Into a New World! (Fantasy AU)

Across realities, another story was about to unfold! On the massive island known as "Shizuoka" was a majestic kingdom, ruled by King Yaoyorozu and his Council. In the mountainous terrain several miles away from the kingdom lived a young boy and his family, the young man came from the Kamado bloodline, a prestigious line of Shoguns. Though his father was known as a ruthless ruler of Western Shizuoka, he was the polar opposite of him. Despite going through extensive training, the young boy never had a reason to use his blade, always keeping it on him if the situation ever does arise.

The young man delivered charcoal to the nearby towns almost every day, being some of them weren't as advanced as King Yaoyorozu's kingdom. Fears of potential expansion and takeover from his father's regime was rampant, not only that, but rumors of a barbarian attack were beginning to surface throughout the land.

"Alyx!" His mother called out.

He picked up his basket of charcoal before turning around, "Are you heading off to town? You know you don't have to always go out."

"I know, but I wanna provide for you guys as much as I can! Since Dad's always out trying to find new islands. Not to mention a lot of people need heat since it's getting a lot colder."

"You're too kind, nothing like your father. Be careful out there, alright?"

Alyx waved at his mother as he walked away. His boots crunched in snow as he traversed down the mountain. He could hear the bells from the kingdom ringing as it hit noon. Alyx arrived at his first stop, noticing that the town was unusually quiet, being that it's normally bustling at this time of day. A door in a nearby hut creaked open, an elderly lady peeked her head out.

"Ah, Alyx, it's a pleasure to see you." She smiled warmly.

"Mrs. Shuzenji! Where is everyone?"

She only beckoned him to come inside, Alyx followed her into her home, seeing that Shuzenji was the only one present. Bloodstains were spattered about on some parts of the floor.

"We were attacked last night. As quick as they came in, they left, not a single thing was stolen or destroyed. My husband managed to get me hidden before being killed by whoever it was. I just remember her laughter... That god awful laughter..."

Shuzenji began to tear up, Alyx knelt down and dumped out all of the coal in his basket. He looked over at her before pointing at it.

"I can't let you stay here by yourself. I'm taking you somewhere safe, chances are they'll be back to scavenge this place during the night. I promise you, I'll avenge everyone in this village, including Mr. Shuzenji." Alyx vowed.

"You aren't saying... Are you genuinely serious?"

Alyx's eyes told her everything she needed to hear. She climbed into the basket, Alyx hastily left the hut, not knowing that someone was stalking him in the trees above. As they left the village, Alyx felt a sudden change in the air coming from behind him. Without hesitating, he withdrew his blade and blocked an arrow from piercing his skull.

"Keep low, Ms. Shuzenji! It's an ambush!" Alyx yelled.

He made a run for it up the mountain, deflecting and dodging arrows as they whizzed by him. A foot suddenly slammed into the back of his neck, a woman flipped off of him before landing in front of him.

"Ooo! A samurai? I don't think I've ever fought one of you before!" She giggled.

Alyx caught her scent, "You... You're the one responsible for killing those village people! Who are you?!"

"Toga, Himiko Toga, and those people took what belongs to our Lord Shigaraki. Their living on his land!"

"This isn't 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 land, it's ruled over and protected by my father, Darren Kamado! You're living under a tyrannical ruler! Those crimes you've committed are unforgivable, you don't deserve to live any longer!"

Himiko pointed a dagger at him, "Come on then, Mr. Samurai, try and kill me! I've always wanted to know what I taste like!"

Alyx gripped the hilt of his blade, taking off towards her with supernatural speed, clashing against her dagger. She sliced at him, only for Alyx to bend completely backwards, dodging the attempt. He dropped to the ground and swept her legs, quickly rising to his feet, ready to impale her. Toga rolled out of the way as his blade pierced the ground instead. Realizing it was stuck, Himiko charged after him, trying to analyze his facial expressions but couldn't see what he was planning next.

She stabbed his arm, grinning with childish delight as his blood splattered on her face, instead of wincing in pain like she expected, he grabbed her hair and delivered a devastating headbutt. Toga stumbled backwards, pulling the dagger out of his arm, trying to maintain consciousness. Alyx retrieved his sword, holding it up high as he jumped in the air, Toga came back to her senses right before he struck. The blades collided, sending Himiko tumbling across the snowy earth. Alyx grabbed her dagger, pointing his blade at her before she could get up.

