25 Darkness

Azrail had his eyes closed as he sat in his chair silently. Masahiro stood elegantly by Azrail's side with his hands behind his back. Hyosuke stood by the orb and was staring at it curiously. Oishi was sitting by the wall, nervously fidgeting with his hand.

Akari was pacing back and forth. It had been around 20 minutes since the orb had stopped showing what was going on within the Shadow Realm and she was clearly worried. She bit her lip as she walked from one wall to the other and back again. Hyosuke glanced at Akari.

"Would you calm down? The orb isn't showing us any images, but their energy is still being tracked. So they're still alive, at least."

Akari gave Hyosuke a look which instantly made him shut up and go back to observing the orb. Oishi sighed.

"They're still alive, at least? That's the words you choose to comfort her?"

The room went silent again as Akari continued to pace the room. She stopped and looked at Hyosuke.

"So what exactly is happening? What did Lord Azrail mean by the Shadow Trials only starting now?"

Hyosuke kept his eyes fixed on the orb as he replied.

"Exactly that. The Shadow Trials isn't about getting the crystal. The Trial starts and finishes with the Black Crystal. It is the test. One that can only viewed by the Head or the Heir and their potential Shadowguard, which in this case, is Young Arata and Ryouma. That is all you are allowed to know."

Akari frowned.

"But what does the Trial involve?"

Hyosukes face twitched.

"That is all you are allowed to know."

Akari huffed in frustration and continued pacing up and down. The room stayed silent for another minute.

"It involves a Trial of the Heart."

Akari stopped pacing and froze. Oishi looked over at Azrail. Masahiro turned to Azrail as well.

"They can know. Arata trusts them, so I will too."

Masahiro bowed at Azrail's decision. Oishi asked curiously.

"What is a Trial of the Heart?"

Hyosuke looked over to the frozen Akari.

"The Ise Clan has similar customs to the Sato Clan. I'm sure you can explain the Heart Trials."

Akari nodded.

"A Trial of the Heart is a process of searching within one's inner being and judging whether that person is fit to join the Clan. In the Ise Clan, it involves finding the good and the light within someone, judging whether they have the purity to walk in the Light."

Hyosuke's expression went dark.

"Unfortunately, this isn't the Ise Clan."

Akari and Oishi gave looks of curiosity. They both noticed this serious change of tone and demeanor from Hyosuke and wondered what caused it. Masahiro sighed.

"The Ise Clan are known as the Wielder's of Life, Defenders of Light. So, naturally, their Trial of the Heart involves pulling out the good within someone."

Hyosuke's eyes seemed to go blank.

"The Sato Clan are known as the Harbingers of Death, Guardians of Darkness. Our Trial of the Heart, of course, reflects that nature."

Akari and Oishi went wide eyed. They both looked at the orb, their worries now elevating and reaching new heights. Just what kind of things are they being made to see and feel? The two began to wonder silently.

Azrail then opened his eyes and stood up. He walked over to the orb and stared into it curiously. Everyone quietly held their breath seeing Azrail stare so seriously at the orb. A grin slowly formed on his face.

"Masahiro, have that scabbard ready to cover the sword."

Akari and Oishi looked confused for a second. Masahiro smiled having understood his Masters meaning. Hyosuke smirked as he moved away from the orb. Oishi and Akari's eyes lit up as they finally realized what he was saying. Hyosuke took them both and stood by the wall. Azrail continued to observe the orb as Masahiro faced the wall where the portal was before. Azrail placed his hand on the orb and closed his eyes.

Ryouma looked back at the smiling Arata. He groaned loudly at Arata's words.

"Seriously? You don't know? Isn't that something you should check with Master Azrail before you come in?"

Arata shrugged.

"All I know about the Shadow Realm is what they told me. They never told me how to leave so I assumed I would find out when the time comes. Or maybe I would know when I need to leave, like an instinctual thing, since that is how the Shadow Realm."

