𝑫𝒀𝑵𝑨𝑺𝑻𝒀 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑶𝑼𝑳𝑺 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈 - 𝐀 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒

EVERYTHING WAS GOLD. Kinzoku Asahi stood frozen, unable to move a single inch as the world around him shifted into a perfect shimmering capsule of death. His eyes flickered nervously; his expression taught as he tried to maintain his composure despite the fact he was clearly drowning. Not physically, but metaphorically. He couldn't move, far too concerned by the way to the gold moved with a violent precision, languid tendrils of it dripping down the walls and pooling on the ground.

Asahi was paralyzed, a sensation of dread washing over him while the gold splashed, stabbed and consumed everything in sight. The golden sea rippled, mimicking his fear almost mockingly. Keisuke was mocking him. No, the twins were mocking him, both of them. It didn't matter that young Mikazuki was nowhere in sight, he could feel her presence thrumming in the domain, her cursed energy intertwined with Keisuke's like it had been back when they shared the tight space of their mother's womb.

Keisuke looked around, wide-eyed and taking in every single detail of the death trap he'd just created. The heir inhaled deeply, the air inundating his lungs both repulsive and enticing, the smell of gold so pungent in the ambient he could barely breathe. The Gates of The Last Hours didn't feel human – there was something otherworldly about it, like a painting hanging from the walls of a museum. Like the pretty flowers that grew around the pong, their poisonous stem glowing gold under the morning sun. Something to be admired from afar, but never to be trifled with, never to be brought forward.

The heir wasn't sure where the domain had come from. All Kei knew was that he was there one moment, and gone the next. The boy had closed his eyes, reaching into the farthest depths of his soul; into the well of untampered magic that united him with his twin. This Domain: this godforsaken place made of gold and violence, was the purest form of rebellion. It was quiet, calm and rageful like his sister. It was also loud, violent and resentful, like him. Or maybe it was the other way around, there was no way to tell where each of them began or ended. In here, they were one.

One soul. One domain.

Some things are born from the deepest part of our souls, from the places even we turn our backs to. Sometimes, these things that fester in the dark are born of the purest form of hatred; of anger, of the raging clarity that comes once the line in the sand has been broken. Kei shook, a new sense of dread washing over him as he observed his creation. This anger, this hatred... it scared him. It terrified the hell out of him.

Because it was his. And hers.

"I must say I'm impressed, Keisuke" Asahi began, his tome calm even when he could hear his heart hammering against his ribcage.

Yet, he'd seen a flicker of weakness in his son's eyes and, like the predator he was, he pounced the moment his prey showed any sign of vulnerability. Even here, in this place solely designed to break him, Asahi was still in control. The walls of the domain shuddered under him and Keisuke was forced to pull himself together again, calling out for his gold and hoping it couldn't feel the distinct hesitation on his soul.

"You've shown true valour tonight, a power fit for a king." Asahi cocked his head to the side, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "Maybe I was wrong about you."

Despite what everyone thought, Asahi had always known Keisuke to be the lesser twin. Of course, it hadn't always been that way. As a matter of fact, Keisuke was the stronger twin for a whole seventeen minutes. Then, Hide gave birth to Mikazuki and the world titled on its axis. Keisuke was the heir, as was customary for the firstborn, but the true legacy of the Kinzoku lived inside Mikazuki's soul. Everything Keisuke lacked, she excelled at. Everyone of his failures was one of her strengths. She was the quiet flower blooming in her brother's shadow. And, so, Asahi built her a cage. Not to protect her, but to contain her.

And yet, here he was; the King of Sorcerers, trapped inside a golden daydream of death made by his own flesh and blood and spearheaded by his weakest creation.

Keisuke licked his lips, the taste of gold lingering in his mouth.

"You were wrong about a lot of things." He answered simply, his voice deathly still as the gold around him shifted quietly.

Asahi didn't back down. He didn't feel threatened in her, not when he knew Keisuke didn't have the guts to take him down. Words were only that, and the younger Kinzoku had never been one for violence. He was too soft for that, whatever little power he held contained under the perfect image of composure. Keisuke had spent most of his life building a dam to restrain part of his magic and Asahi knew him well enough he would not risk shattering it, not even now.

"Tell me, my golden boy, what do you propose we do now?" Asahi asked, hoping his question would be enough to shake whatever confidence Keisuke had left.

He could see the walls of the domain shaking, fractures growing in the gold and spreading through the barrier like spiderwebs.

"Come on, there's no point to continue with this charade. You've shown everyone your strength, now it's time to think with our heads and move on."

Keisuke closed his eyes, that familiar anger rising up inside of him again. He was so used to it, to the way it carved out a hole inside of his soul, turning him into poison. The heir balled his hands into fists while the gold filled the cracks in the wall, growing and expanding into a never-ending sea. Kei clamped his mouth shut, watching his father as the hatred bubbling in his veins. He hated him. He hated him so much he could feel his eyes burning, the image of Asahi boring into his soul.

"Think with our heads?" Keisuke echoed; his voice filled with vitriol as he regarded his father with pure revulsion. "Do you think this is a game? Do you think I'm going to let you go now that you're in here, with me?" He seethed, the power in him humming. "You could have killed her!"

It wasn't about anger anymore. It wasn't about hatred or disdain or any of the other feelings Keisuke currently found himself drowning in. It was about Asahi and his constant thirst for power, about his greed and his selfishness which would eventually end him. It was about the look in his eyes, the lack of remorse and the absence of any remotely human emotion.

The King of Sorcerers is dead on the inside. It's time for his outside to match.