"I'll give you a chance to talk, tell me, who else were you with?" Alyx demanded.

Himiko grinned at him, "Do you really think I'd tell you? I thought Samurai's were always watching their surroundings?"

Alyx furrowed his eyebrows before Himiko disappeared out of thin air. He quickly held his blade out in front of him, checking the surrounding areas but couldn't find a trace of Himiko anywhere. Ms. Shuzenji poked her head out of the basket, looking around to make sure the coast was clear, she turned to see the wound on Alyx's arm.

"Kamado boy! Your arm!" She gasped.

"I-I'll be fine, I'll treat it once I get you to safety."

Alyx hurried up the mountain towards his home. His mother looked out to see him hurrying up the mountain, blood running down his arm, she quickly left the house and ran outside.

"Alyx? Alyx, what happened?" Marie questioned.

"I'm okay Mom, I'm okay! The village got attacked last night, the only person that survived was Ms. Shuzenji a-and I couldn't just leave her! I brought her here because I know that she'll be safer here."

He set the basket down, she hopped out of it, Alyx stood back up and followed them inside. There was a secret passageway in the home, leading to a sort of bunker.

"Kariya and Annie are arriving later this evening, we can hide in here in case you were followed." Marie informed him.

"Right, I'm going to head to Central Shizuoka to warn King Yaoyorozu." Alyx responded while bandaging his arm.

"What?!"

Alyx made his way towards the door, "I have to Mom, this could get worse, I don't want anyone else to die."

Marie looked away from her son, she eventually looked back up at him, reluctantly nodding at Alyx. He left the house, running down the mountain, through the now desolate village, and into the dense forest. Little did he know, his actions had started a war beyond the likes of what Shizuoka has ever seen. As the sun set and the moon rose, Alyx finally arrived at King Yaoyorozu's Kingdom, it was known as Creati. Guards stood firmly in front of the massive gates.

"State your business, traveler." A guard spoke.

"I-I... I'm here to see his Highness and her Majesty, a town at least 15 miles south of here has been ransacked. A group led by someone called 'Lord Shigaraki' is responsible."

The guards looked at each other, from above, a man stared at him. Alyx looked up to see the gruff, long haired man leaning over the wall, staring directly at him.

"Let him in, I'll escort him to the King." He ordered.

The gates were pulled open, the man Alyx seen standing above him was now feet in front of him in the entryway. Alyx followed the man inside, the townsfolk all stared at Alyx, being they've never encountered a samurai before.

"You'll address me as Ranger Aizawa, got it?" The man told him.

"Y-Yes sir!"

The two navigated through the massive city until they made it to the castle, dozens of guards stood still on the sides of the steps, staring blankly as they kept watch. As they approached, the King and Queen's daughter, Momo Yaoyorozu gazed out of a window at them.

"Father," She called out, "The Shogun's son is here!"

Aizawa and Alyx were in the throne room, kneeling down in front of King Yaoyorozu, his royal guard stood valiantly next to him.

"Alyx Kamado, son of current Shogun Darren Kamado, what brings you to Creati? Has your father come with another trade offering?"

"No, your Highness, it's about the possibility of war. One of the villages I visit to deliver charcoal to was invaded by marauders, ordered by someone called 'Lord Shigaraki', the towns were perfectly intact except for the people. While leaving the village to take the only survivor to safety, I was attacked by one of his subordinates, Himiko Toga. The wound on my arm is from that attack."

"Lord Shigaraki? I can't say I've heard of anyone going by that name. You are telling the truth, correct?"

"Your Highness, if I may," Aizawa chimed in, "Various smaller villages have experienced attacks identical to his claims. Nothing was vandalized or stolen, in some cases, blood covered most parts of the villages. There weren't any bodies to be found either."

King Yaoyorozu looked towards his staff, "Interesting... I'll have you conduct an investigation on the matter, Shota. As for you, Kamado, you may return home. I appreciate your information, be sure to tell your father as well."

"Y-Your Highness, I want to help out too! Those were people I care about!"

"This matter is out of your jurisdiction, I'm afraid. Please, escort him out, it's time for us to plan our next course of action."

The royal guards approached Alyx and picked him up, Alyx looked over towards King Yaoyorozu, trying to break out of their grasps.

"I can't let them get away with what they've done! You have to understand that! Please!" Alyx pleaded.

As this went on, Momo peered out of her room, seeing the guards leave the castle with Alyx in tow. They sent him gently on the ground as they stood in front of him.

