crouched beside a pile of torn paper scraps and picked up a fragment between his thumb and forefinger. "This wasn't just left behind." His tone had changed. "Someone had searched this place. Someone was looking for something specific."

Tatsuchi stepped past him, her boots crunching against glass shards scattered across the floor. "Agreed." She looked around the ruined office. They began searching the remaining rooms, moving methodically through the shadows. They found recent Gate Guard records, maps of Harpyra's various cities and towns, communication logs, and several documents relating to missing people around Pyrrocore. Mainly nobles. Tatsuchi stared at the names. Apparently, she hadn't been the only person tasked with searching for the reason behind the missing nobles all those months ago.

Most of the names were crossed out or marked with notes Tatsuchi didn't understand, written in hurried handwriting. She recognized some names. Others meant nothing to her. And yet, someone had clearly spent a long time following them. While she'd already learned about the Revolutionary Army and the mysterious man known as Kyosuke Mori, she couldn't help wondering what Victor had understood about the situation. Just how much had he discovered? And why had somebody gone to such lengths to erase it?

Asumi suddenly spoke from across the room. "Hey, look at this." She held up a clipped dossier she'd pulled from a battered filing cabinet. "These aren't standard criminal investigations." She flipped through the pages. "Victor wasn't tracking petty thieves or smugglers. He was tracking anomalies in the regional grid, specifically disappearances tied to coordinates outside Harpyra's border limits." Zhenyu leaned over the desk and scanned the marked maps. His expression hardened.

"These locations aren't random." Tatsuchi stepped beside him. "No." Her eyes moved across the map. Victor had been investigating disappearances.Not ordinary crime. Not gangs. Not smuggling. Disappearances. People vanishing from specific locations. And most of them had been nobles. Tatsuchi slowly looked around the office. Victor wasn't simply missing. He'd been searching for something. Something important enough that someone else had searched his office looking for the same thing. The thought settled heavily in her chest.

Then she noticed something. A section of flooring didn't quite match the rest. Tatsuchi paced across the warped floorboards of the back office before stopping. She knelt down and her fingers brushed against the wood. A faint draft slipped through the cracks. Tatsuchi frowned. Zhenyu noticed immediately and walked over.

He pressed his own hand against the floorboards. "What'd you find?" Tatsuchi didn't answer. She knocked against the floor.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The sound changed.

The section beneath them sounded hollow and loose. Almost as though there was empty space underneath. She moved her hand across the boards until she found another difference in the wood. A concealed mechanism. Tatsuchi stood and dusted off her yellow poncho. She formed the Vayu Mudra with her hand. Her red Zyn began glowing around her palm. She grabbed her wrist with her left hand and aimed her right hand toward the floor.

"Breath Output."

A small, controlled gust of air blasted through the crevice in the floor. The pressure traveled downward. 

Kai.

The ability to manipulate the surrounding elements with Zyn energy.

Something clicked. Then another mechanism answered. The floor shifted. A heavy groan echoed through the office as rusted iron moved beneath the boards and a hidden staircase slowly revealed itself. Cold, damp air rushed up from the subterranean stairwell. It carried the smell of old dust and stagnant water. The three of them stared into the darkness. Asumi hugged her arms against herself. "How deep do you think this goes?"

Tatsuchi stepped closer to the edge. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness below. She drew Shinkoku. The silver blade slid from its scabbard with a crisp metallic ring that echoed down the staircase. Tatsuchi looked at the darkness. "There's only one way to find out." She stepped onto the first stair. Zhenyu followed. And so her the déjà vu.

Asumi hesitated for half a second before following them down. Their footsteps echoed against the damp stone walls as they disappeared beneath the ruined office. Above them, Vallcera continued celebrating.

Music carried through the streets. Boats decorated with religious symbols drifted through the canals. Children laughed as they chased each other along the stone paths. Church bells rang across the plazas. The three suns hung low over the crystal waters of the city, their fading light reflecting across the canals while the festival continued around them.

Nobody above knew what was waiting beneath their feet.

And somewhere among the crowds, a white-haired young man walked through the festival while reading a small paperback book about popular tourist locations in Harpyra. His fingers gently smoothed the pages as he walked. His face remained hidden beneath the high collar of his coat. The only visible details were his right arm, where tattoos resembling delicate crow feathers ran down his skin, and the pristine white coat draped over his shoulders and a faint smile with had a warm kindness to it.

Across its back, embroidered subtly into the fabric, was a single word.

Liberation.

A little girl accidentally bumped into his leg while running with her new toy. She stumbled, dropping the Fate charm she'd been carrying onto the stone pavement. Her mother immediately froze. Her eyes widened as she recognized the insignia on the man's coat. She hurried forward through the crowd.

"I'm so sorry!"

The man's steps stopped. He closed his book with a soft slap against his palm. Then he turned around. His eyes remained gently closed, forming a soft crescent beneath his white hair as a bright smile spread across his face. He immediately dropped to one knee, bringing himself down to the child's height. "Don't worry about it." His voice was warm. The girl stared at him nervously. "I-I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay."

He reached down and picked up the Fate charm, brushing a little dust from its surface before handing it back to her.  "You didn't hurt me." The girl's mother continued apologizing, but the young man simply smiled and waved one hand. "Really. It's fine." He glanced at the child again. "Are you okay?" The girl nodded. He smiled. "Good." He stood and gave the mother a polite nod before turning back toward the festival. Within seconds, he disappeared into the crowd. The mother watched him go. Then she looked down at her daughter. The little girl held her charm tightly. The music continued, the boats drifted through the canals, the Church bells rang, and the white-haired young man disappeared among the crowd of thousands of people.