Chapter 6: Spell 6 - A Witch Watches
The streets got thinner as Ren approached the more secluded parts of the underworld. That’s where Nezumi Kura existed like a secret nobody wanted to speak about. The structures there were older and more traditional, and also more neglected. Paper lanterns were combined now and then with broken neon lights, and there was a strong smell of wet wood and incense in the air that came from nowhere and everywhere.
Kagami moved along the edge of a nearby wall. "This place used to look so different," she almost whispered. "It used to be cleaner."
Ren looked up. "You’ve been here before?"
"A long time ago," she said. "It wasn’t called Nezumi Kura back then, but people forget..."
They stopped in front of a building that still stood, unlike the one beside it, which had collapsed entirely. A walkway had once connected the two, but now the passage inside was blocked by rubble. Somewhere above the building itself stood large kanji lettering that displayed the words "Izanami Vault."
"This is the place," Ren said, glancing at the sign above. "The old man said something inside here keeps causing trouble. Something like a relic, maybe."
Kagami dropped down beside him. She looked at the place as if she were scanning it from deep within.
Ren stepped inside, and as he did, he felt the old stale air slam him in the face. Orange strips ran along the walls with lights still on in places, despite the poor conditions. There were also all sorts of charms displayed here and there, some torn, some intact, but none with an actual purpose anymore. The place felt split between mystic shrine and outdated tech, like a reminder of the time the city was barely being born.
"Was this... religious, do you think?" he asked.
"Far from it," Kagami giggled as she walked in front of him. "It was one of the first Vaults. Nowadays, they don’t need big buildings like this for such things anymore, but back then, people spent fortunes on just one relic." She paused a little, reconsidering, "Or actually, on how to seal those that they couldn’t control."
This did sound familiar. He was never directly involved with witches as a kid. His brother had made sure of it while he was still alive, but he couldn’t have protected him from stories and rumors. Those were always present wherever they went.
Ren kept thinking about it when, all of a sudden, he felt nausea hit hard in his gut. The feeling caught him off guard, so he didn’t have time to grasp what was happening.
"I feel sick," he whispered. "Like... something’s wrong."
"It is," Kagami said, stopping. Her ears moved around slightly. "Something’s here."
Then, right in front of them, one chamber stood open. It was wide, and on its walls were displayed old glyphs, some still glowing, others overwritten by deep scratches and marks. In the middle of it stood a platform, and on top of that, there was something in the shape of a box. Or maybe a wooden sarcophagus of some sort. The lid was set aside, and the seals on top of it were clearly broken.
Ren approached slowly. He reached out to feel the texture of one of the seals, as if that would have helped him ground it in his mind, but the second he touched it, all glyphs in the room caught fire and burned away into small particles that dissipated in the air. Ren was startled by it and involuntarily took a few steps back.
Kagami’s eyes narrowed as she looked around. She sniffed the air for a while and perked her ears until her eyes remained fixed on one of the corners of the room.
Ren’s glance followed hers.
There was something there. Something that moved, but it did so crookedly. Unnaturally. Its skin was wrinkled like mud, and it had no eyes, just hollow sockets that were locked on Ren.
"It’s a Hollow," Kagami said. "It used to be human once, but now it’s just a pact-burnt being. There’s nothing left but instinct in there."
For a moment, her expression turned serious, like she sensed that whatever was about to happen wasn’t ordinary. But she soon changed her attitude. She jumped back onto a ledge along the wall and stretched down as if preparing to watch a performance.
Ren stumbled back. "Kagami?!"
She stood still, with no intention of intervening.
"What the hell?!" Ren screamed.
"This is your chance to learn," she replied with a detached air about her. Then, as if nothing else in that place mattered, she began grooming her paw.
The Hollow lunged toward Ren, leaving trails of dark matter as it moved. Its mouth, or whatever was in its place, was open wide, but no sound came out of it. There was only that twisted expression, something that might have once been pain, maybe.
Ren clumsily dodged just in time as a claw went past him from somewhere he hadn’t even seen. It landed on the wall, tearing down parts of it.
"Do something!" he shouted at Kagami, who sat near the chamber entrance, watching with sharp golden eyes.
"Why?" she asked. "You already have everything you need."
The Hollow turned and lunged again. Ren grabbed the nearest object he could reach, a metal pipe coming out of the floor, and swung it with all the strength he had left. It struck the Hollow across the face, but the blow passed right through. Its skin rippled, absorbing the impact, like muddied water. A moment later, the creature struck back with a sharp blow to Ren’s shoulder, the same one that had barely healed since the day before. That made Ren drop the weapon he had improvised, which skidded aimlessly across the floor.
Suddenly, Ren started feeling sick again. "I can’t..." he gasped. "If you’re so powerful, why don’t you do something for once?!"
"Because I can’t interfere, remember?" Kagami’s voice echoed softly from above.
He was about to curse when the Hollow lunged again. But this time, something inside Ren moved first.