It had been five years since the Black Sun.
Five years since Rei fought the Elders for six long days, six days that felt like centuries.
The world had changed since then. The storms had quieted, the skies had healed, and the earth had begun to forget its scars.
Rei hadn't.
He lived alone now, tucked away in a small village hidden between the ridges of Kuroha. The villagers called him the quiet man, polite but distant. Someone who didn't talk much, didn't stay long in crowds, and didn't laugh when others did.
He never told anyone who he really was.
No one knew that the man who brought peace to the world slept in a shed beside them.
The two blades, the Blade of Resolve and the Soul Keeper, lay untouched in the corner of his small home. Dust gathered around them, but their energy still pulsed faintly, as if waiting for their master's call.
Rei still felt Raga's energy within him, faint like a heartbeat that never really stopped. He hadn't heard his voice in years, but he knew the demon was still there, silent, watching.
Despite everything, life was peaceful. Rei had grown used to quiet mornings and slow sunsets. The only people he ever really spoke to were the two siblings across from his home, Trion and Nace.
Trion was young and fiery, four years younger than Rei and filled with questions he never stopped asking. He'd often show up at Rei's doorstep just to bother him with stories about fights, strength, and glory.
Nace, his older sister, was the opposite. She was quiet and curious, always observing Rei from a distance. She didn't trust him completely, but something about him drew her in.
Rei kept to himself. He didn't allow anyone inside his home. He didn't like people getting too close.
But that didn't stop Trion.
One day, a rock hit Rei's door.
He didn't even look up. He already knew who it was.
Before he could move, a hand pulled him outside by the head.
"Come on!" Trion said, laughing. "You're coming with us to the festival this year!"
"I'm not going," Rei said, his voice calm, eyes half-lidded.
Trion groaned. "You say that every time."
From behind him, Nace appeared, her voice soft but firm. "He never comes out, Trion. Just let him be."
Rei sighed and leaned on the doorframe. "You two are too loud."
Trion grinned. "That's what makes us fun. You're always alone in there. Don't tell me you're hiding something."
He stepped forward and pushed the door open before Rei could stop him. Rei grabbed his shoulder instantly, voice low. "Don't."
But Nace had already slipped past them both. "So this is where you hide," she said, looking around the dim, quiet space.
"Leave," Rei said simply.
"Or what?" Trion asked, smirking as he glanced at the corner. Something metallic caught his eye. "What's that?"
Before he could touch the Soul Keeper's hilt, Rei was in front of him, so fast neither of them saw him move. His hand clamped around Trion's wrist.
"Don't touch that," he said softly, but his tone carried something ancient, something heavy.
Nace froze. One moment he was across the room, the next he was there, his gaze sharp and unblinking. She'd never seen anyone move like that.
Rei let go and stepped back. "Get out."
The two left in silence, their faces pale.
As they reached the door, Rei added quietly, "I'll be there."
---
The day of the Blue Lake Festival arrived.
It was the day the villagers celebrated peace, the day the Black Sun ended. To them, it was the day the spirits had saved them. None of them knew that the man standing among them was the reason they still lived.
Every villager carried a handful of sand. Tradition said it represented the souls of the ancestors, and when thrown into the Blue Lake, it returned their blessings to the world.
Rei stood apart from the crowd, arms crossed, watching Trion and Nace laugh among the people. For once, he allowed himself a faint smile.
"Six years," he murmured. "Six years of peace. Not bad."
The villagers began to chant softly as they lifted their hands, ready to cast the sand into the lake.
But then, the wind stopped.
The air grew thick and unmoving. The sand in their palms didn't fall; it floated midair. The reflection in the water began to twist. Blue became green. Green bled into yellow. Then yellow burned into black.
The sky followed.
Everywhere, the same color shift. The sun dimmed. The world darkened.
Rei froze. His heartbeat slowed. That feeling, that pressure, he knew it too well.
Trion looked at him. "Rei? What's wrong?"
Rei didn't answer. He was already looking up. "No. Not now."
The villagers began to panic, but before anyone could move, a shape flickered into existence. A thin, tall man wearing an Elder's robes appeared as if reality itself had folded open to release him.
He stood inches from Rei, a zigzag blade already slashing toward his neck.
Rei barely dodged, the blade grazing his skin.
The crowd erupted into screams.
The man's voice was hollow, his tone like a puppet being spoken through.
"I will take an arm from everyone you've ever met. Starting with you."
Rei's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
The man's smile stretched unnaturally wide up his forehead. Black liquid dripped from his teeth.
"You've gotten slow, Enso child."
Before Rei could respond, the man vanished and reappeared beside a villager, blade at their throat. Rei moved, but too late.
A slice of air, a flash of blood. The villager fell, arm severed, body limp.
"Stop!" Rei shouted, his voice booming across the silence.
The thin man turned his head upside down, smiling with his forehead-mouth. "Crushing Force," he whispered.
Rei lunged, his punch crashing into the man's gut, but the moment of impact, the ground itself cracked and folded. Rei's strength rebounded into him, hurling him back.
The man laughed, his voice layered like several speaking at once. "You thought the void was the end?"
Rei flash-stepped back to his home, grabbing the Blade of Resolve in one smooth motion. His aura pulsed again for the first time in years.
When he returned, twenty-four villagers were already dead.
Trion and Nace stood frozen, terrified.
The thin man moved toward them, blade raised, but Rei appeared before him and swung.
The strike connected, or so he thought. The man shattered like glass and vanished into dust.
Silence.
Rei lowered his weapon slowly. He'd saved the siblings, but something felt off. The world was still heavy. Too quiet.
Trion looked at him, his voice shaking. "What are you?"
Nace's eyes trembled. "Who are you, Rei?"
He didn't answer. He only looked at them once, eyes faintly glowing, then vanished in a blur of blue light.
Only the wind remained.
----
Far away, in the quiet of his shed, the Soul Keeper blade trembled faintly.
A faint whisper echoed from within it, Raga's voice, distant and ancient.
"So, he's started moving."