“Mother!” Kozo yelled in a war cry, running through the halls of the complex building. How could she do this? Poisoning Hye for so many years? Why for so long? If she wanted to, she could’ve killed him at any point. Why hasn’t she killed him yet? So many questions and so few answers. He ran so fast that if anyone saw him they would just see a blur, then he noticed someone walking into the hall from the training grounds. It was his training instructor, Hideko. Kozo stopped just in front of him, causing a powerful wind to go through the hall knocking over vases and other items. Hideko was calm as if he knew Kozo would stop right in front of him. Hideko wore a black robe as the main color along with red below his neck and gray sleeves, like Kozo, except his colors were brighter, signifying his leadership. On Hideko's chest was the symbol of fire, a sign that he was from the Flame Sect. He wore earrings that would jingle every time he walked, bearing the Flame Sect symbol. Despite the powerful wind Hideko’s clothes and earrings were unaffected. 

“Who are you so angry at?” Hideko asked with a deep voice, one that some of the disciples wished they had.

“Get out of my way,” Kozo said with a sharp tone.

“Your bloodlust is overwhelming. Who made you so angry?” 

“Get. Out. Of. My way. I won’t repeat myself.” Kozo unsheathed his sword. 

“I don’t want to fight you. Everyone here might die. Calm down and tell me what is wrong.” Kozo contemplated for a second but Hideko was right. He didn’t know what was happening but this needed to be fast. 

“There are rats that need to be taken care of. If you want to know the truth, follow me.” Kozo took off, and Hideko followed behind. They were still quite a ways away; there were multiple entrances and exits, the training grounds were near the right side of the building, and Hye was in a corner on the left side. Instead of a straight line, there were so many rooms that it was a maze. Well, that is if you don’t know where you’re going, but still, why did they have to make this building so complex? All of the halls looked the same, with the nice wooden pine floors and walls, occasional wooden tables showing achievements, and dark wooden doors with metal handles showing ways to different rooms. Most of the halls had support beams attached to the walls creating a nice pattern and plenty of space. New disciples get lost easily and it takes forever to find them. Finally, they were able to make it to the Main entrance. The main entrance was an arch of red-painted wood, surrounding it was a nice garden and a dirt walkway leading down the mountain. You could see the trees and the healthy environment around the Flame Sect, with the occasional burned grass. The walkway had tracks from both people and merchants having supplies on their carts. At the main entrance, there was a large wooden table. The Flame Sect has a lot of flammable wood, but this table was covered with fireproof paint- through many years and experiments, they finally had a final product 70 years ago, leading to the Sect having a massive profit, although the Flame Sect burned down once or twice before they discovered fireproof paint. On the table lay drawings with wooden frames of past leaders along with their wives and children; the Flame Sect had been formed nearly 600 years ago. There are about 15 frames on the large table, each with candles in front of them as well as an accessory the leader wore. The average leader leads for around 40 years and passes on the torch to the next leader when they die or are unable to fight. The 15th frame was Hye’s, he was almost 55 in the picture. His dark black beard and hair with white streaks and strong facial features made him look like he earned the title of leader. To get your frame up, you need to be at least 21 years old, but Kozo was 20 and was turning 21 in a few days. Yes, he has good maturity and a great body and power but has he earned the name leader? You can become a leader if the old one dies or is unable to be a leader. Am I able to meet their expectations? Kozo thought. He then shook his head. Now isn’t the time to ask myself that question, we have things to do first. Kozo kept the same pace and all of the candles went out, while Hideko stopped,re-lit the candles, bowed as an apology, and then chased after Kozo and caught up to him. They finally arrived at the room. On the walls outside the room lay more wooden plaques for Hye’s achievements. Next to one of the tables was a barrel of water with a removable lid and a chair. On the same table was a wooden cup. Kozo looked around and noticed that this was the most lit-up hallway in the entire sect, probably because of how often Hye had visitors even though he was unconscious. But Kozo hadn’t visited in the past ten years. Kozo walked to the door and held the handle. He couldn’t open the door. Kozo collapsed in the chair, hyperventilating. How could he see his father like that again? He couldn’t bear it. 

“Are you all right?” Hideko asked, having not seen Kozo like this ever since Hye was like this. 

“I-I’m f-f-fine,” Kozo stuttered. Hideko couldn’t sense any bloodlust coming from Kozo, only fear. Hideko pulled a chair from one of the other tables and sat with Kozo. 

