Wish Upon a Sin

Arc 2 - Chapter 14

Heads up, I initially didn't include a section at the end of the last chapter. I fixed it a few days after publication, but you may have missed it. It's the bit about the Magical Miasma Stones.

Shadows flickered past as Subaru walked forward through a world of grey. The only hint of colour came from the light of the fire spirits, hovering close by his side. His own clothes had been chosen for their nondescript appearance, in muted shades of brown. They didn't stand out at all against the harsh darkness.

"Um, let's see... Sol, can you make out that mansion?" Subaru asked, straining his eyes to try and focus on a silhouette looming out of the shadows. "I think this left is the start of the street into the lower strata, but it's so hard to make out landmarks..."

Sol glanced over, then shook from side to side, and jerked down the right fork in the road.

Next one.

Subaru looked up at him. "Ah, really?" He glanced at the building again, then shrugged "Well, I'll trust your judgement. I haven't been out in the city in over a month, after all."

He continued moving through the world of shadows, following Sol as if the Yang spirit was a guiding star.

Huginn and Muninn stayed close by his side, examining everything they passed with unbridled curiosity. That was par for the course for Muninn, and it was Huginn's first time accompanying Subaru as he used the shadow-walking technique.

Truthfully, it was Subaru's first time going such a long distance as well. He had, of course, known that travelling through the shadows would cut down on the distance he needed to go, but actually experiencing it was another thing entirely. The shadowy forms of gnarled trees would flicker and vanish behind him with every step of his feet, and mansions moved past like lumbering mammoths. It hardly felt like Subaru was moving at all.

No wonder those bastards are so hard to catch. Subaru thought. I'm just going at a walking pace, and I'm going to reach the lower strata in minutes! If they can all use something like this, no knight could keep up.

It was greatly versatile as well, in ways that weren't immediately obvious to Subaru. He had expected to have some difficulty sneaking out of the cult's manor without being noticed, but the shadow-walking technique had allowed him to simply float down from the window. It should have been a five meter fall and broken at least one of his bones, yet it had felt like nothing more than stumbling on a single step down stairs.

Even that mild discomfort had probably been a fluke, or a mishandling of the technique on Subaru's part. The ground and walls felt 'spongy', for lack of a better term. It almost felt as though he'd be able to push his way right past them, if he put in the effort.

Exactly seven steps later, he reached the next fork in the road, and he turned right, the road beginning to slope down the hill towards the commoner sections of the city. Three more steps brought them to the first obstacle they would face that night, one that Subaru wasn't sure how to deal with.

A lamppost.

It stood there tall and proud, as if mocking Subaru, bathing the area in its light, blotting out the darkness.

"It's way brighter than you were, Huginn," Subaru said. "I won't be able to maintain the technique if we pass by it."

He tilted his head up to the spirits, and asked, "What do you think? Should we risk becoming visible?"

Affirm. Sol stated. The light was no issue, they were far enough away from the manor to avoid notice.

Denial. Huginn argued. They could have been tailed, it was better to remain in the shadows until Luna met up with them and gave the all-clear. They could just go around the light, through the tree-line.