~Scroll of the Dead~

Hana Matsumoto came back to Itsuki Shrine once more. In her hand was a bag containing a roll of garbage bags along with other supplies she might need. She had promised to pay for it with her pay from covering for her elder brother.

She took a long sigh before turning away and heading back to her friend, Fuyu’s house. Then all of a sudden, a great crackling sound could be heard even from the outside.

- KRAKKAKAKAK

“Huh?” her attention was caught by the strange cackling. Hana then thought to herself ‘Would it hurt to check?’ she tiptoed trying not to be discovered. She had heard the news of destroyed temples across the city so it should have been evacuated.

Finally opening the doors since they had no lock, she took a few steps inside and her eyes were caught by a strange occurrence. A great portal on the floor, its insides bore a light blue spiral pattern and it looked like it was built into the ground. Hana took a closer look and noticed it had a liquid form as if it was a well.

The strange portal began flashing rapidly making Hana take a few steps backward. She went through the doors of the temple and took one last look at the flashing portal, muttering a few words out of shock.

“What the fu-”

A great pillar of light tore through the roof of the temple sending the girl flying a few feet away.

~Scroll of the Dead~

Shin and Theseus finally arrived at Itsuki Shrine in a swift with the latter’s skill. Shin took a look around to find the roofs destroyed. In the center of it was a giant pillar of light illuminating the sky.

“What’s that?” Shin looked up at the scene of clouds turned into a spiral shape

“The medium’s become unstable” Theseus explained unsurprised before going into thought ‘Probably because of the constant absorbing of other mediums’

The mediums worked like a leyline, they were all connected and needed each other to function.

“How bad is it” Shin turned back towards the adventurer who went to take a closer look at the giant floor gate

“Not that bad, it just shuts down all mediums for a year…” Theseus replied with a shrug which made Shin sigh in relief before he went on “…While wiping out this entire city block”

“WAIT WHAT?!” Shin became shocked “And why are you so calm about it?!”

“You didn’t seem fazed when I said it was gonna trap me here” Theseus glared in disgust

“Well that’s not my-”

“Shin-nee?”

Shin was suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice. Turning around, he finally met the eyes of his younger sister, Hana, who was standing at the corner of the building.

“Hana?” Shin yelled surprisingly “The hell did you end up here?”

“Could ask the same,” she replied blankly

Silence filled the room. The siblings both knew no matter what they said the other won’t believe it. So they both shrugged it off as Shin finally spoke up “Fair enough.”

There was silence once more as Theseus grabbed a chair and sat on it. It was going to be a while before Griffin came back ‘I need to be on extra guard’ he thought as he closed his eyes calmly and began meditating ‘Since it’ll take about 12 hours till [Aqua-Chronos] is usable once more,’

This now left both Matsumoto siblings standing near the gate, Hana looked at Theseus before speaking with a look of disappointment.

“Is he sleeping?”

Shin chuckled “Seems like it.”

“Who is that guy anyway?” Hana asked as she raised an eyebrow

“A freeloader,” Shin grinned before sitting down on the floor and falling into deep silence, he thought about how his beliefs had changed as he met the strange adventurer. Although he didn’t show it, but he was grateful, maybe if he came again he’d treat him to dinner at his house. He looked at Theseus with a grin on his face.

Theseus noticed this even while meditating and thought to himself ‘The hell is he smiling for? So weird’

Hana spoke back, if there was any time needed to say what was on her mind it’d be now “Shin I…”

Theseus quickly opened his eyes in shock before yelling at the two kids “GET DOWN!”

-BOOM!

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The left wall of the temple exploded sending the siblings a few meters away. The Demon of the Sky had finally caught up to their location as it spat balls of fire at the building.

“Oi Freeloader!” Shin exclaimed in shock as he recovered

“You bastard” Theseus cursed the beast before leaping towards it with his blade drawn out “I won’t let you get away this time.”

The Griffin screeched as it sent more fireballs towards Theseus who deflected them easily.

‘I need to strike it fast, before it causes any damage to the gate!’ Theseus thought as he went a few feet back. He focused a decent amount of mana into his blade as a blue aura formed around it.

“I’ll end it with this,” Theseus declared as he leaped towards it whilst compressing the mana in the blade. Soon enough, he was face to face with the demon of the sky, but rather than rage or anger as he saw before in his previous fight, he saw fear, almost as if it was pleading innocence to the adventurer.

‘Huh?’ Theseus hesitated for a second before coming back to his senses as he prepared his sword for an attack “I apologize, [Blue Flare]” he swung it diagonally, causing a blue flash of light to engulf the beast and the surrounding area.

The attack shone brightly in the sky, it was bright enough to make it look like daylight. Everyone all over Kyushu could see this phenomenon which would later be called [The Night of the Blue Sun]. Theseus landed on the ground softly, calmly sheathing his sword.

