Inheritance of Shadows [Hugo Vlad x Fem!OC]

Chapter 21: The weight of what remains

A place to dwell was never Yukari's style.

She didn't want to linger in the quiet between chaos—there was still too much to bear.

Hugo.

She had to find him, to escape this mindscape, to end it once and for all.

The weight of his torment pressed against her chest, heavy and suffocating. She understood it now—the years of cruelty, the loneliness that hollowed him out from within.

Everything she once thought she knew of his past was darker than it should have been. The curse. The jewels. And almost forgotten in the chaos—Hartman, the new head of the Ravenlocks.

'There always has to be one person to continue this accursed legacy, huh?'

When Yukari looked at Hugo, his form began to waver—his height shrinking, his voice softening, his presence folding in on itself until he was the boy she'd first met at the beginning of the mindscape.

And there he was, crying. Crying as though he had just been born.

"I-I'm sorry..." his voice trembled, hands clutching at his chest. "I just wanted to be free..."

The onyx burned hot against Yukari's skin, pulsing like a heartbeat. It resonated with him.

She knelt and gathered him into her arms, holding him close, her voice gentle but firm. "You are free. I'll break your chains. I'll free you, and you can fly without feathers—because I'll be the one to hold you when you fall."

The boy hiccupped softly, his tears slowing. "Really?"

Yukari smiled faintly, brushing a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I mean it."

Then, behind him, a white door began to shimmer into existence—its edges glowing faintly, its frame carved with spirals of light and shadow. It opened on its own, slow and silent, as if called by her words. The onyx on her chest flared, scattering motes of pale light around them.

She rose to her feet, eyes wide. "What... is that?"

The boy looked up at her and reached for her hand. "I'll show you my real home. The place where I always live."

He led her forward through the door.

Beyond it stretched an endless void of violet and black, a place both vast and suffocating. The air shimmered with faint ripples, like the surface of deep water. As they walked, fragments of broken walls and crumbling pillars began to form around them—ruins suspended in nothingness, flickering between memory and decay.

The deeper they went, the quieter it became. Even their footsteps made no sound. The only thing that remained constant was the faint glow of the onyx, guiding their way through the dark.

At the end of the endless void, a shape began to emerge—a faint outline gleaming in the dark. As they drew nearer, it took form. A cage.

Young Hugo stopped and pointed toward it. "That's my home."

Yukari released his hand, confusion flickering in her eyes. The cage was enormous, forged from blackened iron that pulsed faintly like a living thing. Something was inside.

She stepped closer. A strand of blond hair caught the dim light, glimmering through the bars. The stained glass behind the cage shimmered faintly, its fractured colors painting the air in haunted hues. And then she saw him—

Hugo.

Her breath caught. She spun around, but the young boy was gone. Only the empty void remained.

She turned back toward the cage, her chest tightening. For a heartbeat, she stood frozen. Then she ran—stumbling, gasping, her footsteps swallowed by the silence.