Quest for Hikari - Episode 14: Down the Rabbit's Hole

Author's Commentary: Shit goes dark from here and for a short while. If you want, you can just skip parts where you might cringe.

[ ~ Chapter • Start ~ ]

The moment I entered the manor, the door suddenly slammed shut before being locked by a mysterious force.

"So it really is haunted, huh....?" I spoke, looking around my surroundings.

The interior looked like it hasn't been cleaned for a long while, the same could be said for the furniture placed next to the walls.

And then I noticed a spirit floating several feet away from me. She looked at me sadly, her hands were on a praying motion while tears were going down her eyes. If I looked closely, her arms looked like they were recently healed from several cuts and whip marks.

Because she's a spirit, I couldn't help but question the fact that spirits exist due to intense grievances and a lot of trauma... and stuff dark enough to make her soul's corruption up to 80% and above.

".... What happened to you...?" I asked, just before the spirit tilted her head away from me with a few sobs, closing her eyes and turning around before suddenly leaving my sight.

I think she wants me to follow her.

I walked forwards, before a group of ghost-type Guy Monsters appeared to block my path.

Although I wanted to use magic on them because it was, I felt like I was being watched so the Ghost Buster Sword and the Rance Sword MkIV were good enough to deal with these monsters. The former was lighter than the latter, so I could focus speed-related techniques with it while the latter would be focused on power-related attacks.

You know, I'm ambidextrous, so I'm used to slashing with either hands and had experience using two swords at once. I'm fine with this.

Exposition aside, I grabbed the two swords on my back and unsheathed both of them at the same time then immediately killed a ghost with a quick thrust.

There's around 8 of them left, so I dashed forward and began slicing through all of them with ease.

"Kshaaa...."

That's the sound of the ghosts dying, don't mind it.

Once they're all killed, I sheathed my blades to my back, then began moving forwards to the door in front of me.

When I entered the room beyond the said door, I was greeted by an almost empty room that has a grandfather clock in it. Although it looked ornate, it also didn't work as it was quite literally broken. The clock indicated that it's 9:13, though on my wristwatch, it was around 9:20.

Feeling a presence behind me, I turned around to see the same spirit I met earlier, reaching her hand towards me.

The moment we locked eyes was when she immediately retracted her hand and began to float away.

Although I tried to reach for her, my hand only passed through her semi-transparent figure....

.... And then I was given a vision.

A vision of a girl that looked like the spirit, being bound with her knees on the ground and her arms behind her.

"Hahahahaha~!! Scream louder, louder~!" Another girl shouted, whipping the bound girl with intense glee and pleasure as the bound girl was in a state of pain.

The bound girl cried, and kept crying. She looked like she tried to endure, yet the girl just won't stop.

"Please....! Anyone...! Help me...!" The bound girl cried, yet she was just ignored. Nobody heard her but just the other two girls that were near her did.

It went on the point where other torture devices were used on the bound girl until she became unconscious....

... And then I was back at the mansion with cold sweat running down my head.

"....*gulp*.... What the hell.... was that?!" I shouted, getting back up without much difficulty.

Yet, that scene kept replaying in my mind.

I need to calm down for a moment.

.... Yes, just a moment.

That wouldn't be enough to break me, yet I can't really help but feel like I was already deep down a rabbit hole ever since I accepted the quest to look for Hikari mi Blanc.

".... Please.... no more.... it.... hurts...." The semi-transparent girl spoke, as once again, her tears were running down her eyes.

".... If you want this pain they gave you to end, please lead the way, just so that I could find out who was kidnapping the girls on Paris Academy." I reasoned, just before the spirit's eyes widened and then a moment later, she fled.

Following her was simple, as she stopped once in a while just to lead me somewhere.

The spirit stopped, pointing at the carpet below, as if there's some secret down there.

Hmm.... I should begin looking for something under the carpet.

After a while of searching through, I found a handle that I easily pulled up. And as if a mechanism was activated, a stairway that led down to what seems to be the basement had appeared.

The spirit of the deceased girl had then vanished without a trace.

"Very well, time to dig deeper into this rabbit hole." I spoke, stepping down to the basement.

[ ~ Line • Break ~ ]

"Princess Lia, what do you think about him?" Maris asked Lia, as the princess kept her smile.

"I don't know.... maybe he could become my new pet? I'm just becoming tired playing around with toys, even monsters would just break the girls easily! Eh..... he doesn't seem to be fully trusting us, though.... that's the reason why you should bring powerful brainwashing items." Lia spoke, not minding the fact that she was still smiling after giving out such creepy sentences.

Maris didn't really even mind that, after all, she's been with Lia for several years, ever since she was a child.

Although....

"Aside from him, what about the new girl on Paris Academy?" Lia's attention was shifted towards Maris, who nodded at her.

"Sill Plain, was it?"

"Yes, her! Now, let's just wait for Rance to come back here with that pesky ghost banished, while he does come back, have our Ninja kidnap Sill Plain to be used as a hostage. This'll be great~!" Lia shouted, and then she began laughing with glee.

[ ~ Chapter • End ~ ]

Character Image:

• Ghost Girl (True Name Unknown for now) -