Immortal Mythos: Bound by Void-Chapter 16: The Threads Begin to Pull

The wind had stopped.

Not calmed—stopped.

Himari stood motionless before the old torii gate, her charm burned to ash at her feet. The warmth of her spiritual aura began to chill as the air around her thinned. This place wasn't just ancient—it was alive.

She didn't need to speak. The void pulsed through the ground, resonating with something buried deep beneath.

Then she heard it:

A whisper.

Faint.

One word.

"Kitsune..."

Her heart skipped—not from fear, but because the voice recognized him.

Yuki.

She turned swiftly, slipping a binding talisman across the gate's surface. "Not yet," she muttered. "You're not coming out yet."

The seal flared, struggling to hold. Whatever lay beneath that gate—it knew Yuki was awake now.

And it was calling for him.

---

Back at the shrine...

Yuki stood at the edge of the training field behind the shrine, hands wrapped in bandages, body still aching—but his spirit pulsing stronger than ever.

Each movement he made left trails of aura in the air, faint distortions that shimmered like waves. His strikes were sharper now. Focused. Controlled. For the first time, he wasn't just reacting—he was channeling.

Ren watched in silence, arms crossed, nodding once as Yuki struck the air and a ripple of void expanded without consuming everything around it.

"You've stopped fighting your instincts," Ren said.

Yuki exhaled. "I started listening to them."

Ren's lips curled slightly—barely noticeable. "You're evolving faster than I thought."

Yuki turned to him, serious. "I felt something when I lost control. Something watching me. Something ancient."

Ren's gaze sharpened. "You weren't hallucinating."

Yuki stepped forward. "What was it?"

Ren hesitated.

Then—

"I don't know," he admitted. "But Himari might."

---

Later...

Himari stood atop a cliff, overlooking the valley below.

She held a piece of scorched paper in her hand—Aiko's sketch. A depiction of the red eyes, drawn while she was still recovering.

They matched the ones Himari had seen. Exactly.

"They're watching him too," she whispered.

She didn't turn when a new presence approached from behind.

"Himari."

She closed her eyes briefly. "You're late, Haru."

Her twin brother stepped forward, calm as always, though his aura danced with barely restrained power. "The seals are fading," he said. "We don't have much time."

"I know," she said softly.

Then she looked down at the valley again.

"I just hope Yuki awakens fully before it does."

---

The darkness stirred once more.

Deep below the surface of the world, in a place untouched by sun or moon, something opened its eyes for the first time in centuries.

And it smiled.

---

The shrine was quiet.

Too quiet.

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Aiko sat beneath the old cherry tree in the garden, the soft petals falling around her like snow. Her fingers brushed the edge of her sketchbook, where the red eyes she'd seen in the void were etched with shaky lines. She had barely spoken since returning.

Her body had recovered.

But her spirit hadn't.

"Still seeing them?" came a soft voice.

She looked up.

Yuki stood there, arms folded, bruised but steady. There was something new about him. His energy—calmer, stronger, deeper. He looked like someone who had walked through fire and decided to make a home in it.

Aiko closed the book and gave a small nod. "They weren't just illusions. Something... ancient was there. Watching. Speaking." Her voice dropped. "And it knew your name."

Yuki's gaze dropped to the ground, his jaw clenched. "I felt it too."

Aiko studied him. "You're changing."

"I have to," he replied.

Their eyes met.

For a second, everything else faded. No spirits. No whispers. Just the silence between two people trying to understand what they were becoming.

---

Elsewhere, near the shrine...

Ren stood on the steps of an old pagoda, his arms folded behind his back as Himari and Haru stood opposite him.

"So it's true," Ren muttered, eyes narrowed. "The seals are failing."

"They are," Himari replied. "And it's not just the void beneath. The entire balance is shifting. Creatures we thought were bound are awakening."

Haru added, "And they're being drawn to Yuki."

Ren glanced toward the horizon. "The kitsune awakening... I should have predicted this."

Himari stepped forward, her voice calm but firm. "There's more. In the void—I saw a glimpse of something else. A creature of many forms. Not bound to one shape. It whispered Yuki's name... and another name too."

Ren's brow furrowed. "Whose?"

Himari hesitated.

But before she could answer—

A crack split the air—a sudden ripple of spiritual pressure surged from the direction of the shrine.

Ren vanished in a gust of wind.

Himari and Haru followed.

---

Back at the shrine...

Yuki's body jerked as a wave of unfamiliar energy pulsed through the earth. Aiko stood immediately, eyes scanning the surroundings.

From the forest's edge, a shadow stepped forward.

It wore a mask—fox-like, but twisted. Its aura was strange. Not void. Not spirit. Something... blended.

Yuki stepped in front of Aiko.

The masked figure tilted its head. "So this is the awakening fox," it said, voice distorted. "Interesting."

Yuki's fists clenched. "Who are you?"

But the figure didn't answer. Instead, it raised a hand—and a torrent of corrupted energy erupted toward them.

Yuki moved instinctively, the void crackling around him.

Aiko tried to warn him—but the force of the blast sent them both crashing backward.

Then—

In a sudden blur of motion, Ren landed between them, his hand raised, the wind howling around him like a shield.

"Stay back," Ren growled.

Himari and Haru appeared moments later, their eyes locked on the masked figure.

But it was already fading.

Its voice echoed as it vanished—

"The threads have begun to pull. Let's see which one of you snaps first."

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