Chapter 136: I Am Here, We Are Here

  The darkness took Yukari deeper.

  She was drowning in an inescapable pitch black, a void so dense it felt like liquid oil filling her ears and nose. She tried to struggle, to thrash around, but nothing worked. Her limbs felt heavy, disconnected from her will.

  She could feel her body being dragged down even deeper, the pressure building until her ribs groaned. The darkness was suffocating her, her breath being forcefully pulled away from her being with every second.

  Where... where is this taking me? she thought, panic clawing at her mind. Am I dying? Is this what the end looks like? Tears streamed upward from her eyes, vanishing into the dark.

  Only her thoughts of Raito kept her awake, a single lighthouse beam cutting through the fog of unconsciousness.

  Suddenly, she stopped.

  The downward momentum ceased instantly. She was suspended in the air, weightless. Invisible strings held her in place, locking her limbs in a crucified pose.

  Click.

  A lone spotlight shone down from an infinite height, illuminating a small, circular platform floating in the nothingness.

  A figure appeared in the middle of the platform.

  The figure was sitting down, hugging their knees to their chest, rocking slightly back and forth.

  Yukari squinted against the glare.

  Finally recognizing the messy black hair and the slumped posture, she screamed.

  "Raito!!!"

  Raito looked up for a second. His eyes met hers.

  They locked gazes. But his face was devoid of emotion, a pale-looking husk stripped of everything that made him Raito. No warmth. No humor. No life.

  Then he looked back down, burying his face in his knees.

  "I must be dreaming," he said, his voice echoing in the darkness, hollow and flat.

  "This is not a dream, you idiot!" she kept shouting at him, struggling against her bonds. "Wake up!" she barked.

  "Wake up?" Raito responded, not looking up. "Why should I wake up?"

  He let out a dry, rattling sigh. "Every time I wake up, everything goes wrong. People get hurt. If I am gone... then, everything will return to normal."

  He hugged his knees tighter. "Yukari... She can live a much better life. I am sure of it. Without me dragging her down."

  "No!" Yukari thrashed, her voice cracking. "That is not what I want! Please, listen to me, Raito!" she called out to him, desperate to bridge the distance.

  "I am a curse," Raito murmured to the floor, ignoring her plea. "Someone who doesn't belong. I hurt her. I hurt the one I love the most."

  He shook his head slowly. "I don't deserve anything."

  "That is not true!" Yukari screamed, tears streaming up her face in the reversed gravity. "Please! I am fine! I am not hurt! Don't blame yourself!"

  "I am a failure," Raito whispered, his voice fading. "I always disappoint someone. I bring no value to others. I should be forgotten."

  At this point, his figure started to become blurry, a haze of static that was slowly dissolving into the air.

  "You are not a failure! I know it to be true!" Yukari cried.

  She struggled harder, pulling against the invisible strings until her mental projection felt like it would tear apart. She looked around frantically, searching for anything to help her in this oppressive darkness.

  Two massive hands made of pure shadow began to form from the abyss below the platform. They rose slowly, fingers curled like claws, preparing to enclose Raito in a final, suffocating embrace.

  "Finally," Raito chuckled, a sound devoid of joy. "I can rest."

  Yukari panicked. Then, she saw it.

  Her ring. The Sakura-shaped Core on her finger.

  It was pulsating. Faintly, weakly, but it still had life. It still had fight.

  She closed her eyes.

  "If... If there is really something left..." she prayed, pouring every ounce of her will into the metal. "Then please... let me help Raito. I want him back."

  Her prayers were answered.

  FLASH.

  Her ring shone with a blinding, brilliant white light. It surged up her arms, freezing the invisible strings that bound her.

  CRACK.

  With a scream of effort, Yukari shattered her bindings. The ice broke, glittering like diamonds in the spotlight.

  Gravity reasserted itself. Her body started to fall toward the platform.

  "Raito!!" she screamed again.

  The shadow hands were closing. The fingers interlaced, forming a dome over the boy.

