The Burden of You (YamiXCharlotte)

Pictures

(Warning: mentions of blood)

The day seemed long yet short as the two wandered around the town. Their time spent at Kikka grew whenever Charlotte stopped in front of an interesting stand and stare at it for a few seconds before walking away. In the end they spent possibly an hour or two visiting different stands and stores before they found their way towards the outskirts of the town.

Charlotte sighed at the stony ground that wasn't as populated as the center of the town. She looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was starting to go down leaving her with the fact that they had accomplished nothing due to her wandering. She couldn't resist checking out the cute little shops and stands and for that they had gotten no leads and it was almost dusk.

"I guess we better hurry or else we'll have to find an inn to stay at," Yami pointed out while he scratched the back of his head, hair still messy as usual.

"Yeah.." she agreed as they continued to walk through the town.

She started to get serious and was on the lookout for any forests or anything that could give them a clue for their mission. They walked down the street before passing a large run down manor. Once they walked in front of it an eerie feeling immediately ran through both of their senses causing their feet to abruptly stop in their tracks. The air was still and silent, the low chatter that had stayed in the background had disappeared but the presence of the manor was as noticeable as an elephant in an open road.

Yami was able to sense something malicious in the manor, it was so clear that he didn't even need Ki to help him figure it out. He planned to take the first step forward but Charlotte beat him to it. He watched her, she looked like she was in some sort of shock or a trance caused by the mansion.

'I guess we're going in.' Yami thought to himself as Charlotte had already crossed the old rusted gate that had been bent open, perhaps by some mischievous youngsters. They walked along the old grey stone path that had a dull green moss overflowing in the cracks. The front lawn of the rundown manor seemed absolutely dead and devoid of color. There were weeds growing out of every crook and cranny of the gates wall. The only sound that could be heard were their footsteps and yet the eeriness of the mansion still overpowered those sounds.

Charlotte pushed open the broken door, there were cracks inflicted onto the door and chunks of it were missing. Upon further inspection it looked like one of the hinges had broken off. As the door was pushed open both of them could feel the rush of a powerful and sinister mana. It wasn't the type to crush you of pressure but the type to intimidate you and drive you away.

'Get out. Don't go in any further. It's dangerous.' She begged herself with every step. Being the person she was she didn't back down, but at the same time she wanted to leave. She didn't want to seem weak, if some old manor were to defeat her then could she even be called a captain? Her answer was no, which was exactly why she was going to force her way through this creepy, yet familiar home, and overcome it by herself.

The inside of the home was all overgrown with vines and moss, unlike the vegetation outside the inside was full of color. Green moss and thick vines could be seen running on the chipped and cracked walls. The vines looked like Boa Snakes slithering across the walls while the moss made the home look almost elegant in a weird way. Soft golden light could be seen protruding from the right of them. The windows were broken, only a few chunks of glass stood in the window framed. It all looked frozen in time.

Yami took a step besides Charlotte with his eyebrows together. This all felt too confusing for him and his dumb brain, why would there be a random broken house in the outskirts of the town and why haven't they heard anything about this through any of the townspeople.

He went to inspect the contents of the house that had remained, there was a dining table with one of the legs cut short, a few overturned chairs and bookshelves along with paintings of a family that had fallen to the ground. Yami took a look at one of the frames, trying to get a good look at the faces but due to what he assumed was the rain all of the pictures were smudged. Although he did notice one picture, a blue rose being held in the hands of a child who had another person besides them. The faces had been smudged out though except he could see that the child that didn't hold the blue rose had long light-colored hair.

Sighing from the little information he got, he got up from his spot and spotted Charlotte who was walking towards the back of the house where another broken door stood. He watched her steps, they seemed heavy and hesitant.

'Don't go outside Charlotte. Don't go to the garden.' Charlotte breathing became shallow as she got closer to the closed backdoor. 'Don't you remember what happened. It was all you. Don't go. You're going to end up getting him killed as well.'

Charlotte got closer to the door before finally putting her hand on the rusted metal handle, twisting it slowly as pictures flashed through her head.

The first picture was the pale color of his hand, the only color that had appeared in her mind was the red that decorated his palm and fingertips.

"Keep your eyes open! I-If you don't then.."

The second picture showed her the long forgotten smile of him. Red thick blood ran down the corners of his upturned smile. Even though the blood made it look like he was in pain, his smile said otherwise.

"Don't worry about me Charlotte, I'm fine."

The third picture displayed the blue roses he had once loved but were now stained in blood red. The blood that had gotten on the tips of the roses petals had mixed with the cobalt blue which created a blue-purple.

The soft cries of her younger self rang throughout her ears and mind as the final picture showed up. The garden, unlike the last few pictures, had no red to be seen. It was all black and white.

The slideshow of pictures came to an end when she opened up the back door only to see the garden once more. This time in full color.

(Smnnn, dude look at the stupid picture of Yami he's so ARGGHHH HHHH HHHHHHH. )