“I didn’t expect to find you here.” Even the chuckle that was released from those dead, cold lips was enough to send shivers down his spine, “We were actually looking for someone else,” a wide eerie smirk, “but this…” It clicked its tongue, chuckling, “this is so much better.” Kyshiro’s nerves tensed together, but he met the shadow’s gaze. He steadied his breathing, stealing a glance at the other shadow who was dragging itself across the floor. He shuddered, wondering why they were both so… Disembodied. His shadow wasn’t like that at all. Shaking it out of his mind, he took another step forward, tailcoat swishing around his ankles. “Release both of them from your control,” he said as steadily as he could. His eyes flashed coldly, the vibrant purple gleaming, “Then, we’ll talk.” The shadow on the ceiling cocked its head, its neck twisting horribly. One of its legs drifted towards the ground, the dismembered foot gently touching the floor. “We don’t like that idea much, Sam,” it said, whispery soft, like spiders crawling across ice. And before anyone could even react, the head of the shadow split in two. Its hair flung up and outwards, tips sharpening and lengthening. Time slowed around Kyshiro as one of them burst forward at a frightening speed. Everything around Kyshiro turned a shade of red, the stream of pointed darkness darting directly towards his face. He was able to hear his heart beating in his chest, a slow but panicked pattern. The point of the sharp tip drew even closer, the shadows within wriggling. Kyshiro’s hand shot out on its own, palm facing forward. He looked at it, teeth gritting together. No, no, no. This couldn’t happen here. Shadowy dark links appeared around his fingers, encasing them in a freezing coat of darkness. The tips sharpened and curled inwards, blinking red. His heart twirled and twisting, soft giggling ringing through his head. He couldn’t move at all, his hand wouldn’t move away, no matter how hard he tried. “Let me handle this, darling,” it giggled inside of his mind, “you know you can’t do anything against him.” Kyshiro grinded his teeth, his free hand twitching, “C’mon,” it coaxed, “just cut yourself and I’ll handle everything…” His shadowy fingers wrigged suggestively, twirling around and around. Kyshrio ground his teeth again, glancing upwards at the pulsing sharpened shadow vein coming directly towards his chest. “C’mon Emperor, c’mon…” Kyshiro’s eyes flashed, forcing all of his will into his hand. “No,” he growled. He yanked his hand backwards, then jerked it forward, the shadowy claws gripping into the darting vein. The red all around him vanished in a flash, a sudden searing of pain rushing through his arm. Kyshiro gritted his teeth quietly, then squeezed even further into the vein. His fingers returned to normal in a heartbeat, the twirling in his chest getting even more aggressive. His shadow had gripped onto the surface of his heart, tiny little teeth scraping against it. Kyshiro winced, then ground his teeth together, squeezing his aching outstretched hand into the shadowy vein even harder. It let out the most stomach turning squelch he had ever heard, then burst into pieces, littering the floor. Bits and pieces of dark shadowy liquid burst onto his bare arm and his face, spattering near his eyes. Hot white pain burst from his fingertips and spread to his arm. It flared in his shoulder, agony bursting outwards like soundwaves. He exclaimed in anguish, grabbing his wrist with his other hand. The remaining of the destroyed vein spun in a circle and then fell loosely to the ground, shattering like glass. Kyshiro hastily shook out his hand, wincing inwardly as he ground his feet to face the shadows once more, his heart pounding painfully in his chest. There had to be a smarter way to do this.
Glancing sideways at the other shadow who was slowly moving forward, the bodiless head grinning eerily through its crooked, broken teeth. “You’re much weaker than I thought,” it whispered through bad breath. The hand protruding from its torso spun in a circle, sharp fingernails folding inwards and digging into the round head. Kyshiro glared coldly ahead, masking up any other emotion other than determination. He took a breath, then moved forward a singular pace. The shadow’s eerie crimson eyes narrowed in amusement, its head turning around in its palm, “Oh?” It smirked at him, eyes rolling, “What are you doing?” Kyshiro continued to walk forward, his gaze flickering to the small girl trembling in the corner, hands over her head. He turned his head over his shoulder to look at Aegi, standing in the hallway, seeming to be paralyzed by freight. Gathering his thoughts, he slowly turned back around to face the shadows. Tension gathered in his legs, his left one trembling violently at the effort. “That’s funny,” the shadow with pointed spikes sniggered, giving him a simpering look. It nudged its companion in the ribs, “Don’t you think it’s funny?” “Yes, how stupid it is for a mortal to approach us, even whilas they are infected with despair,” its eyes twitched in amusement, a mocking gesture, “Lookit, he can’t even control it, nor it to him.” It jerked a tentacle at his forehead, wiggling back and forth, “Now he dares… Now he dares…” Kyshiro scanned both of the shadow’s bodies, searching for a weakness. He continued walking, his cold eyes calculating. It would be stupid to start a chase with a leg like his. It would also be stupid just to rush directly at them without knowing what they could do… Or where they could crumble at. For the ceiling shadow, Kyshiro saw that there was a spot on the backside of the neck that seemed to be slightly lighter than the rest. He first brushed it off as nothing, but as he took a closer look (the shadow kept tilting its head), it seemed to be more like an injury from the previous owner of the body. Barely visible ridges were marking the edges of the circular wound, little bumps and dots. His hidden gaze shifted to the other one, eyes scanning and his legs moving quickly. Through its bodiless head and its huge burned on smile, Kyshiro could see there was a teeny, tiny little blob of red upon its flat nose. A pinprick of peeled off skin that hadn’t healed over yet. Well. This surely wasn't going to go well. Taking a breath, feeling the chill of his amber earring as it bounced against his cheek, he stalked forward; half of a plan running through his mind. “Yeah, yeah, I dare.” Not once did he break eye contact with the ceiling shadow, eyeing the sharp tentacles warily. He shrugged his arms outwards, giving a false confident smirk from underneath the hood, “What would you expect from a rich kid though, right?” The shadow’s exchanged glances, then, the one on the ceiling shot forward, mouth gaping. Its eyes rolled back into its head, the sharp hair spinning on point and shifting positions from the top of its head to the insides of its mouth. Kyshiro’s heart skipped a beat and he found his body frozen in place, legs refusing to move at all. Part 5: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/733143700 Part 7: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/733147950