𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜'𝙨 𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙬 // scaramouche x oc

Chapter 26 - It Must Be Fate

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another chapter of By the Lightning's Glow! Hang on just a little longer darling 🥹

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As a doctor, I had seen my fair share of maniacs and madmen. They were my most aggravating clients, and, more often than not, the remedies to their ailments were extraordinarily difficult to administer. Though I was a master of orthodox medicinal practices, I was frequently forced to resort to less elegant methods for cases of psychosis, and, as such, I developed a low opinion of such patients, scorning them as men with no morals.

Only now did I begin to realize that the line between morality and lunacy was razor thin.

Shivering, I cupped my hands over my ears, trying to block out the noise.

All around me were the curses of yōkai, the whispers of evil, the voices of demons and devils from the depths of hell itself. The more I tried to calm myself, the more I squeezed my eyes shut, the more I became burdened with an unbearable feeling of dread.

"Get up," the Raiden Shogun commanded, pointing her blade at me. "I did not raise you to be a coward."

Shaking, I summoned my spear with a flourish, resisting the pain in my abdomen that threatened to bring me back down to my knees.

In a final attempt to save my honor, I lurched at the Shogun, unleashing a flurry of consecutive slashes, an attack she quickly responded to with a rain of electric bolts. My footing shifted as the Plane of Euthymia began to move, but I kept my composure, utilizing the unstable gravity to my advantage and leaping onto a stone platform that was floating on the eerie crimson horizon.

The Shogun narrowed her eyes. "How long do you plan to continue your juvenile games of evasion, child?"

I showed her the gash on my arm, which was swirling with cool green energy and healing at a superhuman rate.

"Only long enough to restore my physical strength, Your Excellency."

My wounds fully recovered, I dived down at my opponent, our elements clashing in a flurry of violent purple strikes and surges of illusive flora. The Shogun charged at me with the Musou Isshin, her eyes glowing an electric violet, and, in a panic, I parried with the handle of my spear, pushing back against her in a joust of sheer power.

The friction between our weapons sent fiery sparks flying in all directions, and I steadied myself, struggling to retain my stance.

In that moment of vulnerability, I loosened my grip, the shockwave of elemental energy sending me flying towards the edge of the domain as my naginata clattered to the ground, disintegrating into dust.

The Plane of Euthymia began to fade away, and I found myself back within Tenshukaku, collapsed before the high throne of the Imperial Shogun.

"Such a pity," she sighed, sheathing the Musou Isshin bitterly. "After all this time, you are still weak."

I clutched my head, staring down at the ring of hair scattered on the ground around me.

In Inazuma, maintaining the length of one's hair was a sign of nobility, a symbol of power and respect, a trademark of the aristocracy.

But it was all over for me.

How could I possibly face the Raiden Shogun, my only true master, as the failure of a servant I was?

But most importantly, how could I face Scaramouche, whose fate was destined to be forever intertwined with my own?

I didn't want to think anymore.