Ichi

Once upon a time, there was a stone.

A stone that ruled the world.

It was said that within the stone was an extreme, condensed source of radiation. The radiation seemed to not be harmful to humans, but there was a significant side effect when contact was made with the stone.

People who touched the stone gained the power of light.

Those who were lucky enough to possess the stone were able to use and weaponize light, as long as they maintained contact. Users of the stone would pass the object on to their heirs after maintaining a life of using the power of light for the greater good.

But, of course, all good things must come to an end.

One of the heirs decided to use the stone for his own personal gain. He traveled the world with his band of pirates, utilizing the power of light to pillage villages and devastate cities. As his influence grew and the people cowered in fear, no one was able to stop the rogue heir.

Then, suddenly, he disappeared.

As the pillaging and devastation came to an end, people were curious as to what caused his sudden disappearance, and fearful that the heir would return.

But eventually, as time passed, the heir faded into a distant memory, and the world continued without a wielder of the stone. It was theorized that the heir had overused and destroyed the stone, which led to him go into hiding.

Centuries later, the classic story of the Stone of Light is typically included in elementary school textbooks and anthologies. It is considered to be one of the most well-known fairy tales in existence, nothing more than an old bedtime story.

That was true, until that day.

The day when the world ended.

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I: Jikan-ten

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The security guard briefly looked up from his magazine and glanced at the exhibit.

'Everything's still there. As usual.'

He lowered his head back down, resuming where he left off in his copy of "Gamer's Life".

'It's awesome I get to do other shit all day while "guarding" a museum that almost no one ever visits. Man, what a great job.'

The exhibit in question was a collection of wooden chests that had been recovered from excavations conducted throughout Europe. Many of the chests featured are estimated to be hundreds of years old.

As one of expect of an exhibit that relied on boxes as the centerpieces, the area saw very little foot traffic.

As the guard glared religiously at the magazine, he began to daydream.

'I'll be starting my senior year of college soon. Man, I'm so ready to finish my degree. Once I graduate, I'm gonna get a job as a game designer. Of course, I'll apply everywhere I can find, but I really want to work for a company that works on anime games. Those stories are always awesome, but most importantly, anime girl designs are ON POINT. Man, just the thought of working with a design of a character with big round-'

"Hello. Is this the famed chest exhibit?"

"It's not my type of chest ex- erm, uh, yes sir, it's a chest exhibit. Ta-da."

The guard's face turned from bight red to stone cold gray as he directed his attention to the man who had materialized.

The tall figure that stood in front of him was cloaked with a black hooded coat. The only portion of his face that was visible was his clean-shaven mouth and chin.

"Haha, well, it sounds like you're fond of your job. By the way, I apologize if I interrupted a private moment you were having."

The bright red shade expeditiously returned to the guard's face.

"Uh, well- It's - It's not what you think! Anyways, do you need help with anything?"

The man turned his attention to the assortment of chests on display. He began a slow walk as he visually inspected each chest.

"I guess you could say I do. I'm looking for a specific chest. You see, it's a very special chest."

As the man carefully peered over each chest, he brought a question to the attention of the guard.

"If you would be so kind, can you tell me if there is a chest here that can't be opened? Not even by picking the lock or disassembling the chest?"

The guard's face contorted into curiosity as rose from his seat, placing the magazine where his body once was. He approached the right side of the exhibit and pointed through the window at a chest in the upper right corner.

"I think you're looking for that one. That's the most notorious chest here. It's the only one that won't pop open, no matter what we try."

The cloaked man directed his attention to the chest the chest that the guard had pointed out. His visible mouth formed a smile.

"Ah, that's it. That's the one I'm looking for. I'm thankful for your help, really."

The man's statement of gratitude was followed by a brief but impactful moment of silence. The guard slowly directed his gaze towards the hooded man just as the man began to state his next statement.

"I do need something else from you. I believe I can open that chest, so it is of utmost importance for you to retrieve it. That would be extremely helpful."

The guard's curiosity intensified as he formed his response based on museum policy.

"Sorry, man. I can't do that. The museum only allows artifacts to be removed from their display areas under special circumstances."

The man's expression seemed to neutralize as he maintained his attention on the chest. The guard experienced the sensation of a dropping temperature.

"I apologize to the museum for what I'm about to do next, but I hope you realize that that wasn't a request."

Within the time it takes for an eye to blink, the man jolted his right arm upwards and slammed his hand against the glass. A spider-web crack formed at the site of the impact and rapidly spread throughout the entire window. As the guard's mind began to process what just occurred, the glass crumbled, raining shards and dust into the exhibit.

"Wha- what the- HUH?!"

The man slowly dropped his arm, rubbing his right hand on the cloak.

As the security guard gaped with shock, the man climbed into the exhibit, making his way towards the chest of interest.

"I apologize for taking such drastic action, but if you look on the bright side, you can blame the unwarranted handling of the artifact on me. Since you did not break the museum's policy, you shouldn't lose your job."

"But- what- you can't-"

As the guard struggled to find his words, the mysterious man hidden under the cloak reached his destination.

"Finally, after all this time…"

Both of his arms initiated a slow rise towards the chest.

"I found it."

His extended limbs stopped their progress and locked when they were perpendicular to his body.

"'Pure Light: hiraki-bako'"

The lock fell off of the chest and the lid flew open with incredible speed. A glow was initially visible before slowly and softly fading out.

The man slowly reached his right hand into the chest, making contact with a small, round object housed inside.

Immediately upon contact, his entire body briefly seized up, and his hood flew off his head. Once the reaction faded away, he clenched his fist around the object and lifted it out of the chest, which began to darken. The wood crumbled away as the man turned around towards the space that the window once occupied.

"Well, that was exhilarating. I have so much to do now, but first, I should test it to make sure. I believe I know the perfect way to do that."

The man grinned as he made eye contact with the guard, who was now standing with his taser in his hand.

"I- I don't know what you just pulled out, but you need to put it back! That's the museum's property!"

The guard shivered as he met the cool, powerful gold-tinted irises of the man for the first time.

"Well, I could hand this back to you, but that would be extremely dangerous for you. This small object here is more radioactive than Chernobyl could ever be."

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! PUT THE OBJECT DOWN BEFORE YOU GET TASED!"

The man slightly tilted his head as he converted his grin into a look of curiosity.

"What's your goal in life?"

"What?! Why would you ask-"

"Answer the question, boy."

"Gah, you- I want to be a game designer! Now PUT IT DOWN!"

The man's mouth returned to the grin that it once held.

"A game designer? Hah! You're the perfect choice for my test."

"A test? You don't make any damn sense, man."

The man with the gold eyes stretched his fist out towards the guard.

"Do you have any questions for me before we proceed?"

"Yeah, tell me what your name is before you get down on the ground."

As the guard began a slow, methodical walk, the man's grin expanded into a gape of excitement.

"My name? It's-"

A ball of light formed around his fist.

"'Pure Light: owari'"

A beam of light fired from his fist, slamming through the guard's chest with the force of a large bullet. In the immediate aftermath, the guard lowered his gaze to find a large, gaping hole in his chest. As he collapsed while coughing up fresh, bright red blood, the man responsible for the attack directed his attention to his clenched fist.

'I've finally found it. I've found the Stone of Light.'