The Disillusioned Land

Chapter 11 - Unraveled Delusion

As I open the door in front of me I am confronted with a malevolent sight I wished to never again see, the ritual responsible for changing the fate of our lives for the worse, "No... Impossible... It can't be!" I say to myself in disbelief, a cold sweat runs down my face, in front of me was a sealed one-winged youkai, with several violet talismans plastered all over her body, multiple chains were binding her to an obelisk. "Wh-what is this!?" Kyoko said, riddled with fear and confusion on her face. I look at my surroundings, scantily trying to look away from the reality in front of me, only to be met with an even more vile sight.

Youkais, several of them, locked and sealed all over the place with chains sprouting from their hearts, all connecting towards the malicious idol at the center of it all.

"Why... why would someone do such a thing to all these lunarians..."

"...I know, terrible isn't it?" I say in a monotone manner, well aware of the culprit behind this atrocity.

"You cannot see that can you? Those chains connected to the obelisk seem to be transferring mana directly towards the sealed being."

Indeed, this was a sight I have already seen before... and one I witnessed with my own eyes

Before I replied back to Kyoko, a huge tremor shook the facility and left us disoriented.

"What was that now!? I had thought the signs of spellcards came from this place but it appears the fighting is coming from behind that other door."

After taking a final look at the ensnared youkai, I follow after the shrine maiden towards the conspicuous door that awaited us, even if a reminiscence, this memory has already deviated from what I remembered. After opening the door, another flash of light blinds our eyes and I hurriedly call her name, yet she did not respond, it would appear the shrine maiden that was in front of me was no more. When I open my eyes I am met with a field of flowers as far as the eye can see, the sun did not carry the hostile aura it had before and I hear a voice call for me, I look in the direction of the voice and what I saw was a girl I knew too well, the petite green haired girl I held dearest above all else.

"[̷̭͙̰̿̊̽͜]̶̲̓[̸͈̱̠͓̅́͘]̴̧͇̯̮̌̐[̷͈̄̃̆́ͅ]̸̩̉[̶͈͇̻̇͆͛̾͠]̷͍̯̳̇̄̽ ! Are you listening to me?"

"Wuh-uhhh yeah what were we talking about again?"

"Geez! Pay attention okay?"

"Yeah... right my bad"

"It's fine it's fine! Well, we're right at the ending just like you said. All that we need to do now is walk towards the end."

"Finally... Our story has come to an end."

She smiles at me and extends her hand

As I extend my arm to reach for her, I hesitate for a moment and in that moment of hesitation, I ask myself how I came to be in this landscape.

"Wait... where... where am I? Who are you!? These memories are not mine!"

She smiles once more, however I felt it was different from before

"I knew you wouldn't be one to get trapped in silly illusions like this."

"What are you...?" I ask her in a confused tone.

"Don't worry, one day you will learn the truth, but for now you have more important matters to attend to don't you?" She says after pushing me into the selfsame door I came from earlier. "If it's you I know you can do it, I'll be watching from the sidelines like always."

After falling through the illusionary door yet again, I find myself standing in the place I assume to be connected to the door that me and Kyoko went through earlier, in front of me she stood frozen in place, almost as if in a trance.

"Hey Kyoko you there?" I ask her while passing my hands through the front of her eyes, to no avail however. "Well... I only know of one way to snap someone out of a trance" I say to myself while assuming a charging position, I hold my hand high in the air and slap the back of her head as powerfully as I can.

"OWW!!! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"My bad, you seemed to be trapped in an illusion, seems like I was also affected by it but managed to snap out of it."

"Hmm you don't seem to be lying and my memory is kind of hazy... whatever, I'll forgive you."

"Right, anyway I think we should continue ahead."

"That seems to be the only alternative, follow me."

I follow the shrine maiden through the narrow corridor and the tremors I heard earlier start to increase, Kyoko seems to be more on edge than before, following her actions, I prepare myself for what lies beyond.