King Kaneki [Kaneki X Fem. Reader]

Chapter 23

A few minutes had passed and Riven was already unsure of what order to put the pieces in. "There has to be something else here as some sort of hint in order for the puzzle to be solved, no ghoul could know the exact order of the stones since there isn't anything in the story that relates to chronology... at least I don't think so."

The man knew more than me so I wasn't going to argue with him on that, but instead of uselessly standing here and contributing nothing to our progression, I slightly tugged at Riven's arm signaling that I want to go over to one of the pressure plates. He obliged me and we headed towards the one on the farthest left; where the shortest fixture once was. Squatting down to take a better look, my eyes scanned over the flat stone not missing a single spot or corner. Seconds swept by and I smiled, "guess what I found?" Riven tore his gaze away from the room and looked down at me, expressionlessly asking, "what?"

Smile growing wider, I tapped the pressure plate dead center—-in the middle of the thin stone slab was an extremely tiny, almost unnoticeable symbol that looked like an engraved heart, but not any regular heart. Riven's fingers touched the symbol as he bent down to take a closer look, "The Three Chambered Heart."

I lowered my eyebrows, confused, "what?"

"The three chambered heart is what they called it; the heart of the dragon. Everyone called the mythical creature foul and beastly, but remember how he wished for a better fate?" I nodded my head, listening, "The dragon wasn't truly evil, he just needed guidance in how to follow his heart."

My eyes followed Riven as he stood up, we both walked over to the middle pressure plate. Just like the other one, a symbol lay in the center of it. It seemed to be a intricately wire-laced lantern lit by a small flame dancing within it. "Who does this belong to?" I inquired, although I felt like I just might know who. "The hermit. The lantern was something that he was greatly known for, the fourth ruler of Waseury even demanded that a lantern be physically crafted exactly like the fairytales for him or her to personally own."

Nodding my head, we finally went over to last pressure plate which was where the tallest stone once was. The symbol...

was simply a baby swan.

The baby birds feathers was engraved with expertise seeing that it showed in great detail the cygnets fluffy fur and petite sleepless eyes. I noticed Riven was about to explain this symbol as well, but I stopped him, smiling softly, "you don't have to tell me. I get it,"

"...she's been reborn."

For the first time since I met Riven, the corners of his lips lifted into a tiny smile. It reminded me of how I felt when I saw the king smile for the first time, but the sensation didn't last nearly as long. "Exactly," the man spoke, perhaps proud that I wasn't as foolish as he probably thought I was.

"So now that we know what to do, I think I'm ready to get out of this room." Riven nodded in acknowledgment and placed his free hand around the edges of the tallest fixture before turning to me, "I'm going to let go of your hand for this. Stay right here and don't move until we rejoin again."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him but obeyed his command regardless. I don't exactly know what happened to: 'not listening to his every word anymore and being the boss of myself'. Holding the torch, I patiently watched Riven move the tallest fixture onto the left pressure plate. Then the middle fixture onto the right pressure plate and then lastly the shortest fixture onto the middle pressure plate.

All three stones sinked into the ground before stopping, three loud clicks echoed around the room and then rumbling began to take course. Not moving from my spot, I turned around to where the vibration was coming from and knew that the door had finally opened.

I flinched when Riven grabbed my hands in his again, standing by my side. "Good job finding those symbols on the pressure plates, without that discovery this would've taken a lot longer." I nodded at the tall man, "no worries, these little guys are pretty useful when you need them." I pressed my index finger under the bottom lid of my right eye and pulled down to show my white sclera before changing it to a black kakugan.

Riven pulled his gaze away from me, unamused, and grabbed my hand again away from my right eye before dragging me towards the cube fixture.

Inside the cube, was another steep stairway only this time lit up with the blue glowing stones from before. We began our descent further deep into the tomb after I handed Riven the torch so he can see in front of him even with the glowing stones around us. I knew that the torch would be dying out soon, but prayed it'd last us just a little longer until we could finally leave the ancient catacombs.

I was unable to allay my fear however, when the burning embers of dull orange vanished from my sight. My hold on Riven stiffened, "don't tell me..."

The man sighed quietly, answering, "yes, the torch died out."

Even with these luminescent stones by us, everything seemed to darken. "Ri-"

Suddenly, my voice was cut off by the sound of Riven's name getting caught in my throat. I felt a hand wrap around my mouth, permitting me from making any other noise. As my eyes widened in terror at the realization that we weren't the only ghouls here, my mind couldn't react fast enough to alert Riven since the thumps of my heart were a lot louder. The feeling of tension began to drown me out from reality, heat riddled my skin with sweat and adrenaline churned the insides of my stomach when the unknown person had also wrapped their other arm around my abdomen.

Even though I was beginning to lose sane consciousness, I was still able to see the tail of a bikaku pierce Riven in the back. Something warm dripped onto my apparel and sinked into the fabrics of it, nearly, a suppressed gag had almost followed.

Before Riven could turn around or even react, the unknown smacked their kagune against his head, knocking him out. Everything within my entire being repulsed at the sight of Riven's slumped form. I was helpless, unable to do anything.

Breathing unsteadily against the hand of my captor, I released my kagune and kakugans, wrapping the legs of my rinkaku backwards as I tried to attack the ghoul behind me but inevitably failed when a sharp jab met my temple;

...sending me into darknesses slumber.

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