Renji wiped his tears with the back of his hand, but the pain did not fade. The sensei's words still echoed in his mind: "Everyone will think you did this… run now."
He rose to his feet, limping, his breath still ragged from Kaede's blow. For a brief moment, his eyes fell on the lifeless bodies of Miyu and Airi, and his heart clenched as if caught in a vice. He wanted to stay, to bury them, to whisper one last prayer… but he couldn't. If he stayed, it would be all over for him.
Clenching his teeth, he turned toward home. His steps were heavy, hurried, trembling. His heart screamed that he was betraying their memory by fleeing, but his mind knew it was the only way.
Once inside, he dragged out an old backpack and began stuffing it with whatever he could find: a hard loaf of bread, two apples, a piece of cheese, and a small flask of water. His hands shook with fury, as if each object thrown into the bag condemned him to an endless flight. Finally, he pressed it against his chest and slung it over his shoulder.
— "Forgive me…" he whispered through clenched teeth, his voice breaking.
Without looking back, he darted outside and headed for the edge of town. His feet moved mechanically, as though despair itself dictated his steps. The air already carried the scent of danger, as if soldiers could appear at any moment.
At the town's outskirts, his eyes landed on a notice board. Amid old papers and bounty posters, a map of the region hung, pinned by a rusty nail. Renji bit his lip and glanced around, the street was empty. With a quick tug, he tore the map down and shoved it into his backpack.
Shame burned his chest like fire, but there was no time to hesitate.
— "I have no choice… I must survive."
He ran until he reached a stable at the roadside. The horses stirred uneasily, as if sensing the storm that followed him. With trembling hands, Renji lifted the latch and slipped inside.
The animals stared at him, wide-eyed, their gaze faintly glowing in the darkness. A black horse, with a long mane, looked the strongest. Renji approached, trying to soothe it with a hurried stroke.
— "I'm sorry…" he murmured, shame tearing at him. "I don't want to steal… but I must leave."
He quickly saddled the horse and flung the stable doors open. The animal snorted, as if it knew a mad dash awaited.
Renji mounted, the heavy backpack pressing against his back, his broken sword tied at his belt. He cast one last look toward the city he once called home. Tears stung his eyes, but he pushed them away, gritting his teeth.
— "I must reach Lioren… Eris… i dont know who are you but help me."
He spurred the horse forward, hooves pounding, shattering the silence of the night. Renji vanished into the forest, his heart torn, his soul weighed down, but with one thought burning in his mind: to live long enough to uncover the truth.
The road stretched on without pause. The horse galloped heavily, breathing hard, growing more restless with every step. The forest thinned, and in the distance the flicker of a city's lights shimmered against the night.
Renji stopped on a hilltop, gazing down. There, in the valley, sprawled Korin: high walls, torches at the gates, streets still buzzing with life despite the late hour.
He bit his lower lip.
— "No… I can't go in. What if the news has already spread? What if the Imperials are already searching for me? What if people believe it was me…?"
His chest tightened. He couldn't risk it. His eyes dropped to the exhausted horse, trembling with fatigue. Renji stroked its sweat damp neck and sighed.
— "I owe you more than I can give… but here our paths must part."
He loosened the reins and released it. The horse snorted softly, then wandered into the darkness. Renji remained alone, with only his pack on his back and the broken sword at his side.
Leaving the main road, he slipped into the woods near Korin. The trees' shadows swallowed him once again, but at least they offered cover. Every rustle felt like pursuit, but exhaustion and pain dulled his thoughts.
After a while, his gaze settled on a colossal tree, its thick branches stretching skyward like arms, its roots burrowing deep into the earth like petrified serpents.
Renji approached and pressed his palm against its cold bark.
— "Here… here I must rest."
Climbing with difficulty, his wounded shoulder burning, his muscles straining, he finally reached a broad branch. He leaned against the trunk, clutching his pack tightly to his chest.
He closed his eyes. They felt heavy as lead, yet his mind refused silence. The image of Miyu's lifeless body returned again and again. Airi's scream, her blood staining the dirt… Kaede's red eyes gleaming from the darkness.
His breath broke into short spasms. Covering his face with his hand did nothing to banish the memories.
— "I can't… I can't sleep now. If I close my eyes, I'll see them again…"
His eyelids burned with fatigue, but sleep never came, only a gnawing unease, as though the forest itself watched him in silence.
Renji remained there, awake, trapped between the night's stillness and the storm of his thoughts, unable to let his soul rest.
Perched on the thick branch, back pressed to the trunk, Renji's mind was chaos. He could not fall asleep. His heart felt heavy, crushed beneath one tormenting question:
— "Why i wasn't there to protect them? Why do I have the power of the necklace? What's its purpose? What good is it if I can't save someone?
He bit his lip, fists clenched. A darker thought slithered into his soul.
— "But… what if my death could fix everything? What if… when I die, I'm thrown back? Right there, before Airi and Miyu were killed… I could change it all."
His heart raced wildly, his throat dry, his hands trembling. Absurd or not, the thought had become his only hope.
Slowly, he drew the broken sword from its sheath. The jagged blade gleamed faintly in the moonlight. He stared at it, then turned the point toward his chest.
— "If this is the way… then so be it."
He raised the blade closer to his heart. The cold tip touched his skin, and his eyes welled with tears. He imagined their faces, Miyu and Airi, smiling, laughing, as if all of this had been nothing but a nightmare.
