Alchemy Of Abyss

Chapter Eleven~3

Senso-ji Temple, Japan, 1749.

The famous Buddhist temple in the country was usually quiet, just like its monks. On one memorable night, most rooms were quiet and dark, with only a few of them filled with devoted students reading and meditating in their rooms.

One room stayed lighted for the longest. The room belonged to one of the smartest students, Eisai.

He was a passionate student known for his love and devotion to being a great Buddhist monk. He had a reputation in the temple for being quite intelligent. His youthful age didn't stop him from becoming the youngest teacher in the temple.

As he was reading in his room, suddenly he felt his vision become a blur and his nose bled. Eisai covered it with his hands to prevent the blood from dropping over the book he was reading. He stood up to get something to cover his nose, yet within seconds; he lost consciousness and collapsed.

Minutes later, his whole body sweated heavily. His body trembled hard, and tens of dark blue spots slowly covered most of his exposed skin.

He painfully screamed in a loud hoarse voice, he was unconscious, yet he could feel the pain that was running and burning through his blood and flesh.

Everyone in the temple jumped in fear when they heard his screams and immediately recognized that it was Eisai. They went running to his room with the elder monks leading the way, followed by the younger ones. They slammed the door open, almost crashing it down.

Their reactions changed from freaking out to completely bewildered; the room was empty with drops of blood on the floor. One of the elder monks ordered everyone to look for Eisai. Each one went to different rooms in the temple looking for him, yet no one could find him.

Five pairs of sharp, clear icy eyes glowed in the dim light of the room, revealing the five divines. Nothing was visible from them, but their glowing eyes were right under the edge of their hoods and their white glowing robes. "This human called Eisai, he was just gifted with a magnificent power," Harut said. "What a true waste of power." Their bodies faded again, and their eyes glowed once more before disappearing as well.

Eisai opened his eyes sluggishly, feeling sharp pain lanced through his head and his whole body felt analogous to being mercilessly beaten hard. The sun's rays hit his face; he couldn't help but blink hard.

Even that slight movement caused all his muscles to ache. He forced himself to get up. With a dizzy head and blurry vision, he looked outside, confused. It was bright and sunny.

He turned around to see his room was empty and covered in dust. What happened? he thought. He opened the door at the same moment another monk was walking. "Good morning, Jien," Eisai said to him. Jien stopped walking the moment he heard Eisai's voice. He slowly turned his head and locked eyes with Eisai.

Jien covered his mouth tightly with both of his hands to stop himself from the urgent scream he felt coming through his small body. Jien's reaction confused Eisai; Both were close friends, with Jien being two years younger than Eisai and feeling like the younger brother he never had.

Jien stared at Eisai's face for a moment before running fast to the main entrance of the temple, screaming the elders' names. Eisai hesitantly followed him. He frowned while walking the long hall leading to the entrance; everything looked different. How did everything in the temple change in a matter of hours? He thought.

Eisai didn't understand what was happening. He walked outside to find all the monks gathered around each other and Jien in the middle. The oldest monk between them looked at Eisai the moment he stood across from them. He raised his hand to stop the others from whispering. He took a step closer to Eisai and looked directly into his confused eyes.

"What happened to you?!" Eisai didn't understand the question. He opened his mouth but said nothing. The oldest monk didn't break eye contact with Eisai. "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" he shouted at his confused face.