The One Beneath - 1987​

The dimmed out candles sat there, losing their flame as eight figures stood together in an empty room. Wax had bled into the flooring, hardened in strange shapes as though even time itself had recoiled from what had taken place. What remained was not life, not even death—only silence, as though the place itself had swallowed the eight who once stood within.

—---x

All of them were young, barely even past their twenties when this all began. Youth, however, is not always a mark of innocence. Beneath their outward image as scholars– respected, bright and diligent, they carried a hunger that few were able to see.

Akutsu Rei, Takigawa Nozomu, Hoshino Aika, Kurobane Itsuki, Yashiro Kaien, Shiba Kagerou, Mikami Sakuya, and Sakari-san.

Eight names whispered now only in fragments. Each one known in the city, but never bound together in the public eye. Their names were whispered as myths, people who were not seen across town anymore.

Like all stories, it all begins with one.

—---x

The cave and its surroundings sat there empty, no life to be found near it. As to the matter of why, it was purely unknown to the public eye. All it took was one man to test the fate of the forest. His name would be Akutsu Rei, the man who began it all.. Rei was smart, he kept his tracks covered and often studied the unknown. Like any man, curiosity ends one in mysterious ways. Now, the once empty place was often paced by Rei, sometimes it appeared he was speaking to himself. But. . it was not himself that he spoke to–it was the invisible force that watched the living behind the veil. An unknown force with a name that was not made apparent to the public and its locals. A name that only this group was familiar with; Vis-à-vis.

At first, the spirit threatened him, nearly knowing everything about Akutsu with just one glance. Rei did not bow, nor did he turn back. He bargained, what they spoke of, none can say. What they agreed upon, no one ever learned. From that day, the spirit gained its voice through him and began to feed off his prowess. A man’s life begins.

However, this deal held its own effect.


A deal made before two worlds—whether they would clash or turn to ash was yet unseen. Hidden amongst its words was a venom that Rei never noticed. A mind that was once curious of both worlds was now no longer its own.

And so, Rei gathered others–each one sought over carefully and watched until their time was to come. They had not known at the time but from the beginning, their fate was set in stone, a scripture that was unable to be scratched off. The first person was picked carefully, he was needed for this to all fall through.

Takigawa Nozomu, the first. Barely nineteen, kind, brilliant, and gifted–called a prodigy by his own family and teachers. Where others questioned Rei’s words, Nozomu embraced them. His youth was no shield; it made him pliable. He swore himself to Rei’s vision, not realizing that the voice behind it was no man’s at all.
Young and Naive.

Hoshina Aika followed. No words needed to be said to her. All she needed was to see Akutsu Rei stand before her. A man she believed was her soulmate. She was known for her calm composure and eloquent writings, she longed for meaning beyond dusty pages.
A lover’s death.

Kurobane Itsuki, a proud yet stubborn individual, believed they were beyond fear. Yet he too stepped into the silence of the group, bleeding into the pact to do whatever to prove his strength.
Shallow.

Yashiro Kaien, a man who had questions that were too large for the answers that were given in classrooms. Ones that were not able to be answered by just mere textbooks and teacher’s knowledge. Shiba Kagerou; a female who hid her ambition behind a thick veil of docility. She was a person of few words, she kept to herself and rarely spoke. She watched everything. Then, Mikami Sakuya, whose silence marked the weight of envy. And then, each one of them were marked.
The blind.

Lastly came a man named Sakari San–the only one that was older than the rest and came with more background. A teacher, once of folklore and history. Unlike the rest, he did not stumble into the cult blindly, nor out of naivety or stupidity. He joined them knowingly of the consequences that came with it. He was convinced that the path that Rei carved would immortalize him as more than just a forgotten scholar. He was a man that was willing to risk everything.
A risk.
—---x

And there the eight stood, all with their own stories and reasons for joining. But in truth? They were never really eight. There was always a ninth. The true manipulator behind the veil, the presence that whispered in a low tone in the cave, the voice that poured venom into Rei’s ears. It was the shadow that walked behind steps, covering itself behind Rei’s presence. It was there always, never leaving them to themselves.When the eight bled their vows in the dark with their dimly lit candles, it was there, staring at them as if they were mere pests to it.

Soon enough, the cave became their own groundings. But to the locals, it remained as a place to be avoided out of pure superstition, some still doing so till this very day. To them, it was a temple, a womb of silence where the two worlds collided. It was not to be stepped into by stragglers, it was a sacred place to them, especially to Rei.
Many still say that the cave still remembers them. The wax stains never faded, nor did the claw marks–whether of a bear or something way older–it never wore away. And even on the nights when the forest lay still, some still swore you could hear those faint voices chanting in unison, reciting words that were not meant for the mortal tongues.

Eight shadows.
One voice.
And a pact that was never meant to be broken.

But not all pacts remain buried.

Takigawa Nozomu. A few years had passed since the last candle had melted into the stone, yet his mind refused to let it die. The silence that swallowed the others became his obsession. Then, he returned to the texts, to the notes that Rei had written, to the cave that had taken them all. Within the fragments of it all, he soon found the truth himself.

All along, Rei had not led them.
He had been led.
The voice that had promised power and truth had not spoken through him--it had spoken as him. The hidden ninth member--“Vis-à-vis,” the one behind the veil, the one who wore men like they were masks. Takigawa's discovery should have freed him, but instead? It bound him tighter. He left behind warnings, something they would have to piece together themselves. Though, his loyalty still stuck to Rei even after he found out the truth behind the man. The rest were unable to find out for themselves, they ignored the warnings they found and continued on. Thus came the night, when they gathered again, the forest went still.
No wind, no night-birds, no sound but the faint echo of water from inside the cave. What followed is left uncertain, never able to be found out. When dawn came, there were no answers ever left to find.

The candles had burned themselves out.
The wax had run thin into the stone.
The cave, once filled with breath and whisper, fell silent again.

Only Takigawa was left behind--clothes torn, his hands stained in wax and earth. And just like the others, he disappeared soon after, leaving himself behind with no trails or messages that could be brought back to him.