Through the Veil

Karyl was dead.

Wraith was certain of it.

His eyes were tightly shut, his lips were pale, and he wasn't breathing. His heart wasn't beating. By every standard, Karyl was dead. Even though his body was intact, all signs of life had vanished.

Wraith was already very familiar with death. He could be absolutely certain of this.

After all, he had personally carried out many horrifying massacres. His intentions might have been good, but his methods were cruel.

Wraith knew it was necessary. He had come to understand the meaning of fear—if he didn't make evildoers afraid, the Night Haunter could never become a name with symbolic meaning.

The people of Nostramo needed a symbol that represented punishment. That was what Karyl had said.

Wraith didn't understand, but he could grasp how important it was.

But Karyl's death was somewhat different from all those others. Wraith had never imagined that he might die. In Wraith's eyes, Karyl was omnipotent.

How could he die?

Wraith lowered his head.

Sadness and despair swept over him once more. And the salvation promised by that voice not long ago still hadn't appeared.

Was I deceived? he thought.

+I did not deceive you, Konrad Curze.+

The voice rang out once more.

For some reason, Wraith wasn't surprised. And this time, when it spoke, he no longer felt that icy shudder.

Who is Konrad Curze? he thought.

+You.+

That isn't my name.

+Whether you accept it is up to you. I won't force you. I only hope you'll change your mind when we meet. Also, I truly did not deceive you.+

Then why did he...?

+Scientific treatment is useless for someone who used psychic powers to take his own life. So the passage of time has no real bearing on his revival. I've done what I can. Now it depends on the strength of his will.+

What does that have to do with willpower?

+Because the pain a ghost must endure to return to life is no less than dying all over again. He must cross the Veil once more, and during that journey, he will have to face his own demons.+

Demons?

Wraith stared blankly at Karyl—or rather, at Karyl's corpse. The word echoed in his mind.

Demons?

+You don't understand what I mean. I see. Then don't dwell on it. Wait, Konrad Curze. He will awaken. My brother and yours will arrive soon as well.+

Who are you?

Wraith furrowed his brow. And my brothers? Who are they?

+You've seen them, haven't you? In the visions you foresaw, you saw what they looked like. As for who I am, we'll talk when we meet, Konrad Curze.+

+And take care of yourself.+

I don't remember, but thank you. And goodbye, Wraith said in his heart.

Politeness was important.

This time, the voice didn't answer. Wraith tilted his head, perplexed, and could only commit that name to memory—Konrad Curze?

What a strange name.

He turned to look at Karyl, who still seemed lifeless. There was nothing else to do. Wraith crouched down and began keeping a motionless vigil.

The voice said it didn't deceive me, Wraith thought. I hope that's true.

I've been here before.

Looking out at the surrounding darkness, Karyl thought.

I've been here before. He repeated the words to himself, then closed his eyes and slowly took a step forward.

A bone-deep chill struck him at once.

Then came a heavy tugging sensation. Invisible claws seized his skin, flesh, and even his bones. They burrowed everywhere, piercing every detail of his body.

In an instant, ten thousand voices erupted wildly beside his ears.

"Stay!" they shrieked. "You belong here! Don't think you can leave again!"

No, I don't belong here. I'm not like you.

With a sigh, he endured the pain and took another step forward. That single step turned the world upside down.

A familiar stench washed over him. The distinctive air of Nostramo's Underhive welcomed him in the most fervent way. Then came the rain—the pounding rain.

Karyl opened his eyes.

He saw a boy, an injured boy. Covered in blood, he lay in the torrential rain, clutching two blades that were far too large for him.

His face was full of hatred.

The boy raised his head.

"It's you," he whispered. His voice passed through the curtain of rain and reached Karyl's ear with perfect clarity.

"It's me." Karyl nodded. "Move aside, will you?"

"Not unless you've finished your vengeance," the boy murmured. "We had a deal, Ghost—I'd give anything as long as you killed them."

"I've finished it," Karyl replied calmly. "And you... you don't need to say any more."

He sighed and continued forward. With every step, the tugging sensation grew stronger.

The pain intensified along with it. Flesh and bone protested loudly, his nerves convulsed, and blood seeped from his mouth, nose, eyes, ears, and pores, leaving him looking utterly wretched.

Karyl didn't react at all.

He had to go back.

"You've finished it?" the boy asked suspiciously. "Why can't I see anything?"

"Because... you don't actually exist, so you can't see."

Karyl shook his head, then suddenly laughed.

"If you want to blame someone, blame that head. He told me the truth," Karyl said with a smile. "But you probably won't get to see him. I'm sorry."