“Insane…” Was all Shin could mutter as he stared in awe at the scene in the sky. Was this the power the people in heaven wielded? His eyes lit up even more as he thought to himself ‘Can I do that?’

“Big brother!”

“NGHK” Shin bit his lip in shock as he heard the cries of his sister forcing him to turn back to the gate. He then noticed her on the ground, being drawn into the gate.

“Hana!” Shin yelled in shock as he darted towards her. He quickly grabbed her hand and began trying to pull her back with all his effort. He turned back to Theseus who was seemingly approaching him rapidly, but with a hint of anger on his face “Freeloader, what the hell is this?!”

“It’s become even more unstable” Theseus calmly replied “Probably trying to collect its mana back before temporarily shutting off. Your sister just happened to fall into it”

“What?” Shin shot a glare at the adventurer

“Once it’s done gathering it, it’ll set off a bomb that’ll level this temple to the ground” Theseus further explained.

“So why the hell do you seem so calm about it?” a tear rolled down Shin’s face surprising Theseus. The boy he had met today was all sorts of things from funny to brave, but to see him shed a tear like this shocked Theseus. “Aren’t you gonna at least try to help?!” Shin sobbed as he held on to his sister like it was a Tug of War.

Hana calmly spoke up “Shin-nee?”

Shin looked back at the girl curiously as she continued “I’m sorry…”

“Wait what are you apologizing for?” Shin now had a worried look on his face.

“For how I act,” she began “The things I say to you cuz of what you believe in.”

“Oi Hana,” Shin interrupted but to no avail, as she went on

“You’ve always been by yourself lately, I thought if I kept saying bad stuff you’d want to spend some time with me!” She cried out as she held on to her brother's hand tightly.

“What are you saying?” Shin asked as he forced a smile on his face “I’d go through hell itself for a few minutes with ya”

Hana’s face was filled with surprise as she looked up at her brother’s teary face. This wasn’t the reaction she had expected from him. The same could be said for the next few words that came out of his mouth.

“You're my number two after all!”

She quickly went into shock as tears filled her face. That was what he usually called their father when he was still alive. To Shin, it meant someone he could always talk to, someone he could rely on no matter what. And that someone was now his younger sister.

“I’ll keep supporting you, just please,” Hana cried out “Don’t let go!”

Shin’s tears dried up as he formed his usual smirk “Sure” he replied before he continued trying to pull her out of the gate

Meanwhile, Theseus watched the sibling’s dialogue. These were people who were in tune with each other, people who needed one another to survive. They were partners.

‘I misjudged mortals,’ Theseus thought to himself. He had a bad general opinion of the people who stayed on earth, that they were generally weak and selfish beings. The boy had proved him wrong in one night. This made him smirk as he began walking over to Shin’s side to help.

Shin kept on pulling as hard as he could ‘That’s it, almost there’ After a few more tries, he’d finally free his sister from the vigorous pull of the gate.

-THUD

“GAHK!” His joy was cut short as a scroll flew from the shelf and smacked him on the nape of his neck. This caused the boy to loosen his grip, enough for the gate to drag Hana inside forcefully.

“What the” Theseus stared shockingly

Shin quickly recovered as he leaped towards the mouth of the gate to try and grab his sister’s hand one more time. But alas, the gate was not going to let this second opportunity slide as Hana was now fully immersed in the gate.

Shin became tone-deaf all of a sudden, he was at a loss for words as a range of thoughts filled his head. Most of them are flashbacks of his time spent with his sister, and his father’s last words echoing through his brain.

~“They have you with them after all...”~

“HANA!!!” he yelled out with every fiber of his soul. A voice that resounded through the gate that even heaven itself could likely hear.

Theseus just stood there unable to process what had just happened, unable to do anything about the situation. With remorse, he reached for Shin’s shoulder to try and console him. No, consoling wouldn’t be enough, maybe he’d follow the girl through the gate. ‘She’s not dead, the medium shouldn’t be lethal even if unstable’ he finally placed his hand on the shoulder of the boy whose face was producing tears.

“Shin” he called the boy by his name “I’ll find her-”

-SMACK

His hand was smacked away by Shin who darted towards the gate. Of course, this sent a look of confusion and shock to the adventurer's face before he followed pursuit as well.

“THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!?”

Shin ignored him as he kept going ‘Just wait for me, Hana! Your dumb idiot of a brother is coming to save you!’ He quickly jumped through the portal with all mustered-up determination. He was met with a wide array of colors inside the portal as a powerful force pulled him through at an incredible speed. It was almost like a pipeline transferring its contents from one point to another, except this point was the divine realm he once tried to deny.

Although he couldn’t care, he didn’t care whatever was on the other side of the gate, as long as his sister was safe.

Shin wouldn’t lose another person he cared about anymore, even if it cost him his life.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his leg. He looked back to find a furious Theseus who had pulled him up close before knocking the lights out of him.

‘This was not part of my damn schedule,’ Theseus growled as he kept on moving through the gate towards heaven “I fucking hate side quests...”