"And are your instincts telling you anything?"

Arata closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. Ryouma watched as he felt Arata channel and flow the Realms Energy through him. He then opened his eyes and looked at Ryouma. He smiled.

"I got nothing."

Ryouma face palmed himself.

"Is that really something you should be saying with a smile?"

Arata laughed at Ryouma's attitude. As he was laughing he suddenly stopped and looked up. Ryouma sensed a change in Arata and looked at him. He could see that Arata was serious now.

"What is it, Captain?"

Arata looked around the sky.

"I sense my Father."

Ryouma looked up. Trying to see anything out of the ordinary or if he could sense Azrail as well. After a few seconds, Arata willed himself to move and he flew up into the sky. Ryouma followed him and rose into the sky behind him. As Arata flew through the air, he followed the familiar Energy waves. They made through way through the Realm, doing their best to follow the direction of Azrails Energy while also avoiding the large beasts in the Realm.

After 5 minutes of moving through the Realm, Arata came to a stop. Ryouma came to a stop beside him and looked around.

"Where to now?"

Arata closed his eyes.

"This is where we need to be."

Ryouma frowned as he looked around confused. Arata opened his eyes and looked at Ryouma.

"OK. You take it from here. This is where we need to be, now you get us home."

Ryouma was extremely confused. Arata looked at him expectantly. Ryouma felt nervous as he looked around. He tried to tap into his instincts to know where to go but he didn't sense anything. I looked around as he scratched his head, trying to figure out where to go. As he turned around, he felt his hand sting a little. He flinched as he ulled his hand back. Arata noticed this and looked at his hand. Ryouma began rubbing his hand.

Arata's eyes lit up as he grabbed Ryouma's hand.

"What are you doing?"

Ryouma looked at Arata strangely, but Arata ignored him and began moving Ryouma's hand around randomly. Ryouma starting to think that Arata was broken when his hand started burning again. Arata felt Ryouma shake and moved his hand in that direction. Ryouma's hand began shaking as Arata moved it forward. Ryouma suddenly felt something solid in his hand, even though there was nothing there. It felt like a handle of something. He gripped it and twisted it.

A bright light then glowed in front of them. There was a strong pull coming from the light as it drew them in. They couldn't resist it even if they wanted to, and the two boys were sucked into the light. The two boys fell down. While they were mid fall, Ryouma felt his sword was snatched away before they both landed on the floor with a loud thud.

Arata and Ryouma both looked up and saw Akari and Oishi running over to them.

"You're back!"

"Are you guys OK?"

Arata looked around and saw Hyosuke and his Father standing by the orb. Masahiro was standing beside Ryouma holding what looked like Ryouma's sword, but it was in a scabbard that Arata hadn't seen before. Arata smiled knowing that they were back. Oishi helped Arata up.

"Dude what happened in there? After you got to the Crystal, the orb stopped showing what was happening."

Arata chuckled.

"It is kinda hard to explain, ya know? But Ryouma passed the Trial and..."

Arata stopped speaking as he looked over to Ryouma and saw that he was shaking on the ground. Arata knelt down beside him, panicked.

"What's happening? Father?!"

Masahiro knelt down and placed a hand on Ryouma. Ryouma slowly stopped shaking and lay still. Azrail came over and observed Ryouma. After a couple seconds, he turned to Masahiro.

"Take him to a room and keep watch."

Masahiro nodded as he picked up Ryouma and carried him out of the room. Azrail turned to Hyosuke.

"Hyosuke, take Young Akari and Oishi back to the Institute and inform them that Ryouma and Arata will be back tomorrow."

Hyosuke nodded as Oishi and Akari were about to say something. Azrail gave them both a look which silenced them both.

"This is a Sato Clan matter. Do not worry, Ryouma will be back tomorrow, we just have some things we must deal with."