"Please, you have to let me back in! I need to help!"

"I'm afraid not, son. We can't let you back in under the King's orders."

Alyx sighed, turning away and walking down the steps, eventually sitting down in a courtyard of lavender flowers. He felt a presence standing behind him as he gazed out towards the stars.

"Ranger Aizawa, what did he-" Alyx stopped speaking as he turned around.

"Was I not who you were expecting?" Momo smiled.

She walked over and stood next to him, "I've heard quite a bit about you, Kamado. You sell charcoal to those that live in the Outerlands, that's rather admirable to be doing that all by yourself."

"I did, I guess I won't be able to anymore, considering that those villages don't have anyone to supply them to. Thank you though."

"Your kimono, do you need it repaired? I know a wonderful seamstress."

Alyx brushed off his left arm, "I almost forgot! I guess these bandages made it feel like the sleeve was still there."

Momo sat down next to him, holding a sewing kit in her hands, she started to sew together pieces of green and black fabric to his sleeve. He saw how focused she was, it resembled the look his mother had on her face whenever she sewed his father's kimono.

"Don't move too much, I don't want to poke you." Momo told him.

"S-Sorry!"

The two sat in silence as she fixed up his kimono. Once done, she neatly placed her sewing equipment in the small pouch she carried with her.

"Thank you! This looks like it was never cut off!" Alyx chuckled.

"This is your Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather's kimono, isn't it? Of course I gave it my best!"

Alyx tilted his head a bit, "Wait, you knew Grandpa Tanjiro?"

"My Great Grandfather and him were tremendous allies, a force to be reckoned with per say, I wish I could say the same about our parents."

Momo got up from her seat, "Well, I must return now. Perhaps we'll see each other again?"

"Yeah, perhaps."

Momo smiled at him before heading back towards the castle. Alyx waited until she was gone before leaving, finding a place called "Froggy Inn" nearby. He entered the Inn, seeing that it wasn't too busy, he saw the girl at the counter snatch a fly with her tongue.

"Hello! Welcome to Froggy Inn, ribbit! I'm Tsuyu, how may I help... Wait a second, you're the samurai that rolled into town." She greeted him.

"Word gets around quick here, doesn't it?"

"That it does, besides, it's my job to spread rumors and information anyway. Ribbit."

Alyx slowly nodded at her, "I see... Actually, do you happen to know anything about a Lord Shigaraki? Also, I'd like a room, please."

"Hmm, Lord Shigaraki? That's a new one, I can't say that I have, Samurai. Here's the key, take the stairs to the left, it's the room all the way at the end."

Alyx took the key from her, heading up the stairs to the room, he stopped and leaned over the railing.

"Do you want me to pay you? I feel rude not paying you for this." He asked.

"It's fine."

Alyx walked back over towards the door and opened it. The room had a medium sized cot alongside a chest to store any possessions. There was a large, white oak cabinet with silver handles on each drawer.

"I know a bit about you, Samurai," Tsuyu spoke up, "You're gonna be staying here for a while, aren't you? That's why I didn't ask you to pay for the room."

Alyx looked back and smiled at her, "I'm still gonna pay you regardless, Tsuyu. By the way, you don't have to call me 'Samurai', you can call me Alyx."

[The Next Morning...]

Before leaving the Froggy Inn, as promised, he paid Tsuyu for the room she provided him. As he roamed the streets of Creati, he couldn't even begin to comprehend the sheer size or the advancement of the kingdom, someone shouting at him eventually broke his bewilderment.

"You there in the checkered kimono thing! Come over here!" A blonde haired boy yelled.

Alyx looked over to see him waving him over towards a large yellow and black tent. He made his way over just for the boy to quickly pull him inside the tent.

"Welcome to Chargebolt Emporium! I'm Kaminari! We've got almost everything at reasonable prices!"

"Wait... 'W-We've'? I don't see anyone else here besides-"

"Hi I'm Mei Hatsume a pleasure to meet a samurai!" Hatsume exclaimed sharply.

"HOLY SHIT!!"

Alyx nearly fell into a shelf of assorted goods, he regained his composure as Hatsume stood at the ready to sell him literally anything. He looked around the shop, eyeing various bottles of enchantments, books on spells, shields, weapons, provisions, the list went on and on.

"He really wasn't kidding when he said 'almost everything', was he?" Alyx muttered aside.

