Chapter 2
The Prideful Imposter
The voice shook Tokiya. He wanted to open his eyes to see what was talking to him, but he kept them closed out of fear. The voice was intimidating and cruel.
Footsteps approached him. It sounded like boots thudding against the grass. The approach forced him to open his eyes. As soon as his eyes opened, he leapt back and to his feet, taking a defensive stance.
His eyes widened.
What Tokiya saw in front of him was himself. The version of him he saw appeared to be the same age as him, and although they clearly looked almost identical, there were some differences.
Their hair was completely different. While Tokiya's hair drooped over his face on the right side and was wild, the look alike's hair did not cover his face at all and spiked straight up. The only similarity between the two's hair was its black color.
However, the most glaring difference was the clothes that they wore. Tokiya's clothing of a plain white shirt and blue knee breeches perfectly matched his simple life as a farmer. On the contrary, the mimic wore what seemed to be a black sweater and similar long black pants to go along with it. On top, he was covered in armor making him appear to be a soldier of some kind.
The armor was decorated with symbols of yellow chains which was the sign of soldier from Oravell, the country which Tokiya resided in.
Behind the soldier, Tokiya saw the source of the smoke he smelt earlier. It was fire.
Tokiya snapped out of his state of observation the moment the imposter reached him. They were the same height, so they intensely looked into each other's eyes.
The imposter spoke first.
"I've finally managed to get through to you. Looks like seeing Karasu really helped."
The way he said Karasu's name revealed much not so hidden contempt. Tokiya's eyes narrowed.
"So that woman, Karasu, had something to do with this. I knew she wasn't trustworthy."
The imposter smiled. His smile was crazed and irritated as if he held a personal grudge against Tokiya.
"Actually, you should be thanking that crow woman. She's saved your life many times."
"Saved my life? From what?"
"From me."
Tokiya's eyes widened once more, and he swiftly stepped back. The imposter's wicked grin widened, and it now stretched from one cheek to the other. It unsettled Tokiya how much the imposter seemed to be pleased by his fear.
The imposter stepped forward to maintain the close distance. Tokiya continued to step back until he tripped on something and fell to his butt.
He felt sick after seeing what he tripped over. It was a body covered in blood. This prompted Tokiya to look at his surroundings, something he had failed to do before. All around him were the bodies of soldiers who had gruesomely departed this world.
Tokiya also observed that there weren't just flames behind the imposter, but also all around the field, almost trapping the two in a ring. This racked Tokiya's nerves, as escape from the fiend was now impossible.
"Are you afraid of me?"
Usually, Tokiya would have snapped back at such disrespect, but he had enough wits to know that that would not benefit him in his current situation.
"I think that there's a terrible misunderstanding here."
Tokiya's voice shook as he said this, which only fueled the imposter's enjoyment. The deathly scared farmer desperately tried to salvage the situation.
"Um, well, I'm Tokiya. Honestly, I don't know what's going on here, and I don't even know how I got here. I'm guessing you know Karasu. I actually just met h-"
"Tokiya?"
The imposter loudly interrupted him with a disgusted tone.
"That's what you're calling yourself? Is this really the one that Karasu believes will survive?"
The enraged soldier stood over Tokiya who was still on the floor. The soldier's face wrenched with a mix of evil, distorted emotions.
"Yeah, that's my name. What's yours?"
This was the final straw. Like a massive pressure explosion, the imposter entire demeanor combusted into rage. He lifted his foot and stabbed his heel into Tokiya's stomach. Tokiya let out an intense scream.
"How dare you ask me for my name, you insolent little pathetic worm! First, you try to play some hero, and now you think you're worthy of knowing my name! Do you want to steal my name too?"
Tokiya winced in pain as he tried to stand up to avoid being in such a vulnerable position.
"Hero? Stealing? I haven't done any of that. We're definitely not on the same page here."
The imposter punched Tokiya in the cheek making blood spurt out of his nostrils. The blood blended right in with the rest that was already on the ground.
"You are nothing but my inferior imposter! You have no right to even be in my presence!"
"Wait! I'm not here to argue with you. I just have questions. Please, all I need is answers."
"Confused and pathetic. What does Karasu see in you? You want answers? Then I'll give them to you! There is no future for you! I will kill you and after that-"
"Kill me? No wait you-"
"How dare you interrupt me!"
With that bold exclamation, the imposter approached Tokiya and suddenly grabbed him by his neck. His surprising strength lifted Tokiya off of the ground as he struggled to break free. He was powerless. There was nothing he could do to prevent his death.
Until the very end, he was nothing but a pathetic loser who couldn't even control his own life. This is all he could think about. His face began to turn a light blue as he lost all oxygen.
"I'm taking control," the imposter screamed.
Suddenly the flames around them began to get closer, and closer, and closer until....
"Tokiya, are you ok?"
He was passed out, and it seemed what woke him was a soft voice and a repeated gently tap on his forehead. He opened his eyes to see Karasu looking down at him. His head was resting in her lap.
He flicked her hand away.
"Don't tap my head. That's not what you do to someone who just passed out."
"But I was being gentle. Besides, I was only trying to wake you up."
Tokiya didn't respond and instead looked up into the endless blue void he had returned to.
"You could at least be more grateful."
He turned his eyes to the side to look at Karasu without moving his head. He quietly responded.
"Thank you."
She smiled.
"That's more like it."
They both remained where they were in a comfortable silence. However, Tokiya remembered his interaction with the imposter. He promptly sat up.
"Karasu, we need to talk!"
She raised her eyebrows.
"About what?"