Hyosuke stood in front of Oishi and Akari as Azrail took Arata with him out of the room. Arata nodded at Akari and Oishi as he went past them. Azrail and Arata made their way through a corridor and down a set of stairs. Ahead of them, they could see Masahiro carrying Ryouma into a room. The two of them followed and entered the room as well.

Masahiro had placed Ryouma on a bed in the room and placed the blade next to him. Arata ran to the side and looked at Ryouma with worry.

"What happened? Is he OK?"

Masahiro nodded.

"His Energy is just depleted and he had a small backlash to the Kurou no Tatsu's power. He just needs to recover his Energy which shouldn't take long."

Azrail got Arata to sit down in a chair.

"Just know that Ryouma is good and that he will recover. Tell me what happened during the Trial."

Arata took a deep breath to calm himself down before telling his father what had happened. He told him about Ryouma's past, the visions of Helon and Ryouma's final decision. Azrail listened seriously, occasionally looking over at Ryouma with sadness in his eyes. When Arata finished his story, Masahiro sighed.

"For someone so young, he has had to see so much of this world's ugliness already."

Arata could see both anger and sadness swirling in his Father's eyes. He turned and looked at Ryouma.

"Many see Darkness as inherently evil, but it isn't. Darkness can be used to corrupt, destroy and pollute, that is true. But it is also vital to shield and protect. It is a barrier to allow people to live in the light. If evil leaves the darkness, it kills the light slowly, poisoning it. So there must be those that act as Guardians in the shadows, preventing those that wish to corrupt, destroy and pollute from entering the light. That is the mission we of the Sato Clan are burdened to carry out."

Arata had heard this all before, but after seeing Ryouma's story, it hit him harder and meant more to him now. Azrail continued.

"His innocence was stripped by those that got out from the darkness. Although it pains me to see him stay in the Shadows, I know that he has it in him to fight in the Dark without it corrupting his soul. He is truly worthy to be a Shadowguard. You chose well."

Ryouma felt strange. His body felt weak yet there was a strong current flowing through him. He felt something was covering him and he was very warm. He knew that he was in a bed, but he didn't know how he got here. The last he thing he remembered was being in the Shadow Realm and they had gotten back when he suddenly felt this immense pain in his body.

Ryouma slowly opened his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling and then he looked to his left where a window was. The sun was shining through it and it seemed to be the morning.

"Young Master, he seems to be awake."

Ryouma looked to his right, where the voice had come from. There was chair next to his bed. Standing next to the chair was Masahiro and Arata seemed to be half asleep in the chair. Arata shook his head, trying to wake himself up, and looked at Ryouma with a serious face.

"How do you feel?"

Ryouma blinked a few times, still a little tired.

"Exhausted. I feel weak for some reason."

Masahiro stepped forward and placed a hand on his head.

"That will be the swords fault. It drained you of your Energy. It is sealed at the moment, but if you held it any longer than you did, then you would be a pile of ashes."

Ryouma went wide eyed at this knowledge. The sword almost killed him?

"But having retrieved the Kurou no Tatsu from the Shadow Realm is something you can definitely be proud of."

Ryouma turned and Azrail was standing at the foot of his bed all of a sudden. Azrail grinned.

"Although it will kill you right now, in time you will be able to control and use it."

Arata leaned forward with a smile.

"Old man Masahiro and Father told me about the sword. You have no idea how lucky you are to have found it. Nor how lucky you are that they recognized the sword and got the sheath on it before it killed you, ya know?"

Ryouma was a little overwhelmed by all this as he was still a little hazy having just woken up and how weak he was currently. Azrail seemed to read Ryouma easily.

"Come Masahiro, he still needs to rest, Arata can explain everything to him."

Masahiro bowed.

"Yes, Master."

As they were about to leave Azrail paused and turned to Ryouma.

"We will hold the proper ceremony in a few days and make things official, but I'll say it here first. You are now the First Shadowguard of the Current Heir of the Sato Clan, Arata Sato. Welcome to the Sato Clan."