“Do you want some water?” Hideko was concerned, but Kozo hesitated. What if she poisoned this water as well? If she did, how many have drank from it? The only way to find out is to drink it. Kozo nodded his head, then grabbed the water and drank it. It’s poisoned. Kozo’s veins turned purple as it went down his right arm, and he put his fist over the cup and clenched his fist. The poison that was in his body was dripping out of his veins and into the cup. The cup was now half filled with purple-colored poison. Hideko dropped his jaw, both in shock at the fact that the water was poisoned and also Kozo’s skill.

“Hideko, go to the medicine wing and see how many people have been having respiratory issues, sudden change in behavior, complaints about dizziness, and how many have died from these symptoms and most importantly, how many of them have drank the water in the waiting hall. Be as thorough as possible. I am going to have a little chat with my mother.”  It took a moment for Hideko to turn from shocked to focused, but he understood everything. 

“I will do as you say… sect leader,” Hideko said with a grin. Kozo was shocked; this was the first time Hideko called him the sect leader. He was one of the last people to call him that.

“I’m not worthy of the title. Not yet.”

“I am currently one of the last to accept that you are the sect leader, that is because you were not worthy of it according to my standards. Yet here I am bowing before you with respect. ‘I’m not worthy of the title yet’, you say? That’s bullcrap. You have earned the respect of every single person in this sect except for your mother. Prove her wrong. I wish you luck!” Hideko yelled as he was quickly running to the medicine wing of the sect. Kozo grinned, thinking he couldn’t go through the door because he was afraid of others, but he was just afraid of himself. Kozo gripped the handle and walked through the door. His mother hadn't noticed him, like usual. Kozo looked around the room that held the remains of what was left of his family. The room had a smell that could easily be thought of as sweet but was acting as a mask to cover up the smell of poison, but only Kozo could smell the real poison since he was skilled enough. Everything in this room was made from premium material, from the nice pattern etched in the pine tree wood for the walls and tables to the nice silky cotton for Hye’s bed to the candles on the tables and hanging from the ceiling, the wood was completely fine from the fireproof paint. All of the tables had a red flower, a poppy out of place somehow as if it was the only thing blooming on a snowy mountain. He used to be a mighty warrior, he had so much strength from his muscles that it looked like someone sculpted his body. That mighty warrior was now a twig, he was all skin and bones, you would think he’d been dead for a long time but he was alive somehow. Kozo looked at Hye and then looked away as fast as possible. There are many different kinds of poison but the type of poison Kozo was suffering from was guilt.  How long? How long has it been since I last entered this room? How easily could have this been avoided if I just visited often? How long has she been poisoning him? How long? Just how long? Kozo’s mother then turned around, her face turned from happy to frown and in misery into an instant, if Kozo was any slower he wouldn’t have noticed the difference in expression. She looked as if she was suffering and was in misery but Kozo knew. She was enjoying every second of Hye’s pain, but she looked at Kozo as if he was a new project, another one to add to her need for sustenance. 

“It’s been so long! Kozo dear, come here!” Kozo was in shock, her voice changed. It went from a sweet gentle voice that he always heard to a deep growl at multiple pitches, some high-pitched, others incredibly low. She became more powerful somehow. Kozo could feel it. 

“What did you do?!” Kozo cried. Her expression changed once again as she tilted her head.

“Whatever do you mean? I am so happy to see you after all of these years, you never visited!”

“What did you do with my mother? Poisoning the water, enjoying others' pain! Give me back my mother!” But the thing laughed maniacally. 

“You don’t get it, do you?!’’

“Who are you?”

“I think you mean what.” The thing snarled.

“What do you mean?!”

“Do you ever wonder how your mother met your father? You see, it’s common for other sects to offer one of their own to marry the leader of different sects, to create a healthy alliance. You want to know what sect she was from?” It was holding back a chuckle. “She was from the poison sect!” It laughed maniacally. Kozo’s stomach dropped. “You should see your face!” It laughed harder. “When she found out that her entire town and family had been destroyed by her husband, it was so funny! She was so damaged, so frail, so easy to take advantage of, so what did she do? She made a deal with the devil! She's long gone now! She was waiting for you! Waiting for you to save her, to even visit. I enjoyed every second of her agony!” It laughed even harder. Kozo’s self-doubt started to leak again. I could’ve saved her. “She felt regret in the early stages. I mean, she’s the reason so many of the disciples died even though it wasn’t her fault! It was yours!” She was in so much pain.  “I mean, the reason they couldn’t detect the poison was because they were so weak! Maybe you would've made them stronger if you were there! It’s so funny!” I was never there. It laughed even more with its evil grin. “That’s not even the best part! I managed to convince the other sects to attack this place in a few hours! You will all be in so much misery and agony! I'll leave you for last so you can see everyone else’s pain! I can’t wait to see what your face will look like in your last moments!”

