MISTY MEMORIES

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Chapter Sixteen
The Scroll
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❝My body will remember that anger that will not leave me until I die.❞

FOR A FEW HOURS, the three of you worked to together to clean the cave and try as best as possible to clear some space. It was filled with so many junk that it took you hours to organize. Eventually, you all managed to finish and decided to take some rest for the time being.

"Welp, think that's all of 'em." Mk spoke up as he placed the last stuff away. You nodded your head to him, "I'm glad we're finally done." You added which made Mk chuckle a bit. You then turned around and approached Wukong who was relaxing, "Hey." You said, earing his attention, "I'm taking this sword." You bluntly stated before showing him the sword. Wukong looked at it for a moment before he smiled, "Of course, I don't use it anyway and you actually need a sword since yours is broken." He approved of your request. Just then, you two heard Mk speak.

"Oops, this one nearly got away from us. Looks like some kind of uh magic bundle of sticks or something."

You could see Wukong's face go pale and fear was shown clearly. He moved quickly to stop the kid, "MK, wait!" However, it was too late as the black scroll in his hand unrolled. The atmosphere changed and the boy dropped the scroll the moment it started to drip with ink and pool down on the ground, "Uh oh! Uh, I did a thing!" Mk said then an inky hand came out of the ink pool and grabbed Mk's ankle which made him fall down. You swiftly moved and cut that hand before it could do anything to him. It retreated down to the abyss and soldiers emerged out of the ink. They merged together to form an inky version of the Demon Bull King. You quickly grabbed by the back of his collar Mk and jumped back before DBK would land a blow on you.

You let go of him and gripped your sword with both hands, "The Demon Bull King?! I-I thought we were cool!" Mk exclaimed while looking at Bull King with shock. Your expression darkened, "This is not Bull King." You confirmed, keeping your guards high. The ink then changed into Princess Iron Fan, it created a strong wind that it pushed you all back, "Monkey King, what are we supposed to do?!" The boy asked again, but Wukong was terrifyingly awestruck. The Ink Demon changed into different forms like the Spider Queen, Macaque, and finally Ne Zha who raised the spear and brought it down on you.

"No!" Monkey King yelled just as Ne Zha stabbed the ground, sending you three flying away.

However, the little monkeys got caught in the hurricane and were slowly pulled into the ink. Mk tried to save them, but he was too late as they all disappeared. The ink contained to shape-shift until it took a form of a humanoid bird(?). It formed a Ji and and was about to attack Mk, but Wukong quickly moved and covered him, "You know, you make a couple of mistakes in your life, no one ever lets you live it down. Looks like the ghosts of my past have finally caught up with me." He stopped as the ink covered most of his body, "MK, Y/N, you two gotta seal that scroll, no matter... what." With that, Wukong was pulled in the ink as well too, getting sealed in the scroll.

The ink went to attack again, but you pulled him fast with you and ran quickly to escape the cave. The ink was chasing you without nothing stopping it. You glanced at Mk, knowing very well that he would figure something out, "One of us must make it out." You thought, your eyes squinting slightly. Your run came to a halt after you ensured that the ink was far away for now and that made Mk also stop, "Y/N! What are you doing? We need to run!" The moment he said this, you turned your back to him.

"You go, I will hold it back."

"What? Don't be ridiculous! You can't fight it alone!"

"Just run! One of us should survive. I don't want to take the risks of us getting sealed. Now go!"

Mk stood there speechless. He didn't want to leave you behind, but at the same time you were right. What if you two got trapped there and no one knew about that? Both of you will be stuck there forever without anyone to save you. After contemplating, Mk sighed and turned to run, "Be careful, Y/N." Saying that, your friend left the cave. You frowned and prepared yourself for the fight, seeing the ink approaching you.

One giant inky hand dashed toward you. Taking in a deep breath, you launched forward, "Mist Breathing: Second Form: Eight-Layered mist." You mumbled and perform dozens of slashes, cutting the hand into pieces. A soldier appeared behind you, but you detected it and swiftly turned around, decapitating it in process. More ink was sent to you, but you were prepared for this, "Mist Breathing: Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash." You did a powerful and swift circular slash that sent all of the incoming ink away.

"The scroll, I need to seal it." You thought before running toward the cave to the black scroll.

You saw it on the ground, but the ink appeared again and started to take another form. You squinted your eyes in a glare, "Mist Breathing: Forth Fo-..." You stopped mid-sentence and froze in place when you saw the ink take a shape of someone you knew, "Yuichiro..." You muttered under your breath. The ink copy of your brother smiled at you ominously, "Aren't you a lucky one? We all died and you survived. Don't you think it's unfair? After all, you have always been the weak one." As you heard him say that, you felt a cold chill run down your spine.

"You have always been a worthless pathetic sibling." Your brother continued to distract you with his speech. Your mind stopped working as you felt like his words were totally right. It was the same voice and the same appearance, but just covered in ink. What if this scroll was capable of gathering people's thoughts and beliefs then embody it in a ink version of the person? This could mean thar these are Yuichiro's thoughts about you.

It was too late when you realized that the ink had already pooled underneath your feet. When you snapped from your thought, the ink started to pull you down, "Damn it! It was a trap!" You struggled to free yourself, but the ink had already consumed most of your body. Eventually, the ink had pulled you in fully and the last thing you heard was Yuichiro's voice.

"See you around, Y/N."