"About what just happened. When I passed out, I saw someone who looked exactly like me. I didn't get his name or what his deal was, but he knew you. You better tell me who that was!"
Instead of responding in her usual tones of either childish or deathly serious, Karasu's words carried a melancholy feeling. This subject seemed to move her so much that she didn't even meet Tokiya's gaze.
"I'm guessing you met Eien."
She chuckled nervously.
"He was a prideful jerk, wasn't he?"
"Yeah, he was. He punched me so-"
Tokiya remembered the injuries he gained from his meetings with the imposter. However, he no longer felt any pain. He checked his nose. There was no blood.
"What? But I remember him punching me. There was blood."
Karasu nodded understandingly.
"You weren't actually physically talking to Eien. Instead, you were inside your own consciousness."
"My own consciousness?"
"Yes exactly."
She began to say something but stopped herself. Tokiya clenched his fist and stood up.
"Karasu, you better not be hiding anything from me! I want to know everything!"
Karasu slowly stood up.
"Tokiya, when I say this, I implore you to be as understanding as one in your position could possibly be. I wish I could tell you more about Eien, but I fear even telling you his name was too much."
Tokiya stomped towards her and brought his clenched fist in front of him.
"Bullshit!"
"Talking will get us nowhere. You are simply too enraged. You are usually so composed, but I can't blame you in this situation."
"What? You can't just leave me in the dark like this. What happened to all that stuff about protecting me?"
"Humph, I never said anything like that, and I already told you what you have to do. Master your Divine Blessing, and you'll beat your fate."
"But how do I do that?"
She turned around facing her back to him, but the conflict in her voice could still be heard.
"Go to Ardston, the city of culture. I'll be waiting there. In that city is all the information you'll need to master your Divine Blessing."
Tokiya's arms fell to his side. He starred at Karasu's back.
"That's all I have to do?"
"..."
"Very well then. I'll do it! When I get there, you better explain everything to me!"
Karasu turned her head to the side, making half of her face visible. She slightly smiled.
"I hope to see you there."
Karasu's body transformed into a cloud of feathers. That cloud quickly dispersed, creating a storm until every feather vanished from sight.
The clock symbols on the floor began to move. The hands on the clock swiftly rotated until both hands were pointing straight up. As soon as they did the blue void around him began to retract. All of the blue returned to the center of the clock and then it all disappeared.
Tokiya was back on his porch. In his arms was the basket which held the morning's harvest.
He squinted as the bright light seeped into his eyes. He looked around. It seemed like no time had passed. Karasu really could use temporal magic.
He stood there, processing everything that had happened. He entered his house where he set his basket down and made his way to the sofa. He plopped down.
He was going to die.
This was all he could think about. Who was Eien? Was Eien going to kill him? Why did he look like him? All of these questions flurried around his mind as he thought about his impending death.
"AAAAAA! I can't think about all of this."
He stood up and began circling around.
"Karasu said I have to go to Ardston. I have nothing else to go off of, so I might as well just go for it. That's all there is to think about for now."
He tried to push everything else out of his head, but the unwanted thoughts still lingered in the back of his mind.
Despite everything that had just happened, Tokiya still made sure to not neglect his duties as a farmer.
He grabbed the basket filled with the vegetables he just collected and went to wash everything. He was preparing his harvest to be sold down at the town a short five minute walk away from his farm. Once ready, he put all of his vegetables in a cart and made his way to the town.
Normally, his trip down the stone road to the town would be peaceful. However, it was anything but that this time. For now, he just tried to focus on his work.
With the sun still beaming on him, he pulled his cart along the road. He could've brought his straw hat, but he no longer minded the sweat. Sweat made him feel like he had accomplished something, like he wasn't a total waste.
Eventually, Tokiya made it to the town. He made his way to the shop where he would usually sell his crops. It was run by a kind old man named Mr. Shaut. Mr. Shaut had always been kind to Tokiya ever since he was a child.
As Tokiya walked through the town he noticed it was oddly quiet. At this point in the day, people would normally be out and about.
When Tokiya arrived at the shop, he left his cart outside and entered. There was no one inside, not even Mr. Shaut. Mr. Shaut was always in the shop.
"That's odd. He didn't tell me he'd be out today. I'll just wait for him to come back."
Tokiya went back outside to cover his wagon. Once outside he heard the town bell ring.
The town bell was only ever rung for two reasons. One was every day during midday, and the other was during emergencies. It wasn't midday.
Tokiya lightly jogged to the town square where the bell was. He wondered what could have possibly justified the bell being rung. He knew it wasn't a mistake. When he arrived, he saw a crowd of people in a semicircle around the small bell tower.
A person hung from the tower. He was covered in bandages, and his long black hair covered his eyes. His head lifelessly hung down. Blood dripped from his mouth and fell onto the black cloak he wore.
Everyone starred in awe. Tokiya began to leave the shadows of the building and join the crowd, but the body moved. The head of the man looked up and starred at the crowd smiling. Despite his eyes being mostly covered, Tokiya could still see how wide and crazed they were. The hanged man spoke.
"Hello everyone."
He spoke quickly and in a frantic, high-pitched voice.
"Isn't it beautiful that Fate has brought us all together like this? This congregation made by Fate is to be cherished! Oh, yes, it is so precious."
He looked around at the shocked faces of the people. They wandered how a man hanging from a tower by his neck could still be alive. He frowned.
"That's strange. One of us seems to be missing from this divine meeting. It's a shame because he is the most important person. I know this because Fate told me."
The hanged man searched the crowd again.
"Where is Tokiya Hara?"