The boy stared at him, bewildered, then coughed on the ground beneath the rain. Blood flowed from his wounds, but even so, he still didn't loosen his grip on the two blades.

After a while, he asked, "How did they die?"

"I killed them."

"No. I want to know exactly how."

The boy insisted, his face suddenly twisting in the rain like a painting being washed away.

"We had a deal, Ghost! We had a deal!"

Here it comes.

Karyl lowered his head and replied, "I promised I'd kill them, but I never promised to describe exactly how they died."

"But how do I know you're not lying to me?!"

The boy roared. "You took my body! I gave you everything, Ghost! I only wanted vengeance!"

Yes, I took everything from you. Yes...

Of course I know what I did.

Karyl stopped and breathed calmly. A complex emotion slowly rose in his eyes, something like regret, yet also like a cold, resolute determination.

He sighed softly and said to the boy, "I've already given you the vengeance you wanted."

"But I didn't see it!"

The boy shrieked. His form began to grow terrifying beneath the rain. A power flashed and vanished, infusing this hastily shaped memory with reality.

They had come from the darkness, and now they made a memory part of the darkness itself.

A colossal monster rose upright in the rain.

"I didn't see it!"

It roared, its voice like thunder.

"You betrayed me! You deceived me, Ghost! You're a liar! You just stole my body and my name, then used them to do whatever you wanted!"

"I don't deny it."

Karyl replied calmly, though at some point his hands had clenched into fists. "...But I've already given you the vengeance you wanted."

"Then let me see! Let me see their corpses! I want to see with my own eyes every person involved in destroying House Lohars dismembered!"

"I can't do that." Karyl shook his head. "The dead are gone."

"I can't let you see what I've seen, child. You died a long time ago, and I... I never thought you were still alive. So you're only an echo from beyond the Veil."

He pressed his lips together and repeated, "You came from beyond the Veil. That's why I can't let you see my memories."

"Liar! Oathbreaker!" The monster roared furiously and lunged at Karyl, its hands turned into two sharp, silver-shining claws.

It swung them, and the curtain of rain was instantly torn to shreds. The howling wind merged with its roar, becoming an even more terrifying duet.

"You can call me whatever you like."

Karyl took a step back, narrowly dodging the attack as if he'd foreseen it. He made it look effortless.

He raised his head, looked at the monster's twisted face, and spoke calmly. "But you and I both know that isn't what happened."

The monster answered him with a terrifying glare. Panting heavily, it chuckled darkly beneath the rain.

"Lies from a liar!"

No, I'm not. I don't lie, either.

Karyl closed his eyes and fell silent. Words were utterly useless in this situation. The creature before him wasn't rational, and it couldn't be reasoned with.

That child had died thirteen years ago, on that rainy night. He had been born from sin and the victims' blood, and had grown fat on their flesh and blood. Before dying, he had called out to a wandering Ghost.

With boundless hatred, boundless guilt, and his own blood.

The fierce wind rushed at him again. Karyl tilted his head slightly and dodged the attack. One roar after another rang out in the rain. The monster launched a frenzied assault, yet never managed to hit Karyl.

"Fight back, liar! Are you feeling guilty?!"

No, I'm not.

"Fight me! Kill me, or suffer here with me!"

The monster shrieked, its voice changing once more. The ten thousand voices that had screamed beside Karyl's ears earlier joined in, mingling with its roar until the din grew even more deafening.

"You belong here! You can't leave!"

No, I don't belong here.

Karyl opened his eyes. A faint golden gleam flashed through his pitch-black pupils.

He clenched his teeth. A searing heat flared at his fingertips—and then golden flames erupted through the rain, burning them all away.

A scream followed.

The monster shrank back, retreating again and again as its massive body began to shrink. The darkness was dispelled. A stench unlike the sour reek of Nostramo's Underhive washed over him. Then came a crackling sound.

Like rotting bones being burned.

"The child who made a deal with me died thirteen years ago. You're not him."

Karyl spoke softly. "I'm leaving, so I will leave. No matter how many tricks you try, they won't work."

"Traitor! Liar! Arrogant fool!"

The monster's voice rang out from the darkness, shrill and ridiculous as it cowered. "Fire Thief will devour you! He'll leave not a trace of your bones! He won't show you the slightest mercy!"

"Fire Thief... Prometheus?"

Karyl froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.

Golden flames erupted again. The Veil burned and shuddered, and the icy chill followed. He closed his eyes and let the pain carry away the last of his consciousness.

Then, the very next second—as an unwilling roar sounded in the darkness, a real light appeared before Karyl's tightly shut eyes.