“You’re the definition of evil.” It’s all my fault.

“Thank you!”

“Give her back.” Everyone is suffering because of me.

“No can do!” it said with a sing-songy tune. Kozo’s blood boiled hotter than it ever did before, was he angry at the devil or himself? The devil showed itself, it was transforming, its skin turned red and it grew a tail, it had two big yellow eyes and two horns. Its teeth were in the shape of spikes and its smile kept growing bigger and bigger. It grew to be even larger than Hye and had sharp claws that could easily tear anyone in two. Kozo’s body was ready but his mind and heart weren’t. With so much guilt and so much self-doubt, Kozo wasn’t ready to be a leader. But he remembered Hideko's words. Did he deserve the title of leader? The devil disappeared in a flash and appeared behind Kozo, its attack grazing Kozo’s cheek, but he nearly died. I can’t be distracted. How can I defeat this thing? Kozo looked around the room while defending, he created a wave of fire and blocked the devil’s vision. 

“That’s cute.” Kozo watched as the thing walked through the fire unphased but he didn’t expect it to kill it. Kozo then threw everything he could physically throw at the demon, the furniture, the flowers, and parts of the wall whenever he could. 

“Is this seriously how weak you are?” The demon took everything head-on and didn’t even flinch. Kozo was nowhere to be found. “Where di-?” Kozo stabbed the thing in the heart, using the distraction as a moment to disappear and reappear behind the devil. He didn’t spend the last 10 years just moping around. 

“How dare you lay your hands on a devi--”

“Shut it. I’ll show you what a real devil is.” Kozo’s eyes glowed with both rage and power, enough power to make the devil flinch. 

“Y-you’re nothing!” The devil somehow also summoned fire and tried to kill Kozo, he was shocked but disappeared again and slashed the arms of the devil. How can it summon fire? Kozo was moving fast enough so the devil couldn’t track him. Kozo was in a trance, he had only one loud thing in mind that was louder than any other thought he had. Kill or be killed. Stronger, faster, beat it. Beat it! Beat it no matter the cost! Kozo’s body was engulfed in flames, so hot it burned even the fireproof paint. Just a little further! I can finally surpass the great Hye Hono himself! The devil was being pushed back toward the wall. At least it felt like a wall, but not the one that was behind him. Kozo was that wall. A wall the devil could never hope to survive.

“How did you get so stron--? Wait.” The devil looked over at Hye and grinned. “This is interesting. You hav--” 

“Stop stalling.” Kozo slashed the devil's chest and it screamed out in pain. “Now. Give. Her. Back.” 

“She’s been gone for a long time.” it chuckled then coughed up blood. “Shoot.” the devil grasped its chest and coughed again. “So this is how it ends? This great devil dies to a human?” 

“I hope you enjoy your own suffering as much as others.” 

“Help me, my son.” The devil changed its face back to Kozo’s mother and used her voice.

“Are you really my mother?”

“Yes,” the devil responded. 

“Then I’m sorry, this is all I can do for you.” The devil’s head dropped to the floor, Kozo slashed the devil’s neck in an instant. Kozo wanted to grieve. but he had other things to take care of.  The devil’s head was smiling as Kozo exited the room. I’m sorry, Father. I have caused so much pain. I’m sorry mother, if that was really you at least I was able to give you a painless death. I couldn’t save you. But I will save them. I will destroy every rat in this place that has been cooperating with this devil. That’s right. Burn. Them. All. Kozo was shocked, these weren’t his thoughts.  Kozo’s power went into overdrive, his flames spreading throughout the entire building, burning everything, even the fireproof paint.  I have to stop! Kozo thought. We have to prepare for war! Why can’t I stop?! What did that devil do to me?!  In one instance, it went from the left wing to the main entrance, instead of all of the frames burning only one of them burned. Only Kozo and his mother were erased from the photo. Kozo looked to his right and saw the devil cackling. Still on the floor without any of its limbs yet it was still cackling.

“You didn’t notice? When I grazed you, I put in a parasite. That’s how I was able to control all of the maids!” It cackled. “Did you ever wonder why you were suddenly so aggressive? How loud the voices seemed to be? I can select someone to be my host, you’ll be a great vessel. You have so much hate inside you, along with demon blood.” Demon what? How can a decapitated head talk? Kozo’s consciousness was fading. 

“You...Devil.” I’m sorry, everyone. The devil smiled wide and licked his lips. He began to slowly whistle a lullaby a mother would sing to her son. The devil’s shadow expanded and reached over Kozo’s body.

“Let’s have some fun.” He said with a big wide smile.