Into the Underworld (Part 3)
The next day.
For some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about something.
Ever since I woke up, I felt restless.
It felt like there was something I had to do.
And not just something—
something important.
Since I didn’t know what it was,
I decided to go for a walk with Gyu.
He took me to the library where I had met Taro.
That library always gives me a strange physical sensation.
As I walked in and climbed the stairs,
my head started to feel foggy.
Like half of my consciousness was drifting away.
In the room where Taro’s paintings were displayed,
I stood in front of his painting.
Taro looked sad.
And when I kept looking at it,
I started to feel sad too.
“We always lived together.”
Why do I have to come here—to this library—
in order to talk to you?
“Because I am in the underworld.”
The underworld?
What is the underworld?
I’ve heard the word before,
but I have no idea what it actually is.
I can’t even imagine it.
If he can’t talk to me because he’s in the underworld,
does that mean it’s not a very nice place?
What should I do?
“You must save me.”
How?
“There is no other way.
You must go to the underworld.”
Huh?
“You are a being of light,
and at the same time, a being of darkness.
You can go to the underworld.
Find me.”
How?
“There is no need to worry.
You can go tonight.”
T-tonight!?
“Yes.”
Seriously…
“There is no need to be afraid.
No one can harm you.
You are a being of darkness,
and at the same time, a being of light.”
Light… darkness…
I don’t really get it…
“Didn’t you do a fear-training yesterday?”
Oh—
You’re right.
I did… I really did.
So that means yesterday was a planned training session
between Raphael and Taro?
Now that I think about it,
that smiling angel Raphael said “meditation practice”
and then locked me inside a warehouse
and made me fight a giant monster.
That’s terrifying.
From now on,
I should be careful with that smile.
“That sword is yours now.
There is no need to be afraid.”
Okay…
I don’t really understand,
but I’ll try.
Fear is the worst thing I can do, right?
I’ll try.
“I love you.
We are always one, the two of us.
My beloved other half.
I love you.”
For some reason,
those words made my eyes fill with tears.