  Yukari didn't slow down. She dove, forcing herself into the narrowing gap between the shadow palms just before they sealed.

  She reached out.

  "Raito! Take my hand!" she tried to scream.

  But her voice was muffled by the thick, oily darkness.

  And then... back to nothingness.

  A space of pitch black where even light couldn't shine.

  "Raito!!!"

  She screamed, or tried to, but no sound came out. She couldn't see anything. Couldn't feel anything. Couldn't hear, smell, or taste.

  It was a realm of absolute nothingness. Sensory deprivation in its purest form.

  "Why are you here?"

  A voice rang in Yukari’s head. It wasn't spoken; it was impressed directly onto her consciousness. It was a deep, resonant voice that sounded nothing like Raito. It sounded ancient.

  "Who... who is it?" Yukari thought-screamed back.

  "Answer me," the voice commanded, ignoring her question. "Why are you here?"

  "To get Raito back," she said, projecting her resolve.

  "Get him back.... why?" the voice mused. "This is what he wanted. To be taken by the embrace of darkness. To die. To cease."

  "No! That is not true!" Yukari shouted into the void. "Raito... Raito is nothing like that! You must have corrupted him! Twisted his mind!"

  "Then your understanding of this boy is shallow," the voice said coldly.

  "That cannot be! I am his wife!" Yukari declared.

  "Then..." the voice paused, a heavy weight pressing down on her mind. "Why is your soul shaking in fear?"

  "That... that is not..." Yukari tried to fight back, to deny it.

  "Look deep within you," the voice commanded. "You feared him. You were supposed to be with him, his partner, his safe harbor. Yet, you fear him."

  Yukari fell silent. What the voice said... it wasn't entirely false. There were parts of her that feared Raito. Especially after she was shown his pure aggression, the brutal sight of him tearing a man apart in an alleyway. That image had haunted her.

  "But... I'm...trying…" Yukari tried again.

  "Try what? To be better? Anyone can say that," the voice scoffed. "Have you learned nothing? The boy's memories... have they taught you nothing?"

  Images flashed in the darkness, vivid and accusing.

  "The boy's deep-rooted loneliness. His longing to belong. And your selfishness!"

  "Do we have to point it out as well?"

  Scenes from Yukari’s own memories began floating in the void, playing out like a reel of shame.

  "The meeting between the two of you might have been pure coincidence. But that should have been it. You two lived completely different lives. Completely different statuses."

  A memory surfaced: Lin Meihua, dressed in her royal qipao, selfishly leaving a critical government meeting, sneaking out the back door just to meet with Raito in the slums.

  "Yet... your selfishness took you back to him. You never considered the consequences. You became lazy. Detached from what you were supposed to do as a Noble."

  More memories. Being called by the King for an audience. She never showed up. She was too busy playing house.

  "Look where that ended up," the voice berated her. "Raito, captured. Tortured."

  The image of Raito in chains, bleeding.

  "The kid, Xiang Feng, who looked up to you... losing himself, becoming a brutal jailor because his idol abandoned her duty. The King, who was doing a fine job, losing his mind, coping with the idea that you got corrupted."

  "All because of you," the voice thundered. "You, who cannot manage a proper balance. You, who dragged him into your world without protecting him."

  "Sure, the boy survived," the voice said, its tone dropping to a whisper. "Why do you think that is?"

  Yukari remembered. Raito’s wounds were too deep after escaping prison. He should have died from blood loss and infection. Yet he survived. All his wounds gone. No scars.

  "It's because we saved him," the voice said.

  "Who... are you?" Yukari asked, dread pooling in her stomach.

  "Let's not forget after that," the voice ignored her question again, pressing the attack. "In Hanyuun. You were so afraid of properly communicating with him. communicating your fear. You ended up taking up an assassination job from that delusional tyrant. You lost your powers completely. And your relationship."

  "You break him," the voice condemned. "Over and over again."

  "But... we got back!" Yukari shouted, her voice thick with desperation. She raised her left hand, displaying the band of metal. "And I got a new Core! See?"

