𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝚁𝙾𝚂𝙴𝚂

Chapter 8

Y/N glanced up from the paper in his hand to the nameplate beside the front door that read 'L/N'. There was an unexplainable sense of dread that reeked out over the entire house in front of him. 

"Well? Aren't you going to open it? Or are you having second thoughts?" the voice said with a devilish cackle.

Y/N ignored the voice's frustrating taunts and took a deep breath. He remembered well that his parents had warned him about the person who lived here, his grandfather. But, his will to return to normalcy urged him to betray their warnings. He reached out and rang the doorbell.

Slowly, the seconds ticked by until, eventually, the door was opened. The man who greeted him was old, his white beard and hair clear indications. But he presented himself with authority, his posture straightened out and shoulders squared, gaze stern and piercing.

When his hard stare landed on Y/N, his expressionless face morphed into a smirk. "My, my, if it isn't [M/R]'s boy. Y/N, was it?"

The boy was guarded. Nonetheless, he answered the man. "Yes."

"Come in," the old man said and urged Y/N inside. "What brings you here, young one?"

As Y/N was instructed to take a seat on a cushion, a table separating him from the old man, a look of resolve contorted on his face. "When we first met... you said something," Y/N said. "'Great power'... You said it would be uncontrollable?"

The old man chuckled, but it wasn't soft or kind. It was one of knowing, as though he had known exactly why Y/N was here without having to ask and that his predictions of the boy's future had indeed been correct.

"You would be correct," the old man replied. "And would I be right to assume that's why you're here? Because you have no control over your newfound abilities?"

His tone made Y/N a little hesitant to answer."Lose the apprehension, kid. He's offering exactly what you've wanted all along~ A chance to live a normal, pitiful life."

He swallowed his nerves and nodded. "Yes. I... don't have control over them. I just... want to live normally."

"I'm afraid that's not entirely possible, kid," the old man replied, making Y/N's eyes widen. "As long as you're a cursed technique user, you will never be like everyone else."

The curse's voice seemed to mutter to itself angrily, its voice echoing in Y/N's head. "However," the man said, his smirk widening. "If you can control your abilities, you can be granted a good semblance of normality. So, it's not entirely impossible to achieve."

A relieved smile tugged at the corners of Y/N's lips. That was what he wanted. A part of him knew the old man was right, that he couldn't be granted full normality due to his birth-given abilities. But at the very least, he could be normal enough to feel like some semblance of belonging.

"Please," Y/N said, a hint of desperation in his tone. "Help me."

"Cut to the chase already, kid. Let him know why you're here," the voice demanded.

"I want to get rid of this monster sealed away in my head," Y/N added.

At this, the old man's eyes widened in surprise. Then, just as quickly, it was replaced by a sinister smirk. "So, you've managed to capture the Arcana of Chaos."

"Arcana... of Chaos?"

"I'm no expert on your abilities," the old man confessed, not losing any confidence despite his confession. "But I've read enough material to get a good enough grasp. You hear a voice that conflicts with your own, right?"

The voice began cackling, its voice echoing in Y/N's head. "Yes," he replied.

"That... is the Arcana of Chaos," the old man continued. "It is the main source of your power. You manage to capture it, and all your talents are laid out before you. Those markings on your arms, they're seals, all representing each shadow of a cursed spirit sealed within your conscious."

Y/N looked down at the markings on his arms, each having four. "Eight seals?"

"Nine," the old man replied confidently.

The (h/c)-haired boy arched an eyebrow in confusion, his gaze trailing over his body but seeing no sign of a ninth seal. "The ninth commonly appears on the chest of its user when the Arcana of Chaos has manifested itself physically. It's closest to your heart because it is the central core of everything."

Y/N nodded slowly, taking his time to absorb all the information he was receiving."Blah, blah, blah! Enough of this! Demand that this sack of bones release me!!" the voice yelled out.

"I didn't... capture the Arcana of Chaos," he said to the old man, partly ignoring the voice. "It was the nurse at my school. I didn't want all of this, I just-- I wanted to be normal."

The old man laughed. "My boy, as I told you, complete normalcy is not possible. You've already sealed away the Arcana, regardless of who did it."

"Can't you unseal it?" Y/N asked, the desperation returning, accompanied by panic and fear. "I don't want this...!"

He shook his head at Y/N's question. "I cannot. That is left untold by all available records, but it is all on you now, kid. You've been made the master of the shadow curses, the sovereign of the Arcana of Chaos."

Just before Y/N could react, he felt a splitting headache coming on all of a sudden, the voice of the Arcana growing more prominent in his head."These shackles will not be enough to contain me forever," the Arcana cackled sinisterly.

The old man got up and took a step back, watching with fascination as Y/N's shadow slowly began to morph and distort into the contorted figure of the Arcana of Chaos. There was a twisted smile on the shadow before it began moving freely around the room.

"It's you..." the old man mumbled, still watching the shadow in complete captivation.

The shadowy figure laughed ominously. "I could dismember and contort your entire body to my desire. Release me immediately, you mindless puppet."

"I recognize your empty threats, Arcana," the old man replied, staying in his spot while watching the shadowy figure trail across the walls. "You're restricted without your physical body."

The Arcana scoffed."All the more reason," it said before coming to a stop beside Y/N, its ill-omened, twisted grin returning. "To kill the kid."

Y/N had tears streaming down his face, his entire burning up like it was being enveloped by open flame, just like that day in the infirmary room. His splitting headache only seemed to worsen as he felt the Arcana attempting to overtake his cognitive senses.

"You wouldn't dare," the old man said, taking a step closer to Y/N and the Arcana.

The Arcana's dark grin only widened. "You think this brat can suppress me when I have free reign over his mind? To call him a sovereign would be a disgrace."

The old man took another step forward but the shadowy figure simply disappeared. But it wasn't gone. Far from it, in fact. It returned to where it had been before; inside the mind of the boy named Y/N.

---No, he is no master, He is merely a flame in the wind, ready to be extinguished---