Okumura Rin's Descent

Chapter 5

Rin's eyes widened as shock filled him, he hadn't been told of anything concerning an initiation.

'Initiated? Into what?!' His mind screamed. Elkan stared at him, seeming to be deadpanning, before simply shewing him off.

"Get dressed, we can talk later." Elkan said flatly, glancing back to his book and flipping a page.

-

Rin stood, Elkan beside him, before an odd sight. The place was enormous, but the size of it was not what caused the half-demon to gaze in awe, no, it was the sheer unfamiliarity that the place gave. The closest resemblance it had was if a forest, but it most certainly was not one of the anthrax variety. The grass was silky and in thin strands that blew softly in an almost nonexistent wind, the sky grew thicker with a black fog the farther up you looked, but the trees and bodies of water were the strangest things. Thin tendrils of light, like small dragons, carried and placed orbs that seemed to be made of a gelatinous plasma, glowing in their varied colors, shades, and tints. Each orbs was place with care onto a branch of one of the trees, though why each tree was selected for each orb was a mystery to the new onlooker. The bark was a violet-brown but the grooves glowed a light blue, and the leaves appeared not to be genuine, being ever so slightly translucent. The water flowed like lava, a bright glow of changing colors as it slowly moved through the streams and rivers. While inside of this place, guards and security appeared to be nonexistent, yet Rin had noticed a multitude of armed and watching guards throughout the halls that led to this unbelievable garden. Each tree held a symbol, something that Elkan had described as "a Velvet, a representation of the being that each tree belonged to. Rin later noticed that some trees didn't hold markings, being void, and yet those ones have off a definite and unique aura that differentiated the, from the others.

"Once you're initiated, I will plant your seed here, and you will live as long as your tree flourishes." Elkan explained, smiling softly as they walked past a few unorganized lanes, touching the bark of one of the wooden protrusions, allowing his hand to slip away from the wood as he continued on.

"So, basically-" Rin began, turning around towards Elkan and giving him a hardened look.
"These will extend my life or something?" He asked. Elkan simply shook his head, though his answer contradicted his initial response.

"Not exactly," he began
"These things-well..." he paused, uncertain of his explanation, before continuing.
"Right now, your soul is a part of your reality, and your reality is dying." Elkan started.
"Don't worry! Not anytime in your lifetime!-wait, you're semimortal, so-" he cut himself off as he fell of track, shacking his head for a moment before returning to his initial train of thought.
"What this will do is just attaching your soul-seed into this dimensional plane, that's all this really does." He said, speaking took soon, before remembering the other thing this place did. He decided not to mention the other part, though; it was irrelevant.
"In actuality, your star will probably implode before your universe does." Elkan mused, thoughtful. Rin waited, his patience waning, as Elkan stood, eyes looking at nothing and yet fixated on everything, a thousand mile stare. Rin waved a hand in front of his face, causing Elkan to blink, surprised, and almost startled by the loud exclamation that Rin had simultaneously made.

"ELKAN!" Rin called finally. Elkan's eyes blinked, the pupils contracting into slits for a moments before resuming their round-ish shape.

"Sorry, I do that sometimes." Elkan explained, smiling in an almost nervous fashion. Rin felt an odd sensation, the presence of one of the many beings he had met the night before, and yet none of them were present.
"Anyways" Elkan spoke, mild irritation, or some form of annoyance, intwined with his words.
"I'm going to show you around a few areas-" a pause, that same feeling, and then Elkan continued.
"You will remain by my side for the entire duration of your visit here, understood?" He asked, his voice authoritative in a way Rin hadn't known him capable. He had assumed Elkan to have been the submissive of the group, not for him to be the silent leader. He appeared to be proven wrong in this assumption, a feeling of authority radiating from Elkan like heat from the son. He nodded, his glowing red pupils contracting into slits, and the intimidating aura released its hold on him. Rin breathed, as if he hadn't for a strenuous amount of time, and Elkan circled him for a few moments.
"Are you positive that you do not wish to join us?" Elkan asked finally, coming to a stop in front of Rin. His eyes glowed a brilliant shade, pupils contracting sharply, and Rin felt his own doing the same, a blue glow emanating from his eyes just as an amber hue did from Elkan's.