The Price of a Savior

Sasaki enters the experiment room. The bodies of the thugs and cultists were now hours old and beginning to smell. Despite the large explosion, Sasaki was able to find a jar of ink from before, still intact with its liquid untainted within. Sasaki keeps looking around and finds a partially charred paintbrush. He picks it up, pops the ink lid, and gets to work.

With solidified knowledge from the intricate notes, he starts to draw a ritual circle. He paints shakily at first, but gains more confidence with each stroke. Eventually, he draws a unique ritual circle upon the floor. Now was his last chance to stop; last chance to be untainted by devilish work.

But he looks upon the cells that contained his friends, remembering their faces fondly. This was beyond him now. He takes a deep breath and steels his resolve. He unwraps the bandage from his hand and gazes at the wound that was beginning to close.

“If I’m right…” Sasaki mutters. “...then maybe…”

The possibilities flood his mind, but he shakes them away to focus on his current task. He takes the bandage into his mouth and bites hard. He flips the brush to its handle and, with a deep breath, proceeds. He jabs the brush handle through his wound, reopening it with a splatter. Muffled screams came through the cloth in his mouth as his blood pooled in his palm.

But it wasn’t enough. He gave it a twist, and blood began to pour from the wound onto the circle below. It splashes into the center with wet slops. Nothing happens.

“Come on!” he grunted, his words muffled.

He gives another twist, and almost doubles over in pain. But he persists.

“Work, work, work!” He pleads. “Work!”

Suddenly, it appeared. The circle begins to illuminate from where Sasaki knelt. It streaks through the markings, lighting up each sigil one by one. Once the entire circle is lit, the blood in the middle begins to glow as well. It grows brighter and brighter before it all disappears.

The light particles linger in the air for a second before coalescing together and coming down to form four distinct shapes. The light scatters, leaving the results before him. Sasaki quickly spits out the bandage and rewraps his wound. Once secured, he evaluates what he created.

Before him lay four stylized stones. Graves, carved in the traditional shape given to those in his town. He gives a breathless chuckle, holding his wound that’s now pulsing with pain. Sasaki picks one up and gazes at his work. They’re unmarked, but the shape was just right. A tear stained his eye as his first experiment came to a close.

There was no life lost, only blood. That means there’s no need to sacrifice a soul, only flesh. Sasaki stands, gathers each stone, and places one in front of each cell.

“There,” he sighs.

He gazes at the stones fondly before sitting on his heels and clasping his hands together.

“My friends. I give these to you so you may find peace.” Sasaki thinks fondly of his friends as he continues.
“Nozomu, you were my friend since day one. You reached out to me when I first arrived at the orphanage. I didn’t appreciate it then, but your kindness is what opened my heart to the world. I wouldn’t have been so caring without you.

“Robbi, you always baked extra bread for the children, saying it was an accident every time. But we all knew. You kept our little town alive with your charity.

“Handa, you always made me laugh. The stories you told from the city were so exciting; I felt like I was there experiencing it with you.

“Celes, you always wanted to go to the big city and make dresses for high society, but you humbled yourself with those winter coats that kept us alive even when our houses blew over. I always noticed the floral designs you stitched into the cuffs.

“This may be the last time you hear from me, if you can at all. But I know that you all must be there in heaven watching me. I’m sorry we won’t meet again, but I feel as if there’s something I must do before my end.”

Sasaki stands up and gazes at their graves. Tears sit in the corner of his eyes as he realizes that he will never see them in heaven. But he has a new path now. He’ll find out what Miracles really are. How do they work? What are the requirements for activation? He'll learn everything those cultists were doing and more, but the pain will fall only on Sasaki.

He’ll harness this power and get out of this death trap. He’ll make it. No matter how long it takes. And when he does, he’ll make sure no more lives are lost to rituals again.