"What is this place?"
Kenshin found himself standing inside an endless dark void where only his body was illuminated by an unknown source of light.
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the darkness.
"Welcome to the furthest depth of your inner mind."
"Who's there?"
Kenshin asked calmly, trying to make sense of his surroundings.
"Don't act like a stranger, Kenshin. Who else would it be?"
"You!"
Kenshin immediately lost his composure as the figure stepped forward from the shadows.
The only difference between them lay in the eyes.
While Kenshin's eyes always appeared slightly closed, his double's were wide open. Pure black sclera surrounded dark crimson pupils that stared back at him like an abyss.
"Yes, me. Though it would be more accurate to say that I'm the version of yourself you've kept bottled up all these years."
The doppelganger smirked.
"You can call me Ken."
"Nice trick, but I won't be fooled. This is all part of Trial Two. You're not real."
Kenshin took a cautious step backward.
"Hmm... you're half right."
Ken casually paced around him.
"This strange little world exists because of the trial mechanism. But my existence is just as real as yours."
He pointed toward Kenshin's chest.
"After all, we're one and the same."
"Tsk."
Kenshin turned away.
"Whatever. If you won't help me end this farce, then stay out of my way while I do."
"I'm not surprised by the denial."
Ken chuckled.
"We've always been stubborn. But if I'm truly fake, would I know about us killing our birth mother?"
Kenshin froze.
His grip tightened around the kunai hidden in his sleeve.
Then he exploded forward.
"Shut up!"
Ken effortlessly caught his wrist.
The blade stopped inches from his throat.
Ken's dark eyes bore directly into Kenshin's furious grey ones.
"The truth hurts, doesn't it?"
His grin vanished.
"Oh, trust me. I know the pain all too well."
The void trembled.
"I've been rotting in this cesspool of trauma for years while you pretended none of it happened."
Ken's voice rose into a shout.
"I wish we had died with them!"
The words struck Kenshin harder than any physical blow ever could.
His mind immediately drifted back to the memory he spent years trying to suppress.
A small village sat on the outskirts of civilization.
Far removed from the influence of empires, sects, clans, mage towers, and noble families.
On that particular night, hell arrived.
Assassins from the Hidden Cave of Untold Shadows descended upon the village.
Men.
Women.
Children.
No one was spared.
The villagers were dragged from their homes and forced into the center square beneath the pale moonlight.
"Listen up, maggots!"
A masked assassin stepped forward.
His eyes were nothing but white.
"Your lives belong to us now!"
The terrified villagers broke into frightened murmurs.
A dagger suddenly pierced the village chief's skull.
The old man collapsed lifelessly.
"Silence!"
The assassin barked.
"The next person who speaks dies."
The crowd immediately fell silent.
"Form three lines. Men. Women. Children."
Everyone obeyed.
Some parents struggled to calm their crying children.
Those who delayed were executed on the spot.
Once the lines were formed, the assassins distributed knives to every villager.
The children stared blankly at the blades in their shaking hands.
Then the assassin smiled.
"Kill or be killed."
The entire village froze.
No one moved.
No one wanted to move.
This was a community where everyone knew one another.
Neighbors.
Friends.
Family.
No one wanted to become a murderer.
Then a scream shattered the silence.
"I don't want to die!"
An older boy lunged forward.
His knife repeatedly plunged into a younger child's chest.
"Bono!"
The victim's mother shrieked.
She rushed toward her dying son before an assassin blocked her path.
"If you want a chance to help him, handle your own business first."
The woman snapped.
She turned toward the attacker's mother.
"What kind of monster did you raise?!"
The two women collided.
Soon their husbands joined the fight.
Then others followed.
Within minutes, the village descended into complete madness.
Neighbors slaughtered neighbors.
Friends butchered friends.
Families tore themselves apart.
The assassins simply watched.
Laughing.
Betting.
Cheering.
Commander Silva observed the chaos with satisfaction.
One subordinate nervously approached him.
"Commander Silva... are we really allowed to do this?"
Silva slowly turned.
"Are you questioning my authority?"
The man immediately paled.
"N-No, Commander."
"Good."
Silva looked back toward the carnage.
Originally, the mission had been simple.
Kidnap the children.
Eliminate resistance.
Return home.
However, Master Lee had already filled his quota.
So Silva decided to entertain himself.
An hour later, silence returned.
The massacre was complete.
Only seventy-five survivors remained.
Everyone else lay dead.
"Enough."
Silva clapped his hands.
"Get the shackles. We're leaving."
