Dark Legacy Chapter 1

It was just too hot. Ryugi tossed and turned uncomfortably beneath his sheets, having kicked off his blankets long ago. He was sticky with sweat so that his nightclothes clung to him and his black hair plastered itself to his face. Frustrated, he leapt from his bed and crept over to the window, careful not to rouse the others. It was cooler over here, but the wind was blowing the other way so it wasn’t much of a consolation. Ryugi stuck his head out the window and looked down. He couldn’t see anybody below and so tentatively he climbed out on to the ledge, desperate to feel the wind and cool off. He sighed as he pressed his cheek to the cool stone of the outer wall, but the promising hope of actually feeling  the fresh wind drove him to climb all the way down from the third story dormitory area he shared with the other students.  Ryugi didn’t usually venture out this late at night, but he had done it enough times to have a general idea of the climb and the moon was bright enough  to see by.
Even though he was somewhat familiar with the climb, he was happy to feel the cool grass under his bare feet and breathed a sigh of relief. Walking onto the practice field,  the soft grass that had thrived in the shade of the tower was replaced by scratchy, straw-like grass that had long since withered in the heat. Despite this, Ryugi kept foreword. He could feel the breezes and stripped off his shirt to cool off. The garment was soaked through with sweat. Next he ran his fingers through his hair, moving it out of his eyes and fluffing it up to make it feel less oily. It settled lightly about his shoulders only to be picked up by the wind. His shirt floated in his hand, but the breeze felt so good that he had little desire to put it back on.
The crescent moon smiled at him overhead, and he returned its joy. The night made him feel so free, like a bird having been release from its cage. The world was silvery blue and full of possibilities suddenly. Everything looked softer, gentler. Ryugi felt okay right now, like nothing else mattered other than he was here and full of hope, but it still remained that he could be caught by the night watchmen and sent back to his unbearably stifling room. He walked under the cool night shadows, making his way to his favorite hiding place. He’d been caught in the west wing many times, but so far no one had spotted his secret alcove.  It was right next to a window that faced the castle grounds, and he was sure that he’d be able to feel the wind just fine there.  
He opened the door to the Main Hallway only enough to let him through, and he closed it quickly and quietly once he’d slipped in. He was amazed that the great door had no lock, but he supposed that no one would even attempt to steal from Holy Castle and risk that taboo. The guards were only a show to keep mischievous students like himself in their rooms at night and not causing trouble. For this reason Ryugi didn’t often sneak out at night, but it was just too hot in the dormitories right now. He was relieved to see no one about, but even so, his footsteps seemed incredibly loud to him, and every rustle of cloth he felt would set off some secret alarm. Ryugi didn’t relish the idea of being caught, and the ensuing hassle that would inevitably follow, especially sine he got the feeling that the Head Monk Jiro didn’t like him very much.
The man always seemed cold or weary when Ryugi saw him, and the boy had always assumed it was because of his mother’s background. It was all the more reason for him to behave, but Ryugi just couldn’t live the conservative way the monks did. He didn’t see the point in praying four to six hours a day when nothing ever happened and the pleas rarely ever came true. Ryugi couldn’t count how many times he’d wished for Jiro to show him some sort of warmth. The man was kind enough, to be sure, but never really friendly. Even Chiyo agreed that praying for Jiro to change was pointless, and Ryugi felt uncomfortable asking him such a thing directly.
Ryugi stopped when he noticed movement in front of him at the end of the hallway. As quickly and fluidly as he could he moved into the shadow of a statue of one of the famous mages who’s visited the Castle in recent years, of course donated by the mage himself. Ryugi peered carefully around the corner and silently cursed. A watchman was making his way down the hall. Ryugi took  a calming breath and began to observe the guard carefully and saw with a slight stab of dismay that he was coming this way. Ryugi began to calculate his predicament. He was sure that he hadn’t been seen or the guard would be approaching much faster., so instead of fleeing he began to watch the guard intently. As the man approached, Ryugi slowly move behind to statue, timing his footfalls to match those of the guard’s. He kept the crafted piece of stone and steel perfectly between them, perfectly mimicking the guard’s gait as he’d learned to do in fencing class. The man moved faster than a sparring opponent sizing up his foe, but that wasn’t much of a problem for Ryugi and the guard didn’t notice a thing. The guard even whistled cheerily as he left through the door Ryugi had just entered through. Once he was gone, Ryugi, filled with relief, congratulated himself proudly.
“I always knew this would come in handy”, he thought, pleased with himself for this feat of physical prowess. Now no one could say that he wasn’t good for anything at least.
However, Ryugi decided not to test his skills against more sentries and thought that it would be better to go a back way into the west wing. He scurried down the nearest side corridor, marveling at how different everything looked in the darkness.  When Ryugi ventured out at night, he had always taken the most direct route possible. However, the guards were patrolling his main path, so he instead took a roundabout way through the classrooms. Even though he was trying to move quickly, he couldn’t help but notice now that everything looked more beautiful when swathed in shadows. He couldn’t see the creepy stares of the portraits decking the walls, and the empty classrooms and cubicles were lined in silver. Ryugi would never have recognized them as the drab rooms he wasted away his waking hours in. He ascended a staircase lined in moonlight and made his way to the westward corridor. He had to walk down many more small hallways and even through a few empty classrooms before reaching his goal.
