Rise/Fall

Burning Rage
Beyond the. Evening.

"What is this place? Why have you led me here?"

Approximately a single day passed since the battle Teruo Akui had fought in. Upon his mysterious saviour's insistence they had returned to but nowhere near the. Even though the Coven's Mage had escaped, even though the enemy was currently occupying the capital city of the realm, even though existence as a whole was imperilled. Rested and healed, he was in the middle of nowhere instead of fulfilling his duty as a Captain.

"This place is a mausoleum to my past", replied the man known as Tōsō.

He did not even turn to address his captive of sorts directly. Rather, his gaze was fixed at the landscape that stretched before them. A vast valley, with distant ruins protruding from within a sparse forest, framed by a mountain range and illuminated by the orange glow of the slowly setting sun. Teruo scanned the area with slightly narrowed eyes. Seemed to be ruins of a medium-sized settlement. He could recognise multiple derelict buildings and, somewhat interestingly, a large crater in the centre. There were more craters scattered across the valley, though barely visible owing to vegetation. More intriguing, however, was the mountain range; from where they stood he could easily perceive a sizeable "gap", as if some of the mountains had been removed by an unknown force.

"Listen", said Teruo as his patience was wearing thin. "I appreciate your help but I think that's enough. I ought to, I have to go, right now. I haven't got time for... whatever that is."

The stranger did turn to face him that time. There was something unsettling to his face expression. No sign of anger or frustration, nothing of the kind. Rather, the countenance of a middle-aged man at worst displaying the experience of a wizened sage, pensive yet somehow piercing stare of his single grey eye. One of the reasons the young Captain decided to follow him at all. Given the man's tattered and torn clothing, prominent stubble and dishevelled hair, it would have been easy to mistake him for a random lunatic. However, Teruo saw with his own eyes the way he defeated the magical simulacrum of late with little effort. That was no small feat.

"I want to help you, Captain Akui."

"How is sightseeing supposed to help me?", asked Teruo with a mixture of exasperation, resignation and... curiosity.

Tōsō beheld the landscape again. He had not visited this place in a very long time. Now that he was here a peculiar phenomenon occurred. Old memories emerged from the dark abyss at the bottom of his mind, rising toward the light of conscioussness, gaining prominence to the point that they began superimposing images of bygone events upon the reality of the current world. The forest receded, craters vanished, the buildings restored to their prime... no, not their prime. Ruins, but recent ruins, with billows of smoke extending toward the blood-red sky of an impending night. The signs of a recent battle; a blaze, puddles of water, glimmering ice crystals, upturned earth and a network of scorched ditches... blood, and bodies. And the body. Resting on a pile of corpses, the body of...

"This place used to be the Akui Family estate", revealed Tōsō after a moment of heavy silence. "Before its destruction it belonged to Etsuko Akui", he added quietly.

At first Teruo glanced at him with mild surprise, soon amplified more and more with every consecutive realisation. Akui. That was his family. Etsuko Akui. That was his paternal grandmother. He had never met her; she died when his father was only a few years old during some tragic event. Kenshin Akui was later raised by her younger sister, the only other survivor of the family at that time. None of them ever told Teruo who was his paternal grandfather, though, despite his inquiries.

Evidently, the man called Tōsō knew something about the events concerning that tragic turning point in the Akui Family's past. That much was blatantly obvious. How much, however, and why? How? What role did he play during said event? The young Captain gazed at him with renewed intensity... then staggered. His eyes widened, his mouth opened. No word was spoken aloud. Everything happened within his mind. The familiar profile, the colour of his hair and complexion. More stern, darker but the resemblance was undeniable. But that man was not Kenshin Akui, who had died several years ago during the. He was...

"My name is Kentarō Akiyama. I am the Founding Captain of the Third Division, a Grandmaster of Hakuda... and your grandfather."