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  "Was that truly YOUR power?" the question slammed into her mind like a physical blow.

  Yukari froze. She remembered Dr. Iskandar's words in the laboratory. There is no such thing as a custom Core. It is impossible. Unless...

  "It was a gift," the voice whispered, sounding almost sad. "The boy made it for you. He carved a piece of his own essence to give you strength. A new power that was never yours to wield."

  "Yet..." the voice hardened. "You went to war with it. You used his gift to drag him into conflict. Forcing the boy to pick up a weapon. Forcing him to awaken early."

  "Awaken?" Yukari asked, confused.

  "The Serpent in Hanyuun... and the worst, in the desert," the voice continued relentlessly. "He was about to win against the mechanical beasts. He had control. But you... in your panic, you dove right into the beast's attack."

  The image of her own broken body flashed before her eyes.

  "Now look where that got you. You lost the function of your arms. And the boy went into an untamed frenzy state that should never have happened. He broke his mind to save a broken vessel."

  "With darkness there is light," the voice intoned, reciting an ancient truth. "And with light there is darkness. And when the two come together... there is VOID."

  "A passage that Sinner uttered," the voice mused. "His vessel was immature, yet he was forced to awaken. All for you."

  "No! That is not true!" Yukari screamed, shaking her head. "This is nothing more than a corruption! This whole darkness, the Black Flame, everything is just an infection! All I have to do is destroy it!"

  "And why are you so sure..." the voice hissed, "that this 'darkness' as you call it... was not always with the boy from the start?"

  "Lies! This is just tactics to confuse me! Raito is kind! He's goofy! He would never have something this sinister inside him!"

  "Sinister?" The voice sounded genuinely confused. "Is night sinister because it follows day? Is gravity sinister because it pulls?"

  Another scene materialized in front of Yukari.

  She saw herself. A young, six-year-old Yukari, tucked in bed in the grand estate of Jinlun. Her mother, Lei, was reading a book. Outside the window, unnoticed by the child or the mother, a silent star fell across the night sky. It didn't burn white or yellow. It burned black.

  "This memory..." Yukari stared.

  "We were always with the boy since the beginning," the voice said. "We are nothing. Nothing is nothing. Neither good nor sinister. We have been here... protecting the boy who travels the stars."

  The scene faded.

  "And you..." the voice delivered its final verdict. "Are not worthy."

  Yukari fell to her knees. The invisible floor felt cold against her skin.

  She realized the voice was telling nothing but the truth. The power... it always seemed to protect Raito when he needed it most. It came out because the situations surrounding them kept escalating—situations she often led them into.

  She thought she was the martial artist. The Core Master. The strong one protecting the weak civilian.

  But it was her who kept lying to herself. Raito's power protected her. It always had. He was using her as a conduit, a reason to be strong.

  She was naive. Her view was too narrow, too small. She still thought of herself as above others, the noble protecting the commoner. She hadn't changed from way back then.

  "Once a liar.... always..." she cried, her tears falling into the abyss.

  "Then what should I do?" she screamed at the darkness. "I can't become perfect! I am but a mortal! Are you God? What are you? Tell me! What can I do to reunite with him?"

  She clutched her chest. "I am selfish. I am a liar. I am brash. But..."

  She looked up, her silver eyes burning. "I still... I still love him. That last one is my truth. I'll gladly give everything, everything just to be with him again."

  RUMBLE.

  A path opened in the void. A bridge of grey light stretched out, leading to a swirling, translucent black sphere suspended in the air. Inside the sphere, Raito was floating, sleeping peacefully in the eye of the storm.

  "Then prove it," the voice challenged. "Prove that you can become his worthy half."

  "How?" Yukari asked, standing up on shaky legs.

  No answer came.

  She dragged her feet across the bridge. She reached the sphere. She put her palm on the swirling surface. It felt like static electricity.

  "Hey, idiot," she whispered. "I'm here. Please... tell me what to do."

  The sphere shook.

