The man was massive, even compared to my father. He had to be at least six-four or six-five, perhaps taller. His shoulders were nearly half his height, and due to his topless nature, it was apparent he was made only of muscle. These appeared grotesque, almost too perfect for life, made worse by the incredible scarring that painted the parts of his back and arms I could see. Long, jet black hair reached past his shoulder blades, reflecting an unnatural amount of the moonlight.

His lower body was encased in some sort of armor, and cloth wrapped around his waist draped down the back of his legs, casting the fronts in shadow. An absolutely monstrous sword rested in his left hand, blade running out behind him, tip resting on the ground. It looked to be far taller than him, perhaps nearly eight feet in length. The crossguard was unlike anything I had seen. It only stuck out a handful of inches before both top and bottom turned up, adding a strange outwards flare. The bottom edge continued down nearly a foot along the handle, leaving enough room for a hand to grip without being obstructed. These led out to edges of their own, and appeared to be sharpened like the main blade.

The blade itself was nearly eight inches wide, and lacked any tapering until the last few inches before the tip. Strange runes, far less angular than those on the crypt, had been etched along the center of the blade where the fuller should have been. These seemed to pulse with a deep purple light every few seconds. The hilt looked to be leather, but where the material must have started continued off the handle several inches. This strip held a small charm in the shape of a jawless, fanged skull. The pommel was a simple ball counterweight.

As I slowly scanned the figure from head to toe, I became less and less wary. I couldn’t explain why, but I felt as though I had nothing to fear from this being. Even as my eyes fell upon his feet and I let out a small, startled gasp. The thin mist that rose around him was coming from the lower half of his legs. Or were they becoming the mist? It was about the knee that the strange disruption began. Bits seemed to flicker in and out of existence, as if his body was trying to solidify itself, before billowing into steam and drifting away. The effect grew until his feet were completely lost from sight, leaving him hovering above the ground.

It was a sight to behold. There was a strange, almost ethereal elegance to the figure as he stood unmoving, head downturned to look upon two graves before him. His stance spoke only of power and authority rather than humility before the dead. But there was a rigidity in the way he stood, as if he was holding back. As if part of him was stopping the reverence for those lost to time. In all, he had the air of one to avoid.

And yet, I couldn’t help but feel drawn to him. Despite a rigid Kaede and quacking Yui; despite knowing something about this man wasn’t natural; despite all the warning signals my body was sending me, I stepped forward.

“Are you...alright?” it seemed odd to ask that, it was unlikely anything could harm such an imposing figure, yet deep in my core I felt it was right. The man tensed and lifted his head, turning it slightly as if to glance over his shoulder. He came just shy of actually facing me, however, and I could feel his awareness upon me,but his hair kept his face from sight. He held the position for several long, drawn out seconds. As if the duality of this man's stance had birthed uncertainty in my own body, my heart pulsed slow, yet powerful waves. Even as parts of my body raged at me to run, my mind was calm. Why it was, I do not know.

At length, I saw some tension leave him, his shoulders relaxing ever so slightly and his head returning to its original position. He looked...uncertain. Pained. That air of holding back was still in place, but it was less pronounced. I moved closer, drawn by both my curiosity and his beauty. I heard Kaede hiss something, but I gave it no attention. Again, I could sense his awareness upon me. I could not explain why, but I somehow knew he was feeling me out despite having not yet turned his gaze to me.

The silence remained; no answer to my query. Just as I sensed he had turned his attention away, I stepped forward again. It took all my self control to resist leaning forward and stealing a glance at his face. I felt his awareness shift to me again, almost as though he was trying to decipher my intentions. A small involuntary shudder ran down my spine. Despite how harmless I felt he was, my body was deeply disturbed.

I urged myself up to stand even with him at the foot of the graves. They were clean of weeds or moss, and their smooth surface gleamed in the moonlight. Unlike the many we had passed, someone had cared for them. Despite this, I could make out no markings upon them. No hint of who these people were. I felt a wave of sadness at the thought of their memory being erased from the world. Dropping down to my knees and placing my hands together, I paid my respects.

This reminded me of visiting my grandmother's grave every year. A pang tightened my chest; a yearning for that which is gone. I had always struggled with this sort of thing. It reminded me that at some point, I would speak to my father without receiving a response. I hated it. I feared the very idea of no longer having him there to support me, to give advice or push me to greater heights. I knew it would happen, but I wanted to avoid the thoughts at all costs. And so, to distract myself more than anything, I finally caved and looked up at the man next to me.

