The silence was tense after the discussion. There were so many eyes on Shuu that he started to feel sick after a while.
Unfortunately, he seemed to be the only one who noticed the tension in the room. Prince Kaiden went back to joking around with the elder, and both Reina and Liam were being asked a few more questions as well.
Shuu was the only one who looked around, but saw nothing but annoyed glances.
"-and because of that, we would like you to hand over your partner to us now. We need to get started if we want to make that sword. You…come with me. And remember, Prince Kaiden. None of your people can enter, or it will be a disaster."
The elder suddenly addressed Shuu, and he only realized once everyone else stopped speaking and turned toward him as well.
It felt a little deafening to hear the sudden silence, and Shuu immediately looked at Prince Kaiden for assistance.
"It will be fine, honey. The elder just needs your help a little bit. You can go with him, right?"
Prince Kaiden told Shuu, but his hold around Shuu did not lighten. Around them, everyone kept giving them expectant glances, and Shuu stood up.
"A-Alright…what do I need to do…?"
He asked, and the high elder took out a glove to wear before he reached out to tug Shuu behind him.
"Come with me. There are a lot of things we need to do before we can use your blood for the sword."
It felt a little humiliating how the high elder did not want to touch him directly. But it was a common occurrence that Shuu had grown numb toward.
"High elder, do make sure Shuu is alright. I won't like it if you did anything out of line with him or filled his head with useless thoughts."
Prince Kaiden's voice was light and soft when he spoke, but it still caused Shuu to shiver.
He should have felt reassured after hearing how much Prince Kaiden cared for him, but for some reason, it felt like Prince Kaiden was not talking about a person when he asked the elder to be careful.
Shuu felt like a possession that was being lent out by the crown prince.
"Don't worry, Prince Kaiden. We will make sure your partner is alive and well by the end of the week."
The elder assured, and the last thing Shuu saw of Prince Kaiden was his reassuring smile before the door closed behind him.
"Alright, since Prince Kaiden chose you, I expect you to know about the ceremony and everything. I do not have time to explain it all to you."
The elder told Shuu as he was quickly taken to a room with an altar and forced to lay down on it. The cold seeped through his shirt and right to his back.
"Turn around. We will need to draw a symbol on your back, and as we draw blood, we will need to anchor your soul to it as well."
Shuu did not understand a word that was being said. His blank expression caused a few people around him to snicker.
The high elder looked like he was about to faint due to blood pressure, but he calmed himself down to explain everything to Shuu.
"The hero's sword, much like the hero, is a special existence with a will of its own. Due to this, it can lose control and be corrupted. That is why a vessel is connected with the sword's energy to help purify it. It takes time to create that vessel. We had a perfect vessel prepared, but unfortunately, your existence puts all our plans to waste."
Shuu heard a loud smacking sound, and he flinched.
Harsh hands turned him around until he was lying on his stomach, and he felt humiliated, but he kept himself in that position.
After all, he was not sure he would be able to run away from these people.
"The hero and the sword vessel share a sacred bond that no one can understand, and choosing a vessel is of utmost importance to the hero. A vessel needs to be noble and powerful to match the hero. Our Kana was the perfect vessel. Why did you have to show up and throw her life into a mess?"
The high elder questioned as he kneeled beside Shuu. A sharp knife touched his back before Shuu felt a stab of pain.
A thin cut on his back caused him to bleed, and the high elder swiftly soaked cotton with the blood on the knife.
"Stop making pained noises. Our Kana also suffered this pain to prepare for her role as the vessel. Look at her back—she engraved it all in order to take this journey. And you just had to come and ruin it all for her."
Shuu's face was pulled up by the high elder, and he was forced to look at Kana.
The female had her back turned to Shuu, and her shawl hid her back. She quickly dropped it to show her marked back.
It was full of knife marks and tattoos that stood out vividly against her fair skin.
"See what all she had to endure. You will have to endure the same. But unlike Kana, we don't have time to prepare you for it all. So please, endure it for as long as you can."
Another small knife stabbed Shuu's back, and it hurt. He wanted to yell, but words wouldn't come out of his mouth.
His body was shaking as he tried to speak, but his tongue felt heavy.
Every time he felt close to fainting, the pain brought him back to his senses, and he was jolted awake once more.
He did not know when the day passed and when night came. There was no natural source of light in the place.
All he knew was that someone came to draw his blood at some time before they left. He was given something to eat in between, but whether it went down his stomach or not, he did not recall.
His mind felt numb, and his body felt sore. It all felt familiar, and his mind wandered in places he did not want to go back to.
'When will it all be over? I-I want to leave…it all behind…'