Shadow Fangs

Chapter 7

Aoba's p.o.v

       After entering his mind, all I see is black all around like some sort of abyss.  However, i start to see small things pass over my field of vision, but before I can get a good look at them they disappear.
      Soon, I start hearing very distant laughter.  It wasn't nice though...it was mocking and scornful, and it's coming from all directions.  I cover my ears in an attempt to block out the growing sound but nothing works! 
        I open my eyes, not realizing they were shut, and I find myself in a different place.  It looks like the inside of a black room with mirrors on every wall side by side running from the ceiling all the way to the floor.  I look around before noticing something....or someone crouched and laying on the floor.
      It's Zorakuba!  I hurriedly rush to his side from in the center of the room.  But when I get closer I can see he's in nothing but tattered black pants.  He had chains on his ankles and wrists that looked like they were painfully digging into his wrists.  I notice on his back that there's several long thin scars...almost as if he was whipped.
     "Zorakuba....?" I ask hesitantly.  His eyes open slowly but he stares of into the distance with a look of melancholy and hopelessness.
      "When I was sent to that awful man Simon...i went in with nothing to lose.....but something was lost..." he says in a monotone voice.  Suddenly one of the mirrors slightly glows and an image appears of a scene...
     I watch it quietly.  It was the inside of a cell...a dirty one at that.  Screams and cries of pure agony came from the chair in the center of that dark cell...and that was Zorakuba.  In front of him, a man with messy brown hair and crazy green eyes and glasses.  He had a messy lab coat that was stained with what appears to be blood...
     I stare at the gruesome scene before looking back to Zorakuba, who was watching the image quietly.  The mirror goes blank and a black chain comes from it like an evil snake hunting it's prey.  Without hesitation it coils around Zorakuba tightly. 
      I hurriedly try to remove it but I can't make it budge!  It's like trying to push a solid titanium wall.
     A distant, unidentified voice is heard in the backround. 'I lost the will to go on.....'
      Another image from a mirror appears.  It's of a much younger version of Zorakuba, standing in front of Toue.  "I want you to go out and collect more specimens Zorakuba...." he says to an expressionless Zorakuba, who gives a nod and walks away.
     "I did awful things.....and I hurt people," once again another chain comes from the mirror and coils around him.
      'The guilt was suffocating when I learned what I was really doing....'
      "You didn't know that what you were doing was wrong Zorakuba!  You can't put all the blame on yourself," I yell after a moment.
      He sits up slowly as the chains creak slightly at the movement.  Just then another image is seen on the mirror.  It's of two a units standing by him smiling.  He looks like he's only around 5 or 6...but he's talking normally like an adult.
       "Master wants us to take you on a mission today," one of them says.  The memory fades before it could continue as another chain coils out and around him. 
       'They were like family to me.....until they betrayed me...' 
     "The a units were nice to me because they were told to....but I genuinely thought they cared at the time.....i was betrayed by everyone I thought I knew..."
       A mirror lights up with Zorakuba around others and a boy with red hair.  They were fighting a bunch of people around them.  "You traitors!  You think you can over power me?  I won't stand for this in my gang!  We were a family!" A much more recent Zorakuba yells at them.
     The chains continue to coil around him as he just sits still and let's it happen.  "Come on Zorakuba....you need to stop letting these things from the past drag you down!  We wouldn't betray you like that!" As i say this, more like yell it, a chain suddenly bursts and falls off of him.
       "But who will be there for me?  I'm all alone.....no one to turn to....no one to tell me it's going to be ok...what's the point in living if I am just tossed aside by everyone and left alone?" He asks me sadly as he looks up at me.
     "Stop being so stupid Zorakuba!  You have us now.  Well be there for you.  Why do you think I'm here?  It's because I care about you!" Another chain snaps at my words.
       ".....Aoba...all of my life I have known nothing but pain and despair...how can I get away from the pain that always follows me? Whenever I close my eyes...i see all of this pain....i couldn't remember before....but now that I do I cant...." he trails off as his eyes become watery....is he...is he crying?
       I kneel in front of him.  The only chains left are on his wrists and ankles now.  "Zorakuba....the pain will always be there...But that doesn't mean you should just let it drag you down into despair.  You are stronger than that...you need to push past the pain and move on..." with those words  i do the first thing I think of.
      I pull him into a tight yet gentle embrace.  He tenses slightly before slowly returning the embrace as if he's never done that before.  A wetness is felt on my shoulder followed by small whimpers as he burries his face into it. The chains on his arms and ankles snap off.  "I must destroy what binds you to those memories...get ready"
      My vision turns white soon after saying this.  When it clears I see cherry blossom trees with white purple and pink petals surrounding a clearing.  The wind is blowing lightly and the scent makes it all the more peaceful and beautiful.
       As I take in the sight I notice something out of the corner of my eye.  I look over and meet Zorakuba's gaze.  He's standing a few feet away and looks at me with a happy soft smile. He's wearing a purple kimono with black and white branches at the bottom.
        He looks at me silently for a moment before turning around and walking towards a large flowering willow tree in the center of the clearing.  He sits underneath it and leans against the trunk.  I watch him with a comfortable silence.
      He closes his eyes and appears to be in a peaceful sleep.  A distant voice is heard before my vision fades to nothing.

'I am at peace...'