He was gorgeous, almost disgustingly so, and I felt even more drawn to him. A strong, chiseled jaw; thin nose and lips; his hair gently cascaded down the sides of his face, framing his high cheekbones and long lashes. But by far his most defining feature was his intense, bright eyes. They each had wine red irises surrounded by sclera of deep gray, bordering on black. They seemed filled with sadness, anger, hate and disgust all at once. They gazed longingly and repugnantly at the graves, as if it was all he could do to keep himself from running away or collapsing on the spot.

But now, viewing him from the front, I was confronted with another red flag. On the left side of his chest, a large and blotchy mass of scar tissue distorted his torso. There was no distinct end, as if large tendrils of flesh had reached out independently, coming to a stop at random. Some of these crawled under his arm, or as far as his right nipple, and I half expected some of them to pulsate as if independently breathing. At its center, just over the heart, was a fist sized indent, as if the flesh had been carved out by a large melon baller. This area was free of the undulating, veiny appearance of the surrounding scar; almost too smooth to be true.

That was...odd. The scar seemed to carve far too deep in his chest for someone to live through. Both muscle and bone had been cleared out. In fact, it appeared to be a result of a puncture wound, but on a much larger scale than I would have thought possible. Could someone survive losing that much flesh and bone?

Then again, he doesn’t seem to have feet either. What is he? Why is he standing here? Is he...one of the others? My head swam with questions, but I was now a little hesitant to ask. Sure, for some reason or other I felt no fear of him. Perhaps that was a result of having finally lost it after all the night's events. Or maybe he really was just harmless. Either way, what I saw before me and how I felt were coming to a head. I would need to make a decision.

How do I approach this? I need info on where I am, and he’s the only person we’ve come across. If I could get anything useful out of him, we’d be in a better spot. That was the optimistic view.

But what if he’s violent? I wouldn’t be surprised if he was. Looking at him objectively, he was an impossibility. He was missing the lower half of his legs, was floating above the ground, held a massive hunk of metal in the shape of a sword, wore more scars than an edgelord anime protagonist, and had enough flesh over his heart cut away that I wondered if his heart wasn’t missing too. Everything about him screamed of a man who lived only for destruction.

Then why am I not afraid of him? Despite it all I still couldn’t deny that my fear seemed to come from my body, not my mind. My legs were twitching, desperate to pick me up and carry me far away from the man. The upstairs, however, was calm. Empathetic even. I don’t have any kids of my own of course, but I figure the desire to protect and love my little brother and sister was close to the feelings a mother has for her own children. And some part of that was creeping into my mind now.

I wanted to comfort this man. I felt as though he was on the cusp, teetering on the edge of falling into some horrible abyss. As if he was only just managing to keep his emotions from bursting forth, taking them out on the world around him. I wanted to hold him close, to stroke his long hair and tell him it would be alright. That he wasn’t alone, that he didn’t have to suffer in solitude. He hadn’t even looked me in the eye, yet the urge to mother him was growing deep in my gut.

“Are these important?” No turning back now. I asked the question, genuinely worried about the surreal man that glared softly, angrily, at the ground before us. He flinched. His eyes bulged momentarily, and the emotions on display appeared to level out. A less raw look came over his face, gruff and tired almost, and he blinked several times. Those incredible eyes flitted between the graves, the sky, the surroundings, before finally coming to rest on me.

I felt my breath catch. That gaze was so intense it was almost a tangible experience. So piercing that I swore for a moment he could see my very soul. As if everything I am was laid out to bear before him, from my simplest quirks to my deepest secrets. It lasted only a moment, before he returned his attention to the graves. He worked his jaw, as though he had forgotten how to move it. His thin lips parted a fraction of an inch before everything came back together tightly. I could see the muscles in his head clench several times before he slowly lifted his free arm to gesture at the grave before me.

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“My...Lover.” Goosebumps raced up my arm. His voice was unlike anything I’d heard before. It carried a sense of weight and power, so intense the air seemed to hum and I half expected electricity to crackle through it. It was distant and hollow, as thought spoken from the end of a long tunnel and through a metal can, yet it seemed to ring out from everywhere at once. My skin crawled and my jaw dropped. I inhaled a long, shaky gasp and felt my eyes widen in a mixture of horror and awe. A small “eep” from behind told me the effect it had on my friends. At that moment I knew this man was anything but human.

