#kagekiyo

"...How is he?"

I try to speak up -- loosening the straps of my Mystic Code, as though it'd do anything to help me breathe easier.

The hotel room is horribly silent -- the only noise the room could offer coming from the sway of chains.

Even the breathing of Cadence was weak, laboured -- something to be expected.

...A doctor -- the man known as 'Julius' -- had attended to him. A man none of us knew -- but the only one with any real knowledge of undoing that which had happened.

Surely, the rest of us had some knowledge of wound fixing -- but not once in our travels had someone been...

'...With... wooden stakes, no less...'

...Never once had I seen a lobotomy. Let alone one failed that miserably -- 'perhaps a relief,' I'd say, but it's hardly any comfort with the damage it had caused.

"...His brain seems fine."

The man who once bore the mask spoke up -- among the few times he'd spoken since our return.

Perhaps it wasn't easy to speak -- being, technically, the one who had caused such an injury to begin with. Even trusting him was difficult -- getting the visual out of my mind, of practically televising that shoddy medical procedure as though it were fine art... It was a crapshoot. It was all I could do to ignore that growing urge to throttle him, but...

"That operation was a failure at its original goal," Julius continued, "thanks to your timely intervention."

He took a step back -- running a hand through his icy-blue hair, furrowing his brow.

"...The same, obviously, can't be said of his eyes. Apt magecraft could repair them in theory, but... That isn't power I have."

His green eyes moved their gaze to the window, as he cursed under his breath -- staring down the unmoving moon, before returning to the group.

"...Not here, anyways."

I found my legs moving before I could stop them -- standing up, I took a few steps forward to face him. His gaze steeled, his expression changing from its slight worry to complete stillness.

"So, who are you? And more importantly, how do we trust you, Julius?" The venom in my tone was more than intended, perhaps -- but it made its mark. His eyebrow twitched, and he took a step back.

"...I don't know if there's a way to prove I'm trustworthy. Not here."

Julius closed his eyes a moment -- the silence filled only with the gentle breaths of Cadence, evidently still unconscious.

"But I can tell you how I got here, and... What little I know about this hellscape."

--

...There's a blank sight awaiting me.

I feel a weight upon my eyes, but I can't tell what it is anymore.

And... It hurts. It hurts so dearly -- doesn't it?

There is an emptiness that was never supposed to be there.

There are holes that were never supposed to be there.

There is a gap in my body. A gap in 'me.' Something horribly missing.

There is no 'darkness' in my sight. To see darkness, one must have the eyes with which to see them.

There is only 'nothing' -- a cutoff of feed. The bottom of the endless abyss.

Only...

"...Cadence."

...A voice. It's harsh, and... Businesslike. Hardly stoic, however -- every word spoken is as though something is bubbling just underneath.

"...Kage...kiyo."

"...You're awake."

Their voice... is oddly emotive. That bubbling emotion no longer seems... angered, at all -- no rage lines their voice.

There's worry there.

Does that mean they've..?

"...Cadence. Can you... see?"

...I hazarded a light laugh, despite the obvious answer. That burning sensation in my eyes could answer it a thousand times over, but...

"...No. I can't... see, anymore. I guess that... wasn't reversible, huh."

...Her voice shakes slightly.

"...What is it that you see, then?"

...I feel my brow furrow. My head tilts to the side -- towards the sound of her voice.

"...Nothing. I don't see... a thing. I-I don't... have eyes, Kagekiyo."

...Her breathing falters slightly. Oddly, it's... easier to hear.

"...I should reword my sentence. Cadence -- what do you see of this world, now that you're lying here? Did you learn anything?"

...I try to think, but the burning in my eyes--

"I-I don't know! The only thing I saw were those damned stakes, and -- his rambling, it was--"

My voice, shuddering with more panic than intended, was brought to a hush -- forcing myself to stop, to try and put myself back together. To ignore that burning, the remaining pain, the thought of the splinters--

...A warmth graces my cheek. It's... a hand, most likely -- gently holding on to me, as though to aid in those attempts to ground me.

"...On second thought... Do not answer so quickly. Wait, and... speak later."

...After a moment, my mind let go. The burning drawl remained -- yet despite how loud, how all-encompassing such a feeling was, that gentle warmth formed an equal force, pushing back.

...Or maybe it was just something to use, to focus on something aside from the pain.

The sound of rustling -- the movement of cloth off a seat, the creaking of a wooden chair...

...In the silence, though lasting only seconds, it was hard to ignore the little things.

Only a step, or two steps -- each tap upon the floor, something resonating. Clearer. Not louder, perhaps, but... Easier to focus on. Clearer.

"...Will you let this stop you?"

There's a creaking upon the ground. A similar, gentler creak, on the bed I laid upon.

"Will you let this take you off the field, Cadence? We may continue our fight -- we will have to. Will you remain here -- and end your fight against the Genji?"

...A loaded question.

...And a question I feared my own answer to.

For the most part -- perhaps my answer would've been a resounding 'yes.'

This singularity, this world -- had pulled me in unwillingly, and had already stolen something irreplaceable to me.

My eyesight. Something I desperately needed to survive -- now, gone in an instant.

...Would I even be able to bake again? Without being able to see my actions -- could I ever continue that profession? Was it even realistic?

