Ayoi slowly opened her eyes and found herself swallowed by a suffocating darkness.
She was wearing a white silk dress, drenched from head to toe, lying in the middle of a shallow pool of water. As she tried to sit up, the wet black ashes clinging to her dress smeared against her skin. A heavy scent of burning filled the air, sharp enough to sting her nose. She looked around. Everything had been reduced to ash, yet the fire itself had long died out. The puddles beneath her feet looked like tears left behind after a great catastrophe.
Slowly, she pushed herself upright. The soaked fabric clung tightly to her trembling body, while the pitch-black darkness surrounding her made it nearly impossible to see ahead. Everywhere she stepped, ruined photographs floated across the water's surface. Faces had been erased. Memories had rotted away.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through the sole of her foot as something cold and metallic pierced her skin. She gasped and stumbled back. Looking down, she spotted a silver necklace half-buried beneath the water. Blood trickled from her foot, mixing with the chain's pale shine. She picked it up carefully. The locket hanging from it was slightly open.
The moment she looked inside, her chest tightened.
There was a photograph of herself... and beside her, another face, burned away so completely it was impossible to recognize. Slowly, she scraped at the charred image with the tip of her finger.
The glass over the locket was deeply cracked. Ayoi lifted it closer to her face, trying desperately to make out who the erased figure had once been.
Then—
A metallic crack echoed through the darkness.
The fractures spread across the glass like a spiderweb.
"Ayoi! Wake up! Ayoi!"
Ayoi's eyes snapped open as the sharp stench of smoke stabbed into her lungs. The dream was gone, but the suffocating feeling remained painfully real.
Daichi was shaking her violently by the shoulders while struggling to lift the massive wooden dresser crushing her beneath it. Thick gray smoke had consumed the entire corridor.
"Daichi..." Ayoi managed to whisper, her voice rough and broken.
"I'm here! Hold onto me!" Daichi grunted, forcing the furniture aside with one final push. He grabbed Ayoi by the arm and pulled her upright. The moment he realized she could barely stand, he quickly hoisted her onto his back.
Daichi:
"Ryuji! I found her! Over here!"
Ryuji emerged from the smoke. His clothes were blackened with soot, and his eyes burned red from rage and smoke alike. Only the hilt remained at his waist; the absence of his melted blade swayed like physical proof of the betrayal they had suffered.
The three youths barely managed to throw themselves out of the collapsing temple as the ceiling beams cracked and crashed behind them.
The sight waiting outside stole the breath from their lungs.
The place they had once called home had been reduced to ashes.
---
The howling winds and shattering porcelain of the temple were gone here. Sakura collapsed beside the roots of a massive ancient tree, breathing heavily. The air scorching her lungs carried none of the familiar incense from the temple. Here, there was only the scent of damp soil and rotting leaves. She glanced behind her. Nothing but the long shadows of trees.
No one had followed her.
With trembling fingers, she pulled the heavy book hidden beneath her cloak. The instant her fingertips brushed against its cover, an unnatural warmth spread through her skin. Taking a deep breath, Sakura finally opened the cover she had been obsessing over for days.
Sakura (muttering to herself):
"Let's see if you're really as valuable as Master made you seem..."
She knelt down and carefully placed the book onto her lap. Her heartbeat was so loud she was almost certain the forest itself could hear it.
But instead of clear writing, formulas, or diagrams, chaos greeted her.
The ink across the pages seemed alive, constantly shifting and twisting into itself. Every time Sakura thought she had grasped a word, the letters dissolved before her eyes.
Sakura:
"For the love of God... Master never looked like he struggled reading this thing!"
She brushed her fingertips over the page. The paper felt rougher than she expected. Narrowing her eyes, she tried to focus harder. The book looked as though it had been written in a completely foreign language.
Flipping to another page, she finally noticed a few readable lines.
"If your intent is not as pure as your oath, the light will only blind you."
Sakura:
"What...? What is that even supposed to mean?"
Frustrated, Sakura turned another page. Aside from a few spells and ceremonial phrases Master had taught them, everything else felt impossibly alien to her. Clenching her teeth, she forced herself to stay calm and continued reading.
"Elementals do not recognize humans. They only hear the echo."
She frowned, rolling the words around in her mind, unable to fully grasp their meaning. Gritting her teeth, she turned another page.
And froze at the familiar illustration staring back at her.
The Fire Jewel.
Her eyes lit up instantly as she leaned closer, starving for knowledge. Her gaze dropped eagerly to the text beneath the drawing.
"The Ring of Fire is a dangerous jewel that carries within it the wrath of hell itself. It does not merely control fire; it creates it. The stronger the wielder's emotions become, the fiercer the flames grow. Its power knows no limit... but the Goddesses always demand a price."
Sakura's mind spun wildly around the words she had just read. Desperate to uncover what came next, she reached for the next page.
Then—
She caught the scent of something foreign cutting through the damp forest air like a blade.
Burnt. Smoky.
Familiar.
Sakura froze for a second.
Slowly, she raised her head and stared toward the depths of the forest... toward the direction she had come from. The wind slipped through the green leaves and brushed against her face, carrying the scent again, stronger this time.
Her eyes widened.
She quickly pulled the ancient book against her chest and jumped to her feet. Pushing past branches and rushing toward the rocky clearing beyond the trees, she looked up at the sky.
