The Village Disciples

"Woo! Go, Kid!"

On a sunny and warm day, a group of child slaves had convened, standing side-by-side as they all observed a miraculous act a few mere feet away from them: Seijun was lifting large hay bales onto his shoulders, grinning as he hoisted them with ease. It had been four years since his first arrival in the small town—it did not take long for him to become acquainted with the other slaves in the area. Unfortunately, Seijun was never able to remember his name, which led to the other slaves referring to him as 'Kid.'

"Where's another one? I can probably kick it up with my foot!" Seijun chuckled, balancing the hay bales on his shoulders.

Most of the kids had deserted their chores, dropping their tools and supplies onto the ground. Seijun was the only kid to bring out joy among the slaves, typically performing tricks and flaunting his unnatural strength. Seijun was curious as to where his strength came from, but it only began to show after he departed from Tokuni.

"Can I sit on top!? I want to see how high I can stand!" A kid requested, jumping in place and waving their hands.

Seijun glanced at the small boy, nodding and stretching his right hand outward. "Yeah, sure! I'll toss you up!"

"Don't fall, Botan! You'll upset the adults if you break a bone!" An older kid hollered, raising his hands to his mouth.

Botan, the young child, ran toward Seijun, allowing the boy with brown eyes to grasp hold of his arm and immediately launch him into the air. Seijun moved forward and angled the hay bales below the child to make a successful landing for Botan.

"How is it up there, Bo?" Seijun queried, craning his head to vaguely peer upward.

Botan smiled innocently, his eyes wide. "I can see out of the town! I can see the trees!"

The crowd went silent for a moment.

"Kid? Could you throw me into the forest? We could leave if you did!"

A rough voice pierced the atmosphere. "Y'all leavin' already?"

It was an adult.

With panic instilled into him, Seijun put the hay bales onto the ground and jumped up to grab the small boy from atop of them. Every single slave in the field stood in a straight line, with their stances being upright.

The adult was the same gray-hatted man who captured Seijun four years ago. He marched through the slaves, pushing some of them to the ground, his eyes locked onto Seijun and Botan.

"So, boys, care to explain what y'all were doin'?" The man demanded, squinting.

Seijun stepped forward, his brown eyes meeting the adult's. "We were moving the hay bales, like you asked!"

"Like I asked..." The adult hummed, clearing his throat. "I don't recall askin' you to lift them all at once like a damn party animal. Nor do I recall askin' you to put this little shit on top!"

The hatted man clutched onto Botan's frail right arm, tugging on his body violently. The small boy broke into tears, recoiling away from the adult in fear.

"Since you want to leave so badly, I guess I just have to give you what you want!"

The adult dragged Botan through the field, stomping back to the rest of the town. The rest of the slaves watched in horror, unwilling to speak. Seijun wanted to chase after the man to demand that Botan remain unharmed, but his body would not move.

Seijun clamped his hand over his neck, feeling a familiar mark that was embedded in his skin. It was glowing red, pulsing every second. He lifted the collar of his shirt, concealing the mark.

"Get back to work!" Seijun yelled, walking toward the hay bales. "We will see Botan later—focus on your chores and you'll be fine!"

The fear and regret the kids felt never subsided.

XXX

The sky was now dark, many hours had passed since the incident. Seijun was in his keeper's hut, folding various sheets and clothes. Oddly, the boy with red sideburns did not suffer from any punishment. Seijun believed that he would be punished in some way, shape, or form—but nothing ever came throughout the day. It could be due to his superb capability of executing all of his chores perfectly.

Or the adults already forgot what had transpired previously.

The door to the hut swung open, revealing the hatted man from earlier. Seijun could instantly deduce that he was drunk, with a half-empty bottle of alcohol fixed in his left hand. Behind him, however, was Emi, trying to keep up with the man's pace.

"Leave him be, Choji! He's our best worker!" Emi shouted, stepping in front of the hatted man.

The man, Choji, snorted. "Slave! Not a worker! And this little freak needs to be taken off his high horse! He lifted three hay bales at once, a thousand pounds each! What kid does that, Emi!?"

"What difference does it make!? He does more work than any other kid! Even those who are eighteen and older! He has since he first got here!" Emi rebuked, trying to snatch the alcohol bottle from the man's hand.

She made the wrong choice.

*SMACK!*

Choji back-handed the woman across the face, knocking her to the floor.

"Don't touch me, woman!" The hatted man bellowed.

Seijun raced toward Emi, crouching down and supporting her up from the floor.

"You freak!" Choji yelled again, grabbing the boy with red sideburns by his shoulder and pushing him into the nearest wall.

Choji then stepped outside the hut for a moment, only to walk back in with a lengthy whip. The leather of the whip was riddled with spikes, designed to bring out the most amount of pain possible to whoever was on the receiving end of its wrath.

"Shirt off, boy!" The hatted man ordered, smacking the floor with the whip and scraping the wood.

Seijun's eyes were wide. He slowly raised his hands, pulling off the article of clothing that covered his torso.