Jaw tight, he pushed the blade inward, but at that moment, the necklace in his pocket began to pulse.
At first faintly, like a foreign heartbeat. Then stronger, until darkness flooded through his body.
— "What…?" Renji froze, no longer in control.
A shiver shot through his chest, the sword slipping from his hand, clattering against the branch. The necklace vibrated, resisting his will, forcing his muscles to relax.
— "No… it wasn't me… I didn't choose this…" he whispered, but his voice faded.
His eyelids grew unbearably heavy, his consciousness dissolving like water into depthless dark. The relic had defeated him, forcing him into sleep to protect him.
Darkness seeped into every corner of his mind, a living shadow choking his breath. In his pocket, the necklace throbbed, cold, unyielding, its pulse crawling through his bones, stirring dread. Renji knew exactly what had happened. No surprise remained. He was beginning to grow used to the territory of the necklace.
— "Renji…"
He did not flinch at the voice. He trembled, but not from fear, from recognition that pierced him to the marrow. He knew who it was. Yet the vibration of the necklace made him feel there was more than he understood.
— "You may call me… Ubik," the voice continued, calm yet heavy with gravity. "That is my name. And yes, I tried to help you this time as well… but you didn't let me."
A silhouette took shape, bearing Kaede's features, familiar yet alien, lifeless yet impossible to ignore.
— "What do you want from me this time? I have bigger problems right now… if you can't help me, at least let me out of here."
— "You should be thanking me for stopping you," Ubik replied, his voice resonating like a cold vibration in Renji's mind. "Had you gone through with it, you'd remain dead. There is no reset, no escape. I stopped you because you cannot defy your fate that way."
A chill ran down Renji's spine. His hands felt powerless, his chest tightening.
— "Then… why didn't you tell me until now? Why do you still say nothing, only watching me suffer, when Kaede killed my sister and my friend?"
— "Last time I tried to warn you about Kaede. I wasn't certain, but I sensed something was wrong. I tried to show you the truth, that he had killed you in the forest with an arrow. I didn't tell you before because… I wanted to protect you. But in our last talk, you were too consumed by anger and questions to listen. You were blinded by your own thoughts, obsessed with Kaizen… and you paid the price for it."
Renji stood frozen, each word striking him like a heavy stone crushing his chest. The weight of guilt smothered him, trapping him in silence. Every wrong choice, every moment he refused to see, fell back on him with relentless pain.
— "So… everything… Miyu, Airi… all of it… could have been avoided if I had just listened to you?" Renji screamed, his voice tearing his throat, words flying like arrows piercing his heart.
— "Perhaps," Ubik answered coldly, without compassion. "But you would have had to see. To feel. To accept the truth. And you didn't. You chose blindness. And that was the price."
Renji's muscles shook, tears blurring his vision. The necklace -Ubik- pulsed in his pocket, cold and merciless, a constant reminder that nothing could be undone. Each beat was a condemnation: guilt, responsibility, and death hung upon him.
Ubik paused, his cold rhythm reverberating in Renji's mind, then spoke gravely:
— "Renji… if you want to survive, you must head to Marvek. There you'll find a chance… but not for long. On your way, you will encounter two Imperials. They are strong, ruthless. If you are not cautious, you will not survive."
Renji's blood froze, his eyes widening, his hands trembling.
— "Two Imperials…? Where… where can I hide?" he whispered.
— "Do not rush," Ubik continued. "You must stop for a few hours at a tavern between Marvek and the kingdom's border. There you can recover, breathe, prepare for what comes next. But beware: avoid cities, large towns. News of what has happened is already spreading. If you enter a city… you will not escape unnoticed."
Renji swallowed hard, the weight of Ubik's words pressing into him. Every step ahead was shadowed by danger and guilt.
— "I must be fast. I must hide… and not make any more mistakes," he whispered, trembling, knowing every second mattered.
Ubik's presence lingered, cold and heavy in his mind:
— "Renji… listen carefully. Death can be kept at bay… but there are limits. If the same person kills you three times in succession, the power that brings you back will not awaken a fourth time. Then… you will have no chance."
The words crushed Renji's chest, chilling him to the core. Each choice, each misstep, could be final.
— "You must be cautious… more than ever before. You cannot let despair or rage leave you unprepared. You are not invincible. You have at most three chances… if you do not think through your moves."
Renji jolted awake, gasping in the tree where he had slept. His heart pounded violently, his pulse roaring in his ears, the cold night wind biting his skin. The forest's darkness felt denser than ever, each rustling leaf sharpening his dread.
He shifted back on the branch and pulled out the stolen map, hands trembling. His eyes scanned the outlines of cities and borders, desperate to locate himself and chart a way to Marvek without falling into the Imperials' grasp.
— "I must find the border… the tavern… I must do everything to survive," he muttered to himself, his voice swallowed by the shadows.
He folded the map tightly, his eyes flickering between the city's position and the kingdom's border. Determination burned within him, mixed with raw desperation. Every decision from now on mattered, any mistake could be fatal.
~~~AUTHOR: I created a map for the universe of my story, which you can find in the comments section of this message~~~
In the forest's depths, under the towering trees' shadows, Renji pulled his broken sword close and clutched the necklace, feeling Ubik's vibrations. He was alone, but not truly alone. The relic's cold guidance echoed in his mind, a relentless voice in the night filled with peril.
And so, with the map in hand, burdened by guilt and fear, Renji laid out his plan for the road ahead… toward Marvek, the border, and perhaps, a chance to set things right.