  WHOOSH.

  Tendrils of solid darkness began to manifest from the surface of the ball. One lashed out, aiming straight for Yukari’s head.

  She stepped back, barely dodging the strike.

  "I have to fight to prove myself? Is that it?" Yukari shouted.

  Still... no answer.

  The tendrils kept attacking her. One, two, three—they multiplied. Yukari dodged, sidestepped, ducked. She used every ounce of her martial arts training, moving like water.

  But she had no weapon. She had no ice. She had only her body.

  After a few moments of frantic evasion, the voice came back.

  "You... are still not worthy."

  "What?" Yukari was distracted by the voice.

  WHACK.

  A heavy tendril slammed into her left arm.

  "Gah!"

  Yukari stumbled back. Her left arm immediately went limp, dangling uselessly at her side. It mirrored her current state in the real world perfectly. The damage here was reflected there, or perhaps vice versa.

  "I have no weapon! No Core powers!" she yelled, clutching her numb shoulder. "My body will be consumed if I have to fight bare-handed! Then how can I prove myself worthy?! Tell me!"

  Another silence. No answer.

  Yukari gritted her teeth. She kept trying to survive. But the onslaught of tendrils was overwhelming. They were faster, stronger, and endless.

  SWEEP.

  A tendril took her legs out from under her.

  She hit the ground hard. She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't respond. Paralysis crept up her spine.

  "Is this it?"

  Yukari lay there, panting, staring up at the black sphere.

  She looked at Raito's sleeping figure, so close yet infinitely far away.

  "I still can't save you in the end," she whispered, a tear tracking through the void-dust on her face.

  She closed her eyes, waiting for the final blow.

  However, the words spoken by the voice kept hanging deep within the back of Yukari's mind, echoing louder than the roaring wind of the tendrils.

  "We were always with the boy since the beginning."

  "Why are you so sure that the darkness is not with the boy since the start?"

  Those two sentences kept ringing, harmonizing with her own memories. The way Raito had survived the prison. The way he healed. The way he fought for her.

  Yukari opened her eyes.

  She saw the tendrils about to strike her, a mass of writhing shadows descending like spears.

  Normally, she would try to parry. To fight. To dodge.

  Not this time.

  This time, she understood. She understood what the words meant. She understood what was required.

  She stood up, forcing her legs—which were supposed to be paralyzed and useless—to obey her will.

  She spread her arms wide, opening her chest, making herself vulnerable.

  THWACK. SQUELCH.

  The tendrils pierced her. They drove through her chest, her shoulders, her stomach.

  At that moment, she surrendered herself completely. She didn't flinch. She didn't scream.

  The tendrils were not trying to attack her. They were trying to give.

  "A burden too large must be shared," the voice whispered, satisfied.

  Pieces of Raito's memories and feelings started to flood within her—raw, unfiltered, and overwhelming. His fear, his love, his guilt, his hope.

  And conversely, pieces of her started to move within Raito. Her devotion, her stubbornness, her unwavering belief in him.

  "This is the answer," Yukari whispered, looking down at the black constructs impaling her body. "No pain."

  "Of course," the voice answered her. "You have accepted."

  "Yes," she smiled, tears of relief streaming down her face. "I now fully accept myself. To become his half. My love."

  Inside the sphere, Raito began to stir.

  He slowly opened his eyes, the void receding to reveal warm brown irises. He woke up from his slumber, groggily looking around.

  He saw Yukari standing below him, black tendrils piercing her chest.

  Then he looked down at his own chest. The other ends of the tendrils were buried deep inside him.

  "What?"

  He jumped up, panic flaring.

  "Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty," Yukari said with a warm smile, despite the eldritch horror connecting them.

  "None of this... is a dream?" Raito asked, blinking.

  "Nope," Yukari said.

  Raito’s expression hardened. He grabbed the thickest tendril with both hands.

  "Get out!"

  He yanked it toward himself, trying to pull it out of her.

  "Wait! What are you doing?!" Yukari yelped as she began getting pulled toward Raito.