Something in the shop caught his eye, on an acacia bench was a book on an ancient art known as "Hinokami Kagura", it was priced at only at a measly 30 Sterlings. Alyx picked it up and brought it to the counter.

"Is that all for you?" Kaminari wondered.

"Yep, that should be everything."

"How about this Bubble Launcher? It shoots bubbles that can kill! It's only 450 Sterlings!"

Alyx waved it off, "I'm okay, honest."

"What about this? The Necronomicon! Found off of the Isle of Sorrow!"

"I'm almost fairly certain that I don't ever want to touch that thing. How'd you even get it anyway?"

"Neeeeext topic!" Kaminari exclaimed.

He slammed down a freshly polished bucket filled to the brim with beans. Alyx stared at it, wondering what exactly did he have to do to get into this situation. What direction did he take to get here, in a trader's tent, as he's proudly being displayed a full metal bucket of beans? Denki waited with anticipation, fully expecting to see more Sterlings laid out onto the table, but his dreams were unfortunately dashed.

"I-I'll... I'll be fine with the book, thank you." Alyx deadpanned.

Denki took his Sterlings with a sigh of defeat, Alyx left the Emporium with the book in hand, Hatsume and Denki looked out of the tent as he walked away.

"Can he even read that book? The writing in it isn't a language any of us here know." Denki whispered.

"I dunno, maybe he just liked the look of it?"

Alyx found a bench nearby to sit down at, he carefully studied the book's contents, being able to read the text that was transcribed in the pages. It stated there were 13 forms in total but the training required was tremendous. Only a few people had mastered the arts of the Hinokami Kagura, including that of the very first shogun, Yoriichi Tsugikuni. What surprised Alyx the most was that Tanjiro also mastered the art. This was the first time he's ever heard of such an ability. He also saw another technique known as "Water Breathing".

"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?" Alyx thought.

The scent of blood hit his nose, Alyx got up to investigate, he made his way to a bar where he found a pink haired woman holding her arm.

"Woah, Mina! You alright?" Another boy wondered.

"Yeah, 'm fine! Just a li'l scratch is all."

The boy entered the bar to tell the others, Alyx hopped the wooden fence to see if she was really alright. He took some bandages out of his pouch, she looked up at him to see he wanted to help.

"You wanna apply as much pressure as possible, this should at least stop the bleeding."

Mina let go of her arm, allowing Alyx to wrap the bandage around it, he tightly tied it off to make sure it stops bleeding.

"There! That should do it!" Alyx bubbled.

"Hey, you're that handsome new guy! Why don't cha come on in for a drink?"

"O-Oh, thank you! I'd love to!"

Mina grabbed his arm and led him inside, a crimson red, pointy haired, man worked the bar glanced up to see the two enter.

"You've finally got a boyfriend, Mina?" He chuckled.

"Shaddup!"

The two sat down at a booth, the bar was bustling, it was almost completely full.

"Name's Mina Ashido, by the way. So, heard ya got to chit chat with the King, how'd that go?"

"Not exactly how I expected it," Alyx answered, "I want to help track down this Lord Shigaraki, but he told me it was out of my league. How am I supposed to convince him?"

Mina propped her feet up on the table, "Well, if ya wanted ta know, there's a tournament coming up 'ere soon. The King sends a whole group of criminals into an arena to fight it out to the death. Course, you can enter if you'd want, anyone can. Maybe that'd impress the old man?"

"Huh... A tournament? When is it?"

"It'll be 6 months from now, happens every year during the red sun."

"That should give me enough time to train. There's not a place I can do that, is there?"

The red haired man walked over with some drinks, "Yeah, bro! Ranger Aizawa's training grounds is just a short walk west of here."

"You know if you need a squad," Mina pointed at the two of them, "We're down to help, that's Kirishima, he's a cool dude."

"I'll think about it, thank you." Alyx chuckled.

After having a couple drinks with Mina, he left the bar and went west, seeing a training ground set up. Various paladins in training were trying their hardest to keep up with their regimens. Alyx scanned through the contents of his book once more, finding a section solely dedicated to training procedures, he planned to undergo his ancestor's training within the 6 month period he had. He started writing letters to his mother, letting her know his progress.

"𝘔𝘰𝘮,

𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘢𝘰𝘺𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 6 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴. 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 '𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨' 𝘢𝘯𝘥 '𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘒𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘢'. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭!

𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦,

𝘈𝘭𝘺𝘹"

Within the coming months, he would train from sunset to sunrise, slowly polishing his technique. Alyx made sure to update his mother on his progress, he wrote her another letter four months into his training.

"𝘔𝘰𝘮,

𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺! 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘠𝘢𝘰𝘺𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘔𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦,

𝘈𝘭𝘺𝘹"

Alyx made his way towards the King's castle, he saw Momo waiting for him in the courtyard. He sat down across from her, she poured him and herself a cup of tea, handing it to him on a small plate.

"I've noticed you've been making considerable progress with your training. Care to tell me what for?"

"I'm going to enter the Red Sun Tournament, with any luck I'll impress your father, I hope. Also, there's a village of witches somewhere nearby I'd like to visit."

"Are you certain? The witches aren't exactly fond of outsiders. If you're curious, follow the road north until you reach a crossroads, then take the eastern path to the village. Please do be careful, I cannot stress that enough."

"I'll be okay, promise. I've got a good nose, so I can sniff out if anyone there is a threat or not."

Momo sipped some of her tea, "At any rate, be mindful of the inhabitants, please."

"You don't have to be so worried," Alyx chuckled, "I'll be alright!"

"W-Worried? What? O-Oh no, I-I'm just making sure you know what you're getting into, t-t-that's all!"

"Okay, but anyways, I was told by the girl that owns the Inn that you're getting married soon? Is that true?"

A scent of sadness filled the air around Alyx, even though Yaoyorozu looked happy, her emotions couldn't hide what she was truly thinking.

"That's right! Next week in fact, the entire town is allowed to view it if you're wondering."

"I don't mean to pry but... You don't smell happy whatsoever. Is something wrong?"

Momo stared into her tea, "Nothing's wrong, Alyx, I promise. I'm just thinking about the future is all."

Alyx felt concerned, who was the man she was going to marry? Why would she smell depressed about it? He stood up after changing the conversation onto something else.

"I suppose I should get to that village. I wish you the best on your marriage, Princess Yaoyorozu!"

They waved at each other as Alyx left the courtyard, Momo stirred her tea around, finally letting her despair show.

"Why couldn't it have been someone like you?" She pondered.

The gates of Creati opened, Alyx made sure to have a map with him on his trip to the witches' village. He began to follow the dirt road north just like Momo told him. Alyx felt a presence coming up behind him from a decent distance.

"Hey! Checker Kimono! Wait up!" Kaminari called out.

Alyx turned to see Denki chasing after him, however, he wasn't accompanied by Hatsume. He stopped to catch his breath as he finally caught up to him.

"I... I heard you... Were going to... Witches' village..." Denki heaved.

"I'm assuming Tsuyu told you that? I'm looking to see if they can't heal a family friend. She's currently sick and nobody can really traverse the mountains without a guide so..."

Kaminari perked up after hearing the word "She" from Alyx, "Is she hot? Tell me she's hot!"

"She's 73."

"Fuck."

Alyx began walking without saying another word to him. Denki ran after him, walking next to Alyx. Denki tugged at his kimono, inspecting it closely, almost as if he was trying to gauge its worth.

"This looks kind of familiar, you didn't buy this, did you? I don't remember ever seeing a kimono like this before."

"No, it's from my grandpa Tanjiro. He passed it down to the other shoguns in my family, I'm the first to wear it in almost 3 decades, my dad refused to wear it for some reason."

"Tanjiro... Tan-Ji-Ro... Tanjiro Kamado? Dude, that's my grandpa's friend! They used to go out on all sorts of crazy missions!"

Denki went on and on about war stories he's heard from his relatives involving Zenitsu Agatsuma. Throwing in multiple "You owe me quite a bit considering I'm your cousin" sentence endings. Throughout all of this, Alyx managed to keep a steady course towards the village of witches.

"Looks like we're almost-" Alyx pointed out.

He stopped in his tracks as an immense scent of blood blew across his face, coming straight from the village.

"Everything alright?"

Alyx booked it towards the village, Kaminari observed his impressive speed as he hauled it down the dirt path.

"Damn, he's quick!" Kaminari exclaimed.

Kamado kept a firm grip on his blade, rushing into the unknown, all he could smell was blood. The scent was so overwhelming, he couldn't even tell how far away Denki was from him. He entered the village to a ghastly sight, bodies had littered the roads, desparate cries for help echoed throughout. Alyx's eyes widened as a different scent broke through the blood smell, moving rapidly towards his neck.