Hearing those cold words, little Kento's eyes rushed with hot tears. The heavy silence of the basement completely broke as he burst into a frantic, breathless sob, reaching his small hands desperately toward his mother.
"No! No, I don't want to!" Kento cried out loud, his tiny voice shaking in pure panic. "Mommy! I don't want to play the game anymore! Take me home! Please... pull me out of this circle! Mommy, come get me!"
The raw terror in her son's voice struck Yuna like a physical blow. Her knees completely gave out, and she fell heavily onto the cold stone floor.
She slammed her hand over her mouth to muffle her loud, messy screams, hot tears soaking through her fingers as she shook violently.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, my baby..." she wept loudly, repeating the broken apologies over and over again into her palms. "Forgive Mommy... please, Kento, forgive me..."
Ayato instantly dropped to his knees beside her. His own face was tense with pain as he threw his arms around her trembling frame, trying to anchor her. "Yuna, shh...don't cry." he whispered against her hair, his voice filled with a desperate urge to keep her controlled.
"Look at him... if you break down like this, it's only going to hurt Kento more. We have to stay strong for him."
"I know... hic... I know that!" Yuna sobbed out loudly, her chest heaving as she gripped his sleeves in pure agony. "But I can't... I can't help it, Ayato! He's crying for me!"
In the center of the ring, Kento saw his mother collapse. The sight of her weeping figure sent a fresh surge of adrenaline through his tiny limbs.
"Mommy! Don't cry!" he shrieked, his soft fists clenching as he took a brave, shaky step forward. "I'm coming! I'll come out to you!"
He began to walk slowly toward the edge of the carved lines.
"STOP HIM!" the priest suddenly shouted, his majestic composure completely shattering into a high-stakes panic as he pointed at the moving child. "Do not let him cross the boundary! Stop him now!"
Ayato's heart stopped. In a flash of pure terror, he ran across the stone floor, his feet skidding in the dust as he threw himself toward the edge, stopping just bare inches away from the outer line of the circle.
"Kento, no! Stop walking! Stay right there!"
Ayato shouted frantically, his face completely wet with tears as he held his hands up like a barrier, his eyes wide with raw desperation.
"Don't take another step! Do not come out of that circle!"
The small boy froze mid-step, his tiny foot hanging just above the carved stone.
He stared at his father's wet, frantic face, and a sudden, suffocating confusion completely overwhelmed his five-year-old mind.
To a toddler, a father's loud, commanding shout meant only one thing. 'Why is Daddy yelling at me?' Kento thought, his chest heaving as a terrifying wave of loneliness crashed over him.
'Is he angry with me? Did I do something bad? Is that why he's blocking the way... because he doesn't want to hold me anymore? Does he not want me to be his son?'
The awful thoughts made him completely lose his composure. He turned his watery gaze toward his mother, his voice breaking into a piercing, desperate scream as he tried to move again. "MOMMY!!!"
"Kento, stop! Please, stay still!" Yuna scrambled to her feet and ran toward the edge, her tears flying as she screamed at him to stop.
She stretched her arms out across the air, her face twisted in pure agony as she begged him. "Don't get out of the circle, baby! Just stay inside! Mommy is right here, but you can't cross the line!"
"Why?!" Kento shrieked, wiping his nose with his sleeve as he cried louder, his tiny body shaking in total betrayal. "Why can't I come to you?! Why?!"
Ayato's jaw clenched so hard it ached, his chest bursting with a physical, burning pain as he looked back over his shoulder. He glared at the holy robes with absolute fury and desperation, screaming through his teeth.
"What are you just standing there looking at?! Start the ritual right now!!!"
"The wheels of the cosmos do not halt for a mother's tears, nor yield to a father's desperate vows. Though born in the Abyss, he belongs to Aeterna. He is the bridge promised since the days of Aethelgard and Elysia, and his heart has been chosen to bear The Golden Chains.[1] The stars have waited long enough. The appointed hour has arrived… and with it, The Beautiful Curse."[2]
He didn't speak in English. He didn't recite a common prayer. Instead, he opened his mouth and began to chant a strange, rhythmic, and terrifying sequence of words—an old, forgotten tongue that felt heavy and jagged in the air, vibrating through the cold stones of the basement.
"No! No, stop it!" Kento screamed out loud, his tiny hands flying up to cover his ears as the loud, madman chanting filled the small room, bouncing off the walls like thunder.
Standing just bare inches away from the glowing line of the circle, Yuna and Ayato instantly panicked, their hearts freezing at the sight of their son twisting in pure agony.
"Kento!" Yuna cried out, her voice breaking as she leaned forward as close as she safely could. "Kento, look at Mommy! Does it hurt somewhere?! Are you in pain, baby?! Tell me!"
Ayato didn't waste another second. He spun around on his heel, his face full in pure rage as he charged straight toward the chanting priest.
He grabbed the holy robes, his fingers tightening like iron clamps as he shook the man violently. "Stop it! Stop the ritual right now! Look at him, he can't take it!"