  "I am absolutely not letting you get whatever this is inside you!" Raito shouted, pulling harder. "I alone am enough! I can carry this!"

  "Idiot!" Yukari grabbed her end and yanked back. "That is not how it goes!"

  "Go away!" Raito yanked.

  "Absolutely not!" Yukari yanked harder.

  The two were now locked in a ridiculous tug-of-war within the spiritual space, fighting over who got to carry the burden of the void.

  "Why are you trying so hard to get away from me?!" Yukari asked, frustration coloring her voice.

  "Because I hurt you!" Raito yelled back.

  "I forgive you!" Yukari shouted. "I always forgive you! None of that was your fault! In fact, it's more my fault!"

  "For what?!" Raito stopped pulling for a second, confused.

  "Because of me, you have to keep running! Fighting! It's all my fault!" Yukari cried.

  "Idiot!" Raito scoffed. "I never once thought about that! I forgive everything that happened! I chose this!"

  "Even though you hated me?" Yukari asked softly.

  Raito froze. "When did I ever say that?"

  "Before you met me," Yukari said. "Under the bridge."

  "You knew?" Raito’s face turned red.

  "Kinda. Recently," Yukari admitted.

  "Ok, fine! I'll admit it!" Raito threw his hands up, abandoning the rope. "I was jealous! You had everything that I wanted! A warm bed, money, family, and people looking up to you!"

  "And you think I am not jealous of you?!" Yukari shot back. "You have true friends like Jack! And freedom to do what you want! Not like me, who was always caged in that mansion!"

  They glared at each other for a second. Then, a chuckle escaped Raito. Then a giggle from Yukari.

  They chuckled while still holding onto the tendrils that connected their souls.

  "Why are we arguing in this?" Raito asked, looking around the featureless void. "Where are we anyway?"

  "Your dumb brain," Yukari said, tapping her temple.

  "What? No way," Raito denied it.

  "Yes way," Yukari nodded. "This place is so dusty because you only kept Shillook in your mind. It's cluttered with bad detective tropes."

  "Shillook is an icon!" Raito defended himself. "Not like Lady Huanli or whatever that is rotting your brain with unrealistic archaeology standards!"

  "Huh?" Yukari took offense. "She is a pioneer!"

  They stared at each other again. Then, they shared a heartfelt laugh, the sound ringing pure and true in the darkness.

  "I'm sorry," they said in unison.

  Raito’s smile faltered slightly. "The Old Man..." he said in sadness.

  Yukari shook her head. "Once again... not your fault. Let's find him once we get out. We will save him."

  Silence stretched between them, comfortable and warm. Raito nodded.

  "I love you!" they both said at the exact same time.

  Then they grunted, each refusing to let go of the tendrils, each trying to separate the other from the burden.

  SNAP.

  A loud sound echoed through the void. The tendril snapped perfectly in half.

  Each half recoiled, entering inside Raito and Yukari respectively. It sunk into their chests, merging with their very essence.

  They looked at each other in confusion, checking their bodies.

  "That just happened," Raito said.

  "I think so," Yukari agreed.

  "Hey! What happens after this?!" Yukari shouted to the surroundings.

  But no answer came. The voice was silent.

  "Why are you shouting?" Raito asked.

  "Because there were booming voices inside here," Yukari explained. "Those voices said they were with you."

  "What?" Raito made a face. "Yuck. No, no, get it off!" He tried to wipe himself down frantically.

  "Not that way, idiot," Yukari sighed, rolling her eyes.

  They looked at each other and smiled.

  Yukari stepped closer. Raito stepped closer.

  She moved her head to Raito's chest, resting her ear against his heart.

  "You've gotten taller again," she noted, looking up.

  "Did I?" Raito straightened his spine, checking his height. "I hope it's not because of that sandworm blood."

  "Most likely because you made yourself taller in here," Yukari giggled.

  Raito wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair.

  "I miss you," he whispered.

  "I miss you too," Yukari said, closing her eyes.

