My Sun and Moon (Akaza x OC)

Chapter 12: Punishment

Nagano wondered to herself if this was how it felt after oneself died as the darkness of her subconscious swelled around her. She couldn't feel anything. See anything. There had been entirely nothing. She had hoped that her crow had made it safely to the headquarters, the last thing she had seen before her entire world had gone dark had been her crow flying away in the distance, she remembered the soft cawing that had echoed in a muffled tone. A farewell she presumed. Even if she had died, the rest of the slayers and Hashira needed to know about the person who had killed her, of their strength. If they were going to eventually fight the king of demons, she was sure they'd have to go through the blonde demon she had fought as well. While she could no longer feel anything physically, emotionally, she had felt angry with herself.

Angry with how easily he had made her lose her temper, how easy it was just for her to lose it on her own, to relinquish control. And it had all happened because she had struggled to make an actual dent in the demon. After going throughout her entire slayer career not truly having an issue fighting demons, she had met her match. To no surprise it had been an upper rank moon as well. Not only could he heal at an impossible rate, incredible speed, but his blood demon art abilities were unlike anything she had encountered before. The ice spikes and lotus' were a minor issue, she just needed to out maneuver them. But the icy mist? That ability had been able to slice her lungs damaging them enough that had made her breathing styles useless. She would have had to hold her breath the entire time, and that was even if that blood art had a time limit like the others.

All of this was frustrating.

The fight.

Her temper.

All of it.

Her mind had felt as if it had been stuck in a loop, the same thoughts and desires of turning back the clock so that she might have handled the situation differently. Gotten help. Ran away sooner. Held herself in control. But life hadn't worked like that, not for anyone.

And then she felt something.

Something hard and wooden? Was she in a building of some kind? Platform?

She struggled to open her eyes, the action itself had taken her a few minutes, taking way more energy than what was necessary. As she began to open her eyes, the throbbing pain that coursed throughout the entirety of her body had finally returned as well, one she would have happily lived without. The familiar pain in her breathing had returned, except this had felt worse than when her lung had been punctured in the sparring match with Akaza. This it had felt like her lungs were filled to the brim with shattered blades, with every breath that she had taken, it had felt worse than the last. Tears began to spill out of the corners of her eyes with each movement she forced herself to make. She was alive. And as much as she desired to rest, she needed to figure out where she was, and if there was a possible chance of her escape.

She had waited until her vision had fully returned before she would get a full look of the room she had been in. looking when her vision was still blurry would only waste her time. Without knowing where she was, there was no way she'd be able to know right off the bat if she was somewhere safe or somewhere dangerous. She had been leaning more heavily into the dangerous option when it came to where she was now, since it had been an upper moon's presence she had been in before she blacked out. Unless by some string of luck and a couple Hashira had come across his path and saved her, she was somewhere not only of his choosing, but in a place where she'd be foolish to think he wasn't somewhere nearby.

Nagano narrowed her eyes in confusion as she took in the oddity of where she was. Currently where she sat, she had been on a long wooden flooring with no doors or walls leading to other rooms; yet she saw a multitude of stairs leading to other buildings that led to others. Some buildings had even looked upside down, others sideways. Pulling herself forwards to look near the edge of the flooring, she paled at the sight. Beneath her there had been no bottom, nothing but an endless array of several different platforms and buildings, all of which bent and turned a different way. Some had even seemed to move on their own as she noticed some in the far distance raising high up to a place that her vision would not allow her to see. Was there even an end to this place? Where was she even? Had this been a Blood Demon Art? If so, it had worried her even more. She was definitely somewhere incredibly dangerous.