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A dark, foggy and chill night can already create an eerie atmosphere. Add the fact that a brutal battle took place here just a few hours ago and the smell of blood and corpses is getting stronger with each passing minute keeps making Tsukasa feel nauseous. But he’s not the one to disappoint his captain, oh no. The young knight limits his breathing and keeps going through the battlefield, already so quiet as if nothing had happened here not so long ago.
Usually, there would be a lot of people here. If not other knights collecting their fallen companions, at least some bandits hunting for abandoned gear that can be melted and sold. But this region is shrouded in mysteries. It is believed that when the night falls, ghosts, ghouls, demons and other monsters leave their hideouts and roam the land, practicing dark magic and sending curses to any mortals daring to trespass, while witches hold their covens. Which is also why even the strongest and the bravest warriors immediately begin to drop everything they have and leave this cursed area as soon as the sun starts to set.
No one in his right mind would come here at night. And yet, Tsukasa’s here - but, it was an order from his captain.
“You want a promotion so bad, Tenma? Alright then. Go to the cursed battlefield, at night, alone, and bring back the tale of what really happens here. That is, if you survive.” Said the captain, not even looking at the blonde knight. But because Tsukasa never backs down from a challenge, and a chance for promotion, he grabbed his sword, said a quick prayer and left to investigate.
“Why would anyone even want to have a battle here?” The knight thinks, passing by a few dead bodies. For some reason, whatever duels were to happen here, they would always end with much more casualties than anywhere else. And yet, a lot of generals would agree to settle things here.
It’s been about an hour of wandering and apart from the short plants moved by wind nothing seems to be alive here. But the weird feeling that he’s being watched cannot leave Tsukasa. At this point, it would be better if some creature had actually showed up. At least he would know that he’s not alone.
Suddenly, he notices a group of flowers. Red, small, almost glowing. The knight has never seen them anywhere before. Intrigued, Tsukasa puts the sword back in the scabbard and kneels down to take a better look at the flowers.
“Hehe, a knight comes here at night? I think you’re a bit late. The battle ended hours ago. This isn’t the time for normal mortals to come.”
Tsukasa immediately turns around to look for the source of the voice, but there is no one around. His hand moves back to his sword, but he doesn’t take it out yet.
“Who are you? Where are you?” he asks the fog around that seems to be getting denser now. But there’s no one around. No one except…
“Looking for me?”
The fog suddenly dissipates and a young man of Tsukasa's age appears in front of him. He seems to be taller, although that might be because of the heels and a tall, red witch-like hat from underneath of which a mess of violet hair with two aqua streaks flows out. His piercing yellow eyes and mischievous grin are making the knight wish he hadn’t called out to the stranger. But, here he is, and he has to face him.
“Who are you?!” the knight repeats, now holding the sword pointed at the purple-haired man.
The stranger giggles.
“My, why so aggressive from the start? I’m just a mage collecting flowers.”
Tsukasa looks at the other with mild confusion, lowering his weapon.
“A mage? Collecting flowers? In the cursed battlefield? In the middle of-” the blonde knight stops, realising. He doesn't know all the differences between mages, witches, sorcerers and all the other magic users; but if the man is claiming to be one of them, it’s no surprise he’s here.
The mage sits down by the group of flowers and starts picking them gently.
“Mist-blood flowers, commonly known as the flowers of death. They grow on soil rich in blood. This one plain has soaked more of it than any other part of the kingdom. People with little time left feel naturally more drawn here. Did you notice that all the officers, generals and others in command have died soon after coming here?” he says, still with that mysterious smirk on his face, gently caressing the soft petals with his slender fingers.
His words make Tsukasa freeze for a moment. It’s true, actually. Anyone who comes here out of his own decision will always die here. Yes, those who came here unwillingly also can die, but those who make the decision themselves are almost guaranteed to lose their life here. Wait, what about the mage, then?
“Yes, it’s true, but… what about you?”
The man puts the crimson flowers in his basket and stands up, chuckling. He then stretches his arm and just a moment later, a crow flies and perches there.
“I never come here on my own. My birdie has invited me. This way, I know I’m not dying here this time.”
The crow rubs his head on the man’s cheek and the mage gives him a small treat from his pocket. The bird flies away.
“And what about you, knight? Why would you come here at such a time?”
“It was an order from my captain. He sent me to investigate what’s truly going on here.” responds Tsukasa, putting his sword back in the sheet. If the mage was going to attack him, he would’ve probably done that a moment ago.
“Oh, but excuse my manners! My name is Tenma Tsukasa! Well, you’ve assumed properly, I am a knight. From the Knights of White. Since I’ve introduced myself, I believe it is in order for you to tell me your name as well.”
“Kamishiro Rui.” the mage says shortly, not looking at the other. “Well, good luck on your investigation here. The creatures you look for do exist. But the chances you’ll find them are low, negligible even. They don’t approach normal humans.”
Tsukasa follows Rui’s gaze, to the moon. It’s close to being full.
“So, all the rumors, tales, all the whispers shared in villages - it’s all a lie?” he asks, surprised.
“Not exactly. It’s hard to explain. People really die here.”
Rui walks a few steps away from Tsukasa, collecting the crimson flowers in another spot.
“The flowers are the best example. Do you know how some plants produce a sap that spills out when you break the stem? Well, these ones almost spill blood.”
Tsukasa stares in slight horror as Rui snaps the flower’s stem in half, letting a dark, red liquid flow out, staining the mage’s gloves.
“Oh, well, that’s… not something I would expect” Tsukasa turns his head away, gritting his teeth. Even if he’s literally surrounded by corpses, seeing new blood is still not exactly his wish. The mage laughs, throwing the broken flower away.
“My, scared of blood, Tenma? I thought you wouldn’t be.”
“I’m not scared! I’m just… Well, it's the middle of the night, and I’m tired, and I’m starting to think I’m hallucinating! Maybe even you are my hallucination!”
This is slowly getting a bit too much for Tsukasa. Not that he’s scared, he would never admit that! But anyone would start to feel uneasy if they were in one of the creepiest places in the kingdom with a very suspicious stranger who might be anyone despite what he’s saying.
Rui opens his mouth to say something, but then the wind starts to blow stronger, pulling the both men’s capes. The mage additionally raises his hand to hold on his hat.
“They’re coming” he mumbles, his voice turning more serious.
“Who… Who’s coming?”
“The creatures you were looking for, idiot. They come to feast on fresh corpses.”
“What do you mean… AAAAAAaaaAaaAAaAAAAHhhhHH!!”
Tsukasa jumps away to Rui, seeing some weird shapes flying through the sky, not minding the thick fog. The shapes land, gathering around the bodies and muttering some weird sounds to one another. The knight quickly unsheaths his sword and points it in the creatures’ direction, but the mage stops him.
“They feed on the dead. From what I know, you’re pretty alive. And they won’t attack unprovoked. Besides, they just need to eat, like all creatures do. It’s their territory. We’re just visitors.”
The blonde swallows nervously.
“What about the curses? Is that true, or just a part of the legend?”
“Curses… oh, right. For you, it might be a bit of a problem.”
Rui drops his bag on the ground and puts his hands together whispering something under his breath. A weird, reddish light starts to gather around him and forms a few orbs floating in circles. With a gesture, he sends the orbs at Tsukasa and each enters the knight’s body in different parts.
“h-huh?”
“It’s a protective spell. Their curses aren’t strong, just unpleasant. Like losing control of one of your limbs for a week. I know how to protect myself, but you might be attacked by them easily. And I’m not necessarily too interested in protecting you.”
This calms Tsukasa down a bit, but only a bit. The stranger used magic on him! Who knows what it might’ve actually been.
“What do we do now, then?”
“I don’t know. You wanted the creepy creatures, here you go, enjoy. I’m back to collecting my flowers. See ya.”
In a cloud of red smoke Rui disappears from Tsukasa’s view, leaving the knight stunned.
“Wha- Where did you go?!” He tries calling, but the mage is nowhere to be seen.
“Kamishiro!”
But only the howling wind and sounds of the monsters feasting answer the knight. Resigned, and feeling slightly offended, Tsukasa decides to make his way back. He’s still alive, and that’s what matters.
As he passes through the passage in the rock that led him here, he realises something. Rui’s last words.
“see ya.”
It can be easily interpreted as Rui saying they will meet again, or even, he wants them to meet again. Even better, this might be an invitation to come here again. And this means, if Tsukasa comes here, it won’t be because he’s drawn by death, but by invitation. So, he might be safe.
He also can’t get the mage and his mischievous grin out of his head. The way he talks so calmly about death, but keeping a tone to not disrespect the fallen knights. Tsukasa isn’t a specialist in magic, but Rui clearly is. Whatever spells he cast, he clearly did so without any trouble. That’s the type of person that can impress Tsukasa easily, although the blonde would never admit it.
As promised, Tsukasa shows up in the morning at the knight’s headquarters and gives a report of what he saw. He manages to avoid mentioning the mage, but describes the creatures feasting on the corpses. The captain was so surprised to see him actually return alive he suspected that the blonde might’ve brought a curse with him, so he requested Tsukasa to wait a while for the effects of any potential curses to show. But a week had passed, and nothing happened, so the captain had no choice but to keep his promise and promote him.
It’s been about a month since Tsukasa’s first meeting with Rui and he still can’t forget that tricky smile. Which is why, in his free time, he tries to find anything about that mysterious mage. And to his surprise, he finds. In the Royal School of Magic. He graduated as the best student in his year. That was.. woah. Even if Tsukasa still felt suspicious of him - he couldn’t help but be impressed.
But it’s hard to find a man you’ve only met once and the only thing you know is his name, and perhaps, profession. You have to hope to accidentally run into him.
Or wait for a signal. Like the mysterious mage's crow.
Tsukasa is just about to go to sleep, when suddenly, he hears a bird outside his window. The crow has a red ribbon tied around its leg, just like Rui's crow.
“Be quiet, you'll wake up everyone!” Tsukasa tries to stop it, without much success. It flies away a bit, but keeps looking in the knight's direction. As if it was encouraging him to follow.
With a sigh, Tsukasa dresses up again and leaves the house, starting to feel nervous when they start to approach the cursed field. On one hand, it's good that he might finally have a chance to meet that mage again. On the other… it still feels uncomfortable to come back to this place.
The fog is not as thick as it was before, but it's much more humid. But then, under a tree, Tsukasa spots him. The tall red hat and cape in a matching colour, fluttering in the gentle wind.
“Kamishiro?” The knight calls out, wanting to make sure the other is real.
“Tenma? What are you doing here?” the mage runs up to him in surprise.
“Your bird made me come here. Do you want something from me?”
Rui looks at the blonde in slight confusion.
“My crow led you here? That's interesting. He also brought me here. But there were no battles here recently, none that would make the mist-blood flowers grow now.”
After a moment, he smiles.
“Well, I believe these are some things even I don't know the answer to. Honestly, as much as I like this place, I wouldn't consider it the ideal conversation spot. Besides, it is almost midnight, after all. I'd like to invite you to my little house for the night.”
Tsukasa is surprised by the offer, but after a moment, he accepts it. Whatever it is, it surely is better than being out on the eerie plain without knowing why.
Rui's house is small, but cozy. Shelves of books in different languages, some crystals, artifacts; anything you'd expect from a genius mage’s house. The purple-haired prepares tea for both of them.
They don't realise when they talk through the whole night. But it's a very pleasant conversation. Most importantly, Tsukasa learns the full secret of protecting oneself from the battlefield’s death curse.
The demons who feed on corpses don't like people who come on their territory without a real reason. So they attack and kill those who dare to trespass; but there is a way to protect yourself.
If someone makes you go there against your will, like Tsukasa coming here for the first time because of his captain’s order, or when you get an invitation, like Rui's bird giving him a sign to come, the demons, if unprovoked, won't attack an alive person. They're scavengers.
Those who had little time left come here because destiny can't be changed. One's fate is written the moment they are born, and only powers beyond mortal understanding can change it.
It is already predicted that someone is going to visit the deadly battlefield and they will die. It's all connected.
The men become friends after that night and continue meeting pretty often. Over time, maybe even something more starts to form between them.
But one time, Tsukasa decides to visit the battlefield.
As of today, if you ever encounter a tall mysterious mage dressed in red collecting bloody flowers in the night's darkness, you'll see him carrying a lantern with a golden light. A lantern that is said to be able to attract and keep souls close to the one who carries it.
And that he's often seen with a ghost following him.
Just a normal day, Rui thought.
Just a calm afternoon, when he can surround himself with his spell books and tools. Like this one, about controlling and enchanting metal. Recently, he got an idea to make a special armour for Tsukasa, an armour that would be more durable than any other one. A perfect birthday gift, since right now it's the middle of April. He has about a month left, but he's already gotten the hang of the methods. The first test one he made for a mouse worked perfectly, so now, he just has to try doing it in human size.
The sun is still high in the sky, so the mage puts a few special crystals on the windowsill to capture the warm light. It is a good energy source that will come in handy later.
That's when suddenly, he hears his crow outside. Hmm. That's unusual. Surprised and a bit confused, Rui opens the door and the bird flies in, looking pretty startled about something. The mage reaches his arm for the bird to sit on it, but it doesn't. It flies around him panically, constantly making panicked sounds.
“Woah, calm down, little one. What's wrong? I've never seen you like that- hey, what are you doing?”
Rui tries to calm the crow down, but it sits on his shoulder and pecks on his shirt, slightly pulling him towards the exit. When the mage takes a few steps in that direction, the bird flies up and brings the mage his cape, then again, keeps giving him clear signs: come outside and follow me.
The crow has been Rui's pet and companion for a few years, since the mage graduated the school of magic and moved into his small house in the forest. But it never acted this way. This is enough for Rui to understand that this might be something really serious and not question his pet further.
Just in case, the purple-haired also grabs his toolbelt and hangs it on his hips. He also wraps the cape around his shoulders and nods at the crow.
The bird flies pretty fast and Rui has to run to keep up with it. But he trusts it. Something must be very bad.
Especially since he quickly realises that the bird is leading him towards the cursed battlefield.
Just as he's getting close, he can hear the sounds of a battle. This is making him even more confused. Yes, the crow calls him whenever there's a battle, but only hours after it's over, so he can collect the flowers! But the fight is taking place here right now!
The mage finally gets through the bushes and steps out. He knows he doesn't have to be careful, nothing should happen to him. The bird almost forced him to come here. It's not his time to die.
But then, as he looks around, he starts to notice some details he didn't really want to see.
There are two armies fighting right now. One, in dark, almost black armours. The other, in very bright ones, almost white. With red scarfs and blue capes. The style Rui knows too well, knowing a knight who dressed this way personally.
That immediately makes him even more nervous. If knights from Tsukasa's group are here, the blonde himself might be here as well!
If the crow has called Rui so urgently, it might be because Tsukasa got injured. Surely, it can't be a lethal injury, but still painful and will require treatment! Luckily, Rui has a healing potion with him, if it will be needed.
Most knights are too focused on the fighting to notice a mage running around. He doesn't recognise most of them anyway, he's looking for only one.
And he finds him. Even in the helmet, he'd always recognise his beloved one. Rui has never seen Tsukasa during a fight before, so he can feel his heart beating faster as he watches the knight swing his sword at his opponent. The blonde is skilled and experienced, but Rui can't help but worry… without thinking, he prepares a spell in his hand and rushes to him. But he's late.
Everything slows down as the sword falls out of Tsukasa's hand and the knight in black somehow manages to push their sword through the blonde's armour.
For a brief moment, Rui is too shocked to move. Without a second thought, he gathers a different type of energy in his hand - stronger, more aggressive. With that, he manipulates the enemy's sword’s blade to bend and attacks him with his magic.
The mage doesn't even think about the fact that he has probably killed the other, as they fall over and the metal armour hits the ground. His full attention is on Tsukasa. The purple-haired kneels beside his beloved knight and tries to get a closer look at the wound.
“Tsukasa! Can you hear me?! It's me, Rui. Please, say something…” he shouts, trying not to sob yet. With a strong pull, he takes off Tsukasa's helmet. The blonde slowly opens his eyes, looking at the mage surprised.
“Ru- Rui? What are you doing here…” the knight whispers, his weak voice so different from his usual loud and confident one.
“Just hang in there, I have a healing potion somewhere here-” Rui reaches to his belt, but realises the vial with the potion is missing. In panic, he looks around the field. There it is, the vial with the bright green liquid, sitting on the ground- a knight runs over it, without even noticing. The heavy, metal armour shoe crushes the glass and makes the potion spill into the ground.
No. No, no, no.
This is terrifying, not because Rui has lost a way to heal Tsukasa’s wound. He knows a spell to do it.
The vial being crushed is something so random it can’t be an accident.
Trembling, the mage turns back to the wounded one.
“Tsukasa, tell me… why did you come here?! Don’t tell me-”
“I thought this was a good idea.” the knight smiles weakly, slowly raising his hand to Rui’s cheek.
“No… no, you didn’t! You were forced to come here, right?! It was because all the knights had to, as their duty, right..?!”
Rui can’t hold back the tears anymore at this point as he realises what’s happening. It seems it was Tsukasa’s choice to come here.
“All knights from my branch had to come. The captain asked me if I wanted to. I said yes.”
“No, you didn’t!” Rui tries to wipe out his tears, but there’s too many of them already. “That’s not what we agreed on!”
A few months ago, after they got closer and Rui was explaining all the magic rules of the cursed battlefield he knew, Tsukasa asked an important question.
“Rui, if someone asks me if I want to come here, what do I say?”
“You say no.”
“But what if it’s my captain?! I can’t disobey him!”
“Say no. If you say yes, you can already order yourself a coffin. Say no. If you’re not really needed there, your captain will understand your answer. If he wants you to go there, he’ll say that. And then, it’ll be okay.”
“So always say no. Unless someone invites me. This is getting me a headache, but I think I’m starting to slowly get it.”
“Hah… yes, I’m sorry, Rui…” the knight whispers and tries to sit up, but then winces in pain.
“Ah, it hurts… but it’s going to be okay…”
“It will, you’re not dying in my arms!”
Rui moves a bit closer to the wound and places his hands close to it. Just a spell he has already used countless times. Surely, it was never as drastic, but still, Rui is one of the best mages around. If someone can heal Tsukasa, it’s him.
As expected, the wound closes perfectly and after just a moment, there’s no sign of any injury. So, why is his lover still barely breathing?
The mage’s eyes catch something next to him that explains everything. The enemy knight’s sword. It reflects light in a way metal simply couldn’t. There’s a weird liquid on it. Most likely poison. This would also explain the weird herbal smell in the air.
And in this moment, Rui realises he can’t do anything else. The poison has probably attacked too many areas in the other’s body. He doesn’t have any antidote on himself. What’s worse, even if he had something, it’s not guaranteed he would have one that works for this specific poison.
Tsukasa smiles weakly, lifting his head to look at the purple-haired. He reaches his hand again, and Rui gently grabs it, holding it to his cheek.
“Rui, can you kiss me one last time?”
The mage slowly nods and presses his lips on Tsukasa’s, trying to make most of the last moments. It’s been about half a year since they met, and even less since they fell in love, and Rui didn’t want it all to end just yet. They should’ve had more time. But his beloved knight’s life was slipping from his fingers and there was nothing he could do about it.
“I love you, Rui.” the knight whispers one last time.
“I love you too, Tsukasa. My star.” the mage whispers back and wraps his arms about the other.
Hours slowly pass and the sun starts to set, which makes all the other warriors begin to leave the area. As always, there are countless fallen ones, but no one bothers to check on them, everyone being too focused to make their way out of the battlefield. The crimson flowers sprout, ready to open their blood-red buds, but the one man who’d usually be happy about them doesn’t even look in their direction. He’s focused on his lover’s cooling body, shielding it from anything that could damage him in any way. He’s too tired to cry, he just sits in silence.
The sun has already set and the battlefield becomes shrouded in darkness. The familiar silhouettes arrive with the early night wind and descend from the sky, enjoying the view of corpses laying around. Rui tightens his fingers around Tsukasa’s shoulder seeing a couple of demons approach him.
“Don’t take him, please.” he says, pulling the knight’s body closer to himself.
The demon lets out a weird sound in response. Rui shakes his head, feeling the tears prick his eyes again.
“Please. Eat all you want, I don’t care. But for that one time, leave one of the bodies for me. Please."
Seeing and feeling his lover die was already too painful for him. But if he were to watch him being eaten… he didn't want to imagine that.
The mage swings his hand, trying to scare the demon away. It hisses at him, but jumps away and doesn't come back. Rui sighs with relief.
It's been hours, and the body has already gotten pretty stiff. And no matter the despair, the mage can't ignore the fatigue and hunger catching up to him. It's hard to move, but he manages to slowly stand up.
Rui remembers trying to pick Tsukasa up once, but it didn't go well. Physical strength was never purple-haired’s noticeable trait, and now, when the knight is almost fully dressed in armour, it's even harder. But he can't just leave him.
Rui slowly stands up and after considering his options for a moment, he picks up the deceased other, although not without difficulties. But he has to bring him home. He won't leave him in this cursed place.
The little wooden house is located pretty close to the field. Usually, it would take one about 15 minutes to move from one place to another; when Rui was running, it was about 10. But now, it takes him about an hour.
Of course, he could've used magic to make things easier. But Rui feels like this isn't appropriate. Tsukasa has felt the pain of death, so Rui shouldn't be avoiding struggle now. Besides, what type of a person would he be, if he couldn't even carry his partner himself?
Finally, they arrive. Without looking, Rui uses a simple spell to light up the candles around the room and carefully places Tsukasa on the couch. Despite dying so terribly, the blonde seems to be at peace, with the soft smile still present on his face. As if he didn't know how much pain he was causing to the other.
The mage feels hungry, but has no appetite. Well, it's hard to eat when you literally have a corpse in your room, even if it's your beloved one. So he just turns around and opens that one kitchen cabinet in which he keeps some useful potions and finds the saturation potion. Not the healthiest choice, but he doesn't care right now.
He doesn't want to leave his lover. So he brings himself a pillow and without changing out of his clothes, he lays on the floor. Tears gather in his eyes again as the day's events slowly put themselves together in his mind. He doesn't want to accept that the man just a meter away from him isn't just asleep.
The next day, Rui buries his star under the big oak tree next to his house. It's not much. To his mind, the knight deserves a grand funeral, not just a quiet burial in the forest. But something tells him that Tsukasa wouldn't really mind it. At least he actually has one, unlike other knights who died that day.
For this occasion, Rui takes out a different outfit from his usual one. A much darker one, with a long coat and a matching tall black hat with black lilies. It's very elegant, and it would be a shame if it got dirty from the ground, but that's not the point.
Out of all the things Tsukasa had with him, the mage decided to keep the sword. It's now hung above the fireplace, exposed to anyone who enters. Not like Rui ever has any visitors. The rest of the knight’s personal belongings were buried with him. So maybe, in many years, someone would find it and see who rested here.
It's not easy to cope with such pain, but Rui somehow tries to keep pushing himself. He hates the fact that he would forget one day forget Tsukasa's smile, voice, details of his face. He knows he will. But he doesn't want to.
One evening, the mage visits the grave with a few carving tools. He doesn't really have the money to commission a professional tombstone, so he wants to carve something himself. But when arriving at the place, he drops all the tools and the lantern he brought to have enough light for his work.
A ghost. Reaching its hand to Rui, holding a glowing, golden gemstone. It's hard to tell the ghost’s features, but the smile…
Without hesitation, he takes the gemstone. The ghostly silhouette shifts, fully transforming into the deceased knight. Rui holds the gemstone in his hands, slowly understanding. For the first time in weeks, the mage smiles, despite tears pricking his eyes.
He grabs the lantern and extinguishes the previous light, replacing it with the glowing gemstone. Holding it in one hand, he tries to reach the ghost with the other, but it goes through him. But at least, the ghost can touch him, gently caressing the cheek. And follows him home.
The ghost doesn't talk, but he seems as lively as when he was alive. It still hurts… but at least, they're still together. And Rui never leaves without the lantern, always carrying it with himself; because that's what allows Tsukasa to be close and stay here.
It doesn't fully end his grief, but partially, it does. He returns to collecting the flowers, but he doesn't come to the cursed battlefield as often as he used to, often rejecting the crow’s invitation.
Days, weeks, even months pass, and Rui continues his research. This allows him to discover the spell to make one able to communicate with ghosts. And so, he's finally able to talk to his lover again.
But this power has a consequence. By using this spell almost all the time, the mage is using way more magical energy than he usually would. It takes a great toll on him. The knight tells him to take a break. But Rui refuses.
Another drawback is the spell pushing him closer to death. Tsukasa is on the other side. To make Rui able to talk with him, he was pushing himself very close to the border. Too close.
One day, Rui writes a special letter. He gives it to his crow with one instruction.
“Bring it to any of my other friends when I die.”
The crow doesn't have to wait long to fulfill his master's last order.