His face had a mixture of disgust and shamed sadness on it. His head tilted towards the grave and his face turned a fraction of a degree away from it. The eye closest squinted, and both shifted down as though looking at it brought him a pain he couldn’t face. He seemingly couldn’t bring himself to accept its existence. Like a child unable to look up as he was being bullied. He stayed there, eyes rapidly shifting about, as if he was desperate to get away. It pained me to watch.

“And the other?” He slowly pulled his attention away from the first grave, to the one that he stood directly in front of.

“Mother,” The tension bled from him immediately, like water from a balloon. His features softened to such an extreme it was hard to believe they had been etched with such pain just a moment before. His eyes relaxed and a small curve on his lips hinted at a wistful happiness. The air seemed to warm suddenly, and the obvious love he had held for this person helped to calm my fear stricken body. I thought of my father, and how he made me feel.

“Is this…did she used to live here?” I asked, quickly pulling myself from the thoughts of my dad. I couldn’t afford to be distracted by emotions. Stay focused, we need information.

“Mmm,” was all the response he gave. Something akin to a yes? I decided to run with that. So if this is where she lived, then he must know something about this place right?

“What is this place? Or…well, where are we?” He continued to gaze at his mother’s grave. I waited as patiently as I could. I could feel my heart thumping heavily in my chest from anticipation. If I could just get even a little bit out of him, then I was sure Kaede would be able to tell us exactly where we were. But he gave no response, no sign that he had even heard me. Some part of my mind, for unknown reasons, told me he was drifting away. I had to bring him back.

“What, uh, happened to her? To this place?” Maybe if it revolved around her he would answer? It was worth a shot.

“Me.”

That tells me nothing. Which part is he answering? He happened to the town? Or his mom? Wait, isn't that kinda bad either way? My imagination, tempted by his appearance and my thoughts, conjured up scenes of the town being destroyed by him. Swinging his massive weapon in arches that cleaved multiple people in two. But when my mind thought of him killing his mother, it was my own mom he stood over.

Stay calm, stay calm. Lets not jump to conclusions I pushed the imagery off as best I could, but a lingering worm of fear slowly buried itself in my mind.

“What do you mean?” Please, please answer me, anything useful. I’m begging you.

“They were scum! They deserved it! ALL OF THEM!” he bellowed suddenly. The very air around me seemed to crackle with energy. The pressure of his emotions bore down on me with a vicious ferocity, the world shaking under its weight. My heart finally understood why the rest of my body was fearful, as it began beating out a frantic pace. The hair on my arms and neck stood up, and my mind nearly went blank, save for one thought.

RUN!

“THEY KILLED…they…” it vanished almost as soon as it appeared. All the anger, hate and bloodthirst that had permeated the air evaporated in an instant leaving behind only the pleasantly warm air that had surrounded me since I first woke in the field. His face fell again, back to the state it had been from the start.

“My mother…I was so angry…I didn’t mean…I’m sorry,” The last words were barely a whisper as he looked directly at the grave before me for the first time. The sorrow that bled off him was unfathomable. The regret and self loathing I felt in his aura led my eyes to well up.

He can’t be a horrible man I thought to myself. But, at the same time, had he implied that he was responsible for their deaths? Could a man who felt so strongly for the women in his life really do that? No, for now I would choose to believe he only places the blame on himself. He had fallen silent again, gazing down at his mothers grave unmoving, his eyes suddenly glossy.

“Can I ask you where we are? Where this place is?” I tried one more time. But I had a feeling it was too late. That he had slipped back into whatever place we had roused him from with our arrival, and nothing would pull him out again. Desperate to get anything out of him, I continued to stare at him long after he had fallen silent. Speaking to him had only raised more questions, and I received no answers to the ones I started with.

I was frustrated and on the verge of tears. I’m sure I would normally have been more angry than anything. But I was too exhausted, both emotionally and physically, for that now. The night had been a true rollercoaster of emotions; up and down; angry, sad, happy, scared and even terrified at points. I could feel the tension in my muscles, the knots forming in my shoulders, and each pulse from my heart echoed in my head. I wanted to know where I was; needed to know for Yui’s sake.

