Elijah woke up that morning surrounded by nothing but his own thoughts and darkness. A darkness he tried both to uphold and rebuke. Unlike the other two, Elijah hadn't received an invitation to Hajime's mentorship. "What was that man of black I saw back there?" he asked himself, referring to the phantom king. "His power looked like my shadows," he muttered, fear flickering in his eyes. "W-will I end up like him?" He placed a trembling hand to his eye, watching in dread as a shadow crawled to his iris.
"NO. I'm a child of the church. I can't let trivial matters like these disrupt my faith," he declared, trying to hold his head high. But deep in his heart, he knew the jar that held his power was beginning to crack. He wouldn't be able to hold it in much longer.
As Elijah dwelled on his thoughts, the Valorian elder entered to check on him. "How are you feeling, Elijah?" the elder asked, his voice warm but cautious. His expression changed to shock when he saw the demonic black hue Elijah's left eye had taken on.
"Young man! Put that away immediately, what would the priests think?" the elder exclaimed, stepping forward to exorcise the eye. But as he summoned holy power, he was met with a terrifying sight: a black dragon of shadows rose before him.
"Get out of my face, lowly mortal. I've no time for you," the dragon snarled, throwing the elder into a wall and shattering it instantly. Elijah stood frozen, horrified, as his faith finally wavered.
"Get help!" Elijah shouted to the nearby nuns. Four of them carried the unconscious elder to the infirmary while Elijah ran to the High Library, the most sacred repository of knowledge in the Four Realms.
He scoured the shelves, desperate for any information about dragons or shadows. Eventually, his eyes fell on a history book titled The Fool and the Dragons He Let Live. Intrigued, he opened it immediately.
Just as he began reading, a loud BOOM echoed through the library as the doors were kicked open. The highest priests of the order entered, their stern faces casting judgment as they surrounded him.
"What is your intention with that book?" one of them demanded.
Elijah, who had barely read four pages, hid the book behind his back. "It's none of your concern. I'm just a young man trying to acquire knowledge about the realms," he said, feigning innocence.
The High Order wasn't convinced. One of them snatched the book from his hands and burned it within seconds. All Elijah managed to remember was a single quote from the first page: "Two dragons that were saved by the fool, three dragons who escaped to the underworld, and seven sent to death."
Frustrated and fearful, Elijah watched the priests leave. One of them turned and said, "We'll be keeping an eye on you from now on." Their words struck fear into his heart, but also planted a seed of anger.
"What could they be hiding?" Elijah whispered to himself. "Who is this fool they speak of?" Questions whirled in his mind, but no answers were in sight.
Determined, he resolved to leave Valoria and search for answers elsewhere. "If I'm suffering because of a dragon, others must be too," he reasoned.
As he exited the holy grounds, the elder intercepted him. "Where are you headed, young man?" the elder asked, his voice laced with concern.
"I've caught wind of something that needs my attention," Elijah replied. "If I want to keep living here, I need to take control of this void walker before it takes control of me. I can hear him whispering to me, telling me to do nothing but murder."
The elder's eyes softened. "Stay safe," he said. Then, hesitating, he added, "What exactly are you looking for?"
"A man called 'the fool' or something like that. The book said he did something to the dragons. Maybe he can help me," Elijah explained.
The elder's face darkened. "Why would you need to contact that dunderhead?" he said angrily.
"What did he do? Why don't you like him? Do you know him?" Elijah pressed.
"ENOUGH!" the elder snapped. "All I'll tell you is his name: Hajime Sasaki. Good luck finding that ghost. Not even the Lord of Valoria, the man with the strongest aura sense in all the realms, can find him. He's the fastest, most impulsive person I've ever met. He thinks he's helping, but all he does is create long-term issues with his so-called 'kindness.'
Elijah frowned. "What did he do to deserve such hatred?" he asked, but the elder ignored him. "It's a good thing you're leaving. The church was about to catch on to your eminence," the elder muttered.
As Elijah crossed the borders of Valoria, he fell to his knees. Without the holy land's protection, the dragon's power overwhelmed him. A black aura engulfed him, forming the shape of a long, sinuous dragon.
"I'M FREE!" the dragon roared. "AFTER YEARS OF LIVING IN THIS BRAT'S BODY, I'M FREE!" It ascended into the sky, leaving a path of pure blackness behind.
Hajime Sasaki, reclining on a tree branch and twiddling a flower, noticed the disturbance. He sighed, plucking another petal. "Your son's just like you, Raiju, and it's pissing me off," he muttered. Putting on his mask, he leapt into action.
Hajime chased the dragon on foot, refusing to use his lightning. "Let's see how fast you really are," he smirked. Eventually, he caught up, leapt onto its back, and struck it with a surge of lightning. The dragon dissolved into shadows, revealing Elijah's unconscious body. Catching him, Hajime landed gracefully in a meadow.
Elijah stirred, then recoiled as the dragon's whispers returned. Hajime knelt, placing a hand on his back. In an instant, he came face-to-face with the shadow dragon.
"Now you. You're a human worth my time," the dragon sneered. "What is it you want, mortal?"
Hajime smirked. "Just leave the kid alone, and I won't kill you." With a burst of lightning, he incapacitated the dragon.
A voice echoed. "So this is how you treat my troubled child, Hajime?"
"Sorry, Raiju," Hajime muttered, clutching his chest.
Elijah awoke, confused. "Reaper?" Hajime teased. "You've got a gift I can help you develop."
Elijah shook his head. "Only the one they call 'the fool' can help me."
Hajime laughed. "Don't tell me the Valorians are still calling me that!"
Elijah gasped. "Y-you?! You're way too young to be the fool!"
Still laughing, Hajime replied, "You can't leave me now unless you want that dragon taking over again."
Elijah glared. "Fine. I'll join you… and then I'll beat your ass."
Hajime removed his mask, laughing even harder. "You'll never beat me."
"We'll see about that," Elijah said, vowing to keep his promise, unaware of the immense gap in their power, history, and experience.