But the priest didn't stop. His hollow eyes rolled back into his head, a sickening, terrifying grin spreading across his face as he muttered a horrific, madman response right into Ayato's face."Let the vessel bleed,"[3]the priest whispered with horrifying devotion, his hollow eyes lost to madness. "Let the body cry. Let the heart tremble. Such things are fleeting."[4]
His grin widened impossibly.
"And if the soul should break beneath the weight of eternity…"[5]
"Then it simply means…"
"…the heavens chose poorly."[6]
Realizing the old man was completely out of his senses, a chill of absolute horror ran down Ayato's spine. He let go of the robes and spun back toward the ring, his mind completely snapping under the pressure.
"To hell with the traditions! To hell with your stupid cosmos!" Ayato shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing fiercely off the damp stone walls. "Kento! Get out of there! Step out of the circle right now on your own! Just run to us!"
Hearing those desperate words, Yuna instantly gasped and scrambled to her feet. She stared at her husband in utter shock, her lips trembling as she called out his name. "A-Ayato...?"
In the center of the ring, little Kento's tears instantly stopped. A brilliant wave of pure relief and happiness washed over his five-year-old face. 'Dad isn't angry with me!' his little brain realized in a rush of golden warmth. He cheerfully cried out, his voice full of hope. "Dad!"
"Run, Kento! Come here!" Ayato started approaching them, his jaw tight as he prepared to catch his boy.
"This whole thing is complete nonsense! Yuna was right from the very beginning! My son's life is more important than any of this madness!"
But before Ayato could even take his second step away from the holy man, a bony, terrifyingly strong hand suddenly held onto his shoulder from behind.
With a brutal, unnatural strength, the old priest forced Ayato to turn around to face him.
Before Ayato could even raise his arms to defend himself, the priest swung his arm and Smacked him across the face, followed instantly by a heavy, brutal punch straight to his jaw.
THWACK!
The heavy, Ancient Book the priest carried slipped from his fingers, hitting the dusty floor with a loud Thud, while Ayato's vision went completely black. He stumbled backward, his knees giving out as he fell heavily to the ground, his mouth bleeding from the impact.
Without even checking on the fallen father, the priest immediately knelt down, his face expressionless and cold.
He picked the ancient text back up from the dirt, brushed the dust off the cover, and instantly went right back into his deep, terrifying chant.
"Aelyr... Serath... Caelora...[7]" the madman muttered, his voice echoing like a death knell through the basement. "Thae sanguis vetera, elyr novara..."[8]
Yuna's eyes widened as she watched her husband's body hit the dirt.
"DAD!" Kento screamed from the center of the ring, his cheerful smile instantly shattering into a terrified scream as his tiny hands flew to his face.
"Ayato!" Yuna screamed at the exact same time, her voice cracking in pure panic. She sharply spun around toward the glowing boundary, pointing a shaking finger at her crying son. "Kento, stay right there! Do not move an inch!"
Without waiting for a response, she turned and rushed straight to Ayato's side, dropping to her knees in the dust beside his fallen body.
Ayato was lying flat on the cold stone floor, his fingers desperately clutching his nose as dark crimson blood began to leak through his knuckles.
DRIP... DRIP... DRIP.
----
🖋️ AUTHOR'S NOTE 🌙
Some wounds are deeper than blood.
This chapter hurt to write... not because of the punch, but because every adult in that basement was trying to protect the same little boy... and yet none of them could agree on how.
Sometimes love doesn't stand on opposite sides because one person is right and the other is wrong.
Sometimes...
Love itself becomes the battlefield.
And poor Kento...
He still doesn't understand why the people who love him the most can't simply make the scary room disappear.
Thank you for reading.
I'll see you in the next chapter. 🌙
(╥﹏╥)
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✦ 🔮 A GLIMPSE INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER 🔮 ✦
"What awaits beyond this page...?" 🌙
(灬･◡･灬)♡
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
"Spit upon my grave."
---
🗝️ HIDDEN BETWEEN THE PAGES 🌙
Fun fact:
Ayato really looked at generations of sacred traditions...
looked at an ancient priest...
looked at the glowing ritual circle...
and still said,
"To hell with all of this."
Character development can be... surprisingly loud.
(≧▽≦;)
----
🌙 The stars may fade, and memories may sleep...
But the Spiral continues to turn.
Until we meet again beneath the same forgotten sky.
(╯︵╰,)
— SakuraShinomiya
[1] He is the bridge promised since the days of Aethelgard and Elysia, and his heart has been chosen to bear a burden called as The Golden Chains.
[2] The Beautiful Curse = A fate that brings both blessings and suffering. Something beautiful because it gives purpose, and a curse because it demands sacrifice. ಥ_ಥ
[3] Allow him to suffer if it is necessary for the ritual. (‘◉⌓◉’)
[4] The priest believes that physical pain, fear, and emotional suffering are only temporary. In his eyes, they are small compared to the greater destiny that awaits. (●__●)
[5] And if his soul cannot bear the burden that has been placed upon it =_=
[6] The priest believes that Kento has been personally chosen by the heavens for a sacred purpose.If Kento's soul breaks under that burden, then the fault would not be Kento's—it would mean the heavens made a mistake when they chose him. ༼⁰o⁰；༽
[7] Old blood, awaken the new light.
[8] "From the ancient blood, Elyr is renewed.