Renji's legs gave out before he reached the Oasis Core.
Images of his parents back in the other world gnawed at him. The guilt. The distance. The helplessness.
Darkness pulled him under.
When his eyes opened again, the world was… different.
He found himself lying on a cold floor — a small oval-shaped room, every wall pressed from hardened sand that looked like iron mixed with concrete.
It resembled the single-room house of a man who had nothing left.
A voice broke the silence.
"Hey, kid. You awake?"
The tone was cold, almost dismissive.
A man stepped out of the shadowed corner.
His clothes were little more than a grey, rusted hood and tattered rogue's garb.
He looked like a beggar pretending to be a warrior.
A rusted sword hung by his side, but Renji could tell — it was more ornament than weapon.
The man's aura was weak. So weak, in fact, it didn't even compare to the girl who had killed with a kiss.
Renji remembered clearly — he had felt her presence like a blade pressed to his throat.
But this man? Nothing. Empty. Fragile.
And yet… he knew something he shouldn't.
"I know you're not from this world," the man said flatly.
"And you can't go back."
Renji froze!
The man stepped closer, his hood shadowing most of his face.
"Now… we need to see the Monarch."
Renji frowned,
"Monarch? You mean the king? What does he want with me?
What did he do to me?
Am I in trouble?"
The man tilted his head, unmoved by the flood of questions.
"Everything will be overseen by the Monarch."
Renji swallowed. His eyes narrowed.
"Then… what's your name?"
The man's lips curved faintly, though his tone remained cold.
"My name… is Ash."