The Mytho Chronicles: Eclipse Of Faith

Chapter 101: Different Paths

The night was quiet, a solemn calm before the dawn that would mark the end of an era. In a few hours, the war would truly be over, and by the next day, everyone would depart from the Takeda estate to return to Shinjuku. The air was heavy with the anticipation of closure, yet beneath the surface, unspoken thoughts lingered.

In his dimly lit room, Ren was packing his belongings. As he placed the last of his things into his bag, his gaze drifted to the window. The night sky stretched endlessly, speckled with stars, and for a moment, he felt as though they were staring back at him. He couldn't shake the thoughts of Ryuzen and Sayori from his mind—the way they had spoken to him, looked at him. There was something there, a connection that ran deeper than the brief encounter they shared.

"Who... who are those two really?" Ren whispered to himself, his breath fogging the glass as he leaned closer. "It's almost as if... they're my parents."

He scoffed at the thought, shaking his head in disbelief. It was absurd. His parents, Gin and Akane Nakamura, were ordinary people—no knowledge of sorcery, no innate abilities. Yet, the feeling gnawed at him, stubborn and persistent, like an itch he couldn't scratch. There was something about Ryuzen's gaze, Sayori's touch... a familiarity that defied explanation. His heart ached with the uncertainty, but he forced the thoughts away, burying them deep in his mind.

Elsewhere in the estate, the loyal library of the Takeda family loomed like a labyrinth of secrets. Towering shelves lined the walls, each crammed with ancient tomes and scrolls chronicling the history of sorcery, the legacy of powerful clans, and the forgotten mysteries of the past. Among the endless aisles, Ryota and his cousin Yuto pored over the dusty volumes, their faces lit by the flickering candlelight.

Ryota's fingers traced the yellowed pages of an old text as his thoughts wrestled with unanswered questions. "Yona's connection to the Veil of Shadows... there must be something here," he murmured to himself, frustration edging into his voice.

"Hey, Ryota," Yuto called out from across the room, his tone hesitant.

"What is it?" Ryota responded, his voice steady but sharp, as if bracing for more bad news.

"I still can't figure it out," Yuto said, his brow furrowed. "How did Yona even know about this place? She was supposed to attack Shinjuku. How did she find us here?"

"She must have followed us," Ryota replied, his tone clipped. "Or perhaps she sensed our Mytho energy... who knows?" He paused, his gaze drifting back to the pages before him. "But that doesn't matter now. She's gone. What matters is whether she had ties to the Veil of Shadows."

Yuto nodded and turned back to the weighty tomes, but a deep unease gripped him. As he flipped through the pages, he couldn't shake the feeling that the battle wasn't truly over, that something far more sinister lay on the horizon, waiting.

In another room, Nika was finishing up her packing. She shoved a few more items into her suitcase when something slipped from the bag and fell to the floor with a soft thud. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the object—a photo frame, its glass catching the light as it lay face down.

"What's this?" she whispered, reaching down to pick it up. She turned the frame over and saw the picture inside—a photo of herself and Ryota, taken on a night they had gone out together. The memory flooded back to her, warm and vivid, filling her heart with a bittersweet longing.

A tender smile spread across her face, and a faint blush dusted her cheeks as she ran her fingers lightly over the image of Ryota's face. "So, this is where you've been hiding all this time," she murmured softly, as if speaking to the memory itself. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the photograph, the feelings she had tried to keep buried now rising to the surface.