As the assassins began organizing the survivors, Silva suddenly sensed something.
His eyes narrowed toward a nearby stable.
"You incompetent fools."
He kicked apart a stack of hay.
A frightened woman was revealed.
Three children huddled behind her.
"Forgive us, Commander Silva!"
The assassins immediately bowed.
One stepped forward.
"I'll eliminate them."
Silva shoved him away.
The man crashed through a nearby shed.
"No."
Silva grinned.
"I'll handle this myself."
The others scattered to continue searching.
The woman immediately fell to her knees.
"Please... spare my children. I'll gladly die if it means they can live."
Silva sneered.
"And why should I care?"
Before she could answer, her oldest son stepped in front of her.
"Leave my mother and siblings alone!"
The boy spread his arms wide.
Trying to shield them.
The woman desperately tried to pull him back.
But he refused.
Silva stared at the child.
Then he laughed.
"Heh. I like this one."
The boy's grey eyes glared back defiantly.
"Fine."
Silva tossed a knife onto the ground.
"I'll let them live."
The woman gasped.
"Thank—"
"But only if this little brat kills you himself."
Silva burst into laughter.
The boy immediately grabbed the knife.
"Then I'll kill you instead!"
He charged forward.
Before he could take two steps, his mother pulled him into a tight embrace.
"My fearless little man..."
Tears streamed down her face.
"What am I supposed to do with you?"
She held him close.
"Oh, how I wanted to watch you all grow up."
Her voice trembled.
"I wanted to see the adults you'd become."
Blood trickled from her lips.
"But I'm afraid my journey ends here."
Kenshin froze.
Something felt wrong.
"So please remember this."
She squeezed him tighter.
"No matter how difficult life becomes..."
Her heartbeat weakened.
"...your mother loved you three dearly."
Then she used his own momentum.
Driving the knife into her chest.
Her body went limp.
The embrace loosened.
And her arms fell lifelessly to her sides.
Kenshin dropped to his knees.
The knife slipped from his fingers.
His younger brother and sister clung to their mother's corpse while crying uncontrollably.
"I guess that counts."
Silva shrugged.
The children were shackled alongside the others.
After confirming nobody else remained hidden, the assassins burned the village to the ground.
"I know the pain."
Kenshin whispered.
Back inside the void, he and Ken remained locked in a struggle.
Ken suddenly kneed him in the stomach.
Kenshin staggered backward.
"You know nothing!"
Ken shouted.
"I've been forced to relive that nightmare every day while you buried it!"
His voice cracked with years of resentment.
"You replaced them."
"What?"
"You found a new family."
Ken pointed accusingly.
"Zeke. Liz. Elizabeth."
Kenshin froze.
"And while you were busy making new memories, I was trapped here with the old ones."
Ken's hatred boiled over.
"Our mother died because of us."
"Our siblings starved to death."
"And you forgot!"
Kenshin remained silent.
Elizabeth's words surfaced in his mind.
"It's okay to remove that lid of yours sometimes."
"The greatest pain often carries the most valuable lessons."
For the first time, Kenshin stopped running from the memory.
Ken formed several hand seals.
"Juggling Act."
Eight silver orbs materialized around him.
With a flick of his finger, one shot forward like a cannonball.
Kenshin dodged.
The orb smashed into the void behind him.
Then it turned around.
Returning.
Another followed.
Then another.
Soon six steel spheres chased him from every direction.
Kenshin flipped, spun, and twisted through the relentless assault.
"Stop running!"
Ken roared.
"Face me!"
Kenshin suddenly stopped.
"Alright."
He formed the same hand seals.
Eight silver orbs appeared around him.
The projectiles collided.
Canceling one another out.
Using the opening, Kenshin launched himself forward.
He grabbed Ken.
"What are you doing?!"
Ken struggled.
But Kenshin held on.
Then he hugged him.
Ken froze.
Kenshin lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
The words came easily.
"For abandoning you."
Silence.
"I was wrong."
Kenshin tightened his embrace.
"You carried everything by yourself."
His voice trembled.
"But I won't run from my past anymore."
Ken's eyes widened.
"I'll accept every part of who I am."
The rage slowly left Ken's face.
A smile replaced it.
"Heh."
He chuckled softly.
"It's about damn time."
Kenshin smiled.
"Thanks for holding down the fort."
The darkness around them shattered.
Light consumed everything.
The two became one.
Kenshin abruptly awoke inside the pod.
Covered in sweat.
Breathing heavily.
But for the first time in years...
the weight on his heart felt lighter.