I was fighting for a world in which I didn't have to fight. A better world -- one where I was able to bake. Able to follow my dreams -- able to keep moving forwards.

...Was that even an option anymore?

Then -- what would even be left? Was I even useful on the battlefield, anyways? Certainly, I could aid in commanding the others, but...

...Losing this fight meant dying.

Winning this fight meant struggling to survive.

Neither option was preferable. In one, my dreams, my life were forfeit -- in the other, merely my dreams would scramble to dust.

...But compared between the two -- only one option made sense.

"...I'm still going to be on the front lines. I... will likely need to get my sight sorted... Via a mystic code, or something. But if I can, I will."

...There was a bit more movement -- more cloth, softly moving about as Kagekiyo moved slightly.

...Her hand moved from my cheek, to my shoulder -- the other, resting upon my other shoulder --

-- in a moment, I felt myself moving up, and forwards. She'd pulled me forwards 'til I stood up, then --

--...A more familiar warmth.

With something wrapped around me, my head landed upon cloth -- even like this, I could still feel the steel just underneath. The arms I could only presume were around me held me tightly, close enough to hear her calm breaths loud and clear.

"...That is what I desired to hear. I would be more worried if you accepted wholeheartedly."

"...You're sure? Wouldn't you want me to be all for killing the Genji?"

...After a moment, she chuckled softly. Her voice felt as though music to my ears -- its composed, powerful tone evident even as she remained relaxed, and in 'front.'

"...The Genji deserve only death, but no human enjoys the act of slaughter. I am aware that you greatly dislike fighting -- there is a reason I do so in your place, Cadence."

Her voice remained -- as I tried to steady my breaths, listening to her. It took a moment longer before I spoke -- before anything cohesive could come to mind.

"...Still, it's not like I don't want to end this Singularity, and take down the Genji. Q-Quite the opposite, I just..."

...The downsides were growing. With this first battle -- the Singularity had already taken something of me that no other Singularity had done successfully.

Was this even a pace I could maintain?

"...You were not made for war. And yet you still attempt to stand, despite yourself."

...She pulls away, for just one moment. I can hear... something, shifting -- a shimmering noise, of a sort -- before something is placed upon my eyes. Wrapped around my head.

"...You still wish to hold your blade against the Genji, despite your condition. That is worthy of praise, Cadence -- that you still wish to destroy them."

...When she pulls me back in, there isn't any steel, anymore. Nor even cloth. From the lack of armour, I can only assume she'd swapped to that garb she tended to wear as 'Ushiwakamaru-as-Kagekiyo,' rather than merely Kagekiyo. Every few seconds, I could feel her breathing -- even her heartbeat, calm as a gently-flowing river, sounded clearer than a bell.

...What had she wrapped around my head..?

"...You will not be alone in this battle, Cadence."

"...So long as you desire to kill the Genji," she repeated --

"-- You will never be alone."

--

"So, what exactly do you know?"

Sitting in the living room of my hotel room, just apart from Julius, the blue-haired man seemed as though getting to work on some small metal pin. Its specifics were unknown to me, but it seemed he was letting something flow into it -- presumably some sort of mana. 'A mystic code, then?'

"I don't know much," Julius responded, "but I know that I came here in search of the materials for a new invention. I was notified of some large discovery in this region, but... Looking back on it now, I don't remember what that was."

The man's steely gaze didn't so much as spare a glance my way. His focus seemed as though unbreakable -- his every action fine tuned, as though I were watching a robot dead-set on his task.

"What else do you remember? Like -- after you came here."

"Good question. Once I'd gotten here, I blacked out a few paces in. I... woke up not remembering my own name."

The man breathed out a slow sigh, his bluish-green eyes finally breaking from his gear piece to glance my way. Only for a moment, though.

"...Wait, really? It explains a bit... You also don't quite sound so showy as you did before."

"Because that thing wasn't me," Julius replied. "It was a being that took my body. I watched what it did like I was watching a TV flick -- I'm still not even sure what made me realize what was happening. Perhaps that woman and her spear."

"Morgan, you mean?"

The man glanced up to me, then back to his gear piece -- only to immediately stare back at me with a mildly shocked look.

"...So that 'Roadless Camelot' was..."

"Yeah, that was a Servant."

...There was a moment of silence -- before Julius cracked a slight smile.

"...So that's the sort of place this is. I reckon you're trying to put an end to whatever the hell caused that to happen, right?"

"Right. This place.. needs to be returned to normal. And you seem like you're a mage. I... am sorry to ask a favour after you had just recovered from... Whatever the hell had happened, but --"

...Certainly, this ask carried risk.

If Julius were in on this Singularity, asking for his help would surely kill them all.

But if Julius weren't in on it -- they'd have an ally. And any ally would help.

God forbid we'd have another incident where one of us was kidnapped -- purely because we weren't all in one place --

'I can't take any of us losing anything else, like Cadence has.'

...So, against my better judgement --

"--Will you please lend us a hand in fixing this?"

...And it took only a moment of deliberation, before the man nodded his approval.

"...Count me in. You got me out of that mess, and I'd like to save this place anyways."

"...That, and... Even if those actions weren't mine -- I'd rather make up for what that thing forced me to do."

...With that said, the man glanced back to the object he was working on -- his fingers returning to work, twisting the top of the object gently as though to stick something into place.