"Faster, you slow shitstain!"

"Choji! Don't!" Emi shouted, rubbing her face. "He's just a boy!"

"Bullshit!" Choji spat, turning to face the woman. "I-I've seen this boy's true colors! H-he can make fire! He doesn't even know his own name!"

Emi adopted a perplexed visage and said, "All of the kids have done that, you drunk!"

Shaking his head, Choji continued to yell at the top of his lungs. "No! Not like a bonfire, you idiot! H-he's made it from his own hands! I've witnessed it a handful of times!"

The woman could not discern whether Choji's actions were not of his inebriation or mental instability.

Choji faced the boy again, reeling his right arm back, ready to whip Seijun. "Back toward me, freak!"

Emi held onto the man's arm, holding it in place. "You already killed that other boy today! What more do you want from them!? You're ruining the town's workers!"

The hatted man retaliated and punched Emi in the nose, launching her back. He then stepped over her body and raised his left leg, slamming his foot onto her neck.

"Who are you to question me!?"

Emi howled in pain, reaching for Choji's boot to pry it off of her neck.

"That's why he's so disobedient! You're not hard enough on him! You both need to go!" Choji asserted, increasing the pressure on the woman's neck.

Suddenly, Seijun grabbed the man's shirt and yanked him back. Choji was surprised by the boy's strength, his body cracking the wood of the wall he crashed into.

Seijun kneeled and cradled Emi, checking her neck tentatively. "Emi!? Are you okay!?"

Seeing a slave anxious for his keeper was an odd sight. Choji found the scene repulsive. Seijun was taken aback as the man with the hat quickly struck his back with the spiked whip. Choji was unrelenting, constantly whipping the boy with the brown eyes.

"You no-good, freakish, lousy shit!" Choji roared, his right arm refusing to halt as he whipped the boy angrily.

The red mark on Seijun's neck began to pulse by the second once again, spawning a burning sensation throughout the boy's body. The hut grew gradually hotter and Choji began to sweat, but the adult ignored it.

Seijun could not tear his eyes off of Emi's inert form, any tears that escaped from his eyes immediately evaporated.

Emi, over the years, had grown softer. She began to favor the boy's generosity and wild nature; she admired his childlike wonder and found his innocence to be refreshing. Seijun was almost like a son to her, the same way Emi was the closest thing the boy had to a mother.

Then, Emi's eyes closed. Permanently.

*FWOOSH!*

The entire hut was consumed by an explosion, with fire spewing in every direction. Choji was turned to nothing but ash instantaneously, along with the rest of his surroundings. After a few seconds, Seijun stepped out of the fire, his brown eyes turning to red slits and his skin morphing into red scales.

"Finally." Seijun's voice was altered, sounding deep and rough. "The boy's mind is annoyingly resilient. Taking over was almost impossible!"

A group of adults rushed over to the burning hut, halting once they spotted Seijun.

"Boy! What happened here!?" A man demanded, marching forward.

Seijun clenched his teeth, glaring at the man before stretching a hand outward.

"I don't like you."

*FWOOSH!*

The man's eyes broadened as he screamed, completely swallowed by flames. The other adults panicked, fleeing from the area. Seijun's body turned into a cyclone of fire, only to reappear in front of the adults.

"But you all will make for good kills."

More flames encompassed the town, brutally burning all of the adults to a crisp.

Eventually, the slaves exited their huts, witnessing the flames that scorched everything they touched. The kids huddled together as the older slaves shielded them, their eyes flitting in every direction.

"The town's under attack! We need to leave!" An older girl stated, pulling a few of the younger children as they sprinted away.

Unfortunately, a massive ball of fire plummeted into the earth, incinerating them in seconds. The remaining slaves jumped back, tripping over themselves and stumbling to the ground. The heat was intense, and they had no clue as to what was happening.

"I still need more test dummies!" A voice rang through the area.

It was Seijun's alternate voice.

The slaves cowered behind one another as they saw Seijun walk through the fire unscathed.

"Who better than worthless brats?"

Seijun raised his right hand, enabling flames to swirl into existence in his palm. Shockingly, no fire was discharged. Seijun gritted his teeth, fighting something internally. He almost seemed hesitant to attack the children, half of his face appearing to be traumatized; the other half was enraged.

With ire, Seijun raised his left hand to his head and pierced his skull.

"There. That should put my vessel to sleep." Seijun's alternate mind spoke coldly, retracting his left hand.

The slaves were terrified, quivering as they stared at the boy they thought they knew. The boy they knew was kind and comedic—not cold and ruthless.

"Now," Seijun began to speak, "where were we?"

The town was ablaze for multiple hours.

XXX

A bit of a dark chapter, but there needs to be some explanation as to why Imawashiki was molded into the being he was throughout the novel so far! This is not the end of Imawashiki's backstory, but with Kono's part of the novel out of the way, the next chapter will be another Imawashiki-centered one to continue with his past. I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for more!

Have a Great Day!

Peace - Cr1ticalz_