  A bright flash of golden light filled the space, blinding both Raito and Yukari, consuming the darkness of the space.

  "You two... are...."

  The voice spoke again, but this time, it wasn't heavy or commanding. It was warm.

  "That... is the correct answer."

  The golden light filled them with something more than just warmth—it filled them with…….

  Then...

  They woke up once more.

  They were standing in front of a grand, white altar.

  Raito looked down. He was wearing an immaculate white suit, perfectly tailored. Yukari was wearing a flowing white dress, radiant as the moon, veil hiding her silver eyes.

  "That was... too much," Raito said, looking around at the dreamscape cathedral.

  "Same," Yukari agreed, smoothing her skirt. "I feel like that was way beyond us."

  "But, they chose us, for some reason," Raito said, scratching his cheek.

  "I don't even know why," Yukari smiled, shaking her head. "It's not like we are special."

  "Maybe we are," Raito said softly, taking her hand. "At least... together."

  "Definitely not," Yukari laughed.

  "Yeah," Raito grinned. "Bob's blend is a lot more powerful than anything I can come up with."

  "He will smack you if he hears you right now," Yukari chuckled.

  They laughed, the sound echoing in the sacred space.

  "Here," Yukari said.

  She reached up to her neck, unclasping the silver chain that Samira had placed there in the real world—a weight that had followed her into the dream. She put it around Raito’s neck.

  "You left this."

  Then, she took the simple silver ring threaded on the chain, slid it off, and took Raito’s left hand. She slid the ring onto his ring finger.

  "Isn't the groom supposed to do this and not the other way around?" Raito asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "Definitely," Yukari said, adjusting the band. "But beggars can't be choosers. You were the one who left them in the sand."

  "True," Raito conceded softly.

  They met each other's gaze. The playfulness faded, replaced by a profound, quiet intensity.

  Raito lifted Yukari’s veil.

  They leaned in and shared a deep, lingering kiss. A seal on a new promise.

  "I love you," they said in unison.

  The scene shifted again.

  They found themselves sitting under a lone, sprawling oak tree in the middle of an endless field of flowers. The breeze was cool, carrying the scent of grass and peace.

  "So..." Raito asked, leaning back against the trunk. "How do we get out?"

  Yukari shook her head. "I don't know. Dr. Iskandar never told me."

  "Who is Dr. Iskandar?" Raito asked.

  "A living vision. Or a hologram," Yukari explained. "At least, that is what he told me."

  "What is a hologram?" Raito asked, frowning.

  "No idea, to be honest," Yukari shrugged.

  Raito looked out at the swaying flowers. "All of this... everything seemed so ridiculous a year ago." His gaze grew distant.

  "Yeah.” Yukari replied. “This whole god and machine stuff... We were just trying to survive. To be together. To run away where no one could bother us. See the world. That was the plan."

  "Now, everything is so big," Yukari whispered, resting her head on his shoulder.

  "I am scared," Raito admitted.

  "I am as well," Yukari said.

  Raito grasped Yukari’s hand, lacing their fingers together. "Promise me. You won't die."

  "And you should promise me too," Yukari said fiercely.

  "This time," Raito squeezed her hand. "We'll protect each other."

  Yukari smiled. She pulled Raito closer, leaning in until her lips brushed his ear.

  She whispered something.

  Raito’s eyes widened. His face turned a brilliant shade of crimson that rivaled a sunset.

  "W-what?!" he stammered.

  And...

  GASP.

  They woke up.

  Back in the central room, on the cold metal beds.

  Mila, Zhu, Bob, and Dr. Iskandar gasped as the readings on the monitors spiked and stabilized.

  Raito and Yukari slowly rose from their sleep, pulling the neural needles from their necks. They sat up, blinking in the harsh laboratory light.

  They looked at each other. They smiled.

  Simultaneously, they gave each other a thumbs-up.

  "YES!"

  With a big smile and a roar of relief, Bob leapt at them, wrapping both the boy and the girl in a crushing, tearful bear hug.