Serialized Novel [Calling Names in the Deep Darkness] Episode 19: Two Solitudes, One Wish
Hello, this is Nekomaru Nyanko.
I have created a serialized novel titled [Calling Names in the Deep Darkness].
This time, unlike my usual short stories,
I have refined the settings and plot using ChatGPT and Gemini.
While I kept the word count low in my short stories for easy reading, for this series, I have adjusted the format into a more immersive novel style by delving deeper into scene descriptions and character psychology.
I hope you enjoy it.
<<Episode 19: "Two Solitudes, One Wish">> Synopsis
Rinka and Reiji have reached the deepest part of the abyss.
What they witnessed there was a "sad truth" beyond their imagination.
A memory of profound loneliness hidden at the core of the calamity known as the Black Fox.
Touched by this sight, Rinka makes a major resolution.
However, that choice clashes head-on with the fate of the Kujo family.
To slay or to save—a wavering conviction.
What does Reiji think of Rinka's kindness?
When their resolves intersect, the abyss itself bares its fangs.
Amidst the clashing light and darkness, a voice that should never reach begins to echo.
The key to salvation was hidden in a "true name"—.
[Characters]
[Calling Names in the Twilight]
Episode 19: "Two Solitudes, One Wish"
Rushing through a path of light where cherry blossom petals danced violently, Rinka and Reiji arrived at a terribly cold space, as if all the colors of the world had been stripped away.
A vortex of pitch-black curses surrounded the center like a cold cage.
Reiji readied his blade, Soga, bracing himself to strike at any moment. But beside him, Rinka, staring into the depths of the cursed cage, felt a pain so sharp she wanted to claw at her own chest.
It was not just Yuto Kamiya who was there.
At the bottom of the darkness, Yuto's body sat hunched over, knees pulled to his chest. And curled up right against his back was—the form of the "white fox" that had once been left all alone on that freezing snowy mountain.
"Yuto... and that fox from back then..."
Memories Rinka had glimpsed within the power of Name-Binding vividly resurfaced in her mind.
A human boy who endured loneliness in an ice-cold home, ignored by everyone.
And a beast on a cold, snowy mountain, waiting for no one to call its name, just waiting to fade away.
Two small solitudes had met, relying only on each other's warmth.
However, due to the pitch-black malice and fear of humans, that pure and sorrowful bond was twisted, and the "loneliness" of the boy and the beast transformed into the overwhelming calamity of the "Black Fox" that cursed the world.
The Black Fox on the outside roared fiercely, still emitting ominous miasma to destroy the world.
But inside, they were just shivering from the cold, hugging each other and crying.
"Hey Rinka, the Black Fox's curse pressure is swelling even more. We can't wait any longer, we're going to smash the shell in one go!"
Blue flames dwelled in Reiji's eyes, and the cold air of Soga reached its limit.
However, Rinka kept her fan clutched to her chest and shook her head quietly.
"Wait, Reiji. ...I want to save not just Yuto, but that fox too."
"What are you saying, Rinka!? That white fox is the very core of the Black Fox. If we don't destroy it, Kamiya will—"
"You can't destroy it!"
Rinka's voice echoed through the silent abyss. Her jade-colored eyes were filled with large tears. But the will deep within them shone like an unbreakable diamond.
"That fox was the same as Yuto. It was in the darkness for so long, cold and lonely, waiting for someone to call its name. Yuto touched that loneliness and stayed by its side, which is why they are together. ...If that's the case, pulling only Yuto out and leaving that fox behind in the darkness all alone, that is absolutely wrong!"
Reiji gasped at Rinka's words.
He had only seen the Black Fox as a "supernatural entity to be slain" as a member of the Kujo family. But what Rinka was looking at were "two souls" that were infinitely kind and infinitely sad.
"...Ha, you really are a soft-hearted person who can never be left alone."
Reiji smiled self-deprecatingly, yet somehow happily, and gripped his beloved blade Soga tightly once more.
"Fine. If you say you're going to save both, then I'll just have to force a path open for that. ...Let's go, Rinka!"
"Yeah...! Thank you, Reiji!"
BOOOOM!!!
As if responding to their resolve, the Black Fox's destructive impulse exploded. Pitch-black cursed waves, enough to crush the space, attacked like countless blades.
"Soga!! Freeze 300 years of fear and curses with our cold air!!"
Reiji kicked the ground and charged with phenomenal god-like speed. The absolute zero spiritual wind released by Soga froze the pitch-black blades one after another, shattering them to pieces. The strike, carrying the pride of the Kujo and a new vow to protect his companion, finally put a single massive "crack" in the Black Fox's sturdy barrier shell.
"Now, Rinka!!"
"Leave it to me!!"
Rinka leaped out, cloaked in golden light, through the path of the storm Reiji had carved.
Amidst the gale that felt like it would tear her apart, Rinka opened "Hoshino Shita's Fan" wide and released the awakened threads of "Name-Binding." It was not a chain to bind an opponent. It was a garment of light to warmly embrace two lonely souls.
The golden threads slipped through the cursed cage and reached Yuto and the white fox trembling in the depths.
"Yuto! Little fox! It's okay now!"
Rinka shouted. Even knowing it might not reach, she shouted until her throat felt like it would tear, so that it would reach their souls directly.
"You've both been cold for so long, haven't you? You've been lonely, haven't you? ...But you know, you're not alone anymore. I am, we are, here! Please, come back to us from that darkness!"
That desperate cry pierced the Black Fox's pitch-black resentment and reached the ears of the boy trembling in the deepest part.
"...Ah, ah..."
At the bottom of the darkness, Yuto slowly looked up, as if in disbelief.
A tiny bit of "light" returned to his eyes.
And the white fox curled up beside him also twitched its ears and turned toward Rinka for the first time. What overflowed from its eyes was not hostility toward the world, but tears of such painful loneliness, a silent plea of "I wanted you to find me."
Their hearts, touched by Rinka's warm light, swayed violently.
However, as if to block it, the "Twilight Curse" that had flowed in from Shito and Tokisada began to erode the Black Fox's body again, writhing as it tried to pull them back into madness.
"U, A, AAAAAAA!!!"
A scream of agony rose from Yuto's throat again. Sharp thorns of miasma erupted from the white fox's body as if to express rejection.
It was not enough yet. To completely free them from the curse and bring them back to this world, the most important "final key" was needed.
As light and darkness clashed violently and the space began to collapse, Rinka took one more step forward.
To end everything and to call their true names, in order to save them—.
(Episode 19: "Two Solitudes, One Wish" End)