Before the Seven Mysteries (Amane x Reader) {Abandoned}

∙Twenty-One∙

    Amane was having his own issues navigating through the barren village. The tan bricks and somewhat dense foliage in places really did create a maze of desolate, thatch-roofed houses. No door was open, every window was boarded up, and he worried what might be within each one. He didn't dare touch them, but his quarry was elsewhere anyways.

    His footsteps echoed around him; the tan brick was throwing back every slap of his school shoes on the stone. It was almost disorienting. If the boy hadn't known any better, he'd think something was chasing him.

    But nothing else was here, right?

    Amane whirled around to face behind him. The echoes stopped, and nothing was following him. He looked to the roofs, and checked in the cracks of the boarded windows. The houses were nothing out of the ordinary, as they contained only rudimentary furniture, not monsters following close behind him. The only thing that struck him as odd was that everything inside looked like it was brand new, but the walls told a different story.

    "That's not important right now," he muttered to himself.

    "That's not important right now," the walls hissed back.

    Amane stumbled away from the window he had peered into, quickly turning in a circle to check all his sides. He had heard it in every direction, and hadn't he spoken quietly enough for there to be no echo?

    There had been an echo though, and Amane knew he had to get out of there. The hairs on his arms stood adamantly like posts, though he wasn't sure if it was in fear or from the feeling of being watched. He looked back the way he came, and sprinted that way. He'd have to take the long way around the surprisingly big and twisting village. He may miss the figure he'd seen, but at least he wouldn't be in danger.

    As he had the thought, the sound of vines snapping and foliage rustling violently made him turn around. His breath caught in his throat as he ducked to the side before a thick green tendril could skewer him. He grabbed the flowers the ghost had given him and sprinted for his life, hoping desperately he'd be able to come back the way he had come in. He still heard the foliage behind him, and the smaller groups of plants he passed by had small, snaking vines he could easily avoid with a bit of focus. It didn't take long to reach the wall his friend had phased through, but then he was stumped. The sound of greenery behind him had stopped, and he saw the tendril snaking back to wherever it came from. He guessed that, like the smaller ones, it had its own range.

    Now, though he had reached the proper place, something was off. The only thing that had remained the same was the wall Hana-chan had gone through, and the way out of the village had changed. It was no longer the straight path they had entered through, and Amane was beginning to regret not accepting a hakujoudai. He could've always sent it back to Hana-chan when he was done, right?

    Actually, that's when he realized something else. There were no sounds. The only time something other than him made noise was when it was the plants coming after him, but why couldn't he hear anything other than that? He had heard Akari's anguished cry before, so why couldn't he hear any talking or fighting through the wall now?

    Not being able to think of anything else, he reached into his pocket and grabbed the flowers he'd been given. He supposed he needed the good luck right now to lead him out of the village, but with the atmosphere around him and the plants attacking, he figured both wouldn't hurt.

    He now stood for a few moments, considering his options.

    "If I were the exit to this crazy labyrinth, where would I be?" he wondered aloud. The boy felt a tingling in his left hand, fingers clenched around the flowers. He couldn't see anything different, then he realized differences aren't always something you can see. "Maybe. . . I can't trust my eyes."

    Amane held out his left hand, pointing the flowers in different directions to get that tingling feeling in his hand again, but it was to no avail. Once he had turned full circle, he clenched his eyes shut and tried again. This time, he got something. The boy held his other hand in front of him in case he ran himself into a wall, and sprinted in the direction of the flowers. When he felt the tingling fade, he stopped in his tracks and turned until he could follow the flowers once again. He didn't dare open his eyes, not knowing if it would break this spell. The fear of the flowers leading him to danger also seemed to grip him every few turns, but he pushed through it. He made a mental note to not mention this to Hana-chan.

    After a few seemingly reckless minutes, Amane felt dirt skid beneath his feet. His eyes sprung open to take in the view around him. He was now wary of the forest around him. What other vicious plants wanted his life? Keeping to areas with short grasses and few plants seemed to be the best choice. Making his way to the other side of the village, he tried to catch a few glimpses of the fight that was sure to be happening. Despite his best attempts, the buildings were just too tall for him to see over into the central lake. 

    The boy was filled with worry for (Y/N), but it was out of his hands before they ever stepped foot here. He had loathed admitting the fox was right, that he could do nothing, but he couldn't hold the ghost back and get her exorcised. He could only imagine how unbearable the pain was from how she had described it to him. He shuddered at the thought of his very soul being ripped to shreds.

    Yeah, he didn't want to be the reason that happened to her.

    At last, he reached the other side of the village, which he had only noticed due to the very apparent footprints in the dirt. Three trails had been left behind. Two led into the village, but he knew his target was the only set leading away. It led in a different direction than the others had come from with brambles and branches broken once it left the printed dirt in a way that wouldn't take an experienced tracker to follow it. 

    A moment of hesitation appeared in Amane's mind. Why was this track so easy to follow? It couldn't have been this easy by mistake. . . could it? The boy shook the thoughts from his head. He didn't have any more time for this. He had already spent too much time on the way over, so he rushed to follow the trail. The brush that hadn't been treaded down so well was swiftly flung to the side. The branches that dipped in the way were expertly ducked under. The brambles that threatened to snag and ensnare him were deftly danced around. Nothing was stopping him.

    Until the trail ended.

    Amane stood in a clearing similar to where himself and Hana-chan had emerged. The trail now left no trace. He searched the edges of the clearing for a continuation but to no avail. There was still the way he had entered, but was that really it? It couldn't possibly have ended so suddenly.

    It was only when something warm gripped his arm tightly that he realized this was a trap, and he had fallen all too willingly into it.

A/N
"What has that boy gotten himself into now?" I hear you saying. Fear not. Or should you fear? I guess you guys have to wait to find that out.

As always, thank you to every last person who votes, adds this to a reading list, comments, reads, anything for my story. I really appreciate it more than you can realize! It's so strange to me that this story has gotten over 18k reads, nearing 1k votes, and really just gets any sort of attention despite the lack of updates (I think this was started just over a year ago now, and just got done with chapter 21...yeah). I remember when I would talk about fanfics with a couple of friends and it would always be stories with this sort of  achievement or better. Who was I to ever think things I write would be discussed between other people like I had discussed things? I don't know, it's just really strange to me. Even the extremely low-class level of fame is getting to me apparently.

Again, thank you all so, so much, and if anyone ever wants to interact feel free to message or  say hi on my profile or here or whatever.

See you next time!