Chapter One: The Shadow's Pact
(Part Two)
The Nuckelavee's Roar
The air split like glass. The Nuckelavee reared, its skeletal horse-legs cracking the earth. Its rider's upper body twisted unnaturally, claws dripping black ichor. Every villager froze as the nightmare Grimm loomed over the broken street.
But one man stood tall.
Lie Ren—no, not Lie Ren anymore. His wounds should have killed him. His body should have been cold. Yet his eyes gleamed with golden fire, and the shadow of another walked with him.
The Pirate King.
Dōyami Branwen watched from the street's edge, his weapon shifting into rapier form, the blade humming with Dust charge. He could feel Roger's shadow flowing through Ren's father like a storm contained in fragile glass.
It wouldn't last.
But it would burn bright.
"Come then," Dōyami murmured, his voice carrying an edge of challenge. "Show me if you can defy death."
The Nuckelavee screamed.
And the village became a battlefield.
Borrowed Glory
Lie Ren moved with a speed no dying man should have possessed. The shadow within him guided his strikes, blade arcing with uncanny precision. Every Grimm that lunged fell before him—Beowolves cleaved, Creeps impaled, Griffons cut from the sky.
The villagers stared, disbelief and awe warring in their eyes.
Dōyami joined him, their blades weaving in strange harmony. His rapier darted through Grimm skulls while Ren's father's strikes thundered with borrowed might. Together, they carved a path through the chaos.
But the Nuckelavee was not so easily cowed. It charged, skeletal hooves smashing houses to splinters. Its clawed arm swung, aiming to crush both man and boy.
Dōyami's weapon snapped into greatsword form, catching the blow with a scream of steel. The force drove him to one knee, aura sparking painfully.
"Move!" he barked.
Lie Ren didn't hesitate. His blade—Roger's blade—flashed upward, slicing through the Grimm's arm. Black ichor sprayed as the limb fell, writhing. The monster shrieked, staggering back.
For a heartbeat, the villagers believed.
They saw a miracle.
The Cost of Power
But Dōyami knew better.
Every strike from Lie Ren grew slower. Every swing was heavier, as if the man's body fought against the shadow possessing it. His aura flickered, strained beyond mortal limits.
The pact was burning him alive.
"Not long," Dōyami muttered, parrying another Beowolf. His gaze flicked to the family huddled by the ruins—Ren's mother clutching her son, Nora trembling at her side. Their wide eyes locked on the battle. On their father.
Dōyami clenched his teeth. He had promised power. He had not promised salvation.
The Nuckelavee screamed again, lunging forward. Its maw gaped wide, ready to devour.
Lie Ren roared back, his blade igniting with the last of his stolen strength. He surged forward, stabbing deep into the monster's chest. The blade buried to the hilt, shadows flaring outward in golden light.
For one glorious moment, the Pirate King's shadow shone through him.
The Nuckelavee staggered, shrieking, before collapsing in a heap of writhing ichor.
The Grimm tide broke. The lesser creatures howled, retreating into the forest as their leader fell.
Silence fell.
The villagers wept. Cheers broke out.
But Lie Ren collapsed.
A Father's Last Moments
The shadow withdrew like smoke from a snuffed flame, flowing back into Dōyami's hand. The glow in Lie Ren's eyes faded, leaving only a man's final breaths.
He lay crumpled on the ground, his wife rushing to his side. Tears streamed down her face as she clutched his hand.
"Please… stay with me… please…"
The man smiled faintly, his voice little more than a whisper.
"I… protected you… didn't I?"
His gaze turned to his son—young Ren, frozen in shock.
"Be strong… for her."
And then, his eyes closed. His chest stilled.
The villagers bowed their heads.
Ren's mother sobbed into his chest.
Dōyami watched quietly, shadows coiling around his hand before sinking back into his body. He felt nothing. He had seen death too many times to weep.
But the boy in front of him… Ren's wide, wet eyes, staring at his fallen father…
That struck something deeper.
The Shadow's Words
Dōyami stepped forward. His presence loomed over the broken family, not cruel, not kind—simply undeniable.
Ren looked up at him, trembling.
"Y-you… you gave him that power… didn't you?"
Dōyami's eyes glowed faintly in the dark.
"Yes."
"Then why… why did he still die?!"
The boy's voice cracked with grief and rage.
Dōyami crouched, his gaze level with Ren's.
"Because nothing is free. Power always has a cost. Your father paid his willingly. He chose to die fighting, not rotting. That is the strength you saw."
Ren bit his lip, tears streaming.
"Remember this, boy. Strength comes at a price. If you want to protect her—" he nodded toward Ren's mother, still sobbing, "—you'll learn that. One day."
Ren's fists clenched. His young eyes, though drowned in tears, held a spark of something else. Determination.
Dōyami rose. His gaze shifted to Nora, who peeked out from behind Ren's mother. Her tiny fists were balled, her eyes fierce despite her fear.
Dōyami smirked faintly. "And you… don't ever lose that fire."
The Choice to Follow
In the days that followed, the village mourned. They buried their dead, rebuilt what they could.
But the damage was deep. Many whispered of leaving, scattering to safer lands. Others cursed their weakness, blaming the Branwens, the gods, anyone they could.
Ren and Nora followed Dōyami everywhere. Shadowing him like stray pups, they asked questions he rarely answered.
Why did he help? Why did he fight? Why did the shadows follow him?
He ignored most of them. But he didn't push them away.
Ren's mother surprised him most. She approached him one night, eyes red from tears, and spoke words he hadn't expected.
"You saved us. You saved my children. And you… gave him a chance to be a hero."
Her voice cracked, but she steadied herself.
"You have no family here, do you? No one to care for you."
Dōyami stiffened. Memories flashed—cold Branwen nights, a father he never knew, mothers of past lives who never lived long enough to love him.
She placed a hand on his shoulder, gentle.
"Then let me. Stay with us. Let me be your mother."
For the first time in three lives, Dōyami Branwen felt something stir.
Something he didn't have a word for.
He only nodded.
And that night, for the first time since he was reborn in this cursed world, he slept without the weight of shadows pressing on his chest.
Epilogue of the Pact
Dōyami Branwen left the village weeks later, Ren and Nora trailing behind him as though it were inevitable. The villagers didn't stop them. Ren's mother kissed them goodbye, her eyes lingering on Dōyami with both sorrow and pride.
"Take care of them. And yourself."
He didn't promise. He never promised. But when she smiled at him—soft, warm, unyielding—he felt something tighten in his chest.
The road stretched long into the horizon.
A boy not yet a man, a pair of children, and a weapon of shifting steel.
Behind him, the shadow of Roger stirred, silent but present.
Ahead of him, the world of Remnant waited.
And for the first time… Dōyami Branwen did not walk alone.
[End of Chapter One: The Shadow's Pact]