The West Wing seemed darker than the rest of Holy Castle, but whenever a moonbeam managed to break through one of the dirty windows it made everything it touched glow, on account of the dust covering everything. It was so surreal that it actually made Ryugi a little distorted and giddy. This was a world made entirely of black and white. There was no grey here at night; that was reserved for the daytime, where everything was grey with dust. Ryugi felt at home here. This stark place was comfortable. Even the heat that was ravaging the rest of the land couldn’t really penetrate here, and Ryugi sighed at finally finding a place to relax at. His alcove was on the other side of the West Wing, but Ryugi wasn’t afraid here. The night watch wouldn’t find him amongst the shadows, and the dust muffled all his sounds. He watched it floating in the air, caught in a shaft of the moon’s  brilliance, sparkling, and he silently thanked it. This place was more his home than anywhere in Holy Castle. He walked there halls leisurely, and with an air of ownership. No one had ever penetrated as far into the dark west wing as he had, and certainly no one else had established any sort of comfort zone here. Everyone was too afraid of Kanaye and his legends. Ryugi thought it was silly to fear someone dead for hundreds of years, and he thought it was more silly to fear the tower. It wasn’t the building’s fault that Kanaye had done terrible things there, just as Ryugi in now way could account for his mother being a whore. He felt connected to the outcast building because of that.
Ryugi thought about this and decided to stop at the tower before going to the alcove, changing his direction slightly. It wasn’t  too far out of the way, after all. Even in near totally darkness, Ryugi had no problem navigating here, and soon found himself at the door the Tower; he knew it both from memory and because he could hear the swish and hum of the enchanted sands.  He was just about to open the door  when he caught a flash of something out of the corner of his eye. It was colored, which took Ryugi by surprise after staying so long in a world of black and white. He blinked several times and even shook his had vigorously to dispel sleepiness, but he saw it again - the dust illuminated in a flash of violet light.
Ryugi shuddered involuntarily after seeing it, forgetting the blistering heat. Still shivering a little with unease, he put his night shirt back on. The light seemed to be coming from the cracks underneath the door. Ryugi’s throat went dry as he watched it, but he didn’t fully comprehend why. All he knew was that there was something very wrong about the light, something that his instincts told him to fear. However, his mind couldn’t help but feel curious, and he steeled himself. Ryugi grabbed hold of the door and with a rapid motion tore it open, closing his eyes and bracing himself even though he didn’t know why.
Through his eyelids, he saw purple light. He didn’t hear anything over the swirling vacuum of sand and, after a moment or two, he carefully cracked one eye open. Immediately he noticed that the light was coming from some point directly beneath him, but he couldn’t see through the floor to eye its source. It made the golden sands glow, and Ryugi became enthralled with them. They were beautiful, and he longed to touch the grains; to feel them move past him; to immerse himself in them and the magnificent light they reflected. He reached out his hand towards the vortex, stretching his fingers out. They were so close he could almost reach them; it was just a little farther…
By some stroke of luck, Ryugi’s other hand was still clamped tightly around the handle of the door, and its un-oiled hinges groaned loudly. Ryugi snapped back to reality, throwing himself backwards out of the room. He hadn’t even realized that he was leaning over the edge of the bottomless Tower, let alone how far. Suddenly he was terrified beyond reason. He slammed the door shut and fled, sprinting to his one safe haven in all of Holy Castle.
The Alcove was the only clean area in all of the West Wing, tended lovingly by Ryugi. It was about ten or twelve feet off the ground and the middle was covered by a narrow hanging tapestry depicting a beautiful tree. There was a big window on the other side that opened widely. It was here that Ryugi ran to. He scrambled up the chipped brickwork of the wall without even bothering to grab the secret ladder he’d hidden nearby or caring when he cut his hands on the rough stone.
He immediately pressed himself into the corner by the window as close as he could sat there shaking, utterly incapable of calming himself. When he closed his eyes he could still see the purple light and feel it tugging at his soul, enticing him to come back. Ryugi covered his face with his hands in a desperate attempt to make the memories stop finally was able to regain enough of his strength of mind to understand that it was far away now and that he was safe. He began sweating again, but this time it was out of fear rather than heat.
He tried to peer into the darkness of the West Wing for clues to what had happened but found he could not, so instead he stared at the silver kissed landscape outside the window. He felt angry and betrayed. This was his place to go when he wanted to be safe and comfortable. This was his domain, but now look at him! He was curled up in the corner and shaking like a child. Ryugi took several deep breaths to steady himself.
Originally he’d come here to benefit from the cool wind blowing towards this window, so he opened it a crack. But already he’d forgotten the heat and his fear chilled him to the bone, so he closed it again shortly after. Slowly the realization dawned on him that he could have been killed tonight and he stared into the darkness, instinctively keeping vigil, hiding behind the tapestry of the great tree. His mind began playing tricks on him, and he became more and more tired until he fell asleep. He dreamed fitfully of being followed by a terrifying purple light that even in total darkness he could not escape.