The emotional side of me was desperate, telling me to push him for answers. To keep searching in the hopes that I would discover that one bit of information I needed to reveal the truth of our situation. But the rational side of me knew otherwise. I was far too drained to truly accomplish anything. My tired state and the lack of daylight meant I could easily overlook important clues without realizing it. Stumbling around in the dark was not a solid use of my time.

No, the better option would be to try and get some sleep; we could continue our search after the sun was up. Looking at a problem with fresh eyes often leads to new revelations my mom would often tell me when I hit snags in a task. Some rest and a change in the lighting would do me some good and I’m sure the others were exhausted as well. With my mind made up, I sighed heavily and stood up. I glanced one last time at the man before I pushed the desperate feelings down. But there was nothing new to see. He only continued his thousand yard stare, unaware of the world around him.

I turned to my friends, my heart heavy. I felt almost guilty, as if I hadn’t met their expectations. But there was no way they could have expected more right? We were all in an unfamiliar situation together and, as of yet, none of us had come up with anything to explain it. I expected them to be standing there looking crestfallen as well, or upset nothing had been learned. Instead I was met with a troubling sight. Kaede was on the ground, pale as a ghost, resting Yui’s head in her lap. Her eyes were riveted on the man behind me still.

“What happened?” My voice sounded drained. Had Kaede been more focused on Yui, I might have become more worked up. Kaede, however, seemed unwilling to look away. She turned her face up to me, but her eyes remained glued to the spot behind me. Her mouth opened ever so slightly, as if she was about to speak, but hung loosely for several seconds before it closed and she swallowed hard.

“Kaede? What’s wrong? Is Yui ok?” I asked a bit forcefully. After several more moments I realized something was off. She had to be panicked by something. I knelt down before her to grab and shake her shoulder gently.

“Hey. Kaede, look at me.” She finally shifted her eyes towards me. “What’s got you so worked up?”

“What is…that…that thing?” Her voice was but the tiniest of whispers. What was she talking about? I looked over my shoulder but only saw the man standing behind me.

“What thing?”

“That thing you were just talking to. The…the…that dark blob that’s swirling around behind you.” I was at a loss for words.

“Kaede, the only thing behind me are the two graves and that man.” I raised a single eyebrow at her. Had the whole of the night gotten to her this badly?

“What? Hinata, you were only talking to that thing. There’s no…people around here.” She glanced over her shoulder, clearly unsure what to classify the other’s we had encountered below.l

“You must be joking with me right?” I was well and truly bewildered now.

“What on earth would make you think I would joke in this situation?”

“You are saying you can’t see this man?” I turned and pointed directly at him. “He’s taller than my dad and has a sword that big, yet you’re going to claim you can’t see him?”

“I would love to see another person!” The color began returning to her face, and her brows began to knit. “That might actually help us figure something out! But we got up here and you just…I don’t even know. You lost it and started talking to that thing over there. I thought you had cracked. And then it made that horrible noise and Yui collapsed, but you just kept talking at it!” Kaede seemed to have lifted whatever fear had settled across her, leading to her emotions boiling over. And I was caught in the crossfire.

“You were egging it on! It kept making those awful noises, and…and it was pulsating and shifting! I thought my heart was going to leap out of my throat each time, all the while I was trying to get your attention so we could run, and Yui had collapsed. I couldn’t stand up, my legs were just so weak. Yui was….she was..…and you…you just didn’t care!” she finally finished, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I was at a loss for words. Kaede had never reacted to anything like this before, at least not where I could see it. I felt my stomach churning as my anger threatened to burst forth. How was it my fault? I wanted to snap, wanted to fire back at her. But my earlier outburst came to mind. I grit my teeth to stay my tongue and took a long, deep breath. When I let it out I did my best to push my emotions from my mind.

“Look,” I started opening my eyes to look at her again. “We’re both at wits’ end after everything that happened. Barking at each other will accomplish nothing. Perhaps it would be better if we get some rest and approach these problems from a new angle tomorrow?”

Seemingly unhappy, the scowl she had on her face remained, but she made no comment. I slipped my arms under Yui and gingerly lifted her up. Looking down at Kaede, I hesitated only a moment before I put the man on the hill behind me, making my way slowly towards the dilapidated ruins below us.

The others were unexpectedly silent, which itself was worse than the mutterings I had expected.