Her heart nearly burst inside her chest.
The bright blue noon sky had been stained by a massive cloud of black smoke rising in the distance. The smoke twisted upward like a living monster, swallowing the sun itself.
Sakura:
"No... that's impossible..."
There was only one place that smoke could be coming from.
The temple.
Without hesitating for even a second, Sakura shoved the ancient book back beneath her cloak and tightened the ties firmly into a knot.
Her eyes locked onto the towering wave of smoke.
Then her feet moved before her mind could catch up.
She sprinted back down the moss-covered path she had taken earlier, ignoring the roots clawing at her ankles and the branches tearing at her clothes. Her lungs already burned from the smell of smoke as she ran straight toward the fire...
Toward the destruction.
---
The fire had completely devoured the temple's wooden pillars and flooring, eventually causing the roof to collapse inward with a deafening roar. The ancient stone walls surrounding the temple still stood tall, but the thick black smoke pouring from its windows and doorways revealed the scale of the destruction inside.
Forcing aside the shock of Master's disappearance, Daichi and Ryuji threw themselves into action with the last strength they had left, determined not to lose the only home they had ever known.
Daichi stepped forward and raised both hands toward the temple's main entrance between the stone walls. In a trembling voice, he hastily began chanting the ancient sealing prayers Master had taught them. A pale blue glow spread from his palms, settling over the flames like a heavy mist. His magic smothered the oxygen feeding the fire, weakening the raging flames and forcing them back.
Ryuji, meanwhile, had turned his fury into raw strength.
Using the sudden surge of magic flowing through him, he controlled streams of water drawn from the temple courtyard's well, hurling them through the shattered stone windows and onto the burning remains inside. Each impact against the scorching wood and molten embers sent clouds of white steam roaring into the sky.
Meanwhile, amid all the chaos, Ayoi lay half-conscious upon the damp grass a few meters away from the temple. Her lungs still burned from the poisonous smoke, and her eyelids grew heavier with every breath.
Then—
Footsteps burst through the forest brush.
Sakura emerged from the trees, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. The moment she saw the blackened stone walls still standing beneath the rising smoke, her knees nearly gave out beneath her.
But the instant she noticed Ayoi lying motionless in the grass, everything else vanished from her mind.
Sakura:
"Ayoi! What happened?! What state are you in?!"
Ignoring the heavy weight of the book hidden beneath her cloak, Sakura dropped beside her friend. Her hands trembled with panic as she checked Ayoi's breathing.
Ayoi slowly opened her eyes, coughing violently as she tried to sit up.
"Sakura..." she rasped. "They... came... They were looking for the book."
Sakura's brows furrowed sharply in confusion.
Sakura:
"Who...?"
Having finally extinguished the last remaining flames inside the temple, Daichi and Ryuji approached them, exhausted and covered in soot. Both of their gazes immediately settled on Sakura kneeling beside Ayoi.
Daichi:
"Sakura! We searched the entire temple for you! Where were you?!"
Sakura slowly rose to her feet, forcing herself to remain calm.
Sakura:
"I was in the forest... doing Master's meditation assignment."
Ryuji:
"Carrying out Master's assignments doesn't mean much right now... Master was taken."
Sakura froze in horror.
She had only been gone for a short while, yet it felt as though the world itself had collapsed.
Sakura:
"What?! That's insane! Will someone please explain what happened?!"
Daichi:
"The embers we found after training were some kind of magical trap. While Master was examining them with us, the bearer of the Fire Jewel suddenly appeared in the temple and set everything ablaze. Then... Master disappeared along with him."
Ayoi forced herself upright slightly, speaking with difficulty.
Ayoi:
"He... wasn't alone."
Her words spread through the smoke-filled ruins like an icy wind. Daichi and Ryuji immediately turned toward her, while Sakura's eyes widened in alarm.
Daichi:
"What do you mean he wasn't alone? You saw someone else, Ayoi?"
Ayoi pressed a hand against her chest and coughed painfully. Every breath still hurt, but her eyes remained fixed on Sakura. The helplessness she had felt in the corridor still lingered inside her voice.
Ayoi:
"A woman with silver eyes... She controlled the air as if it were her servant. She threw me behind that dresser and pinned me to the wall with her storm. She must've been the bearer of the Air Jewel... She was searching for the book."
At that moment, Sakura felt the ancient tome hidden beneath her cloak burn against her skin like heated iron. Her heartbeat pounded so violently she feared the others might hear it.
Still, she forced herself not to look away.
Sakura:
"The book...? Did she find it?"
Ryuji stepped forward, his expression darkened by both fury and helplessness.
Ryuji:
"We don't know if they found what they wanted, but one thing's certain. They have a much bigger plan."
Ayoi slowly shook her head. Her gaze drifted across Sakura's uneasy movements, noticing how desperately she tried to hide whatever rested beneath her cloak.
But she said nothing.
At least... not yet.
Sakura:
"Then... what do we do now? Where do we even look for Master?"
Ryuji:
"We'll find him. Even if they flee to the other side of the world, I'll track down that fire bastard and bring Master back."
His eyes darkened.
"And next time... even if I don't have my sword, I'll wipe that smug grin off his face myself."