The Mansion of Time

Chapter 6: Underneath

Me and my friends all pondered on the phrase "Key of Chrono". "Key of Chrono? Wait.." "Could this rod be a part?.." Kentoreru said. "It has to be. Definitely hold on to it." Ran said. We all were puzzled but made up our minds later on the subject. I cleared my throat to speak "Back to the attic". "Oh right. Let's head upstairs." We traveled upstairs with the tablecloth rope we made and began thinking about who to send up first. "It should be Mashu." We stacked on top of one another and Mashu got on top. "You ready?" "Yeah!" Mashu was launched into the attic successfully. Ran threw him the tablecloth rope and he caught it. I climbed the rope first and everyone else did after. Once everyone was up in the attic, we did our search for anything useful. The attic looked old and everything was built in orange wood. Triangular dark walkways made it awkward to move around when we started looking around. "Everyone stay close and on guard" i told them. I didn't want anyone in anymore danger than we already were. For all we know, traps could be all around the mansion. I stepped over to a corner and found a treasure chest. It was unlocked so decided to open it. I found a silver key with the words "basement" engraved in it. "Ohh! Now we can finally open up the basement and see what's inside!" Ran celebrated. I could only think about the dangers though that we were being led to. After I found the key we double checked the attic for anything else we could find. Nothing was found so we came down out of the attic. We all went to the basement entrance and stood in front of the doors. I looked at the keyhole and put it in. The doors opened and creaked. All i could see was darkness and a faint cobblestone pathway so barely visible to the eye i had to stare to not loose sight of it. I stepped in first and Hana second. The rest came along and we began walking slowly. It was too dark to see where we were going exactly so we kept looking back at the entrance to make sure we were going straight. Everything was silent except for our clacking footsteps. I turned around to check on everyone and i immediately froze. Ran was missing. The rest of my friends realized this and we all called out his name. No response. We all heard a drip and turned to the direction we heard it coming from. We saw a splat on Mashu's hair. It was red. Blood. Mashu screamed and we all rushed out of the basement in terror. As i was running i began to think about the going back. But he had to have been killed for him to not be responding, i thought to myself. I ran to the kitchen while everyone else tried to make it upstairs. Hana stopped on the stairs. She called my name but i made no response because i was too deep in thought. I pulled out a knife from one of the holders and Kentoreru came back down on the stairs asking what i was doing. I ignored again and closed my eyes. I stabbed myself in the heart and dropped to the floor. I felt a burning sensation run throughout my chest. It felt as if thorns began to grow throughout my flesh around where i penetrated myself. I began to fade away from my consciousness as i bled out from my warm bath of blood, leaving my cold vessel behind. Hana and Kentoreru rushed in and cried over my body. I 'woke up' in a dark space surrounded by hourglasses. Each hourglass seemed to show me a time to go back to within the last twelve hours. I didn't know how i got to this space but i decided to go back to when we were unlocking the basement doors. I floated over to the hourglass showing that and put my hand on it. I went back in time to that point. After 15 seconds i regained my memories and stopped after taking one step inside the basement. Without hesitation i spoke "Give me the Sword of Akuma." Kentoreru handed me the sword. "I went back in time again. Ran will die if he steps foot in the basement." Ran's face became overwritten with fear. "Im going in. You guys wait out here." "Wait a minute Joshu!-" I stepped off in alone before Kentoreru finished his sentence. I walked in a bit and looked up into the darkness. I drew the Sword of Akuma and magenta and yellow flames flowed from my body. At that instant someone struck my blade. I pushed them away then jumped back a bit. I tightened my grip and charged at the killer. My blade slit his stomach. They took their spiky chains and wrapped them around my leg. I was then swung into the wall and drug across through it. I fell out the wall and onto the ground. My entire left side of my body was cut up and bleeding. All my injuries healed themselves and i got back up. I stuck the Sword of Akuma in the ground and felt the flames. It felt natural to control them. I focused them through the ground to trail the killer and lit him on fire. As he was being engulfed and roasted, i swept in and chopped of his head. I swung off the blood on the blade and sheathed it. I came back to the entrance and told my friends "Alright come on. It's over." We all walked together and they look in horror at the sight of the killers corpse. I felt guilt. Guilt and crime that couldn't be redeemed. But at the same time i began to feel nothing. It began to feel like the guilt i was feeling was only a simple reflex. Nothing more maybe...