The old man began to walk down the wooden floors, his stride was slow. Both of them stood up but Soren's body grew shaky before being caught by Jiwon. Soren placed his arm around Jiwon's neck and they both began to walk. Exiting the empty room and following the old man, they looked around to see multiple intricate patterns.
As they continued walking, they reached a paper sliding door, the old man slowly slid it open intentionally to reveal a large green garden, the grass was well-kept with a white pristine fountain in the middle. At the top of the fountain was a koi statue, pouring water down the levels of the basins into a small pond, filled with Koi that moved around the calm water.
"If I could ask," Soren managed to wheeze out, as he looked towards the serene old man. "How are you able to fit all of these things on a mountain?"
The old man slowly turned his head, till he seemed to meet Soren's gaze. "What" A pause. "Do," Another long pause. "You," An even longer pause, the sound of the water flowing down the fountain filling in the silent gap. Jiwon was practically biting his upper lip off, restraining his anger against an older man. "Mean?"
The old man raised a thin snow white eyebrow, before speaking smoothly. "This mountain is extremely flat at the top."
A pause before Jiwon raised an eyebrow. "So a really big hill?"
The old man turned his head slightly to look at Jiwon. "Whatever makes you look better."
"What?" Jiwon narrowed his light blue eyes, jaw slightly hanging before closing it, then inhaling through his nose before exhaling out his mouth trying his absolute best to hide his annoyance.
"That's weird," Soren muttered but it was enough for Jiwon to hear, "What?" Jiwon met Soren's silvery gaze, Soren cleared his throat which he regretted immediately but managed to gather enough of his breath to speak, "You aren't lashing out more than I thought you would"
"Well of course, I was taught to never get angry at an elder, My mom was a bitch but she was not that much of a bitch," Jiwon responded as he glanced away, recollecting a childhood memory before meeting Soren's gaze again.
As the word 'bitch' traveled through the air twice, the air around the old man suddenly became distorted. A ringing sound traveled through both Soren and Jiwon who narrowed his eyes and looked over towards the old man to suddenly see an extended palm by his solar plexus,
"The hel-" Jiwon was immediately cut off by the old man curling his fist and connecting his fist to Jiwon's mid torso. Jiwon's body stiffened like stone before he fell downward, his breathing was disrupted before returning. He got up on his knees and clutched his dusty white t-shirt, pulling against it as if the motion would reduce the pain.
Soren slightly stumbled before he leaned against a wooden pillar, watching Jiwon before he quickly switched his gaze towards the old man who was looking down at Jiwon. The air around the old man was distorted, his body had gone under a change, it was less frail and a tad more muscular. His eyes now open to reveal milky whites that would have caused for anyone to assume he was blind but the way he stared down at Jiwon indicated otherwise.
"Now, since I have taken you as my students with your consent," The old man began to speak before Jiwon added: "We didn't consent to shit"
"Rule number one," The old man began, "No swearing" He reached down and grabbed Jiwon by the ear, pulling him upwards as he also placed his leg on Jiwon's shoulder to keep him down. "Rule number two, every day at the rise of the sun you should be here."
Jiwon was biting his lip hard enough to almost draw blood, his skin reddening like a ripe tomato, Soren just stared leaning against the pillar.
"Rule number three, don't talk back to me," He continued: "Rule number four, you must sleep for at least eight hours a day on the dot,"
"Now activate your Reisei, both of you." The old removed his hand and foot from Jiwon, Jiwon immediately grabbed his ear holding it gently as he glared up the old man.
"We don't know what that is or how to activate it," Soren responded, the old man met his gaze.
"Well, I'll make sure that you know what it is and how to use it" Something close to a smirk played on the thin lips of the old man, Soren and Jiwon just stared at this lunatic already dreading the entire interaction.
(TRAINING MONTAGE)
Day after day, Soren and Jiwon consistently woke up at 4 am due to sunlight reaching this elevated ground first. At first they found it difficult but the old man would slap them awake making them immediately run to the garden. At first it was hard for Soren but his body slowly grew accustomed to the high altitudes, now for eight hours they would meditate and were forced to not move a single muscle or they would get beaten. After that, the old man would force them to watch him perform various martial arts, they were surprisingly similar to the ones back on Earth so it was more easy to take in. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.
The training grew more easy for the two of them, they were forced to be in a state of serenity for so long that Reisei slowly became part of their nature. The old man one random afternoon decided to make them fight him and use all the techniques they watched him use against him. From that day on, they sparred with the old man, learning moves that caused minimal damage to moves that destroyed organs.
Their bodies slowly grew accustomed to the training regimen, they bared no scars. Their bodies grew more fuller and hardened.
(END OF TRAINING MONTAGE)
Soren and Jiwon stood next to each other in the garden, Soren had the slightest tug of a polite smile while Jiwon had a serene expression.
"How long has it been since we last saw the two?" Jiwon asked as he slowly looked over towards Soren.
Soren looked off into the distance, tilting his head slightly in thought before he responded:
"We have been here for about seven months, so it should be seven months for them as well"
The door slid open as the old man, in his usual frail state walked out of his home. Moving intentionally slow but it did not faze neither two. They both stood with attention as Soren placed both of his hands behind his back while Jiwon placed both of his hands by the waistline of his hakama.
The old man finally reached them and stood in front of them before he spoke, "I have taught you all that you needed to know, everything else rests upon your fate."
Soren and Jiwon bowed their heads in respect before straightening.
Jiwon then asked, "What now?"
Silence....
As if on cue, two portals appeared underneath them. They both looked down as Jiwon's lips spread to a boyish grin and Soren's lips still had that polite smile, Soren waved towards the old man as they fell.
They moved though a white and black dotted portal, they landed in a large void. Jiwon looked down at where the ground should have been. Two other portals formed above them as two figures fell through.
And immediately Soren and Jiwon recognized who they were.
It was Damien and Renji, Damien was in a tattered version of the shorts he first wore, scars travelled across his back from being careless when living in that hell of a savanna plus his eyes were now a deep crimson, His body more fuller, similar to them if not bigger.
Renji's body was covered with scars as well from the first weeks of staying on that weird island. Eyes were now a snow white.
Damien was crouched on the ground, just staring into the distance before he looked over towards his side and up to meet Jiwon's gaze. Renji stood straight with his arms over his chest before he looked over towards his side and met Soren's gaze.
Silence....
"HOLY SHIT, JIWON IS THAT YOU?!" Damien shouted out before rising fully and taking a few steps back from Jiwon. Jiwon stared, lips holding a boyish smile before he extended out his arms. "Who else could it be?"
Damien pulled Jiwon in for a hug as Renji stared at Soren, his gaze warming almost immediately as Soren extended his arms inviting Renji for a hug which Renji took without a second thought, he made no sound but the gesture was all that was needed to show his appreciation and joy.
"Aww,"
A voice so devoid of emotion that the words felt as if the person was mocking them, their heads turned to the source of the origin. It was the mist figure from before, just standing there. It clapped both of its hands together but no sound was made.
"Isn't your reunion all so sweet? Now you all feel powerful right?" It asked, leaning slightly forward. It's featureless face stretched to what seemed like a smile.
Silence as Renji glared at it, Damien stared, his eyes conveying a bit of blood lust, Soren stared, his expression not changing but the slightest clench of his jaw revealed enough and Jiwon stared, his smile gone and replaced by an entirely serene expression.
"Tough crowd, I'll be sending you all to your homes now. Maybe after awhile you'll thank me."
It waved its hand as it slowly turned on its heel.
The four suddenly fell through four portals, through the same white-black dotted void and landed on a soft couch, surprisingly the area was clean as if someone cleaned.
They were back home in their living room and back from their multiple versions of hell. Infront of them the TV was playing in the background, it was the news. A man in a neat suit and square glasses spoke:
"A group of survivors had been recognized on an island that had never showed up on any satellite or map for a considerable amount of time. These survivors hold a about four women and three men, these survivors have told stories of things considered unbelievable in modern science,"
Pictures were placed on the screen as immediately Renji stood up and just stared in shock,
"Dude what's wrong?" Damien asked, an eyebrow raised at Renji's reaction as the man continued to speak,
"What is quite a weird finding as well is that, the group had gone missing for seven years but they have no signs of aging, the group has stated repeatedly that they have been there on that island for seven months, what a sad sight to see. Scientists have already spectaculated that because of the stress of living in such a harsh island, they group could have aged harshly."
"I know them," Renji muttered as Jiwon leaned slightly forward. "What?"
Renji increased the volume of his voice as he narrowed his eyes. "I know those people, I was stuck on an island with them. I saw what they all saw and experienced what all felt."
"In other news," The man continued, "For seven months there was an increase in temperature spikes in Central Africa. Temperature's reached random minimum levels of 221 Degrees Fahrenheit, causing for random wild fires, death of multiple creatures. Plus to add more, every animal that died from this heat stroke always had a chunk of flesh taken out of them, locals suspect it as a demon. One man said he had a vision of a man with crimson eyes causing all that havoc, in their native tongues they have called this phenomenon, 'The Act of the Crimson Devil', of course it has been brushed aside by locals and higher powers, what are your takes on it? Craig Headtim?"
Damien stared in shock as well, jaw slightly hanging. "Bro," He said, his eyes narrowed. "I WAS IN CENTRAL AFRICA?!"
"Huh?" Jiwon looked over towards Damien and also Renji, "What do you mean that you were in—"
Soren who watched with an intense gaze finally spoke, "From your reactions, is the answer that both Damien and Renji were supposed other words which were just an island and a continent in our world?"
Renji stared before slowly crossing his arms over his chest, gaze still rooted onto the news anchor. "How would that explain the weird time movements?"
Jiwon was switching his gaze between Renji and Soren just looked dumbfounded before it slowly clicked, he began to run his chin as if he was thinking of complex scenarios, which he was. "Maybe that mist guy has something to do with it,"
Soren, Damien and Renji all collectively sighed before Soren spoke, "Could be."
Damien leaned back onto the couch, spreading his arms. "What should we do with this newfound information?"
Renji answered, "How about we take showers first, then we will decide what to do,"
Damien looked up towards Renji, "Are you saying we stink?"
"Obviously, was my absence from your presence making you dumber and dumber?" Renji responded as he walked past the three sitting on the couch, towards the hallway. Damien rolled his eyes as he pushed himself to his feet, Jiwon and Soren followed.
Back home and back with something new.
(What is going on? What does this mean? What will happen next? What will they begin doing?)
(Find out in the next chapter...)