Blade Prologue

“Ke… nza… ki…”

“Ken… zaki…” 

The two of them were angry. 

“Ken… zaki…” 

“…Kenzaki…” 

The two of them were smiling. 

“Ken… zaki…” 

The child was crying. 

And he was shouting. 

“Kenzaki… Kenzaki!” 

  

The night howled and the sea roared. 

A foot that had been torn off by the ankle rolled across the deck. It belonged to a young man that had been clinging to the mast not too long ago. It was ripped off of him by the violent wave that had crashed onto the deck during the rainstorm.  

What was his name again? I feel like he introduced himself the moment we embarked, but I can’t remember anymore. 

The five other crew members were now gone as well. Their faces had been carved with fear as the whitecaps swallowed them up one by one, and that was that. 

The memories concerning them were already fading. 

Who was the one that didn’t have time to lower the anchor and ended up getting tied down along with it? 

Who was the one that bothered putting a life jacket onto me? 

There wasn’t any need for him to do that whatsoever. 

That’s right. I don’t have any need for anything like that. 

But the man didn’t know why he didn’t have any need for it. He couldn’t remember. 

Speaking of which, what ship did I board and which country did it belong to? 

Why did I end up riding this small boat? 

And then he thought… 

Who in the world am I? 

  

A mirage arose. 

The malice of the desert drove the thirsty to run wild. But being that what lied at their destination was obviously not an oasis, each one of the ten or so companions grew deranged, fell into despair, and died from exhaustion. 

The man was the only one left. 

The faces and names of the people he had known mere moments ago trickled out of his memory. They disappeared as if they were covered up by the flowing sand. 

Who was the one that shared their food and water with me? 

Even though there wasn’t any need for him to do that. 

But for some reason, the man couldn’t remember why that was the case. 

Speaking of which, what country did I meet them in and what town was it? 

Why did we end up chasing a mirage? 

And what even is my name? 

  

Those thoughts rose in his head, but nothing more came to him. 

  

The ship would sink soon. 

The man would sink along with the remains of the others. 

A voice suddenly made its way into his fading consciousness. The voice laughed. It mocked him as if boasting victory.  

He felt like he knew who that voice belonged to. 

But he couldn’t remember who it was or who they were. He didn’t want to remember. He wasn’t supposed to remember. His consciousness once again grew dim as he thought that. 

An especially large wave then assaulted the boat, capsizing it. His remains let out one final dying cry, and then stopped moving. 

What followed happened in an instant. 

The man sank straight down towards the dark abyss of the ocean. 

 

Next Chapter ->