Into Another World (The Lost Souls Trilogy)

-The Doll and the Snake-

Aku-no stood in front of Aoi, surrounded by the void on all sides. An endless nothing. The two stared at each other, Aoi in shock, and Aku-no in a sort of sick, twisted happiness. "It's interesting up here," he said. His voice was strange, and had an echo to it. "I recognize one thing however, the monsters."

"...What?"

"Well I was there afterall, even before the war I lived amongst them," Aku-no explained. "They were all over the world," he frowned in disgust, "filthy vermin."

"What do you want with me?" Aoi asked him.

His eyes flicked over her. "All in due time," he said; Aoi cringed at the phrase.

Aoi's eyes flashed open, now pearly white. Kuro perked up, and approached them. "Sore wa kinō shimashita ka?" He asked, Aoi nodded.

The ropes pulled themselves away and dropped on the floor. They stood up and rubbed their wrists. "Aoi works perfectly," they spoke, their voice echoed just like Aku-no's. "Now my plan begins."

"Your plan? You mean our plan?" Kuro furrowed his eyebrows.

"No, my plan." They laughed, looking over at him, although Aoi was shorter it seemed like they were looking down on him. "Did you really think I would let you be in charge of me; my world?"

"Kōshō wa seiritsu shita!"

Aoi walked over to him and placed a hand on his throat. "I don't do deals." He coughed as the grip tightened, cutting off his air supply.

The real Aoi watched in a sort of fascination, it hurt her to see herself causing pain to another person, but this was Kuro, could he really even be considered a person? "Amazing, isn't it?" Aku-no asked her.

Aoi shook her head. "Not really."

Aoi's nails began digging into the skin, drawing beads of blood which pooled at the source, then flooded down her fingers when there was too much. Kuro grabbed their wrist to try and pull it away. Aoi's grip loosened and grabbed his arm, twisting it. They pinned him to the floor with their foot and with little force Aoi pulled on his arm, snapping the joints away. He screamed out in pain, "sore o teishi suru! Sono ningyo o yamere!"

"Your doll is not listening to you, Hebī," Aku-no snarled. They threw him to the side, their attention turning to the door as they left.

The hot foggy air was present once they exited the building, and the sky seemed to be stuck as a red twilight color. Aoi took control of her body once again, shocked by the sudden transfer of her consciousness. In a sort of daze from what happened, she walked along the path laid out in front of her.

"Where are you taking me?" Aoi thought, asking the creature now back in the crevices of her mind. She stared down at the blood staining her fingers, and cringed in disgust.

"Home. I need to proceed with my plan, and you are the ticket there," he simply replied.

"So you are using me."

"You," a voice called from behind, making Aoi freeze in her tracks. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it, not right now.

Aoi turned around to see Zao standing there. "Um, nihao," she muttered back.

"What are you doing alone, you're not supposed to be here."

"Escaped from Kuro," it was almost too quiet for him to hear.

"Tā duì nǐ yǒu shé me shì ma?" Aoi shook her head in response. A sigh of relief escaped from Zao's mouth. "Come. You don't want to worry your baba, do you?" Aoi nodded.

Zao grabbed Aoi's arm and gently pulled her into a car, presumably his. Aoi buckled her seatbelt and stared at her hands again.

He started the car but before they moved Zao placed a bag of kiwi slices in her hands, ignoring the blood on them. Aoi glanced at him, them back at the fruit. "Eat it. You look starved, and you need nutrition," he explained.

Aoi was hesitant, but she ate it. She slept the way down to their destination.

By the time Aoi woke up, she was back in her world, parked in front of a large apartment complex. "Where are we?" She yawned,

"Oh, you're awake now. I lost the way to Mathieu's counterpart's home. So I am dropping you off at Yao's. They know where to get you." Zao said as the car came to a stop. The two of them got out of the vehicle and went inside.

China's apartment was on the second floor, they climbed the stairs. Zao aggressively knocks on the door. The door knob twists, and behind the door was China. "Zao? Nǐ zài zhèlǐ zuò shénme?" China questioned him.

"Drop off. Matthew will be here shortly. He is coming for her." Zao said, pulling Aoi in front of him. "Bǎozhòng, nǐmen liǎng gè." Zao gave China a small nod, and left the two alone.

"Wait, Aoi? He brought you here?" China looked at her in concern.

"Hai." Aoi nodded, slowly.

"Come, you tell me inside." China looked around the hall, then pulled Aoi inside. "Make yourself at home. Want anything?"

"Um.." Aoi pulled off her shoes and sat down on the couch as she tried to think of something. Panda crawled over to Aoi, and laid in her lap.

China handed Aoi a water bottle, and sat across from her in a chair. "Here, you need liquids. Now, tell me exactly what happened," he said, in a worried tone.

"Sorry I don't remember much of it."

"Maybe explain what you do remember?"

"No pressure, but if you tell this henjin anything about us, not only will you be dead. He and everyone else will die before you, koibito," Aku-no whispered in the back of her mind. Aoi stiffened, his words sending a chill through her spine, but she listened.

"During your meeting the lights turned off. And then Kuro appeared, everything went black and..." Aoi briefly explained, trailing off at the end as she stared down at the water..

"Is that how Zao found you?" China wondered.

"I escaped myself." She shook her head.

"Escaped yourself? How?"

Aoi held back for a moment, trying to think this one through without Aku-no trying to kill him. Her fists clenched at the disgusting memory of what actually happened. The water almost spilled over the edge before she realized what she was doing. "Gomennasai. But I don't remember how..."

"Kuro was not near you at all?"

"I do not know where he went."

"I am glad you are safe-" China paused when he saw her bloodied hands. Aoi noticed that he saw them and quickly closed her hands into a fist, hiding the dried blood from sight. "Nǐ zài nǎlǐ shòushāngle ma?" he asked. Aoi couldn't think of any other feasible reason as to why the blood was there, but then she remembered that there was a cut still healing on her shin, so she at least showed him it. The cut was deep, but it already scarred, confusing China. "...shenme? This cut